AV 1st October 2016

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Vol 45 | Issue 22

MODI GETS TOUGH ON INDUS TREATY

IS LABOUR BACKING THE WRONG HORSE?

P26

1st October to 7th October 2016

The biggest news this week was Jeremy Corbyn's re-election as Labour leader. He comfortably beat his challenger Owen Smith by garnering 61.8% of the vote, a larger margin of victory than last year.

Corbyn was first elected Labour leader in September 2015, when he defeated three other candidates and got 59.5% of the vote.

Now, all that is fine.

Winning in any game is good, but it's important to last long. There is no point in winning the battle only to lose the war. The war is in 2020. Yes, the general elections. Can Labour under Corbyn come to power again? That's the moot point. A party that had three back-to-back general election victories under the Teflon prime minister Tony Blair, can it once again make it to the top? There is a strong feeling that the Labour Party has chosen the wrong leader? It is backing the wrong horse. The cheer around Corbyn's win is likely to be short-lived.

Already the party was reeling under Corbyn's

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

poor leadership, it had miserably failed to connect with its voters, his re-election is nothing but another nail in Labour's coffin. Or to say, so long a s

Corbyn is at the helm of Labour Party, the Tories will have a good time in the electoral battle.

However, in his leadership victory acceptance speech, Corbyn urged Labour to “wipe the slate clean” and vowed to bring Labour back together, saying “we have much more in common than divides us”, insisting the party could win the next election as the “engine of progress” in the country.

Corbyn said both he and Smith were part of the “same Labour family” as he appealed for unity.

46 Church Road, Stanmore, Middlesex, London HA7 4AH

email@travelinstyle.co.uk

Jeremy Corbyn

Well, these are nice words to listen to, but practically everyone knows, including the party insiders, that Corbyn can't regroup the party.

There is plenty of evidence, or at least polling, to suggest that Labour will be annihilated at the next election. The party could quite conceivably suffer a collapse in support comparable to the one it experienced in Scotland last year, with its share of the popular vote ending up at the 25% mark.

According to Labour supporters, the party is unlikely to win the next general election under Corbyn.

A poll conducted by Sky New's Data team in July found 59% of Continued on page 8

Stop dreaming Kashmir, Sushma tells Pakistan

Close on the heels of India's UN Secretary Eenam Gambhir's flaying 'Ivy League of Terrorism' speech at the UN, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj delivered an emotional, yet level-headed speech at the UN General Assembly, where she named Pakistan and India's problem with the terrorism supporter.

Continued on page 26

Sushma Swaraj

PSLV puts 8 satellites in two different orbits

Report on page 26

2

ONE ONE with Keith Vaz, MP

Asian Voice 1st October 2016

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to

Ramesh Patel

Ramesh Patel was born in India and grew up in Zambia – Africa. In 1976 he moved to the UK. Ramesh read a degree in Pharmacology at Portsmouth Polytechnic before securing his first job with Ayerst Laboratories – a division of Wyeth. After Ayerst, Ramesh joined Smith Kline and French and helped to launch the first genetically engineered Hepatitis B vaccine. Following this he then moved to a new British company – Shire – specialising in osteoporosis. In 1990 Ramesh started BHR Pharmaceuticals with two colleagues and launched branded generics. In 1993 BHR switched to selling diagnostics in 1993 with the launch of a dip-strip pregnancy test followed by urinalysis tests and readers. 1994 saw the introduction of statins being sold over the counter, and BHR was in a strong position to provide cholesterol testing equipment to Boots. Since then, 7000 CardioCheks are in use in the UK, both in private and NHS facilities helping people get to know their cholesterol numbers in a rapid and cost-effective manner. Today BHR continues to launch innovative products to help people improve their own health.

1) What is your current position?

Managing Director of BHR PHARMACEUTICALS LTD – a medical point-of-care diagnostics marketing, support and distribution company

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Providing the CardioChek Cholesterol system to the UK market which we believe has saved the NHS a sum greater

Richard Jones got the shock of a lifetime when the two armed police stormed into the hotel bedroom looking for a fugitive also called Richard Jones.

Jones had booked into a £140-a-night double room at the Radisson Blu hotel in Cardiff. He was asked to prove his identity

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

Looking for new products from all across the world that will enhance the life of people in the UK than £12 million over the last 10 years 3) What inspires you?

Helping people take control of their own health 4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

by the police.

He said a police officer took a picture of his driving licence and then realised their mistake.

He shares his name with Richard Jones, 46, of Newport, Gwent, who is wanted by police following a breach of his restraining order.

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Movie in the cinema, 10:30 - 12:15PM Art and Crafts, 4 - 5:30PM

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Comfortable, well-appointed homes

The lack of funding and suitably qualified people in the area we are located 5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?

My cousin Dr Suresh Patel – who taught me to never give up!

Police mistake naked businessman in hotel shower for criminal It seems everything is in the name.

In a typical manhunt mix-up by police, a naked businessman was confronted by cops armed with tasers in the shower of a luxury Cardiff hotel, as he has the same name as a wanted criminal.

Fifty-three-year-old

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TLC Care Karuna Manor · Christchurch Avenue · Harrow, HA3 5BD Tel: 02088 619600 · www.tlccare.co.uk/karuna-manor

7) And the worst?

Not being able to get through to commissioners of health services within the CCGs with ideas that could save them hundreds of thousands of pounds – if not millions 8) What are your long term

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goals?

To help keep NHS costs down by enabling more people to manage their own health, and with the help of the A1cNow Self-Check, the very latest in hand-held disposable technology, every diabetic can check their long term control by testing for HbA1c, the Gold standard monitoring diabetes.

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

Bring back Matron/Consultant control in hospitals and remove the multi-layered administrators 10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?

Nelson Mandela – I would hope to learn the art of tolerating and forgiving in order to achieve the bigger goals of life

Met’s ‘thought police’ Scotland Yard is investigating a police officer for alleged racism after telling a pro-Kurd protester “You don't tell me what to do in my country.”

PC Marcus Tyson, a constable with the Metropolitan Police was responding to the demonstrator who was screaming abuse to the policeman.

During the demonstration by the members of the Kurdish community last month, the PC told the activist “ get out of here”.

PC Tyson has accused the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) of “oppressive political correctness” for placing him on “restrictive duty” while it investigates to see for “gross misconduct”. The officer could lose his job if found guilty.

A video posted online

of the demonstration on 14th August shows the police officer being verbally abused by the protestors with one saying “F*** the police.” He is then confronted by a woman, one of the event organisers to whom he says “You don't tell me what to do in my country.”

PC Tyson describes the Met’s actions to a “Stalinist thought police. The action the DPS has taken against me is so wildly over the top, it discredits the investiga-

tors and brings their judgment into question. I would like to know upon what basis they regard my statement as being racist it is purely a statement of fact that this is my country.”

During the incident Tyson states some of the protestors were also chanting messages of support for the PKK and were blocking traffic, inducing an ambulance with “sirens blaring”. The activist made a formal complaint to the Met on 20th August. Last week Tyson was told has was being placed under investigation for “breaching the standards of professional behaviour” by “using discriminatory language” against the activist.

The Met confirmed the DPS is investigating Tyson but refused to comment further.

Company director jailed for beating up Uber driver Robert Croucher, 35, has been jailed for beating up an Uber driver. The businessman reportedly cried in court and begged to not be sent to prison saying it would ruin his life. "This will destroy my life, I am the director of a company, and everyone would lose their jobs. We have 1000 clients, we have staff all around the country, and it would die," Croucher cried.

However, magistrate Sandra Blandford stood firm on her decision and asked him to "get used to life being different" while jailing him for 20 weeks. She said, "Your behaviour was unacceptable. We find that you did kick Mr Mohammad Hussein a number of times while he was on the floor, and one of those kicks was to the head."

Croucher was at private members' club Raffles on Kings Road, Chelsea, with his girlfriend where kicked Hussein 20 times, including

kicking to the head, as he lay on the floor. Describing the incident, the driver said, "A lady got into the cab, a man threw his bag in. I refused because I got scared because the gentleman suddenly got angry, something happened between them and he harshly slammed the door. I got out to open the door, and then the gentleman took the keys from through the window. He then slapped me. I was begging for my keys and he suddenly pushed me on the pavement. He has just kicked me in several parts of my body and head."

A staffmember of the club filmed the incident, showing Croucher slapping Hussein and shooting insults at the staff, before he threw the keys down the street. Hussein said, "My head was very swollen, I went to hospital where I stayed for four hours. I went to my GP a few days later and got prescribed antibiotics, it was severe pain."

The director insisted he only slapped the driver, but it was found he had kicked him in the head as well. Blandford said, "The CCTV evidence was compelling. We saw the slap, and the security guards saying call the police. We saw the urgency in which they ran over shouting no need to kick him in the head."

The magistrate added, "This is a very serious offence, only a custodial sentence can be justified."

Croucher has been jailed for 20 weeks, ordered to pay £620 costs, a £115 victim surcharge, and pay Hussain £500 in compensation.

C MMENTS

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Pakistan: The Ivy League of global terror Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s antics on Kashmir are unlikely to profit his country or enhance his reputation by even a cubit. His roving delegation of MPs did the shopping rounds in western capitals, but attracted none of the political attention that was part of the exercise. The civilized world has roundly condemned the jihadi terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in the Uri sector, Kashmir. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States have done so with one voice. More embarrassing for Pakistan was the swinging attack by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Islamabad’s encouragement of cross-border terrorism and the loss of Afghan lives and property this was causing. Mr Sharif’s sound and fury at the meeting of the UN General Assembly signified nothing beyond the customary Pakistani malevolence and poor taste. The mob violence in the Kashmir valley incited by Pakistan and its Hurriyat surrogates will be seen off, as has been the case in the past, leaving Mr Sharif and his government and the country’s military rooted to ground zero.

It requires no surgical strikes by India, either from the air or on the ground to weaken Pakistan. It has been weakened already by the excesses of its homegrown zealots against those they perceive as wanting in devotion to the Cause of the true Believers. The promised hellfire is no longer confined to a scriptural hell, but is a living Pakistani experience. A shambolic state with few working institutions is as vulnerable to forces within the country as they are to those from without.

Those outside are fully capable of stirring the pot to the desired effect.

The respected American academic, Christine Fair and her book, ‘Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War,’ have been alluded to several times in the past. Her splendid article in the edit-page of a mass circulation Indian broadsheet will have been read across India and the educated community abroad. A couple of passages from the piece are worth quoting for the edification of readers. Referring to a recent act of

violence in the valley and its consequences, Ms Fair writes: ‘But this incident reveals more than anything that Pakistan is willing to orchestrate the deaths of Kashmiris for its own political aims.

‘The vacuity of the so-called concern about Kashmir is reinforced by the complete omission of any mention of the Kashmiri Pandits who were ethnically cleansed by the Pakistan-backed terrorists in 1990. Why does the “Kashmir problem” only centre on Muslims in the valley and not on any other lawful residents of the state?’ Ms Fair dismisses Pakistani talk of a promised Indian commitment to abide by the results of a UN plebiscite in Kashmir, which she points out was predicated on the withdrawal of all non-Kashmiri persons from the area, including regular and irregular security forces. This document is in the public space and should be read by all interested parties.

Her concluding paragraph damns US policy. ‘By law the US is required to impose Leahy Amendment sanctions on any military unit engaging in human rights violations. The Pakistan military is waging this war with the subsidy of the US, which so far has shown nothing but pusillanimity in contending with Pakistan even though Pakistan is the root cause of American failures in Afghanistan.’

This is the brutal truth. All one has seen from President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry is finger-wagging and hand-wringing and mild protestations at ill considered behaviour. The multi-billion dollar packages of arms and financial aid to Islamabad continue apace. Consider the absurdity of once indictment of Cuba and Iran for the export of terrorism and one will appreciate how steep is America’s fall from grace. Pakistan is arguably the foremost among the many foreign policy failures of the Obama administration. If the truth be told, there have been no major successes. Mismanagement, ineptitude and folly have been on display most of the time, the warts visible for the past eight years and more.

Oxford University honours Cornelia Sorabji’s memory Somerville College, Oxford, was where India’s first female student gained admission to study for the University’s most prized degree in law. That was way back in the late nineteenth century when women university students in Britain were unheard of. Cornelia Sorabji, born into a Parsi family in India, broke the mould and became the first female law student at Oxford in 1889, the first Indian student at then Somerville Hall for ladies, and the first Indian female student to study at any British university. During her time at Oxford she was part of an eminent circle of scholars and intellectuals, presided over by Benjamin Jowett, the great Master of Balliol College, among the foremost classicists of his age.

She could count the poet Alfred Tennyson and the historian Arnold Toynbee as her friends. Cornelia’s name is mentioned in an essay on the period by the legendary economist John Maynard Keynes. ‘Essays in Biography’ was the title of his book, a work encrusted with jewels from an almost forgotten period, but well worth reading for style and substance at any time, in any age.

It took another remarkable woman, Kusoom Vadgama to produce this treasurable work of restoration, to bring Cornelia Sorabji’s life as an eminent barrister in India working tirelessly for the uplift and emancipation of her Indian sisters, significant numbers of

whom were denied their social rights and dignity, to the attention of a new generation.

Kusoom Vadgama, although a busy professional, made time to visit the British Museum and research her book – An Indian Portia: Selected Writings of Cornelia Sorabji, 1866-1954.. This was clearly a labour of love, but in Kusoom’s case not Love’s Labour’s Lost. She perused the Sorabji archive with the utmost care and diligence and rescued her subject from near oblivion. Thanks to Kusoom’s untiring efforts, a bust of Cornelia Sorabji was unveiled at Lincoln’s Inn in 2012, while her old College, Somerville, has Cornelia’s photograph, most appropriately, in its Law Room.

The good news is that Oxford University has launched the Cornelia Sorabji Scholarship for an Indian law student. The announcement by Somerville Principal Alice Prochaska , was made on the day The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked Oxford the world’s top university. Divya Sharma, 27, a law graduate from Chandigarh University, has been selected as the first Cornelia Sorabji scholar. The authorities hope bright Indian students make Oxford their ‘university of choice.’

It is hoped that the Cornelia Scholarship strengthens the continuing link between Oxford University and India.

Long may it endure.

Jewish community and early Bollywood Few of the living aficionados of Indian cinema will know much about the early, emerging Bollywood’s debt to the Jewish community of Bombay. Take for instance, the careers of actresses Sulochana – born Ruby Myers and Pramila. Both achieved stardom in an era when acting for most Indian women was taboo. Sulochana and Pramila had terrific dancing skills, their ambition was to part of the new India. Yet the Jewish community to which they belonged was perhaps the tiniest in this teeming metropolis.

According to Elisabeth Stevens, curator of the new exhibit ‘Baghdadis and the Bene Israel in Bollywood and Beyond at the Center for Jewish History in New York, ‘Sulochana was paid better than the Governor of Bombay at one point,’ a fact breathlessly reported in the Indian press at the time. She appeared in 72 films in a glamorous career that made her a household name. The Center explores the role of India’s two oldest Jewish communities: the Baghdadis who were the descen-

dants of merchants who arrived in India from Baghdad (then part of the Ottoman empire) in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The late General JFR Jacob, who died earlier this year in Delhi, aged 93, had commanded Indian forces in the assault and capture of Dhaka in December 1971, in the war with Pakistan, belonged to the Baghdadi community based in Calcutta.

Bene Israel arrived in India several centuries earlier. Sulochana’s films roles, viewed as saucy at the time, can be seen in hindsight as the first feminist themes to hit the Indian cinema. The same can be said of Pramila’s roles too. They were a liberating experience, as most of their Hindu and Muslim peers were confined to domestic chores. Stevens also relates the roles of Jewish men behind the camera or as script writers.

After the creation of the State of Israel most of India’s Jewish population immigrated, leaving behind memories to cherish.

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Until one is committed there is hesitancy. The chance to draw back. Always ineffectiveness.

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sort of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Manoj Ladwa

Chair Indians for Labour Founding member and first President of the National Hindu Students Forum UK

Jeremy Corbyn must use his re-election to reach out – and Britain’s Indian community would be a very good place to start The re-election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader wasn’t the outcome the party’s moderates had been hoping for. At first sight it was a setback to the chance of returning Labour to an agenda combining economic credibility with a strong commitment to social justice. An agenda that won it three general elections and earned it the support of many people who value hard work, but believe that a more productive economy should also be a more equitable one.

Since his victory, however, Corbyn has said he wants to reach out to his opponents and wipe the slate clean after a very bitter and divisive leadership campaign. That gives me cause for hope.

Even John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor who once said he wanted to ‘overthrow capitalism’, now says he wants an ‘entrepreneurial state’. Many businesspeople worry about his call for an unashamedly socialist economic policy and the cost of his promise of a £10 an hour minimum wage. But if he really wants to encourage small businesses and new industries that gives us something to work with.

Corbyn’s critics have said that they don’t just want warm words about reaching out, they want concrete action. They want to see evidence that he has learned from his mistakes.

Sadiq Khan, who I was proud to support and work for in his successful campaign for the London mayoralty, has warned that if Corbyn doesn’t deliver the party could be out of power at a national level for a generation and could even split.

He’s right. The stakes are that high.

Take the British Indian

community as an example of the problem. For a long time, way before Jeremy became leader, many have been feeling that Labour no longer represents their values. At a grassroots level, the party sometimes seemed to be reaching out to the Muslim, largely Pakistani community to such an extent that if you were Indian and Hindu you felt shunned.

During the past year I voiced my concerns directly to the then Shadow Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, and senior members of Mr Corbyn’s team. I showed them the figures for the shift in political support among British Indians from Labour to the Tories. I told them of a conversation I’d had with a prominent Labour figure who told me that of course Indians voted Tory because they were rich.

And I pointed out that there were now more Indians on the Conservative benches in both houses of parliament than from our own party.

Did the message get through to Mr Corbyn? I have no idea. But I do know that if he is sincere about reaching out he could show it by starting with our community. We don’t want special treatment, but we do want him to recognise that what we are crying out for – reward for hard work, fair but not punitive taxation for those who succeed, real opportunity for our kids – are values shared by millions of people of all faiths and none who worry Labour no longer speaks for them.

Jeremy Corbyn has been basking in his own success this week, and he has every right to do so. But if he wants Labour to succeed he must now show he wants Britain to succeed.

What is he waiting for?

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Restaurant raises £14K for cancer charity

By Dhiren Katwa

An award-winning Indian restaurant, Ellora, in Knowle, West Midlands has raised £14,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support, the national cancer charity.

Ellora’s manager Mash Hakim said he was "genuinely overwhelmed at the generosity of well-wishers," adding, "It makes us enormously proud and gives us great satisfaction in giving back to the local community whose loyalty and sincerity continues to motivate us.”

The Bollywood-themed fundraiser dinner and dance attracted over 200 guests, of all ages, reflecting the multicultural make-up of the Midlands region.

Founded in 1968 – the year in which for the first time in history humans orbited the Moon (Apollo 8) and revered leaders Martin Luther King Junior and Robert F Kennedy were assassinated – Ellora prides itself on its exemplary cuisine and its loyal customer base. To mark the Ellora’s 47th anniversary, a special souvenir was unveiled which featured goodwill messages from HM The Queen, actor Nitin Ganatra, MPs Julian Knight and Jess Phillips, popular comedian

Melvin & Devi Compton (former owner of Ellora), Mayoress and Mayor of Solihull, Ellora Manager Mash Hakim, Mr Mit Balli and head chef Anjob Ali.

Shazia Mirza and Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer.

The family-friendly event was graced by the Mayor and Mayoress of Solihull, Councillor Mike Robinson and Mrs Jenny Robinson, who shared their personal story of how they lost their 36-year-old daughter, Emma Walker, to cervical cancer in February 2010.

Councillor Robinson said: “I miss my daughter everyday – she fought the cancer to the very end. As a father it is devastating to sit with your child while she slowly slips away you feel so inadequate and it is beyond heart breaking. Her memory lives on and yes I am sad but also proud to have had such a wonderfully brave and lovely daughter. He

added: “A third of families will during a lifetime experience cancer in one form or another. The consequences for those with the condition and for the family can quite literally be life changing. We must do all we can to find a cure for this insidious and indiscriminate disease.”

Devi Compton, now 64, and her Late husband Sayeedur Rahman ran the Ellora from 1970 – 2001. “I feel honoured that the new owners since 2001 decided to keep the name Ellora going. It is not only a superb restaurant, but an institution,” she said.

The evening featured a five-course meal, Bollywood dances, a raffle draw and auction, a henna artist, a cake-cutting ceremony, speeches, a sitar player and more.

‘Trafficked and raped by Bristol Gang’ A court has heard that girls as young as 12 were raped and trafficked for sex by a group of Somali men.

Bristol crown court was told the abuse the girls were subjected to was “degrading, violent and horrible.”

Some of the seven girls were allegedly given drugs and alcohol while being “pestered again and again for sex.”

Seven Somali men are facing 46 charges, includ-

ing rape, rape of a child under 13, sexual assault, trafficking for sexual exploitation and false imprisonment. The men, Sakariya Sheikh, 23, Abdirahman Galal, 26, Mohammed Osman, 29, Mohammed Dahir, 24, Nuridin Mohamoud, 22, Abdirashid Abdulahi, 23, and Nasir Mahmoud, 23, all deny the charges.

The majority of offences occurred between 2011 and 2012 against the

girls who has travelled to Bristol by train to meet the men. Prosecutors say that rapes became routine and the men regarded some of the girls as “cheap and easy.”

The majority of offences have been committed against one girl who kept a diary in which she left coded messages with references to sex and oral sex with the men.

The trial is adjourned until Thursday.

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Lifetime Achievement honour bestowed on Aviation Leader A leading figure in the UK’s aviation industry has been presented with the Lifetime Contribution to Midlands Business Award 2016. Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport, is recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Midlands through his tireless work and effort in firmly placing the region on the world map from an aviation perspective.

On receiving his trophy, Paul said he was "genuinely thrilled", adding, "I attribute this trophy to citizens across the Midlands for their continued support to Birmingham Airport."

Birmingham Airport is the UK’s third largest airport outside London, and the UK’s seventh largest overall, handling more than 11 million passengers a year.

Over the last 10 years, Birmingham Airport has invested more than £300 million to develop its infrastructure. Commenting on Paul’s award, Sir John Peace, Chairman of Midlands Connect and a recipient himself of this award in 2014, said: “I’m delighted to hear that Paul

Paul Kehoe, CEO, Birmingham Airport

Kehoe has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. Paul is a remarkable individual who has brought about so many positive and impressive changes to the Midlands, benefiting so many people.

He has served communities across the region and continues to do so proudly and passionately. Well done Paul!”

Paul started his career in aviation as an air traffic controller in the Royal Air Force, he then moved into domestic flights, working at Belfast, Luton and Bristol airports. He joined Birmingham Airport as its Chief Executive in October 2008 and has overseen the biggest transformation in

its history. He has also worked for British Aerospace, Serco Aviation and TBI plc, the airport group.

Paul has been an active member of the Airport Operators Association, or AOA, where he in 2004 he served for a year as a Director and Chairman.

He is also Chairman of Marketing Birmingham, the city’s tourism agency, and a member of the Warwick Business School Strategy Board. Next month Paul will become Chairman of Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Paul is married with two children.

The Midlands Business Awards, or MBAs, celebrates the finest business talent the Midlands has to offer. From manufacturers, business and networking clubs and service providers to universities and entrepreneurs the awards recognise deserving achievers across 12 different categories. To see the full list of winners from past years and for more information about entry criteria visit www.midlandsbusinessawards.com

Muslim teacher sues school she claims showed horror video of 9/11 attack to young children The video was not mentioned in detail during the brief preliminary hearing which dealt with technical and legal matters.

But outside the hearing, Suriyah said: “It was shown to some 30 children during class. I understand the video was shown without the permission of the authorities.

“It raised questions about what safeguards there are in schools to protect children. These were children aged 11, of whom many knew little, YouTube clip shows people jumping from or nothing, about the Twin Towers with graphic descriptions the 9/11 horror.” employment tribunal has approved her bid to pursue legal claims against EAct, who sponsor a number of academies, including Heartlands.

The organisation says it will oppose Suriyah’s claims, and says the 24year-old simply no longer wanted to work at the school.

A Muslim teacher is taking legal action against the school she claims sacked her for complaining about an “X-rated” video of the 9/11 horrors shown to children.

Suriyah Bi lost her job at Birmingham's Heartlands Academy after just a week – and is now pursuing claims for unfair dismissal and religious discrimination.

Suriyah, from Yardley , made national headlines last September after complaining she was sacked for objecting to a class of 11year-olds being shown the footage.

The Oxford graduate said the graphic YouTube video carried a warning the content was not suitable for under-18s.

Now a Birmingham

of people going 'splat' on the floor

Muslim murderer incites violence from jail Police are investigating internet messages from a 32-year-old Pakistaniorigin Sunni Muslim man, Tanveer Ahmed, serving a life sentence for the murder of a Glasgowbased shopkeeper, Asad Shah, 40, on March 24 this year.

Ahmed, from Bradford in Yorkshire, has released extremist audio messages from his prison cell calling on supporters to behead “insulters”. Police are probing how phone messages from Ahmed ended up on Youtube.

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10th MSDUK Business Awards Small-town businesses grab honours At a glittering gala ceremony compered by actress and author Meera Syal, MSDUK showcased the success of UK’s ethnic minority entrepreneurship, many of them based in small towns. Held at the Grange Tower Bridge on 22 September and attended by over 300 guests, the event honoured individuals who showed passion and belief in ethnic minority businesses by partnering with their success and growth.

