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Congress back to power in Karnataka

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The Congress returned to power in Karnataka on its own after nine years with its leader Siddaramaiah taking oath as the 28th chief minister of the state in a ceremony. The return of Congress to Vidhana Soudha, the seat of secretariat in this tech hub, was celebrated by over 50,000 people who witnessed the 10-minute swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah at the sprawling Kanteerva stadium. As Governor H R Bhardwaj administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 64-year-old Siddaramaiah, the crowds cheered wildly while Siddaramaiah fans from his assembly constituency Varuna staged folk dances to the beat of music, including drums.

Continued on page 26

£132 pp

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VOL 42. ISSUE 3

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Caste Legislation; Unjust and Unwarranted slur on British Hindus beginning for his deeply troubled country and tortured relations with India.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has emerged the single largest party.

Pakistan election

results 2013 are almost out and it is sure that Nawaz Sharif, the chief of Pakistan Muslim League (N) will form the new government. His party has won more than four times Continued on page 26

Railway, law ministers resign over corruption charges Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's former prime minister, is all set to take over charge of the country for an unprecedented third time following the electoral victory of his party.

Sharif odyssey has been remarkable - but now we will see if he can convert his victory into a new

Corruption issue has forced railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and law minister Ashwani Kumar to leave the Manmohan Singh government. They were forced to resign after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi discussed the corruption charges against the ministers with the Prime Minister sending out the

signal that no wrongdoings will be tolerated.

The Congress which won the Karnataka Assembly election on the anti-corruption plank, took the decision as it did not want to send out a wrong signal by showing the party was soft on corruption, a party source said.

Continued on page 26

Under the Employment and Regulatory Reform Bill (ERRB), the government have accepted defeat, but instead of bringing separate primary registration, they have activated a clause in the 'equalities act' 2010.

Cleverly the government has delayed its implementation straight away and embarks on a consultation process for an unspecified time, and opted for a kind of monitoring.

The government perhaps has attempted to offer a red herring, A 'Sunset Clause' could be the 'sun setting' on the basic rights of equality and self esteem of British Hindus.

Hindus and Jains have belatedly woken up to this unjust and unwar-

ranted intervention which could create painful divisions amongst themselves and bring disharmony especially in the business environment.

Some Labour MPs have started writing to their Hindu and Jain Constituents explaining why they pushed this legislation through. Perhaps the Tories and Lib Dems will follow suit.

The Association of Hindu Organisations have taken a firm stand against this Governmental decision and have approached all Hindus / Jains as well as others to write to their own MP's.

For further details of the AOH stand and the Petition please refer to page 8

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Keith Vazwith MP

Keith Vaz MP

Nick de Bois MP Nick de Bois was elected in May 2010 as Conservative MP for Enfield North. Nick ran a successful local and later national campaign on knife crime to see mandatory custodial sentences for sixteen and seventeen year olds who are charged with threatening someone with a knife. He serves on the Justice Select Committee and is Secretary of the Backbench Conservative 1922 Committee.

1) What inspired you to stand for Parliament?

When I was in my twenties I desperately wanted to start my own business and be my own boss. However I found it fraught with difficulties, mainly through regulation, difficulties in getting finance when you have no money (despite having a good idea and business plan). After overcoming these problems and having a successful business career I wanted to give something back by helping others, including making it easier for people to start their own business by stripping away excessive regulation and encouraging ambitious, start-up entrepreneurs.

2) What are your proudest achievements in politics?

My borough of Enfield, like a number of others in London, has been badly affected by youth knife crime. I was proud to be able to personally introduce a law that meant if someone used a knife to threaten someone, even if they’re as young as 16, they will receive a

mandatory six month minimum prison sentence. It has sent a clear message to young people that using a knife means prison – which is one part of tackling this terrible problem.

3) Please tell me about your current position?

I’m a backbench Conservative MP and also co-secretary of the 1922 Committee.

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

There have been many but nothing that is worth achieving is easy to achieve. I stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate in Enfield North three times in a row before finally winning in 2010. There are very few MPs in that position – I think Harlow MP Rob Halfon is another – and is one of the reasons why I’ve wanted to make the most of being an MP from ‘day one’.

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

Margaret Thatcher. I left Technical College in 1981 with a weak qualification in Business Studies, but unlike many who had gone before me (who had been convinced that unless you had the "right" background you would not succeed), I knew that the grocer's daughter who became Prime Minister was right: it was not where you came from that mattered, but where you were going. That was a huge influence on me and one of the reasons I wanted to go into politics.

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

Using my influence as an MP to open doors for people who really need some help. The

2011 London riots saw shops in Enfield Town trashed and the Sony distribution centre in eastern Enfield totally destroyed, threatening hundreds of jobs. I was on the streets with residents during the riots and saw what was happening first hand. Afterwards I lobbied for help for those businesses affected, brought the London Mayor to Enfield and immediately got Sony in touch with 10 Downing Street.

Two years on, Enfield is stronger than ever with businesses bouncing back at the PM opening the newly re-built Sony centre.

7) And the worst?

Overall the frustration I feel with how long it takes to get change. I ran my own company for 25 years before entering Parliament and I’m more used to being able to get things done very quickly!

8) What are your long term goals?

Being a good constituency MP is what drives me, and is not something you arrive at but something you have to constantly work on. My long term goal is to continue running local campaigns on things that

matter to residents such as I’ve done so far with the Enfield Jobs Fair (attended 1.600 people), the Next Steps Roadshow (equipping school leavers with skills to get a job), and Nick Direct (holding public debates on important issues). In particular, bringing a mobile diabetes unit to the constituency and raising awareness of diabetes among people of South Asian origin (who are 5 times more likely than white people to get diabetes) was a success I really want to repeat as health issues are incredibly important.

9) If you were Secretary General of the United Nations, what one aspect would you change?

I think it’s been described as the “the most difficult job on earth” by someone far more knowledgeable on international relations than me, so I’m inclined to say very little!

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

William Wilberforce. He took on incredibly powerful vested interests and pursued his cause for years and years, and changed Britain forever. It’s quite difficult to truly understand what it must have been like to champion the abolition of slavery in late eighteenth/early nineteenth century Britain, and I’m sure as someone who was a formidable Parliamentarian he would be absolutely fascinating.

'Curry' comes to rescue British youth from unemployment Indian curry has come as the saviour for Britain's unemployed youth. As it continues to win British hearts with its taste, it now promises to fill some pockets with pounds and life with valuable expertise.

UK's top Indian restaurants have joined hands to create and fund scholarships for British youngsters to learn how to make an Indian curry.

Besides learning advanced cooking techniques, these students, who will mostly be picked up randomly with a knack

.

for cooking, will also get a fantastic opportunity to work in any of these top Asian restaurants to be mentored by the country's most famous chefs. It follows the logic that Britain's some of the most popular chefs like Ramsay and Oliver cook something they have not 'necessarily' grown up eating!

The newly formed Asian Restaurant Skills Board - comprises of chefs and owners of London's most popular Indian restaurants and strongly believes that the next 'king of Indian curry'

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Eric Pickles MP

could be a Briton.

Iqbal Wahhab, Chair of the Skills Board told the Times of India, "with the new visa rules, free flow of Indian chefs into UK isn't anymore a reality.

On the other hand, there is an acute shortage of trained chefs in UK. That's why is vital that the age old skills needed in an Indian kitchen is transferred to the local population. We believe the future of the Indian curry is the hands of youngsters here and we can't rely on overseas chefs anymore".

There are nearly 10,000 Indian restaurants in UK of the 2,500 are in London alone.

C o m m u n i t i e s Secretary Eric Pickles

said "It's fantastic to see so many of our leading Indian restaurants giving up time and money to promote the exciting career of being a curry cook. The curry industry is worth over £3 billion to the economy. Our high-end Asian restaurants have changed the perception of Indian cuisine and many have been awarded Michelin stars, proving the nation's favourite food is just aas sophisticated as any other."

Pickles added "Londoners may never have previously considered pursuing a career of being a curry cook but with the right coaching, they know they could now become the next genera-

tion of masala millionaires and Michelinaires."

The Board was formed to help raise the profile and prestige of high-end Asian cuisine so that people view the sector as offering an attractive and rewarding career. The Board was involved in launching the government backed scholarship fund at one of the centres of excellence or curry college - the University of West London - last year. Lord Noon has sponsored the first scholarship.

The project was

launched in the light of industry concerns that the halt in recruiting chefs from the sub continent could potentially damage business.

Some famous British restaurants that have joined hands for this unique project are Tamarind, The Cinnamon Club, Cafe Spice Namaste, Chakra, Benares, Quilon, Noon Products, the Bombay Brasserie, Moolis, Chor Bizarre, the Painted Heron, La Porte Des Indes and Dishoom.

Schoolgirl sold to Eddy Shah to pay credit card bills?

A teenager was allegedly "sold" to former newspaper owner Eddy Shah to pay off a prostitute's credit card bills, a court has heard.

The woman, now in her 30s, alleges Mr Shah raped her after she was taken to London hotels by Susan Davies, 53.

The abuse took place in the early 1990s but were not reported to police for about 20 years, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Shah, Ms Davies and her ex-partner Anthony Pallant deny indecent assault, rape,

Eddy Shah

child cruelty and other charges.

Continued on page 6

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th may 2013

Comment

Pakistan; A Harvest of New Challenges Inspite of the sustained threats of Taliban violence, proud Pakistani voters showed exceptional courage and commitment turning up in their thousands to elect their new democratic parliament.

Muslim League Leader, Nawaz Shariff will take over the reigns as Prime Minister of Pakistan, and this will be his 3rd time in power. One hopes for the sake of Pakistanis and of course others in the region and indeed the world, that the phrase 'third time lucky', is one that is said in confidence and not wishful thinking.

In the 14 years of political wilderness it appears that Mr Nawaz Shariff has learnt some lessons. It seems as though his change in approach to political relations with India, the US and the West, bring a much needed breath of fresh air to the table.

While congratulating the people of Pakistan and wishing the new democratic government well, it is important and would be of some advantage to look at the challenges this new government is facing.

The first conversation between Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the first US ambassador to the country was the the Quaid-eAzam’s offer to sell his Karachi house – Karachi then the country’s capital - as a possible site for the US embassy. The offer was politely declined. If the house wouldn’t do, would the sale of the country be an acceptable alternative? The deal, which was mooted in the opening weeks of Pakistan’s existence was done and dusted over the next decades by Jinnah’s political and military heirs in return for US bases in the country. It turned out to be Faustian pact in which Pakistan bartered its soul for American military hardware and a cornucopia of American dollars in fulfillment of its supposedly pre-ordained vision of establishing an Islamic caliphate in the subcontinent to link up with its global counterpart. There was a serious mismatch between Pakistani fantasy and US realpolitik at one level. For cold warriors in Washington Pakistan was simply a pawn in the encirclement of the Soviet enemy and the containment of a stubbornly resistant India, which, riding threats and blandishments, crafted a policy of non-alignment. The grandiose element in US thinking was the belief that Islamism could be harnessed long-term to serve America’s global strategies. The Pakistan-US compact has crippled Pakistan and diminished the United States.

After six decades and more of venal civilian-military rule, with its accumulated toxin of sectarian and ethnic hatred distorting every fibre of society, a long overdue general election is unlikely to lead conflict-ridden Pakistan onto the sunlit uplands of dem-

ocratic governance.

The election campaign has been accompanied by unprecedented violence, of everyday bombings and shootings, especially by the Taliban, who view democracy as a form of anti-Islamic blasphemy. The kidnapping of Ali Haider Gilani, son of the country’s former prime minister Yousef Raza Gilani, in Multan is a telling metaphor of the rot that has taken hold in Pakistani society. Acclaimed Islamabad-based Pakistani author Ayesha Siddiqa, whose book “Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy” earned her liberal plaudits at home and abroad and jingo brickbats from the country’s political class, paints a bleak picture of its future. The cancer of religious intolerance entailing the effective exclusion of the minority Hindus, Christians and Sikhs et al from the mainstream, the relentless persecution of the apostate Ahmedis and the incendiary attacks on the Shias preclude any possibility of a Pakistani renewal, she says. Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif, she continued, pitched their respective party tents on Deobandi and Wahabi terrain.

The Pakistan Army, long the power behind the throne, has its own internal rivalries to consider.

General Kayani is due to retire in November, and his successor’s appointment will need the prime ministerial seal. Muslim League leader Nawaz Sharief (now Prime Minister) has promised to respect the rules of Army seniority, but he will have a score to settle with those responsible for the coup that toppled his regime in the aftermath of the Kargil misadventure in October 1999.

Mr Sharief’s emollient interview on an Indian TV channel promised a rigorous inquiry into the Mumbai bomb blasts in Mumbai on November 26 2008, and a better understanding with India, an undertaking no more credible than it was when he first assumed power in the 1990s. Best to avoid the the remake of a bad film. Kashmir and India-bashing barely found a voice in the election campaign, a far from the heady days of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s “Crush India” rallies and his promised “thousand year war” with the old enemy. With an economy in gridlock, few job prospects or educational opportunities, huge power outages and much else besides, a homegrown catastrophe looms larger by the day, hence there is less stomach for a new anti-Indian jihad and further disaster.

Pakistan as failing state remains also a decaying monument to American (and British) folly, ineptitude, cynicism and hubris. Democracy was never the goal of American (or British) policy in the Third World, particularly after the Second World War.

The Japan-China-India triangle The Japan-China-India triangle is nowhere as mysteriously lethal as the Bermuda Triangle, where ships and planes disappear, apparently dragged magnetically to the ocean floor. The triangle under scrutiny may have its mysteries, but it is, by and large, open to rational discourse and explanation. An awakened Japan, recovering from a decade-long weak leadership, a deflation-stalled economy, and a tsunami tragedy and its concomitant Fukushima reactor disaster, has found in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a decisive voice with a clear vision of his country’s future.

This promises to be seminal development whose impact may well alter the structure of inter-state relationships in the Asia Pacific region. Mr Abe’s first step was to prime pump the Japanese economy out of the doldrums, a measure which has led to a decline in the value of the yen and a surge in the country’s exports. His next move was to defrost relations with Russia by becoming the first Japanese premier in years to visit Moscow and break the diplomatic logjam stemming from Tokyo’s insistence that Russia return the Kurile islands captured during the Second World War. This untenable demand was replaced with a game-changing proposal for an historic compromise, to which President Putin’s government responded positively. Japan has for generations viewed Siberia as a likely source of minerals, which the country sadly lacks. An understanding with Moscow could pave the way for significant Japanese

investment in Russia and lead to an exponential increase in technology and science cooperation between the two nations. The subtext to this is managing China’s rise. A truculent China has put its relationship with Japan into deep freeze, of which the most telling symptom is the maritime dispute over a crop of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Finally, Prime Minister Abe has placed his new strategic partnership with India at the top of his diplomatic agenda. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s forthcoming visit to Tokyo assumes special significance. Parallel with Mr Abe’s rapprochement with Russia is India’s commitment to support Russia’s critical role in Central Asia and consequently, the strategically vital Eurasian heartland itself. But India’s goal, like Japan’s, is also the management of China’s rise. The recent standoff in Ladakh underlines its continuing relevance.

Chinese diplomacy in recent years has been singularly inept. Barring Pakistan, Beijing has antagonized, in lesser or greater degree, its entire neighbourhood. The new Chinese leadership is responding to this roadblock with moves of its own, hence President Xi Xinping’s first international port of call was Moscow, while for Prime Minister Li Keqiang it is to be New Delhi (See Media Watch page 12). Much thought had gone into this decision, explained Mr. Li to visiting Indian reporters in Beijing. History, of the right or wrong sort, may be in the making.

Immigration mars Queen’s Speech In response to UKIP’s recent success in the local elections in England, the Cameron government’s predictable response was to press the panic immigration button, much as the Tory party did in the run-up to the 2010 general election. Its ill considered undertakings on the issue have been revisited and modified under pressure from the City and academia, each sensitive to its negative consequences in a globalized world, where economic performance is predicated on the unfettered movement of labour and capital across national frontiers. The Queen’s Speech proposed that doctors and

landlords be empowered with the responsibility of detecting illegal immigrants and report their findings to the police. Big Brother might equally set up CCTV cameras in doctors’ consulting chambers and those of property letting agencies, these to be supplemented, possibly, with recording devices to monitor conversations. Privacy and individual liberty matter little in an increasingly national security state, so help us God. The subject needs a speedy burial. Immigration caps already in place meet the public interest. Absurdity does not.

3

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot - Michael Altshuler

Lord Bhikhu Parekh

Caste Discrimination in Britain: Role for Law? Lord Harries’s amendment on caste discrimination divided the Indian community far more deeply than any other. Some thought it right for, after all, caste discrimination is also banned in India.

Others thought it unwise, as caste is not as significant a social fact in Britain as it is in India and increasingly makes less and less sense.

Lord Harries was primarily and rightly concerned to stop discrimination against Dalits.

His amendment however was not the right method as caste covers far more than Dalits, and is not as easily identifiable as gender or race. While his goal was justifiable, his method was not. This creates a moral dilemma. If one looks only at the goal, one would welcome his amendment; if at the method, one would oppose it.

One’s overall stand ultimately depends on, among other things, one’s estimate of the number of Dalits.

Lord Harries puts the figure at 480,000 which is clearly too high. He overestimates the South Asian population as well as the percentage of Dalits among them.

According to 2011 census there are 816,633 Hindus, 423,158 Sikhs, 247,743 Buddhists and 11,058 Ravidassi.

It is difficult to say what percentage of Hindus are Dalits.

In India they are around 16 %.

Given the pattern of migration and given the fact that many Hindus have come from East Africa where the proportion of Dalits was extremely small, not more than 8% to 10% of British Hindus are likely to be Dalits.

The percentage is bound to be greater among Sikhs. Punjab has the highest percentage of Dalits in India, around 29%.

Given the migratory pattern and the proportion of

Sikhs among the British Punjabis, just under a quarter of them could be Dalits. Some experts such as Professor Harpal Singh put it at 33% but offer no basis for such a high figure.

Among the B u d d h i s t s ,Ambedkarites are estimated by the DSN to be around 5,000.

All this means that the number of Dalits in Britain is likely to be somewhere between 50,000 and 200,000, a figure suggested by Hilary Metcalf and Heather Rolfe of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. This is a significant number, though not as high as that canvassed by Lord Harries.

Discrimination against Dalits does occur at work places, private lettings, places of worship and in other areas.

Although it is not as extensive and blatant as some suggest, partly because few Hindus are in positions of power to discriminate against Dalits, it still takes place and needs to be tackled in just the same way as that based on gender and race.

Although caste is too wide and indeterminate a concept to be embodied in British legislation, as I said in my speech in the House of Lords, the number of Dalits is large, discrimination against them a reality, and there is no other obvious way to address it.

Morally one has no choice, however reluctantly, to support a ban on caste discrimination.

It is not ideal but offers at least one imperfect way to address an evil.

This is one of those issues on which both sides have a point, and mutual respect is in order. It is a tribute to British Indians that they are prepared to disagree publicly and acknowledge that there social structure may be scarred by the legacy of an unfortunate past.

4

Midlands Voice

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 18th May 2013

Hindu Sacred Kumbh Arrives in UK Leicester, London, Manchester: Hundreds of Hindus carrying ornate pots known as ‘kumbhs’ will parade through London, Manchester, Leicester and Dudley over the next three weeks as part of a unique and colourful pilgrimage symbolising their commitment to protecting the environment. The 'Green Kumbh Yatra' is an international initiative featuring one especially sacred metal kumbh that is being carried across numerous countries to promote the importance of environmental and biodiversity conservation.

The Green Kumbh Yatra was launched last year at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, India. It will end at the next convention in South Korea in 2014. The sacred Kumbh has already been greeted in numerous cities and sacred sites across India – including a visit to the famous Maha Kumbh Mela, held just once every twelve years – as well as in Nepal and Jerusalem. It is now in Britain ahead of a move to the USA. Symbolising the ‘web of life and all of Earth’s ecosystems’, the Green Kumbh Yatra aims to engage the hearts and minds of the local communities with the

mental degradation we see today is the beauty and significance of the natural result of our own actions; the Green world and the critical habitat upon which they depend to promote their Kumbh Yatra will propagate good karma commitment to environmental action that will yield positive results in the future.� and advocacy.

The procession in Wembley on 24th “Spirituality and religion’s role in May at the Shri Sanatan Temple is conservation is as old as time itself and expected to be especially dramatic as at this pilgrimage emphasises the profound least one hundred Hindu women will be connection between the collective wisjoining the parade carrying kumbhs on dom and resources of our faith traditheir heads. tions and their role in conserving biodiversity,� says Kusum Vyas, founder of the Green Kumbh Yatra. “Our aim is to high- The timetable for the procession is as follows: light the connection spiritual l Saturday 18 May 2013, 7:30PM to 9:00PM places such as sacred groves, Geeta Bhavan Hindu Temple rivers and mountains, tem- 231 Withington Road, Whalley Range, ples, churches, synagogues Manchester, M16 8LU and mosques have to their l Sunday 19 May 2013, 11:30AM to 1:00PM environment, and how wor- Shree Sanatan Mandir - Leicester shippers are custodians of 84 Weymouth Street, off Catherine Street, Leicester those environments.�

Leicestershire, LE4 6FQ “By joining the Green l Friday 24 May 2013 2:00PM to 3:00PM: Shobha Kumbh Yatra, people of all Yatra Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir Wembley faiths can make a public Ealing Road, Wembley Middlesex HA0 4TA demonstration of their com- l Saturday 25 May 2013 5:00PM: Ceremonial mitment to driving home the welcome of the green kumbh message that our future Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir Wembley depends on preserving life on Ealing Road, Wembley Middlesex HA0 4TA. earth. We know the environ-

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Ex-candidate gets suspended jail term Wolverhampton: A former electoral candidate preparing to stand in 2012 election, in a Wolverhampton ward has been sentenced for fraud after admitting making a false statement on an election paper and providing false information to an elections officer, the Birmingham Mail has reported.

Gurcharan Bedi registered as a voter in the city’s Spring Vale ward - where he intended to stand as a Labour councillor in the May 2012 election – but the 58-yearold lied about his address, allegedly to increase chances of winning.

Manchester Road bridge shortlisted for steel design awards scheme Manchester: The skill, workmanship, architectural and engineering excellence of the Manchester Road bridge in Bradford has shortlisted it for the 2013 Structural Steel Design Awards.

The awards will be announced at Madame Tussauds in London on July 9. They are open to steel based structures situated in the UK or overseas that have been built by UK or Irish steelwork contractors.

Bradford Council's inhouse engineers worked with Sustrans to design and deliver the bridge after the charity secured ÂŁ50 million in a public vote nationwide with ÂŁ1.5m going to

Bradford. The new bridge is the centrepiece of a series of

popular new routes in the district making it easier and

safer for people to walk or cycle on their everyday journeys. It connects the communities either side of Manchester road, a busy thoroughfare into the city centre.

Coun Val Slater, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Transport, Planning and Housing, said: "It was impressive how local communities worked with ourselves, Trident, Sustrans, and the Big Lottery Fund to pull off this ambitious project.

"It is great news to hear it has been shortlisted for this prestigious award and I wish them luck at the final ceremony."

LABA formally launches Women’s Awards Nomination Leicester: On Friday 7th June 2013, LABA will host its annual Women’s Awards and Dinner at the Prestigious Land Rover Jaguar Show Rooms on Narborough Road with Margot James MP the Chairman of the All Party Trade and Industry Group in Parliament.

Launching the awards Rani Mahal, LABA’s Vice President and Chair of the LABA’s Women’s Network by formally opening nominations for enterprising women from all communities in Leicestershire said, “LABA has no categories for the awards; we would

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welcome nominations from all outstanding and unsung heroines who have made that special contribution to the communities. Whilst the emphasis is on enterprise� said Rani “the board and sponsors are keen to have nominations about women who have made a wider socio-economic contribution to the county�.

The nominations can be made by emailing the nominees name and their contribution to uday@labauk.org or writing in any language with the details of the Nominee and contact details of the person making the nomi-

nation to: LABA, International Trade Hub, 51 Kenilworth Drive Oadby Leicester LE2 5LT. Nominations close on Saturday 25th May at 12.00 noon.

The Awards dinner is kindly supported by Sabras Radio, Asian Wealth Magazine, Sturgess Land Rover Jaguar, Kukhri Beer, and Birmingham Airport among many supporters.

Money raised during the evening’s auction and raffle will go to LABA’s Legacy Charity Fund administered by the Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation.

Bedi, pictured leaving Court

Suspicions were raised when staff at Wolverhampton City Council noticed Bedi used the same false address on the nomination paper he submitted in order to stand for election.

The information was passed on to officers at West Midlands Police who interviewed him and later charged him with two offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983.

He withdrew his nomination ahead of the election.

Det Sgt Paddy Gillece explained: “This was a cynical attempt by Bedi to manipulate the electoral system for his own benefit by falsely claiming that he lived on the Spring Vale ward. “He believed the electorate in Spring Vale would be more likely to vote for him if he lived in the local area – so lied about his home address.

"He also thought that by registering as an elector in the area he’d be able to vote for himself and further increase his chances of winning the election. “But in reality Bedi had never lived at the Spring Vale property and his main residence was the other side of the city on Henwood Road.�

On April 9, 2012, Gurcharan Bedi entered guilty pleas to both offences at Birmingham Crown Court.

He was sentenced on 13 May. Bedi fainted in the dock as he was jailed for six months, suspended for 18 months due to his ill-health. He was ordered to pay ÂŁ2,000 costs and will not able to vote or stand in an election for five years.

Vaz enjoys playground inauguration

Leicester: Every man enjoys reliving moments of childhood, evidently on this weekend as Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP opened the ÂŁ40,000 worth Rushey Fields Recreation Grounds in Leicester.

During the inauguration, Mr Vaz rode a roundabout enjoying every bit of the wonderful time, when he fell off into a sandpit.

He was being watched by media representatives and children from a nearby primary school. But rather than being embarrassed by the slip, he simply got

back on bef ore falling off for a second time.

Yet Mr Vaz's spirit remained more than intact, as he continued to enjoy the time out more like a child, without the sand that covered him from head to toe.

Leicester Mercury photographer Matt Short was there to capture the moment as he also played

on the slide and swings. He said: 'He was like a big kid and he didn't seem to mind getting covered in sand.'

Mr Vaz admitted he had 'enormous fun'. He singled out the roundabout describing it as

'fast', adding that you could sit on it.

He said: 'The problem was I fell off a couple of times because it was a bit too fast.

'I think it’s probably designed for people smaller than me.'

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

5

Queen's speech on 'immigration bill' sends 'wrong signals,' claim ethnic communities The government is expected to outline tougher rules on immigration after last week's Queen's Speech, which included a parliamentary bill aimed at making it easier to deport foreign criminals and those who enter the UK illegally.

Other bills that got mentioned were cap on social care costs in England and introduction of single state pension.

