Asian Voice

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Hillary Clinton promises to support India against terror

Story on page 24

VOL 40. ISSUE 12

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

VOICE

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

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Serial blasts in Mumbai: History repeats...

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This week Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar publish an East London special pull out for our readers. Please see page 23-29 of Gujarat Samachar for our exclusive stories and coverage.

23rd July to 29th July 2011

London Convention held by OFBJP

makes Indians in Britain proud

21 killed, 130 injured in terror attacks at Dadar, Zaveri Bazar and Opera House

It is rightly said that number 13 is unlucky, as recently on 13th July, Mumbai faced three serial bomb blasts in span of 12 minutes that killed 21 people and injured 130. It happened at three of the busiest hubs in the city Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar -at rush hours.

The first explosion was at 6.54 pm at Zaveri Bazaar, followed by another at Opera House a minute later. The third

A scene at a bomb blast site.

explosion was at 7.06 pm outside Kabutarkhana, a

few metres away from the western side of Dadar rail-

way station. This is the third terror attack at Zaveri Bazar.

The high explosives with timer devices were kept on or near vehicles at Opera House and Zaveri Bazar while at Dadar a bus stop was the target. The police said that the three locations, two of which were ‘khau gallis,’ had been chosen for maximum impact. Police commissioner Arup Patnaik said it was a terrorist attack.

Continued on page 24

Mr Nitin Gadkari, President of BJP presenting a memento to Baroness Hayman, Lord Speaker of the House of Lords at the House of Commons, as Virendra Sharma, MP, Ealing Southall, Lord Gulam Noon and Vijay Jolly, Convenor of OFBJP look on

India recognises the need for sustainable development and as it embarks more aggressively on its agenda for achieving a growth of 10% GDP per annum, the path it seeks is one of sustainable growth and development.

Bharatiya Janata Party has always ensured that they maintain a certain equilibrium of friendship and relation with all Indians settled across the world, not only to enhance India's growth economically but its fame as well!

Continued on page 26

Three years’ free servicing* on selected Approved Used C-Class purchased before 30 September 2011.

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2

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

one to one Keith Vaz MP with

Simrat Ghuman, UK Correspondent, TimesNow, India

What are your long term goals?

The term ‘long term’ doesn’t really work for me. So far my bright burning ambition is to have a life style that will allow me to keep two big dogs and keep them happy and healthy.

Simrat Ghuman is the UK correspondent for TimesNow, and has been since March 2008. She covers major British news for the channel, from the 2010 General Election to phone-hacking and diaspora news and issues of race, immigration and multiculturalism. She also covered the G20 London Summit, where she got to question President Obama. She previously worked for Channel 18 CNN-IBN and studied Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College, at the University of London.

What inspired you to begin your career in journalism?

It was a happy accident.

I was selected for a traineeship at an up and coming news channel CNN-IBN, in India. TV work and I suited each other I guess, as I was put on fast track within 6 months and then promoted to anchor/correspondent. Then my current channel wanted a correspondent in London and here I am!

Which interview are you most proud of?

People in India remember me for being the girl who made Obama laugh at G20 2009, but I’m most proud of my interviews with Kim Davy/Niels Holck, the man who’s wanted in India for dropping a cache of 4 tonnes of arms and ammunition in

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

I would reintroduce the idea of respect in the UK. Coming from India, that’s one thing I feel is sorely missing here: respect for elders, respect for teachers, respect for parents, respect for work. And maybe reduce political correctness.

Calcutta in 1995.

Please tell us about your current position?

I’m the UK correspondent for my channel, and because of my proximity to Europe, that too falls under my purview. But usually I describe myself as a glorified camera person/producer with basic editing skills all rolled into one.

What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

I feel my obstacles are within myself.

Sometimes I am too shy to go out and ‘network’.

I usually sympathise and establish good rapport with the people I interview and if I have to press them too much for sound bites, I feel quite bad!

Who

has

been

the

biggest influence on your career to date?

No one in particular comes to mind. But a lady who worked for another Indian channel in the same position as mine is the main driving force these days....when chasing a story I think of what she would do, how far she would go and that prevents me from giving up.

What is the best thing about your current role?

That’s definitely got to be the variety of people I get

to meet. I’ve interviewed everyone from celebrities like Shah Rukh, Amir Khan, 50 Cent to sports stars like Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar.

And MF Husain in 2008...he gave me a sketch, in fact he gave one to anyone who asked.

And the worst?

The sheer unpredictability of my job--- breaking news doesn’t recognise weekends or holidays or even night or day. It’s 247 work. I could have a bland

Priory boss leading a bid to take over Southern Cross homes Southern Cross residents and relatives that nothing but the very best quality will be accepted. This is a company that provides a public service. It will provide the standard of care I would want my own mother to have. If it is not good enough for my mum, it is not good enough for someone else’s.’

Dr Patel also pledged to pay a ‘significant proportion’ of any money he made out of the new venture to a charitable foundation he set up with his wife Katharine, the Bright Future Trust, which aims to help young people.

He said he had not yet

reached an agreement with NHP over how much capital he or his healthcare firm, Court Cavendish, would put into the new venture.

But he added: ‘We hope we can bring an end to the uncertainty and worry. I am confident the necessary funding is in place to launch a company that will not suffer from the same problems.’

Southern Cross, Britain’s biggest care home operator, went to the wall when it was unable to pay a £250million-ayear rent bill.

Dr Patel added that his long-term aim was to unwind the controversial ‘sale and leaseback’ model that brought the firm to its knees. Dr Patel is best known for running the Priory chain of clinics, famed for its celebrity clients.

E

LAW

Man vandalises painting

by Nicholas Poussin On Sunday 17th two famous 17th century paintings by renowned Nicholas Poussin viz.

'The Adoration of the Golden Calf and The the of Adoration were Shepherds' allegedly vandalised in the National Gallery, Saura by London Prasad Mookerje. He allegedly sprayed both paintings by red paint and many people who saw him said that it looked like a protest, because he sprayed on all the naked people in the painting. After spraying the paintings Saura P Mookerje allegedly just stood there proud of his work and a few minutes later a security guard came and snatched the canister. At 5:15 the police arrived at The National Gallery, arrested him and held him in custody at a central London police station.

We’ve all heard the saying “You are what you eat”, but how many of us actually check up on what we put into our bodies, or know what we should put into our bodies? We know we should eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day, and avoid fatty and salty foods, but every individual is different; we all have a different weight and different metabolic rates, so our bodies have different requirements.

For a healthy diet we should be consuming: 45% - 65% of calories from carbohydrates, 20% - 35% of calories from fats, 10% - 35% of calories from protein.

There are different types of carbohydrates, called complex carbs (found in starchy foods such as rice and bread) and sugars (found in cake and non-diet fizzy drinks). The energy from complex carbs is released slowly, which stops us from feeling hungry for longer; the energy from sugars is released quickly and used up quickly, so we feel hungry sooner. This is why foods high in complex carbs are better for us.

There are also different types of fat; saturated fats are bad for us because they increase cholesterol levels, and unsaturated fats are good for us because they lower cholesterol levels.

Our bodies do need fat to function properly, the NHS has some advice on recommended amounts in the table below: Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) of food types for a 2000kcal per day diet Food type GDA Total Energy 2000kcal Carbohydrates 300g -of which sugars 90g Fat 70g -of which saturates 20g Protein 50g Salt 6g

If you have a fat and/or sugar rich diet you could be at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Silver Star is a local charity which promotes diabetes awareness, tests for diabetes and can evaluate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which tells you personally how many calories per day you need. They run a Mobile Diabetes Unit (MDU), which can visit your organisation or place of work. Contact Silver Star on 0845 094 9933 or email health@silverstaruk.org.

SOC IE

Contact Mr. Mitesh Patel, Solicitor No Win No Fee

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

Could it be fictional?

I’d like to spend time with Atticus Finch, the reluctant hero of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. But I’d also have Captain Jack Sparrow to help break the ice, not that there’d be much ice on a desert island!

What Are You Eating?

0800 118899 Email: mpatel@levenes.co.uk Website: www.levenes.co.uk Ashley House, 235-239 High Road, Wood Green, London N22 8HF

TY

TH

A former boss of the Priory clinics is leading a bid to take over 250 threatened Southern Cross care homes. Dr Chai Patel (pictured) has been parachuted in by the collapsed company’s largest landlord, NHP. The NHS doctor turned entrepreneur will set up a new company to run the homes which form a third of the chain looking after 31,000 elderly residents.

Staff will be kept on to ensure a seamless transition to the new operator.

On Monday night Dr Patel, 56, pledged to provide elderly and vulnerable residents with the same quality of care he would want for his own mother, reported the Daily Mail.

He said: ‘I want to tell

week when I despair about not having any stories and suddenly in the next 2 hours I could find myself on a train to Paris for a story. The novelty can wear off when everything seems to happen exactly when one wants some time off!

Personal Injury

SOLICITORS

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

COMMENT

Britain's crisis of credibility He that is without sin let him cast the first stone, Such biblical wisdom is not without relevance as the storm clouds darken over the telephone hacking of British citizens by reporters of the tabloid newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International, the British arm of his global News Corporation. Also under close critical scrutiny are relations between British politicians and representatives of the Murdoch empire, and its links with Britain's police force. Barely a month ago, the Murdoch companies looked invincible. Mr Murdoch had seen off Business Secretary Vince Cable, who had publicly aired his opposition to the Murdoch bid for the lucrative BSkyB Television channel, sanguine that nothing too damaging would emanate from the tortoise-like police inquiry into the widespread hacking of telephones belonging to the great and good of the land, and to more anonymous, law abiding folk who were no less sensitive about possible intrusions into their private lives.

A week is a long time in politics, pronounced Harold Wilson, Labour's prime minister in the 1960s.

And so it has proved with the present crisis, whose dimension appear to change with every hour and day, let alone a week. Mr Murdoch and his kith and kin embarked on a vast damage limitation exercise with full-page mea culpas in the national press. But they were simply chasing events: their apologies were too little, too late. The House of Commons passed an allparty resolution negating the BSkyB bid as unfit for purpose; the bid being subsequently withdrawn as public outrage deepened.

There appears little doubt that senior politicians, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Labour, had drawn too close to the leading lights of the Murdoch empire, including its head Rupert Murdoch. They craved the support of his newspapers, especially those of the mass circulation tabloids, The Sun and News of the World. He or she who fell out of favour with these organs and their owner was censured and pilloried into oblivion. British prime ministers, cabinet ministers, some MPs maybe, and aspirants to high office including that of the Mayor of London

were usually eager to be on the right side of the Murdoch clan and its top executives. The culture was damning even as individual wrongdoing was unfolding, chapter by chapter.

The scandal has started to take its toll. Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has resigned, so has John Yates, the Assistant Commissioner, highly regarded for his work at the Counter Terrorism desk. The hiring of Neil Wallis, a lupine former News of the World deputy editor, as media adviser to Scotland Yard was the stick that broke the camel's back. Yet Prime Minister David Cameron appointed Andy Coulson, previous News of the World editor, as his communications director, choosing not to heed the well considered warnings of informed sources about his background; this case may lead to others and require answers in the fullness of time.

There were close social relations between Mr Cameron and Rebekah Brooks, the fallen executive director of News International. Mr Cameron has been forced by adverse circumstances to institute a farreaching public inquiry, headed by a respected High Court judge, into phone hacking and its myriad ramifications. Witnesses will be on oath to tell all they know. Meanwhile, a House of Commons Select Committee has been grilling Messrs Stephenson and Yates and Rupert Murdoch and his son James. It would be wrong to second guess the outcome of these proceedings or of the hacking scandal in its entirety.

Through all this has emerged the power of press barons who are accountable to nobody but themselves. They wheel and deal, smear and extol and manipulate public opinion in order to leverage their vast power behind the scenes. Media barons are no new species. They have been with us for a long time.

Citizen Kane, in part Orson Welles' take on the US press tycoon William Randolph Hearst, remains a cinematic masterpiece. Twice ranked first on the list of the American Film Institute's 100 greatest films of all time (1998 and 2007), it conveys an abiding lesson on the corrupted flesh of untrammelled power and its self-serving scorn for ethics and morality.

Sing us a different song, Singh Digvijay Singh, a Congress party general secretary, was once chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, before he was put to pasture in New Delhi by the people of the state who made it known in an election that they had endured him long enough and wished to end their purgatory. As a Congress party secretary, Mr Singh has become something of a tuneless minstrel whose one theme is the RSS and its alleged iniquities, of which there are apparently no end.

He detects the possible hand of the Hindu 'fascist' RSS behind the recent Mumbai bomb blasts; and why restrict RSS responsibility to these? He could well extend it to the earlier outrages of July 2006 and March 1993, when hundreds in the city died and hundreds more were injured. In a lumatic essay at historical understanding, the unhinged Digvijay Singh drew a parallel between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and China's Chairman Mao. Clearly Digvijay Singh is unencumbered by books and the knowledge and wisdom good books bring. A reading man or woman would have told him of historian Frank Dikotter's masterpiece, Mao's Great Famine, which has been awarded the Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction by a panel of distinguished judges. Professor Dikotter, an outstanding historian of China, has trawled painstakingly through China's archives and unearthed the terrible truth that Chairman Mao's delinquency – the Great Leap Forward and the People's Communes – led to the

greatest famine in recorded history in which 45 million Chinese starved to death, even as the 'Great Helmsman' fantasised about peasant China overtaking industrial Britain as an economic powerhouse in 15 years. The depth of the catastrophe became evident in a four-year span from 1958-62 – the “bitter years” described by Mao's compatriots. Mr Singh could ask one of his more literate aides to read from the book as a bed-time story in case he has dyslexia.

So how does Narendra Modi bear comparison with this unparalleled monster? No rational being would engage in such an absurdly juvenile undertaking. Mr Digvijay Singh, however, is no ordinary mortal. He defies definition because he transcends all known principles of logic. He is a law unto himself, a parody of the great Congress leaders of the past such as Mahatma Gandhi. Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel et al. Every new day brings with it fresh revelations of Digvijay Singh's bizarre behaviour. For instance, he laid into a group of youthful opposition workers who greeted him with hostile slogans during his visit to Ujjain. Politicians in a democracy are expected to take the rough with the smooth in civilised fashion and not as a character in a goon show. Power brings with it the responsibility of proper deportment. A disordered public jester doesn't fit the bill. Not by a long chalk. Sing us a different song, Singh. Or hold hold your peace.

Lord's to celebrate 2000th Test match On Thursday, England and India will play the first of four Test matches this summer. India currently heads the list of Test-playing nations, with South Africa second and England third. However, if England were to beat India with a margin of two Tests, they would replace their opponents at the top of the Test table.

There is thus all to play for as the stakes are high for both sides.

England, fresh from crushing Australia Down Under in the Ashes series, and convincing victors in a three-Test home series against Sri Lanka, are champing at the bit. Their pace attack of James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad is the best in the world. They also have the guile of off-spinner Graeme Swann to complement them. Their Indian peers will be stretched to match their penetration.

Batting will be India's strong suite, but in the absence of the explosive Virender Sehwag, who is still recovering from shoulder surgery and will not be available until midway in the series, the Indian middle order will be exposed, from the start, to the full force of the English bowlers. Sehwag should have had his operation earlier in the year, but India's cricket administrators in their wisdom (or its lack) insisted that he defer this and play in the IPL. Money talks, but not always wisely.

If India are despatched more easily than they should be one will know where to apportion the blame. However, the glorious uncertainties of cricket require that we withhold judgement until the last ball has been bowled and the final run scored. The cricket should be of a high quality to satisfy fans and participants alike. Which is what matters in the end.

www.abplgroup.com

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Thought for the Week True fulfilment is, I believe, vicarious. We get our deepest satisfaction from the fulfilment, growth and happiness of others. It takes time, often a lifetime, to realize this.

- Charles Handy

Manoj Ladwa Partner & Chief Executive MLS Chase

An extraordinary visit Many eyebrows have been raised in political circles this week. The UK foreign secretary William Hague is meeting Nitin Gadkari, the President of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for a one and one.

Mr Hague is a busy and most sought after man, and no doubt has his hands full with Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and of course providing good counsel to David Cameron in the midst of this horrendous phone hacking scandal. And after all, Mr Gadkari position in the equivalent UK political pecking order would be that of a much ignored and lonely chairman of a party who has the thankless task of keeping the rank and file sufficiently enthused.

But with the BJP it seems that the UK government is sensing something different. It sees despite elections being over 3 years away, a Congress led government paralysed by the recent mega scams, fast losing all authority and credibility, and to top it all demonstrating a complete inability to protect India's financial capital from repeated terrorist attacks. There is however a bigger story. The BJP governs states which represent 36% of India's population compared to only 32% ruled by the Congress. If BJP ruled states such as Gujarat, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh were taken out of economic calculations, then India's current growth rate of around 9% would drop to a miserly 2% or so. the figures for agricultural growth are more stark.

And dare I say it, the UK government recognises that it may be faced with the prospect of having to deal with a certain Mr Narendra Damaodar Modi as the India's prime minister in waiting.

Nitin Gadkari has brought with him to the UK a team being projected as the "New BJP". His highly articulate delegation comprises of the formidable Vasundhara Raje, former CM of Rajasthan, and the elegant, eloquent and thoroughly impressive Smriti Irani, recently elected as Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat. Also in his team are the refreshingly smooth Vijay Jolly and youth leader Amit Thakker, both convenors of the overseas wing of the BJP, Ashok Tandon, former media adviser to Atal Behari Vajpayee and dubbed India's refined version of Alastair Campbell,Vaibhav Dange and Avinash Ghuse, both background men who make things happen.

But it's not just William Hague who has been courting the BJP President. Virtually every major trade organisation with an India interest has been laying out the red carpet for Mr Gadkari and his delegation to address their members.

This includes the Commonwealth Business Council, headed by the visionary Dr Mohan Kaul, the London Chamber of Commerce which is chaired by Gujarati accountant, Subhash Thakrar, and the highly respected think tank, Asia House.

A number of high profile FT100 chairmen and chief executives have also been making a beeline to get a better understanding of what a BJP government in Delhi could look like, and more importantly that their investments will be safe.

A person everyone seems to know and respect, Rajesh V Shah, former president of the CII is emerging as an influential interlocutory between the BJP and international business.

Continued on page 6

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LEICESTER VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

200 samosas to 650,000 meals/week Kamal Basran is owner and nonexecutive director of the £35 million turnover Authentic Food Company, which she set up in 1985. Today, she has over 248 staff working at the headquarters in Sharston, Wythenshawe and also has sites in Stockport and Cheadle, that supply frozen Indian, Oriental, Mediterranean and British dishes to outlets.

Her business started when she took home a packet of samosas from her local supermarket and was extremely disappointed by the taste.

She says that it was that moment that she realised she could cook better and came up with a plan to set up her own business.

Mrs Basran quickly became successful over the years and her customers now include the Co-operative Group and Asda, as well as local pubs, restaurants and hotels.

Her most prized achievement so far however, is being recognised for her work in the food business at this year’s Lloyds TSB Asian Women of Achievement Awards, where she was named entrepreneur of the year.

Originally, Mrs Basran is from Punjab,India, but came to settle in the UK with her parents and three siblings when she was eight-yearsold.

For Mrs Basran, food has always been important in the family, and because she was the only daughter, it was expected that she would learn to cook from her mum.

The entrepreneur also had to fight her way to go to university, as it was rare for Indian girls to leave home to study in the 70s. But she succeeded and went on to read History at the University of Sheffield. Soon after, Mrs Basran married her husband Lak and started training to become a teacher.

She taught history at secondary school level in Birmingham, but her real passion lay in cooking and as soon as the idea came to her in 1985, she held on to it.

The entrepreneur indulged herself in the business from the first day and was in charge of all aspects of it.

She began making lamb, vegetable and chicken samosas in her kitchen

to deliver to shops on Friday and Saturday mornings but when these used to sell out by the evening, she decided to move into a commercial kitchen, taking on two parttime staff.

From then, her business was on the increase and she started getting contracts from companies such as Holland and Barrett. She moved to larger and larger sites as the demand increased for more of her products.

The last 15 years have also helped her significantly as people's views of Indian food has changed.

More Indian restaurants have emerged which means non-Indian people have grown accustomed to the taste.

She says that Indian food has become “more popular and accepted in mainstream eating and people are able to see the benefits of eating Indian food” “It is still the largest part of the business, accounting for 60% of our revenues. Indian food is our heritage and it’s the business’s strength.”

From making 200 samosas in her first week 25 years ago, the Authentic Food Company now produces up to 650,000 meals a week, Leicester Mercury have stated.

Newsagents suffer after News of World Closure Sunday 17th July was a significant day in Anjali Karpal's 20-year career as a newsagent because it was the first Sunday that she did not put out the News of the World on her newspaper stand. With 14 other newspaper titles available to choose from at Anjali and Prabodh Karpal's (pictured) shop in Horsham, West Sussex, the most popular one, by far, was nowhere to be seen.

Before the shocking revelation by News Corp that the News of the World paper would be closing, it sold an average of 2.6 million copies every week and estimated to have a readership of around 7.5 million people.

Now that it no longer exists, newsagents like Mr and Mrs Karpal are worried that they will lose

business. Karpal says, “The News of the World was by far our most popular paper...and accounted for about 20-30% of our total newspaper sales”.

The last time that this happened to Mr and Mrs Karpal was when Today shut down in 1995. Nearly a third of its readership disappeared and so they are, evidently, worried that a repeat may happen again.

On Sunday, many newspapers were left unsold at the end of the day which extremely worried Mrs Karpal.

She said “So far in my shop it looks like a lot of those readers are not buy-

ing any other Sunday papers”.

"We've contacted all of our delivery customers to see if they want another Sunday paper delivery, but the majority of them haven't asked for an alternative."

For many newsagents, selling a newspaper is the way in which many of them make their business as it entices people to enter the shop and pick up other small items while they are there.

So Mrs Karpal believes that without their most popular newspaper on the stand, business will suffer.

"When people come in for a paper they'll also buy milk or chewing gum or anything, really," she says.

"It's a very important way for us to get the footfall. Today I have lost about £200 in sales that I would normally get from people buying extras when

they come in for the News of the World."

Meanwhile, many other newspapers are hoping to fill the gap created by the News of the World's departure.

Trinity Mirror, which owns three Sunday titles, tried to encourage the News of the World readers to choose their newspaper as the alternative. They printed one million more copies of the Sunday Mirror, half a million extra prints of the People and a quarter of a million more copies of the Sunday Mail, sold in Scotland, on top of heavily advertising in the paper.

But Mrs Karpal does not think it has made much difference. She says that although she was sent extra copies of the People and the Mail, she only managed to sell 60 out of 93 copies of the Mail. “It was a quiet day overall.

We didn't sell as many papers as we normally would."

In brief

Couple celebrate Diamond Wedding Anniversary

An Asian couple from West End, Leicester have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

Kakubhai Popatlal Modi, 80, and wife Nirmalaben, 77 (pictured), of West End, Leicester, celebrated the big day with their four children and seven grandchildren.

Mrs Modi said: "We are so proud of our family and have always been a very close unit, making sure that we try to look after each other. This is very important to us."

Kakuhbhai and his wife moved to Leicester in 1967 in the hope of giving their children an excellent education and providing them with a high standard of living.

Their son, Mahesh, who also lives in Leicester told a local paper: "They have been wonderful parents and have strived to provide the best for their family by always working hard throughout their married lives.

"The entire family would like to thank them for everything that they have done and wish them good health, with many more happily married years to come."

The couple's grandchildren joined in the celebrations by writing a personal tribute to them which read "We would like to take this opportunity to express our love and affection to such fantastic and caring grandparents..you have given us so much”

Young student uses TV programme to fight youth unemployment

A 17-year-old student from Leicester High School for Girls will be launching a campaign to tackle youth unemployment, by going on the television show Battlefront.

Hafsah Ali, from Oadby, was chosen out of more than 1,000 other applicants to appear in the Third series of Channel 4 series Battlefront.

Her campaign, which is called 'Ready for Work', was one of five chosen for the show and Hafsah's progress will be followed from September to December, once the programme airs.

Not alone, her friend Joseph Hayat, 18, from Lincolnshire, will also accompany her in her campaign. Both Hafsah and Joseph have already had a meeting with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg at Whitehall. .

The young student said: "Youth unemployment is a huge issue at the moment, and it is something that I can empathise with because of my age.