Glasgow's Dr. Rabinder Buttar, CEO of ClinTec International, won the Scale Up Business of the year award. Leicester’s Shahid Shaikh won the Entrepreneur of the Year for his success with Clifton Packaging.

Among organisations, Balfour Beatty bagged the Inclusive Procurement

FU URT THER R RE EDUCTIONS END OF SUMMER SALE S Mark Q. McLane, Managing Director, Diversity & Inclusion, Barclays Plc

Award for inclusive supply chain engagement with ethnic minority, small and local businesses.

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Cameron and May at loggerheads on Brexit Who says infighting is just reserved for the Labour Party? The recent revelaDavid tions from Cameron's camp have exposed the simmering political cleavage in the Conservative Party as well.

It's not a small fight but an all-out war at the top level between friends turned foes – former PM Cameron and current PM Theresa May. The bitter divisions between Cameron and May over Brexit have been revealed in two books about the EU referendum campaign, in which May is described as “lily-livered” and an “enemy agent” by Cameron and his allies.

It is claimed by his aides that Cameron's advisers called May “lily-livered” after she, as then home secretary, failed to support plans to curb EU immigrants coming into Britain.

May urged then Prime Minister Cameron not to demand an “emergency brake” in 2014 for fear of upsetting other EU leaders, it is claimed.

However, the May's camp hit back by saying she had always wanted to curb immigration and in fact, supported Cameron.

In extracts from Sir Craig Oliver’s book, Unleashing Demons: The Inside Story of the EU Referendum, published in the Mail on Sunday, Cameron’s director of communications says the PM pleaded with May to “come off the fence” about Brexit.

Sir Craig Oliver said the then home secretary failed to back the Remain campaign 13 times and was regarded by some as “an enemy agent”.

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Times political editor Tim Shipman, claims Cameron wanted to push for an emergency brake as part of his EU renegotiation. Such a measure could have convinced voters he would be able to reduce immigration if Britain remained in the EU, it argued.

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by May and then foreign Philip secretary Hammond, now the chancellor, the book claims.

May feared demanding such a measure would upset German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it says.

The book said a “visibly deflated” Cameron was said to have turned to one official and said: “I can’t do it without their support. If it wasn’t for my lily-livered cabinet colleagues...”

The two books are likely to emphasise divisions within the Conservative Party over Brexit with former Cameron supporters coalescing around the former chancellor, George Osborne, who said last week he wanted to champion the “liberal mainstream majority”.

Meanwhile, Osborne has warned Britain did not vote for ‘hard Brexit’ in the EU referendum and will have to compromise in exit talks.

In a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Osborne has warned May not to trigger Article 50 until next autumn. He urged her to

Theresa May

use the next 12 months to work out a fully formed plan.

The former chancellor called on May to give the economy priority over migration as she worked out what Brexit should mean.

“Brexit won a majority.

Hard Brexit did not. The mainstream majority in our country do not want to be governed from the extremes,” he said.

“I can’t see us consenting to the current arrangements around free movement of people that clearly caused such concern in the referendum,” Osborne said.

“Equally, I find some of the take-or-leave it bravado we hear from those who assume Europe has no option but to give us everything we want more than a little naive.

“We need to be realistic that this is a two-way relationship: that Britain cannot expect to maintain all the benefits that came from EU membership without incurring any of the costs or the obligations. There will have to be compromise.”

Osborne also defended the government’s involvement in Libya and said governments should not be afraid of intervening in crises like Syria.

The involvement in Libya was flayed by the foreign affairs committee earlier this month.

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Asian Voice |1st October 2016

Kapil’s

KHICHADI

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com

Asian Cricket Awards Hits a Six

By Kapil Dudakia

CEO Prem Jolly of Premia Wines (http://www.premiawines.com) had invited CB Patel, myself and a number of interesting persons to the 3rd Asian Cricket Awards that took place on 23rd September at the legendary Oval Cricket Grounds in London. Frankly I was not sure what to expect but as I Winner Nalisha Patel (Lancashire Thunder) collecting entered the stadium and saw the level of planning and award from Prem Jolly, CEO Premia Wines, and Bob Blackman MP spread that had been put grabbed everyone’s attention with his together, it became clear that these unique style of presentation and wit. The awards whilst only in their 3rd year, were pace was fast and yes it was even furious destined to grow in the years to come. at times. Those in attendance will know I had not been to any reception at the exactly what I mean.

Oval before so I was pleasantly surprised Over the next hour we saw the young that on the 4th floor they have a fantastic talent coming on stage to collect their terrace that was used for guest reception. awards.

The atmosphere was welcoming and of Teenage Lancashire batsman Haseeb course drinks (courtesy of Premia Hameed capped a memorable month by Wines) and canapés flowed to keep the picking up the Young Player award. networking on target. The renowned Hameed, 19, was last week called up to sports journalist Mihir Bose bumped the England Test squad for the upcominto me and whilst the chat began, CB ing tour of Bangladesh. If he plays, he Patel arrived with the inevitable nods will become the youngest player to reprefrom many on the terrace of having sent the country since Brian Close turned recognised the editor-in-chief of Asian out against New Zealand at Old Trafford Voice. We were joined by Bob Blackman in 1949.

MP, Vin Vara, the President of BIRA Baljit Rihal of Inventive Sports said, (British Independent Retailers “2016 has been a tremendous year for Association), and Satish Sharma, Asians in cricket, and one I believe General Secretary of NCHT (National marks a significant chapter in the proCouncil of Hindu Temples UK). Of gression towards greater inclusion and diversity in this country”.

The evening passed by quickly and it was time for carriages. All in all, everyone had a pleasant evening. Those who were shortlisted and those who won the awards received well-earned recognition and applause. I am sure all our youngsters will be practising hard over the winter break so they are ready for the Jas Jassal and Baljit Rihal – Brains behind the 2017 season. I for one can’t wait for ACA Awards ACA 2017 and I am certain the depth of talent will bring richness course, the event was attended by too to British sports. So I end by saying, well many well-known personalities to list done and my heartiest congratulations to them all here. each and every winner.

A bit of background. The Asian Cricket Awards is owned (Baljit Rihal and Jas Jassal) and operated by Inventive Sports. On the ACA 2016, Jas said, “The Asian Cricket Awards is the ideal platform BEHIND THE SCENES AWARD: Winner: Amna to recognise and celebrate Rafiq (Leicestershire CCC) South Asian success in crick- GRASSROOTS AWARD: Winner: Shahidul Alam et. There are role models all Ratan (Director of Cricket at Capital Kids, London over the UK with inspira- Tigers CC) tional stories, from those who AMATEUR COACH AWARD: Winner: Shaz Khan volunteer, to those who have (Oxfordshire CCC, Shrivenham CC) made cricket their full-time CLUB CRICKET CONFERENCE INSPIRATION AWARD: Winner: Maryam Ali (community cricket career.”

Moving on, as the sun was coach in Yorkshire) setting we were led to the MEDIA AWARD: Winner: Vithushan Ehantharajah banqueting hall which was (freelance cricket writer) beautifully set up as you POSTHUMOUS AWARD: Winner: Hamza Shabbir would expect for a function of (Hampshire CCC, Downend CC) this calibre. By the time we PROFESSIONAL YOUNG PLAYER AWARD: were seated dinner was Winner: Haseeb Hameed (Lancashire CCC) served and let us say, every- WOMAN IN CRICKET AWARD: Joint winners: one tucked in whilst the con- Nalisha Patel (Lancashire Thunder) and Shabnim versations carried on to the Ismail (Yorkshire Diamonds) FOUNDERS SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD: next level.

Suddenly the compere for Kumar Sangakkara (former Sri Lanka captain) the evening, Tommy Sandhu PROFESSIONAL COACH AWARD: Winner: (Breakfast bloke on the BBC Cookie Patel (Regional Training Manager, ECB) Asian Network, TV guy on ASIAN CRICKET CLUB AWARD: Winner: Indian The Travel Show and BBC1 Gymkhana CC (West London) with Sunday Morning Live) PROFESSIONAL PLAYER AWARD: Winner: Adil exploded on stage. He Rashid (Yorkshire CCC and England)

Full list in recognition of their achievements:

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Samia Shahid lured to death According to filed court papers, relatives of Samia Shahid who was raped and murdered in an alleged “honour" killing, was lured to Pakistan under false pretences. Police believe Saima was “emotionally blackmailed” with claims her father was dying, leading her to return to Pakistan.

The police say they were outraged that she has divorced her first husband and married a man from another sect. Saima’s father, Mohammed Shahid and Choudhry Shakeel, her

Victim: Samia Shahid

first husband were charged with her murder last week.

Police say Mr Shahid wanted to exploit the loophole around “honour” killings in Pakistani law which places the decision

Father Mohammed Shahid and first husband Choudhry Shakeel

on a killer’s punishment in the hands of the victims family.

Sadiq Khan and Sainsbury's encourage food waste campaign A campaign initiated by the Evening Standard, to deal with food wastage and hunger, has found new supporters in London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Sainsbury's.

Wearing a hi-vis jacket and delivering fresh surplus fruit and vegetables to residents of St Mungo's charity, Southwark, Khan said it's a "win-win". "With the best will in the world, you are going to have surplus food and this campaign ingeniously turns the problem of the food waste into a social solution to help address food poverty," Khan said.

Khan also addressed the issue at the Urban Food Awards at Borough Market where he announced a brand new prize, the Best Surplus Food Initiative. "Today I'm calling on London's food industry, retailers, restaurants, suppliers and producers to be more open and transparent about how much food they throw away. I'm confident that together we can bring about a significant reduc-

tion in food waste and by donating this surplus to charity we can help some of the capital's most vulnerable people."

Mike Coupe, Sainsbury's chief executive, said that arrangements are already in hand for Felix to collect groceries from 15 of their stores. "Food waste is an issue where Sainsbury's wants to make a radical difference. Reducing food waste in our supply chain has developed hand in hand with our determination to ensure any surplus food is put to positive use.

We have achieved our target of zero waste to landfill and we are proud of development of more than 1000 food donation partnerships

with local charities. We see first-hand the difference these partnerships have on people's lives. That is why are incredibly proud to be a launch partner for The Felix Project and Food for London."

Coupe added, "Our focus will remain on tackling food waste in our business and redistributing as much surplus food as possible in addition to helping households waste less and save more in their homes.

We know we can't do this on our own and success will depend on the grocery, food and hospitality industries working together to make sure food waste becomes a thing of the past."

A Prince’s fear A royal biographer has revealed that the Prince of Wales believed he might be murdered during the funeral procession of Diana, Princess of Wales due to the public anger towards him.

Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival, veteran royal correspondent Ingrid Seward said the prince was “fatalistic” about the possibility of a gunman shooting him as he followed the coffin to Westminster Abbey in 1997.

She told the audience “Prince Charles was extremely nervous because he was public enemy number one. He thought, if someone takes a gun out and shoots me, that's it.

The streets of London were very quite. You could hear everything the crowd was a saying. They were saying ‘Look at him, look at him’. They were being quite nasty. The whole way

round he could hear this abuse and he didn't think he would make it the whole

way around.”

She did not disclose her source of this insight.

Woman raped in south-west London A young woman was forced into a house and raped in a horrifying attack in London. The victim, who is in her 20s, was allegedly attacked while she walked to her parked car on Lucien Road, a little after midnight. The attacker is described as an Asian, aged somewhere between

20 to 25 years. He was wearing a red hooded top, a light coloured tracksuit bottom, and sported a thin moustache.

He reportedly pushed the woman into a house, and raped her. She was taken to a Haven and is being supported by specialist officers. No arrests have been made so far.

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www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

Seema Malhotra MP

Labour and Co-op Member of Parliament for Feltham & Heston Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Labour Conference to regroup party This week’s annual Labour Party Conference saw the announcement of Jeremy Corbyn’s re-election as Labour leader and I congratulate him on his victory.

This week’s annual Labour Party Conference saw the announcement of Jeremy Corbyn’s re-election as Labour leader and I congratulate him on his victory.

This conference has been a vital moment for Labour to regroup Seema says, “With Jeremy Corbyn's re-election as after a difficult summer and start to party leader, we have exciting opportunities ahead” draw a line under our past. On our roads, rail, energy supply and housing to vision of a fairer and more prosperous be fit for our nation’s needs we need to Britain, with all our communities valued see this change. and recognised for the contribution they At events with business and other make, we now need a constructive way in organisations at conference I have which we can move forward working argued that we need to move forward together, come together as a Party and much more effectively on how we tackle work towards our common purpose. I am tax avoidance and on how we develop pleased there will be give and take on Labour’s relationships with business. both sides to put Labour on a strong and From transparency around pay between positive step going forwards, and I welmen and women, more support for micro come that. businesses and the self-employed, and The Labour Party has always includimproving how we invest in start-ups and ed a range of political opinions and is scale ups it is clear there is much more to part of our strength as a movement. It is do for us to grow and share our prosperfrom learning from each other and learnity. We have exciting opportunities ing where we differ that we develop ideas ahead but we need to see so much more and grow. To do this we need mutual done to support our small businesses understanding and respect for each particularly – tackling late payments, other. More than ever we need a focus on making it easier to deal with HMRC and the common ground – we have far more pay taxes and much more support to in common than that which divides us. trade and export. Research shows that As the Tories prepare for their Annual unless a company starts to export in its Conference, we must set the political first four years, its prospects for long agenda and hold the Tories to account term growth are significantly affected. for the social division and unfairness We need a proper and comprehensive their political choices are bringing to the industrial strategy focussed on investcountry. ment, connectivity, skills and education Britain needs a new direction on the that supports our strategic industries and economy. The uncertainty of Brexit and lays the foundation for us to exploit the where we go next is a problem for our opportunities of tomorrow. long term growth. Britain seems to be the And we must stand up for the next only country in the world without a plan generation who are being hit so hard by for Brexit. We need to see the this Government’s politics. If our young Government bring forward an agenda for people are to have the opportunities that Britain and a new positive relationship previous generations have enjoyed, we between Britain and Europe. For me that need to get serious about the Tories’ polimeans as a first step remaining in the cies on education. single market to the greatest possible Over a third of our schoolchildren extent. We should have an honest debate across the country fail to achieve the about the positive impact of immigration equivalent of 5 good GCSEs. Theresa on our economy as well as the concerns May knows that this year results have about impact of freedom of movement of worsened, but instead of fixing it, we see people and labour, and create dialogue her set to support an 8% cut in per pupil with our European partners about why funding from now to 2020. When the the rules of freedom of movement should Tories should be addressing the probbe amended to give greater control to lems they’ve created in our schools – member stages if they wish it. We must soaring class sizes and more unqualified look to protect our financial services teachers – they are looking backwards to industry, including passporting rights, bring back grammar schools despite the and continue to shadow employment and evidence showing they failed most chilenvironmental legislation. We must not dren and will increase inequality. let Britain become the poor cousin of Young people, already saddled with progress as our allies move ahead withsoaring debts to go to university, are facout us. ing even bigger tuition fee hikes. This With the OECD having revised down cannot be right nor does it send a positive growth projections for next year to 1% message to our young people that they next year, and UK productivity remains are the future, and we believe in them. at the bottom of the G7 league table, it is I believe we are on the same page as right that the Shadow Chancellor John the British people who support our valMcDonnell’s speech gave a strong mesues and vision of fairness and shared sage about the need to invest for growth. prosperity. They want to hear from us a The OECD estimates that annual infracredible and compelling account of how structure investment of 3.5% of GDP is we will make a difference to people’s lives necessary in developed economies.

– on jobs, an inclusive economy, strong Currently the UK’s public sector infracommunities, health and social care. I structure investment is forecast to reach have seen in my own Tory health policies 1.4% of GDP in 2020/21. If we want our are failing patients and failing the NHS. Patients are facing longer waits, with hospitals overcrowded, understaffed and facing financial crisis. Britain needs a Labour Government, and for us to achieve that needs all Seema Malhotra says the Labour conference has been a vital of us. moment for the party to regroup after a difficult summer

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Over 50 business and political leaders call for UK visa reform for Indian visitors Over fifty leaders from business and politics have signed a letter, published last week by The Daily Telegraph, supporting calls for the UK to extend its new £87 two-year visitor visa to Indian nationals.

The Royal Commonwealth Society’s letter was signed by Chandrajit Banerjee; Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Lord Bilimoria; Chairman of Cobra Beer and Virendra Sharma MP; Chair of the IndoBritish All Party Parliamentary Group, among others.

The letter comes after The Royal Commonwealth Society released a report in July in partnership with leading aviation, tourism and industry groups outlining the sound case for visa reform.

A pilot visa scheme lasting two years for £87 was offered to China in January 2016, yet Indian visitors continue to pay £330 for a two-year visa,

or £87 for six months.

The report’s author, Tim Hewish, Director of Policy and Research at The Royal Commonwealth Society said: “This letter demonstrates the broad support for reform of the UKIndia visitor visa scheme across tourism, aviation, business and politics. We urge the UK government to listen to these individuals as leaders in their field and proactively discuss this proposal with the Indian government without delay.”

The reform would help reverse the UK’s falling market share of global Indian tourists, which has halved over the last decade.

The estimated cost to the UK economy is almost £500m per year and over 8,000 jobs. France has now leapfrogged the UK as India’s most visited European nation, attracting 500,000 visitors from the subcontinent in 2015.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of the Confederation of Indian

Industry said: “The strength of the UK-India relationship today must also reflect in a stronger visa regime. This policy suggestion for a two year UK visa for Indian nationals could provide a big boost to tourism, and comes at a very opportune time as 2017 is declared the UK-India Year of Culture.”

With 2017 designated the UK-India Year of Culture, marking 70 years of Indian Independence, the time for change is now. Throughout 2017 both nations will see a strong collaboration in business, art, music, design and more. Having a cheaper and extended UK visitor visa will help enhance these endeavours.

Furthermore, in light of the UK’s recent decision to leave the EU, it is now more vital than ever that the UK strengthens its ties with India and sends a strong message that it welcomes Indian visitors and is open for business.

Is Labour backing the wrong horse?

Continued from page 1 Labour supporters said it was unlikely the party will win the next general election if Corbyn won the leadership contest, compared to 32% who said it was likely.

The poll also found that 59% thought it was likely the party would split if Corbyn secured victory over Owen Smith, while 27% said it was unlikely.

In an even bleaker forecast, 45% said it was unlikely Labour would “ever win another general election”, while 44% said it was likely.

An exclusive ComRes poll for The Independent found that Smith had a better chance of winning a general election than Corbyn, with 38% of the general public saying Smith had “more chance of winning” than Corbyn, who was chosen by 31%.

According to YouGov polling, voters do not see Labour as competent on the economy.

Today the country is without a functioning Opposition. The Labour Party should be attacking the Conservatives more as a good Opposition in the Parliament rather than fighting among themselves. This will do the party a power of good.

The party should unite together and work on things they agree on. The focus should be on improving the NHS, investment in infrastructure, comprehensive schools and the economy. They should be at it all the time till the voters and

the media get the message that the party is serious.

As they say politics is the art of the possible.

Labour has four years to repair the damage, and four years is too long a period to bounce back, if the will and right attitude is there.

The party should come out with something concrete to offer the electorate to remain in the game.

Labour must make peace with the past and get real.

Otherwise, as said earlier, it will be a cake-walk for the Tories.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, in his keynote speech on the economy at the Liverpool Labour Conference warned the party to be ready for an early election.

He pledged £250bn in infrastructure spending, an end to austerity, the scrapping of trade union legislation, a new wealth tax, a £10 hourly minimum wage, opposition to free trade deals and a crackdown on corporate greed in the party's most leftwing economic policy package for a generation.

He said the company law would be rewritten to avert a “Philip Greens” kind of a scenario. The BHS boss was accused of taking money out of his ailing company, leaving behind a huge pension crisis.

He said the “winds of globalisation” were “blowing against the belief in the free market and in favour of intervention.

McDonnell set out what he said was a pro-

gramme for government.

“In this party you no longer have to whisper it – it's called socialism,” he said, sending the audience in raptures.

Corbyn has claimed that a further £100bn of public investment in a National Infrastructure Bank could leverage £150bn of private sector money to create a total infrastructure programme of £500bn.

Criticising the claims, former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie said the plans would involve “an awful lot of either borrowing or extra taxation. You would have to double income tax, double national insurance, double council tax and you would have to double VAT as well”.

McDonnell's speech was packed with such policies, which would see an “entrepreneurial state” step in to boost the economy's potential, raising productivity through investments in areas like broadband and transport.

This latest economic message, if it is not just on paper, will augur well for the party. The Liverpool conference has given the party a chance to introspect and reach out to the ordinary voters and the party should capitalise on it.

It should make at least one more big push to take back the party and make it moral, effective and electable once more. Or to say the least, give the country an effective Opposition in the House it so badly needs.

UK Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Coming into media.

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Jasbir Saund: Making her way through media

Now a successful freelance Talent Manager, Jasbir Saund used to be involved in the production TV programs like The Voice, The Voice Kids, Pride of Britain and some documentaries for BBC and Channel 5.

Saund started her career as a researcher in the BBC then switched to ITV. Later on, while working in Princess and Productions Breakthrough Media she became more closely involved in the process of making documentary films, current affairs and art programmes.

Background.

Saund was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Her father was in the Civil Service. Her mother was a housewife. Later on her family moved to India and so Jasbir would remember the country where she was raised and where she spent her childhood. Saund’s family lived in a small village in Punjab and accordingly, her early memories are also from there. That small village seemed to Jasbir much bigger when she was a child however it was actually a very small place.

When she thinks of her childhood, Jasbir remembers carelessly running around free and wandering around on her little scooter. She was looked after very well and grew up in the warm atmosphere of love and commitment. She recalls: “I had a very close family”. What else can a small child dream of?

There was no specific event in Saund’s childhood that attracted her to the media.

When she was at school Jasbir was naturally interested in the world that surrounded her. She wanted to find out more about it and the people that inhabit it. So she decided that the best job that would suit her would be one of a journalist.

She says: “The thing about being a journalist is that you want to ask questions and you want to find out about something.”

9

BBC Radio 4. As a young person making her first steps in media career, Jasbir was lucky enough to be surrounded by talented people. She describes Jenni Murray, who she worked with on Radio 4 as “a brilliant journalist, nurturing and warming person.”

Never stop learning.

Radio was followed by film production on TV, where Saund worked on documentaries including Who Do You Think You Are?, The Genius of Omar Khayyam, The Age of Enlightenment.

Gurinder Gurinder Chadha and Nitin Ganatra were films that Turning point of her career. she worked on while travelling across India and Kenya.

Jasbir believes that a turning point in When she thinks of her her life and career was when she career in film production, finally joined the BBC after workSaund evaluates it as a huge ing for a year in a library. At that The thing about success: “My broadcast time, graduates could apply for being a journalist is career has been hugely jobs through the Guardian and that you want to ask rewarding and a privilege.

Saund decided to not miss her Exploring a wealth of subquestions and you chance. She sent her CV to the jects in detail, meeting peoBritish national daily newspawant to find out ple from all walks of life, per. The criterion was that she about something. attending first nights, screenhad to work for a year in a library, ings, openings, filming all over before she could apply for producthe world, working with incredition. bly talented and intelligent people”.

For a young and ambitious girl who dreamt of a career as a journalist, working in a library could seem a tedious task. But The biggest challenge.

Jasbir knew what she wanted and she was ready to pay for her dream. So after spendAt some point Jasbir felt that she wanted a ing a year in a library, Saund get her place change in her life and decided try a differas a researcher at Radio 2 at the BBC with ent role, career wise. Leaving film producAnne Robinson and Michael Parkinson. tion was a hard decision, but she figured she could stay in a career environment The year at library later paid off, as now Saund says that: “It was two of the best jobs using some of the skills and knowledge she I’ve ever had…meeting A list Hollywood already had. At that point talent managing stars, where meeting Jack Lemmon counts became her job. as one of the highlights of my life, alongside Nowadays, Saund is a freelance Talent writers, actors, musicians, politicians.”

Manager and has finally found her place in The work on radio satisfied Saund and a media sphere as she finds her job “equally she decided to continue with it when she rewarding, challenging and hugely enjoymoved from Radio 2 to Woman’s Hour on able”.

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READERS’ VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

CB dedicates 16th AAA to Narendra Modi The Asian Achievers Awards are organised by Asian Business Publications Ltd every year to honour British Asian achievements across different fields.

This year, the 16th AAA coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on September 17.

Paying tribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CB Patel, Publisher and Editor of ABPL Group, on the occasion had said: “It is a very special day for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose birthday has already begun in India. This event is for him. We send him our best wishes.”

Acclaimed media organisations like The Times of India and NDTV had highlighted CB’s speech dedicating the event to Modi.

Is India-Russia friendship in the doldrums?

The landing of Russian troops in Pakistan, to carry out joint anti-terrorist exercise has indeed jolted India who considers Russia has crossed “Laxman Rekha” the Red Line that is the foundation of close and trusted friendship between two nations.

To hold such an exercise in a country fully committed to support terrorism is akin to holding vegetarian festival in lion’s den. Putin is indeed clever politician but due to West’s stupidity in isolating Putin has driven Russia into China’s fold who now supports China’s expansionist policy, the burgeoning military cooperation; joint naval exercise that should be a worry to America.

