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Air India on death bed: fails to pay salary to staff

Story on page 26

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

VOL 40. ISSUE 8

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True Grit: Unveiling Sri Lankan war crimes Terrorism has rarely been an answer to the violations of human rights carried out by one group of people on another. The Tamil Tigers or LTTE committed itself to violence, spurning all avenues to political dialogue. The endgame was their defeat in a murderous conflict with the Colombo government in which large numbers of innocent Tamil civilians suffered horribly. There has no peace dividend for the Tamil community at large, who remain a target of the have of the Rajapaksa government's paranoia and repression.

While the Channel 4 documentary 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' (aired on 13th June 11:05pm) brought tears to eyes of the audience, the content of the film has yet to melt the heart of the British government.

About 40 Sri Lankan Tamils are believed to be facing deportation,

25th June to 1st July0 2011

No consensus on Lokpal bill

Anna’s team, govt meet only to agree to disagree

Team Anna coming out after attending the final session of the drafting committee meeting of Lokpal bill in New Delhi

with human rights campaigners fearing that the refugees will face reprisals from the Sri Lankan authorities as the paperwork revealing their confidential details are

believed to have been passed onto the Sri Lankan government by UK officials.

Continued on page 15

^

Win a Mercedes-Benz C-Class worth £20,000 .

Visit your local site and guess the registration plate.

!!

In their last ditch attempt to give final touches to the draft Lokpal bill, Anna’s men and the government met for the last time on Tuesday with both sides not being able to come to a conclusion on key points, including

bringing the prime minister under the ambit of the ombudsman. This attitude of the government has convinced Anna to begin his fast for this movement again from August 16.

Continued on page 26

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2

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

one to one Keith Vaz MP with

Prof. Jonathan Shepherd, Vice-Dean, Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Director, Violence Research Group, Cardiff University Professor Jonathan Shepherd CBE, Jonathan Shepherd’s contributions to policy, legislation and practice in violence prevention, trauma services and tackling alcohol misuse stem from his continuing clinical practice and research. As a founder Trustee and Vice Chair of Victim Support he led the development of integrated services for victims. He was an expert witness in the trials of the killers of Damilola Taylor and Jimmy Mizen in London. As a member of the UK Firearms Consultative Committee he drafted guidance for doctors on reporting firearm offences. He led for health at the Prime Minister’s Summits on violent crime in 2000 and 2008. He is an elected member of Council and a trustee of the Royal College of Surgeons. He won the 2008 Stockholm Criminology Prize. He was appointed CBE in the 2008 New Year Honours. His research group won Cardiff University a Queen’s Prize in Higher Education in 2009.

What has inspired you in your career?

The plight of thousands of people injured in violence and accidents who have been my patients.

Discovering new things in my research, seeing them published and realising that organised campaigning can get the results acted on.

Realising that as a surgeon who treats victims of violence I have a unique and new perspective from which to study violence and what works to prevent it.

What are your proudest achievements?

Skin grafting a little girl’s burnt face in Nigeria. Building a Community Safety Partnership in Cardiff and seeing this model adopted throughout Britain. Having the information sharing arrangements I developed for violence prevention adopted by the

coalition government and recommended by the World Health O r g a n i s a t i o n .

Persuading the pub trade to switch to toughened glass. Prompting the first National Institute for Clinical Excellence guideline (on wisdom teeth operations).

Initiating the first UK police science institute.

Please tell us about your current position at Cardiff University?

I spend about half my time treating patients with mouth, face and jaw injuries and other conditions in the University Hospital and the Cardiff Dental Hospital and the other half leading my research group and teaching clinical students. My vice dean role involves making sure that research discoveries have real impact and don’t just sit in dusty books on library shelves.

What

has

been

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Here in the UK, many NRI’s & PIO’s have been gravely saddened and concerned at the events in India. Sunita Poddar, member of AAC (Action Against Corruption) and Trustee of The Patanjali Yog Peeth (UK) Trust said “We, the people of Indian Origin all over the world

What are your long term goals?

To see the violence prevention innovations I have developed from my research adopted in as many cities around the world as possible. To see the research and development arrangements which we take for granted in the NHS adopted in all our public services – particularly in education, policing and probation. To see the professions sharing expertise instead of working only in their own professional silos.

People ■ People- 21/06/11 Lord Patel of Blackburn hosted a book launch in the House of Lords for a book on the Indian Territory of Assam.

Refreshments were provided and much tea was drunk- Assam naturally.

■ Virendra Sharma MP and Jo Johnson MP have been elected Chair

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

I’d speed up public service reform by transforming R&D arrangements.

Implementing a new strategy on this would rapidly improve local services for people by making them more effective and efficient.

biggest obstacle in your career?

Having operations cancelled at the last minute is hugely frustrating. My cross country running at school taught me that there are always tough uphill stretches on a journey; for example the hard slog of study to pass exams and a PhD, putting in years of on call clinical work and revising research reports which don’t get published at the first attempt.

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

I was inspired by Professor David Poswillo, a surgeon at the Royal

College of Surgeons who I worked for when I’d just qualified in dental surgery; he was really excited by what good research could deliver for patients and facilitated my first research project. Professor David Farrington at Cambridge was hugely encouraging when I took my first steps in criminology.

What is the best thing about your position at Cardiff?

Having time to lead my terrific research team, for campaigning for reform based on the findings of this research and for surgical practice.

And the worst?

Successful protest held against violation of human rights Thousands of human beings along with Swami Ramdev assembled at a place where they thought they were absolutely safe.

But little did they know that in the middle of the night they would get brutally assaulted and forcefully removed by the Indian Police.

Juggling the very different demands of the job.

are deeply depressed, embarrassed and pained by this vulgar display of naked power. No justification of any kind can condone these vicious actions on the Indian Citizens”.

To show the solidarity a peaceful protest was held on Sunday, 19th June 2011 at the Old Palace Yard,

opposite the Houses of Parliament, London, SW1P 3JY, from 12pm-2.30pm.

The protest was deemed a great success and seen more than 500 in attendance of which 200 Indian organisations from the UK were represented including Councillors, MPs, local people and tourists.

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

Almost any leading 18th and 19th century British engineer; for example George and Robert Stephenson, Brunel, Richard Trevithick (who invented the first powered road and railway vehicles) and Sir William Arrol (the engineer who built the Forth Bridge), because they were great innovators and I’d like to know what motivated them and how they coped with risk. The Old Testament military leader, Joshua, would be good to get to know – a man of great faith, inspired, purposeful and dynamic.

Virendra Sharma MP

and deputy-Chair respectively of the Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group.

■ A new British High Commissioner to India has been announced.

James Bevan CMG will take over the role in November, once Sir Richard Stagg KCMG’s tenure finishes.

Human rights victory for rapists and pedophiles Thousands of sex offenders, including rapists and pedophiles, will be able to apply to be removed from the sex crimes register under human rights laws, the Government has announced.

The new rules were drawn up because the Supreme Court ruled that automatic lifetime inclusion on the register breached the Human Rights Act David Cameron said the ruling was “offensive,” but ministers say they have no choice but to comply by changing the rules on the register.

Rapper rejects Cambridge Uni A rapper Franklyn Addo (pictured) has turned down a place at Cambridge University because the city "has no music scene". The straight-A student, who grew up on a rough estate and had classmates who were jailed for gun and knife crime, was offered places at six universities after working hard to excel in his exams. But he has

turned down a chance to study politics, psychology and sociology at prestigious Cambridge because of its lacking music scene. Franklyn started rapping at 15 while studying at Cardinal Pole Catholic School in Hackney.

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

COMMENT

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Thought for the Week

India's Iron Man who walked tall Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a small man, physically, but he was among the tallest Indians of his generation, an administrator without peer, a politician blessed with second sight in the turmoil and violence that accompanied India's partition and freedom from nearly two centuries of British colonial rule. A statue being built to his memory in his native Gujarat has given rise to a measure of controversy, reports the Daily Telegraph's Correspondent in India, Dean Nelson. Mr Nelson points to the cost of the undertaking, ,saying that it consumed one-third of British aid to India. As none of this aid goes to Gujarat, and since the project is financed from the state's coffers the point has little relevance. Mr Nelson makes the case for poverty alleviation among Gujarat's 3.6 million poor. Placed in the context of Gujarat's population of 61 million, the reduction of poverty has surely been remarkable. The state's economic and social development model is attracting growing attention in other parts of India and even among experts abroad.

However, no statue, large or small, cheap or expensive, can do adequate justice to the Sardar's seminal contribution in knitting the disparate princely states into the Indian Union, a parliamentary federal system based on the rule of law and the individual rights of all its citizens irrespective of ethnicity, caste or religion.

Mr Nelson report would have been better served if Patel's life and career had been placed on this historical canvas, if there was even token reference to the schadenfreude of the British establishment (including the Raj and the London media) toward a fledgling India and its future prospects. India was seen through a glass, darkly, while Pakistan was viewed as the subcontinent's bright hope. No mention is made of Kashmir unless that it is a Muslim majority state, with no mention of its substantial Hindu and Buddhist minorities, or the rape, pillage and murder of Pakistan's Pathan levies when they invaded the territory in October 1947. Mr Nelson

perversely refers to Hyderabad, the scene of India's police action in September 1948 directed by Vallabhbhai Patel, as a “Muslim majority state” – which it was not – its ruler the Nizam was. The implications of an unjustified Indian invasion is mischevious in time-honoured fashion.

