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VOL 38. ISSUE 51

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

VOICE

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

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Labour launches special manifesto to woo minorities

By Priyal Sanghavi Elections are around the corner and Labour party has pulled out a special manifesto to woo ethnic voters. Secretary of State for Equalities Harriet Harman, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Labour MP Keith Vaz launched Labour's Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic manifesto “Fairer Britain, your choice”.

Harman highlighted key policies for growth, employment and public services such as implementation of the new Equality Act. Harman believes Asian women are going to win and “be a breath of fresh air in the parliament. I dont want to second guess the voters but we have some fantastic women such as Shabana Mahmood in the West Midlands and Yasmin Qureshi and Maryam Khan in Northwest.”

Labour has over 53 candidates BAME communities standing at the next election. Miliband said, “People know BAME candidates make a difference and we want more candidates in winnable seats like

Streatham. Tory just wants BAME candidates to get into parliament.”

If elected to power, Labour will continue the

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Indian official in Islamabad spying for Pakistan Madhuri Gupta arrested, R K Sharma under scanner

Harriet Harman

BAME Women Councillors Taskforce set up in 2008.

These women's voices are not heard in the councils, according to Harman.

She said, “These women are important in their families, community and the economy but were missing in local government.

We already have had increased participation and we will continue doing so.”

Although there are doubts about the manifesto being launched too close to the elections, neither of the other two parties have come up with anything similar for BAME communities.

Indian High Commission in Islamabad had moles working against the country itself. In a sensational case of spying by Indians for Pakistan, a woman diplomat posted there was arrested last week after she was summoned to New Delhi. Another official of the Indian mission is also under scanner according to officials of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

Kanwal Sibal, a retired foreign secretary, reacting to the arrest described it as a shocking incident. He added, it is perhaps the first ever case of an Indian official being caught on charges of spying for Pakistan.

A ministry spokesman, Vishnu Prakash confirmed the development, as he

said that the matter is under investigation. The official concerned is cooperating with our investigation and enquiry. A report in one of the Indian news channels, NDTV has said, Madhuri Gupta has allegedly confessed that she did it for the money and because “service conditions were bad”. Sources also claim that she was involved in romantic relationship with her Pakistani handler, a man called ‘Rana’.

The spokesman also said the station head of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Islamabad R K Sharma is also under the scanner.

A promotee officer of Ministry of External Affairs, 53-year-old Madhuri Gupta, was

Madhuri Gupta

arrested from her East Delhi home in the previous week after she was summoned to Delhi on the pretext of discussions on the current SAARC summit meeting held in Thimpu, Bhutan.

Madhuri Gupta, a second secretary working in the Indian Mission in

Islamabad for nearly three years, allegedly passed on extremely sensitive information to her contacts in ISI till her movements came under surveillance of Intelligence Bureau.

Home Secretary G K Pillai said Gupta had been passing information to Pakistani agencies.

The sources said Gupta, a spinster, is alleged to have been taking information from the RAW station head in Islamabad R K Sharma which was passed to the Pakistani spy agencies.

The sources added that the role of Sharma had also come under scanner for allegedly abusing his position and passing information to Gupta.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Sikh police officers to be banned from wearing turbans After a ban to wearing kirpan (sacred knife) to schools in Britain, now the Sikh police officers will be banned from joining armed units and riot squads if they do not remove their turban, as the senior officers said they would not develop a bulletproof turban.

The sacred head covering does not fit under existing police helmets and bosses fear letting Sikh officers go out without head protection will break health and safety rules.

They will be allowed to join the specialist units if they wear a patka, a smaller head covering, under the helmets.

However the Association of Chief Police Officers has rejected a proposal to design a protective turban made from bulletproof material., as the Daily Mail reveals.

The British Sikh Police Association had asked for a review of the rules after a Sikh police officer was awarded ÂŁ10,000 for discrimination and harassment because he was ordered to remove his turban during riot training.

BSPA chairman Kashmira Singh Mann allegedly told a national daily that ACPO had no respect for his members.

He alleged: 'This report does not address the issue of turbanwearing Sikh officers who are not willing to compromise their faith but do wish to serve shoulder to shoulder alongside their non Sikh colleagues in dangerous situations.

However Meredydd Hughes, chief constable of South Yorkshire Police and ACPO spokesman, said Sikh officers were not being discrim-

Virendra Sharma

Bobby Grewal

inated against and would not be penalised for opting out of riot squads.

The Sikh religion requires males to wear the turban - and they do not have to wear crash helmets under the Motorcycle Crash Helmets Act 1976.

There are around 2,000 Sikh police officers and staff in the UK. The ACPO guidelines were apparently formulated following consultation with a number of bodies, including the Black and Asian Police Association, the Ministry of Defence and the Health and Safety Executive.

Officials also sent a confidential anonymous online survey to 400 Sikh police officers, to which more than 300 replied.

Asian Voice interviewed a few renowned Hindu and Sikh Punjabis to find out their opinion on the above issue.

Rickie Sehgal, the General Secretary of BACL and a renowned entrepreneur told AV, "I think ultimately we mustn't forget that we are the third and fourth generations of Asians in this country. If we are going to be living in a multicultural society, then that requires give and take. Religion cannot and

Seema Malhotra

should not try to impose all of its nuances on another society.

Where the turban is impractical for security reasons (because I know Sikh officers in the police are allowed to wear turbans, some of them are my friends) I think although it might offend their religion, one has to be in balance with personal risk that they would be exposing themselves to."

Bobby Grewal, President, India Association said, "This is silly. The Sikhs in the last World War had given their lives. They were part and parcel of the armies all over the world right up to Europe and nobody made any discrimination for that. But now all of a sudden I don't know why this question has cropped up. Even now if you see in America there are so may Indian Sikh Punjabi gentlemen who have joined the American Army as well."

Seema Malhotra, a Labour activist, campaigner and Director of Fabian Women's Network told Asian Voice, "The decision of ACPO is a welcome one, and demonstrates a spirit of compromise with a minority community that plays a vital part in our British police force.

Rickie Sehgal

Rami Ranger

In my view these guidelines need to be agreed by the Supreme of Sikhs and Council Gurdwaras in the UK." Dr Rami Ranger MBE, Chairman of The British Sikh Association said, "The turban for the Sikhs symbolises that they are a liberated community.

They wore the turban to defend the basic human rights of every Indian and to fight against the tyranny and injustices of the then Mughal Emperor.

If Sikhs are asked to remove their pride for safety reason, then it will hurt their sentiments and make them an unwelcoming community. On the other hand if a fire department can find a suitable fire retardant material for the turban it will prove a step in the right direction. Sikhs can easily be issued with slightly bigger lightweight helmets to be worn over the turban if need be.

Finally, where there is a will there is always a way. Sikhs have fought in both wars standing shoulder to shoulder with the British and to discriminate against them now will be totally against the British sense of tolerance and fair play."

Whilst we all must be mindful of health and safely issues, a system that has in the past perhaps been too inflexible has served as a barrier to opportunity for Sikhs in the force. The progress of all minority communities in the police must also continue to be monitored. But we must now go further and address issues with any other practices, in the police force or our other services such as the fire service and armed forces to get the best possible solutions for modern Britain and end a mindset that is closed to the possibility of change."

Virendra Sharma, MP, Ealing Southall said, "The ACPOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to clarify guidelines regarding turban wearing Sikh officers in public order units is a welcome initiative but does not go far enough.

I believe all these guidelines should be within the context of the Motorcycle Crash Helmets Act 1976 that gave Sikhs the right not to wear a crash helmet. If Sikh soldiers can go into battle with turbans then Sikh Police Officers can also engage in these units only wearing a turban.

UK celebrates Vaisakhi with much pomp and gaiety Celebrations for the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi took place to commemorate the birth of the Khalsa, the most significant religious day for Sikhs around the world.

Bobby Grewal, Chairman India Association (IA) hosted the annual Vaisakhi Dinner and Dance event on Friday 23rd April at Crown Conference Centre, Ruislip, which included a colourful and vibrant mix of music, food, entertainment as well as speeches from esteemed guests.

Vaisakhi, a day traditionally celebrated to mark the harvesting of crops in Punjab has always been a joyous occasion and a time of celebration.

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also symbolises a range of humanitarian values, including equality between races and courage to stand up for human rights.

With these sentiments, the Vaisakhi event began with Bobby Grewal welcoming everyone and talking about the work of IA. Since last year's Vaisakhi event IA has sent donations to St Mark's Research for Bowel Cancer Research, Haiti Earthquake and the Chile disaster to name but a few.

This was followed by speeches from Sir Mota Singh, Virendra Shah MP,

Dominic Grieve MP and others. The evening then kicked off its celebrations with traditional folklore Bhangra by Vasda Punjab group and Bollywood dancers.

Vaisakhi was also celebrated by the Pakistan India Friendship Forum UK (PIFF UK) on the 19th April at the Monsoon Banquetting Hall, West London. The Baisakhi Basant Dinner and Dance Mega Musical event opened with Chairman PIFF UK, Mr Rajan Sehgal thanking all for attending and showing their support to the cause.

Chief guest, Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes spoke of the benefits of the Asian community being one in the UK and the strengths of the unity.

He praised the efforts of PIFF UK and emphasised his continued support for the organisation.

The event included music from Jeet Jagjeet, Shaheen, Asha and many other performers, singers and dancers. The evening turned out to be a colourful event with the audience dancing to the tunes of Punjabi and Urdu

the guests.

Vaisakhi celebrations are set to continue on 29th April, where Rami Ranger MBE, Chairman of The British Sikh Association is hosting a Vaisakhi Dinner at the Crown Banqueting Hall, Ruislip.

songs.

Indians and Pakistanis mingled together as one showing the united front as British Asians. Later on Deputy Mayor Of London, Richard Barnes took to the centre stage and danced to the beats of Bhangra music thrilling

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Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

COMMENT

Coalition could also provide good governance May 6 election is historical in different contexts.

For the first time in last eight years, the contest is triangle in true sense of the term. Labour and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have certain advantages for being tenant of 10 Downing Street. As many would acknowledge, his initiative for supporting banks have helped the country survive the economic slowdown which otherwise might have brought back the nightmare of 1930’s. At the same time, being in power for 13 years has its own disadvantages. Revelations about MP’s expenses, Afghan imbroglio, Iraq intricacies and opposition within the Labour, overshadowed Brown’s nearly two year stint as the Prime Minister. There is therefore an anti-incumbency factor that makes Labour unpopular among the voters.

David Cameron, leader of Conservatives, also enjoys certain advantages. He is youthful and dynamic and hails from upper class family. He is sharp in his attacks on Labour but is found wanting in outlining his policies. The ambiguities in the alternate schemes put forth by Tories have given an opportunity to the opponents to counter attack.

Though Cameron has assembled a good team, it lacks experience and this may tilt a section of voters away from the party.

Liberal Democrats are a rejuvenated lot, particularly after the first round of TV debate in which Nick Clegg put up an impressive show. Just about three weeks ago, Lib Dem was considered as a fringe party. It has now bounced back with a bang and likely to prove a force to reckon with.

Realising that they are fast loosing ground, both Labour and Conservatives have mounted their attacks on the Lib Dems. They would warn voters against the danger of a ‘hung parliament’ and its possible consequences. Gordon Brown says politicians should not second guess the election result.

The Conservatives on their part started horrifying people against a fractured mandate. They argue: If no party gained a majority in the Commons, it would paralyse the UK economy and create a political stitch up. This argument is hollow. The coalition experiences of India and Germany suggest that they could also provide good governance.

And yet they are sparing no efforts to charm Nick Clegg. While Labour was willing to take support of Lib Dems, Tories which till the other day refused to consider the possibility of a hung parliament, have now also extended an olive branch.

Nick Clegg however is too clever and holding cards close to his chest.

With election a week away, a small percentage of swing could change the fortunes of all political parties. In these circumstances, polling percentage and ability of the parties to bring their loyal voters to booths becomes vital. Ethnic voters are likely to play a crucial role in some constituencies, particularly marginal ones. Of course the term ‘marginal’ is also vague and it could vanish if there is a wave in favour of a particular party.

One thing appears certain: Muslims are likely to see a rise in their representation to Commons as the number of candidates from that community has gone up considerably. In other words their initiatives have paid off. Hindus and Sikhs too could take a leaf out of them if they really want their voice heard in the corridors of power. It must however be noted that voters have to take into account the ideologies and manifestoes of political parties besides checking credentials of candidates while voting. They must not be guided by colour or faith while exercising their franchise. After all, national issues are important and therefore it is paramount that every eligible voter should and must vote.

Gujarat celebrates its golden jubilee Bifurcation of erstwhile bilingual Mumbai state into Maharashtra and Gujarat on 1st May, 1960 had many skeptics including Morarji Desai expressing reservations about whether it will benefit both the states and the nation. 50 years down the line, very few people would have any doubts. It was essentially Gujarat’s demand for a separate state and hence if bifurcation has proved productive and useful for the nation, credit must largely go to it and its people.

In 1960, the per capita income of Maharashtra was 10.3 per cent higher than Gujarat. After 46 years, this difference narrowed down to only 2.8 per cent in 2006-07. This means that Gujarat has progressed at much faster rate after getting the statehood.

The growth story of Gujarat over the past fifty years is worth considering in comparison to the nation. Gujarat did not begin as a high growing, high performing state, during the 1960s. Gujarat economy grew in real terms [i.e. not considering prices] only at 2.6 per cent per annum which was considerably lower than the national average of 3.5 per cent.

The last decade of 2001-10 has established Gujarat as undisputed growth leader of the country. In spite of initial natural [earth quake] and man made [riots and terrorism] disasters, the state have achieved 10.7 per cent annual growth in its income over the whole decade. The agriculture

sector in the state is also growing at an unprecedented rate of 9.6 per cent over the last decade. If it was a nation, it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like Taiwan and Ukraine.

Today, Gujarat contributes 20 per cent of India’s Industrial Output, 80 per cent of diamond production, 9 per cent of marine production, 50 per cent of natural gas production, 54 per cent of crude oil production, 22 per cent of exports, 24 per cent of textile production, 45 per cent of pharmaceutical production, 35 per cent of sponge and iron production, 47 per cent of petrochemical production.

This has all been achieved by well thought out strategies and policies. Gujarat today is considered as model state for good governance, thanks to Narendra Modi’s visionary leadership. Some of the state government’s schemes in the fields of health, education, agriculture, power and social infrastructure have been lauded by the government of India and the planning commission.

Gujarat has thus come a long way in last fifty years. Gujaratis are proud of the success, wherever they live. It deserves celebrations and also self introspection. Fortunately the government is fully aware about the shortcomings and has initiated several new schemes with public and private partnership that are expected to contribute towards formation of an informed and intelligent society.

Tory immigration plan under fire The LibDem take on immigration as enunciated by party lead Nick Clegg appeared somewhat confused but the Tory plan has provoked the ire of the business sector. London First, the City lobby group that represents some of London's largest companies and banks, warned that Tory plans to restrict economic migrants could undermine the UK's position as a global business centre. Such criticism will surely weaken Conservative attempts to woo voters on the platform that the party is business-friendly.

The mileage gained with Labour's move to increase the National Insurance contribution is likely to be lost. The party appears to have succumbed to its old inner demons on immigration. It clings stubbornly to past phobias in the face of a fast changing world. The level of the Tory cap on new migrants rather than the cap itself will be subjected to close

critical scrutiny. Baronies Jo Valentine, London First 's chief executive pointed to the concerns of her members, worried that the curbs being touted “to appease the populist voice” while ignoring the message to the world outside.

This election is already too close to call. If doubts about the Tory were to deepen as they have been Labour the country s political future will be bleaker still. A calm appraisal of the situation will offer more reassuring results than the apparent pressing of the panic button. Mr Cameron is relying on his party's traditional base, but new forces are at play and newer sections of society have to be brought in to the party if the vaunted Tory modernisation is to be credible. The sight of two wobbly parties hoping to govern a realm in the midst of a deep economic crisis is no cause for celebration.

www.abplgroup.com

3

Thought for the Week

The first rule in opera is the first rule in life: see to everything yourself.

- Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931)

“Our London” CIIr Navin Shah AM London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow

X Factor Politics Voters to decide We seem to have unexpectedly stumbled into a new era of politics. The X Factor Politics. The age of glamour, instant appeal, instant judgement and instant results! Can this be sustained? Is this the kind of politics and decision making process we require?

Whilst the two prime ministerial (or shall I say Presidential) debates have created an interest amongst the voters, probably a great deal of our youth, which is the major and positive outcome but is this what should form any opinion as to which is the best political party to address the country’s issues, the nations aspirations and future? For me the answer is a definite NO. Conservatives are offering ‘Change’ but have the Tories really changed from the time of Mrs Thatcher?

The so-called new form of conservatism seems to be offering people power, promoting the ‘Big Society’ approach but how serious are they about it – could they be trusted? Margaret Thatcher didn’t think that the Society existed. She promoted individual greed, extreme right capitalism and destroyed the country.

The new kid on the block David Cameron suddenly discovered ‘Society’. But Mr Cameron then told us, until a few months ago, how ‘broken’ the society was.

And now it is to the same society they wish to handover the power. The fact is that the Tories are offering no change, they’ve lacked vision and when the country needed real answers to tackle the global economy they had none. As Cameron bandwagon has faltered disastrously Tories have come up with this clever but desperate idea of the big society. I acknowledge that engaging with people and partnerships with communities is a powerful tool but when faced with the global financial difficulties, addressing unemployment you don’t want to opt out of your responsibilities as elected members and party.

During hard times a responsible party / government actually provides support to the deprived communities and not threaten immediate savage cuts to the public services and destroy frontline services like the Tories

want to.

As to Mr Nick Clegg’s, a good TV appearance, good sound bites but policies? Where are they? From the popular appeal clearly Mr Clegg’s feet have not touched the ground. He’s already dreaming of being the Prime Minister – if not that - he’s demanding that the Labour Party gets rid of Gordon Brown! How dare he dictate this? In the high he is, he’s forgotten that he does not run the Labour Party. Anyone who’s had the experience of working with LibDems know that their policies very from member to member and day to day. All thing to all people and of course, read their ‘Focus’ (if one must) often taking credit for things they’ve not even been remotely associated with.

Labour has provided the consistency and real leadership in these difficult times. The ideals of fairness and justice are not new to the party and remain the main plank of our policies and work with all communities unlike Tories who’ve suddenly discovered the society and the Indian / Asian friends.

Tony McNulty, serving the very diverse community of Harrow for the last 13 years has worked actively with our Indian Communities with real commitment and understanding of diversity. In a similar vein Barry Gardiner’s engagement with Indian community is summed up by Shri Narendrabhai Modi who said “Gujarat has no greater friend in Britain than Barry Gardiner”. Gareth Thomas too in his ministerial role and local work in Harrow has contributed hugely to the issues facing communities from different origins.

Dawn Butler has been a true ambassador of the rich diversity Brent represents and has a solid track record of youth engagement.

Against this, the assortment of candidates from other parties, with due respect and no offence intended, struggle to demonstrate their standing and achievements. As a Labour activist I’m biased but this is my honest judgement.

However, the real verdict that matters comes from the voters and that will be on 6 May.

YOUR VOICE

4

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Power to reflect local resident's wishes

Don't go for hung parliament

Views and thoughts of Gujaratis

AV readers will recall that in 2006 the Labour Party was planning to introduce a massive American-style gambling complex into Wembley on a site along the main road, Empire Way. Thank goodness that the Liberal Democrats stopped this daft Labour idea.

The Labour Government did however relax the gambling laws and we have had an explosion of betting shops in Wembley and shopping areas across Brent, such as Kilburn, and London. At present the local Planning Authority has no powers to limit the number of betting shops in any one area as Labour have created a free for all.

One of the first things the next Government must do is to give local Councils the power to set a limit on the number of betting shops in any one area.

Only then will Councils such as Brent be able to reflect the wishes of local residents.

Cllr Peter Corcoran Liberal Democrat Councillor for Tokyngton

The only explanation for the sudden surge for the Liberal Democrats in the opinion polls after the first television debate where Mr. Clegg came top of the rating among the three political leaders may be attributed to the public disgust for the moral bankruptcy of the corrupt politicians. The Liberal Democrats are trying to project as the clean, honest party with a fresh leader Mr. Clegg with untarnished image.

The national opinion polls and a growing number of people seem to want a hung parliament in which no single party can govern by itself. The electorates should realise by electing sufficient number of Lib- Dem members in the House of Commons, Mr. Clegg could name his own terms by almost scrapping the first pastthe post voting system which has given Britain such stability over centuries in favour of proportional representation and labour would agree quickly to remain in office. Once the proportional representation is introduced no party may ever hold a proper working majority. This also means that small regional parties can wield more influence over the direction of the entire nation.

May 6 election is not a vote to register our protest against corrupt politicians. It will decide the direction of Britain for years and generations to come.

A hung parliament could have a negative impact on the stock market and on the price of gilts, driving their values lower.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

I am a young Gujarati doctor born and educated in London and have lived in Brent North since birth. I have been brought up to respect all communities regardless of the race or creed but at the same time have been coached to place a great emphasis on our own Gujarati community and culture values. I read and write Gujarati and my family has been subscribing to both Gujarat Samachar and Garvi Gujarat for the past thirty years. I am glad and grateful to my parents for such upbringing for over the years. I have participated in multifarious activities and have come to appreciate the immense depth and richness of the intrinsic values of our society and the culture.

It therefore gives me and I am sure many others, immense pleasure and pride to learn that a distinguished Gujarati individual, Mr Harshadbhai Patel has been selected to contest for a parliamentary seat for Brent North in the forthcoming General Election.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Harshadbhai on numerous occasions, as together we have taken part in several charity fund raising events. He is extremely talented and full of energy but what stands out most about him is his sheer dedication, selflessness and sincerity with which he sacrifices his time for others. It would be a great achievement if he were to be elected to represent our views in parliament.

It is good to note that Gujarat Samachar has given him due credit by publishing a news about his candidature and making the community aware of him.

On the other hand Garvi Gujarat has accredited him by writing just three lines about him and it is preposterous to note that they have pictures of Mr Barry Gardiner (Labour MP) in their driveway!

As most of us are aware Barry Gardiner has misused the expenses system. It is unthinkable that Garvi Gujarat should support a discredited politician when here is an opportune moment to favour our own community man and keep our Indian culture alive. I trust I am representing the views and thoughts of several Gujaratis.

I am a politically aware young Gujarati keenly following trends and campaigns in this election. I have been born, lived and educated in Gujarati heartland of Wembley for years and my parents were expelled from Uganda and hence, my political understanding compelled me to write this letter.

Barry Gardiner has been the Member of Parliament representing Brent North since 1997 and being his constituent I have certain expectations from him as I have voted for him three times so far.

Therefore, I was dismayed to see an election leaflet produced by Barry Gardiner that claims he is a friend of Gujarat with a picture of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

I know for sure that Barry Gardiner was a minister in Tony Blair’s Government back in 2005 when Narendra Modi was restricted by the Labour Government from visiting UK and Tony McNulty was the Minister of state of Home Office under which this decision was taken. Both Members of Parliament and Ministers in the ruling Government representing two constituencies (Brent North & Harrow East) with highest number of Gujarati population in the country not only kept silent but actually supported the decision of not letting the Gujarat Chief Minister to visit Britain. They might have thought it is prudent to do this to keep their large number of Muslim voters happy at the time! It’s an irony that Gardiner has to resort to publishing a picture of the very man that he and the Labour Government was happy to restrict entry in order to lure Gujarati Hindu votes this time.

I believe a British politician’s first responsibility and obligation is the wellbeing of fellow Britons and his claims should be confined to reflect it. They should refrain from trying to fool public as people have deeper understanding of history.

I would not hesitate to call the Conservative candidate Harshadbhai Patel a better friend of Gujarat and Gujaratis as he does not resort to such claims away from his domain. He stays away from using non British figures and sticks to what he intend to do for the people of Brent north.

Krupa Shah Via Email

Navin Patel Via Email

Tharoorgate.. etc Cricket is gentleman’s game, imported from UK it is a national passion for India. Unfortunately private ownership has turned it into hyper-commercial nightmare, via opaque dealings and bribery.

Tharoorgate episode proves everything in excess becomes pathological. l Charity status is accorded to IPL, who is charging Rs 40,000 for tickets. l Subsidy is given to hire stadiums, but no subsidy is granted towards expensive essential food stuff; result- many poor folk starve. l Exemption from entertainment-Rupees 10 to 12 crores tax in Maharashtra, whereas farmers commit suicide due to poverty. l Many villages face 12 to 15 hours electric shortage whereas cricket matches are floodlit; these can be played in daylight hours? l Revenue, generated fills coffers of dollar billionaires and Bollywood millionaires.

Pranab Mukharji has scared bigots by threats of thorough investigation and stern punishment. Pandemonium shows that many icons may be guilty.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Mahabharata - a good read!

I have been reading the Mahabharata column and I think it is one of the best columns published by AV. The best thing about Mr Vakil's writing is that he draws example from real life and explains the issues through chapters of Mahabharata.

In the issue of 24th April, he explained how “our being is like a ladder; each moment offers us choice to climb up or go further lower”. It is a fantastic piece of thought and the way the metaphor has been explained through the stories of Krishna and Uttanka, is excellent.

It is important that we acknowledge

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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Elections: an unbiased view I had a quick review of the 3 manifestos: Conservative, Labour and Liberal Parties via Google.

The most compassionate, realistic and visionary manifesto is that of Labour.

Conservatives have some good ideas such as reducing the number of MPs by 10%.

Liberals manifesto is rubbish.

Compared to other countries, UK has too many MPs. When UK was “The British Empire” it was necessary.

Labour’s plan to half the House of Lords and Alternative Vote referendum in 18 months is still better.

UK with 60 million people has 659 MPs and 675 Lords. U S A has a Senate: 100 members (6 years) and House of Representative: 435 members (2 years).

India’s Lok Sabha: 545 members (5 years) and Rajya Sabha: 245 members (6 years). Germany’s Bundesrat: 69 members (terms vary) and Bundestag: 669 members (4 years).

Labour is in touch with the ordinary citizen more often: the other two one day every 5 years.

Nagindas Khajauria Via Email that epics don't dust away with time.

They have lessons for us even in today's circumstances.

Vikas Sahoo Via Email

Please detach the form and send it with your payment or credit card instructions to address below

Why fool us?