Perhaps this is golden opportunity for India to raise alarm, isolate Pakistan from America, move closer to West, especially Israel and stop buying Russian armaments which are indeed inferior to American, their Mig fighters with IAF are considered “Flying Coffins” due to numerous accidents resulting in deaths of Indian pilots.

Russia can ill afford to lose multi billion trade with India. Perhaps Putin is playing dangerous game, Russian roulette in acquiring first-hand knowledge about Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism and keep China happy. PM Modi will have perfect opportunity in judging Russia’s involvement, intentions when he meets Putin in two weeks’ time, their annual summit to exchange and discuss mutual interest.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

Hip implants that will last a lifetime

Congratulations and well done Jeremy!

Following upon my recent letter to Asian Voice wishing Jeremy Corbyn good luck for the Labour Party reelection leadership contest, I congratulate him whole-heartedly on winning a decisive 62% of the vote, thereby strengthening his grip on the Party.

As I said in my letter, I find Jeremy a person of absolute determination and integrity, with his heart in the right place and with a selfless ambition of doing well for the good of the people and the country. Clearly, the voters had read these qualities in him. I wish Jeremy well for the future.

Here, it is worth repeating the quote on determination by Mahatma Gandhi, a seemingly uncharismatic yet determined leader: “When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

Uttambhai D Mistry Bolton

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Hip implant is the most common surgery amongst elderly people. The implant made out of titanium, the hardest metal alloy known lasts on average no more than fifteen years before needing replacement. The second replacement is less successful. The advance age also plays its part and most patients are denied second Op due to poor health. But the new discovery by physicists from Houston University, an alloy of titanium and gold, four times harder than titanium will last a lifetime.

This alloy named Ti3 is so strong that even diamond is unable to grind it. It will also be used in teeth implants and replacement joints in the near future. It will also be widely used in industries, especially in drilling, replacing titanium which was discovered in Cornwall in 1791 by a Clergyman William George that has served humanity well, widely used in medicine as well as in industry.

This new alloy will not turn to ashes when people are cremated. It will be collected and melt down at very high temperature for reuse. This discovery is indeed a blessing for us, although initially it will be costly but with mass production and reuse, the cost will soon come down, especially as patients will not have to undergo a second operation, saving billions to our financially starved NHS. Kumudini Valambia By email

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Heroes of our time

When we think of heroes than it always comes to our mind a person with exceptional abilities, qualities, leadership skills than an ordinary people. But there are many heroes amongst us or around us to whom many times we don't recognize or pay attention whose life is a message like Mahtama Gandhi.

Here I am talking about Mrs. Maniba (Premilaben Patel) from London who recently died after brief illness at the age of 96. I came to know her and about her life when some three decades ago from England she came to visit her daughter here in Toronto, Canada and her daughter and her husband are our longtime family friend and Maniba and myself are from same home town of Karamsad, India. She came to London, England in 1971 with her husband and children and also worked at launderette. After losing her husband in 1975 she showed great strength, courage, independence and dedication to raise her children by giving good education,culture,values and never excepted free lunch or monies from government due to her strong mind and honesty and worked until retirement.

Suresh and Bhavna Patel Markham, Canada

Proud to be Hindu. Ashamed to be Indian.

I’m not a serial writer or complainer. I am a vegetarian and self-taught proud Hindu.

However, ashamed to be Indian having researched on the internet that India is the largest exporter of beef and has around 33,000 illegal and shameful 3,600 legal slaughterhouses. Yes the constitution and nearly all States have laws to prevent cow slaughter subject to certain criteria’s etc. However, in a Hindu majority country, if not a ‘Hindu Country’, where the cow and all forms of life are sacred this is utterly shameful. To add insult to injury, India is one of the worst countries in the World for crime and social oppression towards women. A real shame as Hindu cultures prescribe respect and even worship of cows and women in motherly forms!

The wonderful Modi government is keen to promote India, to make it fast, modern, investable, etc, however won’t the above affect India’s ‘karma’ and cause further misery – will the struggles of saints, sadhus and many avtars of the Gods over centuries and making the Country so holy, all go in vain! Shame on India!

R Orisa By email

Terrorist act on army camp

The terrorist attack on army camp at Uri has generated tension between India, Pakistan.

Compare this to international responses: Japan isolated itself for 200 years. China and Hadrian built walls to fend off barbarian invaders. Israel raided Entebbe, to rescue its citizens. U.K. defended Falklands Islands for few shepherds. USA invaded Afghanistan to avenge loss of mere 3000 American lives. India has lost 14000 lives over past 70 years cross border violations/ cease fire violations from/ by Pakistan trained /sponsored terrorists but India has taken no punitive/ deterrent measures against Pakistan. India had proofs, advantages in 4 wars, yet have given away all advantages to transgressor, whereby mocking martyrdom of javans.

How is this supposed to boost our patriotism? India shouts from platforms far away from site of atrocity but takes no deterrent action on the spot. Our pathetic politicians indulge in self-blame, finding fault with security at army camps, which should have been classified and kept secret. But self-flagellation reduces guilt of transgressor-Pakistan.

Will India decide to be a high risk hawk, low risk dove or zero risk zombie of status quo?

Indian citizens, like a docile cows will do nothing, not even deterrent ahinsa eg iron curtain between two nations.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

The computer hackers

Recent media reports have thrown light on some very disturbing facts. No less than 500 billion people have had their data stolen in 2014 from Yahoo by computer hackers.

These hackers have swiped personal information associated with half billion accounts with the Internet giant. The hackers revealed names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and, security questions and answers. It is frightening to know how your stolen data may be put to use. What can be done to prevent this from happening? One suggestion is to keep changing your password frequently. Notwithstanding these problems of data theft, we rely on Information Technology for information, correspondence, communication and much more.

Recently I had a call from someone purporting to be from Microsoft. He asked me to turn on my computer and give him access 'to fix errors'. When asked what company he was from, he said Microsoft: knowing it was a scam, I tried to wind him up by repeatedly asking him his name and the company he worked for. The caller got quite nasty and was verbally abusive then put the phone down. Always ask the name, company and the person’s contact number. Then say you will ring the person back. If he is genuine, he will provide the details. Failing that, tell him to take a running jump!

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

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Oxford University announces Cornelia Sorabji Scholarship to exceptional Indian students AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Oxford University has announced the launch of a new scholarship to support Indian students studying law at the world-famous institution.

The scholarship at Somerville College has been set up in memory of Cornelia Sorabji, the first female law student at Somerville, the first Indian woman to study at any British university back in 1889, and also the first woman to practice law in India and Britain. The college is celebrating her 150th birth anniversary this year. On her return to her home country, Cornelia Sorabji became the first woman to practice law in India and worked on behalf of women living in purdah. Her lifetime’s work as a social reformer centred on support for the poor and for women at every level of society.

The scholarship will cover up to 50% of the entire cost of the degree, which is usually around £36,000 including tuition fees and lodging.

The first awardee of the Cornelia Sorabji Scholarship in Law, Divya Sharma from Chandigarh, who is taking up her Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree.

Cornelia Sorabji

Prof Alice Prochaska, principal of Somerville College said, "Cornelia Sorabji was a woman of tremendous spirit and courage and someone who paved the way for many Indian students, including (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi at Somerville. India is a key part of our college and this scholarship will pave the way for more graduates to follow in their footsteps.”

The college is now campaigning for it to eventually become a fully-funded endowment to support bright Indian students who often win admission to Oxford University but are unable to bear the high costs associated with it. To be successful, the applicant will be expected to demonstrate not only exceptional academic merit but also a commitment ultimately to return to India to put their

Dr Kusoom Vadgama

skills and experience into practice.

While the scholarship is open to any high achieving Indian student, female students will be especially encouraged to carry on Sorabji's ideals. The finalist is chosen by the college from a list of Indians offered admission to the university and on the basis of a 500-word essay on how they plan to make use of the Oxford law degree in their professional life.

The initiative is backed

by Dr Kusoom Vadgama, historian and editor of 'An Indian Portia: Selected Writings of Cornelia Sorabji'.

The Cornelia Sorabji Law Programme is housed at the Oxford India Centre and provides a thriving postgraduate and postdoctoral programme for talented Indian graduate students who seek to lead

change on their return to India. The holder of the scholarship will belong to the Faculty of Law and the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development at Somerville College.

The Centre was established three years ago as a result of a grant of 3 million pounds from the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development, matched by Somerville College and the University of Oxford.

It offers five permanently endowed scholarships for Indian graduate students and six students have already benefitted from those scholarships since they started in 2013.

From its inception in 1879, Somerville College, founded as one of the first two institutions at the University of Oxford to admit women, had been dedicated to inclusion, explicitly welcoming students from all social backgrounds, any kind of cultural and religious beliefs, and all nationalities.

Cornelia Sorabji actually came to Oxford with the help of a subscription raised by progressive British men and women including Madeleine Shaw Lefevre, the first Principal of Somerville.

EDUCATION

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

The University Finance Scam

Students have been warned to ignore fake scam emails from university finance departments about bursaries in a bid to trick them out of the money.

The emails are a part of a ‘phishing’ scam – meaning they look like legitimate emails, using the same font and official logos to look realistic. However, these emails trick the recipient into revealing sensitive financial information.

According to website MoneySavingExpert.com, in one case, a student of Queen Mary University, London lost £300. The website said students from the University of Glasgow have also been warned to be aware.

These ‘pishing’ emails look realistic, often claiming to be from university finance departments and different fraudsters use several variations of the scam to outwit victims. Victims believe they are legitimate because they use the official university and bank logos – but they are actually a clever fake.

Victims are prompted

to click a link to a form, which then asks for information about the debit card and national insurance number. Some even ask banking security questions and passwords. Fraudsters can drain money from their bank accounts in just a few minutes once people reveal their banking details.

QMUL in a statement said: ‘We were made aware late last week that a number of QMUL students had received these phishing emails. QMUL proactively monitors its systems to prevent and detect breaches, and there is no evidence to suggest any system has been compromised in this instance.

A message was sent to all students warning them about the scam and providing them with advice on how they can protect themselves online, including details of our cyber security training courses.’

The University of Glasgow sent a (real) email to students writing, the university would never ask for banking information in this way.

Let your family enjo oy

the light.

Send money for Diw wali wali.

0800-026-0535 0800 026 0535 moneygram.co.uk /moneygram

@moneygramMe

Send at:

11

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12

MEDIA WATCH

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

It has been a particularly fraught week for India. As if the Bangaluru violence over sharing of the Cauvery waters with Tamil Nadu wasn’t bad enough, the jihadi ambush of an Indian Army administrative post in the Uri sector of Kashmir resulting in the instant deaths of 14 soldiers, followed by four others killed in the crossfire with the terrorists, of whom one died of his wounds.

The print media devoted prime space to the tragedy and India’s like response. The evening news bulletins and discussions on the various TV channels included displays of verbal incontinence and mayhem.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team of Cabinet ministers looked suitably solemn; 62 per cent of the Indian people, according to an opinion poll, supported a swift military response.

Exterrnal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the UN General Assembly summit

Pune team’s novel carbon batteries

Uri army base after jihadi attack

The ruling BJP and the Opposition party sought solace and comfort in mud-slinging exercises that are now par the course. One sensed, yet again, that there would be heated talk, followed by a stream of rancid clichés, then a fading story.

(Print media, Television networks, September 20)

Past BJP, Congress goof ups

If the past be any guide, the BJP government, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, goofed on the jihadihijack of an Air India aircraft; earlier, Vajpayee’s peace journey to Lahore had ensured the Kargil war and loss of over Indian 700 lives, troops who were killed in action. More recently, Prime Minister Modi dropped by Nawaz Sharif’s house in Lahore for a Sharif family birthday bash; the jihadi attack on the Pathancot air base followed shortly afterwards. There were security breaches there, like there were at the army base in Uri. Protective measures around these sensitive sites must be tightened with the utmost urgency

Poor Congress record

The Congress Party in power goofed up on the jihadi assault on Mumbai, November 26, 2008, when a critical commando force was airlifted from Delhi, following a breakdown in bureaucratic traffic and arrived on the scene a full ten hours after the carnage had begun. Neither party, therefore, trails clouds of glory. But Mr Modi keeps twittering reassuring messages to all and sundry, but of a credible Pakistan policy there is, as yet little sign. However, this being a dangerous business, action must be driven by a cool head and careful risk assessments. Revenge is best served cold.

Fresh infiltration bids foiled

Pakistan is helping India speed up its responses to jihadi terrorism from across the border with

two infiltration attempts subsequent to the Uri attack. Both attempts were foiled by prompt Army action. In the fire fights that followed local reports suggest that 8-10 jihadi terrorists were killed for one dead among the Indian troops engaging them.

There was no confirmation of the numbers of infiltrators involved

Indian attitude hardens

The government has given the Army a free hand to decide the most appropriate response it deems fit to meet the Pakistanisponsored terrorist threat.

Multiple options are on the table.

The Army will choose where action is necessary. According to the NDTV channel the signs appear ominous. Times of India, NDTV September 20, 21)

Army brigades to move to valley

The Indian Army is to move two brigades – 5000 troops - into North Kashmir to reinforce its forces there. This is partly to make up for redeployment of troops who were switched to the valley. Secondly, the reinforcements up north were designed to plug the gaps in the Line of Control. With Pakistan brazenly increasing its infiltration levels into Kashmir Indian counter measures are being put in place (Hindu September 22)

Ranks of Kashmiri job seekers swells

The light at the end of Kashmir’s dark tunnel are the swelling lines of job seekers at government offices. They have clearly ignored Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s call to the yout of the valley to avoid employment in the civil services. Those wishing to join the police number more than 10,000 and approximate numbers are filling up application forms for employment in other branches of the State administration. It is early days, but the longer the struggle the better the chances of India prevailing.

(Times of India September 21.

A team of scientists from the Pune’s National Chemical Laboratory and the Indian Institute of Science and Research Education have used a simple cost-effective way of converting sugarcane bagasse into anodegrade carbon for use in Li-ion batteries. Anode grade carbon being very expensive and time consuming to produce, the Pune researchers produced high quality carbon within minutes by using a low power microwave system . The results were published in a recent issue of the Journal of Electrochimica Acta (Hindu September 22)

India’s honeymoon with Modi firm

Kusoom Vadgama with Lady Hale at unveiling of Cornelia Sorabji bust at Lincoln’s Inn, London. See page 3

advanced weapons system to keep ahead of the game in confrontation with Pakistan and China (Hindu, Times of India, September 24) More on this next week.

Mobius hails RIL’s move

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd’s entry into the telecom market is set to be a game-changer for the Indian economy, and this impact will be felt across all its sectors, according to Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman Templeton Emerging Markets Group at Franklin Templeton Investments.

Mobius 80, who oversees the Templeton research team based in 18 emerging markets offices, said he would give high marks to the Narendra Modi government for its performance so far (Mint September 22)

Chennai Metro takes leap forward

INS Mormugao launched

With a high approval rating of 81 per cent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to enjoy a honeymoon with the Indian public. The poll was conducted by the Pew Research Centre. Eight out of tem respondents were satisfied with the state of the economy.

Two out three Indians were satisfied by the general direction of the country (Mint, Times of India September 20)

Navy launches latest stealth warship

India’s second Visakhapatnam stealth warship INS Mormugao was launched recently at the Mazgaon Dock, near Mumbai.

INS Mormugao, a guided missile destroyer, is the fifth frontline warship to be serviced for the fleet in the last six years. This latest addition to the Indian Navy will now start its sea trials. The vessel spans 163 metres in length and displacement of 7,300 tonnes with sophisticated missile systems to match the best in the world. It has a crew of 50 officers and 250 sailors (Times of India September 18)

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa inaugurated the Chennai’s metro rail service from Chennai Airport to Little Mount. The St Thomas metro station, which is Corridor II of the project, was also inaugurated.

Operations on Corridor I on the lower level of the the Alandur metro has also commenced.

National metros

With this inauguration 324 km of metro rail will be operational in Delhi, NCR, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangaluru and Jaipur. About 520 km is currently under construction in above cities and others, such as, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Nagpur (Business Line September 22)

Optical fibre link approved

The central government has sanctioned an optical fibre cable linking Chennai, Andaman and Nicobar. This will equip the Andaman & Nicobar Islands with appropriate bandwith and telecom connectivity for implementation of e-governance initiatives,

and the establishment of e-commerce facilities (Business Line September 22)

India-made products for the world

John Flannery, President and CEO of General Electric Healthcare has described India as an ’incredible innovation market.’ GE takes its locally made Indian products beyond emerging countries into developed markets as well. Illustrating why these products are making headway, he told reporters in Delhi that a locally made CT imaging machine was ‘40 per cent less expensive than the product could be anywhere in the world; it consumes 50 per cent less electricity, has a substantially smaller footprint - so it can fit in many places - and the scan time is 28 per cent faster, so that you can get more throughput.’ (Business Line September 21)

India third in tech startup exits

A few years ago there were worries that India wasn’t recording exits of startups through mergers and acquisitions or IPOs. However, in the first six months of 2016, India registered the third-highest tech startup exits, according to US startup data base CB Insights.

The US has led the list with 857mergers and acquisitions in the first six months of this year, followed by the UK with 135, India came next with 86 and China with 15 (Times of India September 23)

Maharashtra law absurd

Every now and again RSS-BJP backwoodsmen remind the country that they are alive and well.

The Maharashtra government tried moral policing, but the courts shot it down. Its latest caper is banning the sale of alcohol in bars and dance club establishments. The Justices described the measure as ‘absurd’ and ‘absolutely regressive by centuries’. (Hindu September 22)

India, France sign Rafale deal

Following years of tortuous negotiations India and France signed a deal at the weekend for the purchase 36 Rafale aircraft together with an offset and the most

Defence Minister Parrikar with French counterpart after Rafale aircraft deal

UK Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Lord Navnit Dholakia Deputy Leader of the Lords Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems

Lib Dems the real voice of Opposition This Conference season is showing why the Liberal Democrats are needed more than ever. We are the real voice of Opposition to the Conservative Brexit Government and the only party fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united.

Labour under Jeremy Corbyn are not up for the fight whilst the Tories are floundering without the proper Opposition they need and deserve. This Government has one of the biggest decisions facing them of recent times, they will be responsible for the UK leaving the EU. A judgement of this magnitude needs a strong Opposition to ensure the right decisions are made at every step of the way. With this Labour party, at this time, that won’t happen.

With Labour scrabbling amongst themselves, and the SNP obsessing over how they can best play their cards to get Scotland to abandon another union, it is up to the Liberal Democrats to act as the Opposition this country needs.

With this weight on our shoulders the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton was optimistic and upbeat. The Lib Dem fightback is happening up and down the country as Liberal Democrat campaigners and activists are winning seats from Labour and the Conservatives and making a real difference in their communities. Since May 2015 we have gained more seats in by-elections than all the other parties put together.

British politics has been in turmoil this summer in the wake of the Brexit vote, each party is turning in on itself without a clue of what the future holds

for Britain. The Party conferences this autumn will only bring this closer to the surface. Corbyn has won again, the Labour infighting will continue. May will have to glue together the schisms in her own Cabinet, and will, perhaps, be brave enough to reveal some of what her favourite phrase ‘Brexit means Brexit’ actually means.

But the Liberal Democrats, under Tim Farron (who now happens to be the longest serving national party leader in Britain) have remained united. Our Conference this year shows that we were getting on with it, laying out a credible plan to fund the future of the NHS, securing a school system that works for everyone, and building an infrastructure for the 21st century that will leave no one behind.

We are united under our vision that Britain should remain tolerant and open.

That Brexit shouldn’t mean pulling up a drawbridge to the rest of the world, hiding away from our friends and neighbours. This summer the divisions within our country have been exposed, old wounds have reopened as racism and hate crime has bubbled up to levels we haven’t seen in decades. As we look forward we face a frightening future but we must not let this vision become the reality.

In all this infighting, in all this division and mistrust, in the wake of our massive decision on Europe, we must build a Britain that works for the future and for everyone living here. The Liberal Democrats will lead that fight.

13

'Ed Miliband hurt Labour' says Brother In an article in the New Statesman, former foreign secretary David Miliband has suggested that his brother Ed Miliband has pushed the Labour party further away from power since the 1930s.

David said in the article that Jeremy Corbyn is not single-handedly responsible for the party’s woes.

Miliband writes, “Brexit reflects the weakness of the left. Brexit was only possible because of Labour’s shift over the

Ed Miliband

David Miliband

past ten years from a powerful covering majority to a secondary influence on national decisionmaking. The future of the left is about more than

Labour, and about more than parliamentary representation, but the only if we understand this shift can the challenges of Brexit be addressed.”

The Return of Bashir

Mortgage fraudsters

According to a study owners of new-build flats and expensive properties are susceptible to mortgage fraud and identity theft.

Fraudsters in a number of cases gain access to personal details by stealing post and intercepting emails between borrowers and solicitors.

Research by Experian, a credit card checking agency found, people living in socalled “city prosperity” account for 10% of all ID fraud in mortgages compared to 7% last year.

The journalist who moved to the US after finding fame with his TV interviews with Diana, Princess of Wales and the late Michael Jackson is set to return to Britain.

Martin Bashir, the BBC

has announced is set to become the organisation’s new religious affairs correspondent. Rumoured to earn around £60,000, he will replace Caroline Wyatt, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Rhodes Must Fall founder attacks white student Ntokozo Qwabe, a former Oxford student and cofounder of the university's Rhodes Must Fall campaign, has reportedly been caught on camera attacking a white student during demonstrations against higher education fees in

South Africa.

Qwabe did not deny using what he called his “protest stick” in the video, but said he only wished he had “whipped the white apartheid settler colonial entitlement out of the b******”.

ºђકЦ® ¸Цªъ³Ъ ╙¸àક¯ђ³ЬєÃºЦ ˛ЦºЦ ¾щ¥Ц® Major Commercial Property Auction Thursday 13th October 2016 On behalf of Telereal Trillium, Aviva Investors, Major Funds, Trustees, LPA Receivers and Administrators at CBRE, Colliers CRE, BDO, JLL, Deloitte and Fairacre amongst others.

131 lots to be offered, including: RETAIL INVESTMENTS

SOUTHPORT PR8 1AG

OFFICE INVESTMENTS

GREENFORD UB6 9PN

33 Tulketh Street, Merseyside

57 Broadway, Greater London

t/a Rymans until 2016 (subject to option) Rent £25,000 p.a.x.

BIRMINGHAM B2 5TB

Let until 2033 Rent £18,060 p.a.x.

'311)136%8) 1%,%81% +%2(,-

Neville House, 14 Waterloo Street

GREENFORD UB6 9PN

CAR PARK INVESTMENT

63 Broadway, Greater London

BRISTOL BS3 4HH

Let until 2033 Rent £18,100 p.a.x.

NCP Car Park, Bedminster

WINDSOR SL4 1DS 140 Peascod Street, Berkshire Retail unit with Self Contained offices to be let, Residential redevelopment potential (Subject to Consents) Rent £53,000 p.a.x.

ROMFORD RM1 2HU 5 / 6 Old Mill Parade, Victoria Road, Greater London Includes Two Retail Units Rent £31,910 p.a.x.

HERTFORD SG14 1BN

Let to NCP Limited until 2028 Rent £53,779 p.a.x.

GROUND RENT INVESTMENT

DAGENHAM RM9 5AN 227 - 231 Heath Way, Greater London Let to Barclays Bank until 2037, includes 5 residential flats.

Valuable Reversion 2037 Rent £135 per annum.

INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT

RUGBY CV21 1DA Unit 2, Chariot Way, Glebe Farm Industrial Estate

29 Bircherley Green Shopping Centre, Hertfordshire

Freehold 25,000 sq ft Industrial unit, Let until 2026 Rent £110,125 p.a.x.

Let to Holland And Barratt until 2021 Rent £53,000 p.a.x.

MOTOR TRADE INVESTMENT

BOLTON BL1 1HE Beales Department Store, 79 - 87 Deansgate, Greater Manchester Let to JE Beale plc, 66 sqft Department Store, Active Management Potential Rent £168,257 p.a.x.

PORTSMOUTH PO6 4SJ Guy Salmon Land Rover Showroom, Compass Road, North Harbour, Port Solent T/A Jaguar / Land Rover Showroom, Approximately 15,000 sq ft on 1.5 acres site, Adjacent to M27 / A27 Rent £206,400 p.a.x.

John Mehtab: +44 (0)20 7034 4855

Approximately 28,000 sq ft, Multi Let Offices, Residential redevelopment to be let.

Producing £222,780 with 5 office suites to be let.

SWANSEA SA7 9FF Unit C Lakeside Technology Park, Phoenix Way Let to South Wales Police Authority Rent £59,125 p.a.x.

MACCLESFIELD SK10 1AQ 19 - 21 King Edward Street, Cheshire Freehold Office Investment, Let to McCann Complete Medical Limited with Guarantee until 2026 Rent £254,000 p.a.x.

RETAIL WAREHOUSE INVESTMENT

LEEDS LS9 6T9 York Road Shopping Centre, Yorkshire Freehold Retail Park, tenants include B&M and Iceland Rent £194,751 p.a.x.

www.acuitus.co.uk

14 COMMUNITY

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

London to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti Jayanti celebrations at the Tavistock Square, London on Sunday 2 October 2016 at 11am.

The event, which is open to public, is usually attended by the Mayor of Camden, local Councillors, Asian MPs and Peers, community leaders and organisational heads. The High

Mahatma Gandhi, known as the Father of the Nation for India, was born on 2nd October 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat and was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in Britishruled India. His birthday is considered world wide as the International day of Non Violence.