The most enduring monument to Sardar Vallabhbhai is not cast in stone. It is an imperishable book, “The Integration of the Indian States,” written by his principal aide V.P. Menon, who was at his side through the whole arduous process, in which events in Kashmir and Hyderabad are also recorded in scrupulous detail.

Sardar Patel's prescient warning, a week before his death in December 1950, on the consequences of China's invasion and occupation of Tibet for Indian security is well worth reading today as the Sino-India relationship keeps unfolding in all its menacing dimensions. As free India's first home minister, Sardar Patel earned the sobriquet of his country's “Iron Man”. He judged a situation with the precision of a bowman. He told Mahatma Gandhi (as did Jawaharlal Nehru) in no uncertain terms that his proposition to make Mohammed Ali Jinnah the head of a united India was totally unacceptable to the bulk of the Indian population, especially after Jinnah's call for a Direct Action Day on 16 August 1946 in which the goons of the Qaid-i-Azam's Muslim League perpetrated the “Great Calcutta Killings”. If there was to be an Islamic Pakistan, said Patel, so be it.

Pakistan duly came into being, but India was saved from what would have been a catastrophe without parallel. Communal bloodletting would have continued, weakening and withering the sinews of the state and society. Viewing Pakistan today every rational Indian will surely say, “There for the grace of God go I.” For his resolution and much more Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel will always have an honoured place in the hearts of the Indian masses.

Grooming needs to be tackled with greater vigour Grooming children for sex hit the media headlines not so long ago, but the issue, like the worst cancers, refuses to disappear. Richard Ford, Home Correspondent of The Times, writes: “Child sex grooming is a 'hidden issue' that police, social services and charities are failing properly to investigate, a damning report for ministers has concluded. More than 2,000 victims identified over the past three years are likely to represent a fraction of the total, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) will say in the first assessment of the extent of grooming to be published next week.”

However, there are fears that the report will engender a race row over its findings on the ethnicity of perpetrators. The result of the five-month investigation show that 20 per cent of perpetrators are of Pakistanii origin, although the term 'Asian' is used, presumably to protect investigators from charges of Islamophobia, a present-day scourge to be likened to the black death, the dreaded plague, in other words, that made Europeans centuries ago to recoil in fear and horror.

The obsessive desire of TV anchors in the UK and abroad to prove that the perpetrators represented only a small minority of the Muslim community, when Muslims were involved. This may well be true, but how small is 'small'? In any case, the problem remains, and children are still at risk. Isn't it time we got our priorities right. The welfare and protection of children should be our primary concern, with politi-

cal correctness best left to the tender mercies of weasels.

Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee struck the right note, saying, “The findings are a cause for enormous concern because it appears to be a much larger issue than originally imagined.” And while warning against stigmatising whole communities as perpetrators, he added: “If indeed it requires upsetting groups or individuals, it just has to be done because we need to get to the bottom of a vital issue in a careful and measured way so we can confirm the extent of the problem and whether there are any particular patterns to it.”

He called on all organisations to collaborate effectively in tackling the subject, whatever their ethnic background. We endorse Mr Vaz's sentiments.

Common humanity should come before all other considerations.

There is no room for complacency. Ann Coffey, the Labour Chairperson of the all-party parliamentary committee on runaway and missing children, said: “What is clear is that children are being trafficked across local police force borders, from flat to flat, for sex.....Some of these persons are from care homes and that is particularly disappointing as they are people we, the state, have taken into care because we think they are at risk and then they suffer this.”

Ms Coffee has summed up the situation well.

Now for more resolute action.

Crisis brewing in South China Sea The South China Sea is the setting for yet another of Beijing's trials of strength with what it regards in tributary terms as the Middle Kingdom's recalcitrant neighbours. They need to be taught a lesson on the true dimensions of power and learn to kowtow to their Han overlords. China has territorial problems with Japan over the Pacific waters (and island chains) to the north that wash their shores. China has laid exclusive claim to most of the South China Sea, which it describes as much a “core interest” as Taiwan and Tibet. The oracle having spoken, it is for China's smaller neighbours to take note.

Vietnam, the toughest nation in South East Asia, has understood the situation through long practice dealing with an arrogant bully clocked in the burkha of cultural autism. The widespread suspicion is that beneath the ocean bed lie abundant reserves of oil, and China's leaders are damned if anybody but they lay their grubby hands on this wealth.

Philippines has sent aircraft over the disputed area, and Malaysia also expressed its concretion. The US, long-time advocate of the freedom of the seas, is stirring, and so further afield is India. Rumours are afoot that China plans to divert the Brahmaputra northwards from Tibet, thereby reducing its flow into its northern plains. In which case the consequences for India would be dire. China has officially denied the intentions attributed to it, but who knows what will transpire in the future.

India and Vietnam are in close consultation over the latter's military modernisation. Henry Kissinger, one of America's foremost admirers of China, and an old foe of Vietnam, recalled recently how he had tried to persuade Beijing to open a military front against India in its war with Pakistan in 1971. Fear of Soviet retaliation kept China in check, but China is a predatory state much as Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany were in the 1930s.

Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?

Expediency asks the question - is it politic?

Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.

- Martin Luther King (1929-1968)

CIIr Rabi Martins Watford Borough Council

Know Goa Goans the world over including UK have started to commemorate the 50th anniversary of transition from a Portuguese Union Territory to an Indian State.

Surprisingly little is known of the Goan Community in the UK, despite the fact that Goa continues to be one an increasingly popular holiday destination for the British.

Why this should be remains a mystery particularly as Goans are a gregarious lot and are evident in almost every walk of life from politics to sport and from music to academia. A number have even managed to get to the high office in their chosen field amongst them – Keith Vaz and his sister Valerie bopranooth of whom are Members of Parliament, the celebrated tennis player Leander Paes and the notable opera singer Patricia Rozario.

Now two events in July will result in many more people starting to learn just who they are and how much they have contributed to their adopted homes abroad.

The first of these is the Asian Voice magazine which will be published in July.

The magazine will showcase Goans in the UK and abroad It will also carry a historical look at Goan Migration by Dr. Stella Mascarenhas-Keyes and feature examples of achievements by Goans in a range of disciplines There will also be something for those who are keen to get a share of India’s economic growth by investing in Goa. The other major event is the Global Goans Convention and Festival which will run

from 22nd July to 23rd Jul, organised by the Goan Association UK. Amongst those who will speak at the convention which will be held at the Bombay Brasserie on 23rd July are the Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP and the Goa NRI Commissioner Dr. Eduardo Faliero. The festival which will be held at Cranford Community College is expected to attract more than 3000 visitors and is an ideal opportunity to sample Goan Cuisine and enjoy traditional Goan music and dance.

The Goa government too is taking steps to get Goa and Goans better known through its Know Goa Program It is intended for students and young professionals in the age group of 18 to 28 years who have distinguished themselves in various fields and who have shown an abiding interest in Goa and in India.

The participants will be taken to educational, cultural, historical and industrial places of interest, besides interacting with local youth and elected representatives of Panchayats, Zilla Parishads and Municipalities and will meet State and Central Government officers, They will call on the Governor of Goa, Chief Minister, Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, etc. The programme also includes a visit to either National Capital Territory of Delhi or to the neighboring States of Maharashtra or Karnataka.

Anyone interested to know more can contact Rabi Martins in the first instant via Asian Voice or emailing him at Rabi@thepob.co.uk

ASIAN VOICE is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com www: abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

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LEICESTER VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Asian men accused of luring teenagers A gang of Asian men went on trial last week accused of a sickening catalogue of child prostitution offences against vulnerable teenage girls as young as 13.

The nine – six are married and one is a grandfather – face 55 charges, including Muhammed Ali Sultan Mahroof Khan Abdul Rouf inciting child prostitugirls and then tion, grooming and rape exploited them between 2007 and 2009. either for their The girls – who canown sexual gratnot be named for legal ification or for reasons –were said to money.’ have received cash, alcoMiss Gould hol, drugs, meals and told Stafford mobile phone credit in Crown Court exchange for sex with that the case some of the defendants. was ‘not about Three of the men – race, religion, Mohammed Islam Ahdel Ali, 23, his brother Noshad Hussain Choudhrey colour or creed’.

Mubarek Ali, 28, and and mobile telephones She said some of the Tanveer Ahmed, 39 – ‘out of sight, sounds and seven alleged victims allegedly acted as control of even the most came from troubled back‘pimps’, passing two of wary parent’. grounds and their low the young girls among Some of the girls first self-esteem made them their friends and using met the men in a church‘highly vulnerable’ to the them as sexual commodiyard in Telford, attentions of the men. ties.

Shropshire, which had She added: ‘They do Mubarek Ali is also become a gathering place not value themselves and accused of trafficking one for ‘young Asian males’ therefore have no expecof the girls, while Abdul who would smoke and tation that they will be Rouf, 34, and drink there. valued by others.

Mohammed Younis, 59, The court heard the 'Accordingly when are accused of using their Ali brothers would reguthey receive attention homes as brothels for larly present one of the from others, particularly child prostitution. girls for other men to what they perhaps perDeborah Gould, proshave sex with. She was ceive to be somewhat ecuting, said: ‘The Crown 16 at the time and didn’t exotic older males with say that the men in the realise at first that she money and cars, they dock variously trafficked, was being sold for sex, soak it up, believing raped or sexually abused Miss Gould added. themselves to be the girls both over and under Men would pay objects of genuine emothe age of 16 years over a between £20 and £40 and tions and affections. considerable period of would either hand the ‘They believed themtime. money to her ‘pimps’ or selves, and may still ‘These men ensnared pay her. She would then believe themselves, to be these girls. They had cars, hand the money to them loved by and in love with jobs and money which in exchange for mobile some of these men.’ gave them both freedom phone top-ups.