Beware of Trojan Horse politicians Now that the voting day is just round the corner, we all will receive telephone calls, emails and pamphlets through letter boxes letting us know how important we are. It is of utmost importance that we sort out who are our real friends and who are paying us a lip service.

The religion, colour of skin, ethnic origin or party affiliation is no guarantee of their loyalty, either to our community or our cultural heritage. So often indigenous candidate make a better MP, care more about us, the member of ethnic minority than some one from our own background.

The best way to judge a candidate is to look at his or her past record, ascertain who has stood by us in our hour of need,

UK EUROPE WORLD 1 Year £25 £55 £70 2 Years £45 £100 £125 £225 £300 *5 Years £110 £450 £550 *10 Years £200

shared our concerns on issues like Hare Krishna Temple and Hindu School in Harrow.

Some of our own misguided politicians let us down; accuse us of being caste oriented to gain five minutes of fame without thinking the enormous damage they are doing to our community, while others who represent almost complete white constituents remain aloof from our community, unlike Muslim and Jewish politicians who always remain true to their roots and cultural heritage.

So beware of the Shylock who is after a pound of flesh and the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

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Karma Yoga House 12 Hoxton Market

‘Smile Pinky’ too gets the Oscar Boyle says Mumbai dwarfed the statuette

!

(Off Coronet Street)

Cricket crazy Indians for the first time was seen so euphoric on Monday morning, as they expected a couple of Oscars. British Indians in the UK, Dharavi slums, the shanty township of Mumbai, a village in Uttar Pradesh and almost the entire Bollywood waited in expectation, glued to their TV sets. They burst into celebrations as one by one, their heroes, the actors of the British Indian film and the music maestro, A R Rahman bagged the top awards in the world of entertainment.

British actress Kate Winslett also won the Oscar after having missed it almost five times earlier.

‘Smile Pinki’, a short documentary on a cleft-lipped Indian girl in Uttar Pradesh directed

by American director Megan Mylan, won the Oscar for the Best Documentary (Short).

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GENERAL ELECTION 2010

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

5

Harshadbhai- a true patron and voice of our community He contested his first election from Stonebridge Ward (London Borough of Brent) in 1986, lost it, but managed to achieve the highest swing of 8% in his favor. He contested the election again in 1994, this time from Wembley Central Ward and lost by a very slender margin. Two years later in 1996, he subsequently selected to contest a by election in Preston ward, which he won by a huge majority. Since then he has won all three elections from his ward ( making a total of four successive win). He has served the conservative group as an Assistant whip and also as a Deputy Leader continuously for a number of years.

He has represented almost all the various committees of the council. He also made it to the top three candidates eligible for selection as a prospective conservative parliamentary candidate in the Brent North constituency in the last General election. In the local election, May 2006, when no parties won overall majority, Harshadbhai was a prime choice for the candidacy of Mayor.

However, due to his personal circumstances, he politely declined it but instead accepted to offer his services as a Deputy Mayor which, he fulfilled with extreme efficiency. In May 2007 he was elected unopposed as the 43rd Mayor of the London Borough of Brent. All parties supported his nomination, a unique occurrence, with words of praise by all parties which, is an evidence of his popularity not only in social circles but in political circles as well.

He has had leadership qualities since his school days. In college, he was elected as a class representative, Science Association secretary, Fine art secretary and a General Secretary known as G.S. (Student Leader). He also managed to instill tremendous enthu-

building has been erected, servsiasm in the students of his coling a wonderful centre for the lege in sports, whereby the colcommunity-a pride admired and lege climbed from a bottom posienvied by all and sundry. Not did tion right up to the top and were he only participate in acquiring winners and on occasions runthe land, he also arranged to help ners up in various games. raise the finance and kept playing Furthermore, he is socially his part until the building convery active and has been so since struction project was completed his childhood. He established an and became functional. organisation of youngsters in his He has helped countless native town and brought two number of persons in social, rival groups of Patels (in rift) political and legal matters and is together, such that they live in held in high regard by all who harmony even as of today’s date. know him, irrespective of creed He was a member of Rotaract and religion.

Club and had successfully organised a District Rotaract conferHarshad Patel was felicitated ence in his town. His involveby a large number of religious Harshadbhai Patel ment in politics was also of real and social organisations for his substance and politicians were excellent social services. Those he moved to London to join his looking for inspiration from him. who honoured the British wife, Hansa. His dream was to He was honored by Sajan Gujarati leader include various qualify as a Barrister as he had Social Club, a registered Charity Gujarati and Indian institutions read several books on the freeorganisation in Rajkot, Gujarat such as Shree Sattavish Gam dom struggle of India and found State in 1992 for his social work Patidar Samaj, National that many of the leaders of promiand recently in January this year, of Gujarati Congress nence were Barristers e.g. he was presented with an award Organisations (NCGO), Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, known as ATMIYA GAURAV Federation of Patidars, Brent Pandit Nehru, Vithalbhai Patel AWARD, by Yogi Divine Society, Indian Association, Hindu etc. He duly achieved his ambiin Nadiad, India in the presence Council Brent, BAPS Neasden tion. He was admitted to Inner of nearly 300,000 people. This is Temple, Golders Green Temple and called to the Bar in an evidence of his dedication, Swaminarayan Temple, Anupam 1981. enthusiasm and honesty to work Mission, Vallabhnidhi Trust, Later he went back to India for the community. In March this Indian organizations such as the and joined a very successful firm year Shree Sattavis Gam Patidar M S Patel Arts College at Anand of lawyers (K.S.Nanavati & Samaj (Europe) honoured him – Gujarat (Sardar Patel Associates) and practiced as an for his services to the Samaj. In Trust), Charutar Education advocate in the High Court of addition various organizations Vidhya Mandir (Vallabh Gujarat at Amdavad for about a had arranged functions to honVidhyanagar) and the Yogi year and when he returned to our him for being elected as the Divine Society of Sokhada, as London to attend the Wedding of Mayor. As the Mayor he is receivthey felicitated him with ‘Atmiya his sister-in-law, he was advised ing unprecedented support form Gaurav’ award. During his by his other lawyer acquaintances all the communities and his work tenure as the Mayor, Harshad to complete his pupilage here, and dedication is highly appreciPatel attended many social and practice for few years and then go ated by all. religious programmes and funcback and commence practice in In UK, in this borough, he tions organised by various comthe Supreme Court of India. He has actively participated in varimunities including the Brent followed the first part of the ous organizations such as Shree advice and completed pupilage Jews, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Sattavis Gam Patidar Samaj but then went on to practice as a Muslims and even the Christians, (Europe), Federation of Patidar, Barrister here for a few years. making himself a leader loved Brent Indian Association, Hindu Sadly, he did not continue in this and adored by one and all.

Council (Brent) etc. He has profession and ended the practice He is married with three served Sattavis Gam Patidar and began taking keen interest in daughters. All his three daughSamaj as a Secretary, President politics. ters have made him proud by and trustee for nearly attaining good professional qualitwo decades. He has Sachin Rajput, Brent Central, fications. They had their primary worked timelessly for and secondary education in the Conservative Party this samaj and his borough and have maintained the most notable achieveIndian culture and tradition Martial arts fan and qualified karate ment is the significant Rahoul Bhansali, Streatham, along with the adoption of good expert, Sachin Rajput is the Tory role that he has Conservative Party western life qualities. candidate for Brent Central. He played in acquiring With his family’s extensive 1.9 acre land at a very speaks to Asian Voice about contestA Conservative member since unimoral support, he continues in prestigious location in ing from one of the most exciting versity and South London resident his unselfish ways to sacrifice his Forty Avenue, constituencies and his special aspisince a decade, Rahoul Bhansali is time for others with no pecuniary Wembley, where a rations for the Asian community. the Conservative candidate for interest but sheer joy and satismodern, multimillion AV: How did you join politics?

Streatham. He speaks to Asian pound state of art faction in life.

I joined politics in 1997 which was Voice on his parliamentary ambian interesting time because everytions and why people should elect one was talking about Blair and him.

Shas Sheehan, Wimbledon, Labour government.

AV: How did you join politics?

Liberal Democrat AV: Why the Conservatives?

I have been a member of the Conservatives stand for change. It has been a party Conservatives since my teenage AV: How did you join politics? believing in lower taxes, and that appeals to me. years. I joined the Southampton University Conservative I have three children and was a fullHistorically and till present day, they continue to proAssociation while I was studying and went on to be its time mum. I helped Susan Kramer mote those who work hard. chairman. Ever since I moved to London I have been from Lib Dems campaign in 2004.

AV: What are you doing pre-election about the Asian involved with politics. It is my ambition to be a Member She won and offered me a job. I community? of Parliament. stood for council elections from Kew I have been widely associated with many Hindu organiAV: Why the Conservatives? ward and won. sations such as Hindu Council Brent. Over the last few My belief is that we should take responsibility ourself for AV: Why the Liberal Democrats? years, I have been hearing a very Indian voice from our actions. The state should be smaller and people need Lib Dems have consistently shown Brent. more freedom. Those are core Conservative values. good judgement. Their lack of supBrent this year is one of the most exciting and hotly-conAV: What are you doing pre-election about the Asian port for the Iraq War was looked tested constituencies because Brent East and Brent community? down upon at the time, but it was important. Also I am South have merged to create one constituency. It is a I believe in having a common policy towards issues like not happy about what Labour has done about climate clear choice between Brown or Cameron. economy, healthcare, local schools, transport and crime. change.

Hospitals do not have Indian meals. Also, the Labour I don't have any particular policy aspirations towards the AV: Do you believe in door-to-door campaigning? government in 1997 promised single sex wards but this Asian communities. I am not a fan of individually tarReason why I won seat is because I knocked on more was not done everyone. Asian women do not like to be geting an ethnic group. It is more important to focus on doors than other parties. Mine is not an ethnic ward. in the same ward as men. Hence I am trying to change community issues.

AV: Why should we vote for you? these policies. Asians rely a lot on travel and hence we AV: Why should we vote for you?

Lib Dems are going to bring about a difference. I have plan on maintaining free travel for the elderly.

Conservatives offer a new direction to UK. We bring been doing work in the constituency which both the parAV: Why should we vote for you? hope and optimism. I offer fresh change benefitting from ties have neglected such as Kingston Hospital services It is a two-horse race. Brent Indians have been taken for a 12 year business career. Im years old and I bring youth threatened by cuts. Neither of the other two are camgranted by Labour. Voting for any other party will affect and enthusiasm. I have lived in South London for 12 paigning for it. the Tory majority and not help Cameron win. years and Streatham is my community.

Harshadbhai Patel was elected with overwhelming majority in a packed meeting of the Brent north conservative, as a Parliamentary Candidate for Brent North. He has lived in the Brent North Constituency for nearly 27 years.

Harshadbhai was born in a town named Sokhda (mother’s town) near Baroda in the Gujarat State, India.

His native town is Umreth, a place very famous for its prosperity, so much so that strong walls and gates guarded it. The town is also popular for excellent education system, beautiful saris, stuffed rice and the Tuver lentil.

He spent his first six years in a tiny village called Malai (translated in English, it stands for cream), near Dakor and Umreth, where there was no facility for electricity or tap water. He had his primary education in Sokhda He was always securing first ranks in his examinations and was elected as a monitor every year, He was also elected as a Mahamantri(General Secretary) and became very popular (and highly respected) amongst fellow students, teachers and friends alike.

Subsequently, he moved to Dakor, a very important town for the Hindus for its religious significance. There, he completed his matriculation with first class and joined V.P. Science College in Vallabh Vidyanagar, and went on to complete his degree course and attained B.Sc. degree in Chemistry.

He then went on to read Law, in a near by city named Anand and obtained an LLB degree and then practiced as an advocate in his native town Umreth, representing clients at various courts in the surrounding areas. He was a popular and well-respected young advocate. After marriage

Face to Face with the PPCs

6

GENERAL ELECTION 2010

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Election 2010: final countdown begins Labour and Tories warn of hung parliament dangers As opinion polls showed the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, maintaining his strong position in the wake of his success in the televised leaders' debates, the two largest parties were dismissive of the Lib Dems as they said a hung parliament would create uncertainty.

The Tories claimed a hung parliament could "paralyse" Britain. The Tory leader, David Cameron, raised the prospect of backroom deals.

His shadow chancellor, George Osborne, teamed up with the shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, at a separate press conference to unveil a mock political broadcast by the "Hung Parliament

party", which promised to bring the economy to its knees and send interest rates soaring.

Osborne pointed to sharp falls in stock markets after the last hung parliament in 1974 as proof of the threat, and insisted surveys had revealed that business figures were concerned.

He said it was clear that the Hung Parliament

party had the "potential to change the way Britain is governed".

The broadcast shows a man who looks similar to Clegg, wearing a yellow rosette and pledging that the Hung Parliament party would deliver "behind closed doors politics", with "indecision and weak government".

The man insists it is easy to get the Hung

Parliament party into power, saying: "A vote for any party other than the Conservatives should do the job."

Alongside the video, new Tory campaign literature depicts Gordon Brown waving outside No 10 and carries the message: "This is what a hung parliament looks like."

Speaking at the launch of the party's green Quality of Life manifesto, Cameron said: "If you vote Conservative, you know you'll get every single word in here in terms of our green manifesto â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you'll get all that done.

"Any other outcome, and who knows whether this would be traded for someone having that job, or this budget, or that change."

The joint assault by Labour and the Tories

shows how the two main parties have been jolted by the success of the Lib Dems.

There were no signs of this slipping as a YouGov poll put them in second place, on 30%. The Tories are in first place, on 34%, while Labour trails in third on 28%.

Think Tank attacks parties for failing to 'come clean' All three main parties have been attacked for failing to come clean about the 'massive' cuts they would have to make after the election if they are in power.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies highlighted huge holes in their tax and spending plans and declared none is 'anywhere close' to making clear where the axe will fall.

The respected indethink-tank pendent accused the parties of being 'vague' and placed the blame on Labour for delaying the Comprehensive Spending Review.

It has worked out that Labour has said the least about cuts it would have to make, destroying claims by ministers that they have been more candid than the Tories.

The Government has only set out 13 per cent of the cuts it will need to make, the Tories 18 per cent and the Lib Dems 26 per cent, the IFS said.

It has worked out that Tory plans to tackle the deficit will result in the party's biggest spending cuts since the Second World War. Labour and the Lib Dems would have to take

South Asian PPCs in the UK Constituency Aldridge-Brownhill Angus Ashton under Lyne Birmingham Hall Green Birmingham Hodge Hill

Candidate

Ashiq Hussain Sanjay Samani Liberal Democrat Seema Kennedy Salma Yaqoob Tariq Khan Shailesh Parekh Waheed Rafiq Birmingham Ladywood Nusrat Ghani Ayoub Khan, Shabana Mahmood, Birmingham Perry Barr Khalid Mahmood Bishop Auckland Sam Zair Blackburn Bobby Anwar Bushra Irfan Bushra Irfanullah Blackley and Broughton Shafiq-Uz Zaman Bolton South East Yasmin Qureshi Navaid Syed Bootle Sohail Qureshi Bradford East Raja Hussain Mohammed Riaz Bradford West Arshad Ali Zahid Iqbal Marsha Singh, Brighton Pavilion Soraya Kara Bristol East Adeela Shafi Bromsgrove Sajid Javid Bury North Maryam Khan Cambridgeshire North West Shaliest Vara Cambridgeshire South Tariq Sadiq Cardiff South and Penarth Farida Aslam Cardiff West Mohammed Islam Carshalton and Wallington Shafiqul Khan Chesham and Amersham Anthony Gajadaharsingh Coventry North West William Sidhu Crawley Arshad Khan Derbyshire Mid Hardyal Dhindsa Devizes Junab Ali Dewsbury Khizar Iqbal Shahid Malik Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Catriona Bhatia Faversham and Kent Mid Dave Naghi Ashok Rehal Feltham and Heston Asa Khaira Dharmendra Tripathi Gillingham and Rainham Rehman Chishti Glasgow Central Osama Saeed Anas Sarwar Glasgow South Shabnum Mustapha Gloucester Parmjit Dhanda Halifax Jay Sangha Harborough Zuffar Haq Harlow Oluyemi Adeeko Herefordshire North Neil Sabharwal Hertsmere Arjuna Krishna-Das Heywood and Middleton Mohammed Salim Hornsey and Wood Green Rohen Kapur Keighley Nader Fekri Leeds North East Aqila Choudhry Leicester East Ali Asghar Avtar Sadiq Keith Vaz Leicester South Parmjit Gill Leicestershire South Aladdin Ayesh Leigh Shazia Awan

Party Labour Conservative Respect - the Unity Coalition Liberal Democrat Conservative UK Independence Party Conservative Liberal Democrat Labour Labour Local Liberals People Before Politics Party UK Independence Party Independent Bushra Irfan of Blackburn Christian Party Labour Christian People's Alliance Conservative Independent Conservative Respect - the Unity Coalition Conservative Labour Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality Conservative Conservative Labour Conservative Labour Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru Labour Labour Christian Movement for Great Britain Justice Party Labour Labour Independent Labour Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Labour Independent Independent Conservative Scottish National Party Labour Liberal Democrat Labour UK Independence Party Liberal Democrat Christian Party Labour Green Party Islam Zinda Baad Platform Independent Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Unity for Peace and Socialism Labour Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Conservative

Constituency Lewes Leyton and Wanstead Liverpool Riverside Luton South Maidstone and The Weald Makerfield Maldon Manchester Central Manchester Gorton Manchester Withington Meon Valley Milton Keynes North Milton Keynes South Mitcham and Morden Norfolk North West Nottingham East Oldham East and Saddleworth Oldham West and Royton Oxford East Paisley and Renfrewshire South Pendle Preston Reading East Reading West Reigate Rochdale Rochford and Southend East Romsey and Southampton North Rushcliffe Saffron Walden Sedgefield Slough Southend West Stoke on Trent Central Stoke on Trent South Stratford on Avon Stroud Suffolk Central and Ipswich North Surrey Heath Swindon North Tyneside North Walsall North Walsall South Walthamstow Warley West Ham Wigan Windsor Witham Wolverhampton North East Wolverhampton South West Wycombe

Candidate Hratche Koundarjian Sonika Bhatti Farooq Qureshi Kegang Wu Qurban Hussain Gavin Shuker Rav Seeruthun Itrat Ali Swatantra Nandanwar Suhail Rahuja Qassim Afzal Mohammed Zulfikar Yasmin Zalzala Graeme Quar Anant Vyas Suzanne Nti Rathy Alagaratnam Smarajit Roy, Green Party Manish Sood Parvaiz Sardar Kashif Ali Gulzar Nazir Kamran Ghafoor Shahid Miah Sushila Dhall Ashay Ghai Afzal Anwar Krishna Tayya Ann Zebedee Naz Sarkar Alok Sharma Jane Kulka Mudasir Dean Mohammed Salim Kevin Bonavia Aktar Beg Karrar Khan Reza Hossain Neil Mahapatra Sunil Chaudhary Dr Vel Norsheen Bhatti Zulfiqar Ali Nadhim Zahawi Dennis Andrewartha Bhavna Joshi Richard Vass Neeraj Patil Victor Agarwal Gagan Mohindra Nadia Fazal Babar Shakir Gulzaman Khan Mohammed Mulia Murli Sinha Farid Ahmed Ashar Mall Jasbir Parmar Kamran Malik Lisa Nandy Amanjit Jhund Priti Patel Shangara Bhatoe Paul Uppal Madassar Khokar

Party Labour Christian Party Liberal Democrat Conservative Liberal Democrat Labour Labour Conservative Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Respect - the Unity Coalition Independent Independent Independent Christian People's Alliance Independent Labour Christian Party Conservative Christian Party Conservative Respect - the Unity Coalition Green Party Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Independent UK Independence Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Conservative Islam Zinda Baad Platform Labour Labour Liberal Democrat Green Party Conservative Christian Party Independent Conservative Liberal Democrat Conservative Liberal Democrat Labour New Party Labour Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Christian Party Christian Party No description Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrat Christian Party Conservative Independent Labour Labour Conservative Socialist Labour Party Conservative Independent

GENERAL ELECTION 2010

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010 their most drastic action since the 1970s to fulfil their plans to balance the books.

The IFS study lays bare the silence on what is the most crucial policy area of the election and what voters say is their primary concern for the coming years.

And it comes just two days before the three party leaders are to do battle on live TV over the economy, in their final clash before polling day next week.

All three would-be chancellors, Alistair Darling, George Osborne and Vince Cable have admitted they would have to cut more than Margaret Thatcher's government.

But they have refused to give anything but scant detail about how the cuts will be achieved, for fear of putting off voters.

In addition, each has promised to protect certain frontline services meaning greater savings will have to be made elsewhere.

This takes the total cuts necessary by 2014/15 to almost £64billion for the Tories, £51billion for Labour and £46billion for the Lib Dems.

The Financial Times has suggested that to find extra cuts of £30-40billion, any incoming government might be forced to slash public sector pay by 5 per cent, freeze benefits

for a year, means-test child benefit and abolish winter fuel payments.

Other possibilities it suggests are axing free TV licences and bus passes, cutting prison numbers by a quarter, axing the Navy's new aircraft carriers, stopping school construction and cutting funds for Scotland and Wales by 10 per cent.

33

Con

28

29

Lab

LD

Clegg agrees to join Labour but not Brown The Liberal Democrat Leader was forced to clarify his position last week saying that he would potentially enter negotiations with Labour in hung parliament even if it did come third- so long as it ditched Gordon Brown as the leader.

He said, "It seems to me that if a party comes third in terms of the number of votes,it still has somehow the right to carry on squatting in No 10 and continue to lay claim to having the Prime Minister to the country."

The slip led to an increase in Labour hostilities against the Lib Dems, with the party issuing

leaflets suggesting that a vote for Mr Clegg would put David Cameron in Downing Street. .Under Cabinet Office rules the sitting Prime Minister has the right to be the first to try to form a government in the event of a hung Parliament, whatever their share of the vote or number of seats. Mr Brown's strategists seized on Mr Clegg's weekend remarks to highlight what they called a "shared Liberal-Tory agenda to destroy Labour" after the election.

They pointed out that the Lib Dems and the Conservatives both support proposals to set strict limits on political donations.

This measure, Labour warns, would effectively bankrupt the party, which has become overwhelmingly reliant on a multimillion pound income stream from trade union political funds.

Where are the Asian voters?

The record number of South Asian candidates standing in the 2010 election appears to be doing

Party

The 2010 General election has become one of the most exciting and unpredictable of my lifetime. Usually a clear run and a visible winner we can find ourselves in 2010 unsure and caught in a real battle to the end. British tradition dictates an almost two horse race, but this year the tides have changed. I know where my own resolute political affiliations lie but more than that I am passionate about the great British public making their vote. Voting will fundamentally express your support for a political party but more than that it gives each and every one of us the right to be heard. The country wants change most of all, something new that will lift and inspire. In particular we want to address issues that are most important to the average British citizen be that education, NHS, taxes, etc. This is a moment, fleeting yet not insignificant, it will have ramifications not only now for the next 10 years. So at a time when our economy is in chaos, we need to think about who will mend and rebuild it. Britain needs a dynamic and competitive economy, in the past couple of years we have fallen short of our goals. The financial crisis was in my opinion brought about because the regulatory regime was woefully lacking and we have all felt the profound repercussions of that.

A break with old ways is

needed and a change for me is undeniably essential. Let us be responsive to change think of present and the future of Britain and make your decision.

A hung Parliament will be detrimental to bringing our economy back to the forefront of the world economy and could simply result in a sterling crisis. Only an outright win for whichever party on May 6th will deliver a strong government capable of taking the crucial decisions on the economy and secure jobs in the future. A hung parliament would be disastrous for the economy as I fail to see the opposing parties successfully being able to negotiate and compromise on matters that they each differ greatly on. The uncertainty of a hung parliament will in my opinion destroy the economic recovery. It is imperative that the British public is decisive; we have not experienced a hung parliament since 1974 and we do not want to relive the past.

Britain’s credit rating is already at risk and a hung parliament could lead it to being downgraded which may trigger another election.

In this economic climate I believe the British public needs stability, with hung parliament we risk getting a fragile government that is unable to make the hard decisions in order to cut our debt.

Our society is so vibrant, each of us so diverse and distinct, the election is

Asian Voter Snapshot Certainty to vote is quite low at only 44% l Religion does influence 26% but for most it has nothing to do with the way they vote l 36% would consider voting for a smaller party l 50% said their family tended to vote for the same party l 56% of Asians thought whoever wins election should be tougher on immigration l 40% do not think there will ever be an Asian PM, although 21% think there will be one within 20 years. Last time around the vote was higher among the Asian community than the general population.

A spokesman from the University of Warwick's Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations stated that in 2005, 67% of Pakistanis, 70% of Bangladeshis and 67% of Indians voted - compared with just over 60% nationally.

Among those who are expected to exercise their right and vote on 6 May, 2010, more than a third l

are thinking of supporting a minor party - a figure even higher among Muslims.

The results appear to signal a disillusionment from Asian voters when it comes to Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats - despite more Asians vying for election than ever before.

There are 89 Prospective Parliamentary Candidates of Asian origin this time around compared with 68 in 2005.

Many are standing in areas with a large Asian population but their ethnicity will not help their chances, according to this poll. Only 15% of those surveyed would vote for a candidate because they are Asian.

Interest amongst young voters "Politics doesn't interest me, to be honest," said 19-year-old student Harish Parmar, from Bradford. "There is other stuff I'd rather be doing even if it's just watching TV." Neha Bhatt, an 18year-old from West London said: "I'm proba-

UK General Election Opinion Poll Tracker - 27th April 2010

Opinion Poll Org Avg of polls Com Res You Gov Tory 33 32 33 Labour 27 28 28 Lib Dem 30 31 29 Others 10 9 10

Dangers of hung parliament

By Dolar Popat

little to encourage members of their communities to head to the ballot box, according to a survey.

The findings stand in sharp contrast to the high Asian turnout at the last election five years ago.

An ICM poll commissioned by BBC Asian Network over the Easter period interviewed 500 people over the age of 18 from Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds.

It suggests that just over four in 10 Asian voters intends to make the trip to the ballot box.

The figure is lower than the population at large. According to a recent ICM Guardian poll 55% of the general population is expected to vote.

The findings add weight to a recent campaign - backed by leading Muslim scholars - to try to get more people from the Asian community to vote.