Though the Prime Minister tweeted that it is “for people who work hard and want to get on,” but the Queen’s Speech, which was delivered in traditional scenes of pomp and ceremony, sparked controversy as it set out measures to control migration, cap bills for social care, introduce a flat-rate state pension, and cut the regulation burden on small businesses.

The Queen told MPs and peers that an Immigration Bill will aim to “ensure that this country attracts people who will contribute and deter those who will not”.

However the ethnic minority crowd in this country, who are mostly immigrants settled over years have taken this idea as a threat. They strongly believe that they have contributed immensely to the prosperity of Britain and demands the clarification of the term 'immigrants'.

This comment came as a shock to the community especially after the win of UKIP in the country council elections, that highlighted their anti-immigrant policies.

Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour party said, "They (Conservatives) used to call [Ukip] clowns, now they want to join the circus. The whole point of the prime minister's speech [on the EU] in January was to head off Ukip. Tory MPs were crowing the UKIP fox had been shot – job done, mission accomplished. Only it wasn't.

"The lesson for the prime minister is you can't out-Farage Farage.

Banging on about Europe won't convince the public, and the people behind him will keep coming back for more. A Europe referendum tomorrow, drop same-sex marriage, the demands go on. They will never be satisfied."

Anand J, a Brit Asian professional told Asian Voice, “The problem with such vague term 'immigration' is that it includes people like South Asian community too. The government must understand we could come to the UK, only once we have cleared all visa requirements. We pay taxes and therefore we live here. If we did not

earn, we could not have qualified to live here. And we cannot claim any benefits until we are citizens and it takes a good 10 years.

“The PM wants the Indo-British relation to improve. How will it improve, if they keep slinging mud at the immigrants, discouraging them to come here? It's always a two way traffic.

The government and now the Queen must clarify the exact what do they mean by immigrants and who are they targeting. If they are aiming at the EU immigrants- they must say it in as many words.”

Kim Kaur, a businessman added, “I am born to an immigrant family in

Forced marriage becomes a 'criminal offence' in the UK Britain's home secretary Theresa May said the government has now strengthened the protection for victims of forced marriage by making it a criminal offence.

May in a statement said, “Forced marriage is little more than slavery. It is an appalling form of abuse and by criminalising it we are sending out a clear message that this brutal practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK.” Forced marriages are rampant among UK's South East Asian community.. In 2008, over 1,600 incidents of suspected forced marriages were reported to the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) -- a joint foreign, commonwealth and the home office unit set up in collaboration with the Association of Chief Police Officers, crown prosecution service and the ministry of justice.

"The majority of cases of forced marriage reported to date in the UK involve South Asian families. Some forced marriages take place in the UK with no overseas element while others involve a partner coming from overseas or a British national being sent abroad," it said.

The Bill that includes Forced Marriage, which was outlined in the Queen’s Speech, will also include encourage responsible dog ownership by making it a criminal offence to have a dog that is dangerously out of control in a private property and tackle the use of illegal firearms by gangs and organised crime groups.

The country has launched a massive campaign to prevent and protect both men and women against forced marriages in languages like Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati. The FMU said it will aid people being taken out of the UK and then being forced to marry.

It said around 85% of cases of forced marriage involves women who have been forced into marriage and some 15% of cases involve men.

An arranged marriage is not the same as a forced marriage. In an arranged or assisted marriage, the families take a role in choosing and introducing the marriage partners. The marriage is entered into freely by both people," it clarified.

Home Office impact assessment published earlier this year said that a new offence could mean about 20 extra prosecutions a year and eight additional prisons may be needed.

The move also includes a £500,00 fund to help schools and other agencies to spot early signs of a forced marriage.

Forced marriage is abhorrent and little more than slavery. To force anyone into marriage against their will is simply wrong and that is why we have taken decisive action to make it illegal," said British PM David Cameron.

The home office said the FMU had provided advice or support in nearly 600 cases this year, including 14% involving children below the age of 15.

Britain. My dad established a very successful business in the UK. It was sheer hard work and diligence. The victory of UKIP or loose comments like this on immigration makes us feel belittled.

This comment should be extended to any one who does not contribute to the social welfare or development of the community. By targeting immigrants just to win votes, high chances UK is severing its good relation with

ests.

Ms Lambert, a Green MEP who sits on the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affair Committee, said: “More than a million Londoners were born in other EU countries – and mostly they have come here not just to enjoy their rights and freedoms to do so but to earn a decent living and contribute to the British economy.

“As this report from LCCI makes clear, many British firms just couldn’t function without access to EU markets and employees who were born outside the UK. “It is important that all politicians take note of its findings, especially those Tory ministers who have this week added their names to calls for the UK to leave the EU, and that we adopt policies to ensure all migrants are treated fairly and are helped to access their rights to benefits, employment, housing, schooling and healthcare when they arrive, just as British citizens would hope for should they move to another country in the EU.”

countries that help it grow through bilateral trades.

"Also the matter of 'illegal immigration' should be addressed by the police and home office, not landlords.”

Soon after this speech, almost summing up the same spirit MEP Jean Lambert welcomed a new report from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) which says an exit from the EU would be bad for London’s business inter-

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Why recessions are great for brands Spriha Srivastava

Curry in the docklands Docklands is a very interesting area.

While you see the extremes of professionalism, there is also a sense of familiarity, especially for the Indians.

There are many Indians in this area and you will always exchange a few familiar glances while walking in the vicinity. However the best part about this area is the food.

There is a range of Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine in this area and that makes it very easy for the Asian population residing here. Recently, I came across a couple of restaurants which impressed me a lot for their food, their ambience and their flavours. They have a range of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes and a number of new recipes to take your experience to the next level.

Manjal in South Quay is one of them. I instantly liked the food and the ambience and it felt extremely authentic. I particularly liked the South Indian cuisine they serve and the authentic spices used in preparing these. The restaurant is very reasonably priced. Anil Shetty, an Indianborn media consultant now working in South Quay, brought together investors for Manjal and sold them on

his vision for the concept.

"Once we've proved its profitable we want to expand across London, then the United States and France," he said. "By 2015 we could see considerable growth. There are many restaurants making money around here so if it can't work in Canary Wharf it probably can't work anywhere."

Well said Anil. Canary Wharf is a hub for good and authentic Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine. Another very popular place is Clifton which has is established and extremely popular among the Eastenders. Then there is Aniseed, Mirch Masala, Memsaheb on Thames among others.

And if we move just a few miles away to East Ham, we will get what is called authentic South Indian food.

South Indian cuisine has become extremely popular in UK over the last many years and even though there are many places serving good cuisine in the city and the west-end but East Ham has created its own niche for the authenticity. Places like Chennai Dosa, Sarvanna bhavan, Vasantha bhavan.

Taste of India for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine takes the list further.

Guru Pratap Pawar enthralls audience Highly-acclaimed Kathak dancer Padmashree Pratap Pawar celebrated performed at the famous Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan in London last week as part of Triveni Dance Company’s Rangoli, meaning rows of colours.

A full house of Kathak enthusiasts and students of Guruji, as he is fondly called, were there to cheer him up and witness the legend.

The full-house at Bhavan’s huge auditorium enjoyed every beat, every raga and every move. Guruji was leading and the crowd was following. One of the attendees called him a pied piper.

“He grabs your attention immediately and then from that moment on your eyes are fixed on him. In my opinion, that’s a very tough skill to acquire.”

Rangoli meaning rows of colours presented a colourful blend of laya, taal and abhinaya aspects from the Kathak dance repertoire. The evening had live musical accompaniment on table, sitar, sarangi and vocals led by Pandit Vishwa Prakash.

Popularly known as "India's Divine Dancer" Guruji has received extensive training in the most authentic and tradi-

tional manner from Pandit Birju Maharaj. He has the honour of being the very first Disciple of Shri Birju Maharajji.

After establishing himself in India as a celebrated dancer, Guruji was sponsored abroad to popularise the art of Kathak, Folk and Creative dances. For the last 15 years he has been residing in London,

England. During his stay here, he has taught in Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan and the The National Academy of Indian Dance. Pratap Pawar is the founder and artistic director of "Triveni" dance company, London.

Moreover he has trained over 700 students from around the world

during his 8 years stay in the Caribbean countries and the West Indies. He is the founder of famous Triveni Dance Company based in London, England. Apart for teaching in London, Pratap Pawar also holds regular monthly workshops in Glasgow, where a very large number of students undertake training.

Pratap Pawar is a privileged artist credited with great performances at the Royal Festival Hall, The Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Rooms, Kings Theatre (fund raising for famine in Ethiopia). Pratap Pawar has a long acclaimed list of memorable perf o r m a n c e s throughout his life.

Recognized worldwide for his initiative in blending Indian dance traditions with those of other cultures, such as Andalucian flamenco, African and Caribbean dance as well as modern dance, Pratap Pawar is very highly regarded as a brilliant teacher of kathak in the UK and internationally.

In 2008, Pratap Pawar was a recipient of the Government of India's prestigious Padma Shree Award.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Mo Luthra Branding Consultant www.moluthra.com The word ‘recession’ can send fear down most people’s spines. It’s the sign that jobs are short, spending is tight and the living is not easy.

While it can all be doom and gloom, in many ways recessions are a bit like diets. They cut the crap out.

If we look at the big brands that have gone under, we can honestly ask the question were they relevant anymore?

Case in point, Woolworths, MFI, Blockbuster, or even Jessop’s.

Long before any of those brands shut up shop, most of us, including myself, probably couldn’t recall the last time we went there.

They were either superseded by Internet offerings or just had no level of connection with customers.

Keeping in tune with the health analogy, businesses need to keep fit and on their toes. Brands that aren’t forward facing and innovative, very quickly become slow and lethargic. When the market changes they are don’t know how to react.

Which is a shame, as businesses that stop trading would normally have built up a name for themselves within a market.

Their brand name is worth something. The trouble is they either didn’t invest in research and development and they got comfortable, or they didn’t invest in brand and communication.

What typical businesses try to do is discount in a downturn. By doing so they are cutting

their own margins and profitability. This ultimately leads to business failure. If your business has no brand behind it, it has no protection. By investing into the brand and giving consumer reasons to buy and maintaining healthy profit margins you can be bullish about prices and fight against the recession.

If you look at retailers like John Lewis, or high end brands such as Yves Saint Laurent which has reported a 59% increase in annual sales, things have gone very well for them in the recession.

Rather than cutting back on advertising and communications they have increased budgets and continued to connect with consumers. They give consumers are reason to spend with them.

The more meaning and relevance your brand has, the less likely it will be eroded by price competition and cheaper online offerings.

See how your business could benefit by investing in its brand.

Bricklane's Sheba voted best UK Curry House in Britain

There are close to 9,000 Indian Restaurants in the British Isles, the Cobra Good Curry Guide has for years set out to identify the very best curries for lovers of the dish. Sheba restaurant in Brick Lane has beat off the fierce competition to claim the official title of 'Best UK Curry House' in the 2013 guide.

Pat Chapman, founder and editor of the famed UK guide says "It is a fantastic achievement and thoroughly deserved, amazing dishes such as the Lamb Shank, Shofri Gost Salman Tikka and plethora of delicious fish dishes make Sheba a unique curry house".

Sheba has played an integral role within the Indian foodie scene, Motabir Ali and his family have been running Sheba since 1974, making it one of the longest-established on the Lane. At almost

forty years old it is one of the original restaurants on Brick Lane that has contributed to the thriving, vibrant restaurant scene that the area is today.

Owner Ali says "The Cobra Good Curry Guide tribute is the pinnacle. We serve a delicious array of Indian and Bangladeshi dishes. We never compro-

mise with our produce.

All ingredients are carefully sourced and our chef has been with us for years.

We are family run and work hard to provide great food for our customers. I never expected my restaurant to be so highly recognised by Pat’s celebrated Guide, and am very humbled”

Schoolgirl sold to Eddy Shah to pay credit card bills?

Continued from page 2 The court heard Ms Davies took the girl to a hotel when she was 14 and told her to have sex with Mr Shah, but she refused. The teenager was warned not to refuse again before Mr Shah allegedly put £650 in Ms Davies' handbag. Mr Shah, 69, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, denies six counts of rape.

Ms Davies, 53, of

Swanley, Kent, denies 14 counts of aiding and abetting rape, indecent assault and child cruelty.

Her former lover Anthony Pallant, 53, of West Malling, Kent, denies six counts of rape and indecent assault.

Mr Shah who founded the defunct Today newspaper and now owns and runs golf courses, leisure centres and hotels.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

The Labour peer Lord Ahmed has resigned days before he was due before a hearing over allegations that he made anti-Semitic comments in a television interview.

Lord Ahmed was due to appear before Labour's ruling National Executive Committee on Wednesday to answer accusations that he blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his dangerous driving jail term.

He insists he does not recall making the alleged comments, but in his resignation letter said he felt he would not get a fair hearing and therefore had no choice but to resign from the party.

His solicitor Stephen Smith said he would not be able to receive a ''fair trial'' from the Labour panel.

Lord Ahmed was suspended from the Labour Party in March after The Times reported he blamed his 2009 prison sentence for sending text messages shortly before his car was involved in a fatal crash – on pressure placed on the courts by Jews ''who own newspapers and TV channels''.

The Muslim peer allegedly told an Urdu-language broadcaster in

Lord Ahmed

Pakistan that the judge who jailed him for 12 weeks was appointed to the High Court after helping a ''Jewish colleague'' of Tony Blair during an important case.

Lord Ahmed and Mr Smith have called for The Times to release the interview footage for it to be forensically examined. In his resignation letter he claims he has been denied this, but that he believes the justice of the case demands the film be subject to forensic tests.

Lord Ahmed said he had "never been antisemitic" and had "unreservedly apologised" for any offence caused to the Jewish community.

A Labour Party spokesman said: ''I can confirm that he has resigned from the party.''

Inquest opened into 'tragic death' of Indian pupil An inquest has been opened into the tragic death of the Forest School pupil Aashi Sinha, who died suddenly last week aged just 18.

A spokesman at Walthamstow Coroners’ Court said Aashi died at Queen’s Hospital, in Romford, on last Wednesday. No cause of death has been formally announced until the inquest closes later this year. Friends have set up a Facebook tribute page for Aashi, pictured, who has been described as intelligent and happy teenager.

At the request of her

family, donations are also being taken for charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, which raises awareness of heart conditions that cause sudden death, the Ilford recorder has reported. Following news of her death, many pupils from her school, in College Place, Snaresbrook, expressed their grief on Twitter.

London Mayor calls for 'better and improved connectivity' with India As the House of Commons Transport Committee rejected the additional runway proposal at the 'Boris Island' on Thames Estuary, the London Mayor told a room full of cross party MPs, Peers, business tycoons, dignitaries and journalists told that the UK capital has 'something to learn from the Indian cities', as he called for improving British air connectivity, especially with India. He made this speech, while he addressed a gathering as the Chief Guest of an Indian Journalists' Association dinner on Thursday 9th May. Grabbing the opportunity the Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar reporters explained how the newspapers and its Gujarati readers are fighting for a direct flight to Ahmedabad for years now, collecting thousands of petitions.

The Mayor instantly welcomed the idea with open arms and asked the reporters to 'send him a letter' for his reference.

While Johnson also spoke about the Olympic success, the popularity of the Mittal tower viz. Orbit Tower at the Olympic park and so on, he also elaborated on the need for increasing the aviation links with India, "We need better aviation capacity and more flights between London and India to ensure we are an open and welcoming city for Indians.

“London needs to have a four-runway hub airport, along the lines that I saw in several Indian cities, like Hyderabad, during my visit last year. Frankly, London has some catching up to do.”

Speaking about visas and the growing IndoBritish economic ties Boris Johnson said "We already have same-day

Boris Johnson addressing the audience

Waris Hussein speaking about tv productions

The Mayor of London with Rupanjana Dutta (Associate Editor, Asian Voice) and Kamal Rao (News Editor, Gujarat Samachar)

Journalists Hassan Suroor, Shrabani Basu and Aditi Khanna

visas for business people and are keen to show our enthusiasm for greater number of Indian professionals coming to London.

The city has a good image in the mind of Indians and we are doing all we can to make it even easier and pleasant.”

He also spoke about immigration and the ease of student visa, and described himself as the "first and only mayor of London with real live rela-

tives in India", in reference to his half-Indian wife Marina Wheeler. Johnson made an Indian visit in November, 2012, where he was also seen hobnobbing with the Bollywood stars.

"The mission did deliver for London as loads of very exciting deals were struck, as many as 15, with the prospect of around 1,000 jobs.

Simultaneously, we were also able to help London firms pursue contacts and

HE Dr Jaimini Bhagwati, Indian High Commissioner speaking to the IJA guests

build partnerships in India," he said.

In his usual witty manner, Johnson recalled his first vision of a Jaguar on the roads in India and referred to the Tata Motors' acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover as a prime example of the "synchresis" in the India-UK relationship.

"Tata now makes as much in profit as it cost it to buy JLR. It is an amazing testament to the IndiaUK relationship that an old great motoring mark from Britain was revived by a great Indian corporation," he said.

The event was attended by the Indian High Commissioner HE Dr Jaimini Bhagwati and wife Mrs Rita Bhagwati, the new Press and Information Counsellor of Indian High Commission Prashant Pise, Waris Hussein, the first ever director of television serial, Doctor Who, community and business leaders like Dr Rami Ranger, entrepreneurs like Prakash Lohia (Chairman, Indorama), Atul Pathak (Managing Director, APPT Corporation), cross-party representations from British Indian peers and MPs, including Lord Swraj and Lady Aruna Paul, Lady Mohini Noon, Tory MPs Alok Sharma, Paul Uppal, Shailesh Vara and Labour MP Seema Malhotra. photo courtesy: Ukasiaonline.com

HereandNow365/1747/ASV3/PAT

Lord Ahmed resigns from the Labour party

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Hindus demand prior and full consultation regarding Caste Legislation During a discussion on Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Bill on 4 April, the 41st Bishop of Oxford Lord Harries of Pentegarth proposed an amendment to the unrelated E&RR Bill, which the House of Lords passed, that "caste" would be included as an aspect of "race" in the Equality Act 2010 (in other words, discrimination on the basis of caste should be outlawed).

The Government opposed the move, saying it was a small problem, focused on pockets of the community, and that it would rather educate than legislate. The Government was defeated by a majority of 103. In the House of Commons on 16 April, the Government won by a majority of 64 and referred it back to the Lords, where it was debated on 22 April, now passing with a majority of 13.

It was tabled the very next day at the Commons for a final reading. Vince Cable announced a Government u-turn and the legislation was passed.

Vivek Sharma-AHO representative giving a speech on caste discrimination

people who said they had suffered caste discrimination or harassment, of which 9 were not used as case studies, and with others largely outside Hindu communities. The report stated" it is impossible to identify caste discrimination with absolute certainty based on the statement of the person who feels they have suffered such discrimination". Most of the cases identified were Jatt Sikh.

What's the background to this?

What did Hindu organisations argue?

When the Equality Act 2010 came intro force on 1 October 2010, it retained the power to add "caste" at a later date. The then Government commissioned a study from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NEISR) on 16 December 2010 to look into the issue.

NEISR interviewed 32

Most Hindu organisations acknowledged that some caste discrimination existed, but that it was reducing over time and focused in pockets. They argued therefore that targeted education programmes would be better than legislation. The arguments put forward were: the enforcement of such legislation would be diffi-

cult, because in modern Britain, young Hindus don't care about their caste as much, and that it is a changing concept loosely defined on heritage; the legislation did not include a definition of what "caste" was; this may lead to a significant dispute and litigation burden for companies; that the existing Race Discrimination Act adequately deals with the issue; and that no research had been done as to the extent and severity of the discrimination.

The Government did a U-turn on its position Equalities minister Jo Swinson told MPs:"This is an issue that is contained in the Hindu and Sikh communities. That's why we are working with those communities to address these problems."

She said: "Very strong views have been expressed

in the Lords on this matter and in light of those views we have reconsidered our position and agreed to introduce caste-related legislation." Some Lords, including Lord Singh and Baroness Flather, made comments that many Hindus saw as inflammatory and anti-Hindu. A video, produced by the National Council of Hindu Temples (NCHT) on YouTube, that contained a summary of some of these comments, received over 11,000 views in just a few weeks.

What's next?

The AHO held a meeting at the BAPS Swaminarayan School in Neasden on Wednesday 8 May where over 100 community organisations took part in a briefing session about what the Hindu community should do next. In particular: A. The Hindu community must communicate to the Government that we need a well thought-out consultation process that is 1-2 years in length and must involve the Hindu community.

Without this, Hindus the is Government will be unable to define "caste" properly and Hindus, especially Hindu businesses, may be severely disadvantaged.

The Government has not confirmed how long the consultation process is expected to be.

B. Over the next two months, the Date:

/

/ 2013

Dear ........................................................................... (MP)

Re: Concerns over the consultation process for Caste Discrimination legislation I understand the Government has voted to bring forward legislation that will have the effect of including caste within the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010.

As a community leader I am deeply concerned at this as I believe this may have an extremely negative impact on communities living within the UK - not only Hindu but others also.

I think "caste" is really difficult to define. There are thousands of castes, sub-castes, clans, tribes and other sub-groups in India, protected by several pieces of legislation, including Articles 16, 23, 24, 44 of the Indian Constitution, and the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989, the Backward Classes Act 1993 and others. Yet, all of this legislation has led to an entrenchment of caste-based discrimination and has not alleviated it.

The research the government has relied upon to evidence caste discrimination in this country was biased and unrepresentative. The NIESR research only evidenced 23 cases, all of which were unverified in that the victim’s account was used with further investigation. Forming legislation based on so few untested cases is not wise.

Further research urgently needs to be carried out which is independent, robust and large scale.

Caste-based discrimination may exist in the UK - and where it does it is heart-breaking - but I, and many other Hindus, think that many politicians and the pro-legislation campaign has branded this as a "Hindu problem". This is unfair and unacceptable for the Hindu community and based on a lack of evidence.

Please work together with the Constituent Name:_____________________________________________ Hindu community to make sure Email Address:________________________________________________ our concerns have been answered and we do not continue to feel like Address:_____________________________________________________ politicians are acting against our interests. This is best done through ____________________________________________________________ engaging us in proper research, grassroots consultation and a prop- ________________________________Post Code:___________________ er time period for consultation of For updates please visit www.mycasteishindu.org between 1 and 2 years.

Email this form to Kamal Rao at kamal.rao@abplgroup.com or fax it to Thank yo u fo r read ing this 020 7749 4081 or post it to Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, mai l an d I lo ok forward t o London N1 6HW for further action. yo ur respon se.

MPs. The Minister has the power to review the implication of this legislation in 5 years time with a power to repel this section, although the details of this are uncertain.

Dimpi Dattani giving a speech to the audience

Government Equalities Office (GEO) would like to hear from interested parties about their desire to be consulted and about their areas of concern.

Therefore it is crucial that all Hindus send petition letters to their respective

For that reason Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar are requesting their readers and friends to sign the enclosed petition form and email it to Kamal Rao at kamal.rao@abplgroup.co m or fax it to 020 7749 4081 or post it to Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW for further action.

The petition will be sorted out for the respective MPs and will be forwarded to them by the AHO.

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Rajendra Bajgain - the Politician and Businessman with an Unmatchable Contact Book Rajendra Bajgain, 40, is the Managing Director of Gurkha Encounters Adventure and Ecotravel, an international expedition and travel company based in Nepal, and the Team Leader for Himalaya Adventure Company, based in the UK. He has one of the best contact books I know, with the ability to call in favours and connect with some of the most important people around the world.

Born into a farming family in hilly Gorkha, two of Rajendra’s character traits were evident early on. After he fell into the local Daraudi River and nearly drowned, he resolved to teach himself to swim in the fast flowing waters. He succeeded within two weeks and put his skill to good use by going on to rescue others too.

This set a trend for helping people throughout his life, one reason for him eventually deciding to join the Nepali Congress Party and enter mainstream politics. A member of the

Rajendra Bajgain

working committee at large, Rajendra is hotly tipped to win a seat in the next general election and become an MP. Politics and business go hand in hand for Rajendra. He arrived in Kathmandu with just 370 Nepalese rupees in his pocket determined to enter the travel industry, watched the having trekking tourists that passed through his village as a child. He worked his way up through the industry and has now been in it

for 15 years. One of his companies, Gurkha Encounters, is known for its top quality guides and large range of expeditions all over Nepal; to the Everest region and to hidden Himalayan valleys.

Rajendra says that 45,000 British tourists come to Nepal every year.

Many are trekkers and climbers. “They want to get to Everest base camp, it’s very important for them.” The adventurous like heliskiing, paragliding and skydiving in Nepal.

His company conducts rigorous risk assessments.

His guides are the top tier license holders graduating from the training centre that the Government of Nepal runs. He said, “Britain and Nepal have long standing bilateral diplomatic relations and the British have maintained their high level of interest in Nepal.”

Rajendra is much in demand with royal families. Those who have trekked with Gurkha Emcounters include HRH Crown Prince Dipendra.

Rajendra has provided a

consultancy to HRH Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands through the Tribhuwan Sadan Royal Palace of Nepal, and HRH Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, a billionaire.

HRH Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud was thought to be considering investing in Nepal and conveyed this message to Nepal’s ambassador to Riyadh, Rajendra told me.

“The Prince was also,” Rajendra said, “interested in an honorary doctorate from a Nepali university and perhaps a medal or decoration being awarded to him. In fact, nothing had been authorised and there was a tricky situation as the Prince was coming to Nepal.” Prince

Saudi Prince was duly honoured.

So did Prince Al Waleed respond with a thank you and did he give anything to Nepal? “To date, there has been neither a thank you nor any

Rajendra Bajgain’s mission is to help people and to serve his country investment,” Rajendra told me, ruefully.

Rajendra was in correspondence with Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton for Prince Harry over a Gurkha Marathon that was designed to raise awareness of the living conditions of the Nepalese people when he invited

Cabinet Meeting in EBC

Kingdom Al Waleed’s Holding secretary contacted Rajendra Bajgain for help. Rajendra spoke to the Deputy Prime Minister and the former PM of Nepal, and the

the young prince to be a patron. Prince Harry was preoccupied with his army pilot training at the time but was interested to learn about a future date for the Gurkha Marathon from

9

Rajendra.

Gurkha Encounters hopes he will visit one day.

Rajendra has used his contact book to help many people in his country and round the world, including international journalists.

One villager in a remote place called Deurali, Bhim Kumari Gurung, gave birth but in the process lost a lot of blood. Deurali is surrounded by bush, with no road access for rescue vehicles.

Kumari Bhim Gurung’s husband is a Nepali army trooper and contacted his army seniors, his MP and a neighbouring MP; all refused to offer any support.

One of Private Gurung’s relations knew Gurkha about Encounters and Rajendra Bajgain.

Rajendra had performed rescue missions to outlying villages in the past. Rajendra Bajgain spoke to a military chief he knew and decided to pay for a helicopter, so the military chief sent an army helicopter to Kathmandu, Rajendra Bajgain rushed to the heliport and within 20 minutes he was airborne. Bhim Kumari Gurung was stretchered onto the aircraft and was soon recovering in hospital after being transfused with five pints of blood.