She said the alleged and power. They enticed At one stage, she was abusers would contact the girls, groomed the 14 weeks pregnant but their victims by computer

Summer of Melas to kick off with Leicester BBC Asian Network is due to celebrate a sixth Summer of Melas – packed with live music, highlights and top Asian artists.

The BBC Asian Network announced that it will descend upon five festivals as part of its Summer of Melas programme, bringing live music, highlights, picture galleries, videos and performances from some of the best Asian artists to listeners on-air and online at bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork.

Kicking off with the Leicester Mela on Sunday 10 July, the station will visit Cardiff (17 July), Manchester (23/24 July), with the London Mela being the centre of the station’s Mela coverage (4 September). Increasing its northern support through its new partner-

Tommy Sandhu at Leicester Mela last year

ship with the Newcastle Mela, the summer will finish here on 11 September.

Leading Asian Network presenters Tommy Sandhu, Noreen Khan and Sonia Deol will be the main stage hosts across all sites, with weekend and late-night presenters including DJ Kayper, Sunny & Shay, Panjabi Hit Squad and Dipps Bhamrah on DJ duties across the nation.

Throughout the Summer of Melas programme, listeners can enjoy performances from some of the biggest UK and international Asian artists.

Headliners throughout the season so far include Jassi Sidhu, JK and Malkit Singh, with new talents Jernade Miah, Shide Boss and The Truth amongst those being championed across the Summer.

Muhammed Younis

In brief

BAPIO annual conference held in Birmingham

Dr Ramesh Mehta Chairman of BAPIO, Sunil Gavaskar, Mr Kershal Singhal and Dr Hasmukh Shah

BAPIO annual conference was held in the International Convention Centre Birmingham on 4 June 2011. At the Conference 300 delegates attended including Doctors from various specialities General Practitioners and Dentists from all over the United Kingdom. In the evening 600 people attended for an Indian dinner including musicians along with famous Cricket Legends Sunil Gavaskar and Imran Khan.

Tanveer Ahmed

Mubarek Ali continued to sell her for sex, the jury heard. It is not known what happened to the baby.

After teachers and parents raised fears that the girls were being sexually abused, a police investigation named Operation Chalice began.

In December 2009, officers arrested most of the defendants and charged them with various offences related to child prostitution.

The men on trial – who all used Western nicknames – are Ahdel Ali, Mubarek Ali, Mohammed Ali Sultan, 24, Tanveer Ahmed, Mahroof Khan, 33, Noshad Hussain, 21, Mohammed Islam Choudhrey, 52, Mohammed Younis and Abdul Rouf.

They deny all charges.

The trial continues.

Women racially abused in a bar

A man racially abused four Asian women before spitting on one of them in a bar. The attack took place at about 9.20pm on Sunday, May 29, in Queens Road, Leicester.

The man then left the premises, walking off towards Avenue Road Extension.

Police, who this week released information about the incident, did not name the bar. The man is white, aged about 40, of medium build, with a shaven head and stubble. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt.

Doctor marries stranger on telephone A hospital doctor who allegedly married by telephone a man she had never set eyes on has failed to convince a Scots judge the marriage was a sham.

Munazza Ahmed, 26, met a car dealer over the internet, and, against her parents' wishes, went ahead and married him.

Lord Stewart, sitting at the Court of Session, was told that Dr Ahmed had never met Nadeem Kazmi, either before or after the wedding and that there were suspicions the marriage was a scam by Mr Kazmi to get round immigration rules. Dr Ahmed, of Howard Place, Edinburgh, had gone to court to try to get a decree of nullity to end the marriage.

However, in a written submission, Lord Stewart ruled he had no power to declare the marriage void as it appeared to be valid under Pakistani law. He suggested Dr Ahmed take her case to a court in Pakistan.

Mastermind in fake car crash insurance scam sent to prison The mastermind in a £50,000 car insurance scam has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Hooman Jaffari (38), of Burnaston Road, Aylestone, Leicester, acted as intermediary between people who faked crashes and an innocent claims company.

He was found guilty of four counts of fraud by false representation at a trial in April.

Six other defendants were also sentenced at Leicester Crown Court.

The defendants made false statements about four collisions. Only one of the crashes was proved to have happened.

Jaffari acted as a middle man between them and a claims company in Lancashire.

The defendants gained

almost £50,000 through the false claims – £35,000 of which went to Jaffari, who ran Accident Experts Limited insurance company, in Birmingham.

Phil Bradley, in mitigation, said Jaffari, was "not an evil man" and was capable of "good honest endeavour".

Five defendants found guilty of four counts of fraud by false representation were Jaffari; Jeffrey Joseph (38), of Oronsay Road, Beaumont Leys, Leicester; Mehri Ashkboos (45), of Bloomfield Road, Aylestone, Leicester; Alfred Bezchello (40), of Doncaster; and Mosen Assadigohar (46), of Leeds.

Kiranjit Mand (31), of Birmingham; Mati Irannezhad (49), of

Tipton, and Mahmoud Bahri-Hajtarkhani (28), of Manchester, admitted one count of fraud by false representation Ashkboos was given a 12-month community order and required to attend an education and employment training centre for 20 days.

Mand received a 12month community order with unpaid work, Bezchello a community order and curfew, BahriHajtarkhani a community order, Irannezhad a sixmonth community order and Assadigohar a 12month community order and curfew.

Joseph was visiting his sick mother in Jamaica and was not sentenced.

Police began the investigation after a tip-off in 2008.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Proud to be a 'Dilliwala'

By Rupanjana Dutta Dr SY Quraishi, is the current chief election commissioner of India. An alumni of St Stephen's College in Delhi, Dr Quraishi joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1971 and had worked in the governments both Centre and state levels. He had earned distinction for his study of modern Persian, Arabic and German languages before joining the civil service.

Later in his career, Dr Quraishi received a Ph.D for his thesis on "Role of Communication and Social Marketing in Development of Women and Children".

Dr Quraishi is known for his scholarly work on innovative approaches to issues faced by the Muslim community.

Paying tributes to Old Delhi, where his family has been living for 500 years, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi has released his book ‘Old Delhi Living Traditions' in New Delhi earlier this year. Published

by Shubhi Publications, the book has lavish spreads of pictures and paintings interspersed by interesting nuggets and recipes about the heritage core of the city. This book will be launched at the Nehru Centre on Saturday 25th June at 5pm in presence of eminent personalities as guest of honour like S K Misra, former Chairman of INTACH & Martin Lutyens, Chairman, The Lutyens Trust and Lord Hameed of Hampstead will chair the event.

Dr Quraishi spoke to Asian Voice at an exclusive interview.

AV: What inspired you to write this book on Old Delhi?

I am proud of my association with Old Delhi.

My family has lived here for nearly 500 years. Delhi has been the natural capital of India through three thousand years right from the days of Mahabharata.

It has been the seat not only of political power but of culture and literature as well through seven incarnations- the proverbial seven cities of Delhi.

While a number of books have been written about history of the seventh Delhi (the existing 'Old Delhi') and its monuments, very little account is available about its rich life and culture. This coffee table book is a byproduct of my bigger project of capturing my ancestral city's social and cultural life.

Besides capturing my own reminiscences of growing up here, I have interviewed over 30 interesting persons (in the 60 to 100 years age bracket!)

Dr SY Quraishi

with their diverse experiences growing up, living and working there. I will soon convert these into 'Oral History' and put it on the web so that people have a first hand account.

AV: When people talk about old delhi, it's all about the Red Fort and the Chandni Chowk. If you had to promote one particular place in Old Delhi, which place will it be?

Without hesitation Jama Masjid- though Red Fort and Chandni Chowk are indeed the heart of the city. Why Jama Masjid?

Because within a square kilometre of this grand mosque you have everything- the biggest markets of India and Asia of paper, jewellery, spices, textiles, electronics- you name it, we have it! Every stone here is steeped in history.

AV: Born almost around the eve of independence, how will you define the political growth of India with all these corruption issues cropping up?

Corruption is a global phenomenon.

Singling India out won't be fair. If you look at it positively, you will admit that India has become a power to reckon with in short span of 60 years due to the mature political leadership. No doubt there is widespread corruption too that requires immediate correctives. I would take an optimistic view.

AV: William Dalrampyle wrote about Old Delhi, in fact from Mughal times till nowhow is your book different?

William Dalrymple has indeed written a very authentic account of Old Delhi through the Mughal times. It is well researched and brilliantly analytical.

He has met some very

good people who have a wealth of experience of the city. However his book is after all an outsiders account- that of a foreigner. Therefore at best a second hand account. A great shortcoming of his that he didn't meet me! My book is a coffee table book with short narrative of personal experience with lots of photographs, taken by amateurs.

AV: You have extensively worked on HIV Aids. India has been one of the most affected country. Has the condition improved now?

I had indeed headed the National AIDS Control Organisation.

Even before that I had pioneered a programme of HIV awareness called Universities Talk AIDS. I can confidently say that India is a great success story in HIV control and the main reason is that we came out of the denial mode ('it can't happen to us' syndrome) and framed the most comprehensive strategy. It is clear to the world that we have been on the right track. We have not only contained the problem, but signs of its reversal are clearly evident too.

AV: What is your take on the economic condition of the west (especially Britain), while east and the BRIC countries are growing by leaps and bounds?