"I'm hoping to go to university, but I'll get a degree and then might not get a job out of it.

"For many young people it's becoming a lost generation so having the campaign featured on Battlefront will give us a platform to hopefully get noticed and get a lot of people backing us” Hafsah and Joseph's future plans involve hopefully presenting a petition to the Government to inspire action by politicians.

Police vs Schools Kids in end-of-term Soccer Challenge A challenge made by 11year-old pupil Sheldon Richards to Pc Yusuf Nagdi led to a group of school pupils taking on police in a football match.

The young pupils at Rowlatts Hill Primary, in

Leicester, formed a mixed team of boys and girls, along with some staff, to take on the group of six police officers, who have worked closely with the school over the years.

Pc Nagdi said: "We

realise the importance of building strong and positive working relationships with members of the community we serve.

"We were delighted to take up the challenge and hope the children will

learn the importance of personal responsibility, team working and fair play."

The whole school turned up to watch the match, which ended in a 7-7 draw.

Headmaster Jay Virk said: "It was a great way to end the academic year and fun to see the police respond to Sheldon's challenge."

5

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

International Extras

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Cllr Sachin Rajput Conservative Greater London Assembly Candidate For Brent & Harrow

By Spriha Srivastava

Enjoy a happy, safe and enjoyable summer break!

Chit-chat with Ajay Devgan character and I realized a An extremely versatile lot of intensive action article, Ajay Devgan has sequences were involved, time and again proved I certainly had to look that while he can easily the part. I had to be fitter tackle comic roles such as the likes of Golmaal, than I was and work he is also equally brilliant harder at achieving that when it comes to serious physique. and action-packed perTell us a bit about the formances like Gangajal movie Singham? and Apaharan. In his latThe film pays tribute est movie, Singham, Ajay to the seminal Indian Devgan does it again. action that played such a I caught up with him large role in defining to talk about his latest Indian cinema for a nummovie and his future ber of decades – the clasprojects. sic narrative structure of What attracted Ajay Devgan you most to the movie?

I’ve been wanting to do an action film for quite some time now but the scripts just haven’t been right. Rohit told me about Singham and just by reading the good versus evil, artfully script I was gripped; the choreographed action narratives, high octane and stunt sequences that drama and action didn’t rely on the screen sequences wouldn’t let technology so often and me put it down. Singham easily used in modern is an out and out action / films, all of those drama film which we don’t get to see much sequences whereby the nowadays in India. It’s good guy would take on got its share of romance 20 bad guys – and still and entertainment too emerge victorious, give or take a few bruises. and we hope it will My father was a appeal to the masses. respected action director, How did this role so I certainly connected impact you in your perwith the classic, archesonal life? typal Indian action movie Well I had to go which inspired me so through a three-month, much as I was growing intensive training regime up. for the film in order to Singham is (director) beef up and obtain a sixRohit Shetty’s reinterprepack. I work-out a lot tation of a blockbuster anyway but when Rohit Tamil movie. I play a gave me the brief for the

principled cop fighting against injustice and corruption in a small village between Goa and Maharashtra.

You have done a number of roles now. Do you prefer the comedy roles such as those in "Golmaal" or more serious ones like "Gangajal" and now "Singham"?

It’s important for me, as an artist, to explore different genres and to prove myself as a holistic actor. Engaging audiences through comedy or a serious drama requires extremely different skill sets, which equally present a challenge. I love comedy for the fact that audiences will hopefully leave the theater feeling uplifted, and I love drama for the fact that, if well done, it will provoke thought, evaluation and hopefully debate among audiences once they leave the theater.

What are the other projects you are working on?

Well after Singham, which is my next release, other upcoming releases include a film called Tezz with Anil Kapoor, which was actually filmed partly in UK. Other projects I am also currently involved in include Rascals with Sanjay Dutt, Bol Bachchan with Abhishek Bachchan and Golmaal 4 with the same fantastic team.

Goan film comes to London Goan film producer Rajendra Talak is set to attend the Goan Festival to be held in Cranford on Sunday, July 24, where his latest film “O Maria” will be screened.

O Maria is a film about a lady named Maria aged forty plus, living alone with her mother in her house by the sea which is eyed by developers from abroad.

This is her share of her

father’s property. Part of it is gone to her brother John, who is tempted by the foreigner to sell it off to build a resort.

Maria doesn’t want to see her land being ravaged by tourists who come to Goa only for casinos, drink and dope. She

resists the foreigners with the help of her tenant Mike, who is foreigner too. Mike not only helps her, but helps the villagers awaken to the fact that they need to resist this onslaught if they want to save Goa from this ravage.

Another award for Shahnaz Franchise India Holdings, along with Bloomberg and UTV presented Shahnaz Hussain with the “Entrepreneur of the Year Award,” honouring the globally recognized face of Indian women entrepreneurs and for taking the Indian herbal heritage worldwide.

One of India’s lead-

ing women entrepreneurs, Shahnaz Husain has taken Ayurvedic beauty care to every corner of the globe with a crusader’s zeal. As the pioneer and leader of organic beauty care, based on Ayurveda, Shahnaz had channelized plant power into beauty power. There is no doubt that herbal

beauty care in India is fashioned after the Shahnaz Husain innovations and treatments.

Today, she heads the largest organization of its kind in the world, with a global network of franchise salons, spas, beauty institutes and over 350 formulations for beauty and health care.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at spriha@abplgroup.com

Anyone involved in political life will know that a day of rest is far and few between. I suppose the same goes for busy working mothers, and most local family-run small business owners too for that matter! Aside from having an active door-to-door canvassing schedule I share my time between attending the various political meetings in my diary and the various social and community events that I support. A busy run-up with a recent synagogue attendance, the fifth anniversary celebrations at Stanmore Temple, a school governing body meeting, a fundraising lunch with Harrow Mencap, the Annual General Meeting of the British Asian Conservative Link, being the primary guest speaker at a physical and sensory impairment event, supporting the Queensbury Eco-Cultural Festival in company with the Mayor of Brent and an attendance at a BackBoris2012 campaign meeting, today oddly seems rather quiet in comparison. Unusually with no political engagements today and the rain sporadically pouring with canvassing not being practical, I have a welcome opportunity to write another article for Asian Voice this afternoon which is always something of a pleasure.

It seems rather topical to reflect on the fact that whilst it is raining and does not appear to be akin with a usual mid-July day, many families with children are planning to be going on holiday soon whether in the United Kingdom or abroad. With schools breaking up for the summer holidays in a week and many colleges and universities already having done so some will look for the sun whilst others are and will be actively looking to get some useful work experience before returning to education in September or with a quest to obtaining gainful employment if not returning to education. I purposefully

Youth Seminar 2011 Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar is organising a Youth seminar (for 16 to 25 years only) on Saturday 6th August in the City. Our invited speakers will discuss the problems of today's youth and offer solutions on how to choose an appropriate career, how to cope with generation gaps and family expectations etc followed by a workshop at the end of the seminar. If you are interested to take part in our ‘Youth Seminar 2011’, please email your details (with 50 words on yourselfincluding age) to Rupanjana at rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com.

Please note entry only on prior registration.

Closing date: 31st July 2011.

listed some of the activities I have been privileged to attend because they highlight and show the diverse range of interests of the very people within the community who put such events together and who make the fabric of this country. Whilst these events are London engagements and only demonstrate some of the events I have attended, up and down the country there are many opportunities for all citizens, but particularly young people, given schools are breaking up for the summer holidays, to get involved in civic and community activities.

In London specifically, I was pleased to note that Mayor Boris Johnson’s drive to boost apprenticeships by a target 20,000 places had passed 28,000 places three months earlier than planned. Boris had written to many firms to assist in this scheme for all Londoners whether in the leafy suburbs or in central-London which is most welcoming. Some of the firms who heeded to the request of Mayor Boris to assist in this mission were HSBC, Accenture, Microsoft and Norton Rose to name a few. Whilst I support young people gaining work experience and apprenticeships in local firms, small businesses and in the private sector it is also welcoming that public sector opportunities have also been realised with Boris creating around 2,000 apprenticeships within the Greater London Assembly Group and its contractors over the past two years.

So with only days to go until the school summer holiday season begins for many, I would like to take the opportunity to wish every young person a happy, safe and enjoyable summer break and a prosperous few weeks of work experience, or longer-term apprenticeships, for those young people seeking the same.

Women's Seminar On 30th July Asian Vice and Gujarat Samachar will organise a Women's Seminar in Belgrave neighbourhood centre, Rothley, Leicester LE4 6LF. The seminar will be chaired Baroness Sandip Verma. This will be followed by Karma Yogi Sanman and Rt Hon Keith Vaz will be joining Baroness Verma to give away the awards.

UK will miss you Indian High Commissioner Shri Nalin Surie organised a Tea reception on Tuesday 19th July at Gandhi Hall, India House to say goodbye to the Britons as his tenure as the High Commissioner comes to an almost end.

He joined as the High Commissioner of India in the UK on 18th September 2009.

An extraordinary visit Continued from page 3 Politicians from all major parties have welcomed Nitin Gadkari and his mantras of sustainable growth and expanding UK-India trade partnerships across the globe with open arms. It's been music to their ears.

India's best friends in the UK Parliament, Barry Gardiner and the man who could be elected from

any seat in Punjab, Virendra Sharma MP have been instrumental as ever.

I have never seen a turn out from the usually sleepy House of Lords for an unelected party leader. they have all touched his hand - from the speaker if the house of Lords, to the leader of the opposition, and of course friends like Baroness Verma and Lord

Billimoria have helped enrich the interactions.

The loudest cheer for this extraordinary visit must however go to the silent workers of the Overseas Friends of BJP, which like the Overseas Congress plays an important role in building bridges and keeping India's vibrant democratic tradition alive and kicking on is far off shores.

7

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

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Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

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Trio jailed over accountant murder Two brothers and their cousin have been jailed to a total of 18 years for the manslaughter of their mother’s Midlands boyfriend.

Saranjeet Lotey, 22, and Sandeep, 24, from Milton Keynes, and their cousin, Pritpal Panesar, 21, of Handsworth, attacked accountant Vijay Thaper outside his home in Bloxwich.

All three admitted manslaughter.

Prosecutor Paul Dhami said they were motivated by the “dishonour brought upon their family” when their mother Jisbeer ended her 25-year marriage to their father Kulwant and rekindled a relationship with her expartner Mr Thaper.

But despite efforts to save their parents’ marriage, Sandeep and Saranjeet failed. During October 2009, Mrs Lotey attempted suicide by taking an overdose and spent

a short time in hospital.

The “furious” brothers decided to fit a tracking device to their mother’s car which allowed them to log on to a website and observe the position of their mother’s car in real time.

The car’s movements were monitored on January 13 last year when Panesar and Sandeep drove to Mr Thaper’s home and awaited their return. Saranjeet did not accompany them.

Mr Thaper, aged 61, was then attacked. Once knocked to the ground, his legs were stamped on.

Two months later he died from a pulmonary embolism caused by his injuries.

A murder inquiry was launched and

the three were charged with the crime in August last year. They initially denied any part in the offence but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in June.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court Saranjeet was sentenced to five years, nine months, Sandeep to six years, nine months and Panesar to

Poking fun at Dementia Dementia is the most joked about illness in the West Midlands, a new poll reveals. A quarter of people admitted hearing jokes about the condition. Nearly one in six found it acceptable to say a dementia patient had ‘lost their marbles’. The Alzheimer’s Society warned dementia was not taken seriously enough.

Victim Vijay Thaper

Fun day in Sparkhill Park five years, nine months.

Outside court Mr Thaper’s daughter, Seema Trimby, 30, from London, said: “We have lost our father and they will be out of prison when they are

still in their 20s. It’s quite a difficult pill to swallow.

It doesn’t seem like justice has been done.”

Photo: From left: Saranjeet Lotey, Sandeep Lotey, Pritpal Panesar.

Terror den

Asian women and jewellers in Small Heath, Birmingham, are being warned to be on their guard following myths about gangs of black men targeting households for gold. The myths, described as “baseless rumours” by Chief Superintendent Surjeet Manku of West Midlands Police, have created tensions and fears locally. Among the unfounded rumours was that a woman had a hand and fingers chopped off by an armed gang and that there had been 80 offences of people being targeted in their homes by gangs of black men for their gold in the past fortnight. Now, CS Manku has set up a new group made up of members of the public which aims to help to refute the wild rumours circulating the community via text messages.

Small Heath is one of the most deprived areas of Birmingham with a population of 37,000 of which over half are from a Pakistani background

Birmingham has been revealed as one of the biggest hotspots for terrorists in the UK, according to a new study. Several high-profile Midland terrorists are named in the report, entitled Islamist Terrorism: The British Connections. The report, published by The Henry Jackson Society, a government think-tank, reveals that seven out of 10 Islamic fanatics operating over the past decade have been “home-grown” British nationals. Half of the terror convicts, says the report, are from the Hodge Hill ward, which covers Alum Rock, Ward End, Washwood Heath and Bordesley Green.

Labour leader Ed Miliband is to visit Birmingham this Thursday (Jul 21). He will meet with citizens at a location in the city in the hope of winning their hearts and minds. Since coming to power last September, Mr Miliband has battled to rebuild his party following last year’s election defeat.

RICS appoints new vice president The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has appointed Louise Brooke-Smith, pictured, as its first female vice president. A qualified urban land economist and town planner, Louise is a visiting lecturer at various academic institutions, speaking regularly at conferences across Europe, and has also worked for the UN and other NGOs on projects in Africa and India.

MP finds coins on doorstep Benefit fraud couple face jail Birmingham MP Steve McCabe has said how his faith in human nature has been restored after discovering six carrier bags containing coins on the doorstep of his Kings Heath house. They contained £426 in cash with a note saying “for the poor”. Now Mr McCabe, pictured, Labour MP for Selly Oak, wants to hear from local charities who would like a share of the cash. “I want to reassure the donor that his or her money will make a huge difference to a local charity,” said Mr McCabe.

Thug hid bullet up backside A thug from Birmingham who hid a deadly bullet up his backside has been jailed. Detectives strip-searching Waheed Munir, 26, were stunned when the ammo fell out of his bottom. The bullet – designed to expand on impact to cause maximum injuries – had been stashed by Munir, pictured, of Small Heath, in a desperate attempt to hide it from cops who arrested him after a road crash in Kings Heath. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years for possessing ammunition and motoring offences.

Attacks cause bank to shut A branch of NatWest Bank in Birmingham has been closed after a wave of 11 violent attacks on staff in just four years, the most recent on a security guard last Thursday. The closure of NatWest in Stratford Road, Sparkhill, is the first time the company has been forced to close a Midland outlet because of safety concerns.

Golden rumours

Ed’s visit to Brum

News in Brief

A Birmingham couple, Jhavid Iqbal and Zahida Parveen, are facing time behind bars after they admitted fiddling more than £127,000 in benefits. Parveen, 43, admitted 28 charges of benefit fraud and her 40-year-old husband Iqbal – both of Smethwick – pleaded guilty to 26 similar charges. The couple were remanded on bail until August 5 for preparation of pre-sentence reports.

Asian Mela this Sunday An Asian Arts Festival in Birmingham this Sunday (Jul 24) is expected to draw in crowds from across the UK. The Mela will feature a Bollywood and Bhangra dance competition, food stalls, interactive workshops for all ages in rangoli, painting and lantern-making, poetry, animation films, a dhol procession and much more.

In addition, at 6pm, two of the UK’s rising Asian pop sensations, Foji Gill and 16-year-old Samar Sidhu, pictured, will perform their latest tracks. The free event, which has been organised by Sampad, the South Asian arts organisation, as part of the London 2012 Open Weekend, will take place from 12 noon at The Public in West Bromwich.

For more information visit www.sampad.org.uk

A fun day in Sparkhill Park, Birmingham, this Sunday (Jul 24) is expected to draw in huge crowds.

The 11am to 8pm fundraiser event, organised by the ISRA Feed the Poor charity, will feature Islamic singers and a comedian. Free entry, all welcome.

Struggling with bills Two-thirds of people in the West Midlands are having trouble keeping up with their bills. A poll by Legal and General found that fewer people are saving and fewer households have money remaining at the end of each month to deposit into savings accounts – and three in five are at risk of falling into debt.

Cab drivers in fight Bosses at A2B Radio Cars, a Birmingham taxi company, are investigating after two of its drivers got into a row outside the Birmingham Metropole Hotel, by the NEC. Police and security staff from the hotel had to separate the pair in what an eyewitness described as a “disgusting” display from the drivers.

Temple to be rebuilt Demolition work is due to start at the end of this month at the Shri Guru Ravidass Temple in Pinfold Street, Darlaston. Costing around £750,000 – raised through a series of fundraising events including a family day and sponsored walk – the new build will create more space for community events.

Keep the kids busy Parents wanting to entertain their kids over the school summer holidays are being offered cut price admission into some of the Midlands’ top attractions – if they go there by public transport. For more information visit www.networkwestmidlands.com/summer

Campbell speaks on Happiness Over 600 people attended an annual lecture in Birmingham delivered by writer, communicator and strategist Alastair Campbell. The hour-long lecture, entitled ‘Happiness – what it is and how it may be achieved’, at Birmingham University’s Great Hall last Tuesday saw Mr Campbell, 54, former Number 10 spin doctor, share his personal experiences. “Some of the richest people I know are the unhappiest,” said the father-of-three, adding, “real people are happier than the rich and famous”. Mr Campbell, pictured, who suffered a nervous breakdown in 1986, concluded his “deeply profound” lecture, which won rapturous applause, with this: “I won’t know if I’m happy until the day I die”.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

What awaits unwell Shrien's fate?

As the family of murdered honeymooner Anni Dewani made a fresh appeal to her husband Shrien Dewani (pictured) to give himself up to South African detectives and help with their investigation, Shrien allegedly said he would kill himself if extradited, a psychiatric expert has told a court, a BBC report has revealed.On the second day of an extradition hearing, Belmarsh Magistrates' Court heard evidence about the mental health of Bristol businessman Shrien Dewani.

South African authorities wanted Mr Dewani to return to Cape Town to stand trial over Anni Dewani's murder.

They alleged he arranged the killing in November last year, which he denied. Since the accusations were made against Mr Dewani, he has been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder and severe depression.

On the first day of the extradition hearing on Monday, the judge ruled that Mr Dewani was too ill to attend and was allowed to leave court 10 minutes into the proceedings.

Mr Dewani's behaviour was scrutinised by the lawyers representing the South African authorities.

They said the care home owner had been "carrying out strenuous exercise for hours on end" which included skipping energetically, doing situps and push-ups and using a gym.

On Monday Dr Paul Cantrell, who has been treating Mr Dewani, said this was consistent with his mental state. Mr Dewani's parents, sister, brother, uncles, aunts and cousins have flown in from Sweden for the court hearing hoping that Dewani will be sent back to Cape Town where she was shot dead last November. His father-in-law, Vinod Hindocha, 62, told a national paper: "The time has come for him to see the grief we are in and help us find closure on this terrible loss.

"A day has not gone by since Anni was shot dead that we haven't grieved. Not knowing the whole story adds to our pain. I beg him to go to South Africa and help the police. He has to do it for us and at the very least for Anni."

Hasmukh Shah from Bradford, who is a family friend of Shrien's has complained to the Ofcom regarding the Channel 4 Dispatches programme shown on Monday 11th July 2011 at

8pm. He wrote, "The Producers of Dispatches have disregarded all norms and ethics of investigative journalism and embarked on sensationalism when they distorted the true character of Shrien Dewani, who is falsely accused by the SA Police and Authorities of plotting to murder his newly wed wife of only ten days. It seemed, all of a sudden and before the actual extradition trial of Shrien, Dispatches decided to become the mouth piece of SA Authorities by presenting a biased programme without once giving factual consideration to his state of mind.

SA prisons are notoriously famous for sexual abuse of new prisoners by thug prisoners and officers; the Police Chief has already branded S Dewani as a monkey who came to SA to murder his wife; The SA judiciary does not offer Bail nor there is a Jury System. None of these were highlighted to give S Dewani some chance in a Trial by Media. Is "innocent until proven guilty" not part of British Justice and fair play anymore? Are we to continue to tolerate more bully behaviour by the media in light of the hacking scandal and lack of journalistic ethics by News International?

Ofcom must investigate the Channel 4 for airing this completely biased programme, which has violated Shrien Dewani's Human Rights."

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Influence the final bill Last week the Coalition Government revealed its plans for the delivery and management of public services.

Ministers went to great lengths to assure us that it recognised just how much we value our public services saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;all of us rely on good public services to lead civilized lives in a cohesive nationâ&#x20AC;? Such a clear and unambiguous statement is difficult to quarrel with. Take the NHS for example. It is a universal service that the public pays for through the tax system. That is why the public feel they have a right to demand that delivery of care through the NHS will continue to be based on need and not ability to pay.

The central tenet of the proposals set out in the white paper is that public services can be opened up, giving local people more control, and widening the delivery of services to include new providers. Thus it is fair to assume that anyone can apply to become a provider. If that is indeed true than it will be no doubt excite many Asian entrepreneurs who are always on the look out for new and exciting business opportunities. What will disappoint the public is if it transpires that who rush to bid to become players in this new market place are driven purely by the profit motive It is ironic that the white paper is released just when the independent residential care provider Southern Cross announced it was to close.

Perhaps this is a happy co-incidence as it may lead the government to consider what happens in the event of market failure. Rather tellingly this is

one significant issue that white paper fails to address. This is why alarm bells should start to ring. In the case of Southern Cross we now know that the one set of directors made an enormous profit from the venture but that when the going got tough the new owners were able to walk away and leave families to pick up the pieces, and the tax payers to foot the bill.

This new drive to give more individual choice and control in public services will of course not be limited to just health and social care but will embrace education, skills training, early years, children's services, family services, health and social housing.

All areas where the vulnerable have been able to sleep easy knowing the state was there to provide them with a safety net when needed. In the new order these people will have to shop around for the provider who can help them best. The question is whether those with poor education, language difficulties and poor communications skills will fail to avail themselves of the services on offer.

Admittedly the government acknowledges that our society, particularly sections of the Asian community, is blighted by inequalities in access to good schools, high quality healthcare, and safe places to play, culture, sporting opportunities and decent homes. These reforms could make their situation worse and it is unlikely the government will find the money to bail them out. That is why there is an onus on us all to study this white paper and influence the final Bill.

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YOUR VOICE

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Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Triple bombing in Mumbai

Mumbai blast

Terrorist attack in Mumbai(13-72011) deserves condemnation of home grown or imported murderers. We sympathise with suffering Mumbaikars too.

Pakistan condemned attacks but cannot deny its support which inspires such traitors. Attacks on Mumbai post 1993 indicate Mumbai is priority target earns global publicity and hurts economic hub of India.

It may be forewarning - to sleeping, philosophic India - of times to come after US withdrawal from Afghanistan, dominance of Taliban in Pakistan and directing of Taliban guns at India.

India is unwilling, without policy or inclination, to punish perpetrators. India has repealed TADA and POTA., may introduce bill to punish majority when attacked. Ridiculous statements by India’s politicians mention no precautionary or deterrent measures, inviting terrorist attack with impunity.

Futile talks about spirit of Mumbai’s resilience, candle light vigil are not deterrents, add to woes and emasculation of India. Grandiose Hindu organisations like Sena, Sangh parivar, Vahini, and Dal etc, are brave to beat Biharis, Easter revellers and Late M.F. Hussein, but are helpless against spies of terrorists within Mumbai.

Seething collective anger- as homage to Great Shivaji, Rani of Jhansi, Dr Hedgevar and freedom fighters of the past - should have frightened local spies and transborder terrorists.

The latest bomb blasts at the crowded locations of Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar Kabutrkhana in Mumbai on 13 July shows Indian government’s lack of policy and political will to combat terrorism in Mumbai and in general in India itself.

The majority of the Indian public know that almost all the attacks were carried out by Muslim terrorists backed by Pakistan Intelligence service. The UPA government is not a nationalist but opportunist. The only country in the world which is tackling terrorism in Israel and they have necessary expertise and equipment and still Indians will not collaborate with Israel for the fear of antagonising Muslims. Since Pakistanis and Bangladeshi government objected to fencing the Indian border with these two countries, the work was stopped.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, home minister P Chidambaram and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, apart from routine rhetoric, appealed to the public to remain calm. It is not something new when the home ministry classifies the bomb blasts are terrorists act and despatch National Investment Agency ( NIA) for investigation. NIA itself is a toothless organisation with no proper direction, equipment and personnel to carry out the investigation.