Among many celebrations worldwide, Gandhi Jayanti is marked in London with special enthusiasm. The statue at Tavistock Square, London was the first Gandhi statue in the UK. Besides these many other community organisations organise independent events to mark his birthday including the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, UK. Like every year, this year as well, the Indian High Commission and India League will be celebrating the annual Gandhi

Commissioner and the Chairman of the India League will address the gathered audience along with the Mayor of Camden.

Mahatma's favourite bhajans will be sung by students of Bhavans.

This will be followed by a Peace Walk to the Gandhi statue at the Westminster

square and flower tributes will be presented there.

The statue at the Westminster was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of the UK David Cameron and Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in January this year.

Leicester is also home to a Gandhi statue since 2009.

East India Company releases series of five limited edition silver coins to celebrate Gandhi's birthday Commemorating over one hundred years of Mahatma Gandhi’s decision to dedicate his life to the Nation of India. The East India Company has released a series of five limited edition silver coins spanning the historic years from his arrival in India in 1915 to Indian Independence Day in 1947.

At the young age of 24, 1893, whilst working as a lawyer in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi was brutally thrown down from a first class carriage of a train for being a nonwhite passenger in an allwhite carriage. This incident became a defining moment of change, not just for one man but for a whole nation.

Mahatma Gandhi is a legendary and much loved figure both in India and

around the World. An extraordinary human being whose ideology, based on the foundations of truth, honesty, non-violence, hard work and service to humanity inspired apartheid and civil rights leaders worldwide including Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Dalai Lama.

This coin collection in celebration of the Father of India, Mahatma Gandhi, represents a new chapter in The East India Company’s history, and echoes his famous words “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”.

The East India Company special edition series of five fine silver 1oz silver coins feature the significant moments in Gandhi’s life that triggered action by the people of India to achieve Swaraj.

Beginning with the arrival of Gandhi to India in 1915, followed by the NonCooperation Movement in 1920, the Salt Satyagraha March in 1930, the Quit India Movement in 1942 and Indian Independence in 1947 each coin brings alive these landmark moments. These five legal tender coins capture some of the most iconic images of Gandhi, immortalising them in fine silver and 24ct gold plating - the final coin in the series, 1947 India Independence, features the addition of the national colours of India. The strictly limited collection is issued by Niue Island government, celebrating the life and message of a simple man who changed the world.

For more details or how to order the coins collection please see page 7.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Neighbours help mum of five from eviction

Neighbours forming human chain in front of house

A woman who stared at "revenge eviction" found support in her neighbours after they gathered around her house to form a human chain. Campaigners and her neighbours turned out just in time to stop bailiffs from kicking the family out of their home in Easton, Bristol.

39 year old Nimo Abdullahi claimed her landlord tried to oust her and her five children after she complained about rising damp. "It is big problem with damp. This is bad for us, because my children have asthma and it is not a good place. Until recently, the carpets everywhere were very old and dirty and we would ask the landlord to improve things, but he was difficult. Many times I asked him, and a lot of times he would threaten

Nimo Abdullahi

us," Nimo said.

One of the neighbours, Jenny Ross said, "We don't want people in our community treated like this.

It's a revenge eviction and people deserve decent rented accommodations."

Another, Kirsten Parton added, "I'm here because of the way she's been treated by her landlord, it is simply not on.

She and her family are part of the community and have been here for quite some time."

MoneyGram lights up remitters’ Madhya Pradesh beckons UK businesses lives with special Diwali offer

Anand Pillai & Rovin George

Diwali is the time when you want to be at home with your near and dear ones in far off land, but not everyone has the luxury to enjoy that priceless moment. But not to worry, you can make up for your absence by sending your love with MoneyGram and light up their faces. And what best way to show your love than gifting money to your loved ones.

And, the icing on the cake is – MoneyGram is giving its remittance customers (cash receipients) in India special gift offers this Diwali, including motorbikes, mobile phones and other prizes that are quite useful on a daily basis. So if you are living in straitened conditions, this is the time to try your luck. Who knows you may win the conveted motorbike and phones, and they could help you ride out the cash crunch.

You know – money talks.

So cash in on the MoneyGram bounty and let the love sparkle this Festival of Lights.

Throwing light on MoneyGram’s reach, Justyna John, senior mar-

keting manager for MoneyGram, UK, says: “MoneyGram services are offered in nearly 200 countries. We have over 350,000 agents around the world.”

What about the fee for sending remittances?

“Well, fee depends on where you are sending money to and how much you are sending but yes, the fee starts from £1.99.

However, we try to be competitive. Principally the remittances are used for celebrations like Diwali and other festivals, for education and medical expenses. We also found lots of people in India use the money to make investments in the country,” says Justyna, who has been with the company for 4 years, adding that the Diwali gift offer prizes will be given in India.

How quick is your service? “Well, we have two services – the next day

service and the 10-minute service. The moment you send money, it’s received in 10 minutes, it’s as quick as that. People can send money to their bank accounts as well. They can send money through mobile, from website through internet, agent location – and it can be received either in cash or directly to their bank account. We also have kiosks at post offices where people can send the money more quickly.”

Why use the MoneyGram Service?

“The service offers competitive exchange rates and lower transfer fees.

You can manage your money transfers online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks to moneygram.co.uk” Justyna says: “Apart from focusing on Diwali campaign, we are also focusing on MoneyGram Foundation that helps improving lives of communities all around the world throughout the year.

MoneyGram Foundation was set up in 2012. It was mainly set up to help children go to school and get education.

The Foundation raises money through voluntary donation by employees.”

The charismatic Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a clarion call to UK businesses, spelt out the rising stature of Madhya Pradesh as India's dynamic business destination. He was addressing a gathering of UK businesses at the Methodist Central Hall in London on Tuesday, 27th of September.

The event was organised by CII in collaboration with the Government of Madhya Pradesh, High Commission of India and UKIBC. The Chief Minister was emphatic that at the 'heart of India', as the State is often referred to, is a deep

and irreversible commitment to make ease of doing business a reality.

Centrally located, Madhya Pradesh benefits from great connectivity to major Indian cities and ports. It has delivered consistent economic growth, a robust infrastructure, an industrial land bank, pro-

gressive business policies, and features in the top 5 states in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings in India.

The key sectors for investment avenues in MP are, Agri-business and Food Processing, Automobile and Engineering, Defence, IT/ITeS & ESDM, Pharmaceuticals, Renewable Energy, Textile, Tourism and Urban Development.

Other speakers at the event were His Excellency Mr. Navtej Sarna, High Commissioner of India; Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London and Kevin McCole, COO, UKIBC.

Sporting Equals to support Asian Football Championships Sporting Equals, the UK's leading charity promoting ethnic diversity in sport and physical activity have announced continuation of their strategic partnership with the UK Asian Football Championships.

The UK Asian Football Championships, now in its eighteenth consecutive year has successfully raised the profile of Asian in football and in doing so continues to stimulate much debate around the issues that prevent full participation of this particular community.

The event is organised

by the Scottish Ethnic Minority Sports Association SEMSA and in partnership with Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life, Rangers Football Club and Celtic Football Club.

Preliminary games will be played at Glasgow Green Football Centre on Friday 30 September and Saturday 1st October 2016.The final on 2nd October will be held at Celtic Football Club.

Arun Kang CEO Sporting Equals commenting on the partnership said, "We are delighted to be able to support

the Asian Football Championships in its eighteenth year of being.

Even though this is a momentous achievement in itself it is still sad to think that after eighteen years there still remains a lack of Asian footballers at elite level here in the UK.” Neil Taylor is currently the only British player of Asian descent playing in the Premier League while Adil and Samir Nabi at West Bromwich Albion, Easah Aston Villa's Suliman and Liverpools Yan Dhanda are among a host of prospects hoping to make it into the top tier.

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Eczema risk linked to mum’s diet A study suggests women who eat a lot of fish or meat during pregnancy could protect their unborn against eczema.

Researchers have found children with the highest levels of vitamin B3 while pregnant were third less likely to have eczema by age one. In the UK, about one in five children have the condition, triggered by the immune system overreacting to irritants, causing dry, itchy skin to become infected by continuous scratching. Nicotinamide, commonly known as vitamin B3, has been used to treat asthma due to its antiinflammatory properties.

However, this study suggests it has a role in the unborn baby’s vulnerability to the condition The lead author of the study, Sarah El-Heis from Southampton University said “Nicotinamide cream

has been used in the treatment of eczema but the link between the mother’s levels of nicotinamide during pregnancy and the offspring's risk of atopic eczema has not been previously studied. The findings point to potentially modifiable influences on this common and distressing condition.”

The team tested for nicotinamide in the blood of 500 pregnant women.

Although the study did not ask what the women ate, high protein food like meat, fish, eggs, nuts and coffee contain vitamin B3.

Writing in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy, the researchers wrote: “Evidence that attic eczema partly originates in utero is increasing, with some studies linking the risk of developing the condition with aspects of material diet during pregnancy.”

Punjabi Society holds annual Charity Dinner and Dance

Parag Bhargava

Subhash Chander

The Punjabi Society of British Isles held their yearly Charity Dinner and Dance, at the posh Riverside Venue in Bath Road, Heathrow. The event saw Counsellor from the High Commission of India, Gyan Singh, Seema Malhotra MP, and Member of the London Assembly for Ealing and Hillingdon, Dr Onkar Sahota, in attendance. Hosting over 200 people, the event was organised to aid two charities, Alzheimer's research UK and Headway, The Brain Injury Association.

Speaking at the occasion, Parag Bhargava, General

Secretary of the society, highlighted the contributions made by the Punjabi Society, and how it has involved itself in different fields. President Subhash Chander detailed the importance of the community to recognise the two diseases in question, and finding a cure.

Sponsord by Punjab National Bank and LED Factory, the meet managed to raise £3500 for the charitable causes, 100% of which will be donated between the two charities.

Guests witnessed a fun evening filled with dance performances.

Man found guilty of stabbing friend to death A man has been convicted of stabbing his friend to death in Isleworth in a row over drugs. Azeem Issa, 22, of Haweswater House, Isleworth, was found guilty of the murder of Sahil Roy on the Ivybridge Estate, at the Old Bailey on Monday (September 26). The 28year-old, who was engaged to be married to his girlfriend of eight years, died in his mother's arms after being knifed twice on Summerwood Road on April 10.

Following the threeweek murder trial , Issa is due to be sentenced on

Thursday (September 29).

The court heard they had met up outside Sahil's block of flats to smoke cannabis but Issa had been in an "agitated mood and was desperate to find Sahil".

Earlier that day he had contacted the victim several times and even turned up at his flat. Sahil's parents, brother and sister were called and rushed down from the flat to find him collapsed and bleeding.

Police arrested Issa at his home address later that evening and charged him with Sahil’s murder on April 12.

SP

TLIGHT

Rohit Ghai: Jamavar

15

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

I truly enjoy telling the story of India through its cuisine

Sunetra Senior

Rohit Ghai understands the culinary traditions of India since it is his second nature. Growing up around Punjabi dishes and a fiery family of talented cooks he went on to become the Group Executive Chef of the JKS Group of restaurants, which includes Trishna, Gymkhana and Hoppers.

Now, on the verge of opening his next new venture – the signature Indian restaurant of The Leela Palaces, Hotels, and Resorts - Jamavar located in Mayfair, London – he is taking on the paramount challenge: creating a definitive Indian essence in arguably the world’s biggest metropolitan melting pot. Indeed, Jamavar will showcase the unique flavours of the Royal kitchens of North India along with the succulent options from the rivers and shores of the South. The restaurant decor takes its inspiration from the old Viceroy’s House in New Delhi. And, with Rohit’s passion and an eye for flavourful aesthetics, you will be not only guaranteed an authentic experience, but one that’s sophisticated and elite.

Do you have a Signature style of cooking?

My approach is rooted in the traditions of Indian slow cooking, which I pair with French techniques, but without compromising on authenticity.

What differentiates the presentation in your dishes?

There is such a wide variety of fresh, exotic and seasonal ingredients available in the UK that I feel their presentation on a plate must do justice to the many flavours.

Is there a special dish that sums up your talents?

I truly enjoy telling the story of India through its cuisine. In fact, I am travelling across India to dig deeper into the country's culinary wealth and create a menu that will appeal to the palate of the evolved diners of one of the leading world capitals of fine dining. I can’t wait to present these special dishes along with the signature items of Jamavar, including, Lobster Naruli, Sindhi Gosht and Coconut Payasam.

Tell us more about the unique features of your new restaurant?

The restaurant will be set across two floors, and designed by Fabled Studio, London. The decor takes its inspiration from the old Viceroy’s House) in New Delhi. With dining tables designed like chaturanga (ancient Indian chess) boards, the restaurant will reflect the vibrant colours of Jamavar shawls, rainforest emperador marbles, dark timber panelling and a mirror-embellished bar in celebration of the country's textile techniques. There will also be a private dining room for 8 diners with a personal

wine vitrine and views of a beautifully planted private garden.

Has there ever been an ingredient that you weren’t able to master and given up on?

There are hardly any ingredients that I don’t like, however, I don’t care much for the taste of Papaya, and tend to not use it in my dishes.

What top tip would you give aspiring young chefs?

I would say that curiosity, creativity and confidence are the ingredients of success in the kitchen, and when combined with a passion to cook, it’s a winning recipe.

What for you are the features of a top quality establishment?

Location is key. For me, offering a wide variety of choice is as important as consistently delivering the best quality and exceeding guest expectations.

How have you been as a chef who needs to deliver product?

I strongly believe in teamwork. A happy, synergised team is bound to reflect its energy in the final product, as they constantly strive to give it their best.

You have worked supervising several restaurants at a time. What’s an interesting business technique you’ve observed?

The goal is to be consistent everyday and offer guests a dinstictive product of the highest quality.

Do you have a favourite technique?

Personally, I love slow cooking, working with textures and also enjoy smoky flavours.

When did you first become interested in cooking?

I’ve always been spurred on by my family. My mother was my greatest inspiration. She prepared all of our meals by hand as I was growing up and I often helped her in the kitchen, taking in everything she did. Since my fondest memories are cooking with my mother back in India, I try to incorporate her cooking secrets into the menus I create.

Finally, what’s a great place you’ve been to eat recently?

Umami in South Kensington, which also has a Michelin star restaurant in Copenhagen, has been a meal to remember. Their flavours are incredible and they use all sorts of fresh and exotic ingredients.

E: Rohit@jamavarrestaurants.com W: www.jamavarrestaurants.com

16

Navratri – a time to dance and celebrate Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Navratri Celebrations across UK

Similar to every year, organisations and individuals across the country have arranged for garba parties from October 1st to 11th. Following is a list of events scheduled to host people this Navratri.

• Karamsad Samaj UK Navratri Festival 2016 Venue:Nakshatra Snakey Lane, Feltham, TW13 7NA Timings: Weekdays- 7:30 PM to 11:30 PM Weekends- 7:30 PM onwards Contact: Mahendrabhai Patel – 079 5645 8872 • Navnat UK's Navratri 2016 Venue: Navnat Centre Printing House Lane, Hayes, UB3 1AR Timings: 7:30 PM onwards Contact: Kirit Batavia – 079 0468 7758, 020 8445 6890 • Hemant Chauhan Performing Live Venue: Lakeview Marquee, Forest Road, Fairlop Waters, Barkingside 1G6 3HN Timings: Weekdays- 7 PM to 11 PM Weekends- 7 PM onwards Contact: Vishaldeep – 020 8471 4500 • Shree Sorathia Prajapati Community UK Venue: Alec Reed Academy, Bengarth Road, Northolt, Middlesex, UB5 5LQ Timings: Weekdays- 8 PM to 11 PM Weekends- 8 PM to 12 AM Contact: Ileshbhai Yadav – 079 5898 0366

The festival of Navratri is right around the corner, a beginning to a monthlong festivities that end at Diwali.

Dedicated to G o d d e s s D u r g a , Navratri means 'nine nights' in Sanskrit.

During the duration, nine different forms of "Devi" are worshipped.

It begins on the first day of the fortnight of the lunar month of Ashwin. Navratri holds not only religious, but also a lot of cultural significance in India. It is physically defined by nights filled with singing, dancing and community celebration.

Dates of the festival depend on the lunar calendar, meaning it changes every year. Navratri is considered a celebration of Goddess Amba. The period is considered to be the most

auspicious time to w o r s h i p Shakti. As per Hindu mythology, there is an entire chapter

in the Rigveda, that talks about the devotional sadhanas of Shakti.

There is even a foundational Sanskrit epic, where Lord Krishna worshipped Durga, for the victory of the Pandavas.

The nine manifestations of Shakti are, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, K u s h m a n d a ,

Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri, and are worshipped as "Nava Durga".

There are different stories and legend to the celebration of Navratri. One of the most well-known story is of the mighty d e m o n Mahishasura, who worshipped Lord Shiva and attained immortality. He soon began killing and harassing innocent people, and set out to win all the three "lokas". To stop him, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva combined their powers together and created Goddess Durga. Fascinated by her beauty, Mahishasura expressed his intention to marry her.

She agreed, setting a condition that he would have to win her over in a battle. This battle continued for 9 nights and ended with Durga beheading him.

These nine nights came to be known as Navratri, and the tenth day is celebrated as Vijayadashmi, the triumph of good over evil.

The festival is celebrated in different ways in different states, however, the most popular of them all is Garba. A time for the young and the old to shine together, as they dress in "chaniya cholis" or "lehenga s" and "kediyus".

The occasion is the best time for the youngsters in the Indian community in the UK, to meet each other, and accustom themselves with their culture.

Every year, Navratri functions are held in different areas in the UK, especially, South and North London. People of the Indian community find Navratri as yet another reason to meet up and revel in the celebrations.

17

Britain gears up for Durga puja festivities

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

Rupanjana Dutta

While Kolkata is getting ready to celebrate Durga puja with pomp and gaiety, Britain is not very far away. In London, one of the most renowned of all is a puja by Dusherah CommitteeCamden, supported by BritIndian billionaire Shri Lakshmi Mittal. This will be held at the Camden Townhall, like every year, and will have festivities spread across 5 days, including 'Aarti, Pushpanjali, Bhog (prashad)' and cultural activities. On the first day (Mahasashti) on October 7th, after formal inauguration, there will be Mahishashurmardini collosal dance ballet. On new day, Mahasaptami, there will be a Bollywood Bonanza, performance by Eastern Euphony and Rikta Mukherjee. On October 9th, there will be Sandhi puja and live concert-Sundor Swornali Sondhya and Bandel Main line. On Mahanabami (Oct 10) there will be a Tagore night by Soma and teamkolkata. And finally on Dusserah, there will be a grand concert by popular artist Aneek Dhar.

Harrow based charity Panchamukhee are presenting Durga Utsav in Harrow between 7th and 11th October at the Harrow Arts Centre.

Now in its 11th year, the 2016 festival programme is an exciting mix of artistic and cultural flavour. The free 5 days event provides the opportunity for families of all different communities to come together and experience the music, dance, theatre and food that celebrates the cultural mosaic of today’s Britain. The 2016 festival was enjoyed by over 8,500 people from all over the country and this year’s looks set to beat all records. The festival kicks off with an inaugural event at 7pm on Friday 7th October.

Organiser Saikat Barman told Asian Voice “Panchamukhee Durga Utsav is about bringing together people from all different backgrounds and communities to share and learn about the cultural diversity in Britain. This event is a shining example of community cohesion that can be enjoyed by the whole family completely free.”

London Sharadiya Utsav or famously known as LSU will be hosting its 4 days of Durga puja celebrations at the Ealing Town Hallincluding Realty show as well as a Mela. There will be display of Jute and Handicraft products from Bengal and Patachitra arts. Cultural programmes will include Bollywood Quiz Contest and a Prize Distribution for the winners of the LSUI Cricket Day and Harrow Music Festival. LSU Members are gearing up for an on stage Baluchari Festival. The LSU idol was also featured in an

Durga puja by LSU at Ealing

American TV Channel for a sitcom this year.

This year's LSU Brochure is expected to be a collectors' item and promises to include Bengali comics and writings of tester years (Nantey Fontey, Hada Bhoda etc, Gogol, Kakababu stories), in English for the generation next and is evoking a strong nostalgic feeling for the seniors. After the huge success of the Global Connect delivered

in association with Brand Next, India, LSU is planning a full fledged Antakshari contest with Kolkata (through live streaming), besides the usual hits of last year like Dhaker jugalbondi (playing the dhal or drum togehter at Kolkata and London), and Adda with Kolkata. LSU has built up a very strong and productive association with the Kolkata based Charity called Banchbo- their Back to

The heritage of Durga Puja and Clay making image in Wales project were conceptualised by Wales Puja committee in 2015. The project lead were Dr Sandip Raha and Mr Neeleem Saha.

After many preliminary meetings and discussions with Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), as well as 3 local high schools (Radyr Comprehensive, Llanishen high and Cardiff High schools) in December 2015 / January 2016 and partnersCardiff story Museum, Wales for Peace, Wales Centre for International affairs, Cardiff school of Arts & design, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Bute town History and Arts centre a final application for grant was made to HLF. The project was to trace, collect, and archive of Durga Puja festival in Wales for last 45 years and make a digital archive as well as build a full size five piece Clay image of Goddess Durga and her children in Cardiff by visiting sculptors in summer 2016. Before, during and after this clay image making process three local high school arts students (GCSE level) and Art students from Cardiff Metropolitan University were going to attend and learn the heritage of clay making process and University art students were going to actually participate in making the Clay images long with sculptors from India. In Spring 2016 two artists from Kolkata (Sunil Pal & Dibyendu Dey) were contacted and preliminary

meeting took place with them in Kolkata following approval of Grant from Heritage lottery fund in February 2016. Artists (Pal and Dey) arrived in UK on 2nd June and started the clay image making project on in Bute Town History and arts centre in Cardiff.

There were 4 workshops for High school students.

Volunteers from Puja committee had training in collecting oral history and how to upload files and pictures on Wales for peace website.

All three schools had briefing workshop for their year 9 (year 8 in Cardiff high) in April organised by volunteers from Wales Puja committee and School art teachers. A Project Launch event was held in Cardiff School of Art & Design in Llandaff campus.

Collection of heritage history continues and complete images for public display were held in Cardiff Story Museum, Hayes, Cardiff from 8th – 20th August 2016. Images stored will be worshiped at the wales Puja Committee Durga Puja in Penyrheol Community Centre, Penyrheol, Caerphilly from 7-11 October 2016. The Wales Puja Committee team are in the process of making a film about the whole project including the durga puja festival this year and taking feed back and interviews from all those who have been involved so far including children from High Schools and Cardiff Arts & Design school.

Heritage of Durga Puja and Clay Image making in Wales

School Scholarship Program, where the high performers of Madhyamik and Higher Secondary exams (equivalent of GCSE and A-Levels respectively) from the distant villages of the Sundarbans and Puruliya in West Bengal (India), were given scholarships to continue their studies, met with spectacular success- the children were handed over a cheque in August in an event, where the LSU kids from London (Rajvir, Aaaditya Som, Abhirup, Akanskha and Koustav, Dipendra and Aditya Mukhopadhyay), played different musical instruments

HYDERABAD MUMBAI AHMEDABAD BENGALURU DELHI

and sang the Kishore Kumar Song while the Sundarban kids danced to it, in a unique London- Sundarban joint production, a first of its kind.

With Banchbo and the UK Puja Organisations of Bengali Midlands Association Birmingham, Wales Puja Committee, Cardiff, Indian Cultural Society, Cambridge, and led

by LSU, they have started an initiative called 'Prabsheer Chokhey Desheer Shera Pujo'- aimed at promoting inward Durga Puja tourism into Bengal/Kolkata, this was a huge success last year, after a modest start in 2013- the winners were given prizes and certificates signed by Pele, the football legend.

Besides these there also will be Durga puja celebrations in London by Sanatan Association in Bethnal Green, South London Durga Puja at Mitcham, Bengali festivals puja at Wembley, London Durga Puja Association at Belsize Park, Hindu Pragati Sangha at Manor Park, 42 year old Bengali Cultural Association UK in East London (Ilford)- which will feature music by Madhumita Banerjee on Saptami, Bhajan

by Virendra Chopra on Ashtami, dance by Swapna Mukherjee on Nabami, and dance by Rangani Chakraborty and music by

£414 £380 £399 £397 £398

Debanjali Chatterjee on Dusserah .

Regular durga pujas are also held in Glasgow (Bangiya Sanskritik Parishad), Cardiff (Hindu Cultural Association), Birmingham (Bengali Association Midlands and Asian Hindu Cultura Association), Leicester (Ankur Club and Leicester Probashi), Grimsby (Hindu Cultural Society), Liverpool (Bengali Association of Merseyside and North England), Sheffield (Udayan Cultural Centre), Nottingham (Sai Dham), Tyne and Wear (North East England Bengali Puja Association), Southampton (Southampton Puja and Cultural Association), Manchester (The Greater Manchester Bengali Hindu Cultural Association), Peterbrough (Bengali Cultural association), Slough (Slough Durga Puja A s s o c i a t i o n ) , Buckinghamshire (Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre), Leeds (Durga Puja & Diwali Festival Committee of Yorkshire), Milton Keynes (Milton Keynes Ananda Club), Bolton (Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission), Walshall (Midlands Indian Association), Cambridge (Indian cultural centre) and Bletchley (M K Ananda club).