Among the Asian groups, people of Indian origin are the most enthusiastic when it comes to participating in the election, while Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were turned off when it came to casting their vote.

about society getting involved. One thing that we must all do is recognise what we want; for me I want better schools, lower crime and improved hospitals. I think of Britain as an enterprise venturing out of some dark times but with social change and realigning our values we can become a great community once more. We are quick to criticise ourselves but every one of us has shown strength and true resolve to come out of some difficult times. With some added social awareness and political valour we can lift ourselves completely out of recession and eliminate the deficit that hangs over our heads. Let voting be the most important thing to you directly, a democracy and the right to vote is what is most special about this country.

Giving yourself a voice and becoming empowered to say that you don’t agree and you need change. Theodore Roosevelt said ‘The most successful politician is he who says what people are thinking most often in the loudest voice’. Who will be your voice for change?

ICM 33 28 30 9

7

Seats Angus Reid Populus Mori Betfair ComRes 32 32 36 308 271 23 28 30 225 254 33 31 23 85 93 12 9 11 32 32

2005 Result Seat Vote% 209 32% 349 35% 62 22% 30 9%

8

GENERAL ELECTION 2010

bly not going to vote. It's not a subject that interests me. I don't think my vote will make any difference."

Ananya Sanyal is 37 and from the docklands.

She says she has never voted: "What politicians say makes no sense to us.

They're just trying to outdo each other. I feel like we've always been lied to."

When it comes to the issues that will influence the Asian vote, the three most important priorities were the economy (23%), the health service (20%) and education (16%), while asylum and immi-

gration was at the lower end of the scale with 4%.

However, 56% of those who took part said that the next government would have to get tougher on immigration.

Vasnath Ganapathy from North London thinks voting is important. He told AV, "I think politics is a very important aspect of our lives. We must take part in politics equally as the non Asians. We want Britain to be a true democracy. Ultimately, this is our country."

Tarun Bhatnagar, an IT consultant said, "I am from a commonwealth

country. I can't vote for the general election. But I will definitely vote for the general election. We also must be truly represented!"

Forty percent believe they will never see an Asian prime minister, although 21% think there will be one in the next 20 years.

In a test of Asian hospitality, those polled were also asked which party leader they would invite to their home for a curry.

Gordon Brown's 35% made him the most welcome, with David Cameron 28% and Nick Clegg at 8%.

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Small businesses join Tories against Labour's job tax Over 60 Asian business leaders employing nearly 20,000 people have added their names to the list Conservative backing Party plans to stop Labour’s job tax. It includes names like Zameer Choudrey, Chief Executive, Bestway Cash & Carry, Moni Varma, Founder, Vee-Tee Rice and Nadir Lalani, CEO, 99p Stores with many others.

They join prominent figures such as Justin King, Chief Executive, J

ance by cutting Sainsbury Plc, Ben Government waste”, and Gordon, Chief Executive, that “... stopping the Mothercare Plc, Stephen national insurance rise will Murphy, Chief Executive, protect jobs and support Virgin Group Ltd, Sir the recovery.”

Stuart Rose, Executive The verdict from busiChairman, Marks & nesses large and small is Spencer plc and Sir Stelios now clear: “Cutting govHaji-Iannour, Founder of ernment waste won’t Easy Jet plc – all of whom endanger the recovery – have signed a letter backing the Conservative plans. but putting up national The businessmen have insurance will.” said that they The Prime Ministerial Debate “welcome Thursday 29 April G e o r g e 8.30-10.00pm BBC ONE Osborne’s Its themed section is on economic plan to stop affairs and it takes place in the Labour’s increase in Midlands. The debate is moderated by David Dimbleby . national insur-

South Asian candidates for London and GLA Southwark Mohamad Zita Mohamed Abdul Al-Samerai Anood Westminster Suhail Rahuja Abdel-Hamid Ahmed Gharib Ahmed Mehfuz Amieur Mohammed Mourad Fatima Hamood Salahuddin Mohamed Toki Abdul Aziz Kassam Nasir Mukerji Nilavra Khan Muhammad Ahmed Abdul Ahmed Kaysor Ayub Eram Qureshi Papya Rebya Majumdar Abhishek London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Mahmood Asad Shaukat Saba Sen Sanjay Kumar Khosa Ben Sutton Nawaz Ahmad Pat Ali Wandsworth Chowdhuri Mandy Khan Masood Ahmed Khan Basheer Rahman Ferdous Vallipuram Kulendran Junjua Fahim Uddin Asif Munawar Kayani Javed Akhter Govindia Ravi Mustafia Rashid Reef Newham Ahmed Mohammed Mashud Ahmed Syed Hussain Chowdhury Ayesha Ahmed Nazir BodduluriSiva Parvathi Singh Banti Gangadharan Omana Benoy Gopi Kanagasundaram Varatheeswaran Khan Jawad Raza Pirapaharan Arunasalam Rajkumar Moses Sundhu Zeeshan Banik Anup Kumar Ali Osman Osman Deb Tridib Jyoti Ahmed Mahbub Akhtar Pervez Azam Rubina Choudhury Shafi Kakumanu Ra PatelSalim Hussain Forhad Kazi Mohshin Saeed Umar Shaikh Monir Jaman Y ousaf Kamran Ahmed Shipon Muhammad Iftakar Ahmed Foysol Kazi Khalil Nazeer Farah Rahman Attic Rashid Harun Abdullah Abul Kashem Mohammed Ali Anwar Desai Unmesh Gopinath Biju Hussain Chaudhry Sabir

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GENERAL ELECTION 2010

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010 Chaudhry Bashir Miah Hilal Parkash Ayodhiya Patel Surendra Shayeb Baharul Alam Dattani Narendra Hamid Abdus Samad Jeyaranjan Rehman Habib Robbani Gulam Sharma Dev Ahmed Imtiaz Naqvi Neelum Ahmad Aftab Saund Balvinder Singh Sarup Choudhury Ahmed Hundal Gurdip Singh Islam Farrukh Jamal Parel Shoaib Wahid Ikram Zaman Qamar Hounslow Gupta Sachin Banerji Reetendra Nath Jhooti Rajinder Singh Naqvi Mona Zahra Butt Iqbal Ahmad Dhillon Poonam Gill Sarbjit Singh Kad Parmod Kumar Maras Sukhdev Singh Sangha Sohan Singh Dhaliwal Sukhbir Singh Dudee Dharmpal Singh Khan Koisor Malhotra Mukesh Hanworth Chaudri Abid Jali Sra Anant Vir Singh Dhillon Amarjit Singh Dhillon Gopal Singh Gill Mohinder Singh Lakhanpaul Bhupindar Kumar Malik Karamat Ali Bhatti Mohammad Rasheed Dhiri Meenu Kaur Kamaljit Lal Gurmail Singh Mann Amritpal Singh Athwal Gubachan Singh Bath Rajinder Singh Butt Mohammad Safdar Grewal Sukhjit Kaur Mattu Ragveer Rajawat Shantanu Singh Ali Syed Muzammil Bath Lily Dillon Prianka C.N.G Tariq Hafeez Mohammad Fauad Grewal Ajmer Grewal Pritam Singh Dhaliwal Surjit Singh Independent Alliance Singh Gill Pendhar Godfrey Ranjiv Grewal Darshan Singh Kathuria Sneh Sunny Singh Mohinder Independent Alliance Malik Zara Dhillon Ajmer Singh Dhiri Manohar Lata Majid Abdul Pasha Noor Sharma Jagdish Rai Sond Balvir Kau Bains Herminder Kaur Atwal Harleen Lewisham Naidu Vijay Mustafa Selim Lambeth Patil Neeraj Sabharwal Neil Kensington and Chelsea Yusuf Manal Chauhan Max Kingston Upon Thames Yoganathan Rohan Mirza Shiraz Chessington South Dewan Rajesh Kumar

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10

www.abplgroup.com

Dee Katwa

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Midland Voice Contact: Dhiren on 07970 911 386 or dhiren.katwa@abplgroup.com

Vote of no confidence on Immigration

News in Brief

immigrants have arrived Shah, 32, from Minworth, and the population is now Birmingham, said: “Labour 61 million. dug a hole, dug it deeper and it’s going to be a strugNet immigration has gle, a massive been, I feel, a numbers game struggle, to get Father-of-three Dinesh that has gone dreadfully out. The ‘condiPanchal, a 47-year-old wrong. In addition, the tion’ has been mechanic from Sparkhill, whole immigration system going on for far Birmingham, said: “I’m is in an unimaginable chaos. too long to now not opposed to people And everybody at the UK find a quick from abroad. If they come Border Agency (UKBA), in ‘remedy’.” to work here, officially, particular the bosses and Immigration that’s all right. It’s those spin surgeons, have over should be fair that come and take the years tried to cover up a raft and protected p** by sponging taxpayof issues, errors and scanby genuine ers.” dals which have almost human rights, B i r m i n g h a m always come back to haunt Mike Parsley Dr Pyara Singh according to Dr University student Reeta them, courtesy of investigaBhogal Pyara Singh Kanani, 22, will not be bring tive journalism.

Bhogal, pictured,treasurer voting next week. Asked peoTake for example the of the Council of Sikh why, “I don’t trust politiple with the appropriate Baroness Scotland scandal Gurdwaras in Birmingham. cians. They’re all bloody skills into areas that have in September last year He explained: “People liars.” On immigration, a skills shortage. Arbitary which exposed an immigrashould be allowed to come “Everyone seems to want caps would not appear to tion system wide open to and stay in Britain if they to come to Britain. It’s like achieve this. What if the abuse.

In June 2009, how a can prove they are self-sufwe have a gold mine caps are reached and there secret internal report, ficient and not a burden on here.” Reeta is not alone are still serious gaps in leaked to The Sunday Times the state. They should be in her distrust for politicertain areas?” by an official in the UKBA, given a chance, perhaps cians. An ICM poll of One respondent, who disclosed that more than state support for the with Midlands voters this week asked not to be named, one in three successful visa first three months. As the revealed that only 44 per said: “People from certain applications by Pakistanis saying goes, you’ve got to cent trust their own MP diverse communities have “lacked credibility”. In be cruel to be kind.” and less than a quarter abused the system far November 2008, media The latest figures show trust MPs in general to tell more than other commureports revealed how almost that 590,000 people arrived the truth. A separate surnities, who often tend to 300,000 foreigners a year to live in Britain in 2008; vey by BBC Asian also be the most vociferwere allowed into Britain net immigration only fell to Network found that 56 ous. They have taken 163,000 because 427,000 with wrongly approved per cent of Asians in Gordon and his political other people emigrated. visas. This is just the tip-ofBritain are unlikely to cronies for a taxi ride, the Since 1997 about 3 million vote, compared to 45 per the-iceberg. What next? bill for which gets picked cent of the general populaup by taxpayers.” He tion. added: “ The points sysRetired Mike Parsley, tem may help, but it needs pictured, from Edgbaston a complete reform with A new book, Idi Amin: Lion of in Birmingham, who supstringent criteria which Africa, has been launched. This rivetports a regional points can somehow distinguish ing read has been authored by system, had this to say: between the genuine and Manzoor Moghal, of Leicester, who “One of the main objecdisingenuous.” relates the history of Amin from his tives of immigration and Accountant Mehul early beginnings to his downfall from emigration should be to his own personal experiences and meetings with this legendary African dictator. In addition, the distinguished author shares his intimate knowledge of the key figures who were part of the West Midlands Police will story. Amin’s rise to power, his hostilithis Friday launch a new interty towards the Asian community and his dealings with active website, Safe Street, the British are just a few topics discussed in this aimed at 5-11 year-olds. The book. Manzoor Moghal, Chairman of the Muslim portal, believed to be the first Forum, is a role model to many, an inspirer and a truly of its kind for a UK police ultra-extraordinary gentleman who continues to camforce, is about hoax calls and paign silently, but effectively, for fairness, justice and features interviews and draequality. His book is available from Amazon UK or from matic reconstructions from children who have needed Waterstones priced £9.99. assistance from the emergency services. To find out more visit www.west-midlands.police.uk

Step up ladder for Razi

With just days to go to Polling Day, I asked Midlanders for their views on immigration, an issue which features in the manifestos of all the main political parties. There were mixed reactions.

New book on Idi Amin

New police portal for kids

New HQ for ethnic foods firm East End Foods has been given the green light by council planning chiefs to build a new cash-and-carry on the site of the former HP sauce factory in Birmingham. Work is expected to start soon and will take about 14 months to complete. East End Foods, based in West Bromwich, has an annual turnover of more than £100 million.

Council to go under microscope Lawyers are being drafted in to conduct investigations into how more than £40 million was spent by Wolverhampton City Council. A firm of solicitors from Birmingham will be appointed to investigate a failed deal which would have seen £68 million spent revolutionising the council’s computers and customer services. The deal between the council and troubleshooting firm Axon was scrapped at the end of 2008 and the company was paid £7.1 million of taxpayers’ money in compensation.

Food firm under threat

A factory making Asian ready meals is set to close, putting 234 jobs at risk. Northern Foods will consult staff about a proposal to close Ethnic Cuisine in Swansea after failing to agree terms with its main customer Sainsbury’s. The company said the factory, acquired by Northern Foods in November 2007, was not viable.

Designer boss jailed Banti Sohal, the culprit behind the biggest ever seizure of counterfeit clothing in the West Midlands – worth an incredible £6 million – has been jailed for threeand-a-half years. Sohal, 40, of Edgbaston, was company director of N R Sohal and Sons Ltd, as was his father Nathu Sohal. Sohal was so brazen he had even attempted to import two more containers of fake items while awaiting trial. Balbir Singh, defending, said Sohal had devoted his life to the business, but had decided to “take a risk” when the garment business suffered a sharp decline.

Congratulations to Razi Rahman, pictured, who has been promoted to deputy MD of APCO Worldwide, the global communications consultancy. He previously headed its UK public affairs practice. Razi, an economics and political science graduate of 1993 from Birmingham University, was responsible for advising PM Blair on political, policy, legislative, ethnic media engagement, community relations and Labour Party matters for seven years, working as the PM’s assistant political secretary at 10 Downing Street.

Burglars target charity Thousands of pounds worth of equipment has been stolen from the offices of a Birmingham charity.

Despicable thieves cut a hole through the roof to steal laptops, video cameras, printers and projectors from Solihull Life Opportunities, or SoLO, in Chelmsley Wood, which supports people with learning difficulties. “Any sort of burglary is wrong, but to steal from a charity is despicable,” said Janet Down, the charity’s chief executive.

Benefits scam Jasbinder Sohal, a mum-of-three from Birmingham who fiddled £15,000 in benefits when she had more than £26,000 stashed away in a string of savings accounts has been given a 12-week jail term, suspended for two years. Sohal, 44, of Smethwick, started the scam after losing her job as a machinist.

New arrival Congratulations to Jabbar and Veena Khan on the birth of their daughter Layla, and sister to fouryear-old Rayyan. Jabbar, pictured, is the founder and director of Birmingham-based Lasan, which was recently crowned Britain’s best local Indian restaurant on Gordon Ramsay’s ‘F Word’ programme on Channel Four.

Free ‘honeymoon’ flights The Bermuda tourist authority has announced it will give free flights to any couples willing to have their wedding on the island this summer. To qualify, couples must organise official weddings on the island between May and October this year. For more details, email ukweddings@bermudatourism.com

Rival newspapers launched Trinity Mirror, the newspaper publisher, has launched the Birmingham Post Lite, a free version of its flagship title to combat the Birmingham Press, a new rival published by newspaper entrepreneur Chris Bullivant. Both titles were launched last week. Lite intends to go head-to-head with the Press in the battle to secure advertising from the city’s mid-market estate agents. It will be distributed to 18,000 homes in upscale areas such as Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Harborne and Moseley.

Tallest building outside London Birmingham’s tallest skyscraper (656ft, 56 storey) is set to be built in three years after plans were approved. Costing £125 million, the Regal Tower, in the Golden Mile, is expected to be the tallest building outside of London.

Profile raising

AR Rahman, the Indian musician, has appointed DawBell to handle publicity for the European leg of his upcoming world tour.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Man charged with the murder of Geeta Aulakh Harpreet Singh, aged 20, of Elmwood Road, Slough, has been charged with the murder of Geeta Aulakh in Greenford on 16 November 2009 on Saturday, 24th April.

He was due to appear in custody at Ealing Magistrates Court at 10am on Monday, 26 April 2010.There have been other charges in relation to this case.

Sher Singh of Wren Southall Avenue, appeared at Ealing Magistrates' Court on 23 November 2009 charged with the murder of Geeta

Harpreet Singh and Geeta Aulakh

Aulakh.

Harpreet Singh Aulakh, of no fixed abode, appeared at Feltham Magistrates' Court on 14 December 2009 charged

with the murder of his wife Geeta Aulakh in Greenford on 16 November 2009.

They were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey - a trial date is set for 18 October 2010.

One other man arrested in December 2009 on suspicion of conspiracy to murder remains on police bail pending further inquiries.

Harpreet Singh was arrested on Friday 23/4/10 in Slough on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and charged on Saturday as above.

Girl, 16, leaps to her death A 16-year-old girl threw herself to her death from a multi-storey car park hours after her mother banned her from seeing her secret boyfriend, an inquest heard, as reported by Evening Standard.

Shima Rahman took a bus from the family home in Bow to nearby Stratford, went to the seventh floor of the car park and clambered over railings. Passers-by pleaded with her not to jump but she leapt off as police arrived, Waltham Forest coroner's court was told. The schoolgirl had been romantically involved with her cousin, 20, her first boyfriend, for some time

before her mother Selina found out. Mrs Rahman discovered the relationship during a 12-day trip to Bedford to attend a family wedding. Towards the end of the visit Mrs Rahman approached the cousin and told him he had to break up with Shima because they were too closely related. The cousin, who was not named at the inquest, agreed to the parting. He had been in a long-distance relationship with Shima and they had met up on only a handful of occasions, the hearing was told.

Hours after the family returned home from the wedding in August last year,

Shima was dead.

Shima, the eldest of four sisters, had been a “model pupil” and hoped to go to university.

Detective Sergeant Tony Gambles told the inquest Shima had left no note or message for her family. He said: “We did find several text messages from the boyfriend on a phone.”

Shima, who was born in Frankfurt and moved to London a year before her death, had no history of mental illness and had not taken any drink or drugs, the inquest heard. Coroner Elizabeth Stearns recorded a verdict that Shima killed herself while the balance of her mind was disturbed.

11

NCGO and Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar hand over 15000 direct flight petitions to Air India

NCGO (UK) Trustees CJ Rabheru, Ranjanbala Patel, Umesh Amin and Pravin Amin with Mr Tomar, Marketing Manager of Air India, UK & Ireland with Kamal Rao of Gujarat Samachar and Rupanjana Dutta of Asian Voice

15000 plus signed petitions were submitted to Air India office in Brentford, Middlesex on this Monday 26th April 2010 by the Trustees of National Congress of Gujarati Organisations (UK), News Editor of Gujarat Samachar and Deputy Editor of Asian Voice.

The campaign to restart the direct flight from London to Ahmedabad was initiated by NCGO in association with Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, two months ago which resulted in 15000 plus people signing up the petition.

The petition forms are also being handed over in Gujarat and Delhi by Mr.CB Patel, Chairman of NCGO during his visit to India commencing from 27th April 2010.

Mr Sheilendra Tomar, Marketing Manager of Air India received the NCGO Trustees – Pravinbhai Amin, CJRabheru, Ranjanbala Patel, Umesh Amin, Kamal Rao from Gujarat Samachar and Rupanjana Dutta Asian Voice. Mr Tomar accepted the files con-

taining the 15000 plus signed petition forms and also a CD containing scanned Petition Forms to be forwarded to Air India Head Office in India, to the Civil Aviation Minister of India, Mr Praful Patel and Chairman of Air India Mr Jadav.

Mr.Tomar briefed the NCGO Trustees on various aspects of their operations and stated he would pass on the communiqué to head office for evaluating the possibility of operating direct flights to Ahmedabad. He said that Air India has always looked into the aspirations of the Indian community abroad and will continue to do so in future.

NCGO Trustees said that they could certainly start a campaign encouraging people to only travel Air India, in order to restart the direct flights to Ahmedabad. They also added that a pure vegetarian flight, if initiated, could attract enough passengers to restart direct flights to Ahmedabad from Heathrow.

Working on roofs can be dangerous UK Health and Safety Law protects you even if you are not working here legally

Rhaynukaa Soni Outreach Executive

Working on a roof can be dangerous. Last year 28 construction workers died at work after a fall – 12 of them died after falling from a roof.

Many workers have been killed who only meant to be on the roof for a few minutes “to have a quick look” or to carry out a minor repair.

Any work on a roof must be carried out to a high safety standard.

Falls occur from the edges of roofs, through gaps or holes in roofs, and through easily bro-

ken roof materials. Also, many people have been injured by material falling or thrown from roofs.

Accidents happen to workers building roofs and to people who maintain, clean, demolish or inspect them.

All work on roofs must be carefully planned. Is it really necessary? What is the safest way to proceed? The person in control of the work must always consider ways to protect everyone at risk – it is a legal duty to consider collective protection systems like scaffolding or nets before individual methods like ladders or safety harnesses. Cost should not come before workers’ safety.

All the risks of roofwork must be assessed, even for simple jobs.

Except for the simplest jobs a written method statement should be shown to everyone who is doing the work. Never go

on a roof without good planning and a clear method for doing the work safely.

The key risks are: Getting on and off the roof – a properly secured ladder is the minimum requirement. An access scaffold or tower scaffold is much better.

Edge protection – there must be guard rails at all places where someone could fall. For example, full edge protection at the edge of a sloping roof should be provided and it needs to be very strong if the roof is long or steep. If you carry out work close to a gable end or side wall then there must edge protection there as well.

Work platforms – there must be a secure work platform from which to carry out work.

In some cases providing adequate edge protection or platforms may not be possible, or practical.

If so, a powered access lift (commonly called a ‘cherry picker’ in English) could be used to work at height from a safe place.

It is also possible to use safety nets or soft landing systems such as air bags which will not prevent a fall but which can minimise the consequences of any fall.

Personal safety sys-

tems such as harnesses only protect the individual and do not prevent a fall from height. A harness must only be used if there is a very strong fixing point, if it is undamaged, if the worker is fully trained and the manager closely supervises the work. There must be a rescue plan to get a fallen worker down to safety – a worker left dangling for just 10 minutes can suffer fatal injuries.

Work at height, especially on roofs, must not be carried out in icy, rainy or windy conditions. It is a legal duty that work should not take place if weather conditions could endanger workers health and safety.

Every year workers are killed falling through a roof. Many roofs are made of materials that cannot support the weight of a person and any load they are carrying. If there is any doubt

Helpline: 0207 556 2181 e-mail: desi@hse.gsi.gov.uk Website: www.hse.gov.uk/construction/gujarati

about the roof material then the roof must not be walked on until a qualified person has checked it. If a roof is made of an easily breakable material then all work must be carried out using a ‘cherry picker’, or carried out from underneath using safe access equipment.

Work on a flat roof is high risk. Temporary edge protection must be installed if the roof parapet is not high enough or strong enough to protect people from falls.

Anybody who works on a roof is putting himself in danger unless proper precautions are taken. Employers who tell their workers to work in unsafe conditions at height can be prosecuted – but that will be too late for any worker who falls from a roof. Do not become a statistic, approach roofwork with extreme caution.

12

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Scrutator’s India's disinvestment programme has taken off. The Hindu newspaper (April 9) told how the “The Union Cabinet (had) approved the big ticket disinvestment in the Steel Authority of India (SAIL), by selling its equity and issuing fresh shares to the public,” the exercise expected to net Rs 16,000 crore ($5 billion) for the government coffers.

The Hindu again: “SAIL will be the first state-owned company to hit the capital market this fiscal as part of the government's ambitious disinvestment programme to raise the targeted Rs 40,000 crore” ($13 billion). Under the plan, SAIL will raise an additional 10 per cent of the paid up equity and the government, on its part, will disinvest 10 percent of its holding.

Explained Home Minister P. Chidambaram: “This will be done in two tranches. In each tranche, there will be a 5 per cent FPO (follow on public offer) and 5 per cent sale of the of the government equity. The net result will be, after both tranches are completed, the government's shareholding will be about 69 per cent.Public shareholding will be 31 per cent, rise from its current 14.2 per cent.

The proceeds from fresh issues of equity by SAIL will help in filling the resource gap for funding the steel Navaratna's capital expenditure from increased pressure on steel prices and diminished margins. SAIL is now undertaking a Rs 70,000 crore ($20-22 billion). expansion programme.

The disinvestment plan is in line with government policy of sharing ownership of state-owned firms with the public , while also raising funds to finance its full range of socially beneficial programmes. Continuity and change has yielded dividends in a strengthening economy.

US healthcare to benefit India Discussing President Barack Obama's healthcare system for the US, the Christian Science Monitor's Taylor Barnes (March 25) writes: “The bulge in administration may look like a nightmare to American insurance firms and government employees. But to out sourcing executives here in India, it's heaven-sent. A number of Indian companies are already

Locating to the US Indian companies, however, are not simply waiting for America to come to them; they are moving base to service the American market. Bangalore-based Wipro opened a development centre in Atlanta which employs a local staff of 600. Tata Consultancy Services has set up a similar campus with 300 employees near Cincinnati. Infosys s planning a subsidiary in Dallas that

Steel Authority of India plant

anticipating an increase in workload thanks to Obama's healthcare law.

“The addition of 32 million insured Americans is 'very significant' for Indian outsourcers., says Ananda Mukerji, chief executive officer of Firstsource Solutions in Mumbai. Companies like his will see 'increased opportunities' as the US health insurers and hospitals scramble to reorganize to comply with the new law, he wrote in an email to the Monitor.

“This extra work will include processing new enrollments, organizing bigger member databases, processing more claims, providing more support services, and managing more revenue, he says.”

will hire locals and seek US government contracts.

Wipro, one of the world's largest information technology firms with nearly 100,000 employees worldwide, says the new healthcare law dovetails with two of its focus areas: servicing governments and servicing the healthcare industry. “The healthcareorm should translate to more codemand,” says Rajiv Shah, Wipro's senior vice president for healthcare. Wipro plans to double its workforce at the Atlanta office by 2013 and open campuses in other cities. There us enough work to be done in the US, for sure.

Gift for Iraq A Times of India report (April 2) tells of a gift to Iraq's suffering masses from a remarkable Indian charity, the Jaipur Foot.