In the name of secularism Indian government put the blame on Hindus and call them saffron terrorists even though the evidence shows most of the terrorist activities are carried out by Muslim organisations.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Statue of Sardar Patel As persons of Indian Origin and Gujaratis residing in UK are concerned when The Daily Telegraph carries articles about Indians who has sacrificed their lives to liberate India from Colonial Regime and uniting it for the future of the Country (17th June 2011 by Dean Nelson about statue of Sardar Patel).

Sardar Vallabhai Patel is National Hero in India for his fight for India’s Independence and above all uniting India after gaining Independence. He is known as “Iron Man” for his strong will to fight for unity of India.

Sardar Patel recognition is long overdue and one needs to compliment Chief Minister of Gujarat Mr.Modi for taking the bold initiative to install one of the largest statues in the World.

In the telegraph article there is a mention of funds could be utilised to alleviate poverty in Gujarat. If this is the argument than UK should not be holding Olympics as there are people in UK who are unemployed and below poverty line.

Gujarat is Number One destination for International Investors due to excellent facilities in terms of infrastructures and human resources. Gujarat is one of the safest States in India. Chief Minister and his Cabinet have made Gujarat what it is now.

Every country needs a role model, UK has installed thousands of statues all over the World, Europe has done the same than why pick on Gujarat.

The Metropolitan Police Service and The Metropolitan Authority TMPS has a staff of 32,000 with 14,500 police officers to cover 600 square miles and 7.2 million population. The remaining staff is divided into other ranks, namely, Commissioner, Deputy C, Assistant C, Deputy Assistant C, Commander, Chief Superintendent, Superintendent, Chief Inspector, Inspector, Sergeant and Constable.

In the last 12 months, just under 1 million crimes among the 7.2 million were reported: 161,000 violence against persons; 100,000 motor vehicle crimes; 95,000 burglaries; 37,000 robberies; 48,000 domestic crimes and 381,000 "others".

With an annual budget of 3.2 billion, it is high time they revert back to single policeman or single of policewoman on the street instead of walking in twos. The practice of rushing to the scene of the crime by police cars driving frantically with very loud sirens creates noise pollution and traffic congestion almost every hour throughout Greater London and is not warranted as the norm.

It is best to prevent crime by having police all the time, specially at night, just walking the 600 square miles. The cost of running cars, the security cameras, bureaucracy, hierarchy [too many chiefs and no Indians], gathering statistics [e.g.

8% Indians and 14% Jews in Borough of Barnet] and the practice of paying overtime [when it is a fact that 75% of crimes happen at night] is not a wise way of spending taxpayer money.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

C J Rabheru, Secretary Lohana Community West London

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End of glorious era

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Held to Ransom

Sardar Patel’s Statue will bring in sense of Pride amongst Gujaratis and Indians in India and all over the World.

It is a pity Dean Nelson has not mentioned about Gujarat’s Economic Growth as reported in Economics Times. Cost of the Statue is borne by well wishers and not from Government Kitty or Overseas Aid.

Umesh Raichada London

British Gas has announced that from next month, it is raising gas prices by 18% and electricity prices by 16%, and other energy providers are also jumping on the bandwagon by hiking their energy prices. This comes at a time when prices of everything else are also going up. This year we have been subjected to rises in VAT, student tuition fees, food prices, petrol, air travel taxes and many more.

The Government is also clawing back on our pensions by linking the annual increases to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) from the more generous Retail Prices Index (RPI). We have no say in the matter and have to grin and bear it. In other words, we are being held to ransom!

On one hand, we have to pay through the nose for these basic requirements, and on the other hand, the Government gives out millions of pounds in grant aid to foreign countries which harbour terrorists and bear a grudge against us. It is spending billions of pounds in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq. For the money the Government spends on these causes, it could subsidise the prices in fuel, energy and food for years to come. For once let charity begin at home!

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email

Saris and today's women

Jayesh A Patel Wimbledon

On 17th January 2011 I sent a letter to Asian Voice regarding my own personal view that I felt that Shrien Dewani was not guilty this as at the time I felt very sorry for him after the tragic loss of his wife Anni on honeymoon. This was also subject to the opening up of the case at the end of January 2011. But since then the case has been "stalled "and put on constant hold due to the his so called "medical condition" Like many of Asian Voice readers I too watched the Channel 4 Dispatches programme on Monday 11th July called "Murder on Honeymoon" and it was horrifying to find out some of the evidence being leaked on national TV before any trial. If Shrien Dewani is not guilty how come his publicist has suddenly gone quiet? Also there are a number of issues that need to be answered here. These can only be ascertained and answered in a full trial at the same time giving Shrien the opportunity to defend himself and his reputation. We all want justice at the end of the day. Especially for Anni. So the right thing in my opinion would be to sign the petition to get Shrien extradited.

After all if he is not guilty what has he got to hide? Readers can see the petition at : www.justice4anni.com

The demise of News of The World (NOTW) is in a way sad occasion.

Allthough it does not mean that newspapers should stoop so low to survive, taping into the mobile phones of the victims of horrendous crimes. Such practice is beyond comprehension for most readers.

One may wonder whether this is a revenge act on the part of politicians to claw back Murdock power, influence, the Mogul Emperor of print industry who could command PM to go and meet him in Australia. It was also the print industry that exposed the expense scandals that ruined the reputation of so many politicians, sending some to jail. This was a shattering blow to the carefully cultivated myth of invincible politicians.

Our politicians have the power to stop any one person from owning so many newspapers and TV channels. Yet they turned a blind eye as long as it served their purpose. Is this wakening a second coming of a messiah?

It was NOTW that forced the government to introduce Sarah’s Law to protect our children from pedophiles, the lowest of the low, exposed cricket match fixing and it was the first newspaper to inform the nation of the lifting of the Mafeking siege some 100 years ago.

It seems the politicians will have their revenge, their pound of flesh, as they have created such frenzy that they are the prisoners of their own hype with fragile public opinion behind them. Yet it may come to haunt them in years to come if we lose free press.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

The letter by Nagindas Khajuria on the subject of Saris raises a sore point with me. Unfortunately saris are on the way out and are being replaced by black business suits and jeans in women's fashion. Sari for me is beautiful adornment elegant and feminine and are part of Bharat history. Jeans originated as cheap long lasting American farmhand work wear, in poor farmhands of 1890s from cut up tent cloth and were fashioned them into jeans. They were made famous

by James Dean in the film"A Rebel without a Cause" and this film portrays a culture as far removed from Indian culture as possible, so every time I see Indian people in jeans my heart sinks at what this garment represents.

Murder on Honeymoon

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

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

11

Community debates as Sikh ex-prison officer loses bid for dagger ban payout Every community and every religion has their own symbol of faith.

Though the UK government boasts of a Big society but often we have seen intolerance towards other faith followers in various set up. For example the Sikhs. For them the 5Ks are very important. They carry a ceremonial dagger called Kirpan, wear a turban and a kara (bangle) as a religious must. But still these practices have been severely objected including in schools, in airports and recently a Sikh trainee prison officer has lost a compensation bid after being fired from a jail near Burton for trying to wear the kirpan while on duty.

Infact the Birmingham Employment Tribunal

Jagdip Singh Dhinsa

decided the prison authorities were justified in banning Jagdip Singh Dhinsa from wearing kirpan, because of fears it may encourage violence among prisoners at Dovegate Prison, near Marchington.

Of the 1,130 prisoners at the all-male Category B prison, 400 were on life sentences, tribunal judge

Blind Student stuns all with degree in English Literature A Student from Manchester Metropolitan University has stunned lecturers by achieving a degree in English Literature, despite being entirely blind.

Sumaira Nassan 22, shocked lecturers with her wide knowledge of classic literature – even though she could not read the literature for herself.

She used audio versions of the books to help her write essays on a computer using her touch-typing skills. When there was no audio version available, the undergraduate scanned the pages on to a computer so that she could use speech software

to read it back to her.

The student, from Rusholme, has had problems with her eyes since birth yet her vision significantly deteriorated during her A levels at Xaverian College.

She is officially blind now but Sumaira has not let this get her down. She will soon be graduating this month with an English Literature degree.

Nigel Roper said at the latest hearing.

“In general, it is a prison for serious offenders as many have committed violent offences,” he said.

Mr Dhinsa, 26, from Derby, allegedly made compensation claims of race discrimination and harassment against Serco, the private company which runs Dovegate

Prison, and against the Secretary of State for Justice Ken Clarke at a previous hearing.

Mr Dhinsa withdrew a claim for unfair dismissal at that stage.

The case was adjourned for further consideration of an application by Mr Dhinsa for compensation on the other two issues.

Mr Dhinsa said he was

obligated to carry the dagger at all times because of his religious faith as an Amritdhari Sikh. But both Serco and the Government department opposed the claims.

At the latest hearing, Mr Roper rejected both of Mr Dhinsa’s remaining claims after he said he had been told that there were 16,000 recorded assaults within prisons in England

and Wales in 2008, involving 1,800 weapons.

These incidents included 3,100 assaults on prison staff.

Mr Roper said the tribunal had been told there was a blanket ban on the daggers in prisons and that the only person allowed to wear one was an Amritdhari Sikh prison chaplain.

Continued on page 13

A tale of five cities Cities are like talisman, often telling unheard tales, whispering into the ears of a man passing by.

History as it unfolds makes its presence felt in every rock and brick that is laid. From roads to streets to lanes to every building, markets and bridges- everything tells a story, the story of those who have given lives to make it a great nation, of the people who live to make it even a greater country.

Swiss cities reflect a unique diversity charming the visitor with historic city centres and picturesque lakesides but also offering exciting modern architecture, controversial exhibitions and trendy nightlife.

Compact in size Swiss cities nevertheless offer an exciting array of the arts, first-class culinary delights, excellent shopping and the beauty of an extra ordinary nature. No wonder that year after year Zurich and Geneva – Switzerland’s largest two cities are to be found in

the top 5 cities with the best quality of life.

Zurich Zurich is Switzerland’s largest city and well known for its wide range of cultural attractions and excellent hotels that cater for every visitor. There is a variety of museums to visit, in particular the Museum of Fine Arts that houses one of the largest collections of paintings by Munch outside Norway. Zurich has a spectacular Old Town, well worth exploring for its small shops and boutiques. The Swiss countryside is not far away and you can escape the city for a day to visit some of Switzerland’s most breathtaking scenery, including Mount Rigi, Mount Titlis and the Rhinefalls.

Geneva Geneva is Switzerland’s second largest city and is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva in the Frenchspeaking part of the country. It is perhaps bet-

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Bern Bern, situated on the River Aare, is Switzerland’s magnificent capital. A wealth of history and culture await every visitor, the Old Town remaining almost unchanged since the 14th

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MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Scrutator’s Mumbai was subjected to three co-ordinated terror attacks in the middle of last week. While no such assault may have occurred since the infamous 26/11 (2011) spree of murder and mayhem in the city, which so shocked the world by its sheer brutality, the latest developments are a reminder to the people and government that India remains a target for Islamist groups within the country and without. The country lowers its guard at its peril in a neighbourhood rife with jehadi violence.

The Daily Telegraph columnist Con Coughlin (July 15), in piece entitled, “Pakistan will remain a suspect until it roots out the evil in its midst,” writes: “A fresh wave of terrorist attacks were launched at the heart of the Indian city of Mumbai, and immediately the finger of suspicion points towards Pakistan.

And this is before Indian counter-terrorism officials have even had a chance to examine the crime scene. Indeed, it may well transpire that that the three bombs that killed 17 people and injured 131 others were the work of an indigenous group of Islamists in retaliation for the recent arrests of their fellow members by the Indian authorities.

Three Bomb blasts in Mumbai killed 17 people and injured 131

“Even if that proves to be the case, though, it will not prevent blame for the attack to be laid at Pakistan's door, with all the implications that will have for the country's emerging status as one of the world's leading pariah states. The tentacles of Pakistan-based terror groups, many of whom are linked to the country's all powerful Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), spread far and wide, even to parts of India, where they provide training instruction to local Islamist militants.....If the Pakistanis do end up being implicated in the attacks, though, they will only have themselves to blame.”

Turning a blind eye Mr Coughlin referred to the fractious relationship between Pakistan and America and the ISI's reasoning in funding and arming the Laskar-e-Taeba, “which has waged a brutal terror campaign in Kashmir, and the equally fanatical Taliban – both the Afghan and Pakistan wings – totally undermines Islamabad's claim to be a reliable ally of the West.” Quite so. But the tragic irony is that the West – the US and Britain especially – has a been a persistent ally of every Pakistan regime down the years, providing a cornucopia of arms, turning a blind eye to Islamabad's nuclear proliferation activities, and only waking up to the terrorist problem after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. Prior terror attacks on Indian targets – witness the co-ordinated assaults in Mumbai in March 1993, which claimed 300 lives and injured 3,000 others made little impression on the powers that be in the US and UK. Mr Coughlin would do well to consider this in his next reflection on the subject.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reporters Amana Khan in Mumbai, and Rahul Bedi and Rob Crilly provided a first-hand

account of the carnage and destruction, while Damien McElroy complemented this with his take on the diplomatic fallout (July 14).

Compelling destination Mary Watkins, in the Financial Times (July 11), wrote of the risks that prospective investors face in India – big ticket corruption cases over the last couple of years, ambiguous tax laws, slothful bureaucracy and red tape being the principal obstacles. But South Korean carmaker Hyundai is currently number two in the country, while Posco, the South Korean steelmaker, finally got the green signal for its plant in Orissa after a six-year wait. The company was prepared for the long haul because it believed that investing in India would repay the trials and tribulations it had been forced to undergo.

Ms Watkins concludes: “For the most part, foreign companies have weighed the risks and still find India's long-term growth story compelling.

Standard Chartered has predicted India will become the world's third-largest economy by 2020 as the economy benefits from a booming middle class.”

She quotes Jagannadham

Thumuguntla, chief strategist at SMC Global Securities, as saying the fact Vedanta finally won government approval for its $9.6 billion acquisition of Londonlisted Cairn Energy's Indian assets “sends a signal that people can make money out of India.”

Upbeat Kamath K.V. Kamath, Infosys' Chairmandesignate and ICICI Bank's Non-Executive Chairman, told the Press Club in Bangalore that India's growth figure of 8 per cent plus was in reality 1.5 to 2 per cent more because of the uncounted numbers in the unorganized sector of the Indian economy such as small eateries, retail outlets etc. He said: “It is acknowledged that our counting is wrong and we don't have the data to rely on. Therefore India as a country is growing above 10 per cent.” (The Hindu July 11).

A recent report in The Economist, referring to an authoritative World Bank assessment, had a slightly different take. One of its correspondent's claimed that an alleged error in India's accounting system had lowered the country's annual GDP statistic by approximately 2 per cent, ergo, India had already overtaken China as the world's fastest-growing large economy without the public noticing it.

Rural India spending more Rural Indian households are spending more on consumer durables, beverages and services than they were five years ago.

The household expenditure survey for 2009-10, released by the National Sample Survey Office, shows a 64.6 per cent increase in rural incomes over 2004-05, although this is half that recorded for urban areas.

“The rise in incomes offset the negative effects of inflation,” said Crisil India Senior Economist Sunil Sinha. “This is possibly the reason why we do not see discontent on the streets” (The Economic Times July 8).

India and China have recorded the sharpest decline in poverty figures in the Asian region, with the projected rate in India set to fall overall from 51 per cent in 1991 to 22 per cent in 2015. In China the poverty statistic for 2015 is expected to be 5 per cent. These Millennium Development Goals were released by the United Nations.

In China and India together, people living in extreme poverty fell by 455 million between 1990 to 2005, and an additional 320 million are expected to join them by 2015.

Delhi Metro in Ghaziabad One of the tentacles of Delhi's acclaimed Metro reached Ghaziabad (in adjoining Uttar Pradesh) on Thursday last week.

The carriages were packed to capacity as the new commuters took their first ride amidst a fever of excitement. The route

Delhi's Metro has reached Ghaziabad

includes two new stations Vaishali and Kaushambi – on the Metro map.

“Usually I would board a bus from Vaisali to Anand Vihar, which takes half an hour,” said Salman Khan, a Ghaziabad resident, who works at a garment shop in Delhi’s Connaught Place.

“Now, the entire journey to my workplace takes me the same time, cutting my [total] travel time by half.,” exclaimed a happy Mr Khan (Indian Express July 15).

India's rail travellers can now get e-tickets on their cellphones, saving them the trouble of carrying print-out tickets. A prospective passenger can buy tickets through a mobile phone and carry the display ticket on his/her cellphone through an SMS. The new Indian Railways web portal aims at consolidation of all services and information into a single web-interface for the public (Times of India July 9).

Second nuclear submarine A Zeenews report (July 11) says the construction of India's second nuclear submarine has commenced at a classified facility in Visakhapatnam. The project has been launched 24 months after India's first nuclear submarine INS Arihant was commissioned.

“The second programme took far less time than Arihant to reach the shipyard from the drawing board. This time we had a clear plan and we had learned a lot from our mistakes,”said a top source. It is learnt that the fabrication of the submarine's hull and body has begun. Its reactor is being constructed with Russian assistance, as was the case with the Arihant's reactor.

The submarine is expected to be ready for sea trials by 2015.

Meanwhile, Russia will be handing over to the Indian Navy one of its Akula-II class K-152 Nerpa submarines at the end of the year on a ten-year lease.

India nuclear deal endorsed Russia has assured India that new international restrictions on the transfer of sensitive nuclear technologies will not affect the clean waiver New Delhi was granted in 2008. The new guidelines adopted by the Nuclear Suppliers Group last month to ban the sale of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology to NPT non-signatories would not apply to India, said the official spokesman of the Russian

Foreign Ministry in Moscow. He recalled that Russia had been consistently working to ensure India's membership of the 45member Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Russia reiterated its commitment to the bilateral accord with India (reached during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi), and subsequently reaffirmed in the December 2010 New Delhi summit between President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Singh. Russia views its nuclear cooperation with India as a “pivotal element in the bilateral strategic partnership.” (The Hindu July 15)

Successful PSLV launch India undertook a successful launch, at the weekend, of its latest communication satellite GSAT-12 on board a powerful variant of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse of the country's space programme.

GSAT-12 Satellite

In a textbook launch last Friday, the lift-off took place from the Sriharikota spaceport.

“I am extremely happy to state that the PSLV-C17 GSAT-12 mission is successful. The launch vehicle injected the satellite very precisely into the intended orbit,” said ISRO Chairman K.Radhakrishnan.

This was the 18th consecutive PSLV launch, a truly remarkable sequence of successes, which speaks volumes for its technology.

GSAT-12, aims to augment the capacity in the INSAT system, whose range of services includes tele-education, telemedicine and strengthening village resource centres. ISRO is currently working to iron out the problems associated with its GSLV rockets, two crashing into the sea in 2010. The fault has been detected in the cryogenic engine.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

13

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel’s

Why can’t India be more like Britain; why can’t Britain be more like India?

In Britain, if you hack someone’s phone, you get away with it for a long time, but then, you go to prison. The owner of your paper has to come to the UK and answer questions in front of Parliament. These proceedings are televised.

If a policeman in Britain takes hospitality for free from someone, then he may have to resign. Even if he is the Chief Constable. How come this happens? Is it the media that make it happen? No, because India has India Today, whose headline talks of terrorism in India and corruption and a readership of 5million. So it is not that India lacks a free media reporting corruption.

Is it police, investigative bodies, Parliament willing to follow up – yes. It is. It is the lack of will. The lack of accountability and transparency. Britain is not perfect. But there is a fear. A fear all the greater now that we have seen Chief Constables lose their jobs. Accountability requires sanction. India lacks sanction.

And it requires publicity of sanction.

Of course this is so very slowly changing. India has investigative journalism – look at Tehelka.

But until there are those willing to make a sustained attack based on uncovering such corruption nothing happens.

Recently Britain enacted the Bribery Act. It is a criminal offence for a Briton to offer a bribe – even abroad. Doing so in India could land me in prison in the UK. The US has a similar law which is why Rupert Murdoch could be imprisoned if under his watch his company officers paid British police officers in the UK for access to phone records in the UK. I propose an India Corrupt Practices Act. It only need have one section. This is my draft: Section 1: It shall be a criminal offence imprisonable for up to 10 years for any individual to offer a bribe to any individual. A bribe here means a benefit of money or money’s worth to the recipient or other party in return for that other party to perform a function improperly.

That’s how I want India to be

Sikh ex-prison officer loses bid Continued from page 11 He said this was because wearing of the dagger could cause violence among prisoners and also lead to increased dangers to staff.

Mr Roper said the tribunal had been told that Amritdhari Sikh prison officers at Birmingham Prison were allowed to wear replica kirpans, which were harmless.

But he said Mr Dhinsa was not prepared to carry a replica.

“We can see no good reason, in the circumstances, to draw any inference that the ban was enforced on the grounds of race, religion or belief and accordingly, the claims are dismissed,” said Mr Roper.

Asian Voice spoke to many people from the Punjabi and Sikh community asking for their opinion in this regards.

Harmohinder Singh Bhatia, aka Upashak Ji, a veteran pillar of the community in the West Midlands, said: “All faiths must be allowed to practice their beliefs and this is happening in UK.No faiths should be allowed to propagate hatred against others.

Continued on page 23

FESTIVAL 2011

more like Britain. Of course legislation without action is useless.

So who will enforce it? There is no procedure to enact political will and that is the problem. Will may not exist because people don’t care. It needs someone to care. What makes them care?

When someone takes a lead.

India lacks leaders, visionaries.

Not in business, not in economics, not in academia, but in politics and ethics.

And how do I want Britain to be more like India? Simple – I want everyone with a job to work 12 hour days. – okay I’ll settle for 10 hours. In India I get the impression, in the private sector, you’re generally greatful for a job – when a union or the State is not guaranteeing your job. And when fear and gratitude mix – people do amazing things. In Britain, or in any rich nation, this state diminishes – as it did in Jaguar and Land Rover. That is how I want Britain to rediscover what a growing India can teach it.

Alpesh Patel www.alpeshblog.com

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FESTIVAL 2011

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ART & CULTURE

14

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

New Music Release Gourangi Joshi

Jay Seans New Track Jay Sean released a new track called 'Like this like that', the new track featuring Birdman. His new

called ‘Mukhara’. Samar also sang in the recent Leicester Mela and got a good reaction from the crowd.

Ravi Vaz, Vice President, Goan Association (UK)

Paul E Paul Paul E Paul released a new track called 'Less Talk' features the following Skibadee, Neat, Versatile and Mighty Moe. This new track is helped

known Gupsy Aujla, GV, Twin Beats, Notorious Jatt, Manni Sandhu and many more. The track will liven up your life and will make you dance to the lyrics.

3Mix track follows his other track called ‘Where Do We Go’ and shows how Jay Sean's grown into an singer.

His touching lyrics will make all his fans scream for more.

Samar Sidhu Bhangra icon Amarjit Sidhu's son who is 16, is starting a career in singing. He is inspired by the new singer Jaz Dhami and spoke to his father to

by DJ SL of ‘DHOL N BASS’ to have a Desi Remix. Paul E Paul wanted to release this track after his successful 'Girls in the Club'. Paul E Paul has worked famous places such as the O2 last year and has sang many places over the world such as UK, Dubai, USA, Canada and India. UUK, Dubai, USA, Canada and India.

UK, Dubai, USA, Canada and India. K√ , Dubai, USA, Canada and India.

UK, Dubai, USA, Canada and

Is the new band have released their brand new sing ‘Nachle’, the singers are Karim, Myan and Usman. The boys met when auditioning for Andrew lloyd Webber's musical 'Bombay Dreams.' It is said to be a

Angels New track

talk about his new career path. His father approved and got the famous Jayshree Shivram Ji from Mumbai, to give his son vocal lessons. And finally Samar is releasing his first single in the summer

Angel has released a new track called 'Billo,' featuring the amazing Jaswinder Daghamia.

This summer this track will rock your world and will make you fall in love with Angel. You may have heard Angel through these tracks 'Chori Chori Takna' and 'Hyper Boli'.