Rajendra Bajgain’s mission is to help people and to serve his country.

10

Your Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Proud to be British

All Mouth and No Trousers

Fear of safety in numbers

While I am great admirer of Rameshbhai’s contribution to AV, I beg to differ from his viewpoint from time to time. We the East African Asians have no divided loyalty, even if some of us may hold OCI. Thinking to the contrary would be worrisome situation.

India may be our motherland but Britain is our karmabhumi. There is no if or but when it comes to displaying our loyalty and India will come a poor second if we are forced to choose, if there is a conflict of interest based on genuine ground.

Reasons most of us left Bharat are that we believe India’s inner core is raptured, that we will have better opportunities in West. It has been proved right, as so many Indians occupy such high positions, being CEOs of multinational companies.

This is particularly appropriate in US where most Indians are doctors, scientists, engineers and Indians’ contribution to the intellectual arena far outweighs its tiny population, any other minorities, including Jewish who were until recently cram and darling of academia’s.

His assumption that corruption is passing phase is wishful thinking. As long as Nehru dynasty and Congress rules India, corruption will never ebb.

The headline in last week’s AV, “Yet another scam rocks UPA government” is the reality.

It is appreciative to be patriotic from long distance but being gullible, turning blind eye to the ills of corruption, inequality, vote bank politics and appeasement will be detrimental for the good of our motherland.

A fresh attempt to curb immigration was the centre piece of the government’s planned new laws, set out by the Queen at the State Opening of Parliament. In her speech, she outlined the Government’s legislative programme for the coming year. Among the measures she announced to tackle immigration, there would be bigger fines for employers who use illegal labour. How would these flagship policies on immigration affect the many South Asian women who come here on six months’ student or visitors’ visa and stay put working as domestic help for next to nothing wages? Also, employers who take on illegal migrants would be targeted. So who would risk employing them?

On a different note, I take exception to Mr Jhalla’s manipulation of my words to suggest that I was “bashing” India.

Far from it. All I was trying to convey is that because of uneven distribution and mismanagement of scarce resources, we could not prosper in our own motherland and had to seek greener pastures elsewhere. Also, what he says totally contradicts Mr C B Patel’s comment in FBI – last week’s ABPL’s free gift to its readers - that “Asians have been doing much better here in the UK than their compatriots in their ancestral homes”. I also concur with CB bhai’s statement that “the synergy between our new home and old values has a brilliant future.” If Mr Jhalla thinks India has so much to offer, what is stopping him from packing his bags?

CB in his column came to the defence of the Black and Asian communities.

In London at least four councils such as Brent, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Hackney the British white population is less than half the population. In those areas the traditional British culture and tradition has completely disappeared. If one goes to areas like Tooting Beck where a mosque and and Islamic school, the way in which the men and women dress up look as if you are in an Islamic country and there is no sign of Britishness.

Most of the shops are owned by Black and Ethnic minorities. In some areas where Muslims are in large numbers they have implemented sharia law and Muslims tend to have large families.

Unemployment in areas where Blacks and Muslims live is very high. This may be due to lack of interest in education.

More than 40 per cent of Blacks are single parents . Most of the Bangladeshis and Pakistanis working in restaurants or as taxi drivers claim social security benefit since they work minimum number of hours which is less than 20 hours. Black and Ethnic Minorities drain the British resources by having large families and claiming social security benefits like in Tower Hamlets. Most of the Asian women do not speak English and there is no desire on their part to learn even after living in this country for three generations.

The ‘Asian Voice’ reporter should get under the right of information of act and unveil the unemployment figures and the number who claim benefit in London councils where Blacks and Muslims live and you may come with shocking figures.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

Caste discrimination Dr. Naginbhai Patel is wrong to denigrate India, Hindu religion and Hindus in general with regards to caste issue in Britain which is about introduction of caste clause in current discrimination act.

Amendment has nothing to do with India, religion, unity and divisiveness of Hindus. He should not abuse exoteric Hindu gods, and religion but look at the esoteric values that govern not only humanity but whole manifest, un manifest macro/ microcosm. Hinduism is propagating these values which are accepted globally. Semitic religions teach that life ends at death to wake up on dooms day/kayamat. Hinduism is the only religion that teaches continuum of life via portals of death and birth.

Please note that even though British society appears casteless and classless, invisible undercurrent of discriminatory attitude exists on sex, ethnicity, religious, colour, status etc basis. Therefore anti discriminatory act is enacted.

As he is living in apparently caste less and classless Britain, let me ask whether he treats his patients on caste basis; or whether his patients ask his caste before registering as his patient. Does he or his children ask caste of his friends and vice versa. Does he select his shopping venue or utility or service provider on caste

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford basis? Why does he drag India’s problems into UK? But targeting Hindus a slur and thin end of wedge to resurrect ghost of caste in Britain. Hindus are commendably united and correct to express anguish at this slur. Hindus have successfully integrated among themselves and with host nation.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Death of Sarabjit Singh It is interesting to read the article in Asian Voice regarding the brutal and barbaric death of Sarabjit Singh.

My condolences go out to the family of Sarabjit Singh and hope they get the strength to go through this very difficult time.

Sarabjit Singh has been described as the “brave son of India”, what did the Indian Government and the ruling Congress Party do to get him released from prison? Nothing, because it was not in their interest to do so. It is suggested and known that Pakistan breeds terrorism and harbours terrorists, yet the Congress Party choose not to take any action.

It makes me wonder if the Congress Party is more interested in protecting the Pakistani Citizens then looks after it’s own citizens.

The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email Singh Badal offers financial aid to the family and government jobs for Sarabjit’s daughters. Is this what it takes to offer such aid or help to the family? What efforts were made to release Sarabjit from jail? This is just another political stunt amongst the wide media coverage and stir that has been caused by his death.

This is just like another storm that will pass over and everything will be forgotten.

I do not believe Congress Party is capable of handling such situations and it is time for the BJP to take control of the country and give the country and it’s people what they deserve. We have Narendra Modi the Chief Minister of Gujarat who will be the next Prime Minister of India and will bring the much needed changes.

Kishore Shingadia Via Email

Correction On 4th May issue in the letter of Mr R N Patel, the last line of the letter should have read as "Mr Modi has abided truthfully" instead of "Mr Modi has abated truthfully"

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Monarchy, Parliament, Civil Society, Landed Gentry and Working Class Let us turn the clock back 798 years.

June 1215 Runnymede: rebellious barons imposed Magna Carta [The “Great Charter”] on King John of England, designed to prohibit arbitrary royal acts by declaring a body of defined law and custom comprising 63 clauses.

1649: Charles I, reigned 23 years, executed, aged 48.

December 1688: James II, reigned 3 years: reign ended with flight from kingdom. Parliament’s powers rising: Monarch’s powers waning.

17th century: British white settlement and conquest in North America and the Caribbean.

1757-1857: extensive conquest of India; acquisition of islands, trading posts and strategic positions from Aden to Hong Kong; white settlement in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Cape in South Africa.

19th century: Britain becomes greatest industrial and commercial power— territories that Britain did not rule but fell under her influence: dependant territories in Africa; parts of South America, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and China. After WWI, Britain could not control such an extensive empire. For 300 years, Britain had enjoyed world sea power, kept France and Germany at bay; however, it gave way to U S A to become the new world power.

Britain was at its best when it was closely linked to its Empire and in the last century as a junior partner with USA. 2013: Britain is 23rd in U. N. human index classification. Its long future is to be a key member of the Euro currency block of 17 advanced nations.

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email

No end to barbarism I am in New York now and was in Coventry weeks back whereby I happened to read your “Asian Voice” of 27th April, 2013 and I must appreciate your clean views about India which was once called Bharatmata.

When I switch on news on television channel these days I know that I will see a new corruption aired and know in advance how Congress will try all their shrewd methods to cloud same. This very well clarifies that they are the ones who are the main culprits.

Rapes have become very normal events which is protected by the police.

We have seen that actions over all the rapes are pending with no result and no action.

It is a shame that Congress despite all the scandals are not ready to step down and are fighting all opposition to try coming back in election.

Congress is the one who has brought shame to India.

Devdutt Dave Via Email

EducAtion/council Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Hilton Worldwide creates jobs for youths Hilton Worldwide has announced the creation of up to 300 work placement opportunities a year at its hotels across the UK, for school pupils to gain valuable skills and experience in the world of work. The news comes during the company’s biggest ever Europe wide careers campaign, Careers@ HiltonLive, which will see almost 200 Hilton Worldwide hotels hosting over 320 careers events for an estimated 20,000 young people.

The newly launched placements will be for one to two weeks work experience and will offer young people aged between 14 and 18 years old a realistic view of the world of work and the routes into it through a structured programme of activities. The scheme will give young people the chance to learn about different areas of the business and, more generally, get an understanding of the employa-

bility and interpersonal skills that are important for any career.

Hilton Worldwide unveiled the scheme at The Big Conversation for Hospitality jobs event, held at Hilton Liverpool, where young people who have already taken part in work experience placements told delegates how it had transformed their lives.

The company is also calling on other businesses to offer similar opportunities, to help the socalled “lost generation” gain the vital skills needed to make the transition from school to the work place. More than one in five 16 to 24 year-olds are out of work, official figures show, with research showing a lack of access to work skills and experience is a major barrier to employment for many young people.

The company will also be rolling out the programme to make it avail-

able to young people who have already left school and are in employment, but may be considering a new career, as well as those who have left school but are not in education, employment or training (Neet), which is an estimated 153,000 of 16 to 18 year olds Careers@HiltonLive follows the launch earlier this year of a white paper

by Hilton Worldwide and the International Youth Foundation which highlights solutions to youth joblessness that the global hospitality sector is uniquely positioned to provide. Titled Creating Opportunities for Youth in Hospitality, it found that the travel and tourism sector, which employs 255 million people globally, is expected to generate 73 million new jobs by 2022 and therefore provides an important solution to the issues being faced by young people today.

Bright ideas for business This summer will see a series of free events held in Stratford bringing together some of the most influential, inspiring and charismatic people in the UK to share their words of wisdom.

The first event in this year's series kicks off with "Small Business, Big Enterprise" which takes place on Tuesday 28 May at Stratford Circus and features some of the country's most prolific business people.

The event will feature a panel of experts sharing tips on how they made their millions as well as a question and answer session.

Lord Gulam Noon: From a sweet shop in Mumbai to a high street near you, the Curry King of Britain, Lord Noon, is a multimillionaire with a unique story to share.

His businesses employ thousands of people in the UK. As well as one of the country's leading business tycoons, he is a trustee o Maimonides Foundation.

Lord Gulam Noon

In November 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of East London, where this year he was made chancellor.

Gill Fielding: Fielding started life in East London and is now a self made millionaire. She is a director on the board of an ethical trust and an advisor to the Inland Revenue on tax free savings.

She has also made appearances on the 'Secret Millionaire', a business expert on The Apprentice - You're Fired show, as well as a financial commentator for the BBC, ITV and

CBNC and slots in national newspapers and financial magazines. Her current positions include being a financial expert for the BBC and hosting a monthly phone in for BBC radio.

René Carayol: Carayol's experience spans both blue chip companies and public sector organisations. The former nonexecutive director of the Inland Revenue started his career with Marks and Spencer in 1982 and rose through the ranks to become an executive, before being headhunted

by Pepsi Co in 1992.

After a stint on the board of directors at Pizza Hut, he joined IPC Electric as managing director. As well as taking the business from concept to acquisition by AOL Time Warner, he was the first black person and first IT director to sit on the IPC board. In recognition of his outstanding service to the business community, René was awarded an MBE in 2004.

A cause for robotics celebration Robots did battle at Middlesex University in April when the national final of a robotics competition came to the campus in Hendon and saw two Middlesex teams take the top spots.

Teams of students taking part UK finals of the ‘Eurobot’ competition were tasked with designing, building and programming robots to compete against others. Each team had to programme their robots to complete a number of birthday celebration related tasks such as opening presents and blowing up balloons.

Design Engineering students from Middlesex University competed against students from Imperial College, London, in the contest open to young people from across the UK. Middlesex University students John Peerless and Ravi Ravi scooped first place, while Middlesex’s Calum Knott and Zelbane Abdelati came second with Imperial College, London in third place.

The top three teams won a place at the international finals that were held in La Ferte Bernard,

Ravi Ravi and his robot

France, from 9 May to 12 May 2013, where they pitted against the best teams from across the globe.

Middlesex University Technical Tutor Michael Heeney said: “All of the students showed passion and determination to build the best possible robot for the competition.

All of the teams worked incredibly hard to design and build not only a working robot for the competition, but also a strategy to take them to the World Finals. I’m delighted about the Middlesex win and particularly for Ravi who wanted to defend his title from last year, after scooping top prize in the 2012 UK final.”

Winning student Ravi

Ravi from Hendon, London, said: “I felt a lot more pressure this year as I really wanted to retain the UK crown. But I’m so happy to have won again.

I’m proud to be representing the University at an international level and I’m confident about our chances at the global competition.”

Student Zelbane Abdelati who also came second in the competition said: “We entered the competition in 2012 and it was great fun, so we knew the type of things to expect this year. However, we’ve been completing the project on top of our normal work, so it’s been really busy with some very long days spent on our robot.”

Top swimming star comes to Enfield Promising young swimmers are being given the opportunity to train with one of Britain’s greatest sport stars this month as Mark Foster’s Swimming Academy sets up camp at Southbury Leisure Centre. The Swim Camp will take place on 28 May, and is open to 11 to 18 year olds who are keen to improve their swimming technique and learn from some of the best swimmers in the country.

As well as six times world champion, Mark Foster, swimmers will also be coached by backstroke world champion, Katy Sexton and have access to advice and training tips from former international swimmers and sports scientists. The camp will focus on the latest land training theories, flexibili-

ty and core training, with lectures on race preparation, using stroke drills and technique points to increase speed and generate faster race times.

Places for the Swim Camp are limited to 60 so will need to be booked in advance through http://www.mfsa.co.uk/ or call 07784 518922.s

Extra study space for students Exam time is just around the corner, and Harrow Council is arranging for extra study spaces to be available for those who will be revising during the exam period.

The extra spaces for students will be available in Byron Hall at Harrow Leisure Centre and will be opened in addition to the workspace already provided in the libraries throughout the borough.

This will be available on the following dates: l 15th and 16th May 2013, 10am - 5pm l 22nd and 23rd May 2013, 10am - 5pm l 30th and 31st May 2013, 10am – 5pm Councillor Thaya Idaikkadar, Leader of Harrow Council, said: “I understand that the exam period can be a stressful time for our young people, but by providing extra study spaces for them, we can take a little bit of that stress and worry away by guaranteeing them a quiet comfortable space to revise in. I would like to wish all of our pupils good luck for their exams.”

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12

Media Watch

Better late than never. Pawan Kumar Bansal, India’s Railway Minister until the weekend, and his colleague, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, tendered their resignations to President Pranab Mukherjee on the same day in what amounted to an unceremonious sacking. Each man was tainted by corruption charges, each had become a liability to the government. With this out of the way important legislation such as the Food Security Bill can now be discussed in Parliament, where chaos has reigned.

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 18th May 2013

played hardball, an apt American metaphor. Its capable Ambassador in Beijing, Jaishankar, Subrahmaniam according to one Indian newspaper report, had told the Chinese Foreign Office that the lack of agreement on the issue could imperil the visits of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to China and Prime Minister Li Keqiang to India (Times of India, Hindu May 7)

Honouring courage and valour

No quid pro quo

Ashwani Kumar

Sen’s lament Nobel laureate Amartya Sen deplored the traducing of democratic norms. Participating in a panel discussion in Delhi, Professor Sen said the political parties responsible for blocking discussions in the House would have to answer for their conduct. He said: “The practice of democracy is to have arguments….” He was for strengthening the bill’s provisions, As did the NGO Right to Food Campaign, which advocates

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen

amendments to make the legislation more relevant to need.

Professor Sen opined that it would be sad if the bill was passed with an “ordinance” rather than through debate and consultation, but if this was the only way open for such legislation to go through, “I’d rather have this bill.” As to the bill itself, it guarantees 5 kg foodgrain to an individual or 35 kg foodgrain per household per month.

Jean Dreze, the development economist who co-authored a book on the subject with Amartya Sen, said: “The fate of this bill is so fragile, I’m hoping it gets passed with a few amendments. We need to take a realistic view. If we ask for significant improvements, there may be a risk of getting nothing.”

(Telegraph, Mint May 7,8)

Pawan Kumar Bansal

Karnataka poll message The Karnataka State Assembly election results conformed broadly to the predictions of pollsters. The Congress Party’s travails at the centre, with Coalgate and other scams besmirching its record, was no hindrance to an outstanding triumph. The State’s ruling BJP took a heavy beating. In a 233member chamber Congress won a clear majority with 121 seats, with the BJP joint second with the JSD, each with 40 seats.

This time round the BJP lost 40 seats, while the JSD gained 12.

Congress MLAs in a secret ballot voted Siddaramaiah as Karnataka’s new chief minister.

The lack of articulate policies plus endemic factionalism took their toll: BJP was bruised, battered and trashed. If the Assembly trends continue into next year’s parliamentary election, the BJP is projected to win two seats of the 28 to be contested in Karnataka, with Congress winning a projected 22 seats and the Samajwadi Dal taking four. The Indian electorate is more literate, better educated and deserves greater respect with reasoned argument instead of the rancid slogans and shibboleths redolent of a largely discredited past. This is a future that won’t work (Hindu, Times of India, Mint May 8-10)

Ladakh standoff ends Sino-India ties took a step towards normalcy when a Chinese Army unit that had encamped in the vicinity of the Indian Army outpost at Daulat Beg Oldi withdrew almost as suddenly as it had appeared.

Both sides reaffirmed their adherence to the April 15 line of control. A standoff that had defied three flag meetings between the local officers for three weeks and set off alarm bells in India (there was less heat in China) had put New Delhi under considerable pressure and, consequently, placed the wider Sino-Indian relationship under significant strain.

India, it would appear,

Stories of a quid pro disseminated by certain sections of the Indian media were rebutted by a highly placed source in Delhi, who referred somewhat contemptuously to the rumour mongers as people “not in the loop.”

A tin roof over a temporary shelter was the sum of India’s “withdrawal,” said the source.

Common sense had prevailed, much to India’s satisfaction. But there was no gloating, as there is serious business ahead for both countries. With the status quo restored, the [Indian] Cabinet Committee on Security will consider a response to a Chinese suggestion for a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement.

China’s broader perception A thoughtful analysis by the Hindu’s Beijing Correspondent Ananth Krishnan pinpointed China’s broader concerns about its fraught relationship with Japan and its uneasy ties with South East Asian powers such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Borneo, all of whom have maritime disputes with Beijing in the East China Sea and South China Sea respectively. Han Hua, a South Asian scholar at Peking University and Director of its Center for Arms Control and Disarmament told the Global Times, a strongly nationalist organ of China’s Communist Party, that in this troubled context, it was important that ties with India didn’t spiral out of control.

Major Anup Joseph Manjali receiving the Kirti Chakra medal from President Pranab Mukherjee

About a fortnight ago a group of brave men, who had placed their lives on the line in defence of India, were awarded medals by President Pranab Mukherjee on behalf of a grateful nation. Major Anup Joseph Manjali received the second highest award – the Kirti Chakra - for gallantry in entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. This will be a boon for land-locked Afghanistan.

Kabul will no longer be exclusively reliant on Pakistan’s port city Karachi for access to the sea. Iran, Afghanistan and India will thus cement an economic and political partnership, more so, as Chabahar is a mere 76 kilometres from Gwadar, the port Pakistan has leased to China. A further string to India’s bow is India’s plan to develop transit rail links to the Caspian Sea and beyond to Russia. India is now fully joined in the new Great Game

peacetime. In an act of “raw courage,” said the citation, he led the charge against terrorists from across the border as they sought to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir. Twelve other soldiers, some posthumously, were awarded the Surya Chakra (Hindu April 28).

N.G.Ranga Agricultural University Research Station in Andhra Pradesh have developed two paddy seed varieties, which can grow in saline soil. It took a good 12 years to develop the two seed varieties in question, but the long wait of farmers who stand to benefit has been well worth the time and effort. The Principal Scientist T.Anuradha said the crop yield had increased significantly in a non-friendly environment. But farmers would also be guaranteed a higher yield should they choose to plant in friendly soil (Hindu May 9)

Convergence of views

Car exports balance home deficit

Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid, who had visited Kazakhstan and Russia to firm up India’s relationships with key players in Central Asia, was in Tehran for high level talks with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi. Addressing a press

Indian auto exports to Africa and West Asia during the last six months have covered the decline in demand at home. The export volumes were led by companies focusing on non-European markets such as Algeria, South Africa, Mexico, Columbia,

Stable relations with India “Bilateral ties were tense from 2006-10 due to rows over the eastern sector of the China-India border, but have warmed up since then, partly because of rising disputes with China’s neighbours to the east as a result of the US pivot in Asia,” [policy] said Madame Han. The new Chinese leadership wanted a stable relationship with India. “As emerging powers, the two sides both face pressures from the West and have the will to cooperate on a wide range of global issues. They both want stability and prioritize economic development and don’t want to clash with each other,” she explained (Hindu May 8)

India to develop Iran port In a move of considerable commercial and geopolitical significance India has agreed to partner Iran in the development of Chabahar, a port situated at the

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in Tehran with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

conference with Mr Salehi at his side, Mr Khurshid said: “The convergence of views between India and Iran goes beyond the ambit of bilateral relations and extends to the regional and international sphere as well. The Chabahar port project is one such area which reflects our commitment to the stability and peace of Afghanistan.” (Hindu May 5)

New varieties of paddy Two scientists at the

Acharya

Australia, Lebanon and Israel which accounted for70 per cent of Indian shipments abroad.

Despite the slowing domestic demand, Hyundai’s plant in Tamil Nadu, for example, is operating at full capacity, thanks to robust demand in foreign markets, accounting for 40 per cent of total production.

Homogenization enables carmakers to churn out as many new models as they can from existing platforms to save on costs and reduce the lead time for the products (Mint May 9).

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

13

The Benefits Cap Explained: What you can do about it

Politics Of Taxation & Being ‘Whiter than White’ As a Barrister and Asset Manager it was common in the industry to have BVI or Cayman based fund or investment companies. I was reminded by a journalist last week just how even common business practices in the legal and financial services industry have changed since the credit crunch; such that even Cayman Island Hedge Funds are now sneered at.

I was also reminded that mischief is easy to make through innuendo and that if you have a public profile and want to represent your community, you not only have to do the right thing (which is easy) but be seen to go out of your way and be ‘whiter than white’ to do the right thing (by not giving ammunition to mischievous minds).

So if you come from financial services like me and have had BVI companies – how do you change with the times in the new era of taxation?

First, of course don’t have any hidden assets, bank accounts – that’s the easy one – that’s just plain illegal. And it goes without saying even in financial services that is not acceptable. (Of course the innuendo that you have a BVI or Cayman or other offshore company – and so must by definition be a tax-dodging billionaire child murder will stay with you).

Second, make your overseas company UK tax resident by having its management and control in the UK (as I have always done). This keeps you morally correct in the new era of tax morality.

Third, so why have an overseas company – well if you set it up pre-credit crunch when it was the normal business practice in investments and asset management – then you have to switch to UK tax residence – as mine has been from day one anyway.

Fourth, avoid jurisdictions which whilst in the legal and financial world have always been acceptable, have suddenly become unacceptable (eg BVI, Cayman, Jersey, Isle of Man). This will avoid you falling foul of false innuendo. This is going to be difficult if you are in financial services.

Fifth always keep the relevant Government bodies informed, eg UKTI, FSA (as I have always done).

Sixth gain no tax advantage from tax mitigation, efficiency, reduction unless like a SIPP, or ISA, Pension it is specifically mandated by the Government (I never have had tax advantage from overseas company shareholdings).

Seventh be UK tax resident, receiving all income in the UK, and none off-shore, or if it is necessarily offshore, volunteer to pay tax in the UK even if you don’t have to.

Finally, never complain, you are lucky that your education and talent has got you a profile worth attacking. But remember, because you represent your community, you must always not only do the right thing, but be seen to do the right thing, even at personal expense.

In summary, you have done nothing morally wrong if you have gained no tax benefit from an overseas holding by always keeping it UK tax resident. Then, you are ‘whiter than white’ and remove ammunition from your adversaries.

But of course the spin is 'Indian on overseas secret list' - the false innuendo is very disturbing emotionally as you can imagine - and what hurts is an innuendo.

Throw in the word ‘tax haven’ and it all starts sounding very sexy. But that is the new politics of taxation and it makes for good stories.

Secret admiration for Pandit Shankar 'unveiled' A hand written note on the letter head of Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel from 1950s by Britain's best known musical maestro about one of India's greatest music geniuses has for the first time been 'unveiled'.

Curators sifting through thousands of objects belonging to Britain's musical geniuses — composer Benjamin Britten and opera singer Peter Pears have come across an ink written page in their private diaries where the duo recalls their experience of having heard Pandit Ravi Shankar perform live, an Indian newspaper has reported Britten and Pears had visited India in the early

The coalition government has made a number of changes to the benefits system and perhaps the most drastic change is the so“Benefits Daniel Anderson called Cap”. The Benefits Cap is aimed at limiting the total amount of benefits that some households can receive and is based on the premise that those who are in work will never be worse off than those who remain solely on benefits.

The maximum amount of benefits a household can receive that is subject to the Benefits Cap is £500 per week for lone parents or if you have a partner; and £350 per week for single persons.

Benefits which are included in the Benefits Cap are exclusively: Jobseeker’s Allowance; Income Support; Employment and Support Allowance; Child Benefit; Child Tax Credits; Housing Benefit; Carer’s Allowance; Incapacity Benefit; Maternity Allowance; Bereavement Allowance; Guardian’s Allowance and Severe disablement Allowance.

Those who are living in the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Enfield and Haringey are already subject to the Benefits Cap. As the Benefits Cap will apply to households across the whole of the UK by the end of September 2013, it is important to discover if you will be subject to the Benefits Cap and how it could affect you. If the total amount of benefits a household was receiving exceeds the Benefit Cap then the local authority will reduce the Housing Benefit payments to align this with the Benefit cap. However, localised support for council tax (what was previously Council Tax Benefit); Working Tax Credits; Bereavement payments; Free school meals; State Pension Credit; Statutory adoption pay; Statutory sick pay and Funeral payments are not included within this £500 or £350 per week benefits cap.

If your household is or likely to be subject to the Benefits Cap – then one option is to consider if you are exempt.

Households will be exempt from the Benefits Cap whilst they receive either

Disability Living Allowance (or Personal Independence Payment when it comes into effect); Attendance Allowance; Employment and Support Allowance at the Support Component Rate; Working Tax Credits; War Widow’s Pension or War Disablement Pension/Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. Households should consider if they are getting the relevant Disability Benefits and possibly look to work more hours so as to maximise Working Tax Credits received. A very helpful online benefits cap calculator which enables one to see how a household on particular benefits will be affected can be seen at www.gov.uk/benefit-cap.