“Heel first, heel first...don't just walk...run with me,” exhorts Jaipur Foot founder D.R.Mehta to his young Iraqi charge in

absorbing read. It starts thus.

“When Arsenal, an English football club, took on Reading inn 2007, the cover of the official programme featured Theo Walcott, a stripling winger known for his speed. A copy is on display near the town of Bhigwan in the Indian state of Maharashtra, in a factory

D.R.Mehta with the prosthetic Jaipur Foot

Baghdad, taking his first steps with a prosthetic limb. Tears well up in the eyes of boy's mother as she jumps with joy. “He has walked for the first time in four years,” she said. Dozens others at the camp, including battle hardened soldiers in fatigues who lost their limbs in the war that has devastated their country, start clapping and shouting to buck up the young lad.

Mr Mehta (72) had been camping in Baghdad along with volunteers of his Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti since the middle of March and given scores of limbless people a new lease of life by fitting them with artificial limbs.

He has promised to give 1,000 Iraqis the chance to walk again.

“Within the first week of the camp, more than 300 Iraqis walked home on new limbs, as the process of fitting an amputee with a Jaipur limb takes only a day,” said Mr Mehta. Amputees from the remotest corners of this tortured land poured into the camp and waited patiently for prosthetic experts from Hind (India) to take measurements of what is left of their severed limbs and fashion a new leg of fibre and steel.

“The victims told us that other agencies take up to a year to give them a limb. Here a man who was in a wheelchair in the morning walks home in the evening,” said Natwarlal Prajapati, himself an amputee and a Samiti volunteer for two decades.

The Samiti has worked in other war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, K Lebanon, Sierra Leone and even Pakistan. Long may it continue with its noble service.

belonging to Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT). It is India's biggest maker of writing and printing paper, including the glossy stock that Arsenal supporters browse before kick off.”

Context established, the magazine began filling in the details. “BILT is part of the Avantha Group, a conglomerate headed by Gautam Thapar that spams agribusiness, power and manufacturing, among other things. The group has grown at a pace that would shame Mr Walcott, earning revenues of about $4 billion in 2009, compared with $1 billion in 2003. It provides one example of how corporate India might evolve , as it globalises its operations, professionalises its management and modernises it s technologies, while remaining a family conglomerate.”

Hindu holy man Such things in Iraq are rarely catch the eye of the roving British newshound ever eager for the exotic and the bizarre.

acing figure for him. Well, the Hindu holy man and Yoga adept had claimed that Yoga could hep quell the Maoist insurgency, but he was unable to help in Kashmir because its mostly Muslim population were “genetically violent”and possibly proud to be so, as the evidence of other climes demonstrate only too well. Unnamed “critics” had demanded that Hindu holy men be subject to “government regulation” (code for ban) despite the silly season being months away. They haven't made suicide bombing and mass murder into an art form, such as we witnessed on the streets of Mumbai in November 2008, but our scribe's political myopia impairs his sight. “Yet Ramdev remains popular with Indians and the Army has incorporated his tech niques into its training in the belief that they produce a deadlier fighting force.” There you go, the heathens are beyond rational comprehension.

Recipe for success Then follows a fascinating family history, the family tree branching into diverse corners of Indian industry. “One advantage of a conglomerate is that it allows the ambitious to graduate from one company to another without leaving the group..... Indian companies typically buy firms abroad to secure materials, markets and technologies. Avantha has gone in search of all three.”

Mr Thapar is unusual in seeking inspiration and acquisitions in continental Europe where the state, as in India, where the state remains a big player on economic and financial playing fields and share ownership is often concentrated in family hands. “Even the group's new name is an unlikely mix of of Indian and European. It evokes both the Sanskrit for 'strong foundations' and the French for 'advance' – a combination worth Baba Ramdev teaching yoga

Avantha's advance The Economist's report (April 16) on a successful Indian family-owned business was an

Jeremy Page of The Times (March 27) produced a full-page profile of Baba Ramdev, a men-

trading the family name for.”

Why ever not? Nothing succeeds like success.

www.abplgroup.com

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Alpesh Patel

NHS plans to outsource more administrative work to India

Consultant Editor Financial Voice

Dear Financial Voice Reader, So will the parliamentarians be hung and lead to market volatility, a plunging pound, falling FTSE? Or will we get an unexpected rally? Looking at the FTSE 100 chart, I see the most likely a drop for about a month then a resumption up around end of June.

But what about the last 12 Labour years. Well we are up over that period from being at 4445 on May 1st 1997 to just short of 6,000 presently. But before you get carried away, most of that gain came this year.

It’s easy to forget we had the largest boom and the largest bust of recent times under Labour. The boom was of course the dot-com boom which started in 1995 under the Tories when the FTSE was at under 3,000 and peaked in 2000 at nearly 7,000.

For the record where only about 20% off the peak.

But during the double dip FTSE drop we had since 1997 we reached below 4,000 in both 2003 and 2009. Today the FTSE 100 is at 1998 levels still!

So who has done best from Labour? Well since May 1997 you made a 3000% return if you invested in Chemring. Of the household names you had a 1000%+ return if you put money into Antofagasta or Tullow Oil. And not too bad with over 500% return with money in BG Group, Man, Cairn, Babcock or Shire. So what next? What about a 500 to 1000% return over the next 10 years?

Well those looking like they have good long term trends include Homeserve, Imperial Tobacco, Cranswick, RPS Group. Of course there will be long periods where they do nothing. Take Morrisons, a stock I recall recommending in 2000. Back then it was at just above 100p. By today you would have only tripled your money. Now tripling your money is very good. But who would have stuck with it from 2001 to 2006 when the return was 0%?

Or take Next. This is a company in the early 1990s which touched 20p. It currently trades at over £22. Now £1,000 back then would be about £100,000 today. Even allowing for inflation that’s a massive gain. When I think that had I had £100,000 to put into Next in 1990 then today it would be £10m, then I could and should have simply done that and sat on a beach for the last 20 years.

But the problem is in the waiting. You see there were long long periods when the stock did nothing, or looked like it never again would be doing much.

And that’s the thing about the markets – their job is to delude you and convince you to get off their back.

So once again what about the next 10 years?

Seems to me people will need tobacco. There will be oversupply in everything else but smokers will continue – Imperial Tobacco will keep going. Banks?

Miners? Too hard to call. Another one which has been around for ages and performs – Johnson Matthey. It’s easy to forget its in the FTSE 100.

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All NHS Hospitals in the East Midlands in UK have drawn up plans to move administrative services to India as they want to save £5 mn every year. Their plans have raised fears of job losses for 100 NHS staff, while, the NHS Shared Business Services has said there will be no job losses, those likely to be affected will be moved on other positions.

Health union Unison

says there are fears of 100 NHS staff likely to lose their jobs following the plans of nine health authorities in the East Midlands. NHS Shared Business Services, the entity that has put forward the plan, has said there will be no redundancies.

A spokesman said that some staff would be moved into new posts within the NHS or offered

jobs with NHS Shared Business Services but none would be made redundant.

It has assured local staff that the move will not lead to job losses. The organisation is a partnership between a private IT company and the Department of Health and already provides some financial services on behalf of local (NHS) trusts.

"There will be redeployment of some staff.

That might mean within the local NHS in the region or through NHS Shared Business Services," the spokesman said. He also confirmed plans to get staff in India to process some information about patients of Derbyshire GP surgeries, including their addresses and personal NHS identity numbers.

Tata Consultancy Services, the largest software exporter from India last week announced a major deal with the Rolls-Royce of UK for a global engineering services partnership. The UK based company, under the deal will procure a range of engineering services and support with a view to expand its services footprint in India, according to a statement from the TCS. The Tata Group company will also set up an

engineering centre to cater to Rolls-Royce design and engineering requirements in Bangalore, it added.

“India is a strategically significant market as well as an increasingly important technology services location for Rolls-Royce.

The new collaboration with TCS will give us additional quality and cycletime advantages,” RollsRoyce India President Anil Shrikhande said.

The aerospace and defence sectors have been

a major focus area for TCS and it has significantly expanded its engineering capabilities in this field.

The agreement represents an important milestone for TCS in the aeronautical sector, the statement said.

"This partnership with Rolls-Royce is significant to TCS. This will lead to high quality engineering solutions and services from TCS for complex aero engines under the Rolls-Royce standards of excellence," TCS Vice-

President and Global Head for Engineering and Industrial Services Regu Ayyaswamy said.

Rolls-Royce provides power systems and services for use across the civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy sectors. Its customer base includes more than 600 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces and energy customers in nearly 120 countries.

Rolls-Royce logs on to TCS for global partnership

German firm tied up for O&M of Sterlite power plant The Vedanta group company to commission first unit this month in Orissa Sterlite Energy, a Vedanta group company is about to commission the first of its four power units in Orissa, has entered into an Operations and Maintenance contract with Evonik Energy of Germany.

Evonik Energy Services India, a wholly owned subsidiary of the German company has concluded one of the largest operation and maintenance (O & M) contracts with the Vedanta group firm last week. The deal is for a period of seven years and accordingly, Sterlite will be paying Rs. 2 bn per annum. Sterlite will be commissioning the first unit this month and will follow up with three more units within this year itself. Sterlite’s 2400 MW plant is in Orissa.

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The German company is highly ambitious on its plans for India and is aiming to take equity stake in upcoming power projects there.

Evonik envisages to pick up equity worth about USD 133 million (Euro 100 million) in various power projects where it is involved as an engineering and services partner. The company will make the strategic investments as a minority partner and will continue to concentrate on its key areas of operations in India -- design and engineering, operations management and providing IT services.

“We are prepared to take up equity in specific power plants, because our clients get added reassurance if they know we have put in our own money,”

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Each investment for plants will not exceed USD 33.2 million (Euro25 million) and total investment could be around Euro 100 million in the next two-three years.”

said JT Verghese, managing director of Evonik Energy Services.

“We will look at picking up minority stakes, which will typically be in the range of 10-20 percent.

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14

fInancIaL voice

30% increase in RIL net profit for Q4 India’s energy major Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has reported a rise of 30% in net profit for Q4. The company has earned Rs. 47.10 billion for the quarter ended 31st March, 2010 as compared to Rs. 36.27 billion in the previous year. This translates into a Rs 3 increase in earnings per share (EPS) — from Rs 11.50 to Rs 14.40.

However, the Mukesh Ambani-controlled petrochemicals-to-retail conglomerate was impacted by a fall in operating margins from 16.3% to 10% in Q4, due to a 145% jump in raw material consumption costs which increased to Rs 43,080 crore.

Turnover, which rose 125% to Rs 60,267 crore (Rs 26,793 crore) during

the quarter, was propped by a huge revenue jump of 165% in refining and marketing business (Rs 51,250 crore), a 59% growth in petrochemicals (Rs 15,448 crore) and a nearly five-fold increase in oil and gas exploration and production business (Rs 4,318 crore).

EBIT margins were down across its mainline businesses of oil and gas, refining and marketing and petrochemicals. Oil and gas exploration and production margins were down from 64% to 39%, while refining and marketing business margins fell from 10.8% to 3.9%, negating the company's upside from higher gas output off the east coast and reflecting a lower refining margin environment.

Mumbai-based utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is interested in buying stakes in beleaguered South Korean sports utility vehicle manufacturer SsangYong Motor Company (SMC).

According to the Korea Economic Daily, M&M recently sent a letter to the management of SsangYong, expressing its desire of buying controlling rights in the cashstrapped firm. The paper did not cite the source of the news.

While SsangYong officials were unavailable for comment, M&M officials declined to do so.

SsangYong Motor Company manufactures 4X4 sports utility vehicles and recreational vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz AG had

earlier made a capital investment in the company.

China’s largest automaker, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), which paid $500 million in 2004 to acquire nearly 49 per cent in the debt-laden SMC, is the current promoter of the company. SAIC is part-owner of General Motors’ India operations.

Interestingly, M&M was in the race to buy a controlling stake in SsangYong in 2003 when its holding company, Daewoo, went bust and creditors put up a 54 per cent stake in the Korean company for sale.

M&M, however, later pulled out of the race as it believed that SMC failed to fit into its plans for the international market.

Mahindra looks to buy Korean auto company

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Punjab & Sind Bank plans to raise Rs 5 bn from IPO

Punjab & Sind Bank, the only nationalised bank in India that is yet to be listed on stock exchanges, plans to come out with an initial public offer by July which could fetch it about Rs 5 billion.

Chairman and managing director of the Bank, Mr. G S Vedi said, “We are expecting the government approval (for IPO)...The

IPO could hit the market in either in the last week of June or early July. We have proposed to issue four crore shares. The size of the issue is expected to be between Rs 4 and 5 billion.” Currently the government owns 100 per cent stake in the bank, he said after announcing 2009-10 results.

There are 19 nation-

cent in 2011 after a negative 0.6 percent growth in 2009, the WEO has raised its January estimates for 2010 by a marginally higher 0.3 points without any change for 2011.

The strength in final domestic demand in India and especially China is expected to have positive spill-overs for other Asian economies, said the report released ahead of meetings this week between the fund and the finance ministers of the G20 group of leading economies, including India.

"For economies such as India, which are relatively more closed and which have relied on stimulus to support growth, the main challenge will be to ensure durable fiscal consolidation, including by implementing fiscal and other structural reforms."

The IMF also suggested that it "may not be too early to start unwinding

The government had restructured the equity structure of the bank in 2008. After the capital rejig, the equity capital of the bank came down to Rs 183.06 crore from Rs 743.06 crore earlier.

The bank is poised to increase the number of its branches from 918 to 1,000 by the end of Mach this fiscal, he added.

TDW of USA to start 1st Indian facility in Savli TDW India Ltd, a whollyowned subsidiary of Oklahoma-based TD Williamson Inc is setting up its first manufacturing facility in India at Savli in Gujarat with an investment of over Rs 1 billion.

The Savli facility of TDW Inc is the third international facility that the global major in oil and gas pipeline services is setting up after its first facility at Tulsa in Oklahoma and second one at Nivelles in Belgium. The facility which is near completion will also cater to export market from Middle East

up to Australia.

“We expect the facility to be fully operational before the end of this year, which also happens to be the 15th year of our India operations,” TDW India Limited’s country manager Sanjay Shembekar said, adding that the upcoming facility that will generate 200 jobs, will serve as engineering and IT hub for the company globally as IT professionals hired from here will also support other locations in US, Belgium and Houston.

TDW India, which had registered sales worth Rs

400 million last year, believes that the growth of pipeline network in India will help the firm to not only cater to the domestic market, but the new facility will also provide significant cost advantage to its customers in the region extending from Middle East to Australia.

“India’s pipeline network, presently around 25,000 km, is expected to double in next three to four years time as gas finds and expansion of energy market in India is driving growth of pipeline network in the country,”

said Shembekar, adding that although pipeline density in India is still low compared to the rest of the world, several factors are expected to trigger growth in the network.

“France, which is a much smaller country, for instance, has a pipeline network of 65,000 km.

But, huge gas finds such as the one in Krishna Godavari basin, and ongoing and scheduled expansion of gas utilities and refineries are driving force behind expansion of India’s pipeline network,” added Shembekar.

Rise in credit demand push ICICI, HDFC Bank Q4 net up ICICI Bank, India's second-largest lender, posted its best quarterly profit growth in two years, helped by an increase in fee income and reduction in operational costs.

Smaller rival HDFC Bank reported a 32.6 per cent rise in its quarterly profit, beating market estimates, bolstered by a pickup in credit demand in Asia's third-largest economy.

Bank credit in India grew an annual 17.05 per cent in early April, according to the central bank's provisional data, in tune

with a rise in business and consumer confidence, from a low 9.7 per cent in October and compared with 16.7 per cent at endMarch.

Analysts expect loan demand to pick up further in the first half of 2010/11 that started on April 1 as industries will need more funds to expand operations in an economy forecast to grow more than 8 per cent in this fiscal year.

The central bank sees non-food credit growth of commercial banks at 20 per cent in 2010/11, still a

IMF predicts 8.8 per cent growth for India in 2010 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted an 8.8 percent growth for India this year.

It says strong domestic demand will support the recovery in both India and China as the total world output goes up by 4.2 percent. In projecting India's growth of 8.8 percent in 2010, 3.1 percentage points more than the 5.7 percent growth in 2009, and 8.4 percent in 2011, the IMF has in the April 2010 World Economic Outlook (WEO) raised its own estimates in January by 1.1 points for 2010 and 0.6 points for 2011.

In China, GDP growth exceeded the government's 8 percent target in 2009 and is expected to be close to 10 percent in both 2010 and 2011, it said reflecting little change from January.

In projecting a 4.2 percent growth in world output in 2010 and 4.3 per-

alised banks in India. Of this, 18 have gone public with the latest being the Kolkata-based United Bank of India that got listed earlier this year.

The capital infusion would result in shoring up of its tier I capital above 8 per cent, he said, adding the tier I capital stands at 7.68 per cent as of March end.

the stimulus if output gaps are closing and inflation pressures are beginning to emerge. "This appears to be the case already for a few economies in the region, including Australia, India, and Malaysia, where authorities have already started tightening monetary policy," the WEO noted.

For economies where excessively large surpluses contribute to global imbalances, slowing the effects of inflows on credit growth by allowing more exchange rate flexibility would help address both problems, it said.

Other potential policy responses include strengthening macro-prudential measures, tightening fiscal policy, and, if still needed, some form of capital controls, IMF sad.

Painting a more positive picture for emerging economies, the agency said:

"Inventory investment is likely to make a significant contribution to growth in the short term, on account of prospects for improved demand in both advanced and emerging economies."

With global trade rebounding, stocks must be rebuilt after the drawdown of 2008-09, just as in the advanced economies, it said.

Countries such as Brazil, China, India, and Indonesia are already sustaining a strong rebound, even in the face of weak recovery in the advanced economies, quickly reattracting capital flows.

"This is because most emerging and developing economies did not suffer long-lasting shocks to their financial systems or large increases in unemployment rates, and many have been able to deploy sizable fiscal and monetary stimulus.

far cry from growth rates of above 30 per cent in the pre-crisis period.

ICICI Bank said its fee income increased 13 per cent in the March quarter to 15.21 billion rupees and operating expenses fell 6 per cent to Rs 15.04 billion. The bank's earnings were also helped by an increase in low-cost deposits.

But the bank's loan book fell 17 per cent from a year ago to Rs 1.81 trillion at end-March.

ICICI said its JanuaryMarch net profit rose 35 per cent to Rs 10.06 bil-

lion($227 million) from Rs 7.44 billion. A poll of analysts had forecast net profit of Rs 10.89 billion.

New York-listed HDFC Bank said its January-March net profit rose to 8.37 billion rupees ($188 million) from 6.31 billion rupees. A poll had projected net profit at Rs 8.15 billion.

Shares in ICICI Bank, valued at nearly $24.5 billion, have risen 11.4 per cent this year and HDFC has gained over 14 per cent, beating the sector index. The main Mumbai market is up 1.3 per cent.

BIG Cinema acquires 188 screens in 27 US cities In an effort to cash in on the craze for Bollywood film, Big Cinemas, a division of Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Media Works and a member of Reliance ADA Group, has acquired 188 screens in US. There is an estimated population of 4 million South Asians in US. They are planning to expand it further.

In little over a year, the Big Cinemas has acquired a chain of 188 screens in more than two dozen cities in the US, covering almost all the major centers of South Asian population from Manhattan and Edison in East Coast to Los Angeles and San Jose in California and Chicago in the Mid-West.

By the end of the year, it plans to acquire about 250 screens across the US and expanding to new centers of South Asian population like Florida and Texas, says Anil Arjun,

CEO of Reliance Media Works. The company now accounts for 20-35 per cent of Hindi features box office collections and over 70 per cent of Tamil and Telegu box office collections from the US. Noting that North America is an attractive market for Indian films (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) with nearly four million South Asians with strong affinity to Indian films, Arjun said film distribution in the US has been highly fragmented and disorganised.

"Limited number of prints, inadequate marketing and promotion and exhibition in screens that are inadequate in terms of quality of ambience," he said. This previously meant that the penetration of a movie in terms of admits vis-a-vis the Indian population was under nine per cent, he said.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

15

Property Focus Suresh Vagjiani Managing Director of Sow & Reap, a Property Investment & Financing company.

Does having Adverse Credit make you bad person?

During our lifetime there may have come a time where we may have missed the odd payment here and there or a slightly more worrying scenario have had a county court judgement registered against us.

Does this make you a bad person?

The answer is no, you just went through a bad time some of which may have been unknown to the individual and you may not have realised until you applied for some credit.

After all the very name of the word mortgage comes from the old French meaning a death pledge, who can balme you for being caught up a little in a system designed to enslave you.

The last few years the credit market has been unforgiving on those with adverse credit they would not even look at anyone with a slight blemish. Now the tide is begiing to turn.

The lack of credit for this sector of the market meant there was only limited choice forone who is struggling financially. Either one was to come to an agreement with the lender and agree to pay a fixed amount every month or the other to sell the property and rent instead.

The word used to describe this sector is Sub Prime, this is not a coat of paint but describes those whose credit is not squeaky clean. In the last few

years It was not only subprime client who had issues getting mortgages.

People who were highly geared with credit card debt or personal loans, who though hadn’t missed any payment would not have been eligible for a mortgage. Even those who had too much lending with one lender would simply be refused irrespective of the loan to value. With so much fear in the market place the lending policies sometimes became irrational bordering on paranoid. In this environment lending to anyone who had any missed even if its not on a mortgage was totally out of the question.

The mortgage market had stopped lending on adverse credit during the credit crunch but now lenders are more sympathetic to customers who may have some adverse credit. Lenders are still cautious for obvious reasons and set out specific criteria when they look to lend to adverse clients. The main point is lending has returned to adverse clients.

Rates of course will depend on clients background and level of adverse credit on a case by case basis with interest rates being slightly higher than prime deals.

So don’t feel bad if you had a bad time!

Call Sow and Reap today.

One on the burner......

We are currently looking to do a deal in W1, close to Portman Square.

There are two properties, each a mirror image of the other as they are next door to each other. The properties are in prime locations on the 2nd floor of a portered block. The properties are well laid out and spacious, what 2 bedroom properties used to look like. As properties go thorough the hands of developers they sometimes get destroyed in the process, their aim is to squeeze as much money they can from every square foot and in this process they ruin the look and feel of the property. These properties still have a very spacious feel to them. As you enter the property you come into a square hallway which is the size of a small room, this then leads into all the various rooms. The kitchen is the size of a good double room.

Large kitchens are not really used in central London properties. So this can be adapted to suit the current needs of the end user.

We anticipate that the end value will be in the region of £1.2m conservatively.

This is based on a lease extension which we have indication will cost £86,000 and a make over costing £50,000 – expensive for a 2 bedroom flat but the location demands this level of finish. The pull for

this type of property is there is simply not enough stock around, this is the feedback we are getting from all the agents. The lease is 49 years which is not has short as it appears for a central London location.

We have banks who will be comfortable with this due to the location and also will be willing to lend not only on this property but on the lease extension as well. This is testimony that the bank is aware of the strength of demand for properties in this location though be it on a what appears to be on a short lease. The lending will first be on the flat as it is on a 60% LTV and then when the lease price is negotiated the lending will be on the final value post lease extension.

This means for the above example the lending will be £720k based on an end valuation of £1.2m which will mean very little capital is locked in the property. In a nut shell the entry to this deal will be £450k with a return of £375k gross. This represents an excellent return. We expect a turn around time of 6 months. One of the reasons it must have a turn around of 6 months is this is the length of time lenders want the seller to hold on to the property otherwise they will not lend. So unless you are a cash buyer this will be a problem.

And one in the bag.........

This weekend I went to see one of the properties we had purchased for a client in Surrey. The drive down was actually an eye opener; the area was very up market and had a lot of green spaces.

The flat was located in what looked like a Georgian block, the flat itself was in good condition, it could be rented as it is although a clean and a lick of paint will help shift it more quickly. It was located on the first floor. This is normally the ideal location for a flat as the walk up is the most minimal and it is not ground hence street facing, this has security issues and may put off tenants and end users.

I was pleasantly surprised at the look of the property and the up market location. Often when we consider property

deals we forget to look at the aesthetics and simply look at the numbers. The numbers must stack up but it is important to look at the finer points of the area and to get a feel of the property. This is often what many end users go by.

A similar ground floor property is on the market at £209,000. Further investigation confirmed there was an offer on this property at £190,000 but this later fell through. We picked this up for a client at £154,000 and are confident there will be a good resell. It is better you cover your bases though and we will be renting the property as well as looking to resell. As all it takes is for a couple of sales to fall through and as an empty property this would turn a potential gain to now a loss.

n Mortgages n Commercial Finance n Property Sourcing n Gujarat Properties - Sale & Resale T: 0207 706 0187 F: 0203 014 8484

E: info@sowandreap.co.uk W: www.sowandreap.co.uk

31 Southwick Street, Paddington, W2 1JQ Registered in England No. 05083823

16

www.abplgroup.com

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Namaste and Greetings from

HARROW EAST LABOUR PARTY Vote Labour on 6 May Remember You have 3 VOTES for Council Candidates in your area And 1 VOTE for Tony MCNULTY for Parliament.

Please vote for the following Council Candidates

Re Elect Tony McNULTY

Working Hard for you in Harrow East My Pledges to You l Continue to work closely with our Asian and diverse communities in Harrow l Work with Hindu community to build a Hindu Crematorium l Support Hindu Secondary School project l A fairer future for our families l Economic recovery for all l A better deal for pensioners l Greater opportunity for our young people l Protect our public services

MESSAGE FROM TONY McNULTY Namaste, I have been proud and privileged to be your MP for the last 13 years. During these years I’ve developed a special relationship with the Indian community from which I’ve learnt and progressed. The Hindu values of peace & harmony, education and family have helped me in my own development and approach to life and politics.

During these years I’ve also enjoyed celebrating a range of festivals and events including Diwali, Holi, singing and Mataji ni Aarti and playing dandia ras during Navratri and many many more such events. My visit in February to Bhuj to visit the Nutan Mandir, attend medical camp in Mandvi and meeting with Shri Narendrabhai Modi, Shri Ashok Bhutt and visit to Akhsardham at Gandhinagar in Ahmedabad was exciting and fulfilling.