CHENNAI KOLKATA LAHORE KOCHI COLOMBO

TRAVLIN STYLE

0203 751 4242

£391 £394 £388 £368 £477

46 Church Road, Stanmore, Middx, London HA7 4AH *All prices are from and subject to change and availability*

16

Navratri – a time to dance and celebrate Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Navratri Celebrations across UK

Similar to every year, organisations and individuals across the country have arranged for garba parties from October 1st to 11th. Following is a list of events scheduled to host people this Navratri.

• Karamsad Samaj UK Navratri Festival 2016 Venue:Nakshatra Snakey Lane, Feltham, TW13 7NA Timings: Weekdays- 7:30 PM to 11:30 PM Weekends- 7:30 PM onwards Contact: Mahendrabhai Patel – 079 5645 8872 • Navnat UK's Navratri 2016 Venue: Navnat Centre Printing House Lane, Hayes, UB3 1AR Timings: 7:30 PM onwards Contact: Kirit Batavia – 079 0468 7758, 020 8445 6890 • Hemant Chauhan Performing Live Venue: Lakeview Marquee, Forest Road, Fairlop Waters, Barkingside 1G6 3HN Timings: Weekdays- 7 PM to 11 PM Weekends- 7 PM onwards Contact: Vishaldeep – 020 8471 4500 • Shree Sorathia Prajapati Community UK Venue: Alec Reed Academy, Bengarth Road, Northolt, Middlesex, UB5 5LQ Timings: Weekdays- 8 PM to 11 PM Weekends- 8 PM to 12 AM Contact: Ileshbhai Yadav – 079 5898 0366

The festival of Navratri is right around the corner, a beginning to a monthlong festivities that end at Diwali.

Dedicated to G o d d e s s D u r g a , Navratri means 'nine nights' in Sanskrit.

During the duration, nine different forms of "Devi" are worshipped.

It begins on the first day of the fortnight of the lunar month of Ashwin. Navratri holds not only religious, but also a lot of cultural significance in India. It is physically defined by nights filled with singing, dancing and community celebration.

Dates of the festival depend on the lunar calendar, meaning it changes every year. Navratri is considered a celebration of Goddess Amba. The period is considered to be the most

auspicious time to w o r s h i p Shakti. As per Hindu mythology, there is an entire chapter

in the Rigveda, that talks about the devotional sadhanas of Shakti.

There is even a foundational Sanskrit epic, where Lord Krishna worshipped Durga, for the victory of the Pandavas.

The nine manifestations of Shakti are, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, K u s h m a n d a ,

Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri, and are worshipped as "Nava Durga".

There are different stories and legend to the celebration of Navratri. One of the most well-known story is of the mighty d e m o n Mahishasura, who worshipped Lord Shiva and attained immortality. He soon began killing and harassing innocent people, and set out to win all the three "lokas". To stop him, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva combined their powers together and created Goddess Durga. Fascinated by her beauty, Mahishasura expressed his intention to marry her.

She agreed, setting a condition that he would have to win her over in a battle. This battle continued for 9 nights and ended with Durga beheading him.

These nine nights came to be known as Navratri, and the tenth day is celebrated as Vijayadashmi, the triumph of good over evil.

The festival is celebrated in different ways in different states, however, the most popular of them all is Garba. A time for the young and the old to shine together, as they dress in "chaniya cholis" or "lehenga s" and "kediyus".

The occasion is the best time for the youngsters in the Indian community in the UK, to meet each other, and accustom themselves with their culture.

Every year, Navratri functions are held in different areas in the UK, especially, South and North London. People of the Indian community find Navratri as yet another reason to meet up and revel in the celebrations.

17

Britain gears up for Durga puja festivities

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

Rupanjana Dutta

While Kolkata is getting ready to celebrate Durga puja with pomp and gaiety, Britain is not very far away. In London, one of the most renowned of all is a puja by Dusherah CommitteeCamden, supported by BritIndian billionaire Shri Lakshmi Mittal. This will be held at the Camden Townhall, like every year, and will have festivities spread across 5 days, including 'Aarti, Pushpanjali, Bhog (prashad)' and cultural activities. On the first day (Mahasashti) on October 7th, after formal inauguration, there will be Mahishashurmardini collosal dance ballet. On new day, Mahasaptami, there will be a Bollywood Bonanza, performance by Eastern Euphony and Rikta Mukherjee. On October 9th, there will be Sandhi puja and live concert-Sundor Swornali Sondhya and Bandel Main line. On Mahanabami (Oct 10) there will be a Tagore night by Soma and teamkolkata. And finally on Dusserah, there will be a grand concert by popular artist Aneek Dhar.

Harrow based charity Panchamukhee are presenting Durga Utsav in Harrow between 7th and 11th October at the Harrow Arts Centre.

Now in its 11th year, the 2016 festival programme is an exciting mix of artistic and cultural flavour. The free 5 days event provides the opportunity for families of all different communities to come together and experience the music, dance, theatre and food that celebrates the cultural mosaic of today’s Britain. The 2016 festival was enjoyed by over 8,500 people from all over the country and this year’s looks set to beat all records. The festival kicks off with an inaugural event at 7pm on Friday 7th October.

Organiser Saikat Barman told Asian Voice “Panchamukhee Durga Utsav is about bringing together people from all different backgrounds and communities to share and learn about the cultural diversity in Britain. This event is a shining example of community cohesion that can be enjoyed by the whole family completely free.”

London Sharadiya Utsav or famously known as LSU will be hosting its 4 days of Durga puja celebrations at the Ealing Town Hallincluding Realty show as well as a Mela. There will be display of Jute and Handicraft products from Bengal and Patachitra arts. Cultural programmes will include Bollywood Quiz Contest and a Prize Distribution for the winners of the LSUI Cricket Day and Harrow Music Festival. LSU Members are gearing up for an on stage Baluchari Festival. The LSU idol was also featured in an

Durga puja by LSU at Ealing

American TV Channel for a sitcom this year.

This year's LSU Brochure is expected to be a collectors' item and promises to include Bengali comics and writings of tester years (Nantey Fontey, Hada Bhoda etc, Gogol, Kakababu stories), in English for the generation next and is evoking a strong nostalgic feeling for the seniors. After the huge success of the Global Connect delivered

in association with Brand Next, India, LSU is planning a full fledged Antakshari contest with Kolkata (through live streaming), besides the usual hits of last year like Dhaker jugalbondi (playing the dhal or drum togehter at Kolkata and London), and Adda with Kolkata. LSU has built up a very strong and productive association with the Kolkata based Charity called Banchbo- their Back to

The heritage of Durga Puja and Clay making image in Wales project were conceptualised by Wales Puja committee in 2015. The project lead were Dr Sandip Raha and Mr Neeleem Saha.

After many preliminary meetings and discussions with Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), as well as 3 local high schools (Radyr Comprehensive, Llanishen high and Cardiff High schools) in December 2015 / January 2016 and partnersCardiff story Museum, Wales for Peace, Wales Centre for International affairs, Cardiff school of Arts & design, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Bute town History and Arts centre a final application for grant was made to HLF. The project was to trace, collect, and archive of Durga Puja festival in Wales for last 45 years and make a digital archive as well as build a full size five piece Clay image of Goddess Durga and her children in Cardiff by visiting sculptors in summer 2016. Before, during and after this clay image making process three local high school arts students (GCSE level) and Art students from Cardiff Metropolitan University were going to attend and learn the heritage of clay making process and University art students were going to actually participate in making the Clay images long with sculptors from India. In Spring 2016 two artists from Kolkata (Sunil Pal & Dibyendu Dey) were contacted and preliminary

meeting took place with them in Kolkata following approval of Grant from Heritage lottery fund in February 2016. Artists (Pal and Dey) arrived in UK on 2nd June and started the clay image making project on in Bute Town History and arts centre in Cardiff.

There were 4 workshops for High school students.

Volunteers from Puja committee had training in collecting oral history and how to upload files and pictures on Wales for peace website.

All three schools had briefing workshop for their year 9 (year 8 in Cardiff high) in April organised by volunteers from Wales Puja committee and School art teachers. A Project Launch event was held in Cardiff School of Art & Design in Llandaff campus.

Collection of heritage history continues and complete images for public display were held in Cardiff Story Museum, Hayes, Cardiff from 8th – 20th August 2016. Images stored will be worshiped at the wales Puja Committee Durga Puja in Penyrheol Community Centre, Penyrheol, Caerphilly from 7-11 October 2016. The Wales Puja Committee team are in the process of making a film about the whole project including the durga puja festival this year and taking feed back and interviews from all those who have been involved so far including children from High Schools and Cardiff Arts & Design school.

Heritage of Durga Puja and Clay Image making in Wales

School Scholarship Program, where the high performers of Madhyamik and Higher Secondary exams (equivalent of GCSE and A-Levels respectively) from the distant villages of the Sundarbans and Puruliya in West Bengal (India), were given scholarships to continue their studies, met with spectacular success- the children were handed over a cheque in August in an event, where the LSU kids from London (Rajvir, Aaaditya Som, Abhirup, Akanskha and Koustav, Dipendra and Aditya Mukhopadhyay), played different musical instruments

HYDERABAD MUMBAI AHMEDABAD BENGALURU DELHI

and sang the Kishore Kumar Song while the Sundarban kids danced to it, in a unique London- Sundarban joint production, a first of its kind.

With Banchbo and the UK Puja Organisations of Bengali Midlands Association Birmingham, Wales Puja Committee, Cardiff, Indian Cultural Society, Cambridge, and led

by LSU, they have started an initiative called 'Prabsheer Chokhey Desheer Shera Pujo'- aimed at promoting inward Durga Puja tourism into Bengal/Kolkata, this was a huge success last year, after a modest start in 2013- the winners were given prizes and certificates signed by Pele, the football legend.

Besides these there also will be Durga puja celebrations in London by Sanatan Association in Bethnal Green, South London Durga Puja at Mitcham, Bengali festivals puja at Wembley, London Durga Puja Association at Belsize Park, Hindu Pragati Sangha at Manor Park, 42 year old Bengali Cultural Association UK in East London (Ilford)- which will feature music by Madhumita Banerjee on Saptami, Bhajan

by Virendra Chopra on Ashtami, dance by Swapna Mukherjee on Nabami, and dance by Rangani Chakraborty and music by

£414 £380 £399 £397 £398

Debanjali Chatterjee on Dusserah .

Regular durga pujas are also held in Glasgow (Bangiya Sanskritik Parishad), Cardiff (Hindu Cultural Association), Birmingham (Bengali Association Midlands and Asian Hindu Cultura Association), Leicester (Ankur Club and Leicester Probashi), Grimsby (Hindu Cultural Society), Liverpool (Bengali Association of Merseyside and North England), Sheffield (Udayan Cultural Centre), Nottingham (Sai Dham), Tyne and Wear (North East England Bengali Puja Association), Southampton (Southampton Puja and Cultural Association), Manchester (The Greater Manchester Bengali Hindu Cultural Association), Peterbrough (Bengali Cultural association), Slough (Slough Durga Puja A s s o c i a t i o n ) , Buckinghamshire (Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre), Leeds (Durga Puja & Diwali Festival Committee of Yorkshire), Milton Keynes (Milton Keynes Ananda Club), Bolton (Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission), Walshall (Midlands Indian Association), Cambridge (Indian cultural centre) and Bletchley (M K Ananda club).

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FINANCIAL VOICE

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Qatar ends talks to buy Railway budget scrapped, merged with general budget Sahara's hotels in London, NY AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

The Union Cabinet has approved the merging of Indian railway budget with the general from next year, in a decision that ends a practice that began in 1924.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "Rail budget and general budget will be amalgamated from now, there will only be one budget. However, the functional autonomy of railways will be maintained."

The decision holds considerable significance as in the recent past, political hotshots have used the rail budget to hand out goodies for their own purposes.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's inclination to give up the limelight is refreshing, and a break from the way the portfolio has been held in the past. The move came two months after a two-member committee comprising of Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai recommended scrapping of the Britishera practice.

The Cabinet has also

decided to advance the presentation of general budget by a month instead of present practice of unveiling it at the end of February. To facilitate this, the budget session of Parliament will be called sometime before January 25, a month ahead of the current practice.

Accordingly, the beginning of budget preparation will be advanced to early October and GDP estimates made available on January 7 instead of February 7 now.

Till now budget was presented on the last day of

February and it is not until mid-May that the Parliament approves it in two parts. And with the monsoon arriving in June, most of the schemes and spendings by states do not take off until October, leaving just half a year for their implementation.

Early presentation of budget would mean that the entire exercise is over by March 31, and expenditure as well as tax proposals come into effect right from the beginning of new fiscal, thereby ensuring better implementation.

Subrata Roy's Sahara took yet another hit after the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) abandoned talks to buy its London-based Grosvenor House Hotel, and two other hotels in New York.

The withdrawal increases the likelihood of the trophy properties to be acquired by the Reuben brothers.

Sahara has been looking to sell its assets to extricate its founder, Roy, from jail. It had told Indian courts in July that it was nearing a deal with the QIA, who have been eyeing the London property for the past five years. People familiar with the decision to withdraw, said the debt situation was one of the factors that turned them

off.

Meanwhile, the Indian Supreme Court decided to reconsider sending Roy back to Tihar Jail after he apologised for one of his lawyers, Rajeev Dhawan's behaviour. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, who represents Roy, came to court to plead for the extension of parole,

India slams Moody's for ignoring reforms record

Govt may talk to EC before fixing budget date The government is most likely to hold discussions with the Election Commission, before announcing a new date to present the union budget 2017-18, in order to avoid a clash of dates as five states are headed for polls. A top official said, "When we traditionally had the union budget presentation on the last day of February, the Election Commission always knew of it and would weave around poll schedule accordingly. Now that the government has decided to advance the budget, some kind of consultations need to happen with Election Commission."

The elections, to be held in February in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and

Manipur, are likely to be held in phases and the government does not want any of them to clash with the budgetary exercise. Just last week, the Cabinet agreed to advance the presentation of the budget to complete the legislative exercise before the beginning of the new financial year on April 1. With the new date yet to be decided, the finance ministry has suggested that the budget presentation be fixed for February 1 and the entire

exercises be completed by March 24.

It wanted to budget session to begin before January 25 and go in for a three week break between February 10 and 15 before reconvening between March 10 and 15, to complete the legislative exercise.

With the Punjab, Manipur, and Goa assemblies due to end on March 18, 2017, and Uttarakhand's till March 26, the government wants to get a fix on the likely dates after speaking to the EC. The budget approval process happens in two parts presently, extending to the second or third week of May, hampering early implementation of schemes and spending programmes.

India seeks BRICS' help to meet shortfall of pulses India has sought cooperation from the BRICS nations after facing shortage in production of pulses and oilseeds. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh addressed the 6th meet of BRICS agriculture ministers, where he said, "India would like to seek cooperation from member countries in helping to meet the domestic demand." Stating that the nations have a lot of scope for cooperation in agriculture trade, he added, "We should work together to enhance trade among our

countries by resolving market access issues through suitable institutional mechanisms."

The move is a win-win as it will offer business opportunities for other BRICS countries and also meet India's requirements.

Singh said India is encouraging higher investment in agriculture both by public and private sectors. With a huge gap in supply and demand, in pulses and edible oils, the country depends heavily on imports. The government has already begun import-

ing pulses through staterun MMTC, and has even agreed to an arrangement with Mozambique for longterm supply of lentils.

India's pulses output is estimated to increase to 20 million tonnes in 2016-17 crop year (July-June) on account of good monsoon after two drought years.

But the production is still lower than domestic demand of 23-24 million tonnes. Pulses production fell to 16.47 million tonnes in 2015-16 crop year from 17.15 million tonnes in the previous year.

The Indian government hit out at global ratings agency Moody's, for not upgrading India's sovereign ratings.

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das expressed concern over the method followed by the agency, according to sources. They quoted him as saying, "It is like giving a ruling before the arguments began."

Das reportedly told Moody's that they made an announcement based on the information they had gathered on their own, and did not factor in what the government had to say.

The Finance Ministry said Moody's went forward and issued a public statement last week, without factoring in crucial reforms such as opening up of several sectors to FDI, steps on ease of doing business, movement towards rollout

of GST from April and the enactment of the Bankruptcy Code. It also pointed out that ratings agencies did not respond during the Greek debt crisis, and expressed doubts about the way they measure a country.

“For so many years, they kept saying GST is not happening. But now it is a reality,” said another official. They pointed out that the ratings agencies had been caught napping when the debt crisis hit Greece and some other European countries and expressed doubts about the way they measure a country. The finance ministry also pointed out that India was seen as a bright spot given the high rate of growth and that current account deficit was under control with inflation well within target.

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conveying the chief's apology. "It was an ad hoc arrangement and he went beyond his brief. Whatever statements he made were uncalled for. One can't browbeat the court and throw your weight around.

It is also painful for us. It is not we demand respect but the system," he said.

Vodafone gets £4.77 bn fresh equity

Vodafone India received £4.77 billion fresh capital from its parent company to fund its business expansion. Managing Director and Chief Executive Sunil Sood said, "The money has flown into the company, which previously announced a plan to do a share sale, since April this year." The move came shortly after Reliance Jio's dramatic entrance into the telecom world.

Sood also claimed the investment is the singlelargest FDI inflow into the country till date. He said the fund will be used to clear debt, bidding for spectrum that begins next week, expansion of network, and deployment of next generation technologies. Not indulging in the details, he said the firm is continuing to prepare for the share sale on "full steam."

Until now, Vodafone has invested a total of £11.55 billion in the country since 2007, and has over 1,37,000 sites. Its total customer base has touched a 200million mark, Sood said, adding that 106 million are in rural areas.

Tatas in fresh talks to save Port Talbot Indian conglomerate Tata Steel released a recent statement saying it "continues to responsibly develop options to identify the best prospects for the future sustainability of our United Kingdom operations and the best outcome for members of the British Steel Pension Scheme."

It is said they have

called two days of pension talks to try to secure a merger of its European operations with German

rival Thyssen Krupp's.

A source said both the companies could formalise the deal within weeks, even if the pension issue remains unresolved.

Former prime minister David Cameron's government had proposed a change in legislation to reduce payouts by altering the inflation link to wage hikes.

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MAKING MONEY, WHATEVER THE WEATHER AsianVoiceNews

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We’re about to exchange on a probate property in St John’s Wood. The property is being purchased at just under £737k.

It is a two bedroom, fourth floor flat, in a well maintained block, with a long lease. It comprises of 825 sq. ft., which equates to £893 per sq. ft.; and the higher the floor the more desirable the property, generally away.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

The property, being a probate sale, is dated and requires refurbishment. However, we will be doing the works in two stages, the first will cost no more than £5,000, that’s my aim anyhow.

You do not really know what works are essential, until you have had a strip out and looked underneath the bonnet.

This will be a light refurb to get it to a stage of rental, as the location is so strong as long as the property is clean, it will be rented.

Then we will move to stage two, which will be a remodeling of the apartment. Here I mean shifting the kitchen around, building another bathroom, increasing the ceiling heights etc.

The reason we will be doing it this way is, that the managing agent may be cumbersome to deal with.

This will take up time, and expense. It is a comfort to know there will be a stream of income coming in during this time, therefore, there is not too much pressure caused when things do not happen in a timely fashion.

The mortgage we got for this client is a redemption free mortgage, this means the property can be sold or refinanced without the need to pay a penalty. The purpose of doing this is, when the property has had its second stage of refurbishment, we can look to refinance it with a view of extorting some money from it.

USING AN AGENT For many landlords, a letting agent is an absolute necessity. While some property owners choose to find their own tenant and manage their affairs themselves, a very sizeable proportion still choose to entrust their investment to an agent.

There are several important factors that you should consider when choosing a letting agent.

Your final choice will of course depend on your individual situation.

letting agents. Before choosing an agent, you need to consider how comprehensive a service you require.

The most comprehensive type of service, generally referred to as ‘full management’, sees the agent take on virtually all the work of finding a suitable tenant, drawing up contracts, collecting rent (and paying it to you), and dealing with problems like maintenance. This level of service will cost the most.

1. Work out what you need There are, broadly, three types of services offered by

Alternatively, you might ask an agent to simply find a suitable tenant and

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY

Castlehaven Road, London NW1 Purchase Price: £560,000

collect the rent, on your behalf. This level of service is cheaper than full management.

Or, you might choose the cheapest option, which is a simple tenant find service.

Here, the agent simply finds a suitable tenant and draws up a contract, and then leaves you to collect the rent and arrange things like maintenance and inspections etc.

2. Understand the fees

Agents’ fees tend to operate in one of two ways: a fixed fee, or a proportion of rent.

l

REALESTATEVOICE

Asian Voice |1st October 2016

This allows the investor to move forward and do other deals with the money extracted.

Ordinarily you would have to wait for the mortgage terms to expire, and the property market to have risen in order to take money out, which would take about two to three years during a good time.

Currently the market is looking a little flat, therefore we are adding value and then extracting the additional value, this should happen within seven to eight months of completion.

We will aim to start the light

Generally, full management services are charged on a percentage basis, and flat fees are more common for simple tenant find services. Fees for these services can vary significantly from agent to agent.

3. Ask around A personal recommendation is often the most reliable form of endorsement. If you know other landlords in your area, ask them which agencies they would recommend – and which they would not.

4. Remember maintenance If you want to find an

Excellent location l Three bedrooms and over 20ft reception room l Current rental yield is 6% and there is potential to achieve 7.5% l Potential to turn into HMO (subject to planning) l High student demand l Resale value expected to be around £650,000 Call us now to reserve

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works not at the point of completion, but at the point of exchange; this will save a couple of months of valuable mortgage payments.

This is a great time to purchase, and we are focusing on strong yield investments, typically 8-10% per annum. This will mean you’re making money, whatever the outlook in the property market.

agency that will also take care of property maintenance for you, you need to consider a few extra factors. To begin with, you should understand the fees for arranging maintenance work; are they included in your management fees, or are they an extra cost?

Similarly, you should consider whether the agency will guarantee that they will only use tradespeople who belong to the relevant trade associations or guilds. This can help to ensure high standards of work.

For your own tailored package to suit your needs, and requirements, along with clear cut fees then please contact me today.

Richard Bond

Lettings Manager Sow & Reap

20

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

Uri standoff hits Pakistan stock markets The spiralling tension between Indian and Pakistan took a toll on the latter's stock market last week with the Karachi Stock Exchange plummeting 569 points to close at 39,771. Local market analysts believe that drills by Pakistan Air Force - suggestive of preparations against any aggression by India in the aftermath of the Uri attack last week drove small investors to run for cover. According to Dawn, individual small investors dealing with 'penny stocks' were responsible for panic selling.

Former Karachi Stock Exchange chairman Arif Habib blamed the 'hype' surrounding a possible confrontation with India as the primary cause behind stock market fall.

Tensions between the two neighbours have spiked since four terrorists

stormed an Indian Army camp in Uri and killed 18 soldiers before being gunned down. Pakistani media reported that airspace over the country's northern areas was shut down. State-run Pakistan International Airline also cancelled flights to GilgitBaltistan, Chitral, Gilgit and Skardu. Instead, flights by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fuelled the speculative fire of a possible confrontation with India. A military official though was quoted by Dawn as saying that the PAF flights were routine training exercises.

Nonetheless, the strong stand taken by India, growing international snub of Pakistan and a reportedly high-level of alertness on the border, point towards challenging days ahead for markets in the country.

HC gives interim stay on ED attachment of Mallya assets The Karnataka High Court has stayed the proceeding of the £141.10 million provisional attachment made by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case against Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and its chief Vijay Mallya.

The ex-parte interim order of the high court was issued after United Breweries Holdings filed a writ petition against the ED on September 19 asking the court to grant interim stay in the adjudication proceedings of the attachment made by the agency.

The high court has asked the ED to file its reply in the case by September 27.

The case will come up for hearing on September 28, said sources.

Mallya owns 52.3 per cent stake in UBHL. In June, the ED had provisionally attached properties worth £141.10 million of Mallya in connection with the £90 million loan default with the IDBI Bank. The assets under “provisional attachment” included bank balance of Mallya of £3.4 million , a flat each in Bengaluru and Mumbai (2,291 sqft and 1,300 sqft respectively), an industrial plot in Chennai (4.5 acres), a coffee plantation land in Coorg (28.75 acres) and residential and commercial constructed areas in UB CITY and Kingfisher Tower in Bengaluru (8,40,279 sq ft).

Now UBHL in its plea has asked ED to furnish several documents pertaining to the money laundering case, including the IDBI Bank loan documents, the balance sheet of Kingfisher Airlines and

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India looks to woo Chinese MNCs AsianVoiceNews

In a bid to attract Chinese MNCs from the electrical and electronic manufacturing and textiles sectors to set up plants in the country, India will showcase itself as an appealing investment destination with cheap labour and invite Chinese firms at the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue scheduled early next month.

Proposing to rejig the dialogue, Niti Aayog will now reflect on the priorities of the NDA government. Focus of the discus-

sions will now lay on railways and roads, solar energy, coal gasification, urbanisation, domestic electronic manufacturing, and new policy initiatives like coastal employment zones. Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog, Arvind Panagriya said, "Labour wages are 2-3 times lower in India in comparison to China. We would want Chinese MNCs in areas like electrical and electronics and textiles to migrate to India to take advantage." He said that as

Chinese firms were shifting bases to other countries to be more cost effective, India should showcase itself as an attractive investment destination.