Economic situation of the Westespecially Britain- continues to be worrisome with no clear strategy in sight. Indian (+BRIC) have handled it well with a mix of conservative and bold measures.

AV: What is your message for the British Asians who are originally from Delhi, never been there and will learn about Delhi through your books?

I am sure Delhiites (Dilliwalas) in Britain and elsewhere do have a feeling of nostalgia for their beloved city. They should make an effort to visit the city along with their young families, while the remnants of the old civilisation are still intact. Their hearts will surely be filled with pride that they belong to the city that was once the greatest capital of the world.

5

OBE Honour for businessman Mayank B. Patel Mayank B Patel OBE, Group Chairman of Azibo Group has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Financial Services Industry and to Entrepreneurship.

Mayank is an investor and an entrepreneur with business interests spanning five continents in financial services and real estate. His business portfolio includes Currencies Direct Limited, Tor Currency Exchange (TorFx) and Universal VAT services (UVS). His presence in the foreign exchange and payment space is now considered to be one of the biggest in the UK. Mayank has won numerous awards in

recognition of his business achievements. He was named BT Entrepreneur of the Year 2002 and the Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 by the London Business Awards. In 2004 Mayank was honoured with the award for Excellence by the former Prime Minister of India, Mr I K Gujral in New Delhi. Fast growth and success has also seen Mayank listed in various publications including Management Today's listing of Britain's top 100 entrepreneurs.

He is married with two children. He is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts,

Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Mayank regularly sits on the judging panels of some of UK’s most prestigious Business Awards and his strong desire to see more young British businesses succeed has led to him providing advice and mentoring.

The Goan Association (UK) awarded historic grant The Goan Association (UK) has been awarded a historic grant of £38,300/by The Heritage Lottery Fund.

This is the first grant of its kind, supporting a study of the British-Goan community which arrived predominantly from East Africa by mid-twentieth century. Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, affirmed, “Both British colonial history and Goan heritage in the UK will be enhanced by this project that will also help current and future generations learn more of their cultural background.”

The two-year project

will gather information primarily through video and audio interviews, conducted by a team of volunteers, to study the displacement, transition and resettlement of the community emerging from post-Colonial East Africa. The findings will be disseminated through workshops, a publication and an exhibition. They will be archived in leading British institutions as well as a website designed for the purpose.

Mr Flavio Gracias, President of The Goan Association (UK), said, “This grant assures us that the Goan community is part of the national nar-

rative and the preservation of its historical and cultural past is an integral part of Britain’s heritage.

The study is an opportunity to re-examine and put right misconceived stereotypes, engage in conversations with a larger audience and build a repository of learning for future generations of Goans.” The project will be led by Selma Carvalho, author of ‘Into the Diaspora Wilderness’, Clifford Pereira, Historical-Geographer, academic researcher and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and Eddie Fernandes, editor of GoanVoice UK.

Achievements by the 'Tomorrow's People' A new report by an independent by an independent team of economists has highlighted the value to society created by Tomorrow's People, a national employment charity that for nearly 30 years has been transforming lives through getting long-term unemployed back to work.

Launched on 17th June at the Bank of England, the report analyses the achievements of Tomorrow's People in economic terms and was pro-

duced by FTI Consulting, working through Pro Bono Economics, a charity that provides economists to help third sector organisations to measure and explain their results.

The report estimates that every £100 invested in Tomorrow's People employment programmes creates value of around £240 for British society.

Author of the report Pratik Dattani of FTI Consulting (pictured) told Asian Voice: The

report highlights the need for more consistent methods of measuring the impact of charities across the sector...The introduction of the Work Programme and increasing popularity of social impact bonds, coupled with a reduction in Government spending means that there is a pressing need to create a clear and consistent way of benchmarking charities to help individuals, organisations and the Government when deciding where to channel funds..."

Trial date set for trio accused of shooting Three men accused of shooting a five year-old Hainault girl in a gang attack are to stand trial at the Old Bailey in the New Year.

T h u s h a Kamaleswaran, of Tomswood Hill, was left paralysed from the waist down after a bullet hit her in the back at her uncle’s shop, Stockwell Food and Wine store, in Stockwell

on March 29.

Her mother, 12 yearold brother and three year-old sister were unhurt but shop assistant Roshan Selvakumar, 35, suffered a head wound.

Nathaniel Grant, 20, of Camberwell New Road, Camberwell; Kazeem Kolawole, 18, of Black Prince Road, Lambeth and Anthony McCalla, 19, of Oakdale Road,

Streatham are each charged with two counts of attempted murder in relation to the incident on March 29.

They were remanded in custody.

Thusha, who went to Fairlop Primary School, Colvin Gardens, Hainault, is still being treated in hospital. No family members were in court for the hearing.

6

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Journeys for Change

By Spriha Srivastava

Ten decades of Ragas Famous Sitar player Ravi Shankar is celebrating his 10th decade with performances across UK. He performed at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham and now at the Barbican centre in London. He is also expected to perform at the Usher hall in Edinburgh.

Titled as the “Evening of Ragas, the Sitar maestro is accompanied by Tanmay Bose on tabla, Ravichandra Kulur on flute and Parimal Sadaphal on sitar.

It is said that Shankar has developed a style distinct from that of his contemporaries and incorporated influences from rhythm practices of Carnatic music. His performances begin with solo alap, jor, and jhala (introduction and per-

formances with pulse and rapid pulse) influenced by the slow and serious dhrupad genre, followed by a section with tabla accompaniment featuring compositions associated with the prevalent khyal style. Shankar often closes his performances with a piece inspired by the light-classical thumri

genre.

Shankar has been considered one of the top sitar players of the second half of the 20th century and was awarded the three highest national civil honors of India: Padma Bhushan, in 1967, Padma Vibhushan, in 1981, and Bharat Ratna, in 1999. He also received the music award of the UNESCO International Music Council in 1975, three Grammy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Celebration of his 10th decade is a huge achievement not only for Shankar but for the music community of this world.

Everyone loves Bhangra Bhangra, a typical dance based on music from a Punjabi folk drum, folk singing, and a singlestringed instrument called the iktar; the tumbi and the chimta seem to have become extremely popular in the UK. A lot of you might say, what’s new about it?

Well, it’s surprising when Brazilian and Hawaiian clubs start playing bhangra and non-Asians start to experiment with it.

I came across a young group of British journalists who said they loved to go to clubs that play a mix of different music and bhangra has to be on the list. One of them said, “When they play bhangra all I want to do is jump on the dance floor and do those steps that my Indian friends have taught me.

It is so much fun and so relaxing. I love it.”

It’s always useful to

give a little background of this famous dance style. Bhangra took large steps toward mainstream credibility in the 1990s, especially among youths.

At the beginning of the nineties, many artists returned to the original, folk beats away from bhangra music, often incorporating more dhol drum beats and tumbi.

This time also saw the rise of several young Punjabi singers.

Beginning around 1994, there was a trend towards the use of samples mixed with traditional folk rhythm instruments, such as the tumbi and dhol. Using folk instruments, hiphop samples, along with relatively inexpensive folk vocals imported from Punjab, Punjabi folk music was able to abolish bhangra music.

In 2010, the story of how bhangra arrived and developed in the UK

was told in the stage musical Britain's Got Bhangra, produced by Rifco Arts. The show was the first ever bhangra musical, with much of the show in Punjabi, making use of the live dhol, dholak and tabla throughout, and has traditional folk melodies as well as an original score by Sumeet Chopra with crossovers into pop, rap and R&B. Today, Bhangra is a favourite not only among Asians but even among those with no connection with Asia.

The music brings together people from different communities and that’s what makes it so special.

Any dance night without a “mundiya tu bach ke rahi” seems incomplete and my Saturday night at a Brazilian club felt complete the moment I heard the words “balle balle” Long Live Bhangra music!

ICJ holds conference International Council of Jurists organised an “International Conference of Jurists for Judicial Reforms” at the Hotel Crown Plaza in London. The invitees include Rt. Hon’ble Lord Phillips, President of Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Chief Justices, Law Ministers, Judges of the highest Courts, Members of Parliament, corporate advocates, Bar leaders,

Chartered Accountants, social activists, diplomats and media persons.

The conference was supported by many global law firms like the Singhania & Co. Firm which is a UK-India law firm with offices in both the countries.

The conference focused on issues such as Accountability and Judicial Reforms, Role of Alliance and Networking between Law Firms,

Accountancy Firms and M a n a g e m e n t Consultancy Firms, Role of Corporate Governance in Strengthening the Economy, Legal Education - A Global Perspective, Human Rights and Terrorism, Bribery & Corruption, Relationship amongst Judiciary, Legislature and Executive and Arbitration and Mediation.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at spriha@abplgroup.com

Anand Shukla, Pratik Dattani, Sukhi Ghuman, Pradeep Pursnani, Pauline Miller, Bijna Dasani, Kamel Hothi, Mamta Saha, Aekta Mahajan, Talei Loto

The City Hindus Network (CHN), in partnership with State Street Corporation, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, on last Thursday welcomed over 200 delegates to an evening reception with an esteemed panel of leading British-Asian personalities discussing cultural ethics vs. business principles and their own inspiring personal and professional motivations at the event titled ‘Journeys for Change.’

The collaboration was hosted by the Global Inclusion team at State Street in their Canary Wharf offices. The CHN is a non-profit organisation created to promote networking, education and charity amongst Hindu professionals.