It has also been my honour to help – provide ‘seva’ to our Indian community and organisations with problems ranging from immigration to planning. I’m especially proud to have contributed, with Harrow’s Labour Councillors, to the establishment of the Hindu School in Harrow and I give my commitment to support the establishment of a Hindu High School and help with the development of a Hindu Crematorium. It is my personal promise to you that I will continue my close association with the community and will work even harder for our progress.

Vote Labour on 6 May 3 VOTES for Council Candidates in your area 1VOTE for Tony MCNULTY for Parliament.

Promoted by Mrinal Choudhury, on behalf of Harrow East Council Candidates all at 18 Byron Road, Wealdstone, Harrow HA3 7ST. Promoted by Navin Shah, on behalf of Tony McNulty, both at 18 Byron Road, Wealdstone, Harrow HA3 7ST.

17

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Namaste and Greetings from HARROW EAST & WEST LABOUR PARTY

Vote Labour on 6 May Remember You have 3 VOTES for Council Candidates in your area.

And 1 VOTE for Tony MCNULTY for Parliament in Harrow East Or 1 VOTE for Gareth THOMAS for Parliament in Harrow West

Pledges to You from Council Candidates: This is what a new Labour Council will do for our diverse communities in Harrow l Work in partnership with communities and businesses for provision of

religiously / culturally specific services and facilities for our diverse communities.

For example: Initiate a viability study for a site and building of a Hindu Crematorium. l Promote and facilitate the building of new modern function hall replacing the existing Byron Hall for community events in partnership with the Council or on a commercial basis. Undertake feasibility of function halls in other areas of Harrow. l Explore potential for extra funding for grants to voluntary and community groups and further develop grants policies especially for Service Level Agreements.

Our additional Key pledges for a fair Harrow l We will keep the Council Tax increases below the rate of inflation whilst preserving

front-line services. l We will make helping Harrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residents and businesses during the recession one

of Harrow Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top priorities. l We will work to reduce crime and the fear of crime to make Harrow safer. l We will do everything to prevent developers ruining Harrow, particularly, cramming

the Town Centre with high-rise overdevelopment. l We will make Harrow green and clean again so that it is a place that everyone can

be proud to live in. l We will ensure the provision of more arts, sports and leisure facilities particularly

for young people.

Vote Labour on 6 May 3 VOTES for Council Candidates in your area 1 VOTE for Tony MCNULTY for Harrow East Or 1 VOTE for Gareth THOMAS for Harrow West Promoted by Mrinal Choudhury, on behalf of Harrow East Council Candidates all at 18 Byron Road, Wealdstone, Harrow HA3 7ST. Promoted by Navin Shah, on behalf of Tony McNulty, both at 18 Byron Road, Wealdstone, Harrow HA3 7ST. Promoted by Ben Wealthy, on behalf of Harrow West Council Candidates all at 132 -134 Blenheim Road, Harrow HA2 7AA Promoted by Lizzie Morris, on behalf of Gareth Thomas, both at 132 - 134 Blenheim Road, Harrow HA2 7AA

18

FInancIal voice

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

56 Indian firms in ‘The Forbes Global 2000’ The dominance of the developed nations in the exclusive club of “The Forbes Global 2000” is receding while developing nations like India and China are gaining ground in the biggest, most powerful listed companies in the world.”

The latest list of global giants released by the reputed US business magazine last week shows the corporate dominance of the developed nations is steadily declining. The rankings span 62 countries, with the US (515 members) and Japan (210 members) still dominating the list, but with a combined 33 fewer entries.

The top ten among 56 Indian Global High Performers are Reliance Industries (126), State Bank of India Group (130), Oil & Natural Gas (155), ICICI Bank (282),

Indian Oil (313) NTPC (341), Tata Steel (345), Bharti Airtel (471), Steel Authority of India (502) and Larsen & Toubro (548). UCO Bank (1910) brings up the rear for India.

Forbes' ranking of the world's biggest companies using an equal weighting of sales, profits, assets and market value to rank companies according to size "reveals the dynamism of global business," it says.

In total the Global 2000 companies now account for $ 30 trillion in revenues, $ 1.4 trillion in profits, $ 124 trillion in assets and $ 31 trillion in market value. All metrics are down from last year, except for market value, which rose 61 per cent.

An analysis of the Global 2000 shows that despite the turmoil in the financial sector, banks still dominate, with 308 com-

panies in the 2000 lineup, thanks in large measure to their asset totals.

The oil and gas industry, with 115 companies, scores high in sales, profits and stock-market value, yet these sectors were not the leaders in growth over the past year.

Insurance companies (up 27 per cent) led all sectors in sales growth, while the leaders in profit growth were drugs and biotech firms (up 20 per cent).

To qualify as a Global High Performer, a company must stand out from its industry peers in growth, return to investors and future prospects.

Most of the 130 Global High Performers have been expanding their earnings at 28 per cent a year and 20 per cent annualised gains to shareholders over the past five years, Forbes noted.

Indian American tops Forbes’ ‘10 greenest billionaires’ Indian American Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla tops the list of 10 greenest billionaires chosen by Forbes "who are most active in green, sustainable causes and who are working to have the greatest impact."

The leading US business magazine said it found the top ten "are altruistic, yes, but most of them are also very much aiming to turn a profit" and they hail not just from the US but also from Israel, Germany and Canada.

"Khosla-a cofounder of Sun Microsystems and a longtime partner at ven-

and advanced bioture capital powerfuels. house Kleiner Some of these Perkins Caufield investments Khosla & Byers-has, with has described as fellow billionaire "science experiand green business ments" that may or supporter John may not succeed, it Doerr, been poursaid. ing millions of dol"I like Vinod's lars into green tech companies," Vinod Khosla strategy because traditionally VCs Forbes noted. don't buy into companies The magazine put at their early stage. He Khosla's net worth at $1.1 does, and the science billion and Doerr's at $1.7 experiment that survives billion, noting in 2004 that germ-of-an-idea stage Khosla began, though his has a good chance it'll be Khosla Ventures, to fund mainstream some day," dozens of innovative comForbes quoted Michael panies involved in areas Kanellos of Greentech such as sustainable buildMedia as saying. ing materials, solar power

Welspun Guj eyes buys in Middle East, America Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren is looking to expand its footprints in the Middle East and America and is in talks with a Saudi firm for a possible acquisition, two senior officials said on Tuesday. The steel pipe maker is carrying out due diligence with Saudi's Aziz Pipe, Director Akhil Jindal, said on the sidelines of the results conference but did not disclose the investment.

"We already are achieving 30-35 per cent growth annually, and to sustain this growth we must look into new opportunities, new markets," Jindal said.

"South America is one market, South East Asia is another where we don't have a presence.

Discussions (with Aziz Pipe) are on. Due diligence is in the process," he added.

Investments by Indian firms in the oil and gas sector are growing at a rapid clip, with top-listed conglomerate Reliance Industries agreeing to pay $1.7 billion to take a 40 per cent stake in US-based Atlas Energy's operations in the booming Marcellus shale gas project.

Indian energy firms have also been rushing to raise funds for expansion projects, with Essar Oil launching a $2.5 billion IPO in London and other firms such as JSW Energy, Oil India, NHPC and Indiabulls Power selling shares locally.

Welspun, which has an order book of 65 billion rupees, is expecting new orders - both domestic and export - worth 10 billion rupees over the next couple of months, Chairman B.K. Goenka said.

To fulfill this growing

demand, the firm is expanding its capacity by 450,000 tonnes with an investment of around 4 billion rupees in FY11, Goenka told reporters.

Earnings outlook Welspun Gujarat's JanMarch net more than tripled to 1.67 billion rupees on a 13 per cent fall in net sales to 15.98 billion rupees. Profit margins rose to 10.4 per cent from 2.8 per cent a year ago.

The firm, which posted a 28 per cent sales growth in FY10 to 73.5 billion rupees, expects to maintain it in the year-ending march 2011 as it expands capacity and bags larger orders. The company has also forayed into infrastructure with the acquisition of MSK Projects Ltd, enabling it to lay pipes in addition to manufacturing, officials said.

Alpesh Patel’s Political Sketchbook: I told you so I want to reproduce some statistics from an earlier column I wrote a few months ago. This is my last column before the election. What I had written previously becomes even more important because as you read this and consider how to cast your vote you will have little notion the impact your vote will have on the overall outcome. Never in modern times for instance has Labour been so entrenched (you will see what I mean as you read on). Never have the LibDems been second at this stage of an election. And never in recent times would the Tories despite being top in the polls not be the winners!

The 2005 election gave Labour 355 MPs over Conservative’s 197 and an overall Parliamentary majority of 66. But this hides exactly the advantages in our electoral system which is locking in Labour. First, Labour’s dispersion of voters is such that they can at merely 36% of the votes still win an election – as in 2005. 36% is the winning post for Labour.

Currently on the polls they are in third place, but not far from 36%!

Never before in the history of British elections has a party won with such a low percentage of votes. Never in the history of British elections has a party had just enough of its voters spread efficiently so that with such a low spread of voters it can win enough seats.

To understand this – think of it this way; we have a system whereby if you win a seat by 10,000 votes, you win it just as much as if you won by 1 vote. Tory voters tend to give themselves thumping large majorities and so in a way to say the Conservatives have a poll lead is irrelevant because you are only counting a lot of people in constituencies you’ve already won not people in ones where you need to win from Labour.

Labour tend to have lower majorities, but more of them – it’s just the way their vote is spread and so they tend to win more seats per voter.

So pronounced is Labour’s advantage that in 2005 more people actually voted Conservative than Labour in England– but the Conservatives won 92 fewer seats than Labour within England (285 to 193). Indeed the Conservatives received 60,000 more votes than Labour in England. And the polls currently indicate exactly this scenario; more Conservative votes, but fewer Conservative seats.

Put another way Labour can get 55% of the seats with only 36% of the votes cast.

Whereas everyone else combined with 64% of the votes can only manage 45% of the seats – because everyone else’s votes are spread so inefficiently ie they are concentrated in fewer seats.

Again as the polls stand, everyone other than

Labour will have about 65% of the votes – but that isn’t enough for over 50% of the seats.

To reiterate this ‘spread’ argument - the Tories with just 3% fewer votes than Labour (33% to Labour’s 36%) got only 30% of the seats against Labour’s 55% in 2005. Still could be worse – you could be Lib Dem – with 2/3rds as many votes as Labour they only got 1/5 as many seats as Labour. In fact on current polls, even with the same votes as Labour they would only get 1/5 as many seats.

But it gets worse for democracy. There was an overall turnout of 61% in the 2005 election. But that means more people decided not to vote than voted for Labour.

Indeed Labour’s share of the total possible electorate was 22% enough for a mandate to govern! 22%! At least in Iran it’s 99% for the winning party. So if you want Labour to win what is the answer? Sit back and do nothing. If you want the Tories to win? You need more Tory voters in Labour seats where the Tories are second. What of the Liberals? You still need more Tories to win in seats where Labour are second (because the Liberals will end up with fewest seats even if they get more votes than Labour) and thereby help tip a hung parliament into a Tory parliamentary majority. Its complicated but no one said democracy was easy.

India gets more say in WB functioning Emerging economies, including China and India, were given a greater voice at the World Bank, as member nations approved a slight shift of voting shares in favour of developing countries, while agreeing to raise more money for global aid.

The World Bank and The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded their annual spring meeting by increasing the voting rights of India, China and Brazil, among others, thus giving them more say in the institutions' functioning. This represents a total shift of 4.59 per cent to developing and transition countries since 2008, the IMF and the World Bank said in a joint communique after the meeting.

As a result, India's voting power increased from

2.77 per cent to 2.91 per cent while China whose rights increased from 2.77 per cent to 4.42 per cent was the biggest benefactor. The shift places India at the seventh biggest place after the United States (15.85 per cent), Japan (6.84 per cent), China, Germany (4 per cent), France (3.75 per cent) and the United Kingdom (3.75 per cent).

"The change in votingpower helps us better reflect the realities of a new multi-polar global economy where developing countries are now key global players," said World Bank President Robert B Zoellick.

The change gives emerging nations more say in how the bank is run and how its funds are disbursed. "This change in voting share, giving devel-

oping countries over 47 per cent, is a significant step," he said, hoping shareholders will review the approach in 2015.

Membership of the financial institution gives certain voting rights that are the same for all countries, but there are additional votes which depend on a country's financial contributions to the organisation. Zoellick said at a time when multilateral agreements between developed and developing countries have proved elusive, this accord is all the more significant.

This increase fulfils the Development Committee commitment in Istanbul in October 2009 to generate a significant increase of at least 3 percentage points in developing and Transition Countries (DTCs) voting power.

19

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Kapil’s

KHICHADI

By Spriha Srivastava

Chit-Chat with Lady Kishwar Desai India’s social evils might be many but the problem of female foeticide is one that is weakening the social system of the country. The story of “missing women” in India is one that the entire world is now aware of. The Government has launched numerous campaigns to create awareness among parents but has achieved little success. Such is the highlight in Kishwar Desai’s latest book, “Witness the Night.” A journalist by profession and a writer by choice, Lady Desai has created a niche for herself among the intellectual British Indians.

I spoke to her about her latest book and the issues surrounding the problem of female foeticide in India. (a) Tell us briefly about the book?

Witness the Night is a novel about a young girl, Durga, who is found battered and abused in a house in Punjab. She is the only one among her family who is still alive-the rest have all been murdered. In a bizarre twist the girl is accused of killing them. An unconventional, feisty social worker, Simran, is convinced of her innocence. But when she tries to help Durga, she uncovers a terrible world of prejudice and secrets.

Lady Kishwar Desai

As a journalist, TV anchor and producer -my years of working in Indian media--- had made me very aware of the 'son preference' in Indian families. I had written news stories about it --and had tried to raise the issue of women's rights through various TV programmes. So, in one sense, I had lived with the story of Witness the Night in my head for many years. As a result when I sat down to write it--it was completed within a month. But I worked on it every day, often very late into the night. (d) How grave is the situation in India?

(With some facts and

(b) What inspired you to write this book?

The book has been inspired by many women I had met during my years as a journalist. But the central story of Durga was taken from a similar case which had taken place in Bengal almost a decade ago.

In that case, too, a young teenager was accused of killing her entire family. Though I did not base my book on that case, I used the incident to tell my story. (c) How much time did it take you to complete the book given that it is based on the issue of female foeticide?

the loss of baby girls, but also endanger the lives of Indian women.

It has been estimated that by now at least 35 million women are 'missing' in India--i.e., women who should have been born but were not given a chance to live.

It is also leading to a grave imbalance among the sexes. In some states, such as Haryana--women have been brought in, sometimes sold, from other areas of the country as men cannot find women to marry.

But these are usually women who have no recourse to justice and come from impoverished backgrounds.

They are often expected to sleep with all the men in the family--and if they refuse, are sometimes killed. This is the outcome when men outnumber women: sexual harassment, rape and increasing crimes against women. (e) Apart from awareness campaigns, what else do you think can be done to tackle this issue?

The government should have a blanket policy of job reservation for women (regardless of caste) at every level. Women in India have been treated worse than any minority in the country--and we need to seriously make amends for that. Only if women become economically self-sufficient will they be able to escape this needless tragedy. (f) Are you currently working on your next book?

figures) The situation is very serious. We still have baby girls being killed every day in India, either within the womb, or later. There are thousands of illegal abortions being carried out which not only lead to

Yes--I am working on two more books. The first is the next book the 'Simran' series. People have liked Simran, the central character of Witness the Night, and want her to come back.

And the other book is the biography of Devika Rani and Himansu Rai.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at spriha@abplgroup.com

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com ‘Get Real Nick’ I knew it could not last.

The political love affair that both Gordon Brown and David Cameron wanted to have with Nick Clegg just could not carry on. The public divorce happened live on air during the second televised debate last week when they went from saying, ‘I agree with Nick’ to ‘Get real Nick.’

Nick Clegg had a reasonable second outing.

He was never going to perform to the same level as before given his surprise factor had gone.

David Cameron did much better, but let us be honest, still nowhere near as good as people thought he should have done.

The surprise frankly was Gordon Brown. Whilst you have many saying he came third in a debate of three people, he actually came a close third. Most people thought he would be destroyed and would be lagging behind significantly.

The overall result, they were all broadly equally good, or equally bad depending on your political persuasion. No one delivered that killer knocked out blow and therefore it’s all to play for when we next see them in action on Thursday.

Hung Parliament Equals Tory Defeat?

As it stands we are in line for a hung parliament. Whilst the Tories are slightly ahead in the polls, Labour even with their share of the vote potentially dropping to under 30% will still have more seats than the LibDem’s who despite their valiant efforts would be lucky to secure around 100 seats. This means the two leading parties may well have very similar number of seats even if the Tories have a greater proportion of the popular vote (that’s what they call a fair and democratic voting system!).

For the Tories I believe we have to be honest and say that a hung parliament is nothing short of a defeat.

Their share of the vote has dropped dramatically from 42% to around 34%. No doubt members of the 1922 committee might raise an eyebrow or two.

Nick Clegg on the other hand came out, rather gratuitously, to declare that Labour is now ‘irrelevant.’

Somehow I get the feeling he may well regret that one liner when it bites him post the election. He rightly pointed out that if anyone wants his support in a hung parliament – then the total reform of the electoral system would be a pre-requisite. The bottom line is simple – whoever wants power will need Nick Clegg as their friend. Nick will only be their friend if the electoral system changes – so one must assume that in all likelihood this might well be the last occasion when we all vote using the ‘first past the post’ system. Make good use of it folks; history is in the making so make sure you cast your vote on the big day.

Who will be our PM? That may well be determined by Nick Clegg who came out and stated that any party that does not secure a sufficient proportion of the popular vote surely cannot dictate who gets to be PM. They do have a point.

So if it’s a Tory/LibDem pact, then it’s clear that David Cameron would be PM and the new cabinet would certainly need to find high ranking positions for both Nick Clegg and Menzies Campbell.

May be the real battle might be in relation to who gets the job at Number 11!

If the pact is Labour/LibDem then don’t be too surprised if Nick Clegg politely asks for someone other than Gordon Brown to be the new PM. Can you spot who is jockeying for this position already? And would the ‘Silver Fox’ Alistair Darling retain his occupancy of Number 11?

BNP and UKIP Squeezed Out Before the onset of the televised debates I

thought that UKIP might become a thorn in the side of the Tories by taking away some of their votes.

However, the Nick Clegg effect has upset all normal analysis and it seems the smaller parties are actually being squeezed out. The BNP launched its incredible manifesto that openly declared that it would not allow any ‘Muslim’ immigration, would ban the burka and stop the building of mosques. In addition they will encourage all non-white people to leave the country and for that they will give a ‘repatriation’ fee.

Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP said on TV that he thought £50 000 each (though I suspect even this might not be enough) should be enough to entice people away from these shores.

Given that some 8% of the population is from the ethnic minorities, my quick calculations tells me that the cost of repatriating non-whites would be at least £250 Billion and realistically as much as £500 Billion.

Yes folks you read that right. The BNP in their haste for ‘white supremacy’ will end up bankrupting the nation and turn it into a third world country. The surprise being that there are people in this country who actually vote for them. Common sense is obviously not as common as I thought.

Who will win the next election?

The answer is simple, the people. This time the public might not give any one party the exclusive mandate for governance.

For once we might just see the very structure of governance change, and with that, the very way in which we the public act and react with our elected representatives. 2010 potentially could be history making.

20

GENERAL ELECTION 2010

Barking and Degenham Abbey Ward Laila Butt Anthony Gomes Manzoor Hussain Mohammed Chaudhry Iqbal Shahidur Rahman Tariq Saeed Alibon Alasia Becontree Alok Agrawal Roshan Arawwawala Eastbury Hardial Singh Rai Mohammed Riaz Gascoigne Saima Ashraf Abdul Aziz Sherry Baig Longbridge Komel Bajwe Nirmal Gill Rocky Gill Mohammod Jalal Uddin River Ward Inder Singh Jamu Thames Moin Ali Quadri Whalebone Amardeep Singh Jamu London Borough of Brent Alperton Borough Ward Chohan Bhagwani Hari Dodiya Bhavesh Dollis Hill Makvana manubhai kanji Dudden Hill Chunilal Kalyanji Hirani Krupesh jadavji Hirani Fryent Patel Manish Madhavji Pindoria Kanta Ratna Kenton Patel Bhikubhai Mani Mapeswary Kavia Sudha Northwick Park Patel Harihar Manibhai Sengupta Debjani Shah Dinesh Kumar Shantilal Preston Kamdar Milan

Labour Liberal Democrat FT Labour Conservative Conservative Labour Sanchia Labour Independent Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat FT Labour Labour Conservative Conservative Labour Labour Liberal Dem Labour Conservative Labour Labour Conservative Conservative Lib Democratsc Labour Green Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative

Patel Harshadbhai Selvaratnam Thambimuthu Queens Park Dhillon Gurmaj Singh Queensbury Balaraman Selvarani Mistry Kanta Patel Ramesh Chandra Shah Devan Indulal Stonebridge Fernandes Uma Nalayini Sudbury Davda Madhuri Govindji Rizwan Patel Chandubhai Jiwanbhai Rana Aroon Srikanthan Balakrishnasharma Srikanthan Subashini Tokyngton Desai Jaydutt Patel Jyotshna Sheth Ketan Welsh Harp Kataria Dhiraj Singh Harbhajan Wembley Central Kamdar Ratna Mistry Jayesh Harrow Belmont Hargovan Santosh Dattani Niraj VK Patel Canons Akhtar Husain Parekh Nitin Choudhury Mrinal Kumar Edgware Greenhill Chowdhury Golam Khan Yasmin Harrow Weald Chauhan Ramji Choudhury Shohidul Haque Shah Mukesh Harrow on the Hill Jogia Ameet Mirza Sameer Saud Abu Headstone North Jeyakumar Sella Varathalingam Shah Aneka

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BOLLYWOOD

Ranbir not very keen on twitter Shah Rukh Khan does it, so do Salman and Aishwarya. Even as the rest of Bollywood goes gaga over Twitter, Ranbir Kapoor says that he does not understand the hype surrounding the micro-blogging website.

Though the heartthrob is a member of the website, his first and last tweet came some eight months ago and Ranbir says that the popularity of the website is a mystery to him.

"It's a mystery to me. I don't want to tell people 'I am eating now', 'Now I am walking to the bathroom'. I don't understand the need to share these boring details of my daily routine with the whole world. I don't think I am interested in Twitter that much," said Ranbir.

The actor who has had a string of hits the past year, including 'Wake Up Sid' and 'Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani', says that he would prefer his work to speak for him instead of tweeting.

"I prefer to let my work speak for myself and I like to communicate with my fans through the kind of films that I

do," said the actor. Meanwhile the actor's ex-girlfriend Deepika Padukone is a regular on Twitter and had recently met up with Shammi Kapoor for a coffee date after being invited by the veteran actor through the website.

Padukone was surprised to know that the 78-year-old, who is also the uncle of Ranbir, was on Twitter, which has become the favourite haunt of Bollywood stars.

bollykats

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

21

Jiah Khan not comfortable with revealing outfit

Housefull

Don't go by the onscreen image that she has gained ever since her debut film “Nishabd” released a few years back.

If Jiah Khan, one of the leading ladies of “Housefull” says that she is quite an introvert and doesn't quite jump with joy when asked to wear revealing outfits. Not just that, she is candid enough to admit that though she would be seen in a two piece bikini in this Sajid Khan directed multi starrer, it isn't everyday in her personal life that she roams around in such an outfit even during a holiday.

"Really, ever since the release of Nishabd, whenever people think of me, they believe that I would be quite comfortable wear-

ing sexy clothes. The matter of the fact though is that this is completely untrue", states Jiah whose only other release after Nishabd has been Ghajini where she hadn't quite indulged in skin show.

Still, even when it comes to the reel life, Jiah isn't quite comfortable exposing for camera. Even when a filmmaker approaches her with a 'demand of the situation', she needs to be fully convinced.

"The setting of Housefull is such that there was a lot of travelling required across the globe. Also, some of the key scenes are set on a beach and it was imperative that all we leading ladies got into swimwear.

Now when you are on a

location like this, you don't quite roam around all covered up, right?

What else would young girls wear when on beach?

You have to go as per the mood and setting. It is the practical way of doing things", details Jiah who consented to wear a two piece bikini after Sajid Khan gave her a detailed account of the situation in the film.

Though Jiah understood his point of view, it wasn't quite easy for her to slip into the attire on the very first go. She was hesitant to begin with and

was wondering how she would be presented on screen.

Everyone upset over Bhansali’s new girl A romantic comedy flick from the house of Nadiadwala, Housefull is the story of Aarush - the world's unluckiest man. Being jinxed, he believes his bad luck can vanish if he finds true love.

In this quest for true love how one lie leads to another and how different people from different walks of life come together adding even more confusion to this hilarious comedy of errors resulting in total chaos and mayhem forms the crux of the story.

The line which Deepika tells Akshay in the film "Jis jhooth se kissi ka ghar basta ho, voh jhooth jhooth nahin hota", pretty much sums up the essence of the film.

Produced and directed by Sajid Nadiadwala under the banner of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and Eros Entertainment, the film also has screenplay credit shared by him.

Monikangana Dutta, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new discovery seems to have picked up on Bollywood’s ways pretty soon.

While Bollywood does like to pamper its stars for a fair bit, Monikangana’s starry airs haven’t gone down too well with the film unit or even the director. Even though the shoot for “Guzaarish” has just barely finished, Monikangana has already begun to throw her weight around. The disgruntled

unit members have complained to Sanjay Leela Bhansali about this and he then ruled her out of a song she was originally supposed to be a part of.

M o n i ka n g a n a apparently has a major attitude problem and she isn’t liked by anyone on the sets. Though discovered by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, she isn’t

liked by any of the team members. All of the assistant directors and makeup artistes have been on the receiving end of her bad behavior. Even the production assistants and spot boys have had to face her.

Bhansali, who has been keeping a control on himself all this time, has finally lost his temper.

Now, Monikangana is no longer a part of the song.

The unit is very happy about this development, even though Monikangana is rather upset.

Vidya Balan unperturbed

by Delhi heat

Other screenplay writers include Milap Zaveri and Vibha Singh, while dialogues are by Anvita Dutt Guptan.

The star cast of the film consists of Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan, Arjun Rampal, Ritesh Deshmukh, Boman Irani, Randhir Kapoor, Chunky Pandey, Subhan Nadiadwala, Malaika Arora and Liletted Dubey, while Jacqueline Fernandez makes a special appearance.