This would also help create more employment in the country as well as increase India's exports as these companies also have market links abroad, he added. Panagariya said India would look to take advantage of China's expertise in smart cities, redevelopment of railway stations and setting up

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coastal economic zones. A Chinese delegation of 220 businessmen and government officials will participate in the two-day economic meet on October 67, to be hosted by Niti Aayog. For the first time, the government's think tank plans to bring on board states which have received considerable amount of foreign direct investment from China and are located on the coasts where potential coastal employment zones can come up.

India's GST Council fixes exemption limit India's Goods and Services Tax Council has fixed the turnover-based exemption limit from such levies at Rs 2000,000, leaving the decision on fixing the actual tax rates and the finalisation of draft rules for later.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addressed the media after the two day maiden meeting of the apex decision-making body on the new indirect tax regime. He said the council also decided that exemption for assessees in the northeastern region and hill states will be Rs 1000,000.

"We have also decided that the compensation

should be given at regular intervals to states," he said.

Jaitley, who is also Chairman of the Council, said the jurisdiction over assessees with a turnover of £150,000 and below will solely be with the states and for those above, it will be jointly with the central

Marriott dethrones Taj as India's No. 1 hotel chain

and state governments.

"All existing cesses will be subsumed in GST. We will try to finalise the rates and the slabs during our meeting on October 17, 18, and 19," Jaitley said. He added, "Starting from September 22, we have roughly two months time till November

22 to resolve all the outstanding issues. Therefore, a draft timetable has been given, which also have been adopted."

The central government intends to resolve all outstanding issues over the uniform pan-India indirect tax regime at the earliest to meet the deadline for its implementation, from April 1, next year. Jaitley had also said the target roll-out of GST would depend on the passage of the Central GST and the Integrated GST (IGST) bills in Parliament and adoption of respective State GST bills by each state.

Arvind group to enter footwear retail

Vijay Mallya

statements of the officials of the airlines recorded by the agency. “UBHL in its appeal has wrongly said that it was forced to move high court as the appellate tribunal in Delhi hearing appeals against ED orders is not functioning,” said an official source.

“We are hoping that the ex-parte interim stay will be vacated soon,” the source added. Under the norms a provisional attachment is valid only for 180 days. Within this window of 180 days the adjudicating officer of the agency has to get a court nod for final attachment of assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Currently, Kingfisher owes over £900 million to 17 banks including the SBI, IDBI Bank, PNB, BoI, Bank of Baroda, United Bank of India, Central Bank, UCO Bank, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank , Federal Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Axis Bank among others. So far the ED has attached Mallya’s properties worth over £800 million under PMLA after the agency expanded its probe into the case. On August 23, the ED registered a fresh case against Mallya and Kingfisher for loan default of £602.7 million.

For the first time, a foreign chain has become the No.1 player in India's hospitality sector, dethroning homegrown brand Taj that held the top position for decades. Marriott's global acquisition of Starwood has catapulted the American chain from the fourth position to the top slot in Asia's third largest economy.

The Maryland-based lodging company, which entered India in December 1999 with the Goa Marriott resort, now has 18,000 rooms in its portfolio as against Taj's 14,000. "The Starwood purchase has more than doubled our India footprint," said Marriott's Asia-Pacific head Rajeev Menon. Prior to the acquisition, Marriott had 8,000 rooms in the country.

Starwood's local operations have been combined with Marriott Hotels India, which is overseen by Menon. Currently, both Starwood and Marriott's India heads -Dilip Puri and

Neeraj Govil -report to Menon. "We will come out with a new organisational structure in some weeks," said Menon, adding that there would be no layoffs, something that usually follows mergers and acquisitions. Menon said that since the company is in an expansion mode with 100 hotels in the pipeline, it needs people and will not let go of employees, highlighting that its expansion tracks India's growth story.

India, where the hotels sector is witnessing high growth rate, is the second most important market for Marriott after China within Asia Pacific, said Menon.

While Marriott leads in India in terms of room capacity, it remains behind Taj in terms of number of hotels. Taj, which opened its first property in Mumbai in December 1903, has 108 hotels in the country in comparison to Marriott's 79. Before Starwood came into its kitty, Marriott had 33 properties.

India's textile-to-retail conglomerate Arvind Group has readied plans to step into India's $5.2-billion footwear retail market, which is currently dominated by players such as Bata, Metro, Mochi and Reliance Footprint. Ex-MD of Puma India, Rajiv Mehta, who has been roped in by Arvind as CEO of Arvind Sports Lifestyle & Arvind Fashion Brands, said that the company has opened its first store under the brand name of `Stride' in Bengaluru.

“Compared to the world average growth of 5%, footwear retail in India is growing at a CAGR of 20%,” said Mehta.

He said the average cost of setting up a `Stride' store is around Rs 2,200 per square feet. However, Mehta was not keen to share growth strategy for the new footwear chain, including the proposed number of stores. “We would like to weigh our options for expansion including rental cost of locations. It would not be prudent to expand fast and then shut stores,” he said.

“Our expansion strategy would be a mix of companyowned and franchisee stores.” `Stride' will start operations by selling Arvind's in-house footwear brands such as US Polo, Arrow and Flying Machine.

It will also stock premium brands such as Cole Haan, Johnston & Murphy, Heatwave and Bugatti with which Arvind has entered into exclusive licensee agreements.

Recently, Arvind partnered with former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to launch men's apparel brand `True Blue'.

The company plans to open around 25 `True Blue' stores and is eyeing £20-30 million from the brand in five years.

Sales of footwear in India is expected to reach Rs 1.1 trillion by 2020 at a CAGR of 8%, according to research firm Euromonitor.

However, retail formats are changing fast, the market research firm said. From around 6.5% in 2014, online channels currently account for 10% of total footwear sales in the country.

CURRENCY VOICE

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Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Brexit effect helping Britain to lure visitors Currency Specialists.

In September The Bank of England revealed the details of its £10bn money-printing programme, in which it will buy high-quality company bonds. The central bank said it aimed to buy bonds so that its holdings were representative of the British corporate bond market as a whole. The Bank will purchase bonds on the 27th of September for an initial period of 18 months. Further signs of how the UK economy is performing since the Referendum were shown with UK inflation data for August released. CPI year on year for august increased 0.6%, slightly below the forecast of 0.7%.

The CPI data for 2016 to date has been relatively low but better than figures seen last year – this being a year of historically low inflation, with the rate being around zero for much of the year. Furthermore, PPI input m/m, this being the price of goods bought and sold by manufacturers in the UK, grew marginally at 0.2% against a more optimistic forecast of 0.6%. Another encouraging sign was the UK Labour market showing buoyancy following the Brexit vote in June, with the unemployment rate being printed the same as previous at 4.9%. The number of people in work rose by 174,000 as per ONS statistics.

September also saw the Bank of England hold interest rates at 0.25% but signal another cut is still on the cards later this year despite a Brexit

21

Foreign Exchange

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bounce in the economy. The sharp fall in sterling since Britain voted to leave the European Union encouraged tourists to go on a spending spree, providing a little relief for the economy as it faces an overall sharp slowdown. Foreign visitors have helped boost high street sales since the referendum on June 23. The Brexit effect might also be helping Britain to lure visitors away from other European countries.

The BoE's regional agents found signs of resilience in consumer spending and the housing market, but they also detected a growing reluctance among businesses to hire and invest. The pound came under further selling pressure last week after foreign secretary Boris Johnson hinted that the UK should trigger article 50 early next year.

Jeremy Corbyn won a decisive victory in his second leadership contest in September, beating Owen Smith and thereby strengthening his grip on the party. Corbyn managed to claim 62% of the vote in a bitter leadership battle that has dragged on over several months Data in September showed U.S. consumer prices increased more than expected in August as rising rents and healthcare costs offset a drop in gasoline prices, pointing to a steady build-up of inflation that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.

Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 per-

cent last month after being unchanged in July. Retail sales fell in August for the first time in five months, hinting at a smaller rebound in the economy this quarter.

The Federal Reserve once again left interest rates on hold at the September meeting, as expected. It said that economic activity had picked up, job gains were ‘solid’, and that the case for a rate increase ‘had strengthened’. Three out of ten of the US central bank’s rate-setters called for an immediate increase, but ultimately the Fed opted to keep its policy on hold as it waits for further evidence of progress towards its objectives. Since December 2015, the US central bank has kept its target rate for overnight lending between banks in a range of 0.25% to 0.5%.

While the Fed strongly signaled it could tighten monetary policy by the end of the year, the "dot plot," which it uses to signal its outlook for the path of interest rates, shows that policy makers expect one quarterpoint rate increase this year, followed by just two next year.

Manufacturing activity in September grew at the slowest pace in three months as purchasing managers blamed weak new orders and the strong dollar, according to data.

Soft new orders, lower domestic demand and a renewed dip in export sales were the key reasons growth was subdued in September.

A reasonably quiet start in the

Eurozone apart from the German ZEW Economic data release which came out at 0.5 points, 2.3 points less than expected. German exports, particularly to non-EU countries, as well as industrial production figures have disappointed. By contrast, the economic environment in the European Union is improving. Overall, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment suggests that the economic situation in Germany will remain favorable in the coming six months”.

Greece will tell its creditors that it cannot comply with Labour reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund as a condition of its support for the country's third bailout.

Both the IMF and the EU said an inflexible Labour force has helped to make Greece uncompetitive, contributing to its economic condition.

Labour reforms are a sensitive issue for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, running a country with a 23.4 percent jobless rate, high levels of informal work and cash-strapped pension funds. Mario Draghi spoke at the conference of the European Systemic Risk Board where he took on critics from the banking sector who blamed the ECB’s negative interest rate policy for squeezing their margins.

Draghi said the Eurozone has too many banks, blaming overcapacity rather than the European Central Bank’s monetary policy for low profits among commercial lenders.

We e k ly Currencies

As of Tuesday 27th September 2016 @ 3pm

GBP - INR = 86.09

USD - INR = 66.40 EUR - INR = 74.40 GBP - USD = 1.29 GBP - EUR = 1.15

EUR - USD = 1.12 GBP - AED = 4.77

GBP - CAD = 1.71

GBP - NZD = 1.77

GBP - AUD = 1.69

GBP - ZAR = 17.53

GBP - HUF = 356.49

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22

WORLD

Hillary puts Trump on defence Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

WASHINGTON: As they inch close to the White House race, Democratic and Republican contenders Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump respectively faced it off in their first presidential debate held on Monday.

While Clinton seemed to come prepared, Trump was expectedly himself, and not entirely losing.

Stuck in a headlock for 90 minutes, over their polar opposite principles for the country's future, Clinton called for lowering of taxes for the middle class, while Trump set his focus on renegotiating trade deals that he believes have cause companies to move jobs out of the country. He backed the controversial "stop and frisk policing" to bring down the crime rate, as she argued the policy was unconstitutional and ineffective. As was anticipated, the debate was heated up from the beginning, as Don was himself, and tried interrupting Clinton and spoke over her answers. His

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

competitor was, on the contrary, more measured and restrained.

Trump aggressively tried to turn transparency questions around Clinton, saying he would release his tax information when she produces more than 30,000 emails that were deleted from the personal internet server she used as a Secretary of State.

In response, she said simply that it was a "mistake". "If I had to do it over again, I would obviously do it differently."

Both the candidates discussed trade, taxes, and ways

Paris mayor’s nudist park

France is the world’s leading nudist destination, but the closest Paris has come to open-air nudity is skimpy sunbathers on the banks of the Seine or in some of it parks in the height of summer. Now Paris’s town hall is backing plans to create a designated open-air space for nudists within the capital.

Plans by Green politicians in the town hall proposed the idea with Bruno Julliard, the deputy mayor said it would be backed. He said “I'm for it, and I believe the mayor of Paris if too. So we’re going to do

it.” Under French law, nudists face a 15,000 (£13,000) fine to a oneyear imprisonment for baring in public.

The exact location for this open air space is not decided but Mr Julliard said the Green proposal is to create a nudist space “in the heart of the capital.

“We need to find the right place and we don't want to upset anyone or ruffle any feathers. It'll probably be a park or garden.”

Anne Hidalgo, the Parisian mayor has already said she found the idea “really nice”.

to bring good-paying jobs in the country. Clinton said Don was promoting a "Trumped up" way of trickle down economics; a philosophy focused on tax cuts for the wealthy.

The businessman panned policies he said have led to American jobs being moved overseas, and pushed Clinton on her past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact while she worked in the Obama administration.

"You called it the gold standard of trade deals. If you did win, you would approve that," he said. To which she replied, "I know you live in your reali-

ty." She attacked him with repeated questions about why he only recently acknowledged that Barack Obama was born in the United States. "He has really started his political activity on this racist lie," she stated.

The billionaire's campaign said that Clinton camp's concerns reflected worries about her debating skills. It is focused on restrictive immigration measures, including a physical wall along the US-Mexico border, and an early proposal to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from coming to the States.

Clinton's win rests on her steadiness and different moves, including calls to expand Obama's executive orders if the Congress doesn't pass legislation to overhaul the nation's immigration system, and for broader gun control measures. She has called for a no-fly zone in Syria, but has vowed to keep the military out of large scale ground war to defeat terrorist organisation Islamic State.

Ghana and Gandhi Known in India as the ‘Father of the Nation’, his teachings inspired the late Nelson Mandela to end the apartheid in South Africa. While Haile Selassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia said “Mahatma Gandhi will always be remembered as long as free men and those who love freedom and justice live," he said. However, not all the people from the continent find the Mahatma inspiring.

An online petition started by the professors at the University of Ghana has acquired over 1000 signatures.

The petition calls for the removal of a statue of Mohandas Gandhi from is grounds in Accra. The academics argue that Gandhi, who lead India's non-violent movement to freedom from British colonial rule, had a "racist identity”.

The petition lists quotes from Gandhi Serve - an online resource that has collated the works of Mahatma Gandhi - in which he described Africans as "savages or the Natives of Africa" and "kaffirs" (an insulting racial slur for a black African).

One example quoted is a letter written by Gandhi to the Natal parliament of South Africa in 1893, saying that a "general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are a little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa.”

"How will the historian teach and explain that Gandhi was uncharitable in his attitude towards the Black race and see that we're glorifying him by erecting a statue on our campus?" the petition adds.

The statue in question was a gift to the Ghanaian government from the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, who visited Accra in June. A few Ghanaians used hashtags like #GandhiMustComeDown

to echoing the sentiments of the professors.

Daniel Osei Tuffuor, a former student of the University of Ghana who has signed the petition, said “Ghanaians should be confident in themselves and seek to project our own heroes and heroines.

There is nothing peaceful about the activities of Gandhi.

Anyone who claims to uphold peace and tranquillity but promotes racism is a hypocrite.”

Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson and biographer of Mohandas Gandhi, said that his grandfather had first travelled to Africa at the age of 24 to practice law. He was undoubtedly "at times ignorant and prejudiced about South Africa's blacks. Gandhi too was an imperfect human being... the imperfect Gandhi was more radical and progressive than most contemporary compatriots.” Rajmohan said.

Dr Obadele Kambon, one of the creators of the petition, agrees. “Ideally, in its place or elsewhere, statues of classical, traditional and modern African heroes could be erected to enhance levels of self-knowledge, self-respect and self-love.

At the end of the day, we need images of ourselves for our own psychosocial well-being and not images of those who called us savages... May Gandhi fall that Africa may rise!”

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In Brief

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The $10,000 acne cream

A US drugmaker has raised the price of two of its products to almost $10,000 a tube. Novum Pharma which makes skin creams for coming conditions says the increase is seen as the latest instance of “gouging” in the largest healthcare market in the world. The company has also doubled the price of its ointments after the industry has seen similar increases by other drug companies.

Chinese city tells cadres to have second child

SHANGHAI: With the looming demographic crisis of stalling birth rates and a fast-ageing population, a city has taken a direct call to action aimed at young government officials to lead the way and have a second child. The government of Yichang city in central Hubei has issued an open letter calling for young cadres to have more children to stem a slide in birth rates in the city, which has begun to hit the economic growth. "Young cadres have to take the lead having a second child, while elder cadres should urge them on," the letter read, citing the need to boost the city's working population and raise the fertility rate. "If things continue as they are, it will bring huge risk and damage to our city's economic and social development, as well as the livelihood of our families," the letter read.

Quit or risk being killed, brother warns Zuma

JOHANNESBURG: South President Jacob Zuma has received yet another call for resignation, this time, from his own brother. Zuma's younger brother Michael has urged him to quit or risk being killed. "My brother is having a very difficult time and I have never seen such difficulty, Michael said. The South African leader has faces several calls to quit amidst accusations of corruption. Even members of the African National Congress have asked for him to quit following heavy losses in the municipal elections in August. Presidential spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said he could not comment on family matters, while state security minister David Mahlobo said he could not comment on Zuma's safety. "We never discuss any security details of the president," he said.

Afghan-born man charged for NY, NJ attacks

NEW YORK: The United States has charged an Afghan-born American restaurant worker with detonating and planting bombs in New York and New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, reportedly carried out twin bombings in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, and along the route of a US Marine Corps run in New Jersey. A 13 page indictment slapped the man with four charges, including use of weapons of mass destruction, bombing a place of public use, and destruction of property by means of fire or explosives. Rahami was captured with a handwritten journal hailing Osama bin Laden.

Meanwhile, the Sikh-American who helped capture the man said he feared of being mistaken as the perpetrator because of the misconceptions regarding his faith. Harinder Singh Bains, 51, said he wouldn't want to be called a hero for identifying Rahami.

Warrants issued against Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Permanent arrest warrants have been issued against former Pakistani president general Pervez Musharraf, by a sessions court in Islamabad, in connection with the murder of Lal Masjid deputy cleric Abdur Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in a military operation in July 2007.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Pervaizul-Qadir Memon has directed the Aabpara police to make all out efforts to arrest Musharraf, as per media reports. Also, Islamabad Senior Superintendent of Police, and the deputy commissioner has been given orders to seize all properties of Musharraf. The court has also confiscated surety bonds of Rs 2,00,000; submitted by the former leader's guarantors when he was granted bail by a sessions court in November 2013.

WORLD Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

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Bill tabled in US House to designate Pak as terror sponsor WASHINGTON: A bipartisan group of two powerful US lawmakers has introduced a brand new act in the US House of Representatives, to designate Pakistan as a State Sponsor of terrorism.

Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, said, "It is time we stopped paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism."

In a massive blow to the south Asian country, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act was introduced by Republican Poe along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of the Democratic Party. "Not only

is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the US for years. From harbouring Osama bin Laden to its cosy relationship with the Haqqani network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror, and it's not America's," Poe said.

He said the bill would require the Obama government to formally answer this question. The President will have to issue a report within 90 days of passage detailing whether or not Pakistan has provided support for international terrorism. "Thirty days after that, the Secretary of State must issue a follow up

report containing either a determination that Pakistan is a State Sponsor of terrorism or a detailed justification as to why Pakistan does not meet the legal criteria for designation," Poe added.

In the meantime, Congressman Pete Olson supported every effort to bring to the perpetrators of the Uri attack to justice. "I strongly condemn this terrorist attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir that resulted in the death of 18 Indian soldiers. India is a strong partner and ally in peace. I support every effort to find out who committed this heinous act, so that the perpetrators are brought to justice. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims," he said.

Afghan govt signs peace deal with warlord KABUL: Afghanistan government has signed a draft peace deal with "global terrorist" after holding lengthy negotiations that could lead to something similar as that with the Taliban. The country's first peace agreement since the Taliban issued their insurgency in 2001, has been signed with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The agreement puts an end to years of talk between Kabul and Hekmatyar, and

should enable him to return to Afghan after 20 years in exile.

The accord, which was broadcast on television, was signed between the head of Kabul's High Peace Council, Ahmad Gilani, national security adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar, and Hekmatyar's representative Amin Karim. It needs to be signed by President Ashraf Ghani and Hekmatyar, to be for-

malised, which Atmar said would happen "as soon as possible".

Key points were removal from international blacklists, immunity from prosecution for alleged war crimes, allowing unilateral political activity, and the release of prisoners. With this deal, Ghani can now demonstrate to Taliban leaders that his government is willing to make compromises for the sake of peace.

23

Sharif v Sharif in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: When Nawaz Sharif won the general election last summer, it was widely expected that he was the man to finally tame the mighty army. Taming the army was a tall order in a country that generals have ruled for almost half its history. But Sharif had advantages which no previous civilian leader had enjoyed: an outright parliamentary majority; an independent-minded media; and an opposition that was unlikely to be beguiled by military plots, having suffered from them itself.

Yet a year on, his attempt to make Pakistan into a country where civilians are supreme is foundering. The government has just lost a battle with the army over Geo, the country’s most popular private news broadcaster. The army took offence at the station and got its licence suspended. The army has won a legal victory in the case against Pervez Musharraf, the general who toppled Sharif in 1999 and is on trial for treason.

And it is pushing back against the prime minister’s attempt to hold peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban and his year-long refusal to endorse military demands for a campaign against the group in north Waziristan, on the border with Afghanistan.

Nawaz Sharif

Raheel Sharif

Relations between Sharif and the army chief (General Raheel Sharif) were not cordial. The prime minister was causing bad blood without achieving much as a result.

Last June he took the momentous decision to charge a former army chief with treason. If the general is found guilty it would be a huge step towards ending the army’s culture of impunity. Partly because of that, many people thought Musharraf would be allowed to skip the country on one pretext or another after he had been indicted by the special court on March 31st. At first, this did not happen. The government banned the general from foreign travel. But on June 6th, a high court in Karachi ordered Musharraf’s name to be struck off the so-called exitcontrol list, paving the way for him to leave. The ver-

dict clearly helped the army in its struggle with the government over Musharraf’s fate.

Sharif's dilemma is that if fails in his fight with the general, he would end up little better than Asif Ali Zardari, his rival whose Pakistan Peoples Party government survived a full term in power largely by doing very little. Sharif’s political problems have been compounded by the generals’ efforts to undermine his policy of dealing softly with the Pakistani Taliban.

General Sharif has been gradually escalating what the army describes as “retaliatory strikes” in North Waziristan. The upshot of all this has been to weaken the prime minister and poison relations between the government and the army just when Pakistan faces some big strategic decisions.

24

INDIA

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Karnataka, Tamil Nadu move SC over In Brief Tamil Nadu local body polls on Cauvery water sharing Oct 17, 19 AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

BENGALURU: Karnataka and Tamil Nadu filed petitions before the Supreme Court on Monday explaining their stands on Cauvery water, setting the stage for another round of legal battle.

Karnataka sought permission to defer the implementation of the apex court's September 20 order that said 6,000 cusecs of water must be released to Tamil Nadu every day. Karnataka said the amount of water not released yet must be treated as “arrears,” and it would clear the backlog by January 2017.

It also urged the court to defer issuing directives on any further release of water.

Water resources minister

M B Patil said that Karnataka's appeal was to not set fresh deadlines or tight schedules on the issue of release of water. The petition was based on the distress drinking water situation in the state. Within hours of Karnataka filing the application, Tamil Nadu sent in a

Rain fury hits Telangana, Andhra; 13 killed H Y D E RA B A D : Authorities were having a tough time in maintaining a watch on the flood situation in Telangana. Water from the underconstruction Mid Manair Dam in Boinapally mandal of Karimnagar, began overflowing from the bund and the earthen embankment was breached, posing trouble for nearby villages.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths due to rain-related incidents in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana rose to 13- six in Guntur district and three in Visakhapatnam district. In Medak district of Telangana four persons were killed and six others injured. Heavy rains continued in Palnadu area of Guntur district of Andhra, apart from East Godavari, Prakasam, Visakhapatnam and Krishna districts.

Telangana Special Chief Secretary Pradeep Chandra said, "Over 1,000 villagers staying in six villages near the Mid Manair dam, which was overflowing, were evacuated.

It was a precautionary evacuation... the situation was now improved and they will be sent back later." Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asked his ministerial colleagues to stay in their districts, monitor the situation, and supervise relief and rehabilitation works.

Four columns of Army and a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team have been deployed in rain-affected areas of Hyderabad and neighbouring Ranga Reddy district.

In Karnataka, three teams of NDRF have been deployed in Bidar, Kalaburagi and Bengaluru districts. The NDRF team deployed at Kalaburagi carried out flood rescue operation and evacuated 21 marooned persons to safer places.

Akali leader, son caught assaulting pregnant nurse MOGA (PUNJAB): A party member of Punjab's ruling Akali Dal, and his son, were both caught on camera attacking and slapping a pregnant nurse, allegedly because she asked them to wait for their turn. Paramjit Singh and his son Gurjit, are both currently missing.

The father and son duo had gone to Gupta nursing home to pick up a patient, but lost their temper when asked to wait their turn. Nurse Ramandeep, who was eight weeks pregnant, faced their wrath, and was reportedly slapped so hard that she fell on the ground. CCTV footage shows the Singhs shouting at the staff before they confront

the nurse. "I had only asked them to wait outside as they were sitting on seats meant for staff. They could not take it and began to abuse me... to which I objected but they slapped me and pushed me to the floor, hit me even though I requested them to spare me because of my condition," Ramandeep said.

Rahul Gupta, who runs the clinic, said, "The duo told us they were from the Sarpanch's family... Since they are from the ruling party, they tried to use their clout and intimidate them."

The party will take a big hit with such incidents as state elections loom around the corner.

plea to the court, saying it shouldn't entertain the neighbour's appeal.