The Chair, Mamta Saha of Think Spa London was accompanied by a distinguished panel Kamel Hothi, Asian Market Director Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets; Anand Shukla, Acting Chief Executive of UK childcare charity Daycare Trust; Pradeep Pursani, business director at the Shell Foundation; and Sukhi Ghuman, CEO of Octavian Security.

The guests included City professionals and leading business figures who contributed to the debate, which explored: l Cultural ethics vs. corporate principles l Behaviour shifts amongst generations of

‘British-Asians’ l Drivers for success and motivations for philanthropy l Enriching pearls of wisdom Kamel Hothi, who progressed her career from a cashier at Lloyds TSB to Asian Markets Director after successfully breaking through many gender and race-related glass ceilings, said “I’m delighted to have participated as a panellist on the Journeys for Change event. The State Street and CHN collaboration has established a platform where differing ideas, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives are welcomed, respected, and valued; last night’s event was the ideal opportunity to inform, inspire and engage with the next generation of leaders. As someone who has been involved in many seminars and events, the professionalism and passion I witnessed behind organising this panel was very impressive and I am sure is one of the main reason for its success.”

Sukhi Ghuman, Chief Executive of Octavian emphasised “I’m pleased to have participated as a panellist – Journeys for Change sparked an unprecedented enthusiasm for subsequent discussions. It’s fantastic to have inspired by appealing to noble motives and challenging the audience to achieve a higher level of achievement.”

The consistent message in the panel discussion and responses to questions from the audience was how the panellists continuously persevered to achieve their goals, and how their spiritual philosophies helped them remain resilient in the face of obstacles.

Pauline Miller of State Street said: “We were delighted to host the City Hindus Network at our offices. State Street is committed to engagement with the communities in which we operate.

This is our second collaboration with CHN.” Bijna Dasani, patron of the State Street Global Inclusion and CHN partnership said “We are delighted to have hosted such a successful event.

The panellists share a superb palette of credentials; they’ve enriched and inspired the delegates who have been filled with a new level camaraderie and enthusiasm.”

Aekta Mahajan, a committee member for the City Hindus Network, which hosts regular networking events for Hindu professionals, said: “This workshop provided an inspiring platform to show younger professionals that, even in the current economic environment, it is possible to find a deeper meaning in life. It is possible to experience personal growth without sacrificing your passions or your spirituality.”

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Anish Kapoor adds a new property to his glory The British sculptor has bought a manor house overlooking the Chiltern Hills with plenty of room out the back for his creations.

Anish Kapoor and his wife Susanna (pictured) also own an estate in Oxfordshire.

The man famous for his giant curved creations has paid £5m for landed property shaped like a compound. The walled courtyard will give him ample space to create his sculptures or mount the huge mirrors that have become part of his signature as an artist.

The purchase of the grade II-listed Georgian manor house marks the end of a long journey from the flat he first lived in after arriving in London in 1973, where he fed the gas meter with 50p pieces.

Kapoor, 57, the son of an Iraqi Jewish mother and a Hindu father in the Indian navy, has had honours heaped on him since he left art

school. He represented Britain at the 1990 Venice Biennale and a year later won the Turner prize.

He has built up a fortune worth more than £45m and has been house-hunting in the home counties for almost two years. Now he has opted to buy Brightwell Place, near Watlington, in Oxfordshire. The estate comprises a five-bedroom Georgian manor house, a dower house, a farm cottage, farm buildings and a stable yard.

Kapoor has an impressive property portfolio. He bought a former factory in south London in 2001 to create a studio. He paid £2.7m for a newly built home in Chelsea and in 2009 added a £4m townhouse in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, central London. He also owns a £2m property in the Bahamas.

Mark McAndrew, head of estate sales at Strutt & Parker, refused to confirm the identity of the Brightwell Place buyer.

A spokesman for Kapoor declined to comment.

BBC to apologise to Primark The BBC will make an on-air apology after its governing body said a Panorama programme about Primark probably faked a scene about the retailer’s working practices.

The findings of the BBC Trust’s investigation into the episode Primark: On The Rack were released last week, saying there had been ‘serious editorial failings’ in the programme.

It added it was ‘more likely than not’ that shots of three young boys in the Indian city of Bangalore in a workshop ‘testing the stitching’ on Primark tops were ‘not authentic’.

The scenes were said to have shown the youngsters inspecting vest-tops and making sure ‘sequins don’t end up falling off in the hands of customers back in Britain’.

But on closer inspection the BBC Trust claimed there were inconsistencies and improbabilities.

The programme, broadcast in

June 2008, had sought to investigate whether Primark could make ‘cheap, fast fashion without breaking ethical guidelines’.

Apologising on BBC1, the corporation is under pressure to hand back a Royal Television Society Award it won for the programme.

It will also have to display an apology on the Panorama website for a week and was told the footage can never be repeated or sold abroad.

The BBC could still be hit with a fine for breaching broadcasting as media regulator Ofcom said it would consider any complaint made to it by Primark.

The trust’s Editorial Standards Committee examined evidence such as the unedited ‘rushes’ of the programme and emails to the production team from the freelance journalist Dan McDougall, who obtained the footage.

Yesterday’s ruling noted six points that indicated the footage

might not be genuine in the 45-second clip. This included the size of needles used, which it was claimed would have been ‘inappropriate’ for ‘delicate’ work they were doing.

Primark described the finding as ‘extraordinary’, claiming shoppers had been ‘fed a lie’. It even suggested the BBC had been in possession of enough evidence to prove the scenes were not real before it broadcast them.

Helen Boaden, BBC director of news, said: ‘This is a very, very serious ruling and extremely chastening, and we need to learn from it.’

Shopkeeper's life tormented for frogmarching a shoplifter A respected shopkeeper suffered a gruelling ten-month court ordeal and was warned he could face life in jail - for frogmarching a 15-year-old shoplifter home to the teenager's family.

Owais Dar, 26, (pictured), thought he was doing the right thing when he caught the boy stealing a bunch of grapes. He drove the teenager home and had a word with his father.

But two days later, at four in the morning, Mr Dar was woken by police banging on the door and was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment.

At this point the Crown Prosecution Service was advised by a lawyer to take no further action.

However a senior police officer

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said Mr Dar's conduct was 'intolerable', and the case should be tried in the public interest because of the disparity in age between the defendant and the boy.

Mr Dar was due to face trial at Burnley Crown Court on last Wednesday after denying the charge, for which the maximum sentence is life in prison. But instead he was bound over in the sum of £250 for 12 months, and the charge was left to lie on file.

Afterwards Mr Dar, of Nelson, Lancashire, said: 'To be honest I just think it's ridiculous. This has been

going on for ten months now and I'm just glad it's all over.

'We've never had any trouble in the shop before and I always thought I was a nice person just trying to do the right thing. This is a family shop which my parents have owned since I was six months old and a place where I've always worked and now I don't feel I can.' However, the hearing was told that Mr Dar was arrested because the boy claimed he had been driven around for 15 to 20 minutes.

He also alleged that Mr Dar had slapped his face and threatened him in the car, but was said to have seemed more frightened of his father than the defendant when he arrived home.

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7

Migrants take jobs, as others don’t Frank Field, the former Labour Minister has criticised the Coalition government as 400,000 new jobs have gone to migrants, which is about 87% of the total jobs available, as per a front page report by the Daily Telegraph on Monday June 20th.

He further said that David Cameron's plans to reform welfare are not radical enough as they do not punish the workshy or reward those who have contributed to the benefits system. He has also dismissed proposals to simplify the benefits system as “Gordon Brown’s approach, on speed”.

He called for “good, reliable” people who have worked and paid National Insurance to be prioritised for help above others, particularly those who have not contributed to society.

What he fails to understand is that the migrants are usually more pro active than the natives and are those 'good,reliable' people with suitable education, regularly paying national insurance and taxes without fail! They are to

Frank Field MP

be rewarded and not punished!

While these migrants are ready to take up any job and sustain their family, they are also hard working and are ready to go withstand any situation to earn a basic living. They often also accept discriminations, meagre pay and inhumanly job environment to fulfil their roles.

It is unwise for an MP like Frank Field to blame the government or David Cameron. The rise in migrant percentage (from 80 to 87%) in newly created jobs, is hardly the result of a government policy! It is more of people's attitude than a government ruling.

The former Minister must realise he is making a typical ignorable blame on people with black and brown skin!

Caring Seven Kings teen nominated for Young Citizen Award A caring schoolboy who has dipped into his own pocket to help raise funds for people less fortunate has been described as “very special”.

Bilal Muhammad, 13, of Seven Kings, has used his passion for art to help poorly children and organised a raffle to help victim’s of last year’s Pakistan floods.

His fundraising efforts earned him a nomination for the Recorder/Rotary Young Citizen Award, sponsored by the Exchange Ilford. Bilal was nominated by his sisters Halima, 16, and Fiaza, 22.

When he was 10, Bilal organised an art competition with his own pocket money at Manor Junior School, Barking.

He asked peers to draw their own hand and decorate the outline, with Bilal choosing the winner. The money

Bilal Muhammad

raised from entry fees was given to charity Muslim Hands to buy a milking goat for an African family.

He also painted two calligraphy art works and donated them to charity auctions, raising £160. He has been commended by teachers at Barking Abbey School, Barking, for helping a wheelchair-bound pupil and he is currently doing voluntary work with his school at a care home.

Bilal’s mum Ghazala said: “He’s really special.

“When he was younger he offered to walk his teacher’s dog because her mum was elderly and couldn’t really do it any more.”