Sameer and Amitabh Bhattacharya have penned the lyrics, while the music is by Shanker – Ehsaan – Loy trio. Playback team consists of Loy Mendonca, Tarun Sagar, Alyssa Mendonsa, Neeraj Shridhar, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Ritu Pathak, Mika Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sajid Khan, Arun Ingle, Shabbir Kumar and Vivinenne Pocha.

New Hindi movies releasing this week 1. Chase 2. Housefull 3 Aisi Deewangi

Top 5 Bollywood movies for the week No. Film 1 2 3 4 5

No. Last Week Paathshaala New Phoonk 2 New Prince 1 Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai 2 Tum Milo Toh Sahi 4

Total weeks 1 1 2 2 3

The heat wave is making Delhiites uneasy, but Bollywood actress Vidya Balan, who is shooting here for 'Who Killed -Jessica', is unperturbed and says she is enjoying the heat. 'To be honest, I was a bit terrified when I was told that we will be shooting in Delhi for the film during this period because I had heard that it is extremely hot in Delhi.

But since the time I'm shooting, I've been quite comfortable and haven't faced any hassle because of the temperature,' said Vidya. 'Its just that we all keep drinking lots of water and carry on with our work,' said the 32-year-old who was given the woman achiever in acting at the FICCI-YFLO Annual Women Achiever's Award ceremony earlier.

'Thank you for giving me this opportunity that really has me speechless,’ said Vidya who received award along with other achievers.

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22

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Gujarati Diaspora invited to attend a special ‘Get together’ by NCGO of UK at Ahmedabad on Sunday, 2nd May The Government of Gujarat has planned a series of events to celebrate the completion of 50 years of formation of the state of Gujarat.

Two flagship ceremonies are being held on 30th April and 1st May at Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

Gujaratis from all over the world are invited to attend the celebrations, known as “Swarnim Gujarat” celebrations for these two days.

National Congress of Gujarati Organisations (NCGO) UK also has planned a “Get together” for the global Gujaratis, on Sunday, 2nd May. Leading Gujaratis, settled all over the world and attending the “Swarnim Gujarat” celebrations are invited to attend the function, to be held from 6.00 pm onwards, at Hotel Cambay Grand, near

Thaltej Circle, Thaltej, Sarkhej – Gandhinagar road, Ahmedabad.

Leaders of various political parties in Gujarat, various Gujarati organizations, MPs and MLAs from Gujarat will be attending the NCGO ‘Get together’. It will be followed by a dinner.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has given his consent to grace the function as the Chief Guest. Shri Jay Narayan Vyas, minister in charge of the NRG affairs will be the Guest of Honour.

For more details about the ‘Get together’ please contact: Shri Bhupatrai Parekh (Ahmedabad) phone: 079 – 26465969, mobile: 09825506903.

Shri Kamlesh Amin (Vadodara) phone: 0265 – 2760595, mobile 09913346487.

Encyclopaedia on Hinduism: Too little, too late First three volumes of the “Hindu Dharmana Vishwakosh” (An Encyclopaedia on Hinduism) were recently unveiled at Haridwar, one of the prominent Indian pilgrimage centres in North India. While the work and it’s unveiling, particularly coinciding with the “Kumbh Mela”, a once in a four year event is welcome, it has also raised some pointed questions about the sincerity of the organisation working for the encyclopaedia and the inexplicable delay in the work.

The volumes were unveiled on 4th April, 2010 in the august presence of various Hindu religious leaders, including Swami Ramdev, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, well known ‘Kathakar’ Ramesh Oza, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and others. It is worth a mention here that after a delay of more than 12 years, what has been accomplished is around only 25% of the work, as 8 more volumes are still to be completed.

It may be recalled Hindus and other Indians in UK have contributed in a very big way to fund the work of the publication of this encyclopaedia many years ago, hence they all are eager to see encyclopaedia, but still have to wait for sometime to have a glimpse of the same.

It was way back in 1993 that well known Gujarati ‘Kathakar’ Ramesh Oza held his katha in London with the aim of mobilising funds for the purpose. The

‘Katha’ was organised at Roundwood Park in London. At that time, HH Shri Pramukh Swami, head of the BAPS as well as a large number of other leading Hindu religious leaders blessed the project and also helped mobilise substantial money. The IHRF had then promised that the encyclopaedia would be ready and published in 1997.

Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice had requested via email for a copy of the volumes for the express purpose of review.

In response, ‘Sadhavi’ Bhagawati Saraswatiji of Parmarth Niketan said the encyclopaedia will not be available right now to the community at large, as only three volumes are ready and unveiled. Rest of the 8 volumes will be ready and published in coming months and will be available to the people than only.

Mr. Neesh Kotecha of the IHRF (India Heritage Research Foundation), in response to a phone call

by Gujarat Samachar on 15th April said the volumes ready will be unveiled in UK next month (May). IHRF, headed by Swami Chidanand Muni is the organisation involved in the publication of the encyclopaedia.

IHRF claims that more than 1,000 leading Hindu saints and religious leaders are involved in bringing out the encyclopaedia.

A scholar from Kashi Dr. Vidhyanivas Mishra, Dr. Sheshagiri Rao and scholars from many universities globally also are a

part of this team.

The essence of the issue is that Hindus and Hindu organisations have always been very liberally contributing, donating to help further the cause of Hinduism. But after all their money and heart, soul behind such prestigious projects, when the people responsible with the execution are unable to deliver within the scheduled or reasonable deadlines, the people start losing faith in them and such a situation is very alarming, unacceptable. More particularly, they not only harm themselves, but also queer the pitch for other future generation causes and campaigns.

It is also noteworthy that during last couple of years, many of our readers as well as others have inquired about the final dates when the encyclopaedia would come out. In order to serve our readers and others as well as to help the cause of Hinduism, Asian Voice had written a letter to IHRF, India on 2nd July, 2009 and also sent an email to Swami Chidanand Saraswati, seeking details about the likely date when the encyclopaedia would be published and also asked for some other relevant information, but we did not get any response.

The reality is that a good 12 years after the promised date, only three volumes are out, which is really a sad state of affairs. Further, such inexplicable delays lead to increase in the project costs too.

In divine light Dushyanta and spiritual fervour

By Rajen Vakil

The Mahabharata is full of mysterious stories, one of which is that of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. We will look into this story and try to unravel the mystery behind this story over three articles, starting today.

Generations before the Great War the ever-victorious Dushyanta was king; his kingdom encompassed the four corners of the earth and his subjects were happy.

During his rein the earth and the sea overflowed with gems and precious metals, people were peaceful and worshipped the Gods. There was no fear of any kind, neither from thieves nor violence.

It rained at the right time and there was plenty for everyone. Dushyanta was a powerful king and proficient in all kinds of warfare.

One day the king went hunting, accompanied by a huge army. They marched deep into the forests blowing conch shells and striking drums. That day, Dushyanta killed many lions, tigers, deer and birds. With a small part of his army, he followed one particular deer into a completely different forest. This forest was totally calm and quiet devoid of any animals or birds. There was absolute silence; not even the sound of breeze could

bees hummed in rhythm.

No thorny plant could be found in the whole region.

Wild lions, tigers, and deer all played together without a hint of violence or fear.

Then, he saw the most picturesque ashram – right on the banks of the Malini river. It was covered with trees and foliage, the air was filled with the singing of birds, and the river’s water danced around filling the atmosphere with foam and spray. Within the ashram were many sacrificial fires burning and the smell of the incense-sticks filled Dushyanta with such overbearing peace and tranquillity that he bowed and worshipped the spot.

This was the ashram of the sage Kanva. Dushyanta asked his army to wait at the door while he went in to have a darshan (pay homage) of the sage.

Before we try and understand the deeper aspects of this story so far, let us look at an unrelated but a very similar story my teacher used to tell us.

There was a kingdom

be heard. It was so empty that he felt a deep vacuumlike effect in his whole being. All his energies started centring automatically. He had entered the realm of ‘shunyata’ or emptiness.

From this forest he went into a deeper and greater jungle. Here, he was shocked to see great ashrams dotting the beautiful scenery. The whole atmosphere was positively charged and resounded with the chants of Vedic hymns and mantras. The scene brought great joy to both, his eyes and mind.

There were green meadows through which the cool breeze carried the scent from divine flowers. Every single tree was covered with flowers and fruits. All kinds of birds were chirping harmoniously and the

with a custom that when the king died, the royal elephant would garland someone and whomsoever the elephant garlanded became the next king. On one such occasion, the elephant garlanded a passing hermit. He was forced to become king. All he did was to sit in meditation all the time. In seven years, the kingdom prospered and the people were very happy. The neighbouring king felt jealous and collected his army to attack this kingdom. The ministers went to the hermit citing that the neighbouring army was at the borders. The hermit requested to see the king.

When the king arrived, the hermit handed over the kingdom, saying he had never wanted it in the first place. The king realised

that all prosperity was because of the higher level of being of this man.

The neighbouring king ran behind him, fell at his feet and asked him to rule both their kingdoms.

Dushyanta had reached a similar high level of being and so without any effort on his part, his country was full of plenty and his subjects very happy.

Dushyanta’s very presence invited prosperity.

The word Dushyanta means that which is difficult to calm, but in a positive way. When deep spiritual fervour arises in a student, it is difficult to calm the student and the energies of the body start rising rapidly, with spiritual consciousness descending very fast. Such a state brings about a tremendous transformation not only in the being of a person but also in the kind of life and events that come to meet one.

When the energies rise up the backbone, they first encounter a whole area of animal tendencies.

These tendencies force the energy downward again. They have to be overcome and this is symbolised in Dushyanta killing so many animals.

He then enters the realm of emptiness symbolising the energies free of all conditioning and active in their pure original form.

This is the time when a student experiences centring, no forms or tendencies fragment the energies now. The student then enters the beautiful forest where there is beauty in abundance. This symbolises that the energies have now come close to their divine source.

Here, there is the Malini River, meaning the river that holds the pure.

Dushyanta now merges into his divine centre by entering the ashram of the rishi Kanva. Kanva means to sound. He has reached his celestial home and is sounding ‘I have come home’. This is the goal of all students.

In the next episodes we will see how that divine experience can be brought into normal living.

(Edited by Chintu Gandhi. Illustration by Siddharth Ramanuj.)

The author can be reached by emailing 3srb@live.com

23

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Swami Nityananda arrested in Himachal Self-styled godman Swami Nityananda, who has been linked to a sex scandal after sleazy video footage showing him was aired, was on Wednesday arrested from a village 50 km from Shimla, police said. "He was arrested from a house near Arki town," Solan police chief Prem Thakur said.

The Karnataka-based Nityananda has been on the run since

Air India officials give flimsy reasons for non resumption of Ahmedabad - London direct flight Air India officials, in an obvious attempt to dilly-dally the resumption of the Ahmedabad – London direct flight are giving frivolous, flimsy reasons which are simply not true. The flight, which was doing well, was suddenly discontinued more than 2 years ago. A campaign is in full swing in London for resumption of the flight. More than 15,000 Indians and Gujaratis settled in the UK have signed a petition, seeking the resumption of the flight.

The petition was handed over to the Air India office in London earlier this week.

A similar campaign was also initiated in Gujarat and is going on for more than 2 months.

Ministers from the Gujarat government, MPs and MLAs, leaders of various political parties and NGOs have written letters to the Civil Aviation Minister of India, Praful Patel and also met him in person, making a strong representation for resumption of the direct flight.

Media representatives of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar also got in touch with Air India officials at London, Mumbai and New Delhi for the purpose. The airline officials gave some flimsy, frivolous reasons for the nonresumption of the London – Ahmedabad direct flight. The reasons were simply far from truth, as the officials claimed that for a direct flight from Ahmedabad, the airline doesn’t get enough passengers; there is also a problem in making proper catering arrangements at Ahmedabad and even the city doesn’t have proper hotels to accommodate the flight crew that needs to be stationed there.

These arguments are hollow and don’t stand the scrutiny of reality.

The first and foremost contradiction being that there are quite a lot of people who prefer to travel on a direct flight between Ahmedabad and London. It may be

recalled, that when Air India introduced the direct flight between the two cities around 5 years ago, the airline started with just 1 flight a week.

It was gradually increased to as much as 5 flights per week. This wouldn’t have been done had there not been enough passengers.

Further, quite a few international airlines have flights that fly out directly from Ahmedabad to the destination outside India.

They have their catering arrangements from Ahmedabad city only.

The passengers with these airlines do enjoy the best food prepared there. On the question of good hotels for the flight crew, one only needs to see reason. Hotel accommodation to crew from other airlines also is being provided in the city. That apart, cricket teams from all over the world regularly come to play test matches, ODIs and T20 games in the city. Players, officials find hotels in Ahmedabad comfortable enough. Guests from various countries also visit Ahmedabad to attend international conferences and other events. They also have no problems with the hotel facilities for their stay. Hence, in light of all these facts, the reasons being given out by Air India simply are simply not convincing.

There is a growing feeling among people campaigning for the resumption of the flight that the ministry of civil aviation should accept the request and announce the resumption of the direct flight without any further delay. A section of the people, especially some organisations in Gujarat feel agitated on the issue. They are prepared for a showdown with the powers to be, if the government in India only understands the language of agitations.

March 23 when the Karnataka High Court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail and quashing of criminal cases against him.

"Swami Nityananda was arrested by a joint team of the Himachal Pradesh and Bangalore police from a village near Arki in Solan district. He was staying in a house for the past few days," additional director general of police ID Bhandari said.

Manmohan Govt. sails through in Lok Sabha, cut motions defeated After having secured support from the BSP led by Mayawati, the UPA government defeated the cut motions moved by the opposition in the Loksabha on Tuesday. A cut motion, if passed leads to the fall of the government, as it amounts to failure of the government to get the budget passed.

The government was in a tight spot, but managed to win the support of Mayawati, the BSP supremo and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati addressed a press conference on Tuesday morning in Lucknow, announcing that her MPs would vote for the government as she

did not want the ‘communal forces’ to snatch power in the centre.

Later in the day, members of Lalu Prasad led RJD and Mulayam Singh led SP staged walk-out before the discussion began, further reducing the numbers that could have led to adoption of the cut motions and defeat of UPA government at the Centre.

The opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Left parties moved cut motions in the Lok Sabha against the Budget proposals to hike prices of fuels and fertilisers but the treasury was confident of passing the test of strength

rather easily.

The cut motion on Ministry of Petroleum moved by Sushma Swaraj was defeated after a voice vote. Those in favour of the motion numbered 162 while votes against the motion totalled 246.

The cut motion of Dasgupta on failure to formulate proper policies on petroleum products was defeated by 289 votes against and 201 in favour.

The cut motion received the support of mainly BJP and its allies and Left Parties, while SP and RJD MPs walked out of the House before the vote, notwithstanding their attack on the government

on the issue of price rise.

Leader of the House and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee later said the demands for grants were passed as expected.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal wondered what the NDA and the Left Parties have achieved when against their total strength of 222, they got the support of only 201.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was present during the 90-minute drama when almost the entire UPA was in full strength in the House.

Supreme Court quashes Amrinder’s explusion from Punjab Assembly

The criminal probe against Amrinder however will proceed, the court observed Captain Amarinder Singh, Congress leader and former chief minister of Punjab came out victorious in he legal battle against his expulsion as a member of the Punjab Assembly.

He faced the action for his alleged involvement in the Amritsar land allotment scam.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan held that the

Jagdish Tytler gets clean chit in anti-Sikh riots

A Delhi court on Tuesday accepted CBI’s closure report in the case against Jagdish Tytler, a former Union minister and a Congress leader. A visually relieved Tytler said afterwards that he will work for the welfare of the riot victims. He said he was happy that his stand had been vindicated, but would not celebrate, as there is nothing to celebrate.

“There is nothing to celebrate…what happened was not good. I will now work for the welfare of the families affected by riots,” he told a TV channel hours after the judgement.

The alleged role of Tytler in the case relating to the killing of three persons, including one Badal Singh in 1984, near Gurudwara Pulbangash in north Delhi was re-investigated by the CBI after a court had in December 2007 refused to accept a closure report filed by the agency. Tytler said he had paid a heavy price in his long battle for clearing his name.

state Assembly had no power to expel Singh and others for what was their executive action.

The court also restored the seat of Singh which

was declared vacant by the Assembly consequent to his expulsion.

The apex court said the appropriate remedy was to set the criminal law

in motion as there was no breach of privilege of the Assembly for invoking its power under Article 194(3) of the Constitution.

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24

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Calls made to UK, SL from Nalini's mobile Tamil Nadu Government said calls were made to foreign countries, including Britain and Sri Lanka, from the cellphone recovered from Nalini, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

The phone recovered from Nalini in the prison cell during a routine check on April 20 was activated in March 2009 and

registered in the name of one Ravi from Katpadi near Vellore, Law Minister Duraimurugan told the state Assembly. He said an analysis of the calls by officials of 'Q branch, which deals with extremist activities in Tamil Nadu, showed that calls and messages were received and sent. Nalini had thrown the phone into the toilet during the check but officials recovered it.

Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel in the IPL mess, PM has sought details Having claimed the head of MOS for EA Shashi Tharoor, the IPL row has now cast a shadow on two of the NCP ministers – Sharad Pawar and his trusted lieutenant Praful Patel. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has sought details of their connections with the IPL controversy, even as both the ministers have denied having anything to do with the cricket extravaganza.

Further, Congress MP and one of the BCCI officials, Rajiv Shukla was also reportedly involved with an IPL franchise. It is interesting to know that Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr. Singh had both relied on Rajiv Shukla for their briefings about the IPL. While initially media reports suggested that Sharad Pawar’s son-inlaw, Sadanand Sule had a stake in MSM, the broadcaster of the IPL matches, Praful Patel’s daughter,

Poorna Patel was working as a hospitality manager in the IPL. Patel had also sought some details of the IPL team evaluations from Lalit Modi and passed them on to Shashi Tharoor just before the auction for the two new teams.

Further, Praful Patel’s daughter Poorna was reported to have influenced Air India to cancel one scheduled flight while diverted two other regular flights. This was done in violations of the DGCA rules.

WSG India head reportedly confessed to have received ‘facilitation fee’ from MSM In the first breakthrough in the widening investigation into alleged corruption in the IPL business, World Sports Group (WSG) has admitted it received Rs 1.25 billion from Multi Screen Media (MSM) after the latter was awarded the IPL broadcast rights.

Jai Mehta came into KKR only in 2009 Indian revenue officials trying to get to the bottom of the funding of Kolkata K n i g h t Riders, the second most valuable IPL Jai Mehta franchise brand, have stumbled upon some startling facts.

Contrary to the claims that the bidding for the KKR team in 2008 was done by a consortium held

by Shah Rukh Meer Taj Mohd Khan and Jai Mahendra Mehta, records reveal that Juhi Chawla and her husband Jai Mehta entered the scene much later, in March 2009.

Mehta was inducted as director of Knight Riders Sports only in September

A C Muthiah

2009, after the second IPL in South Africa.

Former chief goes to Supreme Court against BCCI on IPL issues A C Muthiah, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the norms that permit office bearers to hold franchises for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Muthiah has demanded an independent probe into the IPL scandal.

Indian official in Islamabad spying for Pakistan Continued from page 1 However, it was not clear whether he knew the woman officer's real designs, the sources said.

Gupta, who was arrested upon her arrival, was produced again before a court on Monday which has remanded her to fur-

ther police custody of another five days..

She has been charged under Official Secrets Act. Reports claim that she is being put through intensive interrogation by a joint team of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Sharad Pawar

Praful Patel

WSG has also acknowledged that the money given to it went out to other beneficiaries, some of whom, investigators suspect, could have ‘‘political links’’.

Sources said WSG India head Venu Nair broke down during interrogation by I-T sleuths, admitting that the deal had taken place. The ‘‘admission’’ can boost the efforts of investigators to get Sony World, the parent concern of MSM, to acknowledge in court having to pay “facilitation fee” to WSG to re-acquire

the broadcast rights.

Investigators are working on the assumption that being a company that is listed in the US — which has stringent laws forbidding use of bribes — Sony World would find it difficult to refuse to cooperate with Indian agencies.

Investigations into the trail of flow of ‘facilitation fee’ paid by MSM to WSG (Mauritius) have now led income tax authorities to British Virgin Islands, a tax haven.

The money was apparently transferred to the personal holding account

of Seamus O’Brien, the founder of WSG, and not into the company’s account. However, the company fronting this transaction goes by the name ‘Park House Holding’.

Husband inherited MSM stake from his father, claims Supriya Sule Supriya Sule, NCP MP and daughter of Sharad Pawar acknowledged that her husband inherited a 10% stake in Multi Screen Media which has the telecast rights to IPL matches.

Her father-in-law, B R Sule, former MD of Mahindra & Mahindra, had been chairman of Sony. "My father-in-law is 84 and very ill. So, he signed off his stake in MSM to my husband Sadanand. That's perfectly legitimate."

She said earlier, people were alleging that Sadanand Sule, her husband, was a franchisee, but now they have embroiled him in the cur-

The IPL row cast a shadow on two of the top NCP leaders, Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel. While Praful Patel said that the information he provided to Shashi Tharoor was general information and nothing confidential. He did not say anything on his daughter Poorna Patel allegedly wielding influence on Air India in canceling one and diverting two scheduled flights to help IPL teams, but Air India said Poorna Patel was not involved.

Initially, Praful Patel claimed he had nothing to do with the Indian Premier League (IPL), but just the other day, media reports suggested that his personal secretary had sent an email to former junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor just ahead of the IPL franchise auctions. The mail had projections of new franchisee valuations in the IPL. It was reported that the personal secretary to Patel forwarded a mail from her official ID to Tharoor's personal ID. It happened hours after IPL CEO Sundar Raman sent the same document to the aviation minister's daughter and IPL hospitality manager, Poorna Patel.

The minister admitted

helping Tharoor with information on the IPL bids. This is what the civil aviation minister had said a few days ago: "Shashi and I have been friends and he did ask me whether I could help him with some information in the capacity of a friend, since he was putting together a team from Kochi. I spoke to Lalit (Modi) and told him that Shashi wanted some information. Beyond that I don't know what information has been passed. If I was a bidder, why would I help out a competitor with information?"

Patel's daughter Poorna admitted that she had forwarded the mail to her father's secretary, but said she was only following Raman's instructions.

"Sundar (Raman) had given me certain instructions and I was merely following that. Other than that I have no idea," Poorna claimed.

Raman however contradicted her saying, "I sent it to Poorna Patel as a key member of the IPL team. But I don't know why she forwarded it to the minister's office."

Poorna Patel caused cancellation of one, diversion of two Air India flights A Delhi to Coimbatore

Air India flight, IC 7603, scheduled to leave at 5.20am on April 20, was aborted less than 12 hours before its departure to allow the aircraft to be deployed as a chartered flight for ferrying civil aviation minister Praful Patel's daughter, Poorna Patel, and some IPL players from Chandigarh to Chennai.

On two earlier occasions also, two flights – both from Delhi to Mumbai were diverted from Delhi to Jaipur and then to Mumbai, causing delay and a lot of inconvenience to the passengers. In one of the instances, reportedly no permissions were taken and even the passengers were not informed of the diversions.

Yet the aircraft was pulled out of its scheduled flight allegedly on the demand of Poorna, the IPL’s hospitality manager.

"But Poorna Patel called the airline on Monday evening and asked for an aircraft to do a chartered flight to Chennai from Chandigarh," said an official.

Air India justifies flight diversion for IPL Air India on Friday said a Delhi-Coimbatore flight was chartered to ferry Indian Premier League (IPL) players and

rent IPL kickbacks controversy.

Mrs Praful Patel, Venugopal Dhoot flew with Modi Civil aviation minister Praful Patel’s wife Varsha flew with IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot from Phuket to Mumbai in a private jet that has been under the scanner of the tax authorities, according to that aircraft’s passenger manifest.

To charter that jet, a Bombardier Challenger 300 with the call sign VTRAK, for a MumbaiPhuket roundtrip for a day will cost about Rs 28 lakh, according to Pradeep Thampi, the promoter of Golden Wings Pvt Ltd, which operates the aircraft. Varsha Patel flew with Mr Modi and Mr Dhoot on 19 February.

Two days earlier, Mr Modi flew by himself to Phuket.

This jet is believed to be owned by Lalit Modi.

civil aviation minister Praful Patel's daughter Poorna for commercial reasons. "It was absolutely a commercial decision.

Chartered flights make a lot of money for the airline. We keep combining flights according to our operational demand. The IPL anyway has been our customer ever since it began," Arvind Jadhav, chairman and managing director of the airline, said in a statement.

Delhi-Mumbai flight was diverted to Jaipur on April 10 to ferry an IPL team. It was also learnt that no permission was taken & authorities were unaware of the change.

Sources added that even the passengers of the flight were uninformed of the diversion.

Further allegations arose over an April 13 diversion when a Delhi Mumbai flight was diverted to pick up a team in Jaipur.

Another New Delhi to Mumbai flight, IC 887 was diverted to Jaipur on April 13. The call to divert the flight was received by the Air India Sales and Marketing team. The passengers were informed of the diversion. An IPL team boarded the flight in Jaipur.

A diversion constitutes violation of rules.

Praful Patel says he provided only general info to Tharoor

25

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Indian-American actor Kal Penn robbed at gunpoint Washington: Indian American actor Kal Penn, who recently resigned as an associate-director in the White House Office of Public Engagement to return to his acting career, was robbed at gunpoint in the capital. Penn, best known for his roles in the Harold & Kumar films and TV's House, reported that the first suspect approached him with a gun and ordered him to get

down on the ground before taking his wallet and cell phone. A second suspect then joined him, The Washington Post reported. Jennifer Goodwin, Penn's agent, confirmed the actor was robbed. Before stepping down from his White House job, Penn had been tasked with working with Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts groups.

Pakistan India Friendship Forum UK - Baisakhi Basant dinner & dance mega musical event 2010 London: Pakistan India Friendship Forum (PIFF), UK, celebrated the Basant Baisakhi festivals of the Punjabs of India & Pakistan in style on 19th April.

A mega musical dinner and dance event, held at the Monsoon Banquetting Hall in West London with songs from Star singer Jeet Jagjeet having flown in from India, Shaheen Khan performing to her best yet, Manjeet, Shahbaz, Asha and a variety of other performers, singers and dancers that left the audience of 300 plus guests enthralled. The evening turned out to be a colourful event with the audience dancing to the tunes of Punjabi and Urdu songs.