Patil and chief secretary Aravind Jadhav held discussions with the state's legal team headed by Fali S Nariman in New Delhi to formulate Karnataka's legal strategy to avert contempt of court proceedings in light of the resolution adopted by the state legislature. The resolution said water levels in four Cauvery reservoirs were very low and its use must be restricted.

Lawmakers in Karnataka have unanimously passed a resolution in the state legislature seeking to save the Cauvery river water for drinking purposes. The resolution implies that the state government is not in a position to comply with Supreme Court's order to release 6,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu as directed by the apex court.

In a joint resolution moved in both the Houses of the state legislature, the ruling party along with the opposition, resolved to store the remaining water in the four reservoirs across the river basin to meet the drinking water needs of the people in the area.

Jaya hospitalised, party workers flock to temples CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who was recently admitted to Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, after she complained of fever and dehydration is said to have responded well to treatment. A press release issued by the hospital's COO Subbiah Viswanathan, said, "The chief minister has no fever now and is taking a normal diet. She is under observation."

With a fan-base as strong as Amma's, it was no surprise when a stream of visitors trickled down Apollo, and workers of different religious faiths prayed for her health outside the hospital gate.

Politicos who visited the CM assured the people outside that she was "fine and taking rest," the tone of the mass however, stayed grim. Senior party leaders visited temples across the state and offered special prayers for her recovery.

Former power minister Natham Vishwanathan called on the CM, and also did V Bhaskaran, Jaya's close aide Sasikala's nephew. Party

CHENNAI: Elections to over 131,000 local body posts in Tamil Nadu will be held in two phases next month, as announced by the State Election Commission. Election Commissioner P Seetharaman announced the schedule saying the elections will be held on October 17 and 18.

Counting of votes will be taken up on October 21, and the polling will be held for a total of 1,31,794 posts, he said. An official release said about 300,000 electronic voting machines will be used.

Adani launches world’s largest solar power plant

CHENNAI: 'World's largest solar power plant' has been set up at Kamudhi, Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. With a capacity of 648 MW, the plant has been set up by Adani Group, in an area of around 5,000 acres at a cost of £455 million. The plant comprises 380,000 foundations, 2500,000 solar modules, 27,000m of structure, 576 inverters, 154 transformers and 6,000 km length of cables. Group chairman Gautam Adani said, "This is a momentous occasion for Tamil Nadu as well as the entire country. We are extremely happy to dedicate this plant to the nation. A plant of this magnitude reinstates the country's ambitions of becoming one of the leading green energy producers in the world."

Police file cases against expelled AIADMK MP, family

J Jayalalithaa

spokesperson C R Saraswathi addressed the media saying, "She is fine. She will return home very soon. There is nothing to worry." Elaborate security arrangements were made by the police, limiting entry of vehicles into Greams road and Greams lane. The main gate to the hospital was closed for public entry.

Meanwhile, Karnataka and Puducherry chief ministers Siddaramaiah and V Narayanasamy respectively and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief S Thirunavukkarasar extended wishes for the Jayalalithaa's speedy recovery.

HC notice to Haryana on PIL over 'biryani policing' CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana High Court has put the Haryana government on notice on a public interest litigation challenging the Haryana Gau Seva Aayog for ordering to collect samples from roadside vendors in Mewat district to check for beef. Advocate Haseen had sought directions to the Haryana government and the Aayog to call off their "biryani policing", which, he said is a "brazen attempt to polarise communities and give rise to sectarian violence."

A Division Bench, comprising of Justices SS Saron and Lisa Gill said, "The manner in which they go about by overawing public, it appears he is aggrieved. " The court said, "We must want assurance from the state that every-

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thing will be done as per law and not which may create any kind of disharmony." It said that the state authorities can go for checking food adulteration but as per the provision of Section 15 of The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, the competent authority are the food inspectors and not the Gau Seva Aayog.

The Haryana Gau Seva Aayog had ordered to collect biryani samples on August 24, from shops and markets in Mewat and Nuh on a whim that they might be serving beef. Petitioner's counsel Mohammad Arshad submitted that Haryana Gau Seva Aayog's "biryani policing" is a clear violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India under Articles 14, 19, 21, and 25.

MADURAI: The police have registered cases against expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha member Sasikala Psuhpa and two family members for submitting forged documents while filing anticipatory bail petitions in a case related to ill-treatment and sexual abuse of two women domestic aides. Officers said they had registered cases under against Pushpa, husband R Lingeswara Thilagam and son Pradeep Raja. The female judge said the petitioners had submitted forged documents while filing the petitions in court and that made a separate offence and directed the registrar to give a complaint on it to local police.

Former Haryana DGP's conviction upheld

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore in a molestation case. It granted relief to Rathore and reduced his sentence from one and half year to the sentence he had already undergone. Rathore, then IGP with Haryana Police, and the president of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association, molested Ruchika Girhotra on August 20, 1990, in the HLTA office in Panchkula.

RSS leader Jagdish Gagneja passes away

CHANDIGARH: RSS leader Jagdish Gagneja succumbed to septicemia after spending 47 days in the hospital. Three bullets were taken out from his body during the postmortem. Gagneja was shot by two youths on a motorcycle, on August 6, when he was shopping with his wife at a market in Jalandhar. He had never regained consciousness after being shot and was put on ventilator ever since the attack. BJP MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu and state minister Anil Joshi blamed the state police for his death.

Sacrilege incident in Jalandhar, protesters block road

JALANDHAR: Yet another incident of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, torn pages of the Sikh holy book were found in a distributory near Sher Singh Colony. The torn pages were spotted in the canal. The word spread soon and police was also informed. Protesting against the sacrilege and demanding arrest of the culprits, Sikh activists sat on a dharna in busy Kapurthala chowk and blocked traffic. Punjab remained on the boil after sacrilege incident in Bargari in Faridkot district, in October last year and then quite a few incidents were reported from across the state.

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Mewar: The Pride of India AsianVoiceNews

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Bhupal Singh Jettisoned the Bhopal Plan

Dr Hari Desai

But for the timely intervention by the descendent of Maharana Pratap (9th May 1540 – 29 January 1577) of Mewar (Udaipur), the half of present day India must have gone to Pakistan at the time of Partition itself! When most of the Hindu Maharajas (Kings) of western India were toeing the line to join hands with the creator of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and Nawab Hamidullah Khan of Bhopal, his blueeyed boy who was using Bhopal Plan to lure the Maharajas of bordering states. MaharanaBhupal

Singh (1884 – 4 July 1955) of Udaipur jettisoned the entire scheme. Otherwise, thanks to the Bhopal Plan, apart from Bhopal, Holker of Indore, Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad of Baroda, Hanumant Singh of Jodhpur, Shardul Singh of Bikaner, Maharajkumar of Jaisalmer along with other Hindu rulers would have lined up with Pakistan.

Udaipur was a link between Jodhpur on the west and Indore and Bhopal on the east, and the dream of the Nawab of Bhopal of acceding to Pakistan could succeed only if Udaipur came into the proposed Pakistan enclave.

K M Munshi records the history in “Pilgrimage to India”. He extended services to Bhupal Singh as his Constitutional Advisor and was a Man Friday of Sardar Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister of India, mainly

Maharana Bhupal Singh (left) at the time of his descendent Bhagwat Singh’s marriage along with his guardian, Captain Harvey Jones

responsible for the Integration of Princely States into India. Munshi was also Union Minister in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s ministry along with Patel.

Munshi records: When Maharana of Udaipur received the invitation from the Maharaja of Jodhpur to join the Bhopal Plan, this descendent of Rana Pratap replied: “My choice was made by my ancestors. If they had faltered, they would have left us a kingdom as large as Hyderabad. They did not; neither shall I. I am with India.” Hyderabad of “His Exalted Highness” Nizam was the largest Princely State.

Bhupal Singh was an extraordinary man both physically and morally.

When he was a boy, he had lost the use of his

lower limbs in a bout of TB. He was carried from one room to another. He used to ride a horse, his legs tied to the saddle, and go hunting. Maharana was a worthy desce ndent of his ancestors who fought against the Mughals and never got their daughters married to the Mughals like the House of Jaipur i.e. Amber.

When the Rajasthan Union was formed by Sardar, he was to appoint Maharaja of Jaipur as the Rajpramukh(Governor).

Munshi pointed out the historic difference between the descendent of Rana Pratap and that of Maharaja Bhagwandas of Jaipur. Udaipur did not deserve a seat lower than Jaipur.

Patel readily agreed.

The Maharana was styled “Maharaj Pramukh”, to hold prece-

Maharana Bhupal Singh with Sardar Patel and Maniben

dence over the Rajpramukh on all ceremonial occasions as a kind of titular Head of the Union and given a privy purse of an additional Rs 5,00,000, to be used for charities.

SPECIAL Asian Voice | 1st October 2016 While paying tribute to the memory of the Maharana, Munshi records: “Though brought up in an entirely mediaeval atmosphere of India, (he) was one of the noblest Rulers I have came across.”

Even V P Menon, ICS, has given interesting personal historical description in “Integration of the Indian States”. VP had worked with Patel in perfect co-ordination for Integration of 565 Princely States into India.

He was the Constitutional Advisor to not only Lord Mountbatten in the transitional period but to all the three Viceroys during British rule in India. The M aharaja of Jodhpur Hanwant Singh was keen to join Jinnah. Menon went to his hotel, brought him to Mountbatten and made him sign the Instrument of Accession with Indian Union. When Lord Mountbatten went inside for a short while, the furious Maharaja whipped out a revolver, levelled it at Menon saying: “I refuse to accept your dictation.” Anyway, he had already signed the Instrument of Accession!

Bhupal Singh died in 1955 with Bhagwat Singh as his adopted heir. The rulers of Rajasthan enjoyed the privy purses till the Indian government decided to abolish the

25

institution of royalty. The royal titles and grants were eliminated and Maharana Bhagwat Singh was now Mr Bhagwat Singh Mewar. But this did not deter him from his duty of serving the people.

He was also the President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Bappa Rawal was the tr ue founder of Mewar dynasty’s supremacy and rulers of this Sisodia Rajput clan recognized Shri Ekling Nathji, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, as the Supreme Lord of Mewar.

The rulers have been considering themselves as Diwan of Shri Ekling Nathji. At present, 76th Diwan Arvind Singhji Mewar is married to the Princess Vijayaraj of Kutch and runs his hotel business converting the Royal Palaces into hotels.

His elder brother Mahendra Singh Mewar, former BJP MP, runs a group of educational institutions.

(The writer is a sociopolitical historian. He was the Editor with the Indian Express Group in Mumbai and Founder Director of Sardar Patel Research Institute-CERLIP running M. Phil. and Ph.D. programmes.)

Next Column: Maharaja Hari Singh and Kashmir Dilemma

26

INDIA

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

Modi gets tough on Indus treaty "Blood and water cannot flow simultaneously," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he chaired a review meeting of the 56-year old Indus Water Treaty. In a direct offensive to Pakistan, India has decided to suspend the meeting of the Indus Water Commission and look at new ways to use its share of water of rivers flowing into Pakistan.

The meet saw National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, the water resources secretary, and senior officials from the Prime Minister's Office in attendance.

They noted that the meeting of Indus Water Commission can "only take place in atmosphere free of terror". Sources said India could possibly even consider walking out of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) if Pak does not rein in terrorists.

India announced a series of actions on the treaty, considered "incredibly generous to Pakistan". Officials said the Indus commissioners will meet only in the absence of terrorism.

They meet twice a year, and have met every year since 1960, when the treaty was signed.

Mostly welcomed, there are, however, people who argue that reviewing the treaty makes India look like an aggressive power unmindful of international obligations. But Modi sarkar may weigh international opinion, and has considered China doing the same to India.

Narendra Modi chairing the meeting on Indus Water Treaty

The main points to remember about the treaty

The treaty, between India and Pakistan, was brokered by the World Bank.

It directs how the river Indus, and its tributaries that pass through either countries will be utilised.

A Permanent Indus Commission was set up as a bilateral commission to look over and manage the treaty. It solves disputes that arise over water sharing.

As per the deal, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej are to be governed by India, while Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum go to Pakistan.

Since Indus flows from India, it is allowed to use 20 per cent of its water for irrigation, power generation and transport purposes.

Even though Indus originates from Tibet, China is not involved in the treaty. It still does hold the main hand.

The treaty also provides arbitration mechanism to solve disputes amicably.

Responding to the decision, Pak said it would approach the United Nations, if any adverse step is taken to violate the IWT. Pak Foriegn Affairs Advisor Sartaz Aziz said, "The international law states that India cannot unilaterally separate itself from the treaty.

This Indian act can be taken as breach of international peace and hence, giving Pakistan a good reason to approach the UN Security Council."

Ironically, it was Pak which sought to bring the treaty to international light, by threatening to take India to court over two hydro-electric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indus Water treaty has been quite in the news lately. The water distribution deal signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan, in 1960, gave India control over eastern rivers Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej.

While the treaty has certainly stood the test of time and endured the wars of 1965, 1971, and 1999, the topic has once again been opened for reflection.

UAE royals praise Morari Bapu Popular kathakaar, Morari Bapu was in the United Arab Emirates from 17th to 25th September for his famed 'Ram Katha'. He held his 780th katha in Abu Dabhi this month where he was complimented by the royal Sheikh family. Speaking on the first day of the katha, Bapu said, "I don't speak a lot of English, but I expressed myself in front of the family.

I told them, I feel a very peaceful atmosphere here.

To which they promptly

replied, "because ram katha is here." Bapu was honoured by three senior members of the royal fami-

ly, who brought him to the Katha venue in their car when they said the kind words.

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Stop dreaming Kashmir, Sushma tells Pakistan

Continued from page 1 The overall tone of her speech demanded to isolate the south Asian country in the world map, and how India has been doing its part of maintaining peace with the neighbour.

In her address, at the 71st UNGA session, she said there are nations "in our midst" where UN designated terrorists roam freely and deliver "their poisonous sermons of hate with impunity". "In our midst, there are nations that still speak the language of terrorism, that nurture it, peddle it, and export it. To shelter terrorists has become their calling card. We must identify these nations and hold them to account," she said in her 20 minute speech. In a firm voice, Swaraj said, "These nations, in which UN designated terrorists roam freely, lead processions, are as culpable as the very terrorists they harbour.

Such countries should have no place in the comity of nations."

She even directly addressed Pak PM Nawaz Sharif's "baseless allegations". "I can only say that those accusing others of human rights violations would do well to introspect and see what egregious abuses they are perpetrating in their own country, including in Balochistan.

The brutality against the Baloch people represents the worst form of state oppression." The highlight of her speech however, remained her call to Pakistan, to quit dreaming of attaining Kashmir. She asked them to "abandon this dream" and asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is an "integral part of India and will always remain so". "It (Pakistan) persists in the belief that such attacks will enable it to obtain the territory it covets," she said.

Speaking about India's constant attempts to establish an unprecedented "paradigm of friendship" with Pak in the last few years, she said all India got in return were

terror attacks in Uri and Pathankot. "We took the initiative to resolve issues not on the basis of conditions, but on the basis of friendship. We have in fact attempted a paradigm of friendship in the last two years which is without precedent. We conveyed Eid greetings to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, wished success to his cricket team, extended good wishes for his health and well being. Did all this come with pre-conditions attached? And what did we get in return?

Pathankot, Bahadur Ali, and Uri. Bahadur Ali is a terrorist in our custody, whose confession is a living proof of Pakistan's complicity in cross-border terror," she said.

The Indian retaliation comes after the recent terror attack in Uri, that claimed the lives of 18 Army jawans. The central government, miffed with the act, decided enough is

enough and called for a stern stand against Pak. "This month we marked the 15th Anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on this city.

Tragically, less than 15 days ago, another attempt at killing innocents was made through an act of terror in this same city," Swaraj said referring to the bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey earlier this month.

"We, who have suffered in Uri recently, understand the pain inflicted by the same forces. The world has been battling this scourge for long. However, despite the blood and tears of innocent victims, attacks this year alone in Kabul and Dhaka, Istanbul and Mogadishu, Brussels and Bangkok, Paris, Pathankot and Uri as well as daily barbaric tragedies in Syria and Iraq, remind us that these malevolent forces are yet to be defeated," she said.

Pakistan hosting and housing terriorism: Modi

In his first public address since the Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at Pakistan saying there is but one country in Asia that has been hosting and housing terrorism. In the event, part of a three-day Bharatiya Janata Party national conclave in Kozhikode, Kerala, the leader touched several subjects, including Keralites in the Gulf, BJP leader Deendayal Upadhyay, and Uri. "This is Asia's century. All the Asian countries striving for an Asian century. But one country in Asia is spreading terror. It is being a hindrance to the development. That country is exporting terror. That country has become a fear factor, whether it be for Afghanistan or Bangladesh. A country's name crops up when a terror strikes anywhere in the world," he said. "In

Kashmir's Uri, militants with the support of a neighbouring state, killed 18 soldiers in an army camp. India will never forget that. India will give a fitting reply.

In the last few months, 17 incidents have taken place. Many were killed.

However, our army took steps to check cross-border terrorism. As many as 110 militants have also been killed."

Modi added, "The Indian Army will strive to check any incursions.

We are proud of our Army. The nation's 125 Crore people are with our brave jawans. The efforts of the BSF or the CRPF to keep the terrorists in check is not just because of good weapons but also your prayers."

In order to isolate Pakistan, India has decided to not attend the SAARC meet in Islamabad and also to review the MFN status to Pakistan.

PSLV puts 8 satellites in two different orbits Continued from page 1 In a first, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s PSLV C-35 rocket launched a total of eight satellites, into two different orbits. The 371 kg SCATSAT-1, a satellite for weather-related studies, was placed in the polar sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of 730 km some 17 minutes after the rocket took off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at

Sriharikota at 9.12 am.

About two hours later, the rocket placed two satellites from two educational institutions (PISAT and PRATHAM), three commercial payloads from Algeria (ALSAT-1B, 2B and 1N) and one each for Canada (NLS-19) and the United States (Pathfinder1).

Announcing the successful launch of all the satellites from the Mission

Control Centre, ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said the launch marked a "landmark day" in the history of ISRO. The rocket was re-ignited twice during its flight to place the set of satellites in different orbits. Due to the re-ignition, the launch is by far the longest PSLV launch by ISRO. ISRO said though it had launched several PSLV rockets in the past, this launch is "the

first mission of PSLV in which it had launched its payloads into two different orbits."

SCATSAT-1, with a life of five years, would provide weather forecasting services through the generation of wind vector products, it said. The 10 kg PRATHAM

by IIT Bombay intends to estimate the total electron count with a resolution of 1km x 1km location grid and PISAT (5.25 kg) from

PES University in Bengaluru intends to explore remote sensing applications.

Algeria's ALSAT-1B is an earth observation satellite (103 kg), ALSAT-2B a remote sensing satellite (117 kg) and ALSAT-1N (7 kg) a technology demonstrator. Canada's NLS-19 is a technology demonstration micro satellite (8 kg) and Pathfinder-1 is a commercial high resolution

imaging micro satellite (44 kg).

Very few space-faring countries have achieved this feat. European Space Agency's Vega rocket recently accomplished a twin-orbit manoeuvre.

While Isro tested the restart and shutdown of its fourth-stage engine in two previous PSLV launches, the launch on Monday was still complex at various levels

HEALTH&WELLNESS

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Spirituality and the enjoyment of eating FOOD

FITNESS

LIFESTYLE

S

pirituality cannot take place on an empty stomach. It is said that Gautama Buddha gained enlightenment when a village girl offered him kheer. The kheer gave energy to his brain and solace to his tortured soul.

Great food not only gives energy to the body, but the taste and aroma provide balm for the soul.

The body and soul are both nourished with great food. The whole basis of life is food. Food provides energy for survival, making it the cornerstone of life and ultimately spirituality. Enjoyment of food is like yoga. If one really enjoys the taste and aroma of food while eating it, one is able to focus one's whole attention on the eating experience and is like a meditation. But for that, the food has to be eaten

slowly with proper chewing and should be relished. Both these things help in producing lots of saliva, which not only helps in digestion but also stimulates the vagus nerve.

Following the ancient Indian tradition of chewing every morsel 32 or 64 times not only helps in proper digestion and reducing weight, but the aroma of food can go

directly to the brain and stimulate various centres depending on what we are eating. The stomach filling and the provision of energy to the body comes later on. Probably that is the reason why the mouth is closer to the brain than to the stomach! That may also be a reason for the saying, "You are what you eat"!

Also, food should be eaten silently... you should

be immersed in the experience. Talking, arguing and thinking of worries while partaking of food is unhealthy. With fast modern life we tend to gulp down food to fill our stomach, like animals. In contrast, the enjoyment of rich aromatic food allows the other senses to kick in and provides a wholeness of experience. Thus, one of the exercises in mindfulness yoga is to be immersed in the food experience.

Not only is eating great food is enjoyable but preparing it is therapeutic since it allows the mind to focus on a single thought of cooking. Vivekananda the great Indian yogi used to be very fond of food and to him enjoyment in cooking and eating was similar to what he experienced through deep meditation.

Watching TV can hamper child's creativity A

new study has revealed that watching television for more than 15 minutes a day can hamper the creativity of children.

That is the reason why parents are insisting that children should not watch TV for more than 15 minutes. As per the study, children who spend just 15 minutes or more a day watching their favourite cartoons on television may be at an increased risk of losing their creative minds as compared to those who

Binge eating may raise various health problems

W

e know that binge eating is a trigger for obesity in the long term, however, a new study has raised the warning signs further, saying that bingeeating disorder (BED) could also lead to illnesses associated with the endocrine and circulatory systems.

According to the study, individuals with BED could be at an increased risk of 2.5-times of having an endocrine disorder and at 1.9-times of having a circulatory system disorder.

The endocrine system influences heart, bones and tissues growth, and even fertility. It plays a vital role

To Our Readers

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

read books or solve jigsaw puzzles.

"There was clear evidence that children came

up with less original ideas immediately after watching television,"said Sarah Rose, Lecturer at Staffordshire University in Britain, although these effects disappeared after a short time.

However, "if children are less creative in their play, this could, over time, negatively impact their development," Rose said.

The study is potentially useful to those who produce children's television shows, educators, as well as parents.

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| Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

www.asian-voice.com

Using social media may cut BP, diabetes in elderly

M

a k i n g friends on Facebook, chatting online or using instant messaging services on smartphones could reduce loneliness as well as chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes in elderly people.

According to researchers, social media technology like emails, Twitter, Skype has the potential to cultivate successful relationships among older adults.

"Each of the links between social technology use and physical and psychological health was mediated by reduced loneliness," said William Chopik, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, in the US. The study also found that participants active on social media platforms were generally more satisfied with life and had fewer depressive symptoms as well as chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

More than 95 per cent of the elderly participants in the study, said they were either "somewhat" or "very" satisfied with technology, while 72 per cent said they were not opposed to learn-

ing new technologies.

"Older adults think the benefits of social technology greatly outweigh the costs and challenges of technology," Chopik added.

Previous research on technology use across the life span had focused on the digital divide - or the disparities between younger and older adults - painting a rather bleak picture of seniors' ability and motivation to adapt to a changing technological landscape.

However, the new study challenge this interpretation. "Despite the attention that the digital divide has garnered in recent years, a large proportion of older adults use technology to maintain their social networks and make their lives easier," Chopik said, adding, "in fact, there may be portions of the older population that use technology as often as younger adults." For the study, the team examined the benefits of using technology for social connection among older adults in 591 participants with an average age of 68.

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ease, growth disorders, sexual dysfunction, and a host of other hormone-related disorders.

BED is closely associated with hypertension commonly called high blood pressure - that causes the heart to work harder and could lead to such complications as heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure, among others.

Among individuals with obesity and BED, there is a 1.5-times increased risk of having a respiratory disease and a 2.6-times of having a gastrointestinal disease.

Accurate screening and detection could solve BED problem with treatment, said Professor Cynthia Bulik, from the University of North Carolina in the

US. "BED afflicts people of all shapes and sizes. The somatic illnesses that we detected were not simply effects of being overweight or obese," Bulik clarified.

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'Visaaranai' enters the Oscar race AsianVoiceNews

Why Samantha is not doing many films?

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

S

outh sweetheart Samantha Ruth Prabhu has visibly slowed down on taking roles, possibly on account of her marriage to actor Naga Chaitanya next year.

Talking about the dearth of "meaningful roles" in the industry, the '24' star recently tweeted, "Realizing how hard it is to get a meaningful role for a heroine in the South.

I haven't signed as many films as I would have liked to only because there are no good roles, as disheartening as it is to say."

In a span of 7 years, Sam, as her friends call her, has done over 30 movies in Tamil and Telugu. With five major releases this year so far, Samantha has signed only one yet-untitled Tamil film.

Kamal likely to play a blind man

N

ational Award-winning film 'Visaaranai' is all set to represent India in the Best Foreign Film Category at this year's Academy Awards. A docu-drama crime-thriller based on the novel Lockup, the cast includes Dinesh, Anandhi and Aadukalam

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Murugadoss.

'Visaaranai' was the first Tamil film to win the Amnesty International Award at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, bagged the Best Feature Film in Tamil, Best Supporting Actor for Samuthirakani and Best Editing for Kishore in the 63rd National Awards.

Trisha to pair with Arvind Swamy in a super hit sequel

A

Kamal Haasan has acquired the remake rights to the latest Mohanlal blockbuster ‘Oppam’ directed by Priyadarshan.