Jaswinder Daghamia has worked with the well

up beat and funky track to start off summer. Their new single is produced by Mushtaq, who has produced songs by Amy Winehouse and Raghav.

3MIX thought they should do more after winning the Best Unsigned Act at the UK Asian Music Awards.

Gurupurnima celebrated in London Shridi Sai Bab Temple Association of London (Shital) celebrated Gurupurnima at the Barham Park in Wembley, north west London on Friday 15th July 2015 ( Hindu calender: Ashad Sud Punam).

The celebrations started with carrying the statue of Satya Shri Sai Baba in palki from the entrance of the park to the middle where a marquee was erected for this celebra-

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The palki was led by youths playing lazims and

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chanting bhajans and kirtans. Singing bhajans and kirtans continued throughout the afternoon.

On reaching the marquee, Satya Shri Sai Baba was rested under a canopy and Aarti performed.

Over 300 people, including some AfroCaribbean and Caucasians, participated in the exciting event on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

Shri Surendra Singh Gera and his wife Shrimati Madhu Gera of Gulmohar Enclave, New Delhi, India, flew in on Wednesday before just to participate in the event.

Surendra Singh Gera said, "This is an amazing experience. I always go to Sai Mandir on Gurupurnima Diwas and today I am experiencing

The Goan Association (UK) was formed in 1966 when a group of Goans met in London with the aim of invigorating and unifying the community in the U.K. Since then, the Association has grown from strength to strength and we are grateful to the community for their support.

As a voluntary community organisation, we have been actively involved with various welfare and social activities. Amongst these initiatives was the first Goan Festival organised in the summer of 1985. Since it has been so popular, it has been an annual event ever since. The Festival is a showcase of Goan hospitality and culture and is a great meeting point for one and all.

This event has grown in popularity over these years particularly since last year when Tilda Pure Basmati sponsored the event and Sony Entertainment television featured us as part of their Sony Zone Programme in prime time. This year we would also like to thank Asian Voice for supporting

the community and releasing a special magazine dedicated to the British Goans to celebrate our Sapphire Anniversary.

The Goan Association is celebrating its 45th anniversary in a very big way in 2011. The four day event, from 22nd to 25th of July, kicks off with the Global Goans Convention which will be attended by senior dignitaries, speakers and delegates from all over the world, including the NRI office and the Indian High Commission (UK).

The Goan Festival on the 24th of July has exciting events lined up throughout the day.

Lorna, the Goan nightingale of Konkani music, after some great performances around the world will be at the festival entertaining us with her melodious voice accompanied by some of Goa’s best bands.

Thanks to Mr.Richard Fernandes, Finance Director Goan Association (UK) for coordinating Lorna’s show in the UK and all the committee members and volunteers who have given their selfless service towards organising this event under the leadership of our President Mr. Flavio

Lorna

Gracias.

There will be a huge variety of food stalls serving food to tease your taste buds. Thanks to our sponsors we also have loads of exciting offers and prizes to give away and we are expecting a huge turnout of over 5000 people with their families and friends.

With the Convention kicking off on Friday 22nd, the UK Goan Festival takes place on Sunday 24 July at Cranford Community College, Cranford, Hounslow, Middlesex TW5 9PD. Admission is £4.00; Children under 16 free.

We look forward to seeing you with your families and friends at the festival.

For further details on the events please refer to our websites www.goauk.com and www.goaukconvention.co.uk

Lions Club of Sudbury- Celebrates 11th Charter Anniversary

By Gourangi Joshi On Saturday 2nd July over 150 people attended a special Dinner and Dance to celebrate the 11th Charter Anniversary of Lions Club of Sudbury District 105A. The event took place at Sun Lounge Banqueting Atlip Centre, Wembley London.

Lions Club of Sudbury have been working very hard in providing the support and help needed for a range of projects and charities. Ranging from providing a diabetic screening to over 4000 people during Navratri in October to raise funds for Asian women Breast Cancer Awareness, Japanese Tsunami, Pakistan Floods, Brent Asian Elderly Group to name a few.

Lions Club International was founded

by Melvin Jones in 1917.

Their work has made a considerable difference to the lives of people in communities both in the UK and abroad. Lions Club have many volunteers over 18 years old, who are

committed to help the people less fortunate than them. The club started with 84 members making it the largest Lions Club in Europe. There are 44,500 Lions Club Internationally and are an organisation which have 1.3 million members in 202 countries.

The volunteers who work at Lions Club of Sudbury are also known as Lions and they face challenging problems such as prevention of blindness, providing clean water and drug abuse education and pre-

vention.

Special guests in this event included Councillor Aslam Choudry, Mayor of Brent, District Governor Lion Martin Morgan and Jill Morgan, Zone D Chairman Lion Ranji Mangat & Jaswinder Kaur, past and present District officers.

Sisters Karishma Raichada aged 13 and Kareena Raichada aged 9 performed a special modern Indian dance, which was very entertaining and very enjoyable.

this here. I am feeling I am in Shirdi."

33 years old Keerat Khalsa said " I feel I am waling besides Baba. I can feel his presence."

Darshan Singh Nagi of the temple "Whilst observing Gurupurnima we are

endeavouring to pass on Baba's message that we are all equal."

Shri Vivekananth of the Shiva Mandir of Ealing Road, Wembley observed that it is sad that Shital were not able to bring out a small proces-

sion of Baba's palki due to prohibitive cost that the council was asking for.

The event started and came to conclusion as advertised, from 1.30pm to 4.30pm with distribution of delicious vegetarian pre-packed food.

Arvind Solanki, Cllr Aslam Choudry, Mayor of Brent, Lion President Vamanrao Sevak, Lion GP Desai, Lion Pami Sevak with performers Karishma & Kareena Raichada

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

by Shree For more stories visit www.scribbledesk.com

Short Story by Neha Garg

Norg the Menacing Dragon 'Look out. Here he comes,' shouted Alfie the elf, running for his life. Behind him, trampling everything in its path, stomped a huge green dragon.

Norg, the ferocious Dragon was a menace. He simply loved creating trouble. He often went rampaging through Spook Wood, breathing fire for fun. Indeed, had it not been for the faery spells protecting Spook Wood, Norg would have reduced the whole forest to ashes.

One morning, while Norg lay snoring in his enormous cave, the fairy folk of Spook Wood called a meeting.

'We have to do something about him,' said Twinkle-Toes the Pixie.

'Yesterday, he set my prize-winning rose bush on fire.'

'Can we not punish him?' said bunny Hop-a-Lot. 'Dragons are powerful magical beasts.' said Twinkle-Toes. 'Get everyone together and shoot a spell at him. I doubt you will give him so much as a nosebleed.'

'I know,' came a quiet voice.

Everyone looked around to see who had spoken. At first no one was visible.

Then Bunny Hop-a-Lot pointed a paw to where Silky, the tiniest faery in Spook Wood, bobbed in mid-air.

'Norg's magical powers are weakest when he is asleep. Can't we cast a spell to make him dream he is drinking water?' said Silky, quietly.

Everyone stared at her. Whyever had they not thought of that before?

You see, Dragons do not have much brains. They cannot distinguish between dreams and reality. A Dragon, dreaming of drinking water is sure to gulp some unknowingly. Water would put out the fire in Norg's stomach and he would become powerless. It was a

Sudoku

Radha Abw

GRAND IDEA!!

'Let's do this tonight,' said TwinkleToes jumping up in excitement.

That night, Silky and Alfie crept over to where Norg lay snoring. Together they cast the spell of dreams.

Norg snorted and slowly, as if he were a puppet on strings, he got up and trundled off. Silky and Alfie followed.

'It's the lake,' pointed Alfie.

Ahead, Norg bent and scooped up some water in his snout. He stood frozen for a minute, then with a howl of pain fell over. Straight into the lake.

The folk of Spook-Wood were beside themselves with joy. Norg the ferocious Dragon couldn't breathe fire anymore.

The Faeries and Goblins and Elves skipped, they clapped and they sang: Who would have thought a day would arrive.

When Dragons wouldn't thrive, Indeed, a Dragon would be dumb enough to wake, With its large ugly head in the lake.

15

f ashionista

Be a Fashionista, Be You! If you have any questions or a story or a new style to share with us, please write to Shree at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Tips to win an everyday battle Yesterday I wore a green cashmere cardi. One that I happened to grab blindly while I was doing my hair, eating cornflakes, praying to make the 9 am meeting and begging the dog to get off the other dog. I vaguely remember picking lint off it in the tube. Then, I got compliments. 3 Times.

On the cardi I bought and threw into the seemingly never-ending depth that is the back of my wardrobe.

Organising your wardrobe is the kind of chore that you can constantly find excuses to avoid. In fact, it's such an undertaking that it usually takes a traumatic event, like losing your favourite jacket or having the wardrobe collapse the moment you open it. So, How to battle the clothesshoes-bag cyclone every morning? Here’s how. and most First, painful, throw out the things that you no longer fit into. And no, I can bet my Muller Light you wouldn’t actually lose 10 pounds in three days and then wear those liquid leather leggings. Divide your clothes into ‘keep’, ‘maybe’ and ‘goodbye’ piles. ‘Maybe’ pile strictly admits only well-fitting clothes you don’t wear often but are classic enough to stay in fashion for sometime still.

This one is easy…sort by season. If you have the luxury of extra space, put your out-of-season clothing in clothing boxes or zip bags and covered hanging racks and store it in a separate area of your house or apartment. Also store the ‘occasional’ stuff, i.e. that dress you wear once every two years to a wedding. This way, all your clothes stand a far better chance of hanging nicely and getting less creased or wrinkled.

The reason to organise your wardrobe is not just to make space. The goal is to be able to find your clothes. There’s nothing more frustrating than searching for a blue shirt that has been lost in the abyss of disorganisation.

Organise by garment type and colour. In other words, keep all shirts hanging together arranged by colour. Same goes for

skirts, jackets, etc.

Hangers stretch out knits, so fold them instead.

Make a visual delight out of mixing and matching.

Shoes take up more space than you think.

Invest in a shoe rack.

Racks stack together vertically and horizontally so you can adjust how high or low you want them to sit. Tidy up any other accessories or knickknacks littering your wardrobe, like hats, scarves, gloves or belts, in pretty storage boxes and transfer the items into them.

Throw in some scented parcels, lemon and vanilla work best. I know it’s a chore, but think of the sight of all your lovely stuff hanging prettily, folded and colour coded, the rustle of tissue papers against your bling, racks full of shoes. Just like a movie star!

Indian Wedding, Destination and Lifestyle Show This is a 9x9 grid, 3x3 (boxes) Sudoku puzzle.

Make sure that each and every row, column and region/box contains the number 1 to 9 once.

Clue: Start with the boxes with just one missing number!

Disclaimer: This puzzle is created solely by Radha abw with the help of a pen and paper, understanding the basics of the subject at hand, and any resemblance to a similar puzzle is purely unintended and coincidental.

(Radha is a philosophical being who loves to stay involved in sports/games. That makes her an avid Sudoku player as it is a game that involves logic. ‘Sudoku’ means single number – in other words, each box can have only one number as its solution. However, it is not a daunting task. You just need to start slow, play easy puzzles as a beginner and probably involve a friend so you can have fun and stay motivated to finish it! Hope you enjoy. If you want to get in touch with Radha, email at aveditorial@abplgroup.com)

London Olympia saw the inaugural Indian Wedding, Destination and Lifestyle Show (Ardhangini) make its grand debut on Friday 15th – Sunday 17th July 2011. The event showcased the crème de la crème in Indian wedding, bridal, lifestyle, fashion and destination. The weekend also included a high-end runway show highlighting the collections of 6 of India’s top fashion designers.

Show highlights included celebrated fashion designer to a host of Bollywood A-list actresses, Neeta Lulla; India’s most celebrated invitation designer; Ravish Kapoor; India-based celebrity

henna artist, Geetanjali; one of the leading international fashion houses Khubsoorat Collection by Mani Kohli, Indo-Greek couture designer Sounia

Gohil, ladies high fashion western and Indo-western fashion house Zooni, Bollywood fashion designer Nivedita Saboo and astrologer Sunil Kumar.

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BollyWooD

Asian Voice Saturday 23rd July 2011

Work is Karthi's priority in life

Work comes first for actor Kollywood actor Karthi.

This is probably why he has chosen to spend just a week with his wife Ranjini in Austria before heading back home to begin shooting for his film. A source says, Karthi and Ranjini, who recently tied the knot in Coimbatore, left three days ago to Austria for their one week-long hon-

eymoon. But, now he will be back in Chennai soon to start the promotions for “Naa Peru Shiva,” the Telugu version of his hit film “Naan Mahaan Alla.”

He will be in Hyderabad until the movie is released. But, he's back in Chennai on July 26 to start work on Saguni, in which he's paired opposite Pranitha.

Rajini returns from Singapore

Tamil superstar Rajinikanth returned to Chennai nearly one-and-ahalf month after he flew out to Singapore for medical treatment. The actor was accompanied by his wife and two daughters and was given a rousing reception by his fans at the airport. Festoons, banners and posters have been put up by the actor's fans along the roads leading to the air-

port The actor had a few words with his fans while accepting the wishes of others by waving his hands at them. Before he resumes shooting for the movie “Rana”, he will rest at his farmhouse for about a month. The 60-year-old actor is getting back to routine now. He was taken to Singapore on May 28 and was admitted to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital there.

I am not single - Pasupathi

Sushmita Sen is looking forward do a very raunchy item number. Previously she did item numbers in movies like "Fiza" and Nayak", but now she wants to get back into the dancing mode and is keen on doing a raunchy one.

"I like winning but I don't like rat races as I can't deal with Friday to Friday fluctuations. I do a 'Main Hoon Na' and people think I've arrived - with the saris, the glamour. And then I do a 'Chingari' and people hate it. But I experiment. Now I am taking a break and reading scripts,” she says.

"Everything in my life has been a cosmic accident. I was found at a nightclub and somebody suggested I go for Miss India. The entire experience (Miss India) opened up my eyes.

Around the world people celebrated. They didn't even know my name, but they knew India had won. That's when it hit me that I had put India on the map," said the 35-year-old.

The actress, who adopted two girls Renee and Alisah, finds no reason to get married.

"My parents didn't raise me to be someone's wife or for that to be my sole identity. They supported me in my adopting two little girls. They know I am responsible and can make my own decisions and am good at prioritizing things in my life.

They helped me to balance my work and kids," she said.

Shahid Kapoor, who plays the role of an Indian Air Force fighter pilot in “Mausam” directed by his father Pankaj Kapur claims to have tried his hand at almost every vehicle while shooting for the film. At a recent event where the trailer of the 'timeless love story' was revealed, Shahid said with a chuckle, "In the movie, I have tried my hand at every vehicle from a bicycle to a tractor to an open convertible to an F-16. I have also been in a train in a scene though I did not get to drive it."

“Mausam” stars Shahid and Sonam Kapoor and the movie has already grabbed the imagination of the masses because of Shahid's different look and the fact that he flew an F-16 in the movie.

"I must be the only actor in the history of films who got to fly an F-16. Even Tom Cruise, who played the role of a US Navy fighter pilot in ‘Top Gun” had flown an F-15," he said proudly. Shahid also expressed his awe at the lifestyles of fighter pilots that he interacted with during his training sessions.

"The pilots are taken such good care of and they have a certain attitude about them because of it.

They were absolutely unimpressed with the fact that I was an actor. It was a great experience interacting with them during the shooting," Shahid said.

Makes up with Sonam: Meanwhile, Sonam and Shahid who were having differences of opinion during the shooting of the film bury their hatchet and become good friends. The tiff between Sonam and Shahid arose following the refusal of the actress to do a kissing scene for the movie and also had problem with the schedules of the film.

However, with the film nearing its release date, Shahid and Sonam seem to have kissed and made up.

Anupam Kher shares his life philosophy

Pasupathi is very popular as an actor. But hardly anyone knows about his personal life. Even his colleagues are of the opinion that the actor is a bachelor.

Contrary to their ideas, Pasupathi is a complete family man. “I am not single. I am married and my wedding took place about two years ago. My life partner’s name is Suriya and she is an architect.

Since marriage is a personal affair, I have not publicized it”, he says.

Currently part of two period films (Vasanthabalan’s ‘Aravaan’ and Vikram starrer ‘Karikalan’), Pasupathi says, “Yes, I am happy about it. Because both the scripts are very interesting and they have provided me good scope”. Besides being a busy actor, Pasupathi is a farmer too. “Yes, I am doing agriculture in a small level.

The food we eat should be healthy, and for that, there should be no compromise.

Because, life is to live”.

Now, an exclusive tattoo design for Shah Rukh Khan

Sushmita eager to do a very raunchy item number

Anupam Kher has done an autobiographical play about the travails of his life and the circumstances he went through to reach this position in life. It has become quite an inspiration to the students of Indian Business School. So some students requested Anupam Kher to give them classes not about acting but of his philosophy of survival, as that is one of the parts necessary for anyone getting out of a B-school, where Anupam Kher also mentioned that he does teach the art of failure, which is the way only of succeeding in life. He took the classes in open air, sitting on the grass and in small batches so as to make it more interactive and interesting.

These open-air classes went on for the 40 days in ISB, Hyderabad.

Shahid tried every vehicle in 'Mausam'

Now there is a tattoo which is an exclusive property of Shah Rukh Khan. The 'D' tattoo worn by King Khan in the upcoming “Don 2” has been registered for copyright protection against his name.

Says producer Ritesh Sidhwani, "Farhan, SRK and I thought it was a good idea to make the tattoo permanently his." Also the film's entire range of merchandise will have the same design Khan sports on his arm. Sidhwani feels fans of the superstar will lap up the new trademark of sorts.

Adds the producer, "The biggest fans of the franchise are kids. Merchandise like caps, T-shirts, bags and other stuff will really be liked by them. It's been five years since the first film. In this period, the craze for the film has just grown. We've realised that protecting the copyright to the tattoo design worn by SRK will keep the franchise alive."

He further reveals that when Farhan and he made the first film, they had certain script limitations as it was inspired by the original Amitabh BachchanChandra Barot film. "In several ways, it ended just the way Amitji's film did. In the case of ‘Don 2,’ we had no such limitations, so the thrills and the frills are more original." Getting the tat registered is just one of them!

Says Farhan, "The D tattoo was designed as a representation of Don's attitude. In a world where men tattoo the name of their beloved on their arm... we thought we should have a subliminal symbol of Don's confidence in himself. It is definitely not permanent but I think Shah Rukh really enjoyed wearing it... maybe it kept him in the character's frame of mind."

Priyanka, Kareena vying for a place in film ‘Heroine’ Madhur Bhandarkar's desperate search to find Aishwarya Rai's replacement for “Heroine” has become a race between long-time rivals Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor.

While Bhandarkar has been pursuing his “Fashion” leading lady Priyanka Chopra to sign on the dotted line, UTV head honcho Ronnie Screwvala is in talks with Kareena Kapoor.

Aishwarya had to leave the film after she got pregnant, resulting in a war of words between the Bachchans and Bhandarkar over why she did not break the news before shooting began.

"When the film was shelved, owing to Aishwarya's pregnancy, Madhur Bhandarkar went into a shell. Now, he has decided to go ahead with it, and there are various names floating around - Katrina Kaif, Vidya Balan, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. But the race is now between Priyanka and Kareena," a source close to the project said.

The dates are being worked with both. Kareena is busy with “Bodyguard,” followed by “Agent Vinod.”

Priyanka, on the other hand, is committed to a film by Kunal Kohli and Anurag Basu's “Barfee.” "Ronnie is trying to work the schedule around them so that the film can go on the floors soon. Ronnie had called Kareena but since she was busy shooting for Bodyguard with Salman Khan, they could not meet immediately. Priyanka is in LA and Madhur has spoken to her. He is waiting for her to get back." The chaos was followed by an official statement by UTV that the production house and Bhandarkar might also shelve the project.

Mahima's marriage in trouble

Sonakshi not keen to work with Shahid

Buzz is that Mahima Chaudhary’s marriage with Bobby is on rocks. She also has a four-year-old daughter Ariana, by this marriage.

Regarding break-up, the source says “Mahima and Bobby have increasingly been having arguments over last few months even on the smallest of issues. Though they have tried hard to work out their differences, it just seems impossible. One of the main issue that has harmed their relationship is Bobby's constant travelling. He is unable to spend time with their daughter, which has created a rift between the two. It’s even heard that the actress has been staying with her parents in Lokhandwala.”

Sonakshi Sinha is the sorts who might forgive but won't forget. The “Dabangg” actress was in talks with Shahid for his home production “Mausam.” She was to be the leading lady opposite Shahid. But things didn't work out as the makers felt that the two wouldn't look good on screen. There were plans to hold a screen test, but Sonakshi was put off with the way things were being discussed. The major bone of contention was that she wasn't informed about Sonam being signed on to do the film.

She only got to know when the reports came out in the media.

However, now tables have turned and Shahid is more than keen on working with the actress. A source reveals, "Dabangg is a massive hit and it has made Sonakshi a hot property.

He definitely wants to work with her, but she isn't that keen after what happened in the past."

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

17

Deepika is the most beautiful for Rajni Is Deepika the most beautiful girl of her generation? If superstar like Rajnikant thinks that, it must be a final word.

Because just recently Deepika suddenly got a call from Singapore. It was Rajnikanth, the Rana star himself, calling to reassure his leading lady that all was well with his health and with the project, that she should not give away her dates to another project. Sounding relaxed, healed and content, Rajni paid Deepika the best compliment of her life. Says a source, “Rajnikanth told Deepika she was the most beautiful actress of her generation. That made Deepika’s day, week and year.

Ranbir locks himself in the loo Ranbir Kapoor, who was spotted at a suburban multiplex along with Anushka Sharma, Ayan Mukerji, Arjun Kapoor and Pooja Gupta, went unnoticed till the interval.

However, the girls present at the theatre went crazy when they spotted him walking towards the loo. Not just that, they even tried following the actor into the loo much to the embarrassment of the other guys. Ranbir locked himself in to escape the crowd.

Luckily, the security guys at the multiplex jumped in and helped the actor return to his seat. After the movie, Ranbir and his friends hopped into their cars and headed out for dinner.

Salman and Katrina are good buddies now Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif, who usually remains tight-lipped about her relationship status, told a fan that she is currently enjoying her time with family and that Salman Khan is her good friend. When a fan told her that she looks good with Salman, she smiled and gave an approval. Nothing is assumed on their bonding, they were previously seeing each other. Later had broken off. But now they are not pulling each other’s hair but are good buddies.

'Sex it up' Prachi Desai

Puri Jagannath gears up for ‘Idiot 2’ It seems Puri Jagannath has a list of films to work on.

After the success of his Bollywood debut film “Bbuddah ...

Hoga Terra Baap,” he is going to start his next, “The Businessman” in Hindi with Abhishek Bachchan and in Telugu with Mahesh Babu. Apart from this, there's one more big film he is going to announce soon. He had recently met Raviteja and he expressed his desire to work on the sequel of their blockbuster film “Idiot” which was released in 2002. If all goes well the duo will work together once again for the sequel. It is believed that the film will be called “Idiot 2” and will be a big budget film.

Mahesh and Mukesh Bhutts want Prachi Desai to shed her inhibitions in their film “Informer” with Emraan Hashmi. They have told her to go bare-dare and get the sexy tag, as they have done with their earlier heroines, Mallika Sherawat, Kangna Ranuat and Jacqueline Fernandes. Let's see how far Prachi will go with the skin fest. Considering that her close bond with mentor Ekta Kapoor has gone kaput, the girl might as well go for a major image makeover.

Britney and Sonu doing a remix Pop diva Britney Spears has given a Bollywood spin to her new single, "I Wanna Go".

The remixed version of the song features vocals by playback singer Sonu Niigaam.

Britney tweeted: "Watch out Bollywood, it's Britney and Sonu!

Sonu Niigaam tweeted back: "India loves you Britney @britneyspears.

Welcome to Bollywood! Am loving the fact that it's OUR Collaboration that marks your first step here. God bless you and more power to Great Music! " The video for 'I Wanna Go' which was recently released by Britney shows the singer battling paparazzi. The Britney-Sonu collaboration comes just days after Hollywood star Tom Hanks said he would like to be part of a Bollywood film and is keen to share screen space with Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Debt-ridden Air India fails to get life-saving money Dear Financial Voice Reader, In 2005 I had published a book on Women in Business, sponsored by HBOS. For a long time I had known in trading women would make better traders than men.