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8

www.abplgroup.com

Dee Katwa

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

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

MP regrets providing reference for mortgage fraudsters Controversial Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood has once again hit the headlines. This time for providing a criminal gang with a House of Commons reference which they used to mastermind a £50 million mortgage fraud.

Labour MP Mahmood, pictured, who represents Perry Barr, admitted supplying thief Mozam Aziz with a reference on a House of Commons headed notepaper. “But I was misled,” he told a Sunday Mercury reporter. “I had no idea what they were doing. It was an error of judgment.” Mr Mahmood had supplied the reference to Mozam Aziz, 39, who was just a figurehead for the fraud, which was masterminded by Midland brothers Saghir Ahmed Afzal, 49, and 53year-old Nisar Ahmed

Afzal. Last week, the former was jailed for 13 years, along with Ian “Flash” McGarry, a bent valuer, who got seven years behind bars.

McGarry had been paid more than £1 million in

bribes to inflate property values by as much as 800 per cent. Nisar remains a free man and investigators say he is ‘living like a king’ in Pakistan despite him having been wanted by police for five years.

The Afzals used their ill-gotten gains to fund a lavish lifestyle which saw them snap up luxury houses around the world and splash out millions on sports cars, including their beloved Maseratis and Ferraris. They are believed to have shipped over to Pakistan sports cars worth £2 million between 2003 to 2005.

Investigators also discovered that Saghir had signed up to build a £270 million golf course near Malaga in Spain, com-

plete with a helipad and 1,000 luxury villas on site.

MP Mahmood said he regretted providing the reference, adding “I will be much more careful in future”. He explained: “I took these people on face value. I thought they were up and coming businessmen. I didn’t realise what they were doing.

They asked me for it, and one of my assistants sorted the letter out.” This complex and massive case had come to the attention of West Midlands Police following an anonymous tip-off from a member of the public suspicious about the sale of a property to the Cheshire Building Society.

Doctor Arora struck off

Uninsured drivers’ shame

An ‘incompetent’ Birmingham hospital doctor has had his name erased from the medical register for the second time in three years. Dr Om Parkash Arora, who worked at Heartlands Hospital, was banned by the GMC in 2008 but had the decision overturned in an appeal to the High Court. At the latest hearing, the GMC found Punjabi doctor Arora, who had not worked for five years, was not safe to be a doctor.

Birmingham contains three of the top five postcode areas in the UK for uninsured drivers. The official figures were released by the Motor Insurance Database as the government prepares a new clampdown on motorists without vehicle insurance. Small Heath (B10), Handsworth (B21) and Saltley (B8) are all among the country’s five worst areas for drivers without insurance. The other two areas, occupying first and second place in the league of shame, are Barkerend in Bradford, and West Gorton in Manchester.

Featuring kids for commercial gain New proposals to protect children from sexualisation and commercialisation in the media have been highlighted in a new report by Reg Bailey, chief executive of the Mothers’ Union. The report, Letting Children be Children, calls on businesses and the media to play their part in protecting children from the increasingly sexualised ‘wallpaper’ that surrounds them.

According to the Advertising Association, 21 per cent of marketers had used teenagers aged 16-17 as ‘brand ambassadors’, while six per cent had used 13-to-15year-olds.

New legal service in Hindi Midlands-based law firm Challinors has launched a new specialised service for the Asian community. The decision to set up the Asian unit, which includes a dedicated speaking helpline in Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi, was triggered by the firm’s extensive work with the Asian community in Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Halesowen and Birmingham. Challinors has five offices across the Midlands and 22 partners, of which four are from an Asian or ethnic minority background.

Sir Albert joins Mayor contest Birmingham Labour leader Sir Albert Bore has launched his campaign to become the city’s first elected mayor. It puts the 65-yearold in a head-to-head contest with former Erdington MP Sion Simon for the Labour nomination. Sir Albert, pictured, who led Birmingham City Council for five years until 2004, said that if chosen and elected he will bring Birmingham’s transport network into the 21st century and tackle the city’s high levels of deprivation. Sir Albert is ex-husband of Najma Hafeez, who was the youngest and first woman to be elected to Birmingham City Council in 1983, then aged just 22.

Awards for Chinese role models A handful of remarkable individuals from Birmingham’s 20,000-strong Chinese community were singled out for praise as part of an inaugural awards ceremony. Held at the Chung Ying Garden Restaurant, the event brought together over 100 people, including the city’s new Lord Mayor, Councillor Anita Ward, and the Council’s Equalities tsar Councillor Alan Rudge. Businessman Jerry Zheng, 26, was crowned Young Entrepreneur; the Young Achiever title was bestowed on 17-year-old grammar school pupil Wai-Ming, who passed his GCSEs with 12 grade A-stars. The programme was MC’d in English by architect Simon Tong with his Chinese translator co-host Yu Ning Zhang. The event was organised by Irene Chu and her team at Birmingham Chinese Society in partnership with the local authority.

Perween made a Patron A female Asian entrepreneur from the Midlands, Perween Warsi, has been made a patron of Derby Women’s Centre. Mrs Warsi, pictured, who owns and runs S & A Foods, an ethnic ready-meals business, joins other patrons comedienne Jo Brand and IT entrepreneur Kavita Oberoi. The centre, founded in 1978, helps thousands of vulnerable local women offering counselling advice among many services.

In Loving Memory…

The Modi family from Coventry chose the perfect day, Father’s Day, to celebrate the life of Vithaldasbhai whose death anniversary coincided with this date. Friends and family took part in an afternoon bhajans and “food” bhojan event at Leicester’s Hindu Temple last Sunday. Jitesh Modi described his grandfather “a true legend, an amazing gent and we deeply miss him.”

News in Brief Trio plead guilty to manslaughter Three men have admitted attacking Midland accountant Vijay Thaper, pictured, who died six weeks later after complications from his injuries. Sandeep Lotey, 24, Saranjeet Lotey, 22, and Pritpal Singh Panesar, 21, are due to be sentenced on July 8 after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Mr Thaper, 61, died last March from pulmonary thrombosis, brought on by the attack injuries.

Funding boost for queer festival SHOUT, Birmingham’s only festival of queer culture, has secured a £46,575 grant, thanks to Arts Council England. SHOUT, now in its third year, and which aims to promote the diversity of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities, will take place from 3-27 November. To find out more visit www.shoutfestival.co.uk

BCABA Awards Raaj Radio picked up the Community Excellence Award at the Black Country Asian Business Association’s annual awards event last Friday. The keynote speaker was Derby-based ethnic foods guru Perween Warsi. Full report next week.

New prison chief Sue Saunders has been named the new director, and first-ever female boss, of HMP Birmingham. Ms Saunders, pictured, former Governor at HMP & YOI Holloway, has worked in the Prison Service for 21 years, starting as a prison officer, and working her way up through the ranks. She will begin her role in October.

Dr Dunn faces ban for faking CV A Midland GP has been found guilty of lying about her qualifications. Dr Kumud Rekha Dunn, 43, of Haslucks Medical Centre, in Shirley, dishonestly claimed she was an official member of the Royal College of Physicians and had a Bachelor of Science. She had neither. An MRCP allows doctors to become consultants, but Dr Dunn, pictured, had repeatedly failed the exam. She blamed her dishonesty on becoming “consumed with a determination to get an MRCP”, at a GMC hearing in Manchester last week. Dr Dunn lives in Warwick with her 45-year-old husband Matthew, an A&E consultant at Warwick Hospital.

Student killer jailed for life A teenager who murdered promising Birmingham student Yajay Sudra has been locked away behind bars for life. Yajay, 21, was walking home from work around 11.20pm on July 9 last year when he was attacked by Lamah Prince, right. Yajay managed to stagger home but died in his mother’s arms. Birmingham Crown Court heard on Friday that Prince, 16, had killed Yajay, left, in an effort to “look big”. Prince must spend at least 14 years in jail.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Lord Loomba criticises lack of action on International Widows Day in Britain In a question in the House of Lords, Lord Loomba asked what plans the Government have to mark the International Widows Day on 23 June. Lord Loomba, the founder member of the Loomba Foundation has worked tirelessly to high-light problems faced by widows throughout the world.

Lord Loomba said," Loomba Foundation commissioned international research which concluded that there are more than 245 million widows supporting nearly 500 million children. They are disadvantaged and living in poverty. The issue has been identified by the United Nations, which has

Lord Raj Loomba

designated 23 June as International Widows Day".

Lord Loomba added," I am disappointed with the Government's response.

Surely it should have been possible to ring fence funds. The issue should at

least have been included in the Millennium Development Goals".

Lord Loomba was supported by members from all sides of the House.

Commenting after the exchange Lord Loomba said, "The Government has still not grasped the importance of alleviating the difficulties faced by widows. Their holistic approach of supporting women's causes pays scant regard to the fundamental point that disadvantage and discrimination affect adversely widows and their children.

This is a negative way to tackle the rights and signifies that widows crave for".

Servant to own employer's property For almost 30 years, Kent Adonai faithfully served Lord Glenconner (pictured-centre), the close friend of Princess Margaret who transformed the Caribbean island of Mustique into a lush hideaway for the rich and famous.

Besides walking Lord Glenconner’s pet elephant and cooking for his jet-set friends, Mr Adonai slept on the floor by the flamboyant aristocrat’s bed in case he was needed. When the 83-year-old died last

year, Mr Adonai cradled him in his arms before declaring: “I am now lost.”

Such loyalty has now been rewarded. To the dis-

may of his widow, Anne, L o r d Glenconner has reportedly cut his family out from his will to leave his multimillion-pound Caribbean estate exclusively to his West Indian friend.