The character that Mohanlal plays is that of a blind lift operator in an apartment. Kamal, who is reprising the role in Tamil

will be portraying a blind man after 35 years since his much acclaimed ‘Raja Paarvai’ in 1981. Earlier, Kamal has delivered a huge hit with the remake of Mohanlal’s ‘Drishyam’ as ‘Papanasam’ last year.

Official confirmation is awaitted.

Allu Arjun to do his first Tamil Telugu bilingual

rvind Swami and Trisha have been signed up to play the lead in upcoming Tamil movie 'Sathuranga Vettai 2'. To be directed

by Nirmal Kumar, the movie also features Radha Ravi, Nassar, Ponvannan, Sriman and others. The movie is a sequel to 2014 superhit 'Sathuranga Vettai', which was directed by H Vinoth. The main roles in the first instalment was played by Natraj, Ishaara Nair, Ponvannan and Ilavarasu.

Rajini’s punch line becomes title of movie

T

he title of Suriya's upcoming movie has been taken from one of superstar Rajinikanth's famous dialogues from 'Baasha'. The actor's 35th movie has been named 'Thaanaa Serndha Koottam', inspired from Thalaivar's punch line.

Reports suggest Suriya was so impressed with Vignesh Shivan's script that he chose him to direct, over other filmmakers.

Just a movie old, the success of his 'Naanum Rowdydhaan' has already

made Vignesh a sought after director. While details of the new movie is under the wraps, it is known that actress Nayanthara will be

roped in to play the female lead, and that it will be produced by Suriya's 2D banner in association with Studio Green.

S

outh actor Allu Arjun has confirmed being part of a TamilTelugu bilingual with director Lingusamy. The actor officially announced the film at a press meet in Chennai last week.

Produced by Studio Green, the new project will be its 12th movie. At the press meet, Allu said Chennai has been an integral part of his life as he has lived for about 20 years in the city, and that he was carefully planning his debut in Tamil. Producer KE Gnanavel Raja said he was impressed by Lingusamy's narration. "After a very long time this film has a very strong subject like 'Paruthiveeran' movie," he said. Meanwhile, Allu requested the media not to compare his new movie with 'Paruthiveeran'. "It was a classic and one time magic, which had already happened. I won't be able to match that," the actor said.

M.S. Dhoni- The Untold Story

A biopic on ace cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, featuring Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead.

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www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Marc Anwar apologises for "racist" tweets

Priyanka will do only the role of a lead actor

M

aking news as the only Indian actor to present an award at the Emmys, 'Mary Kom' actress Priyanka Chopra managed to attract more than her fans' appreciation with her red ensemble.

Speaking in a recent interview, the 'Quantico' actress said her colleagues in the west were always surprised with the crowd she gathers at her shoot every time. "Whenever I am shooting in New York, USA, or anywhere else, massive crowds gather and wait outside the sets.

They find that fascinating.

They are intrigued by how people find out where I am shooting. I don't know how to explain to them that this is how it works with

Indian actors. Our fans are amazing. They love us, and always come to give us that love and support," PeeCee said.

With her Hollywood film 'Baywatch' set for a May release, the actress said she loved playing the villain in the film. "I enjoyed playing an antagonist in this film. The interesting part was that the villain's role was actually written for a man. A role written for a guy, but played by a woman, that was a big win for me. I never like to walk the path of convention. I didn't want to play a sidekick. I was clear about this even when I signed my TV show. I said I am a lead actor, and I am used to seeing my face on a poster. I am never going to settle for less.

The same rule applies even to m y movies."

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

M

arc Anwar of 'Coronation Street' fame, has issued an apology for posting unsavoury tweets about Indians.

The tweets did not go down well with ITV, and he was fired after screenshots were put up on the internet where it appeared he was lashing out at the community over the ongoing Kashmir issue.

Pakistan-born Anwar, 45, said. "I'd like to offer my sincere apologies for my tweets on Friday." In a YouTube video posted on the week-

Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love is biggest reward: Katrina Kaif Katrina Kaif was honoured with the Smita Patil Memorial Award last week, by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Mumbai.

The actress accepted the award saying she "would like to accept this award on behalf of every woman who excel in their fields."

Expressing her gratitude for the recognition, the 'Bang Bang' actress shared a few words on the changing face of the industry. She said the world of cinema is often referred as a man's world and gradually things are changing now. In such a scenario, it is a matter of pride to have an award that recognises and acknowledges contribution of women in cinema.

Has Ranbir Kapoor found his new ladylove?

'T

amasha' actor Ranbir Kapoor who was in the news recently for his split with "good friend" Katrina Kaif, has allegedly found love again in none other than Shruti Haasan.

Both the actors are reported to have hit it off during the shooting of an advertisement.

Sources said the two couldn't stop chatting in between shots and even went for a popular

suburban restaurant for a cosy dinner where Ranbir played a perfect host to the actress.

Both, Ranbir and Shruti have also kept in touch with each other since the shoot, and reports say the bond is getting stronger every day. Maybe someone can cast them in the remake of R a m e s h Sippy's

'Saagar' which saw Ranbir's dad Rishi Kapoor and Shruti's father Kamal Haasan as best friends in the film!

Kat also added that late actress Smita Patil was one of the most accomp l i s h e d actresses of India and her roles were an inspiration that touched the lives of millions of women.

The news that Katrina will be honoured with the award was met with mixed reaction and many on social media questioned it.

Katrina said that for her love of people is her biggest reward.

She said that she will remain sincere to the craft that has largely given her the purpose of life in last f e w years.

end, he said he was sorry "especially to people from India". "The language was unacceptable and I feel I've let a lot of people down. I hope everyone I offended can find it in their hearts to forgive me."

Meanwhile, ITV released a statement saying, "We are deeply shocked by the entirely unacceptable, racially offensive comments made on Twitter by Marc Anwar. We have talked to Marc and, as a consequence of his comments, he will not be returning to Coronation Street with immediate effect." The original tweets included offensive language and called for Pakistani actors to stop working in the country.

Alia confirms her break-up with Sid

T

he sad news is that Bollywood's cutest couple Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra have parted ways. If rumours are to be believed, both Sid and Alia have taken a break as they want to concentrate on their respective careers. However, a report vouched Alia confirming that she and Sid aren't a couple any more, and it was her 'Student of the Year' co-star Varun Dhawan, who she confided into.

Meanwhile, Sid has been flirting with YouTube star Lilly Singh on Twitter. It began when Lilly shared a picture from the actor's latest photo shoot saying, "WELL. Any chance you have a brother that looks just like you that lives in LA? ASKING FOR A FRIEND. #NamedLilly."

To which Malhotra cheekily replied, "Nah sadly my genes are limited to #NewDelhi only, let me know if she visits;) @IISuperwomenII"

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Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

Date nights, good for marriages Research has shown couples who have date nights regularly such as the Camerons and the Obamas - are less likely to split up.

The study by the Marriage Foundation, a think-tank addressing the breakdown of long-term relationships, has found having a date once a month increases the couple’s chance of maintaining the relationship for a decade by 14%. However for those, like the Cameron’s, having a date night once a week has no additional benefit. And for cohabiting couples a date has a less significant effect than those who are married.

Research director of the Marriage Foundation, Harry Benson, says “For married couples, date night has a meaning. For the typical cohabiting couple, with a little less clarity and more ambiguity about the prospect of their whole lives together, the occasional night out

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Your inborn drive to be always pushing ahead receives added impetus during this week. Your energy levels will be high and you will find much scope for taking fresh initiatives and getting fast results. Experience you have built up in the past will now stand you in good stead. Co-operative ventures are likely to generate financial success.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Relationships look great as

Date night considered to be vital for strong marriages

has less meaning. It's less intentional, simply a night out.”

In another study based on official data, young couples faced with then twin pressures of work and childcare struggle to support an element of romance in their relationships. The study based on figures released by the Office for National Statistics shows the number of people in unhappy relationships went up to 1 million between 2010 and 2014.

The Marriage Foundation said the chances of staying together is based on other, more significant

Coming Events

l Gandhi Foundation's annual lecture will be delivered by Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Rowan Williams of Oystermouth. Title of lecture is 'Empathy, ethics and peacemaking: reflections on preserving our humanity'.

Date: October 1 Timing: 11:00 AM – Light Refreshment 11:30 AM – Lecture Venue: St Martin's-in-the-Field, near Trafalgar Square, London

factors. Breakups among married couples are 57%

less than cohabiting couples.

Chinese bones in Londinium It was an ordinary Roman cemetery, containing the bodies of ordinary people who lived and died on the banks of the Thames.

However, skeletal analysis has forced historians to rethink the history been Europe and Asia.

Analysis show two of the skeletons, dating to between the 2nd and 4th century AD are intact, Chinese. It raises new questions as this discovery put inter-continental travel from the east some 1000 years before the travels of Marco Polo who is long accepted as the person bringing the culture of the east to people of the west.

The excavation of the cemetery in modern day Southwark has identified a multicultural community of four people, two ethnically Africa and two

Asian, most probably Chinese. According to Rebecca Redfern from the Museum of London, the find is spectacular but also mysterious. “In this cemetery, they’re Mr Average Roman Londoner. There’s nothing marking them out, so this was a total surprise. We have no inscription evidence or anything to suggest people of this ancestry were present in Roman Britain.”

Isotope analysis shows the east Asians were not born in Britain, but there is little further information about their origin. It is speculated that they themselves came from China, or maybe a relative, or perhaps generations of eastward migrating relatives. Before this, the only east Asian skeleton within the Roman empire to found was in Italy.

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GEMINI May 22 - June 22 The planetary activity in your chart signals a time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to be dealt with. The accent’s very much on relationships. The outlook remains optimistic, so don't be afraid to act if your instinct tells you it's time for change. Professional and financial pressures will begin to ease.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 You have everything to gain by following creative inclinations. If you have new ideas, now is the time to put them into practice.

Whatever your present interests you are likely to find that new doors open and the way ahead offers increased scope for expressing your real self. A great time to meet and interact with people.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 Much enthusiasm goes into professional ambitions right now. Circumstances will make you more determined to place your lifestyle on a foundation of greater security. Far-reaching change begins to gather momentum. The need to push ahead with personal interests and to assert yourself with added force will take precedence over everything else for some time to come.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 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 energy and enthusiasm, this is a favourable time to make fresh starts. Now is the time to cultivate an easier relationship with life, get out and about, more than usual LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 At home, be at your diplomatic best and try not to tread on anyone's toes.

Passions will run from hot to cold, and relationships may suffer. Even the most strong-willed Librans will be more open to compromise to keep the peace. Plan your spending and set sensible budgets to reach your financial goals.

lLeicester Friends Talk will host Tushar Shah of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Title of the lecture is 'The idea of the Guru in Hinduism'.

Date: October 1 Timing: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM Venue: Jalaram Community Centre, Leicester

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Venus and Mars help to enhance your personal magnetism and put you in a gregarious mood. Although there are very intense amorous energies indicated in your chart, the trouble is that these are likely to be marred by feelings of jealousy. Good communications should help to alleviate the problem.

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SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 With Venus in your sign, this is a good time for your social as well as your love life. If you’re single you are likely to meet the person of your dreams. You could also benefit at work through a promotion. Organise your time so that it is not taken up entirely by the demands of other people.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 You are endowed with a level of determination that others sometimes find formidable. Once you set your mind on a goal you stay the course no matter what obstacles you encounter.

Saturn's placement in your Solar 1st house often denotes a phase of restriction, sometimes frustration, in one's life.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

You may find yourself hard at work behind the scenes, although that may not be apparent to others. You may find yourself caught up in a whirlwind of activity, with opportunities to advance on both the inner and outer level. There’s a sparkle to your social life and you will have fun communicating with others.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 The prevailing astrological trend indicates increasing vigour and stamina. At an ordinary everyday level you can expect this to be a pleasant time, indulging in the good things of life. At a deeper level, there does appear to be a new energy stirring within you. This will urge you towards creating greater independence in your lifestyle.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 All those little details should run perfectly, without you constantly worrying. It’s all about communications this week. You’ll have to openly speak up about your wants and needs without fear. Regarding love there will be a struggle between devotion and freedom as you need personal space to explore your own thing.

BCCI names MSK Prasad as new chairman of selectors AsianVoiceNews

Board of Control for Cricket in India has named former wicket keeper MSK Prasad as the new chairman of selectors. In their 87th Annual General Meeting (AGM), the board also announced that Ajay Shirke has been re-elected as the board secretary.

The other members in the new selection panel include former cricketers Gagan Khoda, Devang Gandhi, Sarandeep Singh and Jatin Paranjpe. Prasad made his debut for India in 1998 and went on to play six Tests and 17 One-Day Internationals. He retired from all forms in 2008.

Following his appointment, Prasad thanked the outgoing chairman of selectors, Sandeep Patil and revealed that his panel's primary focus will be on the 2019 World Cup and next year's Champions Trophy -

MSK Prasad

both scheduled to be staged in England. "I have a clearcut vision about how we are heading to the 2019 World Cup," Prasad said.

"I always have kept notes about what I want to do for the 2017 Champions Trophy, for the 2019 World Cup. There is a lot of planning. The best thing is we have watched as many domestic matches as possible. We have done tours to

Amicable end to turmoil in Indian boxing federation Four years of turmoil in Indian boxing came to an amicable end when the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) office bearers were voted to office. In the elections, Spicejet CMD, Ajay Singh, 51 was elected president of BFI with an overwhelming majority.

The polls took place under the watchful eyes of observers appointed by the sports ministry (Sushmita Jyotsi) and world body AIBA (Edgar Tanner, Oceania zone vice-president), who later declared the elections as “free and fair.” Incidentally, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) did not send a representative despite AIBA writing a letter to the IOA and asking the IOC to write a letter to its Indian counterpart.

A total of 33 units (with the power of two votes per unit) were present. Two members, however, abstained from voting which brought down the count to 64 votes. Singh, the man credited for turn-

Ajay Singh

ing Spicejet's plunging prospects, was elected president by 49 votes, beating his rival Rohit Jainendra Jain who mustered just 15 votes.

“Our priority now will be to bring back boxing to where we were - in the top10 in the world or even topfive. We should put behind the politics of last four years and focus on boxing, boxers, coaches etc. We will start conducting various nationals now,” Singh said.

“We have plans to start a boxing league and have international competitions.

We will formally seek affiliation from AIBA,” he added. Maharashtra's Jay Kowli, who was dislodged

as general secretary by Boxing India, was voted back to power. He garnered 48 voted against 12 by Lenny D'Gama of Goa and four by Haryana's Rakesh Thakran.

Assam's Hemanta Kumar Kalita was elected unopposed as treasurer at the end of the nomination process earlier this week.

The Indian boxers can finally heave a sigh of relief as affiliation to the AIBA now appears to a formality.

The world body is expected to hold a congress in December where BFI is expected to become a part of the world boxing scene once again. AIBA observer Tanner sounded very satisfied with the conduct of elections. “It was a very well conducted election and very fair election. I will be reporting to AIBA that the Indian boxing federation is back up and running. We can expect strong showing once again from Indian boxers at international competitions,” he said.

Sania-Strycova win Pan Pacific Open India's Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova posted a comfortable straight-set win over unseeded Chinese pair of Chen Liang and Zhaoxuan Yang to lift the Toray Pan Pacific Open title. The second seeded Indo-Czech combination had an easy outing against the Chinese duo as they took just 51 minutes to down their rivals 6-1, 6-1 in the final of the women's doubles event.

This is Sania and Strycova's second title in three tournaments since they have paired together. Last month, Sania and Strycova

India’s Olympics qualification marks under cloud

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Zimbabwe, Australia only at the end of the season.

Because we have watched so much domestic cricket last year we have a succession chart and jotted down names for three different formats. Sandy bhai's team has done a fantastic job. It makes more sense for us to continue with it and move ahead."

Despite the Lodha Committee's recommendation to pick only three former Test cricketers in the selection panel, the BCCI went ahead and retained five. Out of the five, Khoda and Paranjpe haven't played even a single Test.

The board also appointed former fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad as chairman of the junior selection committee. Former cricketer Hemlata Kala will replace Shantha Rangaswamy as the chair-

Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

person of women's selection panel.

The Working Committee, Special Committees and Standing Committee appointed for the period of 2015-16 will continue. The House also has asked the President and Honorary secretary to nominate an Ombudsman for 2016-17 as Justice AP Shah's tenure has concluded. Anurag Singh Thakur, the president of BCCI, will be the board's representative in the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC). On the other hand, Sharad Pawar, the former BCCI president, has been appointed as the alternate director for ICC meetings.

Senior Selection Committee: MSK Prasad (Chairman), Gagan Khoda, Sarandeep Singh, Jatin Paranjpe and Devang Gandhi Junior Selection Committee: Venkatesh Prasad (Chairman), Rakesh Parikh, Aashish Kapoor, Amit Sharma and Gyanendra Pandey Women's Selection Committee: Hemlata Kala (Chairperson), Shashi Gupta, Anjali Pendharkar, Lopamudra Banerjee and Sudha Shah

A number of India's top athletes may have qualified for the Rio Olympic Games with fake/suspect performances, if a study by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) statisticians is to be believed.

According to leading athletics statistician Heinrich Hubbeling, coeditor of IAAF's National Records for all countries project, a list of Indian athletes with doubtful qualifying records reportedly includes the names of triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, long jumper Ankit Sharma and sprinters Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda.

Germany's Hubbeling, who also works for the Asian Athletics Association, said that the Indians are among other athletes from Albania, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, whose qualifying performances have been found to be doubtful.

He said he has sent these data to IAAF which has marked these marks as doubtful in its database.

“The IAAF has “creat-

ed” a panel with some officials looking for `faked performances and faked birth dates' in the future,” said Hubbeling.

“We all hope for decisions by the IAAF, including action against the officials who were involved in such fraudulent actions,” he said.

The superhuman efforts of Renjith, who leaped to 17.30m in Bengaluru on the last day of qualification, and Ankit Sharma, who touched down at 8.19m in Almaty, were under the scanner because of huge variation in their performances from the past and the subsequent flop show at Rio where they recorded leaps of 16.13m and 7.67m.

In the case of Dutee and Srabani it has emerged that the automatic timing at the event could have been faulty, resulting in the superfast timings. The three podium finishers in women's 100m in the Almaty meet held in June never repeated their efforts and clocked 11.69s to 11.72 seconds in Rio. The same applied in Srabani's case.

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Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova

won the Cincinnati Open title with a 7-5, 6-4 win in the final against the Indian's previous partner Martina Hingis and Coco Vandeweghe.

However,

Sania and Strycova were ousted from the US Open after losing in straight sets in the quarter-final to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.

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Asian Voice | 1st October 2016

India beat New Zealand, win 500th Test

India celebrated its 500th Test in style on Monday when they overcame New Zealand’s final dogged resistance to win the series opener by 197 runs and go 1-0 up in the three-match series.

New Zealand were only able manage anything more than delaying the Indian celebrations when they resumed on 93 for four in their pursuit of an improbable 434-run victory target on a track offering generous spin and bounce.

To their credit, they kept the home bowlers at bay for 50 overs, a little more than one session, on a turning day-five track before collapsing for 236 to give the hosts a comprehensive victory in the milestone Test.

Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 6-132 to complete his 10-wicket match haul and prove why he is consid-

ered India’s premier spinner. The offspinner added the scalps of Mitchell Santner (71), Ish Sodhi (17) and Neil Wagner (0) to add to the three wickets he took on Sunday, when he became the second fastest man to take 200 Test wick-

ets. Ashwin managed the feat in 37 matches, one more than Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett.

When the final play began under an cast sky, overnight men Ronchi (80)

day’s overbatsand

Anup Kumar to lead Indian Kabaddi team

Star raider Anup Kumar will lead the 14-member Indian squad in the upcoming 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, starting from October 7 in Ahmedabad. The 12 countries which will take part in the tournament are Iran, South Korea, Bangladesh, USA, England, Australia, Poland, Thailand, Japan, Argentina, Kenya and hosts India. This is India's Dream Team because in every playing position India has an immensely talented player.

All-rounder Manjeet Chhillar, who has been named the vice-captain of the Indian outfit, is a giant of the sport and perhaps the world's best defender. Anup Kumar is unparalleled whether as a raider or as a captain with an uncanny knack of assessing match situations and turning it in the team's favour. On the other hand, there are dynamic young players like Rahul Chaudhari and Pardeep Narwal who can singlehandedly win matches with their performances. This has been proven time and again in Pro Kabaddi League. With this strong

squad, it will be a great chance for the Indian team to put up a stellar show during the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. Anup Kumar said,"I am extremely honoured to lead the country for the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. It's every sportsperson's dream to represent their country at a global stage. I'm proud of my team and we will all work towards bringing honour to India."

Commenting on the tournament, Janardhan Singh Gehlot, president International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) said,"The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup marks a pioneering moment in the history of Kabaddi. World class teams will play in a world class arena and will be seen across the world by fans through world class television coverage. We are committed to nurturing the sport across the globe. We are delighted and proud to host teams from all 5 Olympic geographies."

Talking about India Dream Team, Dr. Mridul Bhadauria, president, Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI)

said, "The team that we have today represents the best players from India in the world of Kabaddi. It is truly an India Dream Team." Balwan Singh, National Coach, said, "The training camp hosted in Ahmedabad involved rigorous training that helped us select the right set of players for the Indian squad.

Our aim is to have a balanced team composition for the upcoming World Cup. We are expecting the tournament to be more competitive than previous years. It will be the biggest challenge that the Indian team has faced in recent times."

The Indian squad: Anup Kumar (captain, Raider), Ajay Thakur (Raider) Deepak Hooda (Raider) Dharmaraj Cheralathan (Defender), Jasvir Singh (Raider), Kiran Parmar (Defender), Manjeet Chillar (vice-captain, Raider), Mohit Chillar (Defender), Nitin Tomar (Defender), Pardeep Narwal (Raider), Rahul Chaudhari (Raider), Sandeep Narwal (AllRounder), Surender Nada (Defender).

Santner (71) continued their resistance against the in-form Indian spinners at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium.

Skipper Virat Kohli predictably began with spin from both ends but the batsmen mixed caution

with aggression to defy their hosts for 20 overs.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja finally made the breakthrough when he induced Ronchi into an ill-timed slog against the turn and Ravichandran Ashwin pouched the skier at point.

The dismissal pretty much summed up a Test in which India’s spin duo, who shared 16 of the 20 Kiwi wickets between them, combined to wreck New Zealand’s hopes of a result.

It was a tame end to Ronchi’s 102-run partnership with Santner, a defiant battle spread over 36 overs that proved the local spinners were not unplayable.

Ronchi hit nine boundaries and a six before his rush of blood to the head ended his innings on 80.

In a match dominated by the spinners,

Dhoni named captain of Wisden's all-time India Test XI

India's celebrated skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named the captain of reputed cricket magazine Wisden's all-time India Test XI. The team, which was announced to mark India's 500th Test match, includes former Test skipper Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag as openers, according to a release

by Wisden India.

Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman make up the middle-order with Dravid being the No.3 batsman, followed by Tendlkar and Laxman. Dhoni, currently India's captain for OneDayer and T20 teams, also remains the wicket-keeper.

Pace legend Kapil Dev also has been named in the dream team.

Also included are pacers Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and spin stalwarts Anil Kumble, Bishan Singh Bedi. Former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was named the 12th man.

Earlier, Cricket Australia, after receiving more than 50,000 votes from fans, also named its greatest India Test XI which included former batsman Sourav Ganguly and veteran off-spinner

Harbhajan Singh. The side, similar to Wisden's, named Gavaskar and Sehwag as the openers with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar the unsurprising choices for the No.3 and No.4 positions. Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was named as the No.6 batsman and Bishan Singh Bedi was replaced by offie Harbhajan Singh. Kapil Dev led the bowling department with leftarmer Zaheer Khan in a two-man pace attack, while leg-spinner Kumble and offie Harbhajan Singh rounded off the fantasy team.

The team: Wisden Test XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Kapil Dev, M.S. Dhoni (capt, wk), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Bishan Singh Bedi, Mohammad Azharuddin (12th man).

Cricket Australia's India XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, M.S. Dhoni (captain, wk), Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan.

Mohammed Shami also displayed his reverse swing mastery and got one to jag back into BJ Watling’s pad before he uprooted Mark Craig’s middle stump with another swinging delivery.

Santner completed his fifty but was then served a nearly unplayable ball from Ashwin, which pitched way outside the leg-stump, turned and bounced viciously to kiss the shoulder of the bat and nestled in Rohit Sharma’s waiting hands at silly point.

Kolkata’s Eden Gardens hosts the second Test, another historic match as it will be India’s 250th at home, from Friday.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire off-spinner Jeetan Patel has been called into New Zealand squad for the second test after Mark Craig, their No1 off-spinner, suffered a side strain.

Former India captains felicitated

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) felicitated former India Test captains ahead of the historic 500th Test at Green park stadium in Kanpur last week. Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association president Rajeev Shukla felicitated former captains, including Ajit Wadekar, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kris Srikkanth, Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The former captains were honoured with a shawl, a memento and a coin with the words "500th Test" written on it. Conspicuous by their absence, former India captains Bishan Singh Bedi and Gundappa Viswanath were reportedly not invited by the BCCI for the historic 500th Test match. The 69-year-old Bedi has led India in 22 Tests while Viswanath has captained in two Tests.

India played its inaugural Test in June 1932 against England at the Lord's ground. A total of 285 players have played Test cricket for India in which they had 32 captains starting from C.K. Nayudu to Virat Kohli and will join England (976), Australia (791) and West Indies (517) in reaching the 500 mark.