At a talk by the Centre for Financial Innovation it was pointed out that studies show women are less stubborn and less overconfident as traders and in turn make better investment decisions.

More and more women want to trade online. At least that’s the conclusion anyone would draw from the plethora of women-oriented financial sites that have emerged recently.

With all the women now online there’re still relatively few willing to jostle elbows with the boys in the online markets. The question is not whether these sites are welcome – clearly they are – but rather, whether gender-specific financial advice reflects a genuine divergence in investing style between the sexes. In short whether they’re gimmick or God-send. The answer may well be a suitably un-macho ‘bit of both, actually’.

The finance world is eager to take a share of the potentially massive market presented by women.

Brokerages, mutual funds, the financial media; they’ve all been looking for ways to get women into the traditionally male-dominated market for advice and subscriptions. And the web is just the vehicle needed to break down the traditional boundaries of macho, adversarial greed that have historically put women off trading.

The rewards are likely to be high. Women-friendly advertising, increased market-share and e-commerce branding have vast potential in the untapped regions of female interest in the markets. It’s like the emergence of the teen market in the late fifties.

Many men could learn from the long-termism espoused by women traders. Calmness in the face of short-term fluctuation may be a peculiarly feminine trait which could be a lesson to many men beset with alternating cycles of greed and fear. At any rate, ‘Bulls’ and ‘Bears’ would no longer be quite so appropriate.

One of the key aspects of male vs women trading is that women are less likely to trade and more likely to invest. They are less likely to panic and constantly change their portfolio and position. They are more likely not to have large transaction costs and commissions paid away to brokers as a result.

Oddly it means brokers probably want more male clients – because they keep on changing their portfolios and therefore help in earning more commissions. This runs counter to the cliché that it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. In reality – she rarely does.

Equally being stubborn is not good for investment – the point is there is a more long term perspective. Now imagine if this was the case not just in picking companies to invest in, but also in running those companies.

Many reports have emerged about the lack of women on the Boards of FTSE companies. It appears if they carry the same long-termism into managing business instead of chasing quarterly or semi-annual profit targets – then undoubtedly we could have avoided the credit crunch.

So why doesn’t this happen? Ask the men. And ask the women.

Alpesh Patel (alpesh.patel@tradermind.com) www.alpeshblog.com

TCS Q1 net rises 28% as orders climb

Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software exporter, reported first-quarter profit growth of 28% after clients outsourced more computer services. Net profit increased to ($535 million) in the three months ended June 30, 2011 from Rs 18.60 billion a year earlier, Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy said in a statement. The software services provider announced earnings as per International Financial Reporting Standards for the first time and there were no comparable analyst estimates.

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Debt-ridden Air India does not seem to be getting life-saving money in a hurry. The finance ministry has turned down aviation ministry's request to release `1.05 billion to the airline. The home and defence ministries owe this money to Air India for the VVIP flights operated by the airline. The finance ministry had earlier asked aviation authorities to work out a long-term cash requirement for AI based on some reliable plan to

turn around the airline.

"AI had taken `2 billion last month from a bank for 15 days to pay salaries. We had hoped payment of `1.05 billion dues of VVIP flights would help us repay that loan. But that request has been turned down," said sources. Now a group of ministers on AI will discuss how to keep the airline alive. With Cabinet reshuffle ending the uncertainty over Vayalar Ravi (who got additional charge of the ministry this

January) continuing as aviation minister, AI employees are looking forward to firm steps from the veteran Congress leader.

"No amount of money pumped in the airline or plans made for AI can work without the right management in place. In the past also we have seen plans like merger and buying planes going horribly wrong and AI is now on death bed. The minister must do something about the serious mismanage-

HSBC names Krishna Patel as head of its global private banking Krishna Patel, currently CEO of HSBC Africa and one of the most experienced executives of the banking giant, has been appointed as the Chief Executive of Global Private Banking on Friday.

He will assume his new role on Sept 1.

Patel will initially be based in Geneva, Switzerland, and will report to HSBC Group Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver, the lender said in a statement. Patel succeeds Chris Meares who will focus on HSBC's Asian private banking business until he retires in December this year.

Patel will focus on

Krishna Patel

strengthening HSBC's competitive advantages in the largest and fastestgrowing wealth markets, working with other HSBC businesses to ensure the delivery of the bank's full suite of world-class products to private banking clients. He will also con-

tinue to chair HSBC's Values Committee and take up the new role of Chairman of HSBC Africa.

"With his strong background in markets, he is perfectly placed to build on the success Global Private Banking has achieved in the faster growing markets," said Gulliver.

Patel has been with HSBC for 27 years, serving in a number of senior positions. He has previously been Chairman and Chief Executive of HSBC's Global Investment Banking division and Chairman of Emerging Europe and Africa. He was appointed a Group General Manager in 2000.

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ment," said a union leader on condition of anonymity.

Thanks to questionable decisions like mega plane deals and AI-IA merger taken during UPA-1, AI is facing an uncertain future with the airline now not able to pay salaries or bank loans on time. A turnaround plan worked out for the airline has pegged AI's cash requirement at over `440 billion crore over the next decade along with over 100 more planes for the airline to survive.

Tatas to launch ‘Nano’ houses costing `32,000 next year

After its `100,000 wonder car 'Nano', Tata Group is all set to launch a house for nearly `32,000 aimed at rural market by the end of next year.

"At present, the housing project is in the pilot stage at 30 locations spread across the country and we are in discussions with various agencies like Coir Board, Jute Board and also state governments," Sumitesh Das, head of global research programme of Tata Steel, said.

The houses will be made in pre-fabricated format, under which the company will provide a kit consisting of roofs, doors, windows, etc, which can be erected or assembled.

"It is quick house built in seven days if you have a patch of land. Basic model of 20 square metres, with flat roof will cost around 500 euros (around `32,000). Upgraded model with 30 square metres will cost 700 euros," Das said.

"Similarly there are other models which may come with a solar panel on the roof of the house," Das added.

He, however, refused to draw parallels between Nano car and the 500-euro house, saying that the market segments are different.

India’s industrial growth slows to 5.6% India’s industrial output grew at its slowest pace in nearly nine months, dragged down by sluggish manufacturing and mining sectors, as the impact of tight interest rates set in.

But economists said the Reserve Bank of India was unlikely to pause despite the moderation in growth.

Data released by the Central Statistics Office showed industrial production rose a weaker-thanexpected 5.6% in May compared to 8.5% in the same period a year ago.

April's growth was revised downwards to 5.8% from 6.3% prompting economists to complain about volatility in data in recent months. Cumulative industrial growth stood at 5.7% during the first two months of the current fiscal compared to 10.8% in 2010-11.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

19

Time & Money

Suresh Vagjiani Managing Director Sow & Reap A Property Investment & Financing company.

Money if lost, can be recovered. Time cannot, not even with all the money in the world. So how is this related to property?

When people are negotiating a property deal the focus is on the price of the property. Little or no attention is given to time. What this means is if you can lock the deal and delay the actual completion you could have two benefits.

One is you will not be paying interest on the mortgage as you have not completed the purchase. Interest is only charged at point of completion.

The second, in a rising market you will be benefiting from the rise on the whole value of the property rather than the proportion you have simply put down to lock the deal.

A recent example is one of a property we completed on in Hallfield Estate, Bayswater. This deal was negotiated in February but only recently completed. The agreed price in February was £315,000, currently two bedroom properties are on the market for £375,000 such is the upward pressure on prices in this location. So the client benefited from this rise by agreeing the deal early, whereas many sellers may not negotiate on price as this is what they have in their head and they will not deviate from this as to do so is would clearly be a sign of weakness and mental resolve from their side. Hence they will not be seen to drop down on this aspect come what may.

So t o debate and n egot iate o n this poin t will seem fruitle ss an d frustrating . Bett er t o co me at a d if fere nt an gle, t he next big gest factor in ne gotiating is time . Most are ig noran t about the time valu e o f mon ey.

We will look at an example we are currently negotiating for a client to illustrate this in black and white money terms.

The property is a freehold house in prime Finchley. The purchase price is £13m.

The price hasn’t yet been finalised, but already we have worked out if we can delay completion by six months ideally the monetary savings will be as follows:- the property will be geared by 50%, assuming an interest rate at 4% the savings will come to £260,000. This of course means we will not have physical completion until this time.

Practically however the property will not be ready for occupation until designers have come to inspect the property, done the designs, agreed them, ordered the furniture... this will all take months. Even if the completion was given early, physical occupation would not take place until months after, so better to let the seller pay for this. Inbred in the contract would be access to the property between exchange and completion. To approach the deal from this angle will be much more agreeable to the seller than to try to knock of £260,000 off the purchase price, of course us being Indians we will endeavour to do both!

Another example we are currently working on is a three bedroom freehold house in Portabello Rd. The price has been agreed at £440,000 this has been set in stone. The next biggest factor is time, or how we structure the deal.

W e propo se d we are happy with the price and will exchange wit h a 10% d eposit , bu t have aske d for six months to complete, and a re-assign able con tract. The pro perty is t enanted an d the refo re t he seller nee ds to g ive n otice t o the c urrent tenant prior t o co mple tion, therefore this was agre eable to them. We also pressed for the rig ht t o reassign the con tract, what this means is we can sel l this contract to someon e else.

If the property is sold for say £540,000 our gain would be £100,000 on an investment of £44,000. This would be a return of 227% in 6 months. These figures are not impossible given the location and demand. Time will tell what will be achieved. But even a resell of £466,000 would give a return of 50%. Because we are aiming to sell before completion the expenses will be minimal. The normal stamp duty of 3% which amounts to between £10,000 and £15,000, depending on the purchase price, will not be incurred. Normally most lenders require the sellers to have held the property for at least 6 months before they will lend on the purchase. This is a policy most lenders have implemented. This structure will dispense with this need as the property will never actually end up in our name. In short this will be the cleanest way to purchase and resell a property.

If we assume we complete on the property at £440,000, assuming a 75% loan of £330,000 the interest payments over 6 months at 5% would come to £8,250. The arrangement fee of 1.5% would come to £4,950, the stamp duty to £13,200, a total of £28,400 including an allowance of £2,000 for legal fees. This would severely dent the profit on resell, and we could not even consider selling this property for less than £470k, whereas in the former method we could.

The important point to note here is this was all achieved by nego-

tiating on the time period and not on the price.

So perhaps even when it comes to property time is of more value than money.

If you would like to attend our Central London Property Seminar at 7pm on the 28th July 2011 near Wembley Stadium please email info@sowandreap.co.uk, or give us a call on 0207 313 4595.

No Stamp Duty !

Special Offer – 1 Bedroom Flat With No Stamp duty at £270,000 an instant saving £7,950!

Spacious one bedroom flat in highly regarded Hallfield Estate – in the centre of Bayswater Close to Whitleys shopping centre and strong transport links via bayswater station Long lease Low service charge Hallfield Estate is a very centrally located place with a short walk to Paddington, Queensway and open green spaces of Hyde Park Tenants fall in love with it, this will rent in literally hours Rental income can be generated in the region of £300330pw thus providing a yield of 6.2% to 8%.

Prices of flats in Hallfield Estate rise consistently A very similar one bedroom flat has sold in Bridgewater House, Hallfield Estate for £277,000

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now: Specialists in: l Property Sourcing l Mortgages l Commercial Finance l India Properties

UK Sales 0207 313 4595 India Sales 0203 384 5323 Westbourne House, 14-16 Westbourne Grove, London, W2 5RH

Tips of the Week l If work needs to be done in a property, get this done between exchange and completion. l If the property is high yielding the reverse will be true and you might want to complete faster.

20

fInAnCIAl voIcE

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

UK Air Charter firm plans India foray maria@abplgroup.com

Maria Fernandes

The family way: new changes Wholesale changes are being proposed to this category which extends from children to parents and even to family visitors. The press reports recently suggested that the plan was to reduce the accessibility of benefits to those coming to the UK. It is apparent that this is to be achieved by reducing the applicants right to settlement.

However there are other fundamental changes being proposed. In brief: Increase probationary period : Spouses Currently a foreign national who marries has to fulfil a 2 year probationary period before being granted settlement.

The proposal is to increase this to 5 years.

This will also apply to Points Based spouses.

End of settlement rights for long term married Those currently abroad and married for 4 years and over and entering the UK qualify for immediate settlement.

The plan is to scrap this concession and require them to complete a 5 year probationary period.

(Imagine those married for 25 years having to undergo a 5 year period!)

Income At present there is no set income level that must be met, the only requirement is that the level must be at or above income support levels.

The plan is to introduce a specific threshold and the Migration Advisory

Permission to marry Certificate of Approval requiring permission to marry was abolished after the Courts ruled that this was an unlawful restriction on the right to marry.

Now proposals are being considered for combining the role of the Registrar and UK Border Agency trained officers to tackle abuse.

Restrict ability to bring second spouses Those who are sponsored as spouses themselves will not be able to sponsor another spouse for 5 years.

There are also a number of proposals to target sham and forced marriages which in reality may result in affecting genuine couples.

Other news: No work permits for takeaway or buffet services It is now clear that all restaurants that provide a takeaway service (even if it is a small proportion of the total business) or who provide buffet services regularly are excluded from bringing Chefs from abroad although they can continue to employ staff already in the UK under either work permits or Tier 2 certificates.

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

Committee have been asked to set the level.

End of settlement rights for elderly dependants Currently parents get settlement rights immediately. The proposal is to require them to complete 5 years to qualify for settlement.

Dependants nearing 18 There is a plan is to consider changing the length of leave to those getting close to 18. At present how this will be introduced is not clear.

Appeals There is a proposal to end appeals for family visitors. The justification is that “new evidence” is provided at the appeal which results in a successful decision. What actually happens in a lot of cases is that cases are refused without a proper consideration of the issues. Interviews very rarely take place and therefore where information is misunderstood it results in a refusal.

Removing rights off appeal appears to feature prominently in every area. It is of concern as decisions wrongly made will have to end up in the Administrative Court as has been the case in other areas of immigration where there are no other rights of appeal.

Introduction of “everyday English” requirement The level of English is to rise to B1 for settlement and A1 for some dependants for entry or leave to remain.

Aegis to open call centre in Manchester The Indian firm Aegis will open its first ever European call centre in Manchester.

It is expected to create 600 new jobs. Aegis also plans to open call centres all over Europe in the next two years. It also hopes to create hundred more positions after it launches its new base, in City Tower, Piccadilly Gardens. About the opening of the centre, Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: “This is significant for Manchester on a number of levels. It creates many skilled jobs.”

Manchester call centre

remain there. It has annual revenues of more than £430 million and operates in 12 countries, including USA, Argentina, Australia and Saudi Arabia. It offers a myriad of services for its clients, such as customer acquisition and retention, order processing, finance, accounting and human resources. Chief Executive of inward investment agency MIDAS, Angie Robinson, said: “This is fantastic news for Manchester, reinforcing the city’s position as a leading European business destination.”

will open later this year. It will deal with calls on behalf of Aegis clients, most of which are profitable companies in sectors like healthcare, travel and hospitality, retail and technology.

Aparup Sengupta, Aegis Chief Executive, said: “Our strategy is to ensure that people calling our centres get an excellent experience and we think that generally, the best way to do is to have a strong onshore presence, rather than having centres offshore.”

Aegis was originally set up in Mumbai and its headquarters continue to

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UK-based Air Charter Service Plc, which operates in the US, Europe, South Africa and parts of Asia, is planning to enter India. The company proposes to set up shop in the country for aircraft charter brokering business.

Ananjan Mitter, partner at ALMT Legal, a law firm, has represented Air Charter Service in the venture’s application to India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), a key wing in the finance ministry that vets foreign direct investments (FDI) proposals of companies.

When contacted, Mitter said that UK-based Air Charter Service plans to enter India. The company spokesperson said, “it was exploring the possibility of opening in India” and refused to give more details at this point.

“As part of our aviation law practice, we advise clients from the industry.

We (ALMT Legal) have applied on behalf of our client Air Charter Service Group PLC, a UK company, which operates globally in the aircraft charter brokering business,” Mitter

said. According to the FIPB application, the proposed FDI level is 74 per cent. In the non-scheduled airline category, that includes charter service, FDI is capped at 74 per cent.

With the demand for charter services growing in India across sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, tourism, sports, films and music/entertainment, foreign players are keen to get a share of this market.

General aviation in the country has witnessed a huge growth in the past four years. Industry estimates show that while Mumbai airport witnessed a 61.8 per cent increase in general aviation movement during this period, Delhi saw a growth of 31.33 per cent.

A report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation

also predicts a major growth in the general aviation sector in the country over the next 10 years. The sale of new aircraft - business jets, helicopters, turboprops and piston engines - is projected to go up to $12 billion. The country currently has 680 aircraft in the General Aviation fleet, and the number has been predicted to touch 2,000 in 10 years.

Air Charter Service caters to industries like automobile manufacturers and oil & gas industry. It also specialises in reaching out to war zones, natural disaster sites, oil fields and countries hit by strikes, according to information available on its website. It also offers its services in carrying hazardous cargo in state emergency situations.

US Exim Bank steps up investment for Indian projects

Infosys reconstitutes executive council

Stepping up its investment for Indian projects in the renewable energy sector, the Export-Import Bank of the US on Monday said it had sanctioned loans worth $1.4 billion for companies like Azure Power and Punj Lloyd in the renewable energy sector.

Addressing a press conference here, US Exim Bank Chairman Fred P Hochberg told reporters here that Azure Power would get financing for importing thin-film photovoltaic modules from Arizonabased First Solar Inc., a deal worth $16 million for a 5 MW solar power project in Rajasthan.

Similarly, Punj Lloyd was being provided with a $9.2 million long-term loan to import similar equipment from Coloradobased Abound Solar for constructing a 5 MW solar plant also in Rajasthan.

The bank, he said had also in the pipeline solar projects worth $500 mil-

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lion that would generate an estimated 315 MW. “India has set ambitious goals to increase solarenergy production and is creating incentives to encourage solar companies to develop this market. We are working with

Software major Infosys Technologies announced composition of new executive council (EC), a high level body that frames its business strategies. The EC will include the executive board, current EC members, heads of key business units and strategic business enabler units. The members of the EC are: S Gopalakrishnan, S D Shibulal COO, Srinath Batni, director and head, delivery excellence, V Balakrishnan, CFO, Ashok Vemuri, Senior VP and head banking and capital markets and strategic global sourcing, the statement said.

Other members are B G Srinivas, senior VP and head manufacturing, product engineering, product lifecycle and engineering solutions, Chandrashekar Kakal, senior VP enterprise solutions, U B Pravin Rao, Senior VP, retail, CPG & logistics, Prasad Thrikutam head, energy, utilities, communications & services, Infosys Limited global head, systems integration.

US exporters to make sure that they have the competitive financing they need to participate in these important initiatives,” he added.

“During the first nine months of fiscal year 2011, Exim Bank approved 173 transactions totalling $1.4 billion in financing of US exports to India which support over 10,000 US jobs,” he said. The financial year for the bank starts in October.

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FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

21

Foreign Exchange Rajesh Agrawal is the Chairman & CEO of RationalFX, Currency Specialists.

For any further information call 020 7220 8181 or e-mail info@rationalfx.com

Main Focus on Eurozone Concerns We began the week in the UK with no real data to send sterling in any real direction. Midweek saw the UK Trade Balance released where a lower figure saw sterling trade lower against the greenback to 1.5840, whilst the UK employment rate remained unchanged at 7.7% and the claimant count rose slightly which sent sterling lower against its counterparts.

Early this week we witnessed the Euro fall to a two-week low against the dollar and yen on concern that Europe’s sovereigndebt crisis may spread to Italy as policy makers remain divided on how to structure aid for Greece.

The Euro managed to drop further against most major peers after Die Welt and the Financial Times newspapers reported that the European Central Bank is seeking to expand a fund to include help for Italy, following a coordinated rescue for Greece by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

On the back of the information surrounding Italy’s problems we saw Italian and European stocks fall on worries that Italy may be dragged into the European dept crisis. There were also reports that the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) is likely to double to 1.5 trillion Euros to

help with just Greece and Italy.

On Tuesday the Euro continued to lose ground against the US Dollar and Sterling, with further comments from the new IMF chief Lagarde commenting that she feels strongly towards Greece needing another bailout but the IMF were reluctant to contribute towards it. The Euro seemed to gain more confidence back into the market on Wednesday as the ECB confirmed that they would intervene and purchase Italian bonds and the ESF (European Stability Fund) reported a permanent 700 billion Euro fund to help cater the debt crisis across Europe.

On Friday there were stress tests put in place for European banks including four small Spanish savings banks and three Greek banks. Results showed that 8 banks out of 24 banks failed the stress tests, we have witnessed GBP-EUR climb to the higher end of 1.14 and EUR-USD as high as 1.4131.

US dollar weakened across the board during the whole week! Wednesday afternoon Ben Bernanke made comments regarding the US economy stating that there’s a possibility of QE3 if the economy continues to weaken and inflation goes lower.

We witnessed the USD weaken

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 19th July 2011 @ 11am GBP - INR = 71.86 USD - INR = 44.52 EUR - INR = 63.19 GBP - USD = 1.61 GBP - EUR = 1.13 EUR - USD = 1.42 GBP - AED = 5.93 GBP - CAD = 1.54 GBP - NZD = 1.90

considerably which initially suggested a return to risk appetite.

This notion of risk appetite was challenged however as we saw other ‘safe-haven’ currencies such as Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen, as well as Gold, all strengthen, which could indicate USD’s slipping off from the safehaven list. We had positive figures in the form of Retail sales and Initial Jobless Claims but a string of negative figures from Continuing Jobless claims and PPI seemed to show a return to risk aversion for the US as the USD strengthened slightly

against the GBP and EUR. This was also due to the ratings concern for the US with the FTSE and banks sliding as investors put their money back into the safe-haven USD. On Friday, NY Empire State Manufacturing, CPI, Capacity Utilization, Industrial Production, and Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment came out with no positive results overall.

EURUSD and GBPUSD finished trading around 1.41 and 1.61 levels, a relatively low level of the week in terms of dollar movement.

GBP - AUD = 1.51 GBP - ZAR = 11.18 GBP - HUF = 308.23

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

PAkiStAn-BAgLAdeSh-SRi LAnkA

22

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

CIA to resume operations in Pakistan In foCus Washington: Ending months of estrangement, Pakistan military has allowed CIA to resume its normal operations in the country with Islamabad approving 87 visas for the agency sleuths.

The logjam was broken during the crucial visit of Pakistan's military run ISI's chief Lt Gen Shuja Ahmed Pasha here with Islamabad and Washington framing out

new rules of engagement, a media report said.

"That will bring the agency back toward normal operations in Pakistan, after what was a low point after the January arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis," the Washington Post said.

"Under new rules of the road, the CIA - in theory, - will share with the Pakistanis more informa-

tion about what its operatives are doing in the country. For example, that joint CIA-ISI counter-terrorism operations have resumed."

A tricky issue is the fate of Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who was arrested by the ISI in May for allegedly helping the CIA try to identify DNA of Osama bin Laden's family by running a private vaccination cam-

Hina Rabbani is Pakistan's first woman foreign minister Islamabad: Pakistan's government has decided to appoint Hina Rabbani Khar, minister of state for foreign affairs, as full-time foreign minister to lead the country's delegation into the talks with India in New Delhi by the end of this month, official sources said.

The decision in this regard was taken by PM Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday and sent a summary for Khar's appointment as the new foreign minister to President Asif Ali Zardari for a formal approval.

The slot of Pakistan's foreign minister was vacant since February 9 when the incumbent Shah Mahmood Qureshi was removed form the post for his stance over the diplo-

Hina Rabbani

matic status of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who killed two Pakistani nationals in Lahore.

In the absence of FM, the country's foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, had to defend Islamabad's embarrassing position when the world's top fugitive Osama bin Laden was detected and killed in a unilateral US raid in Pakistan's cantonment town of

Abbottabad on May 2.

The move to elevate Hina Rabbani Khar as FM was made in the wake of upcoming India-Pakistan FM level talks, official sources said.

Khar, 34, was a member of national assembly of the PML-Q party during the military regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf and joined the ruling Pakistan People's Party ahead of the February 2008 general election.

She was appointed as minister of state for economic affairs by the current government in 2008.