Indians and Pakistanis mingled together as one showing the united front as British Asians.

Chairman PIFF UK, Mr Rajan Sehgal, opened the evening to the guests, thanking them all for attending and showing their support to the cause.

Proposing a toast to the

couple in his speech, he said that the wedding of Sania and Shoaib further strengthens the friendship of Pakistan and India, proving that boundaries cannot break the knot of mutual culture and traditions of the two countries.

Mr Saleem Shaikh, President of PIFF UK, briefly outlined the aims of PIFF UK and pointed out the fact that they were striving to fulfil their aims and this event was just another small step towards much bigger achievements to come.

Cheif guest of the evening, Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes spoke of the benefits of the Asian community being one in the UK and the strengths of the unity. He praised the efforts of PIFF UK and emphasised his continued support for the organisation.

Later, he took to the centre stage and danced to the beats of Bhangra music thrilling the guests.

Thanking PIFF UK for holding such a wonderful event, ex-comissioner of

(Sitting from L to R) Saleem Shaikh, President, Richard Barnes, Dy Mayor of London, Tariq Chowdhary, Sr Vice Chairman, Krishan Ralleigh, Compamy Secratary.

(Standing: from L to R) Unknown Guest, Cllr. Rabi Martins - Vice Chairman, Tarique Ghaffur - Ex. Assistant Police Commissioner, Rajan Sehgal - Chairman, Natasha Shaikh - Press & Media Sec, Javed Sheikh - Membership Sec.

Metropolitan Police Mr Tarique Ghaffur, said that he always did and always will support this cause. He praised the efforts of PIFF UK and wished everyone a happy Basant and Baisakhi.

Vice President Cllr Ashok Kapoor said that the past was behind us

India asks SAARC members to rally against terrorism Thimphu (Bhutan): India has asked other SAARC members to rally against forces of terrorism.

Addressing the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting here, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s external affairs minister S M Krishna said: "Terrorism poses a serious danger to the economic stability of any civilized society. The South Asian region is particularly afflicted by this menace. The time has come for us to rally against the

Lanka ruling party wins huge majority Colombo: Sri Lanka's ruling party has won a near two-thirds majority in parliament at national polls, the elections commission said in final results announced last week. President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's Freedom Alliance secured 140 seats in the 225-member assembly after a re-poll in two constituencies where violence disrupted the April 8 vote, official results showed.

The main opposition United National Party was trounced and reduced to 60 seats while the main minority Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance came third with 14.

forces of terrorism that seek to divide and weaken our societies."

India also asked fellow SAARC members to support the early ratification of regional instruments such as the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters signed at the Colombo in 2008, and the proposed UN C o m p re h e n s i v e Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).

Krishna expressed the hope that crucial agreements on motor vehicles, railways, rapid response to natural disasters, multilateral arrangement of conformity assessment activities of goods and services and regional MRA on product certification will also be finalized at the earliest.

Pakistan has reportedly vetoed the agreement on rapid response to natural disasters, citing security concerns.

and we live in the UK in the present hence we have only the future to look to.

Having the same language, the same food, the same cultures and traditions, we must learn to live together in peace and harmony and that was what we were doing here through the PIFF UK.

Indian engineer strikes gold in Dubai lottery Dubai: An Indian, who works as a senior engineer with an architectural firm here, has bagged a million dirhams as a prize in a cash draw. A resident of Dubai for the past 16 years, Mohammed Azhar Ali is now planning a better future for his family.

"I have four kids and this prize will be used to provide for their future and ensure that they get the best education possible" he said, adding, "I am also very keen to use the money for charity so that I can share my rewards with the less fortunate in society."

$2 mn UN fund to fight Somalia piracy Geneva: A 10-nation board has approved dollar 2.1 million in UN funding for five projects to help Somalia and neighbouring countries to prosecute suspected pirates.

"Piracy off Somalia is a menace to the region and the world," said UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe, chair of the board overseeing a new trust fund. "Prosecuting suspected pirates is an important piece of the international strategy to combat the problem."

An international armada of warships has patrolled an area in the north of Somalia in the

Gulf of Aden for more than a year in a bid to curb piracy. But countries that have captured pirates have often struggled to bring them to justice due to legal technicalities.

Four of the projects in line for the funding are designed to support institutions in the Seychelles, which along with Kenya serves as a regional centre to prosecute pirates, as well as in Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland state and its breakaway region of Somaliland.

They will specifically deal with mentoring prosecutors and police, building and rehabilitating prisons, reviewing domestic legis-

Amidst other celebrities and dignitaries the glittering evening proved to be yet another feather in the cap of Pakistan India Friendship Forum, proving that the two communities of India and Pakistan can stand together on the one platform showing a united front,

enjoying the cultures and traditions of their countries in a mutually beneficial and friendly atmosphere.

Earlier, in the month of March, Pakistan India Friendship Forum UK, held a press conference on 29th March 2010, at Mumtaz Restaurant, at Baker Street. The press conference was organised to announce the annual report of last year`s activities and the planned events for year 2010.

Currently in its fifth year, the Forum is recognised by the governments of India, Pakistan & UK, with members and Patrons of all three ethnicities.

In response to a question posed, Chairman Mr Rajan Sehgal informed that they were currently trying to organise with the two high commisions of India and Pakistan to be able to gain visas for groups belonging to the one country to be able to travel to the other, without any fear or worry, in the presence of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and the Forumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hospitality.

lation on piracy and enhancing court capacity.

A media project will help local partners design and spread anti-piracy messages across Somalia.

The trust fund was launched in January by a Contact Group on piracy off Somalia. Its supervising board includes 10 voting members: Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Kenya, the Marshall Islands, Norway, Somalia and the United States. There are also three non-voting UN bodies: the International Maritime Organisation, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the UN country team for Somalia.

He was declared winner of the draw for this month by Dubai Bank for investing in its Kunooz account and was awarded his cheque by Tariq Al Farsi, Head of Branches at Dubai Bank.

Ali had signed up for the account in July last year. "When I first heard

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26

Asian Voice - Saturday Saturday 1st May 2010

Obama, Dalai Lama world’s most popular leaders Paris: US president Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama are the world’s two most popular leaders, according to a poll conducted in six countries and released last week. Obama won 77% backing, one percentage point higher than in November, in the poll conducted by Harris Interactive for France24 and Radio France-Internationale. The Tibetan

Roundup Recitation of Sanskrit mantras at Fresno City Council meet Nevada: City Council of Fresno, the largest inland city in California, will reverberate with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures on May 13.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Fresno City Council on this day. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with "Om", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say "Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya", which roughly translates as "Lead us from the unreal to the Real, Lead us from darkness to Light, and Lead us from death to Immortality." Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge Councilors to keep the welfare of others always in mind.

Partymen’s sex lives comes under scanner in China Beijing: Changing spouse has become an uphill task for officials of the Communist Party of China. The top leadership has ordered CPC officials to report change of spouses and to furnish details about their spouses and children who live overseas.

The move comes a year after President Hu Jintao launched a campaign against the system of senior officials keeping mistresses. The party took the view that mistresses are usually kept by corrupt officials as additional funds are required for this purpose. The move at moral policing caused surprise within the party as it is not uncommon for the rich and powerful to have mistresses in China.

The latest order also asks “leading officials at all levels” to keep the party informed about their personal income, investments, including property purchases, done by their family members. The CPI is apparently trying to tackle a widespread belief that the runaway increase in property prices over the past one year has been caused by excessive speculation in real estate by insiders in the government and the party.

Taliban move into abandoned US base Kabul: Taliban fighters swarmed over a mountaintop base abandoned last week by the US military following some of the toughest fighting of the Afghan war, according to footage on a major satellite television station. The video aired by Al-Jazeera TV is a morale booster for Taliban fighters, though the US insists the decision to withdraw from the base in the Korengal Valley was sound and the area has no strategic value.

The footage showed armed men walking through the former US base and sitting atop sandbagged gun positions overlooking the steep hillsides. A man identified

by Al-Jazeera as a local Taliban commander said the militants intended to use the base for attacks on US forces.

Passenger threatens to blow up US plane Los Angeles: A passenger on a US aircraft sprayed the first class cabin with a water bottle, tried to open a cabin door and threatened to blow up the plane, officials said.

Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, 46, was taken into custody last week for allegedly interfering with crew members on a flight from Los Angeles to Tampa, Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.

Sheffield was subdued by crew members and fellow passengers after his threat.

The incident prompted the Delta flight 2148 to change its route to Albuquerque in New Mexico, FBI supervisory special agent Darrin Jones was quoted as saying

by Xinhua.

The plane later took off from Albuquerque and landed safely a few hours later in Tampa. No one was hurt in the incident.

spiritual leader was at second place at 75%, followed by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton at 62%. Pope Benedict XVI was the seventh most popular leader with 36% support. The survey was carried out on the internet between March 31 and April 12 and covered 6,135 adults aged between 16 and 64 in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States.

US makes new nuke concessions to India Washington: India will receive new concessions as part of its bilateral civilian nuclear agreement with the United States.

In a move that has angered arms control advocates, Washington agreed to Indian demands to increase the number of plants allowed to reprocess US-supplied nuclear fuel from one to two, with the option of another two if India's needs grow in the future, the Washington Times reports.

India has thus far failed to pass legislation that would release US companies from liability in case of accidents related to

equipment they have provided for two reactors to be built under the 2007 US-Indian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.

That effectively prevents those firms from starting businesses in the South Asian country.

The US government understands "the need for sufficient indigenous Indian capacity to reprocess or otherwise alter in form or content, under [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguards, US-obligated nuclear material," says the new document, which was released by the State Department.

In 2008, the Bush

administration restricted Indian reprocessing to one plant in an effort to limit potential proliferation of dangerous dual-use technology, which could be used for military or civilian purposes. However, last month's agreement refers to "two new national reprocessing facilities established by the government of India."

It also says "the management of separated safeguarded plutonium ... shall take into account the need to avoid contributing to the risks of nuclear proliferation, the need to protect the environment, workers and the public."

Arms control experts

denounced the new deal, saying it adds to the "damage" done by the original agreement.

"It will further undermine US efforts to stop the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technologies," Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said of the March deal.

"It should be rejected

by Congress because it is inconsistent with the terms outlined in" the original agreement, he added.

The new document does not need congressional approval and will go into force unless Congress stops it within 30 days.

Ottawa: A former Canadian immigration judge was found guilty of trying to coerce sex from a South Korean woman in exchange for granting her asylum, the court said.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Thea Herman ruled former Immigration and Refugee Board judge Steve Ellis, 50, was guilty of breach of trust and bribery

in relation to the refugee application. Prosecutors alleged that in September 2006, Ellis met with Ji-Hye Kim, then 25, at a Toronto coffee shop and said he would deny her refugee claim unless she agreed to an "intimate relationship."

During the trial, the court was presented with audio and video recordings of their conversation, which

was secretly recorded by Kim and her boyfriend. In the recordings, Ellis said, "Let me see what I can do.

I'm going to work on it. I really want to be friends with you." "You've got a boyfriend. I've got a wife," he said. "Don't worry. I'm not going to be demanding.

I'm not going to ask you to move in with me or anything like that." "I'm not

going to fall in love with you."

Before being appointed as an immigration judge, Ellis was a Toronto city councillor from 1991 to 1997. Kim was seeking asylum in Canada from an abusive father and threats from money lenders in her home country of South Korea. Ellis is to be sentenced on June 4.

Canadian judge sought sex from Korean refugee

Nepal to allow gays to marry on Mt Everest

US court sends Indian to jail for 81 months

Kathmandu: In 2007, Nepal had classified homosexuality as a crime, punishable by up to two years in prison, but now, the Himalayan nation is about to become the first in Asia to allow same-sex marriages. It is also promoting gay weddings on the world famous Mt Everest in an attempt to become the continent’s top gay tourism destination.

“We’re completely changing this country. It’s a newborn republic - and we want to showcase this change,” a report quoted Nepal’s Tourism Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari, as saying. “We also want to re-establish tourism as a major industry.”

Bhandari says he is aiming to attract at least one million tourists to

Nepal in 2011, more than double the number last year. He kicked off the marketing campaign in October with a written message to the International Conference on Gay and Lesbian Tourism in Boston - an unprecedented gesture for an Asian minister.

“As the world knows, Nepal is the land of Mount Everest, world’s highest peak and the birth place of Lord Buddha, light of Asia,” the message said.

“I, therefore, would like to take this opportunity to invite and welcome all the sexual and gender minorities from around the world,” he said then.

Nepal is also due to host the first Asian Symposium on Gay and Lesbian Tourism in Kathmandu in June.

This sudden turnaround highlights the extraordinary change that has swept the country since a democratic uprising forced King Gyanendra to renounce absolute power in 2006 and the Maoists won power and abolished the world’s last Hindu monarchy two years later.

Washington: A US court on Tuesday sentenced an Indian to 81 months in prison on conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges arising from an international fraud scheme to "hack" into online brokerage accounts in America and use those accounts to manipulate stock prices.

Jaisanker Marimuthu, a native of Chennai, who was extradited to the US following his arrest in Hong Kong, was also ordered by the court to pay USD 2.4 million in restitution.

Marimuthu, 36, had pleaded guilty on February 5 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, computer fraud and to one count of aggravated identity theft before US District Magistrate Judge in a Nebraska court.

Dubai: In what could become a prelude to introduction of a minimum age for marriage in Saudi Arabia, a 12-year-old girl has won a divorce from her 80-year-old husband.

According to local reports, the girl was married to her father’s cousin last year against her wishes and those of her mother. The marriage was

sealed with a dowry of 85,000 riyals and consummated. The 12-year-old, with the help of Saudi government’s legal assistance, fought her case in a court in Buraidah, near Riyadh. The unusual legal challenge had generated international media attention and scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s record of child marriages, and prompted

the state-run Human Rights Commission to appoint a lawyer to represent her. Based on the ruling, the commission has assembled three committees to examine the possibility of pushing for a legal minimum age for marriage of at least 16.

“The main aim is to not allow cases like this to happen again,” Alanoud

alHejailan, a lawyer for the commission, said. The case had sparked debate in Saudi Arabia, with some judges and clerics using Prophet Muhammad’s marriage to a nine-yearold girl as justification of child marriage. However, in January Sheikh Abdullah al-Manie, a senior Saudi cleric, spoke out in defence of the girl.

12-year-old Saudi bride wins divorce from 80-year-old hubby

27

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Musharraf was against Benazir’s return to Pak Islamabad: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was "hostile" and had a "confrontational" discussion with expremier Benazir Bhutto before her return to Pakistan from selfimposed exile in 2007, the slain leader's close friend Mark Siegel has said. Siegel, who helped Bhutto put together her final book claimed that Musharraf had telephoned Bhutto when

she was with him in the US to discuss her return to Pakistan.

He said Bhutto later told him about the conversation, saying Musharraf confronted her as he did not want her to return to Pakistan. "It wasn't a very good conversation. He was very confrontational. He seemed to be very hostile. He didn't want her to return." Siegel told a TV news channel.

Pak formally asks India to hand over Kasab IN FOCUS Islamabad: Pakistan has asked India to hand over Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving 26/11 gunman, so that it can complete its own trial of seven suspects linked to the terror attack.

“We have sought India’s help that he (Kasab) should be handed over to us so that the trial here can go forward,’’ Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said on Sunday. The request for handing over Kasab and Fahim Ansari, an Indian accused of helping the attackers, was included in Pakistan’s response to the

Ajmal Kasa

three Indian dossiers given during the February 25 foreign secretary talks in New Delhi. Foreign ministry officials delivered the six dossiers on Sunday to the deputy Indian High Rahul Commissioner Kulshreshth, said Basit.

When asked how India could extradite Kasab and Ansari, Basit replied: “It is not extradition per se. It is a legal requirement since the court has asked that Kasab be produced before it.’’ Pakistan is holding seven suspects linked to the November 26 attack, including alleged mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi and top Lashkar-eTaiba operative Zarar Shah. An anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi indicted the seven men on the eve of the first anniversary of the attack, in which at least 166 people were

killed.

Since the indictment, Pak officials have implied that the trial cannot proceed unless Kasab, who was convicted in Mumbai last month after a yearlong trial, is handed over as a witness. Kasab was convicted on March 31 on charges, including murder and waging war on India and faces sentencing on May 3. Prosecutors have demanded death penalty.

Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik has also said that Kasab is required to appear in Rawalpindi.

Family seeks death for 17 Indians

Dubai: Dealing a blow to the hopes of 17 Indians, sentenced to death for the murder of a Pakistani national in the UAE, to earn a reprieve, the family of the victim has sought death sentence for the accused.

Diplomatic sources in the Indian consulate in Dubai said that a relative of the victim in Sharjah, vested with the power of attorney on behalf of the family, has sought Al

Qisas (death punishment) for the 17 persons, all hailing from Punjab, convicted in the murder of Mishri Khan Nazar Khan.

Khan was allegedly murdered by a group of Indians at Al Saja’a area in Sharjah a year ago.

India’s minister for overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi said: “It would be unfair on me to react to the sentence sought by the family of the deceased. We already have

a team of lawyers in the UAE fighting the case for our nationals.’’

The Sharjah court, which handed down the death sentence to the accused, had recently allowed an appeal against the sentence and the appeal court is now reviewing the sentence. The UAE government had also made it clear that its legal system guarantees a fair trial and the death sentence is subject to appeal.

However, with the family of the victim seeking death sentence and refusing to accept Diya money (blood money paid to the victim’s family as compensation), the fate of the 17 Indians hangs in balance. According to the Sharia law applicable in the UAE, if one causes the death or injury of another person accidentally or intentionally, he or she has to pay blood money or diya.

Washington: Pakistan has signed a $65 million deal with the United States for the "hot transfer" of refurbished American frigate USS McInerney by August 31. The contract for the "hot transfer" of the USS McInerney, a Perry-class guided missile frigate, was signed by senior officials of the two countries here last week. Under the agreement, the Pakistan Navy will take over the vessel on August 31.

The sale of the frigate, which would be inducted into the Pakistan Navy as PNS Alamgir at a ceremony in the US, was approved by the United States Congress in September 2008.

Commissioned in 1979, the frigate would be handed over after a refurbishment that includes anti-submarine capability that has been paid for with the foreign military aid provided by the United

States to friendly countries. On completion of the refurbishment in January next year, the vessel will sail to Pakistan to join the country's naval fleet.

Pakistani officials described the deal to acquire the warship a major "milestone" towards further strengthening the wide-ranging Pakistan-US relationship.

"The successful completion of this contract

will pave the way for acquisition of more vessels of the same class for the Pakistan Navy to raise a squadron of eight Perryclass frigates," a spokesman for the Pakistani embassy said.

"This will greatly enhance the operational readiness of the Pakistan Navy," he added. In the last couple of years USS McInerney has been mainly involved in successful counter-drug operations.

New Delhi: Pakistan has threatened to move the World Bank for arbitration over Kishanganga power project in Jammu and Kashmir, which it alleges violates the 1960 Indus Water Treaty.

Pakistan has issued the threat in a recent letter to India, the third such communication in last one year, official sources said.

In the letter, Pakistan has said the Indus Water Treaty, which governs sharing of six common river waters, is being violated by the Kishanganga project and it has the "right" to move the World Bank for arbitration, they said.

Pakistan's fresh threat comes after several rounds of bilateral talks failed to end differences over the

issue. Under the Treaty, World Bank is an arbitrator between India and Pakistan over sharing of river water and it can be invoked by either country. Pakistan has been opposing construction of the power project on Kishanganga, claiming it violates the Indus Water Treaty, a contention rejected

by India. Work on the 330MW project, capacity of

which can be raised to 990 MW, started in 1994 and Pakistan immediately protested, prompting talks between the two countries to resolve it.

Under the Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan has exclusive right over three of the common rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - while India has exclusive right over Sutlej, Ravi and Beas.

Pakistan signs $65 million deal for US warship

Threat to move World Bank over Kishenganga project

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Manmohan - Gilani meeting likely during Saarc meet Thimphu: In a first official indication of a possible meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan in Thimphu, India’s external affairs minister SM Krishna on Monday said the bilateral meeting cannot be ruled out. "I am not ruling it out," Krishna said when asked if prime minister Manmohan Singh will meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani during his visit here for the Saarc summit to be held on April 28 to 29. Observing that heads of states and governments are going to be under the same roof for the next couple of days for the multilateral meeting, the minister said there would be a number of bilateral meetings during the period. "Lets wait and watch, how things are going to work out," he said, adding "all bilateral issues between India and Pakistan will be discussed as and when the prime ministers meet".

Taliban warn media against ‘ignoring' their viewpoint Islamabad: The Taliban have warned the Pakistani media for "the last time" against "ignoring" the group's viewpoint and claimed that newspapers and television channels were hiding the truth and working as an ally of army.

Pakistani Taliban 'spokesman' Muhammad Umar issued the warning through an e-mail sent to journalists in Peshawar hours after militants attacked an army convoy in North Waziristan tribal region, killing seven soldiers and injuring 16 others. Umar, who described himself as "a spokesman for the Taliban Media Centre" in North Waziristan, said: "Why is the media only conveying the army's point of view? Is this proof that the media is also working as an ally for the government and the army? Or they are being forced to hide the truth?" "This e-mail should be considered a last warning for the media of Pakistan. If the media doesn't stop working as an ally of the government and the army, the Taliban would have to treat the media as they want to be treated," he said. Umar said the media could either be with "the terrorists or the truth." The Taliban have issued threats to the media in northwest Pakistan on several occasions in the past two years.

Pak may slip over N-weapons to Taliban for use against India Washington: Pakistan may slip over nuclear weapons to the Taliban for use against India in the event of escalated tension or war between the two neighbours, a nonproliferation US commission has said.

"If something broke out in Kashmir that reignited the vitriol between India and Pakistan, that could be an incident that could cause someone to make the decision.

A commission official was responding to questions from anxious lawmakers who expressed concern over the safety and security of nuclear weapons in Pakistan at a hearing convened by the House Homeland Security Committee.

"I think one of our recommendations was to work with India and Pakistan to develop some fail-safe procedures. Unlike, the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, where although we were strong adversaries and had the capability of destroying each other. We understood that we didn't want to allow a misstep or an accidental event to become the ignition for such a war. So we set up the red phone in the Oval Office and a whole protocol," the official said referring to the report of the commission released early this year.

"None of that exists between India and Pakistan. I have felt that this may be an area in which the US and Russia together, since we developed these protocols for our own benefit and the world's benefit, might work together with India and Pakistan to try to get them to develop," he said.

"I was encouraged that within the last month India and China have started to develop some of those fail-safe procedures. But there's almost nothing that has been done in a similar vein between the real adversaries, which are India and Pakistan," the official said.

India's evidence on Hafiz Saeed rejected New Delhi: He is on India's most-wanted list for, among other things, playing a key role in 26/11. But Pakistan says that the multiple dossiers given by India that elaborate on Hafiz Saeed don't provide enough evidence against the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) leader. Saeed is believed to work closely with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the terrorist group that plotted the attacks against Mumbai. Pakistan, in its dossier handed to India over the weekend, has said that India's evidence against Saeed will not stand in Pakistani courts. It also stated that India has based its evidence on the statement of Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive during 26/11, and that his testimony is not acceptable.

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

This week meet Harrow Conservative Party President Dolar Popat, Cllr Navin Shah AM from Labour Party, Cllr Chuni Chavda from Lib Dem party. Since CB is away to India for Gujarat 50 years celebration, the show will be hosted by Kanti Nagda, of Sangat Community Centre.

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500 Resist making any hasty moves when it come to finances - this is a time to focus on consolidation of current assets rather than attempting to make any new investments. Guard against being too impatient and restless. Any obstacles that have stood in the way of your heart's desires should melt into the background soon.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

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Coming Events l Masquerade Carnival camp, April 24 and May 1, Rock Street, Wellingborough NN8 1HX Contact- Val 07991 3088029 l Mad Mentors showcases an evening of talent, April 30, Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London W1, Tel:07894226562 l The Asian Music Circuit Presents.... At Café Oto Wednesday 28 April 2010, Café Oto, London, E8 3DL - www.cafeoto.co.uk l Courtly Love- Indian poetry, music and dance from the palaces of the Maharajahs Organised jointly with Poets in the City Thursday 29 April, 2010, 7.00pm in the Ondaatje Wing Theatre at the National Portrait Gallery St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE , Call 020 7306 0055 Book online at www.npg.org.uk/events l The ARCC Classical Tent at Croydon Mela Sunday 1 August 2010, 1.30pm till 6.30pm, free Lloyd Park, CRO 5RD For more details visit www.croydonsummerfestival.org Southbank Centre 1. Saturday 1 – Sunday 9 May Southbank Centre’s mass participation festival, Chorus!

On 6 May in the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre presents the European premiere of Philip Miller’s REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape & Testimony, inspired by the testimonials of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation commission.

2. Folk Against Fascism's Village Fête featuring Bellowhead, Chumbawamba & Show of Hands Sunday 2 May 2010, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7.30pm, 3. Jeppe Hein Appearing Rooms May - October 2010, Riverside Terrace, Southbank Centre 4. Joanna Newsom with special guest Roy Harper Tuesday 11 May & Wednesday 12 May 2010, Royal Festival Hall, 7.30pm

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East London line re-opens

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

The domestic scene may prove to be active and harmonious as long as you use tact and diplomacy. Intense focus is what is needed now so do not let yourself be distracted by non-essentials. The gentle influence of Venus ensures that most things run smoothly and that your cash-flow remains viable.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 If you're currently romantically involved, your lover could well go from strength to strength in the area of passion. Although the very practical affairs of life continue to be highlighted, this does not mean that there will be all work and no play. In fact, you will be very much in demand socially.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 The focus is on finances this week, but that doesn’t mean you should worry yourself sick. Rather, find new and improved ways to boost your earnings potential. Don’t let nebulous tendencies interfere with your plans. It’s fine to consider several options but don’t get caught up in indecision. Schedule networking opportunities later this week.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 The fiery planet Mars, continues to occupy your sign for some time to come.

Its influence will help you to maintain a high energy level and achieve positive results in anything that requires drive and initiative. If you are involved in a fairly competitive field of activity, you will be the one who comes out on top.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 Jupiter, the planet of abundance, is transiting your partnership sector. You have plenty of romantic options. Financially you are still not out of the woods as Saturn is transiting your sign for quite a while. At work you will experience a relaxed atmosphere and this will help you to get on with everyone around you.