Mr Adonai, 48, will inherit an idyllic beachside house between the Pitons in St Lucia, where

9

Have British Muslims really integrated better, Mr Phillips?

Equalities chief Trevor Phillips has claimed that Muslims are better at integrating into British society than Christians.

Mr Phillips, Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who has blamed the increasing influence on mainstream churches of African and Caribbean immigrants with ‘intolerant’ views, has also accused Christians particularly evangelicals as more militant than Muslims in complaining about discrimination, arguing many are motivated by a desire for political influence.

Mr Philips (pictured) further commented that, it has become fashionable to mock religion, Faith his former employer, who was renowned for his hedonistic parties, moved to in the 1990s.

The inheritance includes the house’s contents and more than 200 acres of land.

Lord Glenconner’s eldest son, Charles, died of hepatitis in 1996, aged 39. His second son died of Aids in 1990, aged 29.

Apart from Mr Bowler, three other children survive.

groups should be free from interference in their affairs, Christian groups are picking fights particularly on homosexuality for political gain and Churches and religious institutions must comply with equality legislation.

This country which has seen terror brewing in the back yards of mosques

as hate clerics blame Britain and the west for discriminations against the Muslims and have Talibans uprising in the heart of East London bullying women to wear burkhas against 'westernisation', cannot have a Race Equality Chairman suggesting that Muslims have integrated better with the British culture than Christians and they complain less against discrimination!

It is also shocking to read that no study has been made about the British Hindus who not only have blended the best with the Britons but have genuinely made considerable progress than any other community!

Untimely death of a teenager Asian Voice is shocked by the untimely death of a teenager, who was hit by a train near Kenton railway station last Friday.

Dip Ruparelia, 18, from Harrow, was hit by the southbound 7.47pm train between Milton Keynes to Euston. He is survived by his family members including father Pradipbhai Ruparelia and

his uncle Sudhir Ruparelia, who is a renowned tycoon in Uganda.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service.

British Transport Police (BTP) spokeswoman said the incident was being treated as “nonsuspicious”.

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10

Rahul Gandhi must do something There was demonstration near Parliament Square London on Sunday 19th June 2011 against the corruption and against the Indian police for beating innocent and peaceful people in Delhi at midnight.This demonstration was peaceful and was well attended by the people of all age groups and gender. Surprisingly few white people were also seen participating or at least watching this event.

I therefore first of all must congratulate the people who organised this event and some of us who came to know from Ilford Hindhu temple tried to participate in it. After almost 65 years of Independence people are being made aware of their rights by our Swami Ramdevji. This was the role of our Political Leaders and I am ashamed of them. Rahul Gandhi who is being supported by many Congress Leaders to become the new Prime Minster of India.

He is silent on this subject. Is he not concerned for the well being of all the Indians or is he only interested to look after himself and his supporters' interests? Going and meeting poor and backward class of people is not a bad thing but doing nothing for them is a shameful act and cannot be pardoned.

Dharam Sahdev Ilford

Lokpal anti-corruption bill Recently Indian television is saturated with the Lokpal anti-corruption bill. I doubt whether corruption in India from the lower level to highest level can be eliminated. The present political and economic system encourages to be corrupt even for survival. The average government official earns Rs. 5000 per month.

The professors in private colleges earn less than Rs. 10,000 per month. The members of the Lok Sabha made sure their monthly salary was increased to Rs. 50,000 per month in addition to other perks and still they are not happy with it.

The average income of an Indian is only Rs. 20 per day.

India claims to be a socialist state and the government talks about ‘Right of education’ for every Indian child. In big city slums more than 40 per cent of the children do not attend schools and there is no provision of free meals and automatic places in schools. In private schools they demand capitation fee and donation running in thousands of rupees. The private colleges sell management quotas for a large sum of donation. The government hospitals are filthy and the buses and trains are over crowded. Majority of Indians live in over crowded houses under filthy conditions with no proper toilet facilities. Since such a situation prevails in India, how is Anna Hazare and his friends are going to stop corruption in India? Officials take bribe since they want to improve their standard of living. Indian needs a fundamental change in the social, economic and political system which is not forth coming.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Cutting off meat The dramatic growth of antibiotics in farm animals poses a serious threat to human health. The real problem is the massive growth in demand for meat.

The only way to meet this is through factory farming, a system based on selective breeding for high yield, overcrowding and gross restriction of animals' natural behaviour.

The only way to take the pressure off animals is to drastically reduce meat consumption. Grains being used to produce biofuel and almost 40 per cent of cereals going to feed animals is pushing millions of people towards starvation. The globalwarming impact of methane emissions from farm animals is well-documented too.

There is one solution to all these problems and that is to revert to a vegetarian or vegan diet. Those who cannot take this step straightaway can start by giving up meat a few days a week.

Nitin Mehta Croydon, Surrey

Gestapo Rule in Bharat Bharat was a cradle of democracy even under the totalitarian rule of monarchs since the time immemorial. Lord Rama putting the interest of his subjects above that of his family is a shining example. Vedic Bharat is the spiritual mother of the planet Earth, a land of sages, saints and philosophers who gave the world four noble religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

So how come Congress goons descend upon a camp of a saint who was holding a peaceful demonstrating, fasting against the rampant corruption that has tainted every section of this once mighty nation, at least on moral ground, led by none other than Mahatma Gandhi who is a shining example to the rest of the world.

Baba Ramdevji is leading a civil crusade against government corruption and despotism, to re-establish Ram Rajya, to fulfil the promise Gandhiji gave to the people of Bharat. It should be worth noting that the States governed by the Congress are riddled with corruption with minimal economic progress, in sharp contrast to Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat where BJP and their allies have the upper hand.

Middle East is experiencing Democratic Spring, sprouting hope, freedom and liberation from the despotic rule of dictators who have keep the people subjugated for decades. Bharat is moving in the opposite direction.

It is a pity there is hardly any coverage in the West about the silent revolution that is taking place in Bharat. It is time for the people of Bharat to wake up and unite to throw out the dynastic rule and corrupt politicians of every political persuasion that is so detrimental for the good of the people of this once mighty nation.

Women Security in IndiaWhat a Shame!

A survey conducted by Thompson Reuters has put India on a fourth rank on for the most dangerous place for women (NDTV, June 15); mainly due to female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking. The first 5 lists starting from Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India and then Somalia.

It is such a shame to know when people keep mumbling about the economic and industrial revolution in the country.

On Friday, 18th June, there was a news that a minor had been gang-raped in Haryana by 4 adults and abandoned on to the street.

Afterwards, 2 Hawaldars(Police Constables) gang raped her again. There is also a news headline in NDTV on 20th June that 18 year old Dalit girl raped and 14 year old girl blinded for resisting rape. I am speechless here. I remember few years back there was an incident of a British girl raped and murdered in Goa. I don't know what is going on here.

Women security should be addressed as a high priority task by the Govt. Incidents of this kind happening quite frequently is a big shame for the country.

Dev Bhatt Via Email

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act [FATCA] Congress passed this Act in 2010 to be effective 1 January 2013: a significant global development.

Details of accounts containing at least $50,000 belonging to US clients have to be reported to IRS; otherwise Internal Revenue Service will withhold tax of up to 30% from payments to foreing banks [on sale of shares or bonds] deemed to be non-compliant.

US citizens abroad have accounts in Barclays, UBS, Credit Suisse, TD Bank of Canada as well as in Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. according to Gillian.tett@ft.com [FT 14 Jun p14].

UBS, the Swiss Bank paid $780 billion in 2009 to settle criminal charges that it helped Americans evade tax and handed over client details.

Alternatively there is a voluntary disclosure concession as the best last chance to get into the system and pay a penalty of 25% of the total amount held offshore.

IRS has launched this concession on their website http://www.irs.gov/businesses/international/article/0,,id=23569 0,00.html.

One chemist called Cindy who had left US 30 years ago voluntarily approached IRS last year: no tax was due in the US, yet Tax Return was still due and she had to pay a penalty of US$42,000, 20% of the money held in her account. She gave up the US citizenship.

If successful, I see that other countries [e.g. UK and India] introduce similar legislation. Those who have or plan offshore accounts need to rethink their tax strategies.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

Nagindas Khajuria Via Email

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Food for Thought Dinesh Sheth’s letter “Food for Thought”, reminds us about food shortage and rationing after World War-2.

Jaggery in tea, adulterated chaapti flour and vegetable ghee were a fashion.

Economising methods today: l Vegetarian and Vegan diet is cheaper.

All religions prescribe regime of variegated diet and fasting. l One may shop at corner shops, use discount coupons from magazines, buy discounted items nearer to sell by date, buy loose fruit and vegetables. Buy essential items in small amounts for faster utilisation avoid over shopping. Form a wholesale buyers’ group to beat retail price. l Cultivate kitchen garden. Leftovers can be reheated and consumed, mixed to make dish like Bhel. Rice or khichadi leftovers may be mixd with flour to make stuffed chaptis. Left over veg can be made into samosas. Make chevda from leftover rice. l Eat raw, cold salads, jellies. savouries, ayurvedic, herbal nutritious preparations, Gujjus’ kulair etc. Chillies satisfy taste, give lasting satiation reducing urge for repeated snacks. l Use economical credit cards and with cash back or loyalty points upto 1.5 % .

Pay the whole amount at one go. l Get paid to become a mystery shopper.