Four days after Qureshi's removal, she was appointed minister of state for foreign affairs. Like most of other Pakistani politicians, comes from a feudal background.

Pakistan SC grants bail to suspect in Sri Lankan team attack case Islamabad: A key suspect in the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore has been released from Kot Lakhpat Jail after the Pakistan Supreme Court granted him bail.

Malik Ishaq, one of the founders of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, had appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the Lahore high court (LHC), which had rejected his bail plea earlier.

Ishaq had been accused of plotting the

attack while he was in prison. According to The Express Tribune, Ishaq was granted bail, as the charges against him could not be proved.

He had been in prison since 1997 and had 44 cases ranging from murder to terrorism lodged against him, but the court acquitted him in 34 cases and granted him bail in the rest.

The attack on the Sri Lankan team occurred on March 3, 2009, when a bus carrying the cricketers was

fired upon by 12 gunmen, near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The cricketers were on their way to play the third day of the second Test against Pakistan.

Six members of the Sri Lankan team were injured.

Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed.

These were the first attacks on a national sports team since the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian militants in 1972.

Right to Appeal Petition We, the undersigned believe that the government's plan to scrap the Right to Appeal is absolutely unfair and cannot be justified on any ground. Our relatives residing in different corners of the world visit us for important family events like weddings, funerals etc.

Due to the incompetency reflected in the Home Office's decision-making process, the Right to Appeal is a necessity. The right helps ensure that no one is wrongly rejected from visiting their family in the UK. This measure would simply lead to unnecessary tension, discontent and drift in the Asian community.

Hence we request you to take into account the significant importance of retaining the Right to Appeal whilst considering the damaging outcomes if the proposed government plan is passed.

Readers of Asian Voice are asked to add their names to this petition by emailing aveditorial@abplgroup.com with their details.

No. 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Name

Address with postal code & phone number

Sign

paign in Abbottabad before the May 2 raid on bin Laden's compound.

"US officials are said to have pressed for Afridi's release.

The Pakistani countered that, because Afridi is a Pashtun who works in Khyber Agency in the tribal areas, certain tribal customs for compensation of victims must first be satisfied," the daily said.

Karzai advisor, lawmaker shot dead in Kabul

India asks Sri Lanka to examine war crimes allegations

Colombo: India asked the Sri Lankan government to examine in detail the allegations of war crimes depicted in the documentary aired by the British television Channel 4. In response to a question on the Channel 4 documentary entitled "Sri Lankaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Killing Fields", an official spokesperson of India's ministry of external affairs said the sequence of events during the last days of the conflict is unclear and the government of Sri Lanka need to examine the allegations in detail. "The Government of Sri Lanka would need to go into the matter in greater detail. The concerns that are being expressed in this regard need to be examined," the official said.

Sarath Fonseka hospitalised Colombo: The former Sri Lanka Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who is serving a jail term at the Welikada Prison, was admitted to a private hospital recently. He was undergoing treatment for a medical problem in his shoulders, sources said. The Colombo High Court has ordered the prison officials to provide necessary medical treatments to Fonseka. Fonseka was brought to court from the hospital and produced in the case regarding the Hicorp arms deal.

7 workers of US NGO kidnapped in Pak Jan Mohammad Khan

Kabul: Jan Mohammad Khan, an advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a former provincial governor, was shot dead along with a visiting lawmaker during a raid on his home here by gunmen, Xinhua reported.

MP Hashim Watanwal who was visiting Khan's home in Kabul's Kartai Char area was also killed, an official said requesting anonymity.

One of the attackers died in the firefight between his guards and the militants. A police officer was injured. Witnesses said there were two or three attackers. Afghan and NATO-led troops cordoned off the area.

Zabiullah Mujahid, purported Taliban spokesman, said in an email statement to the media that his group carried out the attack. He said Khan was killed as he was helping the coalition forces in carrying out raids against the group.

Khan, a member of Popolzai Pashtun tribe, was governor of southern Uruzgan province from January 2002 to March 2006.

Khan's killing comes less than a week after Karzai's half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was assassinated by Taliban militants at his home in Kandhar recently.

Islamabad: Seven Pakistani workers of a US NGO were kidnapped by unknown persons in Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan on Tuesday. The workers were kidnapped in Sarkhab area of Pishin sub-division, about 50 km from provincial capital Quetta, by some persons travelling in two vehicles, officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels. The workers of the American Refugee Committee were returning to Quetta after visiting a camp for Afghan refugees at the time of the incident. The kidnapped persons are all residents of Balochistan.

22 killed Karachi violence Karachi: At least 22 people were killed when violence erupted in Karachi again. In the first incident 11 people were killed when angry mobs went on a rampage after Zulfiqar Mirza, a minister in the Sindh provincial assembly and a senior member of Pakistan People's Party (PPP), urged the people to "rise and rid themselves" of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dominant political group. The mob burnt the car of Mirza and indulged in fighting. Fresh violence erupted following the killing of Aamir Shah, the former security guard of assassinated Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and a senior PPP leader.

Al Qaida chief is alive, says media report Islamabad: Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, the al Qaida commander who was believed to have been killed last month in a US drone attack in Pakistan, is alive, a media report said. Kashmiri is still active in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, a media report said quoting unnamed sources. Media reports had earlier said that Kashmiri was killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region.

Joint census of border by Bangladesh, India Dhaka: Bangladesh and India have begun their firstever joint census of areas along their border to resolve some territorial anomalies. Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis live in 51 enclaves in India while India has 100 areas within Bangladesh. The residents of these enclaves are in effect stateless and lack access to public services. Both countries are close to a deal to exchange the enclaves as part of long-standing boundary negotiations. The census will be held over three days. It aims to find out the number of people living in the enclaves, who often have little access to schools, hospitals and other public services. The enclaves are historical anomalies of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar are renowned for organising community events and seminars. Please note our forthcoming events till September 2011.

23rd 23rd 29th 29th 30th

Date July 2011 July 2011 July 2011 July 2011 July 2011

6th August 2011 28th August 2011

Event/Special Issue British Goans East London special KPGN British Punjabis Gujarati Women Conference and Karma Yogi Awards, Leicester British Asian Youth seminar Poet Meghani Festival

Coordinator George Surendra+Kokilaben Nihir+Kokilaben+others Nikhil Gor Kokilaben

Rupanjana+Alkaben Kokilaben+Jyotsnaben+ Kamal 4th September 2011 Gujarati language seminar Kokilaben+Kamal 16th September 2011 AAA George CB Live Every Thursday 7pm to 8pm Alka Shah Producer - cblive_matv@yahoo.co.uk.

wOrLD

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

In fOCus

Egypt sacks 600 senior cops

Cairo: In a bid to meet a key demand of pro-democracy protesters, the Egyptian government has sacked over 600 senior police officers to cleanse the force that has been blamed for chronic abuses during Hosni Mubarak regime. The report quoting Egypt's Interior Minister Mansour Essawy said that 505 generals and 164 officers would have their service terminated by August 1. The move comes as protests continue in Cairo's Tahrir Square, calling for speedy trials of police officers and corrupt Mubarak-era officials.

Google science awards for 2 Indian-origin girls Washington: An Indian- origin girl has developed a solution to the resistance of ovarian cancer cells to chemotherapy, bagging a grand prize at the first ever Google science fair. A total of 15 students were selected for the final round and three girls were announced victorious as the search giant said it was ‘all about girl power’. Two of the three are Indians based in the US. Shree Bose, a high school student, won the grand prize of $ 50,000 (Rs 22,00,000) scholarship and a trip to the Galápagos Islands with a National Geographic explorer as well as an internship at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

30 killed in Syria clashes Damascus: At least 30 people were killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Homs, a human rights activist said.

The deaths came as the army moved in on two border towns in the east and west seeking to quell anti-regime protest. Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the clashes broke out between the two on Saturday after three regime supporters kidnapped last week were killed and their dismembered bodies were returned to their relatives. "These clashes are a dangerous development that undermines the revolution and serves the interests of its enemies who want it to turn into a civil war," he added.

Indian doctor in US charged with sex abuse New York: An Indian-origin pediatrician has been charged with sexually abusing girls, some as young as 11, and compiling notes on his computer on how to molest them, a media report has said. The doctor, Rakesh Punn (53), drugged his victims with sedatives and covered their eyes with gauze or a blindfold during the assaults, according to a 60-count indictment filed in a US court. The New York based doctor allegedly told the girls they were undergoing medical examinations. Punn, who also videotaped or photographed some of his naked victims, wrote about the girls on his computer, along with citations from the Kama Sutra, according to US investigators.

China executes two former vicemayors for bribery

Beijing: China executed two former vice-mayors from two booming eastern cities for taking millions of dollars in bribes, the Supreme Court and state media said on Tuesday, as the government strives to show it is being tough on graft. Xu Maiyong, the former vice-mayor of Hangzhou, and Jiang Renjie, the former vice-mayor of Suzhou, were executed in the morning, the court said in a brief statement on its website. "Xu used his official power to interfere with project contracts and to help companies and people obtain land, promotions and tax breaks," the official Xinhua news agency said.

Saudi man beheaded for sexual assault Riyadh: A Saudi man was beheaded on Monday in Tabuk in the ultra-conservative kingdom's north after being convicted of sexually assaulting another man's wife, a statement from the interior ministry said. Adel bin Mohammed Assiri forcibly entered the man's apartment and assaulted the man's wife, hitting her, photographing her naked and attempting to rape her, said the statement carried by the official SPA news agency. His execution brings to 32 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports.

China’s Xingjian province erupts; 7 killed in clashes

Beijing: Violent clashes left several people dead after rioters attacked a police station in China's restive province of Xingjian. At least four persons were killed by the rioters while the police gunned down "several rioters," the official media reported on Monday quoting police sources. The rioters took several people hostage during the attack on the police station in Hotan town in the province. This is the first major case of rioters taking hostages in China's western region bordering Pakistan, which is a major source of Islamic ultras. A report circulated in unofficial web sites said the police have managed to free six hostages by challenging the rioters, but there has been no official confirmation for this report.

23

China slams Obama’s meeting with Dalai Lama

Beijing / Washington: China accused the United States of "grossly" interfering in its internal affairs and seriously damaging relations after President Barack Obama met exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the White House.

Obama met the Nobel Prize laureate for 45 minutes, praising him for embracing non-violence while reiterating that the United States did not support independence for Tibet.

China, which accuses the Dalai Lama of being a separatist who supports the use of violence to set up an independent Tibet, reacted swiftly, saying Obama's meeting had had a "baneful" impact, and summoning a senior US

Dalai Lama and Barack Obama

diplomat in Beijing.

"This action is a gross interference in China's internal affairs, hurts the feelings of the Chinese people and damages SinoUS relations," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement. "The Dalai Lama has for a long time used the banner of religion to engage in anti-China activities," he added.

"We demand the United States conscientiously handle China's principled and just stance, immediately take steps to remove the baneful impact, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and stop abetting in and supporting 'Tibet independence' anti-China forces."

In a separate statement carried on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn), it said

US formally recognises Libya rebels Istanbul: The US and other nations formally recognised Libya's main Opposition group as the country's legitimate government until a new interim authority is formed. The decision, which declared Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime no longer legitimate, will potentially free cashes that the rebels fighting Libyan forces urgently need.

The front lines in the Libyan civil war have largely stagnated since the popular uprising seeking to oust Gaddafi broke out in February.

Rebels,

Indian becomes New Zealand MP in sever years Kanwaljit S i n g h Bakshi is a N e w Zealand politician a n d Kanwaljit became a Singh Bakshi member of parliament in short span of seven years. In 2001 he moved to New Zealand with his family because there were better opportunities and better education for his children. Kanwaljit had taken a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Delhi and had 25 years of business experience. After coming to New Zealand he got busy in business and was involved in properties, wholesaling and the fashion industry.

Ten years ago he joined the National Party and is New Zealand's first Sikh member of the parliament. “Indian immigrants will now have a voice in New Zealand parliament,” he said.

He was the Deputy Chairman of the India Trade Group Inc and an Executive Member of the Auckland Indian Association. He was the Vice Chairman of the Hindu Heritage Center's (Management Committee) and founder member of Sikh Naujawan Sabha, an organisation which tries to help teenagers meet their full potential.

backed by Nato's air force bombings, control much of the country's east and pockets in the west. But Gaddafi controls the rest from his stronghold in Tripoli, the capital.

Foreign ministers and other representatives of the so-called Contact Group on Libya said in a statement last week that the "Gaddafi regime no longer has any legitimate authority in Libya". They said the Libyan strongman and certain members of his family must go.

The group said it would deal with Libya's

main Opposition group ' the National Transitional Council, or NTC ' as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until an interim authority is in place. In addition to the US, the 32-nation Contact Group on Libya includes members of Nato, the EU and the Arab League.

Heavy clashes erupt: Meanwhile, heavy clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Gaddafi broke out on Saturday on the front line in Western Mountains at the town of Bir Ghanam, as insurgents seek to push towards Tripoli.

Vice Foreign Minister Cui "urgently summoned" Robert S. Wang, Charge d'Affaires at the US embassy in Beijing, to lodge China's objections.

"China expresses its strong indignation and resolute opposition," the statement said. "Tibet is an inseparable part of China, and Tibetan issues are purely an internal matter for China. Maintaining the continuous stable development of Sino-US ties requires hard work from both sides."

The Dalai Lama denies China's accusations, saying he wants a peaceful transition to true autonomy for the remote Himalayan region, which China has ruled with an iron fist since 1950, when Chinese troops marched in.

Afghan veteran honoured in US Washington: A US Army ranger has been awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest military medal, for his actions in a firefight in Afghanistan. In a 2008 battle in Paktia province, Staff Sgt Leroy Petry of New Mexico was shot in both legs and lost a hand while trying to toss away an enemy grenade.

The award recognises his "gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." Sgt Petry is just the second active US military man to receive the award.

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Serial blasts in Mumbai: History repeats...

Continued from page 1 While the Mumbai police have not named any outfit responsible for the blasts, sources say that it could be the handiwork of a banned outfit, the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which recently formed a group called the 313 Squad and has been recruiting youngsters to it.

Security agencies suspect the use of ammonium nitrate in the blasts.

Splinters of nuts and bolts, which were used in the bombs, were found and removed from the injured at the Harkisondas and Saifi hospitals. The police have reportedly zeroed in on a CCTV camera near Opera House but later found that it too was damaged in the blast.

The police said that seven Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were used in the blasts.

“There could be at least three groups of bomb planters who kept the bomb and left quietly,” said a security official, adding that the IEDs were wrapped in cloth bags and tiffin carriers - the signature of the IM. However, no terror email, another IM signature, was sent to any news channel to claim responsibility for the

blasts. Soon after the blasts, the police began rounding up suspects but no arrests were made.

The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad cordoned off the area and collected traces of explosives from the blast sites.

However, due to the rain and people using water to douse the fires, the police fear that traces of explosives might have been washed away.

Police sources said the anti-terrorism squad team also took the recordings of a CCTV camera installed in the vicinity of the Zaveri Bazar blast site.

“The investigators can get a clear picture of how the explosion took place after watching the CCTV footage,” said an officer who was at the spot.

Sources said that the explosive was concealed in an umbrella which was kept on a motorcycle.

Gujaratis main targets Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi condemned the Mumbai blasts and said that preliminary information indicated that these were a rehearsal for a bigger conspiracy planned for the near future. In a statement he said, “Those involved in the Mumbai blasts were trying to prove that the

current government of India could not harm them in any way and they were still capable enough to completely destroy the country.”

From information available so far, many of the diamond traders who lost their lives in the 13/7 Mumbai attacks have a Gujarat connection. While four of them migrated to Mumbai from Surat few years ago, four of them are from Banaskantha district.

One of the victims, Bhupat Navadia, 45, of Mota Umarda village in Gadhada taluka of Bhavnagar, had an office on the first floor of Prasad Chambers in Opera House. Navadia was on his way to Charni Road railway station when he stopped to meet some friends and lost his life in the blast. Himmat Ghadia, 49, who lost his life in the Opera House blast too, was returning home to Borivli that evening.

Ghadia, a native of Rampar village in Bhavnagar district, was in the diamond trade in Mumbai for the past 15 years. Two other diamond traders who died in the blast - Tushar Shah, 31, and Bablu Jain, 42 - are originally from Gujarat but settled in Mumbai.

Hillary Clinton promises to support India against terror US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in India on the third leg of a 12-day, around-theworld diplomatic tour that has already taken her to Turkey and Greece.

In India she said that the United States was "encouraged" by the ongoing talks between nucleararmed rivals India and Pakistan and promised to give full support to Indian efforts to protect itself from terror.

Her meetings with top Indian officials focused on fighting terror, the US withdrawal plans from Afghanistan and ways to broaden economic and security ties between the United States and India.

"It is in the larger interests of the region that it is necessary for the United

S.M. Krishna with Hillary Clinton

States to work very closely with (Afghan) President (Hamid) Karzai and the government of Afghanistan and thereby create conditions where terrorists do not take any more advantage in Afghanistan," Krishna said after 2 1/2 hours of talks with Clinton.

Clinton also assured

Former commissioner of Ahmedabad Muncipal Corporation I P Gautam receiving the ‘All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment Nagar Ratna Award for the Best Performing City’ in the country from President Pratibha Patil at Mumbai recently.

India of U.S. support in the fight against terror.

"We are allies in the fight against violent extremist networks. And homeland security is a high priority and a source of increasing partnership," Clinton said.

While the U.S. and India have already signed agreements to cooperate in counterterrorism efforts, "the events in Mumbai have driven home how important it is that we get results," she said.

Though India has not blamed Pakistan for last week's attack, it has accused its neighbor of harboring violent extremist groups.

For its part, U.S. officials fear Pakistan is not fully committed to combatting radical plots, such as the failed 2010 Times Square bombing in New York. "We have made it clear to the Pakistani government that confronting violent extremists of all sorts is in its interest," Clinton said.

India recently resumed peace talks with Pakistan that broke off following the 2008 Mumbai siege, and the two countries' foreign ministers are expected to meet next week.

The U.S. is eager for the fragile talks to pick up steam, in part to allow Pakistan to focus its forces on the chaotic Afghan border.

In divine light

By Rajen Vakil

Agatsya drinks the ocean After Lord Indra vanquished the invisible demon Vritasura, the Kalakeya demons that were surrounding him fled and hid in the ocean.

Even though they were hiding, they continued to harass and torture human beings and other living creatures. Under the cover of darkness, they wrecked havoc and destruction in the whole existence. They did not even spare the Rishis performing various austerities to awaken the Truth.

They would visit different ashrams at night and devour the unsuspecting Rishis. In the morning light, the heap of bones would reveal the destruction that happened in the night.

The majority of humans, in order to escape the attack of the Kalakeya demons started leaving their homes and hiding in caves in the mountains. A group of brave archers gathered together and tried to attack the demons, but to no avail, as the demons were unseen.

In their terrible plight, the Devas approached Lord Vishnu for a solution.

Lord Vishnu revealed that Kalakeya and his army of demons had taken refuge in the ocean and the only way to oust them would be to dry up the ocean.

The demons would then be forced to come out in the open. Once they are exposed, the Devas and the humans will be able to vanquish them. Lord Vishnu then advised them to go to Rishi Agastya with the request to drink up the ocean.

At the request of the Devas, Rishi Agastya drank the ocean. In no time all the seas were devoid of water and the Kalakeya demons were exposed.

The Devas immediately started killing them and wiped them out completely, freeing the world from them. The Devas then requested the Rishi to refill the oceans. However, the rishi replied that it was no longer possible for him to do as he had already digested the water.

In a later issue, we will see how the Devas request the Ganges to flow down from the heavens and fill the oceans again.

Let us try to interpret this story.

Water is symbolic of our emotions and is full of the demons of sentimentality. Because of these demons, we are unable to perceive life clearly as it is.

In order to have clarity of perception, every spiritual

aspirant has to work to kill these demons of sentimentality. Else they create inner turmoil, disturbance and chaos in our lives, and obscure the truth.

The chief demon is Kalakeya or time.

Unnecessary sentimentality devours our time. If someone hurts me, I spend the next few hours sulking and thinking of how deeply he has wounded my feelings.

Rather than focusing on advancing my own life and developing myself, I have wasted the limited and precious time allotted to me in sentimental thoughts of the person who hurt me. Such emotions are of the lower psychic nature which is a hindrance to our spiritual growth.

Similarly, every parent loves his or her child.

However, because of the sentimental attachment to the child, the parent is not able to see the child clearly for who he is. Only when we are free of these demons of sentimentality, can the river of knowledge represented by the Ganges flow into us.

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

(Edited by Chintu Gandhi)

All past articles on the Mahabharata can be accessed from http://epaper.asianvoice.com or from http://www.3stepbreath.com/mahabharata.html

Man who got Kerala temple riches revealed dies Advocate TP Sunderarajan, the 1964-batch IPS officer whose legal intervention led to the stock-taking of colossal assets of Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvanthapuram, died spurring talks of "divine retribution" among the believers.

The 70-year-old passed away at about 12.45am at his brother's home around 30 metres from the shrine's west entrance. A family source said Sunderarajan, who was otherwise in good health, was uneasy and feverish for the last two days. On previous evening, he complained of wheezing and said he would not last longer. He refused to take any medicine or go to a hospital.

"At about 12.45am he said he wanted to go to the toilet, but collapsed before he could step in," a family source said.

While some said his sudden death was divine retribution, others asserted he was not put through any suffering of old age. Stories of how tragedy had befallen those who entered the shrine, too, did the rounds during the day, but these could not be confirmed.

Sunderarajan also told a person close to him that he

wanted to die before sunrise as otherwise the sun would pass from 'Uttarayana' (north) to Dakshinayana (south). According to Hindu texts, 'Uttarayana' is an auspicious time to leave the body.

Sunderarajan had resigned from the

Intelligence Bureau in 1974 to care for his ailing father T K Padmanabha Iyer who had lost his eyesight following a bout of diabetes. While in IB, he was a part of the inner security ring of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, said a family member.

Cartoon: Jami

24

Head or Tail ?????

Yeah!

This is the common practice to decide which party is responsible for the BOMB BLAST!

InDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

25

Gujarat Assembly Speaker to visit London

Thousands of people in Dhangadhra joined the last rites of Armyman Karansinh Dhirubhai Dabhi who died in an encounter in Kashmir recently.

Parliament will also attend the conference.

Ganpatbhai, a native of Umarpada, Surat is a post-graduate and obtained his M. Com degree from Gujarat university. He will be accompanied by his wife Nilamben. After attending the Conference in London, he will go on a study tour

Gujarat state Assembly Speaker Ganpatbhai Vasava, along with Lok Sabha Speaker Shrimati Mira Kumar and Speakers of different state Assemblies will be arriving in London on 24th July to participate in the C o m m o n w e a l t h Parliament conference.

Some members of

Visiting guests:

Ganpatbhai Vasava and his wife Nilamben Vasava

to different countries. He will visit Paris on 28th July

and on 1st August he will go to Geneva and later to Zurich. He will be in Dubai on 7th Aug. On the same day he will return to Surat via Mumbai.

For more details of Ganpatbhaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tour programme, contact Gujarat Samachar-New Editor Kamal Rao-Tel: 020 7749 4001, Mob: 07875 229 211.

In focuS 2G scam: CBI quizzes Raja, two others Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) once again questioned former communications minister A Raja and two other accused who are in judicial custody in the second generation (2G) spectrum allocation scam. A special CBI court allowed the agency to quiz Raja, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura and a private telecom firm executive Gautam Doshi within the Patiala House district court complex in Delhi. The CBI sought permission from the special court to interrogate the trio, who are at present lodged in the Tihar Jail. Sources said the agency wanted to question the three before it files its next charge sheet, which is likely to deal with the role of firms Essar and Loop in the 2G scam case.

34 kg gold found at Sathya Sai temple Valuables worth millions have been found at the late Sathya Sai Baba's Yajur Mandir at Puttaparthi, when Officials were preparing an inventory. They have found 340 kg silver, gold worth Rs 58 million and close to Rs 20 million cash and the inventory is not yet complete.

The assets found in the eight rooms searched were deposited in a bank as per the directive of the Income Tax Department.

Flood alert in Assam, 75,000 displaced The Assam government sounded an alert as 75,000 people were displaced following heavy overnight rains that triggered flash floods, breaching roads and embankments at several places. Up to 800 villages in four districts have been hit by the floods so far, he said.