Millions of Londoners will be able to cross the river by rail from Hackney to New Cross when the revamped East London line reopened on last Tuesday.

The railway will operate a limited service of eight trains per hour from 7am to 8pm on weekdays from Dalston Junction to New Cross. A full service to West Croydon will open on May 23.

Campaigners welcomed the £1 illion extension of the old East London line but warned that it should be in addition to existing rail services in south London, which are facing cutbacks. Commuters in south-east London, which is not on the Tube, are particularly poorly served by the public transport network. The South London line, which runs in a U-shape between Victoria and London Bridge, is under threat from the second phase of the East London line, which will extend to Clapham Junction by 2012.

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LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

Jupiter's transit in your solar 6th house, you will find it easy to do well at work and rise to great heights. During this transit you will enjoy robust health and find physical activities very enjoyable. Plan your spending and set sensible budgets to reach your financial goals.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 It is a particularly favourable time for dealing with financial interests with a long-term basis, such as investments, insurance and pension schemes, legacies and all jointly held resources.

Mercury is in retrograde motion and it’s been nothing if not frustrating for you. This is evident mainly in the arena of relationships.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 You will feel confident as the week begins. The cosmic energies are decidedly invigorating at the moment. If you are taking a holiday, so much the better ! Not only do you have Venus putting a favourable emphasis on travel but, with Mars you can be sure of deriving the utmost pleasure from adventures and excursions.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 The Sun illuminates your fifth house. After a period of “nesting”, you are coming out of your shell, ready to express yourself creatively. You are feeling inspired and romantically you express your feelings quite openly now. You instinctively know how to place yourself in the best light in order to make a good impression on others.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 At the moment, relationships are experiencing major transformations.

Financially, you have everything going for you. This is a good time to put lucrative plans into action and reap the benefits of sound investments. However, be prudent and do not fritter away your good fortune.

An inspiring boost to matters of communication but make sure your curiosity on a range of topics does not lead to a scattering of mental energy. With a surge of enery and enthusiasm, this is a favourable time to make fresh starts. Personal relationships may be more intense.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

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Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010 Down 1 Some seaweed 2 Mr. Mastase 3 Nap side 4 Defenseless target 5 “One L” writer 6 Work shoe 7 Mach+jet 8 Hiker’s route 9 Non-Jewish 10 Garage-floor stainer 11 Stage a coup 12 Temporary tattoo 13 What’s just over a foot 19 Continental sound 21 partend 25 FX network 27 Shift blame 28 Parris Island org.

29 Orange coat 30 Cube-maker Rubik 32 DIY purchase 34 According to plan 36 One-theird of a WWll movie?

37 Son of Seth 38 Talking starling 41 Writer Fleming 44 Molders 46 Thomas___Edison 48 Makes into law 50 Holy war 51 Like a bunch 52 Powdered chocolate 54 “Catch-22” star 57 Brightly-colored fish 59 Brandling tool 60 Mafia leader 61 Writer Haley 63 Neb. neighbor 64 Prefix with corn or form

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Solution of Crossword-84

SPELLATHON - 85

P R A I S E D

Today’s Ratings: 06-average |07-good | 09-outstanding

How many words of four or more letters can you make from the letters shown in today’s puzzle? In making a word, each letter may be used once only.

Each word must contain the central letter. There S should be at least one I seven-letter word.

H Plurals, foreign words F and proper names are F E not allowed. British English Dictionary is R used as reference.

R E D T I D E

C L E M A T I S A V E P O S P T R E H O S E V I N E N S

P E O P L E D

Solution of Spellathon - 84 ding, dingo, doing, doling, gild, gold, idol, LODGING

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Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758 – 1805, pictured) is Britain’s most famous naval commander. While his victories at sea during the early years of Napoleonic wars (1796 – 1815) made him a popular figure, he won the gratitude of his country for his decisive victory over a combined French and Spanish fleet that was prepared to invade England at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Son of a Norfolk rector, Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk in 1758. He entered the harsh life of Royal Navy as a 12 year old midshipman and rose rapidly to become captain in 21, and in 1784 commanded the British frigate Bores, stationed in Antigua. A unique run of decisive victories followed, against the French at Nile (1798), the Danes at Copenhagen (1801), and his masterpiece Trafalgar (1805), in which though he lost his life, he overwhelmingly defeated the combined French and Spanish fleet destroying forever Napoleon’s hope of invading Britain.

Arguably the most famous sea battle ever, and certainly the most decisive, the Battle of Trafalgar took place on 21st October 1805 at Cape Trafalgar off

Use 4 4’s and only 4 4’s along with any mathematical operators to make a total of 578

the coast of south-west S p a i n .

Admiral Nelson on board his flagship H M S Victory (of over 800 crew and 100 guns) brilliantly led 27 British ships off Cape Trafalgar against a larger French and Spanish fleet of 33 ships to victory. Most of the fight took place at very close range incurring huge loss of lives. At least 7000 Franco-Spanish lives were lost against 1600 British.

Nineteen enemy ships

were captured and the French Admiral was taken prisoner. Incredibly, the British retained all its ships.

While directing the battle from quarterdeck, Nelson was fatally wounded by a French sniper at the height of the battle and died three hours later, having been told of the British triumph.

Thanks to Nelson’s inspirational leadership, the British won a great naval battle albeit at the cost of his life. This put an end to Napoleon’s plans of invading England and ensured Britain’s naval supremacy for next hundred years.

On Victory’s upper deck a

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Solution of KAKURO - 84

metal plaque commemorates the spot where he fell on 21st October 1805.

Nelson’s death was mourned by the whole nation. His body was brought for a state funeral and buried in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral London. Some 200 years after his death he is still regarded as a major British hero. His special gift of inspiring leadership has never been surpassed.

Although highly skilled and daring tactician, he was to pay a high price for his courage. He had already lost his right eye and right arm in action even before Trafalgar.

Strangely enough, he suffered from seasickness all his life. His message to his staff was simple, ‘England expects that every man will do his duty’. His statue (pictured) stands high on a column in Trafalgar Square, London, guarded by four large Bronze lions.

His famous ship HMS Victory (pictured) is restored and preserved in Portsmouth’s historic docks and is open to visitors. It’s like a living museum and portrays what life was like on board the ship.

Across the road from the ship is the Royal Naval Museum – one of country’s leading maritime museums, in which one of the galleries displays special exhibits on Nelson’s life and HMS Victory.

WHATZIT? - 85 Find the familiar phrase, saying or name in this arrangement of letters.

Solution of - 84 : Split decision

KAKURO - 85

3

Solution of sudoku-84 HOW TO PLAY Each row, column and square 3x3 box is a sub-grid of 9 cells. Fill in the grid so that each subgrid contains the digits 1 to 9. Every puzzle has one solution.

E S T E E M S

Admiral Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar

Solution of 84 I’m a Cloud.

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The numbers in the pink Example squares refer to the sums of the digits that you must fill into the empty spaces directly below or to the right of the pink square containing the number. For instance, in the given example, the 2 boxes below 12 must contain 2 digits that add upto 12, whereas for 20, the 3 boxes places horizontally next to it must add upto 20.

No zeroes are used here, only the digits one through nine.

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Note: A digit cannot appear more than once in any particular digit combination. For instance in the example, we cannot have the combination of 8+4+8 for 20.

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HEALTH WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Treating hay fever naturally

Whilst spring brings a burst of colour to our surroundings it also heralds the arrival of hay fever for sufferers

By Urja Patel vegetrition.com You know when spring has finally arrived when trees begin to bud, daffodils pop up everywhere and the sun gets stronger meaning longer and sunnier day. A down-side to spring is hay fever. Hay fever is caused by an allergy to pollen and attacks, which are often seasonal, consist of: n prolonged, sometimes violent sneezing, n itchy, painful nose, throat, and roof of mouth. n nasal discharge, n stuffy, runny nose, n postnasal drip, resulting in coughing, n watery, itchy eyes, n head and nasal congestion, n ear pressure or fullness, and n lethargy; sleep disturbance or insomnia.

Treatment Options Conventional medicine has several approaches for treating hay fever, from over-the-counter antihistamines to allergy shots. A number of alternative therapies can also help with symptom control and as preventive measures.

Aromatherapy: To ease

Aromatheraphy oils help ease nasal and sinus irritation

sinus irritation, combine 5 ml niaouli (Melaleuca viriddlora), .5 ml German chamomile (Matricaria recutita), and 3 drops peppermint (Mentha piperita) essential oil; moisten your face and then spread a drop of this blend over your skin.

Herbal Beauty: For symptom relief, take two capsules of nettle (Urtica dioica) every 15 minutes during an attack, then four times a day as a maintenance dose. To help reduce inflammation, try inhaling the steam from ginger (Zingiber officinale) tea: Mix 2 tsp chopped or grated ginger in 2 cups boiling water and let simmer for 20 minutes. Breathe in the steam for five to seven minutes.

You can use the same tea reheated to repeat this treatment several times a day.

Regular doses of parsley (Petroselinum crispurn) may help with hay fever; it is thought to work by reducing your body’s production of histamine.

You may be able to slow down your body’s production of mucus with goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea), garlic (A Ilium sativum), or yarrow (Achillea mille folium).

Bathe irritated eyes with compresses soaked in either eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis) or chamomile (Matricaria recutita); make a tea from the leaves and dilute it by 50 percent with water or saline solution before using it to soak the compresses.

Homeopathy: For watery, hot eyes, a burning nasal discharge with sneezing, and symptoms that feel worse late at night, try Arsenicum album.

A diet high in fruit and veg will provide vitamin C

Pulsatilla can help if your symptoms—thick, yellow mucus accompanied by a loss of taste and smell— are made worse by warm rooms but are better outdoors. If you have watery, itchy eyes and a runny but not irritated nose, try Euphrasia; if, on the other hand, your nose is irritated and your eyes are watery but not itchy, try A Ilium cepa.

Nutrition and Diet: It is believed that refined sugar and casein, the protein in dairy products, are mucusproducing substances that are best avoided during hay fever season. Taking a commercial preparation of chelated calcium and magnesium may help regulate histamine production. A diet high in fruits and vegetables will supply large amounts of vitamin C and bioflavonoids, which help stabilize the body’s cells that contain histamine.

Some researchers believe that honey has a de; sensitizing and antiallergic effect that may relieve some hay fever symptoms. Two months before the season starts, begin eating 2 tsp daily of raw honey that comes from a nearby hive. Or chew (but don’t swallow) a bite-size piece of honeycomb for five to 10 minutes twice a day. Check with your doctor first to avoid potential allergic reactions.

Many people with hay fever are also allergic to certain foods and may experience symptoms as a result of eating such foods as eggs, nuts, fish, shellfish, chocolate, dairy products, wheat, corn, citrus fruits, or food colorings or preservatives. Try to get an allergy test done to help rule out any food allergies.

Prevention: The best way

to combat the allergens that are assaulting you is to avoid them. Stay indoors between six and 10 o’clock in the morning and on days when the pollen count is high.

The pollen count drops on rainy days and climbs when it’s hot, sunny, and windy outside.

Keep windows closed and the air conditioning turned on. Change ventilation system filters in your home once a month. Remove allergens from the air with ionizing air cleaners.

Prevent mold in damp basements by using space heaters and dehumidifiers.

Try to keep your grass no more than an inch high in the spring and summer so that it won’t pollinate. If you do yard work, wear a filtered mask and protective glasses. Wash your face, hands, and hair and rinse your eyes when coming in from outdoors to avoid leaving traces of pollen on your pillow.

Vegetrition is a Berkshire based nutritional consultancy that specialises in vegetarian nutrition therapy and advice for clients. For more information log on to vegetrition.com or email info@vegetrition.com

Green tea prevents eye disease Green tea has always been known for its antioxidant effects and disease fighting properties, but now researchers say the benefits could help the eyes.

The report, the first to study how the lens, retina and other eye tissues absorb these substances, suggests that the drink may protect against glaucoma and other common

eye diseases.

Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Chi Pui Pang and colleagues say that 'catechins', a type of antioxidant found in green tea, can pass from the stomach to tissues in the eye.

Catechins include vitamin C, vitamin E and it had not been known

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whether they could aid vision.

But the researchers at Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Eye Hospital, experimenting on rats, found that the rodents given the tea showed their eyes benefiting from the catechins.

The team concluded: 'Our results indicate that green tea consumption could benefit the eye against oxidative stress'.

Sport WoRLd

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Sachin Tendulkar best batsman of IPL 2010 Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar was Friday named best batsman while Deccan Chargers' Pragyan Ojha bagged the best bowler honour at a glitzy IPL Awards Night here on Friday.

Tournament's most prolific batsman, Tendulkar, who turns 37 Saturday, has 570 runs in his kitty from 14 matches with five fifties.

He beat competitions from Royal Challengers' batsmen Jacques Kallis (553 runs from 15) and Robin Uthappa (374 from 15) and Chennai Super King's Suresh Raina (463 from 15) and Murali Vijay (432 from 14) for the Jury Award for best batsman.

Tendulkar, who is uncertain to lead Mumbai Indians in Sunday's IPL final against Chennai Super Kings after splitting his right hand webbing during the first semifinal on April 21, was also named best batsman and best captain in the Viewers' Choice category.

Following is the full award list: Jury Awards Best Debut Performance: Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) Best Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar

(Mumbai Indians) Best Bowler: Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers) Best Dramatic Performance: Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians) Most Consistent Performer: Jacques Kallis (Royal Challengers Bangalore) Best Breakthrough Performance 2008: Brendon McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders) Best Breakthrough Performance 2009: Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers Bangalore) Best Fielder: AB de Villiers

(Delhi Daredevils) Best Ground: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Best Stadium Experience: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai Viewers' Choice Awards Best Catch: David Hussey (Kolkata Knight Riders) Best Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians) Best Captain: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians) Best Bowler: Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers) Best Commentator: Ravi Shastri Most Stylish Player: Robin Uthappa (Royal Challengers Bangalore) Most Fan-Friendly Cricketer: Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers) Best Fielder: Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings) Statistical Awards Most Economical Bowler: Ravichandran Ashwin (Chennai Super Kings) Fastest Hundred: Yusuf Pathan (Rajasthan Royals) Highest Percentage of Runs Scored in Boundaries: Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils)

Champions League T20 to be played in SA As curtains came down on the IPL season III, South Africa was declared as the host for Champions League T20 cricket gala at a governing council meeting held in Mumbai last weekend.

The tournament chairman Lalit Modi confirmed the decision, following a board meeting in Mumbai where it was formally agreed to accept Cricket

South Africa's invitation to stage the event.

However Modi, under immense scrutiny over the ongoing IPL mess, was not present at that meeting, which took place at the BCCI headquarters on Saturday.

“South Africa is considered an ideal CLT20 host after successfully staging the Indian Premier League and ICC World

T20 tournaments in recent years, as well as the strong support shown for its domestic Pro20 Series competition,” said Modi in a press release.

Details such as the venues and competing teams will be announced in the near future.

The first edition of the tournament was held in India last year. South Africa had hosted the IPL

in 2009.

The Champions League is jointly run by Cricket Boards of India, South Africa and Australia, while teams from other countries participate on invitation basis. The governing council for the tournament has representation from all the test playing countries. In the first edition though, Pakistan and Bangladesh teams did not play.

Lankans, Kiwis to play a historic T20 series in the USA Sri Lanka and New Zealand will play a threematch T20 series in the USA next month following the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in West Indies, USA Cricket and New Zealand Cricket announced last week.

The series - the first international cricket matches to be played by full ICC members in the USA - will take place from May 20-23 in Lauderhill, Florida, around 30 miles from Miami, an International

Cricket Council (ICC) statement said.

The matches will be played at the Central Broward County Regional Park Cricket Stadium in Lauderhill, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale. It is the only ICC approved cricket stadium in North America.

The inaugural match is set for Thursday night 20th May. The other two matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons (22nd-23rd May).

The teams will be attending after the finals of the Twenty20 World Cup tournament on May 16th.

USA Cricket CEO, Donald Lockerbie has said that the cricket is already popular in the USA but lacks the major media coverage that other sports receive. He hoped that this inaugural series will help to reverse the situation and demonstrate to the American public just how exciting the T20 format is.

Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said that the Sri Lankan team and the country are honored to be one of the first two ICC Full Members to be involved in this historic series.

"We shall bring our finest team possible and look to return home with a great experience in the USA, helping the sport grow swiftly before thousands of American cricket fans," Ranatunga has said.

31

Wayne Rooney wins the PFA award James Milner bags the Young player honour Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney won the PFA award for the year, achieving a distinction that came to an English footballer after four years. The Professional Footballer’s Association Player of the Year later said he was confident of recovering Wayne Rooney from his groin injury and play for England at the World Cup. He gave the credit for his success to his manager at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson.

It’s been a season of highs and lows for the player, with Rooney scoring thirty-four goals for United and eight for England, despite being blighted by injury. His ankle is said to be healed, however now he is recovering from a groin injury he sustained during training. The whole country held their breath while both Beckham and Rooney recovered from their injuries. While Beckhams Achilles tendon will see him taking a side line role as a coaching assistant, Rooney has promised to be fit for the World Cup. “The groin will be fine for the World Cup, there are no worries about that.” he said at the ceremony.

Rooney was also nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year, missing out to Aston Villa’s James Milner. He was however extremely happy with his own award.

“It’s something I’m really proud of and it’s a great honour. I remember coming here in 2005 and 2006 to win the young player of the year. I saw the players winning the main one and it’s something I’ve aimed for since.”

PFA Young Player of the Year - James Milner: Aston Villa midfielder Milner has been rewarded for an excellent season and beat off competition from Rooney, Fabregas and Joe Hart to emulate club team-mate Ashley Young in winning this award.

English Premier League Matches Saturday, 1 May Birmingham v/s Burnley St. Andrews Ground Man City v/s Aston Villa City of Mcr. Stadium Portsmouth v/s Wolverhampton Fratton Park Stoke v/s Everton Brittania Stadium Tottenham v/s Bolton White Hart Lane Sunday, 2 May Fulham v/s West Ham Craven Cottage Liverpool v/s Chelsea Anfield Sunderland v/s Man Utd Stadium of Light Monday, 3 May Blackburn v/s Arsenal Ewood Park Wigan v/s Hull D W Stadium Wednesday, 5 May Fulham v/s Stoke Crave Cottage Man City v/s Tottenham City of Mcr Stadium

12:45 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 13:30 16:00 17:00 13:30 20:00 20:00

ICC World Twenty20 Programme Date 30 April 30 April 01 May 01 May 02 May 02 May 03 May 03 May 04 May 04 May 05 May 05 May 06 May

Match Teams 01 New Zealand v/s Sri Lanka 02 West Indies v/s Ireland 03 Afghanistan v/s India 04 Bangladesh v/s Pakistan 05 India v/s South Africa 06 Australia v/s Pakistan 07 Sri Lanka v/s Zimbabwe 08 West Indies v/s England 09 New Zealand v/s Zimbabwe 10 England v/s Ireland 11 Australia v/s Bangladesh 12 Afghanistan v/s South Africa 13 (A1 v D2)

Venue Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown, Guyana Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown, Guyana Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados

06 May 07 May 07 May 08 May 08 May 09 May 09 May 10 May 10 May 11 May 11 May 13 May 14 May 16 May

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

(C1 v B2) (A2 v C2) (B1 v D1) (A1 v B2) (D2 v C1) (C2 v D1) (B1 v A2) (A1 v C1) (B2 v D2) (B1 v C2) (D1 v A2) 1st Semi-Final 2nd Semi-Final Final

Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Gros Islet, St Lucia Bridgetown, Barbados

32

Asian Voice - Saturday 1st May 2010

Chirayu Amin is the interim IPL boss Lalit K Modi suspended, gets 15 days to respond to BCCI chargesheet

The empire strikes back.

BCCI has finally suspended the high profile IPL boss Lalit Modi, appointed Chirayu Amin the interim IPL chairman.

Lalit Modi is already served with a chargesheet and is asked to respond within 15 days. If his response is found convincing, the proceedings against him will be dropped.

BCCI President Shashank Manohar has said the charges against Modi are all relating to the holdings of IPL franchises and his misdemeanor. He said emphatically there are no charges on match fixings or bettings. He has also said that contrary to Modi’s claims, most of his dealings were without concurrence with the IPL governing council. A lot of documents are also missing.

Perhaps even as Lalit Modi was planning to take on the IPL governing council meeting while enjoying the IPL season III finals at Mumbai, the BCCI had its plans ready and by the time the presentation ceremony was to commence, Modi was suspended as the IPL boss and also as the vice president of the BCCI. This of course, was done via email. The BCCI top brass had virtually boycotted the IPL awards function on Friday and the IPL finals on Sunday, sending a clear signal to the embattled Lalit Modi on the shape of things to come. I S Bindra of the Punjab Cricket Association was Modi’s only friend in the BCCI, apart from a couple of franchise owners – Vijay Mallya of the RCB, and Jay Mehta of the KKR and Shilpa Shetty of the RR.

Pawar, Patel have alleged family connections in IPL A detailed report is on page 24

Chirayu Amin was appointed as the interim president till the Modi issue is resolved. Manohar also added that if Modi’s response is convincing, the suspension will be withdrawn.

Chirayu Amin is the president of the Baroda Cricket Association in Gujarat. He is also the owner of Gujarat’s one of oldest pharma companines, the Alembic.

A committee is Chirayu Amin, the interim IPL also appointed with chairman Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavasker and MAK After the suspension Pataudi being the key and the chargesheet on members to chart out the Sunday night, Lalit Modi future course of action for was practically barred IPL season IV players’ from attending the auction and the nitty gritty Monday noon IPL governassociated with the coning council meeting. He duct of the tournament did strike back, asking if next year. the BCCI was so scared of Addressing a press even allowing him to conference after the meetattend the meeting. ing, Manohar said Modi On Monday noon, the would be charged on five BCCI top brass sat down counts -- shady initial bids to tackle the Modi gate. of Rajasthan Royals and Shashank Manohar, the Kings XI Punjab, a susBCCI president said pect broadcast deal with though he was offered the Sony, bid rigging of two position of the IPL boss, new franchises this year he declined. Instead,

and his behaviour.

"The chargesheet was discussed and the committee. BCCI CAO Ratnakar Shetty will look into all the records," Manohar said.

Manohar also said that some important documents were missing from the Board and IPL offices.

"Many documents are missing from the IPL and BCCI offices. Income Tax department has been asking for them but we don't have them.

Asked whether the board was worried about Modi's threats of exposing other BCCI office-bearers, Manohar said there was no concern. "The BCCI is not worried. If there are other guilty, we will sack them and take the same action," he said.

On whether he would share the blame for the scandal, Manohar said the whole system worked on faith and he could not be held responsible for entrusting Modi with the job.

Manohar also denied being under political pressure given the revelations of some politicians' involvement in the bidding process.

Shoaib – Sania: troubles continue in Pakistan too After a roaring welcome, crowds spoil the reception mood Shoaib Akhtar and Sania Mirza were sure happy with the roaring welcome as they reached Pakistan, but a huge numbers of fans gatecrashing at their reception in Sialkot and security mismanagement spoiled the mood for the newly wed sports stars on Sunday. To add to the problems, two men have even filed cases against the cricketer in Lahore courts, alleging that Shoaib Malik (L) and his wife, Shoaib Malik had Sania Mirza, attend their wedding violated the rules reception at Sialkot on April 25 in hosting a lavish reception.

Sania, who were sitting on They were accorded a the stage and greeting the very warm welcome on guests, also left before the arrival in Karachi on function ended.

Friday last week. A huge "Shoaib was upset at crowd of fans, including the heavy presence of the passengers, airlines and media in the five star hotel airport staff virtually in Lahore and warned the mobbed them at the airhotel management he port. Later, they flew to would leave if the media capital Islamabad and came on the floor he and attended a VVIP reception. his family members were But at Sialkot on staying on," one source Sunday, the matters were said. beyond control. Sialkot is Petitions filed in Pak Shoaib Malik’s native city. courts against Shoaib The reception was Two petitions were filed in hosted by Malik and Lahore courts on Monday turned out to be a against cricketer Shoaib headache for his family Malik for violating governsince many uninvited ment rules on holding guests showed up to take receptions and for the part in the celebrations at alleged sale of invitation the Sialkot hockey ground. cards for an event to celeEyewitnesses at the brate his wedding with function said Shoaib and Sania Mirza.

MS Dhoni leads CSK to IPL triumph Mumbai Indians falter in the finals For Chennai Super Kings, their consistency in all the seasons was finally crowned on Sunday. They beat Mumbai Indians in the season III finals after an absorbing encounter.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni is also the captain of the Chennai Super Kings. He led his team to the semi finals in one of the seasons, while ended up as no. 2 in the other one and finally got crowned as the champions in the season III. For the runners up – Mumbai Indians, it was a bit disappointing result, as they had emerged as the best team through the league stage and also in the semi finals, their victory was very emphatic.

In fact, it was he who started the turnaround against a formidable Mumbai Indians attack.

Suresh Raina capitalised on two dropped catches to score a crucial fifty. Chennai were struggling

Chennai Super Kings pose with the IPL trophy at Mumbai on April 25

at 68 for 3 after 12 overs when Dhoni got into the act. They piled up 100 runs in the last eight overs, and Raina scored 44 at a strike-rate of 200 after the first drop. The win concluded a fourth consecutive one-sided knockout in the tournament.

Mumbai Indians looked sub-

dued for most part of the chase. R Ashwin started the defence with a maiden over. Sachin Tendulkar, playing with a split webbing, played his least fluent innings of the tournament, scoring a laboured 48 off 45. Some strange moves in changing the batting order didn’t click.

Mumbai Indians were set a target that was the highest in all the IPL finals.

RCB book ticket to CL T20 in SA: DC crushed by 9 wickets in playoff Deccan Chargers, champions of season II did little to justify their reputation in the playoff for the third position. A day earlier, on Saturday, they could just muster 82 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore. This was the lowest score of the entire IPL season III. For Kumble’s batsmen, 83 was no contest, as they achieved the target losing just one wicket. {Brief scores: Finals - CSK 168 for 5 (Raina 57*, Dhoni 22, Fernando 2-23) beat MI 146 for 9 (Tendulkar 48, Pollard 27, Jakati 2-27) by 22 runs. Playoff – RCB 86 for 1 (Dravid 35*) beat DC 82 for 1 (Kumble 4-16) by 9 wickets}.