Barter service eg., baby sitting, car washing, gardening, shopping for small shopkeeper etc for food stuff.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Knife Edge The West’s intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq are continuing and on top of that, this year has seen uprising in Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen,Libya and now in Syria. Are these regimes as cruel and oppressive as they have been shown or have they been made out to be such for the western powers to get into them?

British Foreign Minister says he has urged the UN to send a “clear message” to the Syrian government by issuing a resolution condemning its crackdown.

But the resolution is resting on a “knife edge”.

The rest of the world does not care, even the Arab entity is not getting involved. Is it alright to spend our hard earned money on these countries? To add fuel to the fire, it is reported that Colonel Gadaffi’s son is to receive some 100 tickets for the London Olympics, whereas 1.2 million (3/4th of those applied) have not been successful. Many theories have been put forward for the west’s intervention.

One is that first Saddam Hussein and now Gadaffi wanted to change how oil is traded. They hoped to change the trading currency from US dollar to gold dinnar.

This would cause a shift of power from the west to the oil producing countries.

If that happened, our economies will collapse. We are dependent on oil not just to run our cars, but to heat our homes in winter and on electricity to light our homes or power the many gadgets and machinery that we take for granted.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park

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

E-mail: support@abplgroup.com

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

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

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

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

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Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

EDUCATION / COUNCIL VOICE

Local grocer to be Cambridge Chancellor?

As the Duke of Edinburgh steps down from the prestigious post there is now a contest over who will be next to wear the black and gold lace ceremonial robes and be awarded the accolade at the ancient institution.

On Friday evening, nominations for the role closed and contenders for Cambridge chancellor were announced.

Prestigious and prominent figures have made their names onto the ballot paper and include Brian Blessed and Lord Sainsbury who are joined by barrister Michael Mansfield.

Adding his name to the race is ambitious shopkeeper Abdul who owns a grocery store in Cambridge.

The Nairobi-born businessman managed to collect the 50 nominations needed to secure a slot in the bid to become the university’s 108th chancellor.

He received the nominations from a diverse group of people, ‘Academics, professors, clergy …I have double the amount required,’ he said.

efforts are a publicity stunt, but with at least 50 nominations received from the university’s senate Mr Arain certainly has some supporters.

He is profoundly against large chains taking up residency in Cambridge and believes their presence, particularly that of the big four supermarkets, will have a compounding effect.

The local businessman who has lived in Cambridgeshire since he was Abdul Arain 16 thinks large shops reduce The 46-year-old’s motivation for streets to ‘dormitories’. applying comes from his opposition He said: ‘People who would usuto a new Sainsbury’s supermarket ally invest in that area and take pride planned to be built near his Al-Amin in it are gone. The consequences are grocery shop in Cambridge. antisocial behaviour, an area The businessman wants to save deprived of its soul.’

Cambridge from becoming a ‘clone In an attempt to add more weight town’ and he’d like to see the unito his argument Mr Arain drew refversity reconnect with the local comerence to the university’s opposition munity. to a car-assembly plant in the 1930s.

The position of chancellor at the He faces fierce competition from prestigious university has traditionBrian Blessed who is backed by a ally been held by a succession of campaign initiated by Cambridge dukes, earls and lords. graduates.

Critics believe the shopkeeper’s

From Jinja to Wandsworth Cllr Ravi Govindia (pictured) was born in Jinja, and arrived in the UK aged 17 following Idi Amin’s expulsion of Ugandan Asians. After achieving the required ‘A’ level grades to go to university, to help family finances and save for university he became a bus conductor on the Western National buses operating on routes from Plymouth to all over south Devon and Cornwall. In the summer of 1973 Cllr Ravi was voted the friendliest conductor on route 5A! Cllr Govindia studied law at Queen Mary College and joined the Conservative Students Association.

After his degree, pupillage hunting was not easy for someone with few connections at the Bar. After completing his pupillage under Arnold Cooper, and a short period of squatting Ravi decided the Bar was not for him.

In 1982 he was elected as councillor for Nightingale ward. His first four years were formative. Ravi was Vice Chairman of Technical Services Committee and ended his first term as Deputy Mayor.

In 1986 Ravi joined the Leader’s Group as Chairman of Housing

Management Sub-Committee.

In 1992 he returned to the Leader’s Group as chairman of Technical Services Committee, where parking control zones, dominated much of the agenda.

In 1996 Ravi became chairman of the Planning Committee. In 2006 as whip he had to settle in a large new

intake, though oddly enough it was largely the established intake which was to test his role. Ravi was also responsible for strategic planning, and a major responsibility was to lead on the emergence of Nine Elms as an opportunity area. After the Olympics sites, it’s the largest development opportunity in London and has been made evenmore exciting by the decision of the US government to locate its UK embassy here.

Over the years Ravi has been on the boards of several local voluntary organisations and currently serve on the Board of Trustees of the Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability and sit on the finance sub-committee, which has the overview of the hospital’s investment policy as well as the overall finances. He is the a longstanding treasurer of Friends of Seva Mandir- a UK based charity raising funds for a rural development charity working in Rajasthan. He is also the chairman of the Big Lottery Fund’s London Committee responsible for the distribution of lottery funds in the London region.

In 2007, Cllr Govindia received an MBE for his ‘services to the community in Wandsworth’.

Cornrow boy’s school ban was race discrimination Head teachers must ensure that uniform policies do not prejudice ethnic and cultural traditions after a judge ruled that a school that banned a boy because of his traditional West African hairstyle was guilty of “unlawful indirect racial discrimination”.

The teenager, known only as G, took St Gregory’s Catholic Science College, in Harrow, North London, to the High Court after teachers sent him home for wearing his hair in cornrows. The braids, worn tight to the scalp, are a sign of status, kinship and age group in some regions of Africa.

Andrew Prindiville, the head teacher, told the court that any haircut other than a short-back-andsides would lead to unwanted influences because certain styles signal gang membership.

But Mr Justice Collins ruled that the school was guilty of “indirect racial discrimination” in the way that it had applied the ban.

The judge pointed out that exceptions were already made for Rastafarians and Sikh boys who wore hair beyond the collar, and similar exceptions should be made for African Caribbeans. He added that G’s family was not alone in regarding cornrows as part of their culture.

St Gregory’s had argued that if it allowed G to wear cornrows because of his ethnicity it was likely that there would be applications for other styles, such as skinhead cuts, which are common in some East European cultures.

Although the ban was not unlawful in itself, Mr Justice Collins said: “If it is applied without any possibility of exception then it is unlawful.”

The boy, who was 11 when he was sent home on his first day and is now 13, told the High Court that David Beckham, his idol also wore cornrows. “It showed me that he appreciated African hair-styling, and that we are all the same underneath it all,” the boy said in a statement

during the hearing.

Head teachers’ leaders said that the decision might cause problems for schools with very strict uniform policies.

St Gregory’s said in a statement that it was considering an appeal.

11

In brief

State hands out BMWs to ‘disabled’

Whitehall says abuse of luxury cars given to the disabled, a scheme which costs taxpayers £1.4 billion a year, is a 'disgrace' The cars, including Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs and Saabs, are provided to claimants with minimal checks on how they are used. All 580,000 cars, of which about 11,000 are BMWs and Mercedes, are exempt from road tax and Vat. Almost 200,000 are used by the disabled’s friends or relatives. It is estimated this accounts for at least £500m of the taxpayers’ bill. “What is going on here is a disgrace,” a Whitehall source said this weekend.

“These cars are incredible deals but they are often not being used for the benefit of the disabled person.”

New Gujarati Councillor joins Spelthorne Borough Daxa Patel (pictured) has been elected as a councillor for the Spelthorne Borough in Surrey.

She is a Conservative party councillor and stood for the first time for the elections.

Talking to Asian Voice, she said, "I grew up in Kericho in Kenya and moved to the UK in 1972. My family used to run a local shop in the village and are well known there. I am a supporter of BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden . I am very interested in the local issues in the village and now since I have a bit more time, I felt it is time to help and give something back to the community. I am thoroughly enjoying being a councillor, even though its hard work."

St Andrews joins with US college

The new international BA course includes two years studying at St Andrews University and two years at an elite American school The university where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met hopes to sidestep the cap on tuition fees by teaming up with an American college to offer a degree costing £18,600 a year.

The new international BA course includes two years studying at St Andrews University, ranked seventh in The Sunday Times University Guide, and two years at the elite William and Mary College in Virginia.

British students starting this September will be charged the $30,000 (£18,600) rate for each of the two years they spend in America.

The charge for their time at St Andrews will still be subject to strict tuition fee caps. Americans will pay the full £18,600 for each of the four years.

Warning as £9,000 tuition fee plans 'rejected' Ten universities have been told they will not be able to charge up to £9,000 a year after failing to make the case for higher fees.

Plans by institutions in Wales to increase fees in 2012 were rejected by the country’s higher education funding body on last Wednesday. All 10 failed to prove they would use the extra money to improve undergraduate teaching and attract more students from poor backgrounds.

The move will pile fresh

pressure on Westminster to a take a hard line against English universities after it emerged that as many as two-thirds wanted to charge £9,000 for all courses.

In Wales, universities such as Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Bangor, Glamorgan and Newport have already declared they want to charge the maximum amount.

The Welsh Assembly has agreed to shield Welsh students from the rises. Undergraduates will pay the same as in 2011 –

around £3,400 – with the regional government paying the remainder.

Plans will only be agreed if institutions show they can improve access for poor students and provide better teaching and undergraduate facilities. In England, the Office for Fair Access is currently assessing universities’ fee plans and is not expected to make a ruling until next month. Critics have already suggested the regulator will be powerless to stop