An alternative solution that a household will have is to relocate to a cheaper property where the rent is lower; a difficult task for many in light of the current drastic shortage in affordable housing. Further to exemptions, applications for Discretionary Housing Payments can be made to the local authority. There is no entitlement to Discretionary Housing Payments and upon receipt of an application the local authority has an inherent discretion to decide whether to meet the household’s reduced Housing Benefit payments, by how much and for how long. The coalition government has allocated a £100 million fund for Discretionary Housing Payments to help those households that will be affected by these changes. All should be warned though that applying for Discretionary Housing Payments is likely to be a short-term solution as there are currently no plans for these funds to be replaced once utilised and therefore such applications should be made promptly.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ Welfare Benefits Team advises and assists on all issues in relation to the Benefits Cap from exploring whether an exemption applies to drafting Discretionary Housing Payment applications. Duncan Lewis also has a dedicated Housing Law department that assists clients with all housing issues from homelessness matters, resolving rent arrears to unlawful eviction.

Author – Daniel Anderson is a Trainee Solicitor with Duncan Lewis.

Offices across London l City of London l Hackney l Lewisham l Southall

l Harrow l Islington l Shepherd’s Bush l Tooting

With over 400 Staff to Assist Tel: 020 7923 4020 - www.duncanlewis.com

Asian gold burgled in Ilford 1950s. Their diary, which was used to jot down their daily experiences in India calls Shankar "the real thing".

The letter will be part of a museum in the Red House in Suffolk - where Britten and Pears lived and worked from 1957

until their death. From 8 June 2013 the site reopens in Aldeburgh after a £4.7 million redevelopment to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Britten — the world's most performed opera composer born in the 20th century.

After North London, burglars have now targeted another Asian populated area in London.

A large amount of Asian gold and two laptop computers were among several items stolen from a house in Wessex Close, Ilford, after burglars forced their

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way in through the front door while the residents slept.

The burglary took place between 2.30am and 8.20am on May 1 and police are appealing for any witnesses or people with information about the burglary to come forward. Det Con Chris

James, of Ilford burglary squad, said: “I ask that anyone with information regarding its whereabouts to please contact me.”Any information can be sent to Mr James at Ilford police station on 0208 345 2680, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

UK

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Chillies a Dutta

Rupanjan

For Londoners one of the favourite hotspot for curries is Bricklane. The area claims to be a propagator of Indian food, but I strongly feel that it is high time for Bangladeshi cuisine to get its due credit as a separate and exclusive culinary preparation, very popular amongst Britons.

Brick Lane is mostly about Bangladeshi cuisine, which is of course very similar to the dishes that of North India or Kolkata. But a food lover would know how distinctive it is in its taste and to my opinion, Chillies, as a restaurant offers one of the best Bangladeshi food you can ever have in the UK. Why is this restaurant so special? There are several reasons. First the restaurant has a very convincing sales team

Ratings Taste : Ambience : Decor : Service : Value 4 Money :

***** **** *** **** *****

and as they stand outside ushering diners in (as most of the Brick Lane restaurants), the place gets quickly full with customers, who seem to enjoy every bit of the food and relax, enjoying and savouring the moment.

Second, whether its vegetarian or non vegetarian, the restaurant staff is very particular in explaining what the dish includes while you order.

Most of the restaurants don't explain anything, unless asked or expect you to decipher the writings in brief under the name of a dish. A BritAsian like me is perhaps all the more expected to know what the ingredients would be. But here they make sure you know what you are being served.

Third, they do not pretend the food to be anything but

Bangladeshi- and the pride in their cuisine makes the food incomparable and very different.

The taste of all the ingredients is so sublimely distinctive that you are definite to enjoy every bit of the essence.

The dĂŠcor is simple, the menu has many varieties from starters, to signature dishes, thalis, balti dishes to veg selections, biriyanis, tandoors, old favourites and so on.

The ambience is lively, though the Bollywood music at the backdrop sometimes gets on your way of conversation. But the lovely jolly ambience filled with happy co eaters makes the place a very attractive spot for families and friends. The service is as expectedswift and the prices could not be any better!

Chillies, 76 Brick Lane, London E1 6RL, Tel: 020 7247 7539

If you want your restaurant to be reviewed, email rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com with your full details or call 020 7749 4098.

Statutory message: Please note the reviewer holds no responsibility or guarantee for your personal experience.

Chelsea Football Club and Sporting Equals UK unveils four Asian footballing champions Sporting Equals a UK wide equality charity that promotes more ethnic minority people into sport were proud to support this year's ground-breaking Asian Star initiative led by the Chelsea FC Foundation.

Asian Star is the first scheme of its kind undertaken by a professional club and is designed to increase Asian participation at all levels of the game. It gives the opportunity for children to compete to win a season long placement within the Chelsea FC Foundation's Football Development Centre. The Asian Star initiative also aims to help address the under-representation of the Asian community in sport, by offering opportunities for

the Asian community to find out about coaching and other ways to get involved in the national game.

Nearly 400 Asian youngsters gathered at the European Champion's training ground in Cobham, Surrey.

Participants competed in under 9's to under 12 age groups and were judged on a series of matches and tests specifically designed and used by the Chelsea Academy to examine speed, skill and ability.

A pre event launch was set up by Sporting Equals in Southall,London which has a large Asian community, to support young players in preparation for the main event at Cobham. The pre event

also included an inspirational talk from Sporting Equals Ambassador and successful businessman, Peter Virdee. Peter Virdee said "Chelsea has really changed the game by opening up their training ground to give the chance for the Asian community to demonstrate their skills.

I am particularly supportive of Asian Star as it not only gives the opportunity for the successful applicants to win a year long contract but also raises awareness and encouragement for the community to get involved in football alongside one of the biggest clubs in the world."

Paran Gill, Muhaymin Hoque, Marco Randhawa and Musa Qureshi were crowned champions in the

As I See It What are we all so much worried about?

When does a concern become anxiety?

On Monday morning the British television and radio and other online media highlighted the release of Chris Hunhe from the open prison, where he was 'confined' for 8 weeks. The readers would recollect that he was sentenced to jail for 8 months for avoiding a traffic offence and using his ex-wife's name and identity.

Now Chris Hunhe has been given a 'freedom with restrictions'. Well we all have that 'freedom' one way or the other.

Vicky Pryce, his ex wife was similarly released and any person of goodwill will wish them well in their separate ways now- at least they cannot blame any one else for their self made disaster.

Wealth, power and fame are the most important magnets which attract most if not all human beings. Chris and Vicky had all these three in bountiful. In their respective fields they were in the top layers and Chris especially, as the leadership of Lib Dem party was almost at his doorstep.

The British justice follows the age old principle- justice must not only be done, but seen to be done. So many 'great names' in the past have faced rigours of the British justice. Some have doomed to the dust and some resurfaced and became 'role models', not only for negative reasons but having resurrected themselves. John Profumo and such names come to my mind.

Let's talk about the 'role models'. I would like to extend the thought process to career preferences of young as well as not so young. The role models are very important and they inspire those looking for a ladder to progress as well as prosper. We have role models like Sir Alex Ferguson in sports, Sardar Patel in politics or Ratan Tata in enterprise and so many ideals within our families.

I was reading about the great Indian IT company Infosys in The Telegraph magazine on Saturday 11 May. A very informative and inspiring piece. I was especially touched by the views of young, ambitious and talented men and women attracted by the reputation of Infosys. Credit goes to the founders K R Narayana Murthy, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and other colleagues.

There may be some nitwits in the Indian corporate world, but the founders of Infosys, WIPRO, TCS and some others are very honourable and far sighted.

They have energised and enlightened Indian youth. What about the British Asian youths?

In 1968 a Hindu Association was formed when I was a tenant at a property owned by Abbas Akhtar, a Pakistani Muslim whose family had migrated from

Lucknow to Lahore, during those dreadful days of the partition. Not only a Hindu Association was formed from that address but the Chairman Mr Nayyar, Vice Chairman Shardaben Patel, me as Secretary and Abbasbhai used to invite the local Asians from that part of Streatham (Mitcham Road/Thrale Road) and discuss very many issues.

One of the burning problem was finding accommodations. Newsagents notice boards always had several vacancies with bold or coloured writings that stated: “No Indians, no Blacks and no Wogs�. Sometimes with added 'Dogs'. It was not only humiliating, but very worrying too. Amongst other topics of discussion were employment, taxation, racial discriminations, immigration and overall the main concern was 'options for progress.'

Our children were either not born or too young at that time. But the parents were willing to work as hard as possible and most had decided to send their children to private schools (you know why!)

We were from East Africa, India, Pakistan and at that time Medicine, Accountancy, Pharmacy were the main career preferences. In any case the best possible University education was a must for our 'offsprings'. We grown ups devoted several sessions on retailing or any other opportunities available as self employed. Between 1968 and 1975, a large number of FMCG (newsagents, grocers, off license, drug store, confectionaries shops) were bought by Asians, especially Indians and predominantly Gujaratis from East Africa.

Along with family and friends we ran a chain of shops. I remember we were all called 'Pakis'.

Thank goodness so much has changed, and changed for better. I am privileged to meet so many young people, whose career preferences are far beyond that of their parents' or grand parents'. I have noticed that our younger generations are more ethical, cosmopolitan and their role models are not unlike the founders of Infosys. Creativity with compassion, strong leadership with sensitivity and more and more of them are motivated beyond self centred advantages.

The youth of India who are worldly wise and are aware of the prompt and proper justice for even the big wigs who engage in criminal activities here are very disappointed in the way they see the situation in their own country. But in Great Britain surely the justice is seen to be done.

- CB

Paran Gill, Muhaymin Hoque, Marco Randhawa and Musa Qureshi with others

under 12 under 11 and under 9 categories respectively, whose prizes were presented by Sporting

Equals Ambassadors Peter Virdee, and Pakistani International Kash Siddiqi and previous

Asian Star winner Sam Khan who now plays at the Birmingham City academy.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Somalian President invites Deepak Kuntawala and Saudi Royal to partner Rani Singh DVK Founder Deepak Kuntawala met with Somalia’s President, His Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last week and on Thursday 9th May hosted an event at the Jumeirah Carlton hotel in

Last year, the Kenyan Vice President invited Deepak to work on Kenyan investments which helped DVK establish a strong regional base.

The firm has been invited to assist leaders and presidents in countries like Djibouti in coming

Deepak Kuntawala being interviewed by Shonali Nagrani

Knightsbridge.

It was the launch of the DVK Africa Development Fund, to provide investment to various countries from the east of the continent to the Horn of Africa. I witnessed the Somalian president personally calling Deepak –twice – on May 3rd 2013 to seek his help for the purpose.

months.

The two funds are 1) a one billion dollar fund to bring development to key African nations like Somalia, and 2) a general fund for trading for the diasporas to invest in East Africa.

Deepak and DVK’s legal representative, Mishcon de Reya and Norton Rose will help

establish the funds. Other partners ensuring the highest levels of corporate governance include PWC, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered.

An international high profile advisory board and investment committee including Shariah scholars are being put together.

His Royal Highness, the Prince of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of DVK Saudi sent a personal message for the President of Somalia which Deepak which read out.

During a Q and A session with ITV4 Indian Premier League host Shonali Nagrani Deepak spoke of three words that embody his principles; vision, belief and faith.

He explained about the DVK brand logo. D is the initial for Deepak, V stands for Vinay, Deepak’s father, and the K is for Kuntawala. The letters look like boomerangs, to signal, Deepak says, that what you throw out comes back to you. The visual presentation of the letters resembles a ship’s sails, blowing against the wind.

The V is shaped like an anchor, demonstrating the

X factor's Jahmene performing at the event

DVK ability to stay stable in high tide. The logo is black and white; indicating light in the middle of darkness; a solution- orientated business. Lastly, there is a Nike –style tick, showing a “let’s do it!” approach.

The stunning live musical acts included the X Factor’s Jahmene, the London Community Gospel Choir and Somalian singer, Maryan Mursal.

DVK has asset investments in different industries, and in June 2013, it is hosting Hollwood’s Al Pacino at London’s Palladium.

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Traces of 'pork' discovered in 'halal' burgers Traces of pork have been discovered in halal burgers served in schools in Leicester, prompting the Muslim groups in the UK to consider a legal action.

Leicester City Council said the tests were carried out after the horse meat scandal and now the frozen burgers have been withdrawn from schools in the East Midlands city.

"The community will be extremely shocked and distressed to learn of the contamination that has taken place," a spokesperson from the Federation of Muslim Organizations (FMO) reportedly told a local paper.

"The FMO is working closely with the local authority and calling on

them to take legal action in respect of this contamination and would urge the local authority to instigate criminal proceedings against the company involved under the Food Safety Act. "The FMO feel that such a prosecution would be in the public interest and would send a clear message to all businesses in this sector that contamination will not be tolerated," he added.

The Food Standards Agency and Doncaster Metropolitan Council have launched their own investigations and further tests will be taken of the remaining stock, the Leicester city council reportedly said.

Accountant jailed in £1m tax fraud A corrupt chartered accountant from Birmingham has been jailed last week for defrauding the British taxpayer of over £1 million in unpaid VAT. Muhammad Butt, (pictured) proprietor of accountancy firm ABMG Business Services, was asked by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide documents he held for two businesses that were

under investigation. But d e s p i t e receiving a court order in March 2010 he refused to hand over the paperwork. Butt was arrested in August 2010 and paperwork and computers were seized from his home and business premises.

Please tick the appropriate category Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture ................................

Someone who has made a mark in media including print and broadcast media; cinema, art and culture.

Achievement in Community Service............................................

NOMINATION FORM The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians par excellence. If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation then please nominate them for one of the awards listed below. Make sure that you fill in this application form and send it on or before 12th July, 2013 by post, fax or email to Mr. L George, Tel: 020 7749 4013, Fax 020 7749 4081, Email: aaa@abplgroup.com. If you are sending it by post the address is Mr. L George, ABPL Group, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

Name of the Person you are Nominating: _______________________________________ Contact Details of the Nominee (Tel & email):____________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Present Occupation of the Nominee: ____________________________________________ Please attach the Nominees's CV which includes the following information (Please do not exceed a limit of 1000 words) (1) Personal background (2) (3) (4) (5) are

Most important career achievements till date.

Nominee's contribution to the community and nation.

Future Plans, ambitions and visions.

Any notable obstacles in the Nominee's career that has helped him/her to reach where they today.

Summary-

(Please include a summary in not more than 150 words why the nominee is worthy of win-

ning the particular award in a separate sheet)

Nominators name and contact details: __________________________________________ Nominators current Occupation/Company: ______________________________________ Tel/Mobile: __________________________________________________________________ Email:_______________________________________________________________________ NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS: This is a unique event where readers nominate and an independent panel of judges comprising of eminent personalities selects the winner. Judges’ decision is final. ABPL Group will not entertain any dialogue with members of the public regarding the judging process. In order to ensure a high degree of transparency and fairness, the management and members of the staff of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will play no role in the nomination or judging process. You may use an additional sheet if the space provided is insufficient. The winners will be announced at the AAA Awards ceremony on 6th September, 2013. Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar will publish the names of the short listed candidates and winners after the event. The winners names will also appear in our e-edition www.abplgroup.com You can nominate yourself if you wish to. Nominations and entries must follow the prescribed format. All nomination forms must reach our offices on or before 12th July, 2013

In recognition for an individuals service to community.

Sports Personality of the Year ......................................................

Awarded for excellence in sports.

Uniformed and Civil Services ........................................................

For outstanding achievements in uniformed and civil services or contribution to the community through any of the above services.

Professional of the Year ..................................................................

Professionals in the field of medicine, law, education, banking, finance and others, who have scaled the heights of their chosen profession.

Young Entrepreneur of the Year ..................................................

Awarded to an young entrepreneur (less than 35 years) with a proven track record of operating a successful business enterprise.

Business Person of the Year ..........................................................

Awarded to a business person who is a success in every sense of the word and can demonstrate a genuine passion for social issues.

Woman of the Year ............................................................................

The award will recognise and honour a woman who has made a significant mark in any chosen field.

International Personality of the Year ........................................

Awarded to those who have acclaimed popularity internationally for his/her contribution in any particular sector and is recognised for their timeless philanthropic activities.

Lifetime Achievement Award ........................................................

To honour those individuals, who during their lifetime, have made immense contributions in any given field. This remarkable individual can be marked as an example for the younger generation.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

‘Barfi’ set for Turkey release, Ranbir excited

Lakshmi Rai in a Vasantha Balan film?

Lakshmi Rai might get a role in Vasantha Balan’s next film if things fall into place. But, it isn’t confirmed yet as there are rumors that Lakshmi might settle for marital bliss soon. It is also not sure if this role is for Vasantha Balan’s film with Siddharth, titled “Kaaviya Thalaivan,” or for another film in the pipeline. With so much uncertainty surrounding this matter, we can only that things become clear in the coming days, with an official clarification from the people who matter. Lakshmi Rai was last seen in “Onbadhula Guru” and she is waiting for a good script to come her way.

Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra starrer “Barfi!” is all set to be released in Turkey. Said to be the first Indian movie to get a mainstream release in the country, it will hit close to 40 screens. "Turkey is a place where my grandfather (Raj Kapoor) has a great following even today. To see my film being released in the same country is a huge compliment.

I am very excited about this," said Ranbir, who bagged best actor trophies at Filmfare, Screen, Zee Cine, Apsara Producer's Guild awards for playing Barfi. The Anurag Basu directed film won critical acclaim too in the form of top honours at all key awards in the country.

Poonam Bajwa making a re-entry Poonam Bajwa, that bubbly actress, who was seen in Tamil movies like “Thenavattu,” “Kacheri Aarambam,” “Seval” and “Drohi,” will be making a re-entry with a Tamil-Telugu bilingual which also features the likes of Trisha and Remya Nambeesan. Poonam will be seen as a happening model in this movie and her role gives her a lot of scope for a stylish performance.

Poonam is happy to make a comeback through such a role and is hopeful that another facet of her skills would be showcased through this film.

‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ being remade in English Time is changing and it’s changing fast. A new era has arrived to move away from the year-old tradition to remake English films into Hindi. Now it’s time for the Hindi film industry to inspire the English movies and Hindi classic “Amar Akbar Anthony” is going to create the new benchmark. The task has been taken up by an ardent fan of the film, British Indian actor Atul Malhotra, who has planned to remake his favourite film into English.

Reportedly the English version will also get a new title, Amar Akbar Tony and a new theme. While the original film was based on Hindu, Muslim and Christian angle, a Sikh protagonist will replace the Hindu in the English version.

Shruti Haasan's hot side on Maxim cover!

Shruti Haasan, who has done quite a few films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, has shed her girl next door image and done a sexy photo shoot for Maxim Magazine. The cover picture, in which Shruti flaunts her beauty, is in a never seen before avatar. Being born into a filmy family, she started her career as a singer, and later ventured in films. Shruthi is busy promoting her two flicks in Hindi Ramaiya Vastavaiya and D Day. Meanwhile, the Maxim hot issue of Shruti's is available on Magzter.

Pran presented with Phalke Award

India’s information and broadcast minister Manish Tiwari presented the Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Pran at the latter’s residence on Friday. Pran was unable to make it to Delhi to receive the award and hence Tiwari flew down to Mumbai to honour him with the same.

Addressing reporters after presenting the thespian with the prestigious award, Tiwari said, “When an actor of Pran’s caliber is awarded with the Dadasaheb Phalke, the nobility and the significance of the award only multiplies manifold.”

DDLJ voted favourite film of past 100 years Cinema lovers have voted “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (DDLJ) as their most favourite feature film from the past 100 years of Indian cinema in a poll conducted by Sanona, the UK's largest online Indian movie streaming service.

The romantic comedy, which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles, won 47 per cent of the votes in the online poll conducted to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Indian film industry. The movie was among the first Indian films to be produced with the large and rich South Asian diaspora in the West as its target audience.

Kareena injured on the sets of 'Gori Tere Pyaar Mein' Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor, who is known for getting into the skin of the character she portrays, got injured herself on the sets of “Gori Tere Pyaar Mein.” She was supposed to walk on a rope and she insisted on doing it by herself. "As she was carefully treading to maintain balance, her feet got entangled by the thick jute. The bruise seemed like a burn scar. On top of that, the hot weather wasn't helping her case. But she made sure the scene was completed without much delay," added a source.

Salman Khan’s mystery blonde identified Salman Khan has great taste and a good eye for beauty. All his girlfriends have been gorgeous lasses. Nowadays Salman is found moving with a girl. It was found that the mystery girl is a Romanian television actress called Iulia Vantur. The surprising thing is Sallu has apparently known her for nearly two years but only now he's seen in public with her. A source says, "Salman met her two years ago during one of his trips abroad. He has always been in touch with her and now they have become extremely fond of each other. Salman and Iulia are seen together almost everyday at a five-star hotel at Bandstand in Bandra.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

17

Indian cinema completes 100 years on May 3, 2013. We will take you back to the golden era and showcase its evolution in a four part series. “Bollywood” is the name which defines art, talent and vision which has reached every nook and corners of the world today. The French might have introduced the concept of moving images, but India would in near future become the largest film producing country in the world. It's a miracle that Indian cinema has withstood the test of time despite the vast cultural differences.

ear 2013 is definitely a year to cherish as it completes a successful, memoY rable and a transforming 100 years of

Indian Cinema. Let us take you back to the golden era, evolution of Bollywood and its shining `Superstars'. Here we bring to you the Top 10 Superstars of Bollywood over 100 years.

Raj Kapoor: ‘Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan... Iske Siva Jaana Kahan...’ are the words which define Raj Kapoor. Great performances in cult films like ‘Shree 420’, ‘Awaara,’ ‘Aag,’ ‘Mera Naam Joker’ tagged him as ‘The show man of the millennium’. Raj Kapoor has also been awarded with the prestigious Padma Bhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke Awards for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. The actor - turned film maker also directed several super hit films like ‘Bobby’, ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’, ‘Prem Rog’ under his RK Films banner.

Rajendra Kumar

at the same time, so Rajendra Kumar came to be known as 'Jubilee Kumar.'

Dev Anand: Dev Anand has always been called as the 'evergreen' star for his immortal charm and undying spirit. The legend is also known for being a matinee idol with a Hollywood star persona. The actor turned film maker has given us some path breaking and popular films like ‘Guide,’ ‘Jewel Thief,’ ‘Johnny Mera Naam,’ ‘Des Pardes’ etc.

Aamir Khan

Amitabh Bachchan

spending more than 22 years in Bollywood the actor still enjoys a huge fan following and his fans swear by his name.

the hearts of millions of his fans. The actor has proved his capability by doing all sorts of roles from lover boy to negative roles.

Dev Anand

Raj Kapoor

Dilip Kumar: The living legend Dilip Kumar who is considered as a ‘Bollywood thespian’ indeed is a fortuitous that when the Hindi cinema is celebrating the 100th year of its existence, the thespian also celebrated 90 years of his age recently. He is considered thespian as he was part of the cinema since 1944 and also known as a reference point for approaching the craft of acting.

Rajesh Khanna: Rajesh Khanna's name is synonyms with romance in Indian Cinema. The actor has several back to back hit films like ‘Aaradhna,’ ‘Saccha Jhootha,’ ‘Roti,’ ‘Daag,’ ‘Haatji Mere Saathi’ to his credit. The chocolate boy of Bollywood rose to instant national fame and stardom with his film ‘Aardhana.’ He was soon referred as the first ‘superstar of India’ by film critics.

Aamir Khan: In the past few years Aamir Khan has grown into a respectable actor and director in Bollywood. The actor does one film a year and that's what makes him different from other superstars. Being choosy about what one does in Bollywood is so rare and commendable. Hence, the actor has been tagged as `Mr Perfectionist'. He is a real professional and takes his career as a mission.

Salman Khan: Salman Khan also known as the bad boy of Bollywood is also often called as the man with a golden heart. Though the handsome actor has always been surrounded with controversies he has not only given some of the biggest blockbusters but has also played a star-maker for many in B’town like Katrina Kaif, Arjun Kapoor, Zarine Khan, Sajid-Wajid to name a few. Even after

Salman Khan

Ranbir Kapoor: Fame has its price!

Many people may think that being born with a silver spoon is a boon but it actually can set the bar quite high for that person.

Ranbir Kapoor who made his debut with Sanjay Leela Bansali's ‘Saawariya’ in Bollywood didn't receive fame instantly.

However, within the last few years, the

Rajesh Khanna

Dilip Kumar

Rajendra Kumar: The film fraternity called Rajendra Kumar as ‘Jubilee Kumar’.

During 1960s Rajendra Kumar had become the hottest actor and every film starring him was a silver jubilee hit. There were instances when he had six or seven films running in their silver jubilee weeks

Amitabh Bachchan: Over the years, Amitabh Bachchan has been tagged with various metaphors like `angry young man', `Big B', `Shehenshah of Bollywood' and many more but the actor’s impeccable body of work does all the talking. Now after spending long years in Bollywood this living legend is considered as The 'Star of the millennium'.

Shah Rukh Khan: Though not being a hero material, SRK is considered as `King Khan' of Bollywood all thanks to his association with Yash Raj Films and the romantic films he did. The actor enjoys fan following from all over the country and his self made personality is ruling over

Ranbir Kapoor

Shah Rukh Khan

Kapoor lad has not only proved his acting mettle with films like ‘Wake-up Sid’, ‘Barfii’ etc but has also wooed girls with good looks. The grandchild of Raj Kapoor, Ranbir's work now speaks for him and looks like the Gen-next superstar will definitely carry forward the legacy of the Kapoors.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Financial Voice Dear Financial Voice Reader,

I write to you as I prepare for a speech to global wealth managers based in the UK on ‘wealth creators and wealth destroyers’. Let me highlight what I will be speaking about: To repeat Goldman Sachs, ‘First, we recommend that clients be at their full strategic allocation to US equities. Current US equity valuations have historically resulted in positive returns and we do not see enough risks over the horizon to justify an underweight, particularly givent he strong tailwinds of earnings growth and dividends in today’s ultra-low interest rate environment. Within US equities, we continue to recommend an overweight to US banks.

Second, while we expect Europe to remain in a mild recession, we believe that companies in the Eurostoxx 50 Index are, in aggregate, trading at depressed valuation levels and provide some attractive long term upside.’

Wealth destroyers are often sectors and themes we think are wealth creators, and the wealth creators are the themes we think are wealth destroyers.

For instance, I put together a portfolio of Chinese Solar stocks. Chinese solar, given their focus on cutting greenhouse gases, growth in China and the push to alternative energy, you would think is a sure thing.

Wrong. A wealth destroyer.

All the major players are substantially down. The hype maybe has led them to fall (Canadian Solar being the exception and up 66% in one year). But Suntech is down 76%, LDK is down 52%. These are not mild falls.

These are alarming wealth destruction losing hundreds of millions.