A Central Water Commission bulletin said the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries were flowing above the danger mark in at least eight places. Most of the flood-hit people are now taking shelter in raised platforms, on railway tracks, and in government schools and offices.

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Isro successfully launches GSAT-12 India successfully launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-12 on board a powerful variant of homegrown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C17, from the spaceport. "I am extremely happy to state that the PSVL-C17 GSAT12 mission is successful. The launch vehicle injected the satellite very precisely into the intended orbit," a beaming Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan announced. GSAT-12, aimed at augmenting the capacity in the INSAT system for various communication services like tele-education, tele-medicine and Village Resource Centres, would be co-located with INSAT-2E and INSAT-4A satellites.

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Nirupama Rao named India's next envoy to US

Days before India and the US hold their second strategic dialogue, the government on Saturday formally announced the appointment of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao as its next ambassador to the United States. Vishnu Prakash, the spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, tweeted Rao's appointment as India's next envoy to Washington on the social networking site. Minutes later, the external affairs ministry formally announced her appointment, saying she is expected to take up her assignment shortly. Rao's appointment was cleared by the government a few weeks ago. Her tenure as foreign secretary ends on July 31.

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Pradeep Kumar sworn in as CVC Former defence secretary Pradeep Kumar sworn in as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).

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26

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

London Convention held b ...OFBJP makes Indians in Britain proud Continued from page 1 Nitin Gadkari, the president of India’s main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, arrived in London last week on a six-day visit that focused on projecting the party under his leadership.

The preparation for the visit started from end of June when the Convenor of the Overseas Friends of BJP visited the UK in order to prepare for the convention. They also visited the office of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to meet the outgoing Marketing Manager (UK operation), Bank of Baroda at an exclusive lunch on 13th July. Mr Nitin Gadkari was interviewed by Kamal Rao, News Editor of Gujarat Samachar (For full interview see Gujarat Samachar).

On Saturday a London Convention was organised at Millenium Suite, Panna's near Romford. 850 people gathered to hear the President of BJP address them and burning issues of India. He was accompanied by the Convenor of OFBJP Vijay Jolly, Co-Convenor Amit Thakker, Rajashathn Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, BJP Mahila Morcha Rajya Sabha member Smriti Irani, President of OFBJP Dr Surendra Sharma and Vice President Lalubhai Parekh.

This was followed by Mr Gadkari's visit to an event by Telengana Forum, BAPS

Swaminarayan Temple and a Gurudwara at Southall. He also visited Sangat Community Centre near Kenton.

On Monday Virendra Sharma, MP of Ealing Southall on behalf of Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group organised a lunch at the House of Common. This was attended by Lord Dholakia, Lord Popat, Baroness Hayman, Lord Paul, Lord Billimoria, Lord Granville Janner, Lord Loomba, Baroness Verma, Barry Gardiner MP, Stephen Pounds MP, Bob Blackman MP, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi MP (from New Zealand) and many more. This was followed by a meeting with MPs of the BJP and Indo-European Business Forum. He also spoke to Naresh Goyal, Chairman of Jet Airways about direct flight between Ahmedabad and India and met Nalin Surie, High Commissioner of India to speak about visa administration.

On Tuesday he was invited by Subhash Thakrar, Chairman of London Chamber of Commerce at a lunch and special political briefing about where India is winning, and where India is losing. In the on behalf of the Commonwealth Business Council, Barry Gardiner MP, Chairman, All Party Parliamentary Group on UK – India Trade and Investment Relations and Mr Rajesh V Shah, Co-Chairman and Managing Director, Mukand Ltd, organised a private dinner for Mr Nitin Gadkari.

Members of OFBJP meets outgoing Marketing Manager (UK), BoB Nitin Gadkari's visit to the Overseas BJP conference was inaugurated in Britain with the initial visit of Vijay Jolly, Convenor of Overseas Friends of BJP with Lalubhai Parikh, a veteran leader of the Overseas Friends of BJP to Karma Yoga House in the last week of June.

Followed by another visit with some of the party members to a networking lunch organised by Asian Voice and Gujarat Lalubhai Parekh, Kamal Rao, Amit Thaker, Vijay Jolly, Abhinav Samachar to give a farewell to Iyer, Ranjna Iyer, Jyotsna Shah, Rupanjana Dutta, CB Patel Abhinav Iyer on Wednesday 13th pounds of deposits in 3 months. We added July, Marketing Manager (UK Operations), more than 13000 customers to our commitBank of Baroda along with his wife Ranjna tee.

Iyer who is a radiologist with the NHS, who Both my father and I are both politicalis from Dubai. ly active. I take pride in BJP because a very Originally from Indore, Abhinav has respected person from BJP is close to me. worked in Mumbai and was posted in He is a great gentleman and he helped me London as the Marketing head. Now finishwhen I was doing my MBA, a great speaking his 3 and a half years tenure in Britain, er, so I owe a lot to them in terms of my perhe is moving back to India with his wife sonal growth. I wish all the best for the Ranjna. Speaking about his experience in campaign here. Gujarat is a great state and the UK, Abhinav said, "My Experience at not just because it has produced a great Bank of Baroda has been amazing... bank like Bank of Barorda!"

When I came here there was no strucHe was presented with the coffee table ture in marketing, the public sector bank book Love Gujarat as a memento. didn't have a great vision and we were Vijay Jolly, Convenor of the Overseas recruited just as students.

Friends of BJP thanking CB Patel said, “I I was lucky to do some sales job, which had the privilege of coordinating the is not generally the case after you do a national president Mr Gadkari's two visits MBA. When I went to Bombay, the recently, one happened, January visit in Housing loans department used to sanction China and the first one was in Israel and loans only in 4 to 5 weeks, average time, the third one is here in England starting which meant, worst case would be 45 days, from 16th July to 21st and then we have which was phenomenally high on customer vision of a greater connectivity with anothsatisfaction levels. But we brought it down er superpower which is of course the to 6 days and it worked well.

United States.."

I am honoured to be part of such a great He spoke about the importance of coninitiative. After I came here I met CB. He nectivity, youth and the importance of the was one of the first people I met in the party in uniting India and linking it well media world, got encouragement from him. with the non resident Indians. He criticised The bank initially did not even have pull up the UPA government for its recent attack literatures on what it was offering, the webon Baba Ramdev and the corruption presite was not in a great shape, there wasn't vailing. He spoke about the importance of any corporate files, though the bank was power going to the worthy and not to doing great in terms of finance and figures, descendants by mere blood relation. but unless you have a presentable profile, Amit Thaker, co- convenor of Overseas even though you might be good, it does not friends of BJP spoke about Infrastructure, leave an impact on customers. development, telecom progress, progression We have offered some great products at various areas of the Indian society and like Baroda Max which performed excepthe importance of youth's participation in tionally well, raising more than 300 million the politics.

London Convention organised by Overseas Friends of BJP

Overseas Friends of BJP had organised a London Convention at Romford City Pavilion. It was attended and addressed by BJP President, Shri Nitin Gadkari, who spoke in national language Hindi “I am so glad to meet you all, I feel so proud and privileged to find out about the success and progress that you have made living in a foreign country. Wherever you are, you have surely made India proud..."

In his hour long speech, Mr. Gadkari outlined the progress made by the BJP ruled states in the development of infrastructure,

win.

He spoke about the demand for the direct flight between Gujarat and London.

He added, "I had asked Shri Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways to start a direct flight this

Mamta Lakhani and Amit Chatterjee, compere for the evening

Vasantbhai and Pannaben Lakhani of City Pavilion with Nitin Gadkari, President BJP

afternoon. If necessary, we would take this demand to even Indian parliament and put forward the request. I have even talked to Britain based Indian High commissioner Shri Nalin Suri about the problems faced by Indians for visa and overseas card.

Speaking on the occasion former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje

tourism and other sectors and invited the people of Indian origin to take advantage of the positive investment climate in these states.

The BJP President hailed the achievements of the influential Indian-origin community in the UK in various fields and referred to the problems being faced by them in visa and PIO cards related matters. He assured them that he would take up these issues with the government of India.

He dwelt at length the role his party was playing in exposing the rampant corruption back home and promised a governCB Patel, Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat ment free from terror, poverty Samachar being greeted by Nitin Gadkari as others look on and corruption at the centre after the general elections scheduled for 2014 complimented the large people of Indian which he said the BJP-led NDA was sure to origin community for the role they were

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

27

y Overseas Friends of BJP Indo-British all Party Parliamentary Group meets Indo-European Business Forum Tributes were paid to the victims of the recent terror attacks in Mumbai at a meeting of the Indo-British all Party Parliamentary Group and the Indo-European Business Forum at the House of Commons here.

The meeting convened by the chairman of the group Virendra Sharma, MP from the Indian-dominated constituency of Ealing-Southall for an interaction with the visiting BJP President Nitin Gadkari and his delegation Nitin Gadkari, Lalubhai Parekh, Dr Sharma, Vijay Jolly, Amit Thaker, observed a minutes silence in Virendra Sharma MP, Smriti Irani, Vasundhara Raje with others memory of those killed in the region. But cross-border terrorism has disthree blasts in different parts of Mumbai. turbed peace in the region.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gadkari Answering another question, he said said “we Mumbaikars have faced similar BJP was not against the minorities in India attacks in the past as well and we have time and was committed to solving their socioand again shown courage and determinaeconomic problems, adding that his party tion to withstand such onslaughts”. would never adopt any anti-minority and The BJP president told the meeting that anti-Muslim policy. not only Mumbai, but the whole of India Mr. Gadkari further said Hindutva is lived in a very uncertain neighbourhood. not about being anti-Muslim. It is a way of Pakistan has been using terror as a state life. Speaking on the occasion Convener of policy and terror groups like Lashkar-ethe Overseas Friends of BJP Vijay Jolly Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed were offappreciated that Britain no longer considshoots of the ISI. ered the issue of Jammu & Kashmir as an He appreciated Britain’s repeated calls unfinished agenda of the partition and said to Pakistan to stop exporting terror to India the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore and other places but said the actions taken Declaration have left no scope for any third

by Islamabad so far in dealing with terror party mediation. emanating from its soil were just an eyeMr. Jolly raised the plight of Indian stuwash. dents studying the Britain whose academic Mr. Gadkari called for joint Indo-British institutions have been de-recognised and efforts in defeating global terrorism which urged the government to help them tide he said was a challenge for the entire over the difficult situation faced by them. humanity.

Mr. Vijay Goel of the Indo-European Replying to questions, the BJP Business Forum supported Mr. Jolly and President said the BJP favoured good relahoped that the British government will find tions with all its neighbours, including a way out in resolving the problem of the Pakistan, so that there could be peace in the large Indian student community. playing in strengthening the British economy and sought their cooperation in the development back home.

She outlined the good work done for the non-resident Indians and the people of Indian origin in Rajasthan during her regime and promised do more after the next elections when she said BJP would be returning to power.

President of the BJP Mahila Morcha and newly elected Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat Smriti Irani highlighted the schemes for women emancipation launched by all the BJP ruled states.

She lauded the performance of the Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi in the all round development of the state and invited the people of Gujarati origin to visit the state for cultural tourism.

Convenor of the Overseas Friends of BJP Vijay Jolly made an audio-visual presentation on the progress made by India during the Vajpayee-led NDA government and on the emerging young leadership in the BJP. The co-convener Amit Thaker spoke about the activities of the OFBJP and its ambitious plan to organise a global network of the overseas friends of BJP in different countries.

President of the OFBJP, UK, Dr. Surendra Sharma said the people of Indian origin in the UK favoured a strong and prosperous India and were contributing enormously to the progress of the country in various fields. He assured Mr. Gadkari that the OFBJP would work hard to strengthen its network in the UK and expand its base.

Veteran leader of the OFBJP, UK, Mr. Lalubhai Parekh thanked the Indian-origin community for their support to the OFBJP.

BJP President visits Sangat Community Centre

Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Kanti Nagda and Dr Surendra Sharma

MP Virendra Sharma hosts lunch for BJP President Nitin Gadkari The BJP President Mr.Gadkari Nitin Gadkari has reaffirmed his party’s commitment to economic reforms and said the fast changing global scenario was helping India play a pro-active role in global recovery and redefining new economic world order.

The BJP president Mr Virendra Sharma MP, Lord Paul, Nitin Gadkari, Vasundhara Raje, Nitin Gadkari said the Smriti Irani and Vijay Jolly rapid pace of development, favourable demography states in the areas of tourism, health, irriga(large young population), and growing class tion, water management and infrastructure with more and more disposable income and and assured a favourable investment clihuge domestic market have made India one mate. of the top investment destinations in the Speaking on the occasion, former world.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje He said India and Britain can take said the BJP governments have always safeadvantage of this potential for greater coopguarded the interests of the NRI’s and the eration between the two countries in the people of Indian origin and will resolve field of R & D, Science & Technology, their problems brought to the notice of the advanced manufacturing, green technoloBJP president. gies, non-conventional energy, defence, She said India and Britain should use skilled development and education. their combined potential and work together With the changing world order India in third countries in the field of research and Britain may explore taking this and development, science and technology. enhanced strategic partnership to next level Replying to a question from Lord of economic cooperation in third countries, Dholkia about the plight of widows in the Mr. Gadkari said.

India, Ms Raje said most of the Indian The BJP president said his party was states were implementing schemes for the proud of the immense contribution of the welfare of widows and were encouraging to two million strong people of Indian origin re-marry. in the development and progress of Britain.

The newly elected member of Rajya Seven members of the House of Sabha Smriti Irani highlighted the achieveCommons and 24 members of the House of ments of the BJP ruled states in providing Lords were of Indian origin and it was in a basic human right to education. way India’s contribution to British democWinding up the interaction Lord Paul racy, Mr. Gadkari said. said Britain acknowledged India’s potential The meeting, convened by the Labour as an emerging economy and would like to member of the House of Commons from the understand the economic policies of the predominantly people of Indian origin concountry’s main opposition the BJP which stituency of Ealing-Southall Virendra had covered a lot of ground during the Sharma, was presided over by Lord Paul.

Vajpayee government.

During the interaction with the memMr. Gadkari presented hand crafted bers of the Group, including several mempaintings from the tribal areas of Thane disbers of the House of Commons and the trict of Maharashtra to Lord Paul and Mr. House of Lords, Mr. Gadkari said his party Virendra Sharma. has a liberal economic approach and Mr. Sharma hosted a lunch in honour of attached highest priority to politics for Mr. Gadkari and his team at the development with emphasis on rural develWestminster. opment, agriculture, water management, Those who attended the two functions irrigation and power sectors. included Lord Speaker Baroness Haymen, He said all the BJP-ruled states were Lord Karan Billimoria, Lord Graville doing extremely well in good governance Janner, Lord Dholakia, Lord Loomba, Lord with Gujarat showing a growth rate of 14% Ghulam Noon, Baroness Sandy Verma, as against the average growth rate of 2.80% Barry Gardiner, MP, Steven Pound, MP, among the Indian states.

Bob Blackman,MP Dr. Hywel Francis (all The BJP believed in complete transmembers of the house of commons), parency in administration and the partyKanwaljit Singh Bakshi (MP from New ruled states were implementing policies Zealand) and a large number of businessaimed at ameliorating the plight of farmers, men and industrialists of Indian origin. removing poverty, improving health and Mr.Gadkari during his visit to British sanitation and concentrating on power genParliament also met Keith Vaz, Preeti Patel eration and alternative sources of energy. and Baroness Flather, Lord Bhiku Parekh He invited investments in the BJP-ruled and Lord Popat.

Visit to the gathering of Telengana Development forum The BJP President Nitin Gadkari has supported the demand for a separate Telangana state and assured the protagonists of the cause that his party when returned to power in the next general elections will fulfil the long standing aspirations of the people of the region.

BJP has always been in favour of smaller states and was the first national political party which adopted a resolution for a separate Telangana state if elected to power, Mr. Gadkari said while addressing an impressive gathering of the Telangana

Development forum, UK. He also held the ruling congress Party responsible for the present crisis in Andhra Pradesh where legislators, belonging to the region, from different political parties including the ruling Congress have resigned in support of their just and reasonable demand.

Mr. Gadkari assured the proTelangana activists that the BJP, when in power at the centre, will complete the proposed irrigation projects and undertake river connectivity programme for better water management of the Krishna and Godavari rivers.

“We will ensure proportionate water for Telangana and make it prosperous and economically viable state with improved agriculture and irrigation”, the BJP president said amid laud applause.

He said his party proposes to prepare a vision document for an all round progress and development of Telangana.

Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Smriti Irani, MP and President of the BJP Mahila Morcha, recalled that the mounting discontent and disillusionment among the protagonists of separate Telangana was

first reflected in the movement organised by the students of Osmania University when they launched a protest against discrimination in government jobs against Telangana people more than 40 years ago.

Speakers included Mr. Vijay Jolly, Convenor of the Overseas Friends of BJP and his co-convenor, Mr. Amit Thaker, besides the leaders of the Telangana Development forum, UK. The BJP President and his delegation visited the Swaminarayan temple, a Gurudwara and a Sanatam Dharam Temple in Southall.

28

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

CB Live is only a Gujarati programme in UK on MATV SKY 793 CB Live has achieved spectacular success with variety of themes being discussed and prominent personalities being interviewed. Offlate many viewers have complained that they do not have opportunity to interact.

So this Thursday the lines will be open for about 40 mins and the viewers are invited to raise relevant issues i.e. current affairs in the UK, India etc with CB Patel

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500

If you do not have a SKY, go to www.tvunetworks.com and watch CB Live on TVU Player Channel 75203

7pm to 8pm

For more information e-mail: cblive_matv@yahoo.co.uk

Revelations culminate in attack on Murdoch Continued on page 29 Tanveer Mann With a whirlwind of revelations emerging everyday, it is hard to believe that it has been less than two weeks since details about Milly Dowler's phone being hacked by the News of the World, were released. Since our last issue of Asian Voice (16th July, p.25), the phonehacking scandal has further deteriorated, with the News of the World tabloid being forced to shut down in shame, gruelling investigations by MPs into the role of the Metropolitan police and has culminated in the shocking resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, on Monday 18 July.

There is now a chance that PM David Cameron may also be implicated, due to his decision to hire Andy Coulson as his communications head in July 2007.

The story of the scandal began as early as 2005, when news of Prince William's fractured tendon was reported in the News of the World newspaper. Buckingham Palace immediately alerted the Police that the Prince's mobile-phone may have been hacked and possibly accessed to obtain other information. This was a high-profile investigation and at the start of 2007, Clive Goodman, the royal editor for the newspaper

and Glenn Mulcaire, an independent investigator, admitted to hacking the voicemail of Prince William as well as other public figures between November 2005 and August 2006. They were soon after jailed.

Acting editor of the News of the World at the time was Andy Coulson, whose arrival was short lived when this scandal emerged. He resigned in January 2007 and went on to become director of Communications for PM David Cameron. Although the editor's ignorance was highly doubted, he strongly denied having known of the activity. To back him up, came chairman of news International, Les Hinton's declaration to MPS in March 2007, that the internal investigation that had taken place had uncovered no evidence of widespread phone-hacking. The issue was put to the side, so to speak, and was not reopened until July 2009, when the Guardian put forward a series of allegations.

The Guardian had reason to believe that numerous celebrities and politicians felt that they had also been victims of hacking. In the wake of these allegations, John Yates, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, was approached to make a decision on whether to reopen the original investigation of Mr Goodman and Mr Mulcaire. At this

Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Freelance Correspondent: Rudy Otter Chief Financial Officer: Surendra Patel Tel: 020 7749 4093 - Mobile: 07875 229 220 Email: surendra.patel@abplgroup.com Accounts Executive: Akshay Desai Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email:accounts@abplgroup.com Advertising Managers: Alka Shah Tel: 020 7749 4002 - Mobile: 07944 151 893 Email: alka.shah@abplgroup.com Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Media Consultant: Rovin John George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Business Development Managers: Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 - Email: george@abplgroup.com Nikhil Gor - Email: nikhil.gor@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4009 - Mobile: 07875 229 200 Design and Layout: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Ragini Nayak Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd.

By nature you are a highly enterprising, go-getting type of person and these qualities will stand you in good stead in the coming weeks. It is essential that you now adopt a very open attitude because this is a good time for lucky breaks and a chance to balance your work and home life. It is also a good time to widen your network of contacts.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

time, Mr Yates felt it fit to say no, which is perhaps the haunting decision which he is regretting he made today.

The New York Times soon joined the investigation, publishing an investigative report into phone hacking at the News of the World on September 1st 2010. The scandal quickly picked up pace earlier this year, when Mr Coulson, attacked by questions of his integrity, resigned as the PM's right-hand man. Further arrests were made, includ-

ing longstanding assistant News of the World editor Ian Edmondson and reporters Neville Thurlbeck and James Weatherup.

After five months of the topic being untouched in the tabloids, the scandal has come back on an extremely large and somewhat destructive scale. It has implicated many and taken its first life on Monday 18th July, with the death of former News of the World reportert u r n e d - w h i s t l e b l o w e r, Sean Hoare.

Coming Events Competition Right answer to last week’s competition is Ajay Devgan. l 30th July at 7.30pm the Bolly-Flex expedition at Hackney Empire. Contact 0208 985 2424 and quote ‘Asian Voice’ for a 20% discount on the best available tickets. l ‘Meera’ dance drama Friday 22nd July, 2011 7.30pm at Gwinnet Performing Arts Centre, Duluth, GA 30097, Contact Mahesh Patel: (678) - 516 - 2967 Saturday 23rd July, 2011, 5.00pm at Mcalister Auditorium, Greenville, South Carolina, Raman Rama; (864) - 201- 4895

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You are greeting life with a fresh, can-do attitude. Events will occur that can help you to overcome problems that previously seemed challenging or even insurmountable--you have an altogether different perspective on life now. You feel considerably freer to be yourself, and others tend to accept you more readily.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 A partnership may be strengthened or even a new one formed. Even so, love relationships are far from easygoing and straightforward.

Do your best to avoid impulsive decision-making based on your desire to be a free spirit. You may recognize talents that you never knew you had, and this can be a sudden, exciting discovery.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 Others look upon you with more respect, tolerance, and acceptance. You no longer feel the need to prove yourself, and this is a positive step in the right direction. Opportunities--both personal and professional--are likely to present themselves as a result. New friendships are likely to emerge and they will be supportive and easygoing.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

Your communications are at their peak and any initiatives you take now will be well received by people in authority. This is also a time for mixed emotions as well as personal issues that need to be dealt with. Although practical affairs of life will feature prominently, this does not necessarily mean that there will be all work and no play.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

You will be pleased to see that your social life livens up during this week. It is as if a lucky twist of events and something unexpected will provide you with a key to your heart's desire. There is a definite expansive trend where money is concerned, so do not be surprised if this turns out be a fortunate and profitable time for you.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

There will be an inspiring boost to your communications but make sure your curiosity on a range of topics does not lead to a scattering of mental energy. Try to take things in your stride and keep calm as conflict and disagreement could be sparked off by your short-sightedness. Intense focus is what is needed now so do not be distracted.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

This is an excellent time for developing and perfecting skills, exploring ways of enhancing your earning powers or simply discussing your ideas with friends. Your thinking is inspired, so listen to your thoughts. This may be a time of expansion and improved opportunity and it would be unwise to let yourself become complacent.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

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You will feel energetic and confident as the week begins. New beginnings will flourish, as long as you do not bite off more than you can chew. If you feel that something has been hanging in the balance, whatever happens you will get a clearer picture of the situation eventually.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 A time of much progress is ahead regarding money and the material world. The keyword is "increase". Personal charm is on the increase. Confidence is on the increase. During this phase, be sure to choose your words carefully as you can upset people around you. Also be careful with your expenditure as you have the tendency to be extravagant.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

The pattern of significant relationships in your life will continue to favour you. It seems that a great deal of mutual benefit will accrue because of various interactions. Sometimes it is a good idea to stand back and get a more objective view of the pattern of your life.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 You might feel that life is in the doldrums, but appearances could prove deceptive. The underlying trend indicates that deep creative energies are stirring within you and that seemingly insignificant events and meetings will play a vital role in the future enrichment of life. This is not a time to force things, rather a time to flow with the tide.

travel/UK

asian voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Purvi’s travel bag

By Purvi Apurva Shah

When I jumped from the aircraft.....