China Internet then surely. Big country, more people on the internet. No. Wrong again. Wealth destroyer. The names to underperform the US market include Baidu (down a whopping 31%), Renren down 51% (that $1billion dollars wiped off). Whether in internet portals, gaming or ecommerce there are massive losers. Who looks good over the past 12 months. Vipshop, SouFun, Changyou.com, Qihoo are exceptions to the wealth destroyers.

What about wealth creators that you would expect to be wealth destoyers? Well with no major war, the US pulling out of Afghanistan and out of Iraq, and Government austerity you would expect armament companies to be poor performers. Yet they remain wealth creators.

Command & Control companies like CACI, SAIC, Rockwell, Raytheon all have done well in the past year, as have smart bomb makers like Alliant Techsystems, GenCorp. For advanced aerospace you have outperformers in Northrop, Lockheed, Orbital.

You would expect Japan to be a wealth destroyer given 23 years of flat markets. But – guess what it’s the Japanese companies benefiting from their Government’s QE policy who are outperforming the US markets. Toyota, Honda, Nomura and Mizuho Financial are all fantastic performers over the past 12 months.

All of the above are non-British companies, but any sensible portfolio should always have shares in overseas international global companies for diversification.

You can buy all the above through any stockbroker that trades US stocks as they are all listed in the US.

ArcelorMittal reports first quarter loss ArcelorMittal SA, the global steel-making giant, has reported a loss for the first quarter, even as restructuring efforts are beginning to pay off and the steel market is stabilizing after a s h a r p decline in mid-2012.

T h e net loss was 345 million euros ($450 million), compared to a profit of 92 million euros in the first quarter of 2012. The worse results were due to weaker operations and because the

Luxembourg-based company had a tax windfall this time last year.

Sales fell 13 per cent to 19.8 billion euros, and operating profit fell 50 per cent to 404 million euros.

T h e company's Indian born chief executive Lakshmi Mittal said economic conditions are still difficult, but a shift to producing more steel in the company's most competitive plants and geographies is paying off.

GoAir, part of the Nusli Wadia Group, has appointed investment bank JP Morgan to scout for a foreign strategic partner to buy up to 49% in the lowcost passenger carrier, four people close to the development said, signaling the eagerness of Indian carriers to source capital in order to scale up their operations. "GoAir is in talks with three to four overseas airlines from Europe and the Middle East to sell up to 49% stake," an investment banker with direct knowledge of the development said.

"The company is in talks with German carrier Lufthansa and Dubaibased Emirates and Qatar Airways, among others," said a second investment

banker involved in the deal. "It is very early to divulge more details," he said. "As a company policy, the airline does not comment on market speculation," GoAir's spokesperson said. The

April 24, Jet Airways signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi governmentowned Etihad Airways to sell 24% stake for Rs 20.60 billion to pare its debt. The two carriers said it would make Abu Dhabi a hub for

Wadia family owns 100% of GoAir. Many Indian carriers have been scouting for foreign strategic partners after the government allowed foreign carriers to own up to 49% in Indian passenger carriers. On

its international flights to Europe.

Etihad paid a 32% premium to the price of Jet's shares on the BSE, indicating interest in the Indian aviation sector as the market is growing at 10% and the government

India-born Menezes to head world’s top liquor company Diageo India-born Ivan Menezes is the new CEO of Diageo, the world's largest drinks company-a development that reinforces the growing trend of Indians heading high-profile global corporate giants.

The $23-billion maker of Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan and vaunted single malts named Menezes as successor to its long-serving superstar CEO Paul Walsh who plans to step down next month, earlier than expected. Younger brother of former Citibank chairman and CEO Victor Menezes, Ivan was frontrunner for the top job after his elevation as chief operating officer last year. It comes six months after he led an ambitious $2.6 billion takeover of Vijay Mallya's United Spirits Ltd (USL), India's largest liquor company.

The 52 year-old Menezes

Ivan Menezes

- an MBA from Kellogg and IIM-A and a graduate of St Stephen's - has an impressive peer group of India-origin CEOs like Anshu Jain (Deutsche Bank), Indira Nooyi (PepsiCo), Ajay Banga (MasterCard) and Rakesh Kapoor (Reckitt Benckiser) steering influential global brands. Even the more conservative European corporations have started handing over reins to Indians as economic growth shifts to the East.

Diageo surprised everyone with the sudden announcement since Walsh was tipped to continue till mid-2014. But

Diageo's aggressive push into emerging markets, through big acquisitions, prompted Walsh, one of London's longest-running CEOs, to hand over the job from July 1 this year.

"We are delighted to have a leader of Ivan's talents and global experience to succeed Paul Walsh. The handover is being made at a time when the business is strong and Ivan takes on the role of CEO at an exciting stage of the company's global development," said Diageo chairman Franz B Humer.

USL chairman Vijay Mallya said he had "the greatest admiration" for Menezes who called him to convey the good news. "I am happy for a friend who has done well. It was Ivan and I who first started talking about a deal which has created significant value for United Spirits shareholders," Mallya said.

has ambitious plans to build new airports and expand existing ones. "The European carriers are losing share of the Indian market to Middle East carriers," says a managing director of a foreign investment bank. "So, European carriers need to counter this by partnering with Indian carriers to connect more cities and towns."

Last month, Lufthansa denied any interest in purchasing a stake in GoAir. But, the airline had said it needs to have a low-cost airline in the Asian region and may partner with an existing carrier in the region to deal with the onslaught of the Middle East airlines which are taking away traffic at a brisk pace.

India’s inflation drops to 4.89%

India's headline inflation fell below 5 per cent in April, putting it back in the Reserve Bank's comfort zone for the first time in more than three years and fuelling market hopes for more monetary easing to revive the economy's pedestrian growth rate.

April's reading of 4.89 per cent was the lowest since November 2009 and well below the 5.50 per cent estimated by analysts in a poll. The wholesale price index, India's main inflation measure, rose an annual 5.96 per cent in March.

The number sparked gains in bond markets, which had already rallied since last week on expectations easing inflation would lead the RBI to cut interest rates further.

"It is a frenzy. The market is pricing in a rate cut," said Ashish Vaidya, head of treasury at UBS in Mumbai.

Indian car market witnesses worst sales in history India's car market is enduring its worst sales decline in history after sales in April fell for a sixth straight month, according to an industry body, as economic gloom and rising ownership costs savage a once much-vaunted growth market.

High interest rates, rising fuel costs and the dark clouds hanging over India's economy have all slashed demand for cars in a market where ownership levels lag Asian rival China and global automakers have made big bets with hopes of booming growth.

"The economy is not doing well ... giving negative signals to consumers," said Sugato Sen, senior director at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which compiles the sales data. "Car purchase is always a discretionary purchase, I can always postpone it.

That is what is happening."

Car sales fell an annual 10.4 per cent in April, according to SIAM data, marking the first time sales have fallen for six consecutive

months since data was first compiled in 1997.

Sales fell 7 per cent in the financial year that ended in March, the first annual fall for a decade, hurting

global carmakers such as Ford and General Motors that have invested billions of dollars in a market that expanded by 30 per cent just two years ago. Positive growth is only expected after three to four months, Sen told reporters, as finance costs slowly come down. Over 80 per cent of car sales in India are financed using credit.

SIAM has estimated car sales to grow by 3-5 per cent in the current financial year that ends in March 2014.

Automakers sold 150,789 cars in India last month, down 10.4 per cent from the same month last year, and the first fall in April sales since 2002, according to SIAM data.

Sales of motorcycles fell 2.1 per cent to 843,889 vehicles during the month, SIAM said, but truck and bus sales were up 0.8 per cent at 56,678 vehicles.

finAnciAl Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

19

The Cost of Indecision

Suresh Vagjiani Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

Sun Tzu is the reputed author of the popular book The Art of War, which some consider to be the best single book ever written on the subject of war. Sun Tzu himself was a military specialist active during the turbulent late Chou dynasty. Sun Tzu's work became known in the West only in the late eighteenth century and was not properly translated until the twentieth.

The interesting point regarding Sun Tzu's approach to warfare, unlike that of Western authors, is it does not put force at the centre, indeed the Chinese character for force occurs only nine times in the text's thirteen chapters. This reflects the conditions of warfare in China at the time (force was then in fact of limited utility) as well as Sun Tzu's conviction that victory and defeat are fundamentally psychological states.

This treatise has been applied to the world of business, as business is underpinned by psychology. This advice has since been co-opted by legions of armchair soldiers and generals in the business world. Many people now consider The Art of War to be their bible in business. The book is composed of 13 chapters, each of which focuses on a different aspect of war.

You may ask: this is interesting but what has it to do with investing in property? In the same way applying force without any thinking is not always the way to win a war, just dumping money in a property is not also the most productive method. It is important to have a strategy of how much and where to apply your funds.

I would even suggest having a lump of money is not the most essential ingredient in investing in property, done the right way it can take very little or even no money in the property.

One of the chapters focuses on the importance of making quick decisions; note this does not mean rash decisions, but where all possible information is at your disposal then a decision must be made.

Master Sun talks of decisions as the ‘well-timed swoop of a falcon’; ‘energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow and decision, to the releasing of a trigger’. What he’s saying is that once the information has arrived, be decisive and advance with force and commitment from that decision.

It has been said ‘indecision and delays are the parents of failure.’

Sitting on the fence won't win wars, neither will it make you successful in investing in property; that is not to say each decision will be a positive one.

In business there is rarely anything to be gained from sitting on the fence. An investor's job is to make the hard decisions, even when all the facts are inaccessible. Learning to take a view on some aspects of the deal is what will give you the edge.

It's rare in this age to find a deal where all information is available and the property is still a deal, often views and assumptions will need to be taken; there are known variables and unknown ones.

I have seen more people losing money from not taking a decision than making the wrong one, when it comes to investing in property. Why? Because property is a forgiving asset class, should you make the wrong one, the property price will come around given enough time... like having a bad haircut. Even in this era of credit crunch the banks are still willing to lend 75% pretty much based on the value of the property alone.

We have had many 'clients' who have been thinking about investing in property, but that’s all they have done for many years, in the same way people always think about dieting and getting fit. There has been business made on the back of this procrastination, of books, magazines and commercials. A decision can be taken in a second or can be pondered over for years.

With property, procrastination can cost money - the longer you take to decide, the higher the property will go, literally month on month.

Recently this has worked in someone's favour, a property which had been agreed five months ago has just been exchanged, this kind of time period means the property has risen in value since being first agreed.

One of the fastest turn around deals we have done is no 92 Shirland Rd, W9. This was a freehold building made up of 5 self contained flats,

we came across the property in auction. The tenancies were unknown, however through one of the agents we knew we discovered this property was all under ASTs (this was verbally confirmed) and the ex husband was selling the property without the consent of the wife who lived in the property and who happened to manage the rest of the flats in the building.

We discovered this only the day before the auction, the same night I phoned a client and told him this is something we should take a punt on and go for. We were prepared to bid up to £1.3m, yet luckily we managed to get the property for £1.1m; three days later we sold the property for £1.35m.

Ou r chequ e for £110, 000 had not e ve n had t ime t o clear with the auc tionee rs bef ore we had so ld the propert y on again.

Conversely we had a pharmacist client who for years used to call me up every so often to tell me he’s interested in investing. Each time I showed him a deal he responded with some excuse or another, and then he ran off into the sunset as he couldn't make a decision to go for the property, meanwhile the property prices in the area were only go in one direction and that’s upwards.

After all that, he turned up at a seminar and I asked him why he hasn’t invested and why he was wasting both mine and his own time. One of the replies he gave was that we always insisted on a quick decision.

I explained this was not me doing a hard sell on him, that these properties require a quick decision, and that if we do not go for it the deal will be pounced on by someone else. This was the reason, and this does not mean we take short cuts on the legal paper work, but simply that he needs to decide quickly.

My speech clearly made sense and he agreed to go for the next property we showed him, he ended up purchasing a two bedroom in Hallfield Estate in W2 near Queensway. We picked this up for him at £315,000 and this was rented at £500pw, eight months later it was valued at £375k!

Another property, 41 Burlington Close was offered to an investor in Jan 2012 for £325,000, he saw it and then said he needed more time to make a decision, I told him we did not have more time - all we needed was a decision, the rest we can take care of. One of the most common excuses in regards to avoiding making a decision is needing more time. A decision can be made in a second. Another client of ours purchased this, and it is now currently being marketed by Foxtons for £450K; we are confident of getting offers around £425K. Delay causes more losses in property than a wrong decision. We delay because we are more averse to the pain of losing something than we are attracted to the pleasure of gaining something. The fear of losing what we have leads to indecision. The sad fact of the matter is many investors are already in a situation where their funds are being lost day by day. It is simply being eroded, sitting in the bank with paltry levels of interest rates being paid. And the services which used to be free are now being stripped from you, like the NHS. In the future you will need a lot of money at your disposal to enjoy the same level of facilities you have currently.

Once this is known then something has to be done as your funds are already on a downward slide. The fear should be in play already! It should be used to move you to more solid ground.

The Real Deal Hampstead, London, NW3 Purchase Price: £805,000 l A large two bedroom flat in a highly sought after residential area l Valued at more than £900k l Long Lease l Priced at £671 per sq ft l End value after works would be more than £1.1m Call us now to reserve!!

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

0207 993 0103 info@sowandreap.co.uk

www.sowandreap.co.uk

55 Bryanston Street, Marble Arch Tower, London, W1H 7AA Follow us online:

Sowandreapuk

SowandReapProperties

Tips of the Week l While using mortgages for buy and flip deals, the most important fees are the arrangement fees and the exit fees, not necessarily the interest rates. l Always get two or three quotes for the works to be done at a property; but don’t go for the cheapest one, go with the builder who can give the highest quality and complete on time. If you have finance every day is costing you money!

20

UK

Maria Fernandes

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

maria@abplgroup.com

Shifting sands: the new Immigration Bill

new legal year and a new Immigration Bill A which aims to get tough

on immigration. There are 3 areas it aims to target: Landlords will be required to check the immigration status of tenants or face heavy fines.

The Government assumes that all landlords are honest and law abiding. This requirement will involve the landlord being privy to sensitive documents (i.e. passports) which could be manna from heaven for the rogue landlords who can them use blackmail to extort money or worse. It will also substantially increase the availability of substandard accommodation for those who cannot rent easily. The problems will not, as is mistakenly assumed to be confined to the illegal community.

Take the example of a family, legally here, who have sent their passports for an extension of their visa, and who therefore cannot prove their status, or those whose visas are about to run out. Landlords will take the easy option by not employing anyone with any perceived problem, with foreign sounding names and for those who are closet racists, they can discriminate with impunity - which suggests that the new changes also appear to be giving a green light to discrimination. All those years for campaigning for equality will come to nothing in practice.

GPs will also be required to conduct these checks and have indicated that they are opposed to doing so. Many GP practices already operate this policy although, so far, they have the discretion to decide. Treatment in hospital already requires proof of immigration status although emergency treatment is still free.

Introducing compulsory checks is against the Hippocratic Oath that doctors are required to take.

As Nano, the small car from Tata Motors, has hit a prolonged rough patch in the marketplace, India's largest automaker is considering an alternate plan that envisages producing another car alongside the small car at its Sanand plant in a bid to optimise production capacities at the Gujarat plant. The move is part of an overall plan to rejig production at its factories in Ranjangaon in Pune and Sanand in Gujarat and comes at a time when the automaker posted its second-lowest wholesale dispatches of 948 Nanos in the month of April, clearly under utilising its 250,000 units.

The new compact car, which is under development, at the Sanand plant is expected to roll out by 2015. The aim is to optimise production at Sanand facility and expedite return on investment on a project, which has not met milestones and has been delayed severely on account of low Nano volumes. A person close to the development said the company had recently conducted a feasibility study

Their role is to treat patients and thankfully, unlike the US and many other countries, we have a humane system in the UK. To turn doctors into immigration officers changes their role significantly.

Furthermore, where patients cannot be treated at an earlier stage, they can end up with serious problems and will end up in emergency where the costs will be substantially more. Those who have contagious diseases can end up passing diseases to unknowing members of the public.

The other proposal is an increase in fines. The maximum is currently £10,000 and there are indications that this will be doubled. Employers, particularly within the restaurant industry, have seen the decimation of their ability to bring in skilled staff and are struggling to retain staff because of the unsocial hours of work.

Employers who employ students because of the absence of others are then harassed when it turns out that the student is working when they should be studying. Employers are supposed to do the job that the UKBA often fail to do.

And if they do not do it well enough, ever increasing fines loom before them.

In all these areas it is clear the task of immigration control is being shifted to the professionals, who have their work to do, leaving the UKBA to do what exactly? The proposed legislation can be summed up quite easily, a passport to discrimination and the shifting of the burden and blame to others.

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.

India's industrial output grew by 2.5 per cent in March, as against a contraction of 2.8 per cent in the corresponding month of 2012, government data showed.

According to data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the index of industrial production (IIP) logged a meagre 0.6 per cent growth year-on-year in February. IIP grew by 2.4 per cent in January.

On a consolidated basis, IIP grew by just one per cent in the AprilMarch period of 2012-13, from a growth of 2.9 per cent in the corresponding period of 2011-12. The monthly growth in IIP came on the back of healthy performance of manufacturing and electricity sectors. But the

investors, ranging from Walmart and Carrefour to Tesco. The advisory is expected to be issued soon, an official said. While the rules issued specify that at least 50% of the investment has to be in back-end infrastructure, the government will tell investors that purchase of land and lease rentals would not qualify for the purpose.

But money pumped into creating warehouses would be included.

What may come as a

relief for overseas stores is the clarification that only the initial investment has to go towards creation of back-end infrastructure.

So, only $50 million has to go for that purpose, while the second and subsequent tranches, which would be “incremental investment,” will not come with the rider that 50% investment has to earmarked for setting up a backbone.

Further, the government is not going to allow

to produce 'X0', the new compact car, based on the Indica platform. "There is a thought process on producing the 'X0' in Sanand.

With capacity utilisation at less than 20% at present, the company is taking a major hit on its cost per car from Sanand. The idea

month in the first half, before falling to its secondlowest dispatch in April 2013. There are several reasons for the low dispatch numbers of Nano, including the overall macro-economic environment, which pulled down the car sales by 10 per cent

is to improve capacity utilisation and gain from the tax incentives too," said the person requesting anonymity.

The average monthly Nano dispatches in the second half of FY-13 slipped to 2,400 units a month from 6,600 units a

in April, and the company's intention to liquidate existing stock before it starts manufacturing the refreshed Nano which will hit the market soon, people close to the company explained.

"Wholesale numbers do not reflect the true picture for the model,

India’s industrial output rises 2.5 per cent in March mining sector decelerated.

Manufacturing production registered a growth of 3.2 per cent during the month under review from a deceleration of 3.6 per

retail sales have improved and it is easily running in several thousands," said the person close to the company. "In the coming months, expect the numbers to be much higher with 2013 model year Nano," he added.

While production of a new variant and the new model in Sanand will take some time, Tata Motors has moved the production of its hatchback Vista completely to the joint venture plant in Ranjangaon, as part of the larger production optimisation plan.

This will help the company gain on tax incentives, unlike the Pimpri plant, which is almost fully depreciated, said a person close to the development.

Instead of producing diverse products in one plant, having similar platforms will help in economies of scale, he reasoned. Currently all of the Manza, Vista and a large chunk of Indica get produced at Fiat's Ranjangaon unit Tata Motors Sanand plant has an installed capacity of 250,000 units and can be expanded to by another 120,000 units.

Airlines to charge extra for additional baggage, preferential seats

cent in the corresponding month last year. In February, the sector registered a growth of 2.2 per cent.

On a cumulative basis for April-March 2012-13, manufacturing output stood at 1.2 per cent, from a growth of 3 per cent in the like period of 2011-12.

The electricity sector too fared well, with a growth of 3.5 per cent, from an increase of 2.7 per cent in March 2012. In February, the sector did not fare well, falling 3.2 per cent from a healthy increase of eight percent in the corresponding period of 2012.

Cumulatively, the sector's output increased by 4 per cent from a healthy 8.2 per cent during the corresponding period of 2011-12.

However, mining output in March declined by 2.9 per cent from a deceleration of 1.1 per cent in the corresponding month last year. Mining output in February had declined by a massive 8.1 per cent from an increase of 2.3 per cent in the corresponding month of last year.

Soon you will have to pay more for additional baggage and preferential seats for air travel. While Jet Airways will charge Rs 250 per kg for additional baggage over 15 kg, Indigo said that pre-booking a seat in the first two rows or near emergency exits in 12 and 13th row in its flight would cost passengers more.

Jet Airways said it has revised, with effective from May 15, the free baggage allowance to 15 kg in the economy class on all domestic routes, but has retained the cabin baggage limit at the previous level of 7 kg.

Indigo will charge the passenger a premium of Rs 500 for sitting in Rows one, two, 12 and 13 on a domestic flight and Rs 800 for an international flight under its Indigo Seat Plus plan.

foreign players to enter the country merely by buying the infrastructure of existing retailers. “There has to be an element of additionality given that we got the policy cleared after promising that FDI will create jobs. An acquisition does not do that,” said a source, who did not wish to be identified.

The third important set of clarifications pertain to local sourcing requirements.

Here, foreign chains such as Walmart

have sought clarity on how the sourcing has to be done and whether there is a need to separate purchase for domestic operations from those meant to be stocked in overseas stores. While the government will leave it for companies to decide their strategy, it would prefer two set of procurement operations. Pointing to Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, which recently got Cabinet go-ahead for the single-brand segment, a

source said having two separate units would avoid any regulatory mess in the future. “Everything will be in black & white,” the source said.

Government officials said the finance minister’s decision to allow micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to get the benefit even three years after they graduate to a bigger club (say, a smallscale unit turns into medium-sized unit) is prompting them to clear the air.

Indian government set to clear air on retail FDI In a bid to attract global chains to open stores in India, the department of industry policy and promotion (DIPP) is set to issue a set of clarifications on foreign investment in multi-brand retail to address their concerns and provide clarity on norms ranging from investment in back-end infrastructure to sourcing from SMEs and farmers.

The clarifications are based on queries raised by a host of potential

finAnciAl voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

21

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

BoE hold back quantitative easing The UK failed to improve on its recent string of positive data on Friday 10th May as construction output came in at a disappointing -7.4%. However the Bank of England is due to release their quarterly inflation report on Wednesday 15th May where the expectations are that they will revise down their inflation forecast, as Brent oil prices have fallen over 10% since the previous report and wages in the UK continue to show minimal growth.

Despite UK data being more than favourable recently, inflationary pressure has been one of the fundamental reasons for the

BoE to hold back on their quantitative easing program although a inflation reading nearer the BoE's 2% target and a upward revision to the growth forecast could support sterling, which no doubt been one of the strongest currencies over the last month, following the positive sentiment following the 0.3% growth the UK saw in the first quarter.

At the end of the week ending 10th May the dollar was in very good shape across the board. The positive sentiment on the US dollar has been fuelled by positive data by a low jobless claims report on Thursday 9th May which has surpassed expectations recently. This is a key indicator into how the US economy is performing. Also US retail sales have expanded 0.1% on a monthly basis during April, beating expectations of -0.3%.

With this and should the employment figures in the US continue to improve; the debate on the need for the Federal Reserve to scale down fiscal stimulus measures will probably heat up.

Last week saw German industrial output unexpectedly rise to 1.2% in March, the

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 14th May 2013 @ 4.30pm GBP - INR = 83.63 USD - INR = 54.81 EUR - INR = 71.19 GBP - USD = 1.53 GBP - EUR = 1.17 EUR - USD = 1.30 GBP - AED = 5.60 GBP - CAD = 1.55 GBP - NZD = 1.85

largest increase in a year and surpassing expectations of a 0.1% decline. The data added to the better than expected factory orders figures on Tuesday and adds to speculation that Europe’s largest economy may be returning to growth. The euro strengthened further off the back of the news as investors continue to keep a close on data from the euro zone to gauge what the ECB may do next to spark growth in the euro zone as a collective.

Looking ahead to this week, focus could well return to the

0 8 0 8

$ 0 4 5

euro zone with a number of fundamental data releases set to be announced with main focus on the release of euro zone GDP for the first quarter. The consensus in the market are expecting GDP to decline 0.1% in the single currency bloc, seriously continuing the deep recession the euro zone faces. In terms of individual country breakdown, Germany is expected to avoid a recession although the periphery is once again expected to contract, with Spain, Italy and Portugal all likely to record another quarter of contraction.

GBP - AUD = 1.54 GBP - ZAR = 14.04 GBP - HUF = 345.41

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

PX XJ S F U S B OT G FS

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B OE OP IJ EEFO D PT U T

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www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 18th May 2013

In Focus Ex-Pakistan PM Gilani’s son kidnapped

Lahore: With Pakistani police yet to make any breakthrough in their efforts, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sought the help of the ISI to locate his son Ali Haider, who was kidnapped by heavilyarmed men in Multan. Six to eight armed men kidnapped 27-year-old Ali Haider while he was campaigning for national election in Multan district, 350 km from Lahore. His personal secretary and a bodyguard were shot and killed by the gunmen.

First polio case in Waziristan since Taliban ban

Islamabad: A child has contracted polio for the first time in Pakistan's militantinfested tribal belt since the Taliban banned vaccinations a year ago. "The new case has been detected in North Waziristan where we had been denied access in June last year," the World Health Organization's senior coordinator for polio eradication in Pakistan, Elias Durry, said. Tribesmen in North Waziristan, Pakistan's most notorious stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants, endorsed the Taliban ban and stopped authorities from vaccinating children under a nationwide campaign.

Karzai to allow US bases in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Afghan president Hamid Karzai revealed he was willing to agree to Washington's request for the bases as long as he received security and economic guarantees in return. His comments shed light on difficult negotiations between the uneasy allies who have spent months trying to sign an agreement governing any American presence after 2014. "We are giving the bases, nine bases they want from Afghanistan, in all of Afghanistan," Karzai said in a speech at Kabul University.

Cyclone 'Mahasen' hits Sri Lanka, seven killed

Colombo: At least seven people were killed and nearly 3,000 left homeless as the cyclonic storm 'Mahasen' caused heavy rains in the north and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. The Disaster Management Centre here said that at least 7 people were killed, while two more are missing as a result of the storm. "We have four camps for over 2,800 people displaced by the storm," Lal Sarath Kumara, a spokesman said.

China premier to visit India, Pak

Beijing: New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will visit India and Pakistan on his first foreign trip since assuming office, on a weeklong overseas foray that will also take in Switzerland and Germany. Li, who became prime minister in March, will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. China and Pakistan call each other "all-weather friends" and their close ties have for decades been underpinned by wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against US influence across the region. Li will make his trip from May 19 to 27.

Pakistan major arms buyer from China

Washington: Asserting that China has signed agreements for arms exports worth $11 billion from 2007 to 2011, the Pentagon has said that Pakistan remains Beijing's primary customer for conventional weapons. "From 2007 to 2011, China signed approximately $11 billion in agreements for conventional weapons systems worldwide, ranging from general purpose materiel to major weapons systems," the report said. Pakistan, it said, remains its primary customer for conventional arms.

Sri Lanka opens High Commission in Uganda

Kampala: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni opened the new High Commission of Sri Lanka in Uganda. The two leaders unveiled a plaque and cut a ribbon opening up the new mission in Kampala at the Imperial Royal Hotel in Kampala.

Islamabad: A Pakistani court declared that US drone strikes in the country's lawless tribal belt were illegal and directed the foreign ministry to move a resolution against the attacks in the United Nations.

The Peshawar high court issued the verdict against the strikes by CIA-operated spy planes in response to four petitions that contended the attacks killed civilians and caused collateral damage.

Chief justice Dost Muhammad Khan, who headed a two-judge bench that heard the petitions, ruled the drone strikes were illegal, inhuman and a violation of the UN charter on human

rights. The court observed that the strikes must be declared a war crime as they kill innocent people.

"The government of Pakistan must ensure that no drone strike takes place in the future," the court said. It asked the foreign ministry to

table a resolution against the American attacks in the UN. "If the US vetoes the resolution, then the country should think about breaking diplomatic ties with the US," the judgment said.

US officials have said the drones target al-Qaida and

Taliban elements in Pakistan's tribal regions who are blamed for cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan insists that the US spy planes kill innocent people, damage civilian property and are counter-productive to the war on terror.

The petitioners had asked the court to direct the government to make public any secret deal with the US on drone strikes, stop drone strikes by force, take the issue to the UN Security Council and pay compensation to families of people killed in missile attacks.

The US has, meanwhile, rejected Pakistan's calls for halting drone strikes.

Woman pulled alive from Musharraf's remand in Bhutto murder case extended rubble of Bangladesh factory after 17 days

Savar (Bangladesh): A young Bangladeshi woman who spent 17 days buried alive under a collapsed garments factory was rescued when astonished workmen heard a voice calling "save me, save me" from the rubble.

Pale, drawn but seemingly unhurt, Reshma Begum was cut from the ruins and hoisted onto a stretcher to wild cheers in scenes that captivated a nation which had long given up hope of finding any more survivors.

When the eight-storey building collapsed on April 24, Begum was trapped in a lightless, cell-like nook alone, but alive. She managed to survive by taking sips from bottles of water buried with her. "To save water I used to drink only a small quantity," Begum, 19, said from her hospital bed.

The 45-minute rescue was broadcast live on television.

Cameras captured hope lighting up the faces of rescue workers peering into the

hole, before Begum was carried out.

For a moment she was shown with her head lolling to the side, as if unconscious.

Emergency workers placed an oxygen mask on her face and loaded her into an ambulance that sped away with its doors open.

Meanwhile, the threeweek search for victims of the disaster ended with the death toll put at a staggering 1,127.

Bangladesh's government also agreed to allow garment workers to form unions without permission from factory owners. That decision came a day after it announced a plan to raise the minimum wage in the industry. The collapse of the eight-story Rana Plaza factory building April 24 focused worldwide attention on hazardous conditions in Bangladesh's garment industry, where workers sew lowcost clothing that ends up on store shelves around the globe, including the US and Western Europe.

Pervez Musharraf

Islamabad: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's judicial remand over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007 was extended by a fortnight by an anti-terrorism court.

The court of Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman in Rawalpindi extended Musharraf's judicial remand till May 28 and also put off hearing his bail application till May 20, prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told reporters. The next hearing of the Bhutto assassination case will be held on May 28.

Musharraf's lawyer Salman Safdar did not attend Tuesday's hearing. This was the first hearing after Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, the

Bangladesh sentences Islamist leader to death for war crimes

Dhaka: A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal convicted and sentenced an Islamist party leader to death, raising fears of a repeat of clashes between police and protesters after fellow suspects were condemned to death earlier this year.

M o h a m m a d Kamaruzzaman, 59, assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty on charges of genocide and torture of unarmed civilians during the 1971 war for independence from Pakistan, lawyers and tribunal officials said.

Kamaruzzaman's verdict was the fourth reached by the tribunal, with more to come, and drew a huge crowd outside the court amid tight security.

Bangladesh has been rocked by protests and count-

er-protests related to the complex legacy of the independence war in recent months. The protests are one of the main challenges facing the government of Prime

Mohammad Kamaruzzaman

Minister Sheikh Hasina, who opened an inquiry into abuses committed during the war in 2010.

Bangladesh became part

of Pakistan at the end of British colonial rule of India in 1947. But the country, then known as East Pakistan, won independence with India's help in December 1971 following the ninemonth war against then West Pakistan.

The recent unrest began in January when the tribunal sentenced to death in absentia a leader of Jamaat, Bangladesh's main Muslim party.

Jamaat opposed Bangladeshi independence from Pakistan but denies accusations that some of its leaders committed murder, rape and torture during the conflict.

More than 100 people have been killed in the clashes this year, most of them Islamist party activists and members of the security forces.

chief prosecutor handling the 2008 Mumbai attacks and Bhutto's assassination, was shot dead by suspected militants in Islamabad on May 3.

Musharraf, 69, has been accused of failing to provide adequate security to two-time former premier Benazir Bhutto when she returned to Pakistan from self-exile.

Bhutto was assassinated by a suicide bomber after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007.

The former military ruler returned from self-exile in March to lead his party in the May 11 general election but the Peshawar high court barred him from contesting polls for the rest of his life.

Musharraf is also facing charges over the sacking of judges during the 2007 emergency and the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation.

Following his arrest in several cases, Musharraf is being held at his farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad, which has been declared a "sub-jail" by authorities.

Pakistan envoy to US Sherry Rehman resigns Washington: Pakistan's ambassador to the US, S h e r r y Rehman, has resigned from her p o s t .

Congratulating the new parliament on its election, ambassador Rehman has sent in her resignation to the Prime Minister, saying that it is time a new envoy come in as quickly as possible so that there is no gap in the relationship, an embassy spokesman said. A political appointee of the previous government and a close aide of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Rehman came to Washington at the time when the US-Pak relationship was at its lowest ebb in post 9/11.

world

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In Focus 19 hurt in Mother's Day shooting in New Orleans

New Orleans: Gunmen opened fire on a Mother's Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans, wounding at least 19, including two children. FBI spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig called it "street violence" and said federal investigators have no indication that the shooting was an act of terrorism. The southern city has one of the highest violent crime rates in the US. The shootings took place less than two miles (3 km) from the heart of the French Quarter.

Indian-origin man in Malaysia shot dead

Singapore: An Indianorigin man M Nagenthiran, 30, was shot three times on the top floor of his house. He was a car repossessor. His wife G Paramewary, who was sleeping with their two children, woke up in the early hours when she heard a knock. She said "I opened the door to find a policeman standing outside. He told me that my husband was dead," "I rushed out and found him lying in a pool of blood.’ A neighbour, who spotted Nagenthiran's body, had alerted the police.

NASA invites messages to be sent to Mars

Washington: Want to be a part of space exploration history? NASA is inviting public to submit their names, short poems and personal messages online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian atmosphere. The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku, NASA said. However, only three haikus will be selected.

The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin on July 15.

Sikh group offers $1 mn for Sajjan Kumar's conviction

New York: A US- based Sikh rights group has announced a million-dollar reward for those individuals whose testimony and evidence may result in the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar. The reward will be given to those individuals who will come forward with tips, evidence and testimony leading to the reversal of a Delhi court's judgment acquitting Kumar in a 1984 antiSikh riots case, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) announced.

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Elderly Sikh man assaulted Indian boy leaves US outside US Gurdwara, one arrested academia awestruck

Washington: An elderly Sikh man was brutally assaulted with an iron rod outside a Gurdwara in the US and was in a serious condition. Police have arrested a person in connection with the incident.

The incident happened outside a Gurdwara in Fresno which is located in the heart of the Central Valley of California. The person arrested has been identified as Gilbert Garcia, the Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer told a gathering of Sikhs at the Gurdwara where the 82year-old victim Piara Singh worked as a volunteer.

Singh has 20 stitches, broken bones and ribs. His condition is reported to be improving.

Late in the evening, a Dyer-led team of government officials, including representatives of the FBI and the Department of Justice among others met members of the Sikh community to assure them that they are taking enough measures to protect them from any hate crime.

"This is a hate crime," said Gurdev Singh Muhar, a priest of the Fresno Gurdwara. Fresno is locat-

Washington: Describing India as its most important partner in Asia, the US says the growing convergence in interests and outlook has brought about unprecedented cooperation on issues ranging from regional and global security to counterterrorism.

"President Obama has called our partnership with India a 'defining partnership for the 21st century," recalled assistant secretary of state Robert Blake during a talk at Boston University's India Symposium in Boston, Massachusetts.’ "And as we go about the much-talked about 'Asia rebalance,' there's no more important partner for the United States in the region than India," he said, according to a copy of the address released by the State Department.

"The growing convergence of our interests and outlook has brought about unprecedented cooperation on regional and global security, economics and trade, education, science and technology, clean energy, health, and coun-

terterrorism," Blake said.

India's Minister for Human Resources Development Pallam Raju will visit Washington to lay the groundwork for the Higher Education Dialogue to be held with the USIndia Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi next month.

"We will work together to help India achieve its ambitious goal to establish 200 community colleges; build the next cadre of America's India experts; and increase access to higher education through innovative use of technology," Blake said. "The commitment by both governments to emphasize higher education collaboration underscores our shared belief that education is the lynchpin of the entrepreneurship and innovation that will drive our knowledge economies and growth and help us meet new challenges."

While the US has long been a favoured destination for Indian students with over 100,000 new Indian students coming to the US every year, India ranks only eleventh among

ed in the heart of the Central Valley of California that has a sizable Sikh/Punjabi population.

The incident has sent shock waves not only among the entire Sikh community in the US, but also among HinduAmericans and ArabAmericans, who for long have been demanding that attack against them be registered by the FBI as hate crime.

In a statement, the Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, condemned the brutal attack on Singh.

India most important partner in Asia: US

Iran's president may get 74 lashes for allegedly breaking law Tehran: Iran's constitutional watchdog said it would seek possible charges against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for allegedly violating rules by accompanying his chief adviser to the election registry office the previous day.

A conviction could bring a maximum punishment of six months in jail or 74 lashes.

The dispute appears to stem from an ongoing confrontation between Ahmadinejad and the ruling clerics in Iran following years of tensions over power struggles.

It could also herald potential difficulties for Ahmadinejad's protege, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, to be cleared for the June

14 presidential election, which is to pick Ahmadinejad's successor.

The president himself is not running since Iran's constitution bars him from seeking a third term in office.

The group that complained on Sunday, the Guardian Council, also vets all candidates for the presidency. Mashaei is among more than 680 hopefuls, but no more than a handful will be selected for the final ballot.

State TV quoted Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei as saying the claims against Ahmadinejad will be referred to the country's judiciary for possible charges.

the destinations for American students studying abroad, he noted.

"I want many more Americans to experience the richness of India's culture, the vibrancy of its young people, and the dynamism of its economy," Blake said. The US official said he was "very excited that discussions like ours are taking place at so many levels, because both our countries can contribute to one another, and frankly, can learn from each other."

Washington: A Kolkataborn Indian teenager has become the youngest medalist in a century of the famed University of California, Berkeley, in the process completing a double major in bioengineering and chemical biology in only three years - all the age of 18.

Adding to the lore of the preternaturally bright Indian students, some 100,000 of whom are studying in the US at any given time, Ritankar Das is also the first student from the University's College of Chemistry in 58 years - and the first ever from the Department of Bioengineering - to earn the honor, UC Berkeley officials said.

Established in 1871, the University Medal is awarded each year to an exemplary graduating student with a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.96. Das is graduating with more than 200 credits and a GPA of 3.99, which includes eight A+ marks. Das will receive the medal and give a speech at Commencement Convocation, to be addressed by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.

Among other alumni, UC Berkeley also counts Intel founder Gordon Moore and mouse inventor Doug Engelbart, besides dozens of Nobel

laureates and a score of Academy Award winners.

From the subcontinent, the liberal bastion has also graduated the socialist icon Jayaprakash Narayan, Pakistan's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

Despite its illustrious alumni and great heritage, the university was sufficiently chuffed about its brilliant young graduate to put out an elaborate statement. "In my 30 years at Berkeley, I cannot think of a single undergraduate student who would match Ritankar's accomplishments, his range of activities and projects that he initiated and currently leads, and his academic excellence," it quoted Marcin Majda, professor and undergraduate dean in the College of Chemistry, as saying in a recommendation letter submitted to the prize committee.

Born in Kolkata, Das moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, at the age of 7 with his parents, Sankar and Kakali Das, the University statement said.

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IndIa

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South 80-year-old woman raped An 80-year old woman was allegedly raped by a 41-year-old vegetable vendor following which she was admitted to a hospital in a serious condition. The woman was living alone at Gopalapuram in Malliakari. Around midnight last night, Palanivel, who has two wives and four children, went to the victim's house and asked for water, but she refused.

Suddenly, he forced his way into the house, allegedly raped her and bit her private parts.

SC confirms double life term for rape, murder accused

After 10 years of the rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman and the murder of her 13-month-old daughter, the Supreme Court confirmed the double life sentence awarded to the accused, K Kumar. Kumar, a plumber, murdered his sister-in-law, Vijayalakshmi, after sexually assaulting her in Yercaud near Salem in 2003. He poured kerosene on Vijayalakshmi and her daughter before setting them on fire to make it seem like a suicide.

Father kills minor daughter

A three-year-old girl was allegedly killed by her father, after he "suspected" his wife's 'fidelity' in the Mancherial town of Adilabad district. After allegedly throwing the baby girl Harini, into a water tank on Ashok Road in Mancherial, her father C Krishna, a painter, initially claimed that she had been "abducted".

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa issued a stringent warning to the PMK saying her government would not hesitate to ban any political party involved in endangering public peace.

While responding to a special calling attention motion by members of various political parties in the Assembly over the continuing violence in the northern districts of the State, she said the government will surely not back out to take action against Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S Ramadoss, his son and former union minister Anbumani Ramadoss and

141 new cases of measles reported

Inflation and recession does not affect the temples. Not moved by the economic turmoil all around, the moolah temples in the state rake in has been increasing with each passing year.

In 2013, the number of temples ringing in an annual revenue of Rs 1 crore has shot up to 133 across the state, compared with 90 temples in 2008. The list includes only the temples that come under the endowments department, and does not take into account the private ones.

Of the 43 temples that made it to the Rs 1 crore category, Gunter district topped

Dalit woman stripped, beaten in Jalalabad

A middle-aged dalit woman was allegedly stripped, paraded naked in front of her house, tied to a tree, and then beaten by five men and two women in Kamrewala village of Jalalabad. Five of the seven dalits accused were arrested. Police said it looked like an act of revenge as the son of the 55-year-old victim was recently charged with making a nude MMS of the daughter of one of the accused men and then uploading it to the net.

NRI acquitted of killing

An NRI accused of killing of former MLA Nachattar Singh got big relief when a local court acquitted the Canada based NRI Jagdev Singh of murder charges. The court of additional district and sessions judge Karamjit Singh acquitted Jagdev of the charges for the killing of Nachattar Singh, who was father of former Punjab Director General of Police Paramdeep Singh Gill.

Punjab CM meets PM

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press for a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases in the capital. "We want that a special investigation team be formed and it should probe the cases under the supervision of the Supreme Court," he said.

Haryana: 2 cases of alleged honour killing in Hisar

Two cases of alleged honour killings have been reported from Haryana, a state which has gained notoriety for the ghastly crime.

In the first case a father allegedly murdered his daughter as he was opposed to her relationship with a boy from the same village while in the other case a young man was beaten to death by the girl's family.

Security Act", Jayalalithaa said. “We will estimate the damages caused to public and private properties by the PMK men and recover the damages from them under the Tamil Nadu Public Properties (damage and loss prevention) Act, 1992.

According to rough estimates, property worth Rs. 600 crore has been damaged in the April 25 violence led by the activists of the PMK who were protesting the arrest of their founder leader S Ramadoss and his son Anbumani Ramdoss, for their inflammatory speeches. The two have since been released on bail.

the list with 13 temples. It was followed by Nellore with nine temples and Krishna with eight temples. Two temples each made it to the Rs 1 crore category from Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Anantapur while Srikakulam district accounted for one temple.

The two temples from Hyderabad that made it to the list are the Sri Venkateswara Temple at Chikkadapally and the Balaji Venkateswara temple at Mehdipatnam.

The temples that are in the super-rich list include Sri Karaka Chettu Ammavari temple at Peda Waltair, Erukamba Ammavari temple, Sri Durgalamma temple at Velampet (Visakhapatnam), Sri Bala Tripura Sundari Sameta Sri Ramalingeswara temple at Suryaraopet at Kakinada (East Godavari), and Gurukula Tirumala Paarijata Sri Venkateswara Swami Devastanam at Jangareddy Gudem (West Godavari).

Tamil Nadu government decided to ban the production, stocking, distribution and sale of tobacco products such as gutka and pan masala in the state. The government decision came against the backdrop of Supreme Court's remarks in a case pending before it seeking to know the action taken by the state government in curbing the usage of tobacco and its products.

Making a statement in the assembly, chief minister J Jayalalithaa referred to her previous regime's notification on November 19, 2001, to ban the use of tobacco under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, for five years, on which the Supreme Court ruled that the Centre alone had the powers to issue such notifications.

Jayalalithaa said her government had constituted a separate department 'Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration,' after the

Centre announced the Food Safety and Standards Act. She also pointed out that Centre has enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and it has come into force throughout the country from 5th August 2011 by repealing the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954.

"In order to prevent various cancers through tobacco, my government has decided to ban the production, stocking, distribution and sale of gutka and pan masala in the state", she said.

J Jayalalithaa

133 Andhra temples TN bans production, roll in wealth sales of tobacco

Punjab Over 10,929 cases of measles have been reported in Punjab during the last five months with an addition of 141 new cases.

According to health department officials, at least 64 deaths have been reported so far while most deaths occurred in Lahore, Gujranwala, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Kasur. 141 cases of measles were reported from Punjab, including 52 from city hospitals. It was found that a majority of deaths in Lahore were caused by severe pneumonia and delay in reaching hospitals.

their party if they affected public peace and caused damages to public property.

She flayed the PMK leader for his provocative speech that incited violence.

"If any political party acts in a manner that affected public peace, cause damages to public properties, disrupt the law and order and indulge in violence, the government will not hesitate to ban those parties. The government will definitely take stringent action", she added.

She said her government would also file a defamatory suit against Ramadoss for alleging that the government and police were responsible for the violence in several districts.

"Those acting in a manner that affected public tranquility will be detained under the Goondas Act and National

84 riots victim Nirpreet Kaur ends fast

Responding to an appeal made by the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh, the victim of 1984 Sikh massacre Sardarni Nirpjeet Kaur ended her five-day long fast after taking a glass of juice offered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Chief Jathedar Avtar Singh this afternoon.

Addressing a mammoth gathering of Sikh community assembled here at JantarMantar to express solidarity with the victims of 1984 Sikh Genocide besides demanding exemplary punishment to all those responsible for the merciless killings of thousands of the innocent Sikhs especially the culprits like Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, whom the UPA led Congress government was deliberately shielding them in one way or another, Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said the Sikh Panth was replete with countless sacrifices to uphold the

moral and ethical values of humanity besides safeguarding the rights of poor and oppressed. The endless saga of unprecedented valour which protected the dignity of mankind through the supreme sacrifices of Sikh Gurus and warriors would always act as a beckon to guide our destiny especially to keep us in high spirits (chardhi kalan).

Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh in an emotional appeal asked Bibi Nirpjeet Kaur to immediately call her fast off in view of the tenets of Sikhism which refrains Sikhs to take up fasts as a part of their crusade against tyranny and oppression, rather he said we should confront any situation bravely by ever remaining in high spirits. He told that the entire Sikh community was with her in this hour of crisis and hoped they all would succeed in their mission to prevail upon the Centre to punish the guilty.

Shiromani Akali Dal to fight out against acquittal of Sajjan Kumar Shiromani Akali Dal chief and Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has accused the Congress and party chief Sonia Gandhi family of making efforts in saving party leader Sajjan Kumar.

Sukhbir said everybody knows who were behind the senseless killings of thousands of innocents Sikhs in 1984 but Congress is using every trick in saving its leaders.

Badal said the SAD will fight out against the injustice meted out to Sikhs by acquitting Sajjan Kumar.

Here to observe the 290th birth anniversary of Sikh warrior Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, Sukhbir said as no other example of injustice

could be seen across the world, the SAD will keep on fighting till its logical conclusion. He said the Sikhs from every nook and corner of the world have lent their support to the cause of punishments to the guilty of killing Sikhs.

He said a delegation of SAD will call on President of India at Delhi for seeking justice to Sikhs.

Sukhbir said apart from saving the party men responsiSajjan ble of killings, Kumar Congress led UPA is hell bent on saving the ministers accused of indulging in corrupt practices.

Earlier the deputy chief minister remembered the sacrifices of Jassa Singh Ramgarghia while fighting with Mughals.

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In Focus Modi is one of the finest administrators: Murthy Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's developmental agenda has got a shot in the arm. In what is being seen as an endorsement of his developmental work, Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys, remarked that Mr Modi had been acknowledged as one of the finest administrators in the country. While chatting with media in Vadodara, Mr Murthy to a question on Mr Modi's abilities as an administrator said, "Well, I would say Mr Modi has been acknowledged as a finest administrator in the country. There is no doubt about that. When I come to Ahmedabad and I come here (Vadodara) and look at the power situation here, the quality of roads, look at other infrastructure, it is very very clear from the data on the ground that this state has performed extremely well."With regard to other aspects of Human Development Indices in the state, the cofounder of Infosys said, "I don't have the data on human development index, rural health or rural education so cannot comment on that."

Uttarakhand high court bars Arya Samaj from issuing marriage certificates

In a significant judgment, the Uttarakhand high court has ruled that the Arya Samaj is not legally authorized to issue marriage certificates to couples after solemnization marriages. The PIL had challenged the validity of marriage certificates issued by Arya Samaj saying as there was no provision under the Arya Samaj Marriage Validation Act of 1937 allowing it to issue such certificates. Such certificates should be treated as illegal, it pleaded.

Eight killed in Andhra Pradesh cyclonic storm

Eight people were killed and four others injured in rain-related incidents in Andhra Pradesh, due to Sunday's 'Mahasen' cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The deaths and injuries occurred due to thunderbolts in Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram of coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The cyclonic storm moved northwards and lay centred 700 kms southeast of Chennai this morning and is expected to move further northwards towards the BangladeshMyanmar coast.

14-year-old girl found pregnant

A 19-year-old youth was arrested for allegedly raping his 14-year-old sister, who is reportedly seven months pregnant. The accused raped the girl around a year ago and repeatedly thereafter. The matter came to light, when the 14-year-old girl was rushed to a hospital in Kalwa after she started feeling uneasy and vomited. The arrested youth, who was unemployed, had twin sisters and all of them lived with their parents, police said. One of the sisters used to go to work along with her parents, while the other, the victim, used to stay home, they said.

20 injured in midnight raid

Sixteen members of two families and four other migrant labourers were burtally attacked and badly injured in a midnight attack by dacoits on the outskirts of village Kamalpura Mothanwala. The attack on the victims was so barbaric that all of them were attacked on head with strong Lathisand all the victims were left with head injuries ranging from very serious to moderate.

VVIP chopper scam: CBI gets phone transcripts from Italy

CBI has received transcripts of telephone conversations between Italian middlemen and officials of a defence firm, in which the Italy government has 30 per cent stake, and others in connection with the VVIP helicopter scam. The transcripts of the telephone calls were handed over to the defence ministry, which has been made as an "affected party" by the Italian prosecutor. The transcripts were in Italian language.

Britain has launched a new "super priority" same-day visa service for urgent travellers from India, the first-of-itskind service to be launched by the UK anywhere in the world.

The super priority visa service was announced by British Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to India in February this year.

The service is open for appointment bookings in India from Tuesday. "I am delighted to see the super priority visa service being launched in India before any other country," said Sir James Bevan, the British High Commissioner to India.

"For the first time, Indian visitors will now have the option of a same-day visa to the UK. This underlines our strong commitment to make an already excellent visa service even better. We expect this new service to be particularly useful for business," he said, adding that it will cater to those who need to travel

on very short notice.

"Opportunities arise at short notice. We want Indian entrepreneurs and businessmen to be able to seize these.

The UK and India are already on course to double bilateral trade by 2015. The new super priority visa will help make sure that we hit this target," he added.

The service is optional and incurs an additional fee of 600 pounds besides the standard fee for the type of visa being applied for.

Applicants are required to complete an online form and submit their applications, by

appointment, before 9.30 am.

If an application is successful, the visa will be ready for collection by 5.30 pm the same day in New Delhi or by 6.30 pm the same day in Mumbai.

It complements the UK's existing Fast Track Service and the recently announced online payment option. The new service is available to customers applying for a sixmonth or two-year multiple entry visit visa (excluding student visitors) who have previously travelled to the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or a Schengen country within the last five years.

It is also available to visa applicants sponsored by companies who are members of the UK's Business Express Programme. "We are commit-

ted to making the UK an attractive place to visit and a destination for the brightest and best to work and do business. That's why we've launched this new service, to provide our valued customers from India with the choices to fit their particular circumstances and needs," immigration minister Mark Harper said.

"The UK and India have always had close commercial ties and I am determined to ensure that we continue to build stronger links in the future," Harper said.

India is the UK's biggest visa operation in the world, processing around 400,000 applications each year and the government claims that the vast majority of applications - over 97 per cent of UK business visit visas and 86 per cent of visit visas - are approved.

The latest service does not replace the process for expediting visas on compassionate grounds.

Gujarati community across the country, who had organised the event on the occasion of the Gujarat Divas, Indian students in several US universities, like the University of Maryland, had gathered together to watch Modi's live address.

leaders. It is unbelievable that the India's foreign minister is seen reading the speech of his counterpart from another country, he said.

"Heads of our soldiers are cut but then their Prime Minister fed chicken biryani," he said in an apparent refer-

In his speech, Modi insisted that the country is experiencing a new crisis due to developments in the last few months, as he narrated several corruption related incidents.

Lashing out at foreign policy of the UPA government, he alleged that New Delhi is being ruled by weak

ence to incidents of killing of Indian soldiers by Pakistan.

"Then questions are raised: China withdraws its forces but I wonder why Indian forces are withdrawing from Indian territory?

Why did we retreat (from our own territory)?" he said questioning the China policy of the government.

Modi claimed that during his rule in Gujarat, he has given a new meaning to development, which is not only inclusive but integrates all sections of the society without any differentiation.

"We have adopted mantra of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'.

We do not want development of only select sections of society," Modi said in response to a question from Chicago.

"We have taken development to new heights, taken it for wellbeing of every person: I am saying it again, Modi has not done it. The credit goes to six crore Gujaratis and those who love Gujarat," he said in his remarks.

Modi, in his speech, sought contribution of the overseas Gujarati community in building a statue of unity of Sardar Patel, which he said would be double the height of the Statue of Liberty in New York.

This, he said, would be the tallest statue of the world and a tribute to the son of the soil Sardar Patel, who singlehandedly united the country after India achieved its independence in 1947.

Narendra Modi blasts UPA govt in his address to Indian diaspora in US

AV Correspondent Reaching out to the Indian diaspora in the US through video conferencing, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tore into UPA 2 Government and its weak policies. He was addressing the Indians across 20 cities in the US on the occasion of Gujarat Day celebrations.

Asserting that he has given a new meaning to "development" during his 12-year rule in Gujarat, Modi has said that the greatest challenge facing India is restoring the trust of the people.

Modi lashed out at the UPA government and alleged that people of India have lost "trust and confidence" in the government, due to its "poor governance" and high corruption.

"I feel biggest crisis (today) is lack of confidence.

We need to get this trust back. This cannot be merely done by words: Biggest need today is trust," Modi said while speaking to the audience from different cities of the US, including New Jersey and Chicago.

Besides the overseas

Fans now launching T-shirts and comic strips to popularise Modi

AV Correspondent

Though the general elections may be a few months away and Modi magic did not work in Karnataka, but his ardent supporters are not bothered much. They are now planning to take Modism to a different level altogether. After Modi masks, they are now launching Modi-T-shirts and set to launch songs, games and comic strips on the theme of Narendra Modi.

The process has been initiated by a little known Delhi- based group, Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BSKS), which has already launched

Narendra Modi T-shirts in a social networking site and are reportedly doing brisk business. Launched under a community page named Modifying India, the group also intends to launch songs and comic strips on Modi themes.

The T-shirts are priced at Rs 195 and are available at four different sizes.

Interestingly, similar T-shirts are also seen at another ecommerce site. “While it is largely the supporters of Modi who are doing these, this is bound to take the process of electioneering to an altogether different level,” said an Ahmedabad- based political

analyst. “Such merchandize like T-shirts have been a part of electioneering for quite some time now, but bringing them to a commercial activity ahead of the general election is completely a different story and is an entirely new idea, whose efficacy remains to be tested,” he added.

For Modi, however, pushing the electioneering envelope has been nothing new and many of his pre-election innovations had shown great results in previous state elections. While it was extensive cyber campaign through social networking sites, mobile ringtones and Modi masks in

2007, Modi launched 3-D campaign in 2012 to add colour to his campaign and with great results. However, this is for the first time that these merchandize are also being marketed.

With the general election coming closer, the cyber campaign for Modi’s candidature is getting shriller and more tangible. Recently posters had come up in Ahmedabad pitching Modi for the prime ministerial position. While the posters claimed to be soon launching a signature campaign for Modi, the organizers only provided a facebook community page as their identity.

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IndIa

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 18th May 2013

Railway, law ministers resign over corruption charges Continued from page 1 Sanaullah Haq, a convicted Pakistani militant jailed in India died in hospital after being beaten by another inmate in an apparent revenge attack for the death of Indian spy prisoner Sarabjit Singh, threatening already fraught relations between the two nations.

The death of Haq, also known as Sanaullah Ranjay, came a week after Singh died in Pakistan, leading to furious protests in India and criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government for going soft on its western neighbour.

"Although it's scant consolation I'd like to offer

Sanaullah Haq

a sincere apology to the family of Sanaullah Haq & my sympathies for their loss," Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu

and Kashmir where Haq was imprisoned, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Pakistan, which is due to hold an election on Saturday, demanded an investigation into Haq's death and said the attack was "a matter of deep concern." Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said Haq's body will be returned to Pakistan.

Haq, 64, had been in and out of Indian jails since 1989 for spying and "subversive activities," a senior police officer said.

He was badly beaten last week in the prison gardens by a jailed Indian soldier, the prison superintendent said at the time, in an

apparent revenge attack for the similar, fatal beating of Sarabjit Singh, the convicted Indian spy who died in Pakistan. Singh's family says he was innocent.

Singh was given a formal funeral, including a 21 gun salute, by the government of Punjab in his home town close to the border with Pakistan.

The Pakistani government issued a travel advisory to its citizens, asking them to "exercise due caution and care" in India. It said the safety and security of Pakistani visitors in India, particularly those at an annual pilgrimage, could be in jeopardy.

SC calls CBI a caged parrot, slams govt's interference

The Supreme Court has questioned the credibility of CBI probe into the coal scam and has asked for a thorough and qualitative investigation.

Showing displeasure at govt's interference in the Coalgate probe report, the SC said, ''the heart of the report was changed on the suggestions of the govt officials."

Raising questions on the independence of CBI, the apex court called it a 'caged parrot speaking in its master's voice'.

The apex court made a scathing comment on the functioning of the investigating agency and said,

"It's a sordid saga that there are many masters and one parrot."

Asking the govt to make CBI impartial, the apex court said it needs to be ensured that the CBI functions free of all external pressures.

SC observed that if the CBI is not made independent, we will step in. Job of CBI is not to interact with government officials but to interrogate to find the truth, the SC said.

Commenting on law minister Ashwani Kumar's role, the apex court said that a minister can ask for a report but can't interfere with the CBI probe.

The court questioned how the CBI could have regular interactions with the ministry officials.

Slamming the action of joint secretaries who saw the probe report, the SC said, What business does the two joint secretaries have in visiting the CBI office?

Defending his role, Attorney General GE Vahanvati said, "My meeting with CBI officials took place only on suggestions of the law minister."

Govt forms GoM to decide on CBI autonomy Almost a week after the government was severely reprimanded by

the Supreme Court for influencing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the coal scam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh constituted a Group of Ministers to decide the plan of action to secure the autonomy of the investigating agency.

The ministers' group would be headed by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and will include newly-appointed Law Minister Kapil Sibal, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy.

Pak gives reign to Nawaz Sharif Continued from page 1 the number of seats won by the second best party in the national assembly. His party has also broken all the records of popularity in Punjab province from where around half of the National Assembly members are elected.

As of the last information his party was ahead or had won at least 220 seats in Punjab assembly. Be it Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehriki Insaf (PTI), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muslim League (Q) or any other party, all have been washed away. Despite all his efforts Imran Khan failed to make any impact on the political landscape in Punjab and his huge rallies have failed to translate into votes for his party.

PPP has been completely thrown out of the state across all the regions.

Independents have won around 40 seats. But there are indications that many of them were rebel candidates of the party and they would love to come back to the party after its spectacular show.

Meanwhile the final tally of seats won by different parties in Pakistan’s Natioal assembly is not

available anywhere. It seems very confusing.

Here we have tried to bring together a final tally of different political parties in the troubled nation.

Pakistan Muslim League (N) : 130 seats, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP): 33 seats, Pakistan Tehreeki Insaf: (PTI) 29 seats, Independents: 27, MQM: 17, Jamiat Ulamai Islam (F): 10, Jamaat-iIslami (JI): 5 seats, PKMAP: 3, PML (F): 5, NP:2, NNP: 1 QWP: 1 ANP: 1 PMLQ 1 BNP: 1 AML: 1 In 1999, Nawaz Sharif was overthrown in a military coup. His vanquisher, General Pervez Musharraf, was broadly welcomed in Pakistan, and later, by the international community. Sharif was first thrown in jail, and later dispatched into exile for seven years. In his absence, some claimed that Sharif’s party - and his political career - were finished. Now, in an astonishing turn of history, Sharif is set to become Pakistan’s Prime Minister for the third time, while his once powerful nemesis Musharraf is under arrest and possibly facing trial for alleged crimes to do

with abuse of power.

Ahead of taking oath as prime minister, Sharif emphasized the importance of friendship with India and said he would like to invite Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his oath-taking ceremony in Islamabad.

"Mutual fears need to be addressed," he said at his Lahore home.

In New Delhi, officials said it would be premature to react to the statement since no formal invitation had yet been received.

Besides overhauling a crumbling economy, Sharif has put ending the feud with India on top of his agenda as he held daylong meetings to decide a policy framework and pick his ministers.

With Sharif in office, hopes for better IndiaPakistan ties soared since he has referred to improving relations as one of his missions if voted to power.

Speaking to the media after it became clear that he was set to return to power, Sharif said he had worked hard for a detente with New Delhi before Musharraf deposed him.

"We'll pick the threads where we left. We want to move toward better rela-

tions with India, to resolve the remaining issues through peaceful means, including that of Kashmir," he said.

Political observer Imtiaz Gul said he had it on authority that Sharif had told the powerful generals that he wanted a free hand in dealing with New Delhi.

He has promised to investigate the ISI's role in 26/11 besides fixing responsibility for the Kargil war. "Let there be the joint commission of investigation. Let both the countries sit together, exchange the evidence that they have. Let the investigation be conducted jointly and let's pursue the matter jointly,'' he said in a recent interview.

Days before the vote, he made an emotional speech about India while addressing Hindu, Sikh and Christian leaders. He turned towards a contingent of Indian journalists and said the two countries were once one and his mother yearned to see their house in Amritsar.

He said he would visit India even if he was not invited to pick up the threads of his successful engagement with ex-PM Atal Behari Vajpayee.

With the BJP, which did not allow the parliament to run, adamant on the resignation of both the ministers, Gandhi met the Prime Minister at his official residence. The first to go was Bansal, who was under a cloud after his nephew was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for accepting a bribe of Rs 9000,000 for getting a plum Railway Board post to a senior official.

"Yes, I have resigned," Bansal told reporters after leaving the prime minister's residence.

A little later, Ashwani Kumar, under fire for interfering in a CBI probe into the coal blocks allocation, met the prime minister and handed over his resignation.

In his resignation letter, Ashwani Kumar said it was "to put an end to the controversy of public perception of wrong doing."

The resignations have been forwarded to President Pranab Mukherjee for his approval.

Besides the two ministers, the BJP has been demanding the resignation of the prime minister himself also as he headed the coal ministry for a duration in UPA I. Labour Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge, who was in the running for Karnataka chief minister, is tipped to be the next railway minister.

The BJP termed the resignations a delayed step.

"This is a delayed step.

Had the ministers

Pawan Kumar Bansal

Ashwani Kumar

resigned a few days ago, the time of parliament would not have been wasted," BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said.

"The Congress does not take any decision on moral grounds," he said.

Communist Party of India leader D. Raja said Bansal should have resigned when parliament was in session, which would have allowed legislative business to take place.

Sibal gets law, Joshi railways: A day after the UPA government showed two of its senior ministers the door, it brought in replacements - telecom minister Kapil Sibal in place of Ashwani Kumar in the law and justice ministry and transport minister CP Joshi for Pawan Kumar Bansal in the railway ministry.

Congress back to power in Karnataka Continued from page 1 Siddaramaiah took oath in the name of truth and the constitution after Bhardwaj prompted him in Kannada.

Amongst the leaders present on the occasion were central ministers from the state Mallikarjun Kharge, M Veerappa Moily, K H Muniyappa and K Rahman Khan and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

Newly-elected lawmakers from the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata DalSecular (JD-S) were conspicuous by their absence.

BJP's Lok Sabha member from Bangalore North D.B. Chandre Gowda and B.R. Sriramulu, head of the newly-formed BSR (Badava Shramika Raitha) Congress party, however, attended the event.

The national party won a comfortable majority, bagging 121 of the 223

Siddaramaiah

assembly constituencies for which polling was held May 5. It has formed the government on its own seven years after it shared power with the JD-S in the state's first coalition government.

In the new legislative assembly, the BJP and JDS have 40 seats each as against 110 and 28 in the previous house. The new regional outfit Karnataka Janata Party (KJP), floated by former BJP chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, has six seats, BSR four and the remaining 12 are independents.

world/ india

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

For more stories visit www.scribbledesk.com

Short Story by Neha Garg

The Princess and the Dragon – Part 1 'Are you out of your mind?' said Princess Leila, with her hands on her hips. 'Its a dragon. A DRAGON! I am staying here.'

'But princess ...' began the Knight.

'And take that silly armour off, will you?' interrupted the Princess, flapping her hands. 'It's making my eyes water.

What do you do, spend your days scrubbing it until you can see your reflection?'

She turned and trundled back into the cave from which she had come.

The Knight took his helmet off and sighed. Looks like he had come all this way for nothing. What was he going to tell the King?

Debating whether to go after the Princess or head back to the castle, he was about to climb his horse when …

BOOM! All around him, the silent forest exploded in a flash of light. Birds flew off burning trees and squirrels ran up his armour, in their haste to get away from the flames. The cave lay exposed as the trees around it caught fire and slowly withered away.

The Knight snapped his helmet back on, shook off the squirrels and ran full tilt into the cave, coughing as the smoke entered his lungs.

‘PRINCESS!’ he cried, desperately waving at the smoke but it didn’t budge.

‘PRINCESS!’ he shouted again. Only silence greeted him.

Trying not to think about the Dragon’s sharp jaws snapping shut on his outstretched arms, he began to slowly grope his way forward.

He stumbled over lose stones littering the cave floor.

‘PRINCESS!’ ‘Shut up will you?’ hissed a voice in his ear. Alarmed, he jumped back.

‘Princess?’ he said uncertainly. He didn’t know why he was whispering.

I

Gujarat-based company supplying eye drops to UK Gujarat-based pharmaceutical firm Marck Biosciences Limited has received approvals from the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom to supply eye wash solutions in that country. The company started supplying two vital products to the world’s largest publicly funded health service from the year 2012. The products are being used during cataract surgeries and other eye operations.

By Nayan Dave

T

‘Let’s get out of here,’ said the Princess again and took hold of his hand, leading him back the way from which he had come.

The Knight walked uncertainly behind her, stumbling now and again.

Out in the open air, the Knight stood coughing and wheezing, trying to get some air into his lungs.

‘Told you … not … to … mix with …

Dragons,’ he spluttered.

The Princess glared at him.

‘I will have you know that the Dragon was a perfect gentleman. Or … a gentle egg. It was his mother that was the problem.’

‘How does that make a difference?’ said the Knight. He coughed once more.

‘Well, for starters, she has really bad manners, blowing up the cave like that just because she found me playing with her egg,’ said the Princess. She started pacing around the clearing. The Knight watched her wear a circle into the smoking grass.

‘We really should get out of here,’ he said, with a nervous glance back at the cave.

‘No,’ said the Princess, turning to look at the Knight. ‘I want a Dragon. We are going to steal that egg.’

To be Continued…

World's only Hindu Sheikh traces his roots to Gujarat

t was 143 years ago that Ramdas Thackersay set sail from the coastal town of Mandvi in Gujarat to relocate his growing business to Muscat for faster access to strategic ports. His forefathers, dhow merchants from Mandvi, had landed in Sur in the mid-1800s.

As traders, they brought grain, tea and spices from India and took away dates, dry lime, and frankincense from the sultanate of Oman. Muscat was, at that time, a very active port. Thackersay's son, Khimji Ramdas, followed him and together, they sowed the seeds of a global enterprise that is today one of the largest business groups in Oman.

Khimji Ramdas Group of Companies passed on from generation to generation and, in 1970, Thackersay's great-grandson, Kanaksi Khimji, took over from his father, Gokaldas, after finishing his education in Mumbai.

Today, with an annual turnover of more than $1 billion, the group is the chosen partner of more than 400 top global brands in consumer products, lifestyle, infrastructure,

27

projects and logistics. It has business operations in India and UAE and is a corporate member of the World Economic Forum.

"We see achievements as milestones in the quest for excellence. We just want to be the best," says the 77-year-old tycoon, Kanaksi Khimji. Not sales and volumes, Khimji believes that the most important measure of success for his family's business is how far it has helped advance the national development plans laid out by Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said. In fact, Khimji with his Indian roots was one of the first to embrace Omanisation, a directive to train and empower Omani professionals. Such a rare honour makes Khimji the most distinguished Indian in this Middle Eastern country.

However, it is Khimji's philanthropy that has made him a legend across the world. In 1975, just five years after taking over from his father Gokaldas, Kanakbhai, as he is fondly known, founded the first English Indian School in Muscat. There are 19 Indian schools catering to

around 35,000 students in Oman today. Probably the finest jewel in his crown is the title of Sheikh conferred on him by the Sultan, the first-ever use of the title for a member of the Hindu community.

"Though my family hails from Kutch in Gujarat, we have always identified with Oman as our home country," he says. "I was offered the nationality of Oman in recognition of all the goodwill created by my ancestors. It is a gift that I accepted twenty years late.

But I am glad I finally did."

A historic bond: When Kanaksi Khimji took over the family business in 1970, motorized navigational ships weren't launched in Oman yet.

Earlier, during the two World Wars, the Khimjis were chosen as supplier for provisions for the entire base of allied forces.

"This gave us the opportunity to earn revenue and strengthen our base. We quickly learnt the art of supply chain management and maritime shore support," says Pankaj Khimji, son of Kanaksi Khimji and director of the group.

he United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) approved Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Marck Biosciences Limited (MBL) to supply critical eye wash solution and eye drops used during eye operations and cataract surgeries. Since its launch in 1948, the NHS has grown to become the world’s largest publicly funded health service providers and considered one of the most efficient, most egalitarian and most comprehensive.

The NHS employs more than 1.7 million people. Only the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Wal-Mart supermarket chain and the Indian Railways directly employ more people than NHS in the world. The NHS has been catering to a population of 53 million and deals with over 1 million patients every 36 hours. The two important products of the Indian company would be used in the NHS affiliated hospitals and community health services.

MBL was initiated in 1997 by Anand based industrialist Rohit Patel (Milcent Appliances) and his nephew Bhavesh Patel.

Its production unit is situated on 25 acres of land near Anand town of Kheda district, around 60 km from Ahmedabad. It is considered India’s most versatile manufacturer of sterile liquids in BFS space with integrated operation and capability to

Bhavesh Patel

Rohit J Patel

customized solutions.

“We are supplying Sodium Chloride Eye Wash Solution and Artificial Tears (Hypertonic Sodium Chloride Eye Drops) since the year 2012. Eye Wash solution is used for cleaning eyes during operations while Eye Drops are used during cataract surgeries,” said Bhavesh Patel, Managing Director of the company.

The company manufactures various products in the area of formulations, fluid therapy and medical devices. In the year 2010, MBL had acquired a Goa-based company to cater South Indian market. Apart from pan India presence, the company is exporting to more than 50 countries,

including UK and other European countries like Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands and Scotland.

Besides the company has presence in North America (USA & Canada), Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, Latin America and CIS countries like Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Apart from its own brands, MBL is also into contract manufacturing and making various pharmaceutical products for companies like Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, GlenmarkPharmaceuticals , Pfizer Ltd, Hetero Drugs Ltd, Lupin Pharma, Biocon Ltd etc.

Pune beats Mumbai, Delhi in rise of the super-rich P

une has witnessed the biggest boom in multi-millionaire population across India in the last five years - a whopping 68% rise.

Neighbours Mumbai saw the second highest growth in the country's super rich population - at 59% between 2007-11 while India's capital Delhi followed with more than a 50% increase in those with net assets of over $30 million.

Bangalore saw a 46% increase in those referred to as multi-millionaires, Hyderabad 43%, Chennai 25%, Ahmedabad 18% and Kolkata 12%.

Overall, India saw a 46% increase in super rich population between 2007-11.

However when it comes to actual number of multi millionaires Mumbai boasts of the lion's share across India.

Over 1 in 3 (36.6%) of multi millionaires in India - 577 live in Mumbai followed way behind by Delhi (147), Kolkata 126, Hyderabad (114), Bangalore (97).

Chennai is ranked 6th highest with a multi millionaire population of 88 followed

by Pune (55) and Ahmedabad (51).

According to WealthInsight research, there were 1,576 multi-millionaires in India at the end of 2011.

The research has highlighted some major trends - the number of multi-millionaires in India increased by 46% over the four year period between 2007 and 2011.

Mumbai's multi-millionaire numbers increased substantially (59%) as the city benefited from its status as India's financial center and leading import-export and commercial hub.

The number of multi-millionaires in Pune, Maharashtra's second city after Mumbai, grew by the largest margin over the review period (68%), aided by both its proximity to Mumbai and also by robust growth in the local automotive, manufacturing and technology sectors.

The number of multi-millionaires in Bangalore and Hyderabad were boosted by strong growth in their services sectors, which make up the bulk of multi-millionaire wealth in these two cities.

India is also home to some of the fastest growing cities for ultra-High Net Worth Individuals.

"High net worth individuals" otherwise known as "millionaires" or "HNWIs" refer to individuals with net assets of US$1 million or more excluding primary residences.

28

travel & women

Purvi Apurva Shah

J

yotisar is a town on the KurukshetraPehowa road, 5 km west of Thanesar in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana. The site is famous because it is believed that here under the banyan tree Lord Krishna delivered the eternal message of Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna before the commencement of Mahabharata battle. In recent time, a Sound & Light show on the theme of Bhagawad Gita in the light of Mahabharata has been mounted by ITDC as a part of the tourism promotion in Kurukshetra. The show enlivens the story of Mahabharata through the powerful dialogues and the hymns from the Bhagawad Gita. An ambience of the battle is created in the secluded environment of Jyotisar.

In fact, the word Jyotisar constitutes of two words that is ‘Jyoti’ meaning light and ‘Sar’ meaning tank. Thus, it symbolically signifies the sacred tank of enlightenment. Tradition says here stands a banyan tree, may be an offshoot of the original banyan tree under which Krishna

Hargobind Singh and Guru Gobind Singh, Sthanesvara Mahadev Temple at Thanesar (5 km away), Birla Gita Mandir, Baba Nath's Haveli, Tapovan and HUDA parks, Laxmi Narayan Temple, Kurukshetra Panorama and Science Centre, Ma Bhadra Kali Temple, Sheikh Chehli's Tomb, Harsh-ka-Tila archaeological site, Bhishma Kund and Srikrishna Museum.

Shri Krishna Museum depicts stories of Lord Krishna through sculptures, paintings of Patta Chitra, Kangra, Madhubani and Pichhva, and bronze collections of Pallava, Chola and Nayaka era.

Cuisine: Visitors can enjoy farm fresh products like Bhutta (roasted corn), sugarcane, and seasonal fruits. Rice and fresh water fish is the staple food; Hilsa fish being the most popular. During winters, Makki ki roti (bread made out of corn flour) and Sarson ka Saag (ground mustard leaves cooked to perfection) is the traditional delicacy. Baajra Khichdi (a crude rice dish made with local grain).

www.abplgroup.com - asian voice 18th may 2013

Lord Hatkeshwar Temple a place of glory & beauty

AV Correspondent ord Hatkeshwar is the traditional god of the LNagar Brahmins. The

Hatkeshwar Temple is one of the biggest and ancient temple in Vadnagar, Gujarat. This vast and beautiful temple is having height of 85 feet. A large number of beautifully carved sculptures, statues, idols and monuments have enriched the beauty and customary importance of this temple to find its place even in the Skand Puran.

The beautiful and artistic Kandora carvings on the entrance gate are drawing attention of everyone with their beauty and art.

Besides this, precinct walls have been beautifully carved with sculptures on them. Among these sculptures, the series of Dasha Avtar, Samudra Manthan, delivered the Bhagawad Gita on the eve of battle just before its commencement.

Whether or not the Gita was delivered under the banyan tree at Jyotisar, millions come here to pay their obeisance to Gita.

Since time immemorial Gita has been revered as the most sacred and the ultimate treasure of Indian philosophical and religious treatise.

Devotees and tourists congregate at Jyotisar Temple throughout the year, especially during solar and lunar eclipses, the time considered auspicious for holy dips in the Brahma Sarovar. The temple ramparts come alive at twilight everyday when the Aarti (prayer songs accompanied with bells and fire lamps) is performed. The spiritual undercurrent and the rustic delights complement each other: A walk through the seemingly endless rice and wheat fields rejuvenates the mind and the body, just like the evening prayer energises the weary soul.

From Jyotisar, tourists can visit many interesting places of religious interest. A guided tour of the significant places in and around Jyotisar may include the Gurudwaras close by dedicated to Guru

Festivals: Gita Jayanti is a week long celebration commemorating the manifestation of the scripture. Devotees recite the Gita, perform aartis and offer 'deep daan' (offering light in the form of oil lamps) at the sarovars. The festival is held at the end of November.

Jyotisar as a tourism Destination: Ministry of Tourism is slowly working out to make Jyotisar into a developed tourism center. Certain provisions are made to provide training to the local artisans and workers. Tourists who are interested in learning craftsmanship will also be provided the home stay facility in the village. They are also planning to establish the shopping complex in the village.

Dari Making: Local villagers are expert in making colourful dari's, which they have been practicing from generations. Apart from that they are also engaged in traditional poetry, wood carving, and folk painting.

Shopping: While in Jyotisar you can shop for the handicrafts made by the villagers.The most famous items you can look for in the market includes carpets, soft toys, shoes and pottery.

A dish of whole potatoes scooped and stuffed with a chatpata paneer filling and topped with spicy green chutney and crispy sev.

Preparation Time: 10 mins.

Cooking Time: 15 mins.

Ingredients: 2 large potatoes, boiled and peeled, 1 tbsp butter For the paneer filling: 1/2 cup grated paneer (cottage cheese) 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) 1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing) 1 green chilli, chopped 2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania) 2 tbsp chopped mint leaves (phudina) 1/2 tsp black salt (sanchal) 1 tbsp oil salt to taste For the topping: Sev Green Chutney Paneer filling: Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and asafoetida. As soon as the seeds start crackling, add the green chilli, paneer, black salt, salt and mix well.

Krishna Lila and epic scene of Mahabharata leave the visitors awe struck.

This temple is the best place to visit for the researchers of sculpture and monuments as well as devotees. Facing the east, it is enclosed by a high wall surmounted by three circular domes. From the roof of the sanctum rises a massive pinnacle, which soars high above in the sky. A massive congregation hall leads to the sanctum which houses a Shivling said to have selfemerged or as it is said "Swayambhu"(self emerged). The exterior of the temple is exquisitely and profusely ornamented with figures of the nine planets, regent deities, the chief gods of the Hindu pantheon, scenes from the life of Krishna and Pandava princes, besides the varied

animal and floral motifs.

The premises also house an older Swaminarayan Temples (one for male and one for females), two Jain derasars, a goddess Ashapuri temple (Shaktipith), goddess Bhuvaneshpuri Temple, Somnath Mahadev Temple, Daaneshwar Mahadev Temple and Vishnupuri Temple (it is said that God Vishnu himself had stepped here).

Legend has it that the memorials near the Sharmista Talao, an ancient lake here, are of Tana and Riri, two sisters who sang Raag Malhar to cure Tansen of the illness he suffered after performing at Akbar's court. The premises also have an ancient Kashivishveshvara Shiva temple, a Swaminarayan temple and two Jain temples.

Aloo Ka Fataka

Add the coriander and mint and mix well. Keep aside.

Method: After the potatoes are cooled, Cut each into 2 equal parts and scoop out the centres leaving an empty shell. Then fill in the paneer mixture and sauté the potatoes in butter till the outside is lightly browned. Place each half on a serving plate and top with the sev and green chutney.

Health Benefits: A potato a day is good for your heart, promoting normal blood-pressure levels.

Anyone will shun the potato thinking it is fatten-

ing but Potatoes are nutrient-dense, meaning you receive many nutrients for the amount of calories they have. tified compound called kukoamine that appears to help lower blood pressure. With the exception of vitamin A, white potatoes have just about every nutrient.

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 18th May 2013

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Why dark chocolate keeps you calm and stress free

arlier research has shown that dark chocolate has immense health beneE fits but only when consumed in moder-

ate amounts. It’s supposed to keep heart disease away, lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

Here are some of the some benefits of dark chocolate: • Reduces heart attack risk – Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can suppress the chances of heart attacks.

Also it is the oxidative damage by free radicals that is responsible for cancer.

• Lowers blood pressure – Flavonoids (the antioxidants in chocolate) lower high blood pressure through the production of nitric acid and helps maintain hormonal balance.

• Lowers cholesterol- Dark chocolate Lowers LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) by 10% according to some studies.

• Makes you happy – Like exercising, chocolate stimulates endorphin production which gives an immense sense of pleasure.

Alcohol too gives an endorphin high but then chocolate is a much healthier option and isn’t known to cause liver damage.

• Lowers depression – Chocolate raises your serotonin level (neurotransmitter) which acts as an anti-depressant.

• Acts as a stimulant – Theobromine can be described as a stimulant similar to caffeine but without affecting the

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Central Nervous System to a great extent which gives a similar feel-good effect.

• Mostly contains good fat – Chocolate contains three kinds of fat in equal proportion: The Good: Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that occurs in olive oil as well.

The Neutral: Stearic Acid is a saturated fat but one which research shows has no effect on cholesterol levels.

The Ugly: Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat (the bad fat), one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk. So we can see 2/3 of the fat from dark chocolate isn’t bad at all. We are not saying that you tuck into a pound of chocolate a day though.

• Acts as an aphrodisiac – Chocolate has long been linked to sexual desire. In fact it was the Aztecs who drew a connection between cocoa beans and libido.

Chocolate contains two chemicals with aphrodisiac qualities: tryptophan (building block of serotonin) a brain chemical involved in sexual arousal and phenylethylamine, a stimulant related to amphetamine, which is released in the brain when people fall in love.

• Contains lots of natural minerals – As a plant-based cocoa contains many naturally occurring minerals that boost your health. Some of them are copper, iron, magnesium, potassium and calcium.

after she episodically complained of stomach ache.

She had earlier been referred to a gastroenterologist who had ruled out all possible reasons that could have led to these periodic stomach aches.

An evaluation by the psychiatrist revealed that the girl’s complaints of stomach ache were genuine and it was a stomach migraine problem that doctors had failed to diagnose.

Though stomach migraine has failed to get a proper recognition, doctors say they have seen a rise in the cases and therefore need more awareness on the disease.

The onset of stomach migraine is normally seen in early childhood and can also be seen in adulthood.

Like migraine, stomach migraine too is periodical and has symptoms like cycles of vomiting, low

appetite, diarrhoea, hyperacidity.

Doctors fail to pick up the disease. Like migraine, stomach migraine too is triggered by certain food, smell or emotional triggers,” said Dr Rashi Khatri, pain management expert at Mind Temple clinic, Andheri.

Stomach migraine is yet to get its separate identity. Doctors fail to recognise it and most of the time children having stomach migraine get adult migraine in later stage.”

There is a rise in stomach migraine cases but we don’t know why! But presently, it is very important to detect the disease

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...

HealtH Watch

and get the right treatment. Since the trigger factor varies from person to person, one needs to pick up the triggering factor and avoid it for a better life.

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The secrets to good health from the always-fit ap in the afternoon: Doctors say the ideal N nap time is 1 pm to 3 pm

in the afternoon since this is when our bodies are most in need of rest. While the number and effectiveness of disease-fighting immune cells increase with more sleep, a lack of it has been found to promote healthattack-causing calcium build up in the heart arteries, and restrict the production of the human growth hormone, which limits the body's ability to repair itself.

Drink moderately: As opposed to popular perception, sipping a spirit or two increases longevity and decreases the risk of heart disease by 20 to 50 per cent. According to a study conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, people who drink moderately do not get frequently hospitalised and have fewer disabilities than the general population.

Eat yoghurt: A diet devoid of dahi or yoghurt is incomplete. The probiotic, or good, living bacteria present in yogurt have a favourable impact on many gastrointestinal conditions. It also helps to lower blood pressure, decrease cholesterol and strengthen the immune system. Eat at least one serving of yogurt daily to reap its benefits.

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Consume less: A recent study claims a calorie-restricted diet in which participants ate up to 25 per cent less than they did normally, reduced overall cholesterol, triglyceride levels and blood pressure.

But this doesn't mean you go into a starvation mode.

To avoid vitamin deficiencies, make sure that whatever you are eating is nutritionally dense. Avoid simple sugars, make sure your protein intake is sufficient and don't forget to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Steer clear of supplements, packaged and canned food; they do nothing to contribute to your health.

Turn to yoga: For time immemorial, Ayurveda has stressed the need for yoga in our daily lives.

Yoga's mindbody-breathing exercises strengthen and balance the immune system, stimulate it and effectively destroy sickness-causing microbes.

Practising yoga regularly can reverse several risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and sugar.

Strengthen friendships: People who have a strong social support system have a healthy immune system and are less likely to succumb to inflammatory disease.

Having no close friends increases the risk of having a first-time heart

attack by about 50 per cent. To maximise the benefits of your social network, meet them over lunch or go shopping together, or chat with them over the phone. But avoid e-mail or Facebook unless your folks stay in a different country or city.

Up your garlic intake: The benefits of the benign spice — garlic — are known to be abundant. It reduces blood pressure and cholesterol levels, fights off staph infections and acts as a powerful antioxidant. Recently, a study found that people who regularly consume garlic cut their number of sick days in half. Eat it raw or cooked, but avoid garlic supplements.

Take a cold shower: While taking a warm water bath ensures a relaxed sleep, research shows turning the shower nozzle cold can improve blood circulation, strengthen skin, boost your immune system, improve your mood and rejuvenate your body. The ideal length of a cold shower is five minutes, and its best to enter and exit the cold stream in 30second intervals. In fact, a study of swimmers in Berlin suggested that exposure to ice-cold water elevated levels of glutathione, one of the body's natural, stay-well antioxidants.

30

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

KALIDAS IS KARMEN! British singer and actress takes the lead in forthcoming BBC Bollywood spectacle!

Former 'Eastenders', 'Bombay Dreams', 'Four Lions' and 'Bend It Like Beckham' star Preeya Kalidas is to star in a stunning Bollywood-influenced live event, to be broadcast this Summer on BBC Three.

Kalidas plays the lead role of 'Karmen', in a one hour live music extravaganza 'Bollywood Carmen', a contemporary Bollywood spin on Bizet's classical opera 'Carmen', in front of a live audience at City Park in Bradford on 9th June.

Preeya Kalidas said: "Bollywood Carmen really does have something for everyone, it’s an amalgamation of music, dance, story and a lot of fun! Live theatre is very exciting and I think to have the audience as part of that is not only an experience for them but will also be an experience for us."

'Bollywood Carmen' coincides with the Indian film industry's 100 year anniversary celebrations.

Kalidas adds: "Bollywood films have always been close to me, I started my career in showbiz with the musical 'Bombay Dreams', so to take the lead role in 'Bollywood Carmen' and showcase the spirit of Bollywood during it's 100th year anniversary is definitely something special."

The famous story of Carmen is known around the world, since it's inception as an opera by French composer Georges Bizet in 1875. It has been adapted several times on film and stage, to critical acclaim and global awards. The lead role of Carmen is known to be a fiery, seductive character

Preeya Kalidas

and one of the strongest leading female roles of all time, once famously played by Beyonce in the 2001 MTV adaptation 'Carmen: A Hip Hopera'.

'Bollywood Carmen', led by Preeya Kalidas, is a contemporary British Asian / Bollywood live music adaptation of the classic story and will feature a hybrid of exciting sounds. The spectacular event will bring together modern British and international pop songs, Bollywood classics and a fusion of cutting edge Urban and Asian beats.

Joining Preeya in the cast of 'Bollywood Carmen' will be Indian star Abhay Deol, of the legendary Deol acting dynasty as well as Chelsee Healey (Waterloo Road, Strictly Come Dancing), Rachel Leskovac (Coronation Street, Holby City), Stephen RahmanHughes (Emmerdale, Bombay Dreams), Rakhee Thakrar (Cloud 9, Holby City) and Sofia Hayat.

Coming Events l Caste Legislation- update and consultation by ALCL and Hindu Forum of Europe on Sat 18 May at 2pm. Wanza Community Centre, Leicester.

Contact: 07982260176 l Re-opening of Shree Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Tyseley, Birmingham, on Sunday 26th May. May 27 will see a week-long spiritual festival, a reading of Hindu scriptures the Bhagwad Gita, led by priest Dave. All welcome. To find out more contact Mukeshbhai Ladwa on 07976 178800 or email mukeshladwa@hotmail.co.uk l Shrimad Bhagvat Katha, 15-18 May, 2-6pm, Lambeth Asian centre London, SW162PJ. Contact: 02086534451 l Shri Vallabh Nidhi UK and Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir presents Shrinath Chaitamrut Katha, 24 May-31 May, 3-6:30pm. Contact: 02089037737 l An Evening of Bollywood Melodies in aid of Bhadran Eye Hospital, Sunday 19 May, 5pm.

Watersmeet Auditorium. Ricksmansworth WD3 1EH. Contact: 07804492576 l Malawi Shiv Satsang Mandal UK, Shree Bhuvanedswari Mahotsav, Sunday 19 May, 11am, 270 Neville Road, London E7 9QN. Contact- 020 8599 7080 l Shree Bharatiya Mandal, Shree Bhuvenaswari Maa Katha, Sunday 19 May, 10am-1pm.

Contact: 01613308691 l AMC Music Circuit presents Yogeswaran and The carnatic Music Ensemble Recital, 7 June, 1 Bradford Road, London W37SP l Chinmaya Mission UK presents Life of Vision, Signpost for Spiritual Living, 22-26May, 7:30-9pm.

Brent Town hall, Wembley.

COMPETITION If you want to watch the ICC Champpions Trophy at the stadium, all you have to do is talk.

Sign up for £5 using the coupon code (see page 32) and get an additional £5 worth of international talktime free. You will also get a chance to win free tickets for you and your companion to the ICC Champions Trophy. So what are you waiting for?

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The accent’s very much on relationships, you and a partner may become embroiled in financial arrangements or some other nitty—gritty aspect of your relationship.

Either you or your partner have been going through a phase of inner doubts and uncertainties, and perhaps the main source of tension has simply been the need for breathing space in your relationship.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You will continue to be in a restless mood for some time to come. This makes you impatient with restrictions and even more determined to cut your own path. Do not get over-anxious if everything seems to be in slow motion - it is time to pull a few strings. You are likely to experience some tension in close relationships.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Responsibility is your key word, especially at work. Set your own goals, rather than trying to meet those set by someone else. You will achieve a lot more, especially when you're motivated by your own desires. Your ability to manage what you have on your plate earns respect from others around you. You will benefit in every way if you learn to self-discipline and pace yourself wisely.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

This is going to be one of those times when insignificant events give rise to unexpected developments especially regarding work and health. Make up your mind early in the week to knuckle down to the tasks in hand.

If love has left you feeling rather dejected or cynical, it looks as though soon events will pull you out of this mood of despondency.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

The opening up of a more diverse social life is a point in favour of romantic attachments, if this is what you most desire. The need to push ahead with personal interests and to assert yourself with added force will take precedence over everything else for some time to come. The general pattern of things continues on a progressive and buoyant theme.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 Keep your assertive inclination under control as conflict and disagreement could be sparked off by your short-sightedness. Think carefully about the implications of your actions. However, this is not likely to be an easy-going week because demands on time and energy are going to be heavy. The art of making haste slowly should therefore be cultivated.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

It would be unwise to take any risks, particularly in regard to joint interests and investments. Expenses and outgoings are likely to become heavy. So be extra careful if you need to deal with complex legal matters and necessary red tape. Plan your spending and set sensible budgets to reach your financial goals. Associate with people that you are comfortable with.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 Get out as much as possible. Do not be misled by inconsequential issues as you will have better opportunities if you stick to your main objectives. Try and work out where you want to make changes in your busy life. A tremendous amount of planetary activity in your chart signals a time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to be dealt with.

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 At work sometimes a little upheaval and chaos is exactly what you need to set things right again. There’s no need to be indecisive: the time is now. you’ll have no qualms about deciding what you want and going after it with total devotion.

Unpredictable energies continue to influence your health sector, bringing erratic highs and lows. The key for you as always is balance.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Decision making will prove to be a bit of a bind because of your wavering mind - seek professional advice and then steam ahead.

Be careful with your expenditure as you have a tendency to be extravagant. Relationships need to be scrutinised carefully. Sometimes it is a good idea to stand back and get a more objective view of the pattern of your life.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 If your ambitions have been undefined, don't worry as from now on, you understand exactly what kind of impact you need to make on the world. Saturn in your work sector rules your daily life.

All those little details should run perfectly, without you constantly worrying. That means you can focus on matters that are important to you. Health-wise you will be more disciplined than ever before.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 It seems that the winds of change begin to gather momentum and put a strong focus on domestic and family matters. Besides spending more time tending to domestic affairs, the focus can be on cultivating and nourishing your inner foundations, so to speak. Extra energy and drive will serve you well in getting things accomplished, but try not to come on too strong when you deal with others.

Sport World

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan were both recalled by England in a 12-man squad announced on Saturday for first Test against New Zealand at Lord's following their respective recoveries from elbow surgery.

Off-spinner Swann and seamer Bresnan both last played Test cricket in the series-clinching win over India in Nagpur in December and missed the recent drawn three-Test series in New Zealand.

H o w e v e r , Nottinghamshire's Swann and Yorkshire's Bresnan have both since proved their fitness playing county cricket this season. With star batsman Kevin Pietersen already ruled out because of knee trouble, there were few surprises in the squad announced by England national selector Geoff Miller.

The same six specialist batsmen who played in

Graeme Swann

Tim Bresnan

England's last Test - the dramatic draw against New Zealand at Auckland two months ago where wicket-keeper Matt Prior's unbeaten hundred helped stave off defeat with just one wicket standing - were included.

Swann, as widely predicted, replaced Monty Panesar as the only specialist spinner in the squad while England opted against naming an extra seamer, as they did when Durham's Graham Onions was included before last year's corresponding first

Test of the English season, against the West Indies.

"Both Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan have worked hard to regain fitness following elbow surgery and have demonstrated through their performances for their counties that they are ready for the challenge of international cricket," Miller said.

Although billed in some quarters as a mere 'warmup' for England's subsequent home Ashes series against Australia, this twoTest contest - the second match is at Headingley

Matt Prior wins England player of the year award

Matt Prior was named the England cricketer-of-theyear for 2012/13, in an acknowledgement of the Sussex wicket-keeper's consistency with both bat and gloves.

The 31-year-old is now one of the first names on the team sheet after England captain Alastair Cook and the latest demonstration of his worth to the side came with his match-saving unbeaten hundred in the drawn third Test against New Zealand in Auckland in March.

Prior was presented with his award at Lord's, where the first of a return

two-Test series against New Zealand starts on Thursday. "It was fantastic when I found out, a huge honour to be singled out as player of the year," said Prior, the first wicketkeeper to win the award. "I feel slightly uncomfortable with it, because individual accolades are not really

the reason I play. I want this team to win. I get much more out of the group winning a Test or series," he added ahead of a season where England will defend the Ashes against Australia.

"I think it's very easy to look back and think 'that was a great year' and pat yourself on the back," said Prior. "That's certainly not something I'll be doing.

Yes, it was a great year and I'll take a huge amount of confidence from it. But you've got to knuckle down and look to improve. It's back to the drawing board now, and it all starts again."

Ferguson gets perfect send-off Manchester United scored a trademark late goal to seal a 2-1 Premier League victory over Swansea City on Sunday which gave Alex Ferguson the perfect sendoff in his last home match as manager of the Old Trafford club. Rio Ferdinand struck three minutes before closure to hand Ferguson a win in his 1,499th match in charge of United and the manager held the Premier League trophy aloft in emotional scenes at the Theatre of Dreams.

"What a send-off, my eyes were bubbling a bit," Ferguson said.

"The atmosphere was unbelievable and I'm very proud of my fans. The boys did great, it was a good game actually. Some good football was played. I was really proud of them."

Ferguson was given a rapturous reception by the Old Trafford crowd and a Guard of Honour by the players as he walked out before the game in a sea of red at Old Trafford.

United started brightly and opened the scoring after 38 minutes when Mexican striker Javier Hernandez reacted quickly to slot home a loose ball from six metres.

Swansea enjoyed plenty of possession and they were rewarded three minutes after halftime when striker Michu got in front of Phil Jones to divert a right-wing cross past David de Gea in the United goal.

Paul Scholes, starting his 717th and last match for United, was substituted in the 66th minute and left the pitch to more warm applause from the United faithful. Ferguson sent on veteran Ryan

Giggs to try to inspire a winning goal but Swansea, this season's League Cup winners, continued to threaten to spoil the party.

With time running out, however, a corner from the right fell kindly for Ferdinand at the far post and the England defender lashed the ball in for his first goal in five years.

After Ferguson addressed the crowd, he returned with his players to lift the 13th Premier League title of his 26-year reign at the club. "My retirement doesn't mean the end of my life with the club," said Ferguson who will stay at United as a director.

"I will be able to now enjoy watching them, rather than suffer with them. But if you think about the last-minute goals, the comebacks, even the defeats, are all about this great club of ours."It's been an unbelievable experience for all of us. So thank you for that."

later this month -- promises to be considerably more interesting than that after Alastair Cook's side were held to a 0-0 draw in three matches in New Zealand.

"We are anticipating another very competitive series against New Zealand and know that we will need to improve significantly on our performances in the recent Test series against them if we are to start the international summer on a positive note," former England off-spinner Miller added.

"This series provides a good opportunity for the players to show that they have learnt from the experiences over the winter."

England first Test squad: Alastair Cook (Capt.), Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonathan Bairstow, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan.

Commonwealth TT: India win record 9 medals

Top Indian paddler Sharath Kamal had to settle for a bronze in the men's singles event as India finished the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships with a record nine medals but no gold.

Singapore dominated the Championships once again, winning all titles on offer barring the women's singles which saw Canadian Zhang Mo upsetting top seed from Singapore, Yu Mengyu.

Sharath, other than losing the singles semi-final to Singapore's Li Hu, let the doubles title slip away after he and Subhajit Saha were tamed by the English pair of Christopher Doran and Samuel Walker at the Thyagaraj Stadium here.

The Indian pair was defending champions from the 2009 Glasgow edition and had also won the gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As the day started, India was assured of two medals each in women's singles and doubles.

However, Indian players could not progress beyond the semifinals and settled for bronze medals. The host nation ended the Championships with two silver medals and seven bronze, a couple more than what they got at Glasgow. Sharath, a silver medallist in 2009, ended joint third after losing a match of high emotion against Li Hu, who beat him easily in the team championship final.

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IPL Results of 54 to 64 matches played till Tuesday, 14th May Match Date 54 08 May

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Teams SH v/s CSK at Hyderabad CSK won by 77 runs Brief scores: CSK 223/3 (20 overs); SH 146/9 (19.5 overs) KXIP v/s RR at Mohali RR won by 8 wickets Brief scores: KXIP 145/6 (20 overs); RR 147/2 (19 overs) PW v/s KKR at Pune KKR won by 46 runs Brief scores: KKR 152/6 (20 overs); PW 106 (19.3 overs) DD v/s RCB at Delhi RCB won by 4 runs Brief scores: RCB 183/4 (20 overs); DD 179/7 (20 overs) PW v/s MI at Pune MI won by 5 wickets Brief scores: PW 112/8 (20 overs); MI 116/5 (18.5 overs) KXIP v/s SH at Mohali SH won by 30 runs Brief scores: SH 150/7 (20 overs); KXIP 120/9 (20 overs) KKR v/s RCB at Ranchi KKR won by 5 wickets Brief scores: RCB 115/9 (20 overs); KKR 116/5 (20 overs) RR v/s CSK at Jaipur RR won by 5 wickets Brief scores: CSK 141/4 (20 overs); RR 144/5 (17.1 overs) MI v/s SH at Mumbai MI won by 7 wickets Brief scores: SH 178/3 (20 overs); MI 184/3 (19.3 overs) RCB v/s KXIP at Bangalore KXIP won by 7 wickets Brief scores: RCB 174/5 (20 overs); KXIP 176 (18.1 overs) CSK v/s DD at Chennai CSK won by 33 runs Brief scores: CSK 168/4 (20 overs); DD 135/9 (20 overs)

Domestic cricket is the way for Gambhir, Yuvraj and Sehwag: Srikkanth

To force their way back into the national side, the axed trio of Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag should keep the fighting spirit alive and get back through good performances in domestic cricket, former captain and chairman of selector Kris Srikkanth said.

Srikkanth said not losing self belief was key to any struggling player looking for a comeback. "They are young players with lot of talent. Positivity is key to their comeback. They have to fight. They should look to domestic cricket in the next season. Such comebacks have been made in the past and I am sure, they can do it," Srikkanth said.

"There will be lot of cricket ahead, so that's their chance," he said.

Gambhir, Yuvraj and Sehwag are not part of the Indian squad, which will fly to England for the

Champions Trophy. The conditions in England would be completely alien to what Indians cricketers are getting while playing in IPL but Srikkanth said that won't affect the players much.

"The best thing is that the players are playing cricket consistently. They are in good form. And after IPL, they will reach England in time, so getting used to conditions won't be much of a trouble," he said on the sidelines of the launch of an elearning programme English Strokes, a collaboration between British Council and his company.

Srikkanth was of the view that India along with Pakistan and England would be top contenders to lift the title.

Talking about his IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad, Srikkanth said they stand a "good chance" to make the knockout stage.

Indian Premier League 2013 Points Table (14 / 05 / 2013) Teams Match Won Lost Tied Chennai Super Kings 15 11 4 0 Mumbai Indians 14 10 4 0 Rajasthan Royals 14 10 4 0 Royal Challengers Bangalore 15 8 7 0 Sunrisers Hyderabad 14 8 6 0 Kings XI Punjab 14 6 8 0 Kolkata Knight Riders 14 6 8 0 Delhi Daredevils 14 3 11 0 Pune Warriors 14 2 12 0

N/R 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Points 22 20 20 16 16 12 12 6 4

Net RR +0.625 +0.636 +0.506 +0.387 -0.117 +0.046 -0.044 -0.804 -1.314

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After setting a challenging 169, Chennai Super Kings restricted Delhi Daredevils to just 135/9, securing a comfortable 33run victory at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

The thumping victory placed Chennai on top of the table. Except skipper David Warner, no Delhi batsmen stood firm against the Chennai attack. Albie Morkel finished with an impressive figure of 3/32 while Mohit Sharma, R Ashwin and Dwayne Bravo claimed two Delhi wickets each.

After skipper MS Dhoni propelled Chennai to 168/4, Delhi got off to a poor start as they lost opener Virender Sehwag without a run on board. Mohit Sharma scalped Delhi opener on the second delivery of the first over.

Chand and Johan Botha tried to rescue the side from early blow. But after a 34-run stand, Mohit struck again and got Chand caught by Jason Holder in the fifth over. Chand scored 16 off 12 balls with the help of two boundaries and a six.

Spinner R Ashwin then got Botha caught by Holder after his 20-ball-23 to reduce Daredevils to 49/3 in the seventh over.

Albie Morkel removed Kedar Jadhav and Ben Rohrer in consecutive overs to leave Delhi Daredevils five down inside 70 runs.

Just after Delhi crossed 50, Morkel inflicted fourth blow on the visitors by getting Jadhav (2) caught behind.

Before Delhi could recover, Morkel struck again to get Rohrer caught by Ashwin to reduce Delhi to 63/5 in the tenth over.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 18th May 2013

by example with a typically aggressive 35ball 58 to power Chennai Super Kings to a competitive 168 for four.

Batting first after winning the toss, Chennai rode on Dhoni's hurricane knock and his fourth-wicket 57-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. The skipper smashed two boundaries and four sixes and also added 37 runs in just three overs with Dwayne Bravo.

Dhoni smacks a ball through the offside

David Warner along with van der Merwe then tried to rescue the side.

However, spinner R Ashwin broke the dangerous looking sixth-wicket partnership by dismissing van der Merwe to reduce Delhi Daredevils to 102/6 in 15th over.

Merwe scored 14 and shared 39-run stand with skipper David Warner who was giving some tough time to the hosts.

Warner (44), who kept Delhi in hunt with his fighting spirit, was then soon removed by Morkel.

The tailenders then failed to put up a fight, conceding an easy victory to Chennai.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led

Punjab crush Bangalore to keep playoffs hopes alive: In the first match, skipper Adam Gilchrist finally led from the front with a dazzling unbeaten 85 to guide Kings XI Punjab to a comfortable sevenwicket victory over Royal Challengers in a Pepsi Indian Premier League match on Tuesday at Bangalore.

Chasing a stiff target of 175, Gilchrist blazed his way to a 54-ball-85 which had 10 fours and three huge sixes as his team romped home with 11 balls to spare, thereby keeping doors of the playoffs open.

Kings XI with 12 points from 14 matches now are in sixth position -- courtesy better net run-rate than defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders who are also on 12 points.

The win also helped Gautam Gambhir's men stay in contention as an RCB victory would have decisively shut the doors. The defeat for RCB also made the situation tricky for Virat Kohli and co, who now have 16 points from 15 games and will need to win their final game at any cost.

The foundation of this win was laid by two veterans Gilchrist and 'T20 freelancer'

Azhar Mahmood, who added 118 runs for the second wicket. Mahmood scored 61 off 41 balls with eight fours and a six.

The duo, whose cumulative age is 79 years, proved that there is no substitute of experience as they both brought in their oodles of experience in international cricket to pave the way for an easy win.

It was Mahmood, who first gave the charge hitting Moises Henriques for three successive boundaries in the last over of the Powerplay (6th).

Taking a cue from Mahmood's positive approach, Gilchrist, who had only one score of 40 plus in the tournament also got into the groove as he hit some cracking strokes.

The Aussie dasher brought up his half century with a straight six off Zaheer. The stand-out hit will however be the the inside out six over extra cover off Muttiah Muralitharan. He followed it up with another six -- a slog sweep over deep square leg.

It was Rajagopal Sathish, who finished the proceedings with a bowler's back-drive.

Earlier, Chris Gayle's power-hitting in the back 10 and ably complemented by skipper Virat Kohli enabled Royal Challengers Bangalore to reach a challenging 174 for five after being put into bat.

While Gayle helped himself to a 53ball-77 with the help of four boundaries and six huge sixes, skipper Kohli's contribution of 57 off 43 balls (6x4, 2x6) was equally significant in their 137-run second wicket stand.