The thrill and horror I experienced when I jumped from the aircraft to have a ball in the sky can’t be explained in words fully. One needs to go for it to have a real feeling. I did a jump from the height of 11,000 feet that made me fall at an express speed of 200 feet per second. At that time, neither me nor anyone can control the speed. It is a fall only controlled by nature. It lasted for 60 seconds but it will be etched in my memory forever.

It was recently in Canada on a mission of Tandem freefall at Abbotsford Centre, Vancouver. It is the moment when you are extremely excited yet nervous at the same time. The fear is as if it is the last day of your life.

After signing -“nobody is liable if I die,” I started with a group of six. We were taken in an aircraft at a height where you will not have any nerves to look down from the window. And Lord, what you have to do is just open the door of the aircraft and simply fall. Once you have signed for the mission, you cannot back out and you do not have any options but to just fall. It was my turn to jump. The door of the aircraft was wide open and I could see the whole earth down and yup ……the height was taking my life out. But if I do not jump, I will be pushed out – was the warning. I collected the guts and tried to put my one leg out … hesitated…. and wanted to go back badly. I surely do not care if my dollars were wasted if I do not jump.

But you do not get any time to think. I was told, “slide or else you will be pushed” My next leg was out. Poor legs were out hanging down from the aircraft. Before I could think of anything I was pushed down from the door.

I was upside down in the air, a roller coaster ride in the sky, and was floating and flying like a bird. Ten seconds after the fall, the wind supports you, fighting against gravity, holding you at a con-

stant speed. The air swishes so fast, I was shocked, thrilled, jabbed with this freefall that lasted for 60 seconds with speed of 200 ft per second.

You simply need guts.

The relief is that we fall in two - I am tied up with the instructor. But bad part is that neither me nor the instructor have any control over our movements during the fall. The

backpack parachute help can be availed only after crossing 5,000 feet. Till then wind will take care of you to float and not fall on the earth.

The thrill numbs my nervousness. My every nerve tingles with excitement. That smooth collage of color miles below may be where you live but this is where you are most alive! For 60 seconds you are completely free of all worldly concerns; it is just

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you and the sky.

You now have a glimmer of the immense speed at which you are falling. As you fall below 4,000 feet the earth begins to quickly expand, rushing to meet you. Five short seconds later, a scant 5,000 feet left, you open that life saving piece of cloth. The mad rush of wind suddenly transforms into the peaceful calm of a parachute ride. You open your parachute and now at last, you have controls in your hands.

Eventually gravity reasserts itself; you are now below 5,000 feet and the earth is charging up, ready to receive you. Gradually with a pull on the toggles, you slow your descent and gently set your feet on the ground. The landing is difficult but not tough as what you had up above.

Oh! I can’t imagin….I had done a freefall……

This is like living beyond the edge, the total freedom you experience. Sky is all yours!!!

This kind of FUN & EXCITEMENT is not recommended for the timid!!

Well to be honest - It May Be Just What You Need – Go for it and simply jump…

29

Revelations culminate in attack on Murdoch Continued from page 28 The Five most-talked about leaders were interrogated throughout the day, in what has been an extremely interesting afternoon of revelations.

Sir Paul Stephenson, Mr Dick Ferdorcio, Mr John Yates and James and Rupert Murdoch all met on Tuesday under the scrutinizing eyes of the committee and were all interrogated on the roles that they individually played in the phone hacking scandal.

Most talked about however, was the out-oftouch responses of

Rupert Murdoch, who often chose silence as a way of answering questions he did not wish to answer. Looking to his son for help, James attempted to interject on numerous occasions, but was quickly dismissed and told that the responsibility was his fathers and so he would have to remain quiet.

Rupert's monosyllabic responses meant that he gave the appearance of knowing nothing and repeatedly said he was unaware of key characters implicated in the phone hacking scandal.

A rather dramatic

interruption perhaps was needed to retrieve some more useful information from the media mogul, as it was only when a protester managed to enter the interrogation room and attack Rupert with a creampie, did his answers become more emphatic and of any substance.

To sum up his thoughts on the scandal, he adamantly said that he will not resign as he feels that he should not have to pay for the wrongdoing of others, he will not take responsibility for the affair and that he is the best person to clear this mess up.

Sikh ex-prison officer loses bid Continued from page 13 Employers are required to guarantee safety of their employees. It looks like Mr.Dhindsa’s safety was also important going through the violence record in prison. Sikh leaders in the UK should discuss this case with authority.”

Mr Davinder Prasad, General Secretary of Coventry-based CasteWatch UK, an organisation which campaigns on eradicating caste and promoting equality, said: "Sikh religion is one of the latest and great religion in the world and gives hope of equality and justice to its follower. Unfortunately, like many other religions, people are not able to understand the basic teachings of the Gurus and find themselves confused and lost in web of physical attributes, rituals and material symbols...Mr Dhindsa probably does not understand that and for him to use his religion to push the boundaries of Health & Safety Laws in this country is a sad reflection on those Sikhs who call themselves Amritdharis. Guru Ji’s basic teaching was that True Sikhs would give up their caste identities given to them by Hindus.

Parading himself in courts as Mr Dhindsa is not only an attempt by him to take advantage of justice system in British Society but he is also disregarding Holy Guru’s instructions to give up caste names before taking Amrit.

Perhaps, Mr Dhindsa need to seek advice from someone who really understands Sikh reli-

gious philosophy, give up his caste name of “Dhindsa” because he is an Amritdhari and reconsider his job in the Prison service."

Bill Mann, a businessman originally from Birmingham but now in the US said, "There are times that religious symbols can be enforced – like allowing a Sikh to tie his turban instead of the helmet - but in a prison environment where the dagger maybe stolen by an inmate and cause harm to others, or put the Sikh office in harms way – I think all need to look at things objectively and conditionally enforce our religion symbols. In the case of a prison – I agree with rejection" Tina Ghataore, a fashion designer said, "I agree, it's one of 5 symbols and can be adapted and it's size or construction could have been modified to observe the religious symbolism. But this clearly was not the motive" Davinder Mann, an entrepreneur said, "I agree with Bill's view, the potential for an incident in Prison is so high, that the blanket ban is correct.

The 5 K's should and need to be adapted to suit a person's circumstances in life. I am sure Amritdhari Sikhs would disagree as their pure belief applies to all circumstances. I am fairly certain if a Sikh was given the opportunity to go and work on the space shuttle, the Kirpan would be dan-

ger to himself and others in zero gravity. Hence a replica or safer substitute should be agreed by NASA and civil liberties councils. My personal opinion is we as Non Amritdhari and AmritDhari must understand this."

Dr Rami Ranger, MBE, FRSA, Chairman, Sun Mark Ltd said, "I support the authorities in making work places safe and free from people carrying long daggers for a feel good factor. As a matter of fact, such measures will ensure the safety of people like Mr Dhinsa as well.

Mr. Dhinsa is totally wrong for not agreeing to carry a replica or a small dagger as a symbol of respect to our Gurus. Our Gurus understand the current situation and fully appreciate the deeds of a person are more important rather than someone paying far too much attention to mere symbolism. In any case, who is he fighting with now? We were told to carry swords when we were being oppressed by the then Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The reality now is such that the next war will not be fought with swords, instead it will be fought by laser guns. How is he going to defend himself with a dagger against an AK47?...We must never try to become the monuments of our past.

My advice is simple, we must never bring religion into disrepute for our personal egos..."

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lGnæsùg, sgA¤, sAesIyl fùKˆn ivgere ˆu æsùgAeae ‘anupm keqrs#’nA SvAiw¿q veÃqerIyn jmovArnAe aAgñh rAŠAe. wrek aA¤qm sA¤q ¦pr weˆ rmAù ame 50¸I vŒu tAà bnAvvAmAù aAve e. aAk¿A#k hAeqel ane ved©g fuLlI ¤NSyAed# hAelmAù keqr©gnI sÈvs ve¤qòes sÈvs ¦plBŒ aApIae Iae. ¤ùGleNdnA kAe¤po S¸ e idlIvrI

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129 Bowes Road, Palmers Green, London N13 4SB.

Tel: 020 8889 9112 Mobile: 07985 404 942 E-mail: anupamcaterers@yahoo.co.uk www.anupamcaterer.com

30

Sport

BCCI recommends Zaheerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name for Arjuna award The Indian Cricket Board has recommended the name of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan to the government for the Arjuna Award, according to BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty. "We have recommended only one name, that of Zaheer Khan, for the Arjuna Award," Shetty said. The 32-year-old Shrirampur-born Zaheer, who made his international debut in 2000, would be the 44th cricketer to be bestowed with the award if the government accepts the BCCI's recommendation. Six current India players Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir - have been past recipients of the government's honour for their outstanding achievement in the sport. Last year woman cricketer Jhulan Goswami was conferred with the award on the recommendation of the board.

ICC may extend Pak bowler Amir's ban Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir faces the possibility of an extension to his fiveyear International Cricket Council (ICC) suspension for allegedly breaking the terms and conditions of his ban, an ICC source said. Amir reportedly played club cricket in Surrey in May, starting for Addington 1,743 in a Surrey Cricket League Division. One fixture against St Lukes at the LSE ground in New Malden.

The Pakistani player scored 60 with the bat and then took four wickets to help his new teammates register an 81-run victory. It was a clear violation of the terms and conditions of his ban, which makes it compulsory for him not to take part in any cricket event sanctioned by the ICC or its affiliate member boards. The inquiry being conducted also involves England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Surrey officials along with the players who were involved in the match. The ICC won't be lenient this time with Amir who was also warned earlier. There's a strong possibility of extending the ban on him.

The ICC had previously warned the 19-year-old for playing a club match in Pakistan.

Pak cricket board recovers fine from Afridi The Pakistan Cricket Board has recovered a fine of Rs 4.5 million from former national captain Shahid Afridi.

A senior official of the board confirmed that the finance department had deducted the fine amount from the dues that were to be paid to Afridi for the World Cup and tour to West Indies. "In total the board had to pay him around Rs 5.5 million out of which we deducted the fine amount in full," the official said. The disciplinary committee of the board had fined Afridi for several breaches of the code of conduct last month.

The fine came after a stand off between Afridi and the PCB allowing his removal as captain of the national one-day squad in May. He announced his retirement in protest and criticised the board for its conduct and not respecting senior players. After he withdraw a case against the PCB from the Sindh high court, Afridi appeared before the disciplinary committee which fined him but asked the board to issue him an NOC to go and play for Hampshire in England's domestic Twenty20 event.

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Somerset fiasco: India on the ropes

By Premen Addy

Cricket administrators can be a rum lot. England's never tire of pointing to the Test match format as the game's pinnacle, the final proof of cricketing skill and class, yet they have created a fixture list with an insufficient number of first-class matches between the counties and the visiting Indians. This surely is the seedbed of true pedigree whence the best are called to sip the elixir of Test cricket.

The 3-day outing at rain-soaked Taunton between hosts Somerset and India was scarcely a contest, as the word is generally understood.

Somerset, with Andrew Strauss desperate to get in some practice before the First Test at Lord's, belted the innocuous Indian bowlers to all corners of this lovely ground and chosen sites outside it, such a women's lavatory on whose roof the tattoo-armed Peter Trego (85 not out from 57 balls), deposited one of his seven second innings sixes off the hapless Amit Mishra. Mishra has sent down 14 tremulous overs, conceding 123 runs for two expensive wickets; his compatriot Sreesanth toiled wicketless for eight overs yielding 53 runs. Both served up tripe, as Somerset clubbed 260 for 2 declared in 41 overs of second innings murder and mayhem (Strauss 109 not out) to complement their first innings carnival of 425 for 3 declared (Strauss 78, Arul Suppiah 156).

Sreesanth bowled an over to Bangladesh in the recent World Cup which went for 24 runs; his services were redundant for the rest of the tournament. Burdened by a short fuse, he is profligate with line and length and should have been put out to grass by now, except that the Indian selectors being a cussed lot, believed Sreesanth needed an English vacation for reasons best known to themselves. Back in the

Andrew Strauss and Peter Trego feasted on some listless Indian bowling at Taunton on July 17

IPL, one saw 21-year-old Varun Aron, a Dennis Lillee trainee, consistently deliver the ball at something like 145km, while Rahul Sharma's leg-spin elicited praise from Sachin Tendulkar and other greats. But Mishra it is, with his lollypops and donkey drops; it is the cross we are condemned to bear. He is here to make up the numbers.

Confusion worse confounded. Making a mess of things, like the proverbial rope trick, is an Indian art form.

The English are licking their chops.

Needing to beat India 2 nil to become Test cricket's world champions, media gurus here are champing at the bit. Bookies say England have India by the tail.

All is not lost, however. It certainly wasn't, even as the frail Indian score, 140 for 9, in reply to Somerset's massive 425 for 3, seemed to portend the

last rites. Thereafter, left-hander Suresh Raina took centre-stage, with Munaf Patel his uncertain partner. Raina was 30 when the stand began; he was into his seventies before Patel got his first single. An improbable century beckoned, loomed larger by the minute and was achieved with a peerless flourish through the covers. Raina 103 not out from 110 balls, then left the strike to Patel, who promptly fell lbw to Ian Walker for 6. India were all out for 224, disgrace averted, if narrowly.

And so to Lord's on Thursday, and hopefully the start of a rousing series.

There is no harm surely in dreaming dreams of possible things to come, weather permitting. Which is what the magic of cricket's glorious uncertainties allows us to do, and revel in the exercise.

Britain aims to stop Australia raining on Poms' parade Britain aims to finish at least fourth in the London 2012 medals table with a team budget of 13 million pounds ($20,839,000) to deny Australia the satisfaction of "raining on the Poms' parade."

British Olympic Association (BOA) chief executive Andy Hunt said that the budget worked out at 24,000 pounds per athlete and 10,000 per delegation member. "We took a total delegation of around 550 to Beijing (in 2008) and look at the performance we achieved," he said at a briefing as organisers prepared for the fast-approaching one year to go mark. "Our mission is more medals from more sports."

Britain brought home 47 medals in 11 sports from Beijing and was fourth in the overall table. Australia won 46 medals but took fewer golds and was sixth behind Germany.

Hunt said it was too early to set a medals target, and one might never be set.

"What we do know is it is going to be incredibly tough in London. Every Olympics Games, more nations vie for the medal. And we know that the winning margins are going to decrease," he added.

"It will be even closer in London and we have to recognise that. Maintaining that fourth place medal table aspiration is going to be tough." Hunt said the budget compared to eight million pounds, excluding the cost of flights, for Beijing - equating to 26,000 pounds per athlete four years ago.

"So roughly we are investing the same amount of money in London as we were in Beijing," he added. "But you will see the scope of services to support the athletes and sports is unprecedented."

The money would be raised through a variety of means. "I am totally confident that we have a plan in

place that will deliver the funding required," he said.

Hunt said he had heard the Australians were planning to launch a campaign next year under the slogan "Rain on the Poms' parade".

Jokingly reminding the audience that Britain was also "world class in the manufacture of umbrellas," he looked forward to the renewal of the old rivalry. "It's going to be a great battle between us and Australia,â&#x20AC;? he said.

700 charged twice for tickets A company managing the ticketing system for the 2012 London Olympics says that about 700 people have been charged twice for tickets.

Ticketmaster says the glitch on July 6 was a "processing error" and that it has apologized and issued refunds to those affected.

All events except football and freestyle wrestling have sold out.

A total of 3.5 million Olympics tickets have been sold and there have been around 850,000 successful applications for tickets. But many people, including some of Britain's top athletes, were unhappy at the procedure. The total squad will be more than 550 athletes, 450 support staff and 300 volunteers. "Never before have we taken such a large delegation," he said.

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011

Sport wOrLD

Dhoni's World Cup bat auctioned for £100,000

Anand to defend world title in Chennai

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's bat, with which the Indian cricket captain struck a historic World Cup winning knock earlier this year, fetched a whopping 100,000 pounds in an auction for his charitable foundation. Dhoni made 91 with the bat in the final of the megaevent in April.

At the auction which raised 450,000 pounds, Sacha Jafri's Original Artwork also went under the hammer.

Jafri, one of the most celebrated artists of the world, was commissioned to create the official painting to commemorate Dhoni's historic World Cup winning team as well as the unprecedented achievements of "arguably the greatest batsman of all time" - Sachin Tendulkar.

The painting, which includes handprints and signatures from some of the games' greatest players, including the likes of Ricky Ponting, Andrew Flintoff, Allan Border and Lasith Malinga, went for 250,000 pounds.

A bound copy of the original script of Bollywood blockbuster '3 Idiots' went for 17,500 pounds.

With this, Dhoni launched his char-

itable foundation, 'Winning Ways Today for Tomorrow', at the function. Dhoni said the charity was already launched in India in March last year and has helped children from poor social-economic backgrounds to flourish in cricket.

"The charity will look to continue its dedication to improving children's accessibility to cricket by building a sports academy where children will be able to develop their talents across a

Surgery keeps Pujara out of action for four months

The young middle order Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara who had injured his knee during an Indian Premier League game for Royal Challengers Bangalore had undergone an operation in London and advised rest for at least four months. The Saurashtra lad cannot even pick up his willow and practice for another month.

He requires crutches to walk.

Currently on rehab at the National Cricket Academy under physio Nitin Patel, the 23-year-old is optimistic of his recovery ahead of the Ranji season.

Australia are scheduled to play a Test series in India around that time as well.

"I consulted knee specialist Dr Andrew Wallace in London on June 28 and was diagnosed with a complete tear in the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). I went under the knife on July 1 and have been advised a rehabilitationcum-strengthening programme at the NCA," described Pujara.

"Now that my ACL is reconstructed, the focus is on recovery and strengthening. I am using crutches now and have to continue that for two-three weeks. Then, I might switch to cycling and then jogging before resuming batting. It is a painfully slow programme," explained the Test specialist, who had been excluded for the Caribbean tour as well.

Pujara, who was picked by RCB in the IPL auction, featured prominently in the starting XI but was injured while going down for a slide near the cover boundary against Kochi Tuskers

Kerala. It was his second knee injury in three seasons. Earlier, he had injured his left knee during IPL 2 in South Africa, resulting in the same ACL tear, which too necessitated a surgery then.

"I was not feeling any pain a few days after the injury. But I felt the discomfort when I started running. Dr Wallace told me that pain cannot be the yardstick for the seriousness of the injury," stated Pujara.

Pujara, who walked into the Indian Test squad with a reputation as a run machine in the domestic circuit, made a stellar debut against Australia in Bangalore with a gritty 76 in the second innings, coming ahead of Rahul Dravid at No. 3.

Already looked upon as a meritorious talent, Pujara said after the injury about making the cut for the England tour. He was expecting a lot from the tour because his last trip to England with the India 'A' side had yielded rich returns even as he topped the batting chart in both three-day and one-day formats.

whole range of disciplines," he said.

Citing his own example, Dhoni said he was 18 when in 1999-2000, he was approached by a public sector undertaking and provided with three new cricket balls, bat and pad.

"That helped me groom. In just four years, there was change in me because of the infrastructure," he said.

He said the new sports academy in Ranchi for which the Jharkhand Government has allocated a plot of land, will enable children of all backgrounds to hone their skills.

"There are also plans for a housing complex to be built next to the academy which would serve as accommodation for students and staff working at the academy.

Earlier in a panel discussion with former India captain Ravi Shastri, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, said, "The best moment of my life was when we beat Pakistan to qualify for the semifinal."

Asked about his next target, Harbhajan, who has taken 400 Test wickets, said "Hopefully I will take another 400 wickets."

Johansson backs out of India job, team in a fix Indian TT team's Olympic 2012 preparations has hit a road block after Sweden's Anders Johansson refused to coach the national team citing family reasons. Initially, Johansson did show interest in coaching Indian players but his refusal has landed the team and the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) in a spot of bother.

"He wasted two months of ours. He should have told us much before. Now we will once again have to approach International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) for another coach," TTFI secretary Dhanraj Choudhury said last week. When asked if Johansson has backed out, Choudhury said: "He never joined the team. There's no question of backing out." According to TTFI, Johansson wanted a longer stint than only till the 2012 London Olympics.

The TTFI, in fact, had offered him the job after the Swede expressed his interest for the job. "We made an offer to him during the World Championships recently and it seemed he liked it. But he surprised us when he told us last week that he was not accepting the offer because of family reasons."

The Indian team is now without a permanent coach since Italian Massimo Constantini's tenure ended with the Asian Games in November last year. At the World Championships, former player Kamlesh Mehta accompanied the team. TTFI said they have already started their search for a suitable candidate.

Four Indians in all-time best team Tendulkar, Kapil, Gavaskar, Sehwag named in Greatest All-Time Test team in a poll Four Indian cricketers, including batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, were on Monday named in the Greatest All- Time Test XI chosen in an online poll.

The other two - Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag - beat a host of legendary cricketers to be named in the two openers’ slot. They beat competition from the likes of Geoffrey Boycott, Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Hanif Mohammad and Herbert Sutcliffe.

Four Australians, two West Indians and one Pakistani also made it to

31

Chennai will host the World Chess Championship title match between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand of Israel in April-May next year. Chief minister J Jayalalitha has assured Tamil Nadu government's support for the high-profile match. According to an official statement, World Chess Federation president Kirsan Illyumzhinov have met the chief minister. The nature or extent of government support for the best-of-12 match series with a projected expenditure of Rs 200 million could not be ascertained. Anand had won the title in 2010 defeating Vaselin Topalov 6.5-5.5 in Bulgaria and will be defending the crown against the 43-year old Gelfand, who qualified by winning the Candidates Tournament.

Deshmukh defeats Vengsarkar to become new MCA president Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was elected the new president of Mumbai Cricket Association. He defeated former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar by a margin of 47 votes in a straight contest.

Deshmukh, a vicepresident like Vengsarkar in the outgoing committee headed by another political bigwig Sharad Pawar, garnered 182 votes as against Vengsarkar's 135 to emerge triumphant in the biennial elections. Deshmukh had the backing of Pawar after the union agriculture minister became ineligible to contest the polls as per a clause in the MCA's constitution following a change of his permanent residence status from Mumbai to Baramati. Pawar's panel members Prof Ratnakar Shetty and Ravi Savant - were elected as vice-president and treasurer respectively while DY Patil Sports Academy's chairman Vijay Patil, who contested as an independent, became the other vice-president. Two other members of the Pawar panel - Dr P V Shetty and Nitin Dalal - also emerged victorious to become the two new joint secretaries.

India stun Qatar 2-1 in football friendly India stunned Qatar 2-1 in an international football friendly in one of the most memorable victories by the country over a top Asian side here on Sunday. Sunil Chhetri put India ahead in the 16th minute when he converted a penalty kick before Sushil Kumar Singh struck in the 73rd minute at the Al Sadd Stadium. Qatar pulled one back in the 74th minute through Ibrahim Khalfan. India had not beaten a top Asian side for a long time and it would boost new coach Armando Colaco's side ahead of their double-leg World Cup qualifiers against United Arab Emirates at Al Ain near Dubai on July 23 and in New Delhi on July 28. Qatar are ranked 94th in the world and ninth in Asia while India are now at 147th at FIFA rankings.

Lanka crush Scotland by 183 runs in ODI

Sachin Tendulkar

Kapil Dev

Sunil Gavaskar

Peoples’ Dream XI as more than a quarter of million people voted on ICC’s official website as part of the build-up to the England-India Test match at Lord’s to celebrate the 2000th cricket Test.

Tendulkar occupied the number four batting spot, one slot down Australian legend Don Bradman and one above West Indian Brian Lara, who was chosen at number five.

Kapil was chosen as the lone

all-rounder while Australian Adam Gilchrist won the poll for wicket-keeper. Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose and Glenn McGrath were named in the bowlers’ slots.

World Cup finalists Sri Lanka brought Scotland down to earth with a crushing 183 run win in one-day international last week. Sri Lanka, in the final match of their tour of Britain, made seven for 284 featuring fifties by openers Mahela Jayawardene and Dimuth Karunaratne. Scotland were then dismissed for their second lowest ODI total of 101, with Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga taking five for 30 in an innings where Majid Haq top-scored with 34 and no other batsman made more than 17. Sri Lanka's victory came just a day after Scotland posted their record ODI total of five for 323 to upset World Cup giant killers Ireland by five wickets.

32

Asian Voice - Saturday 23rd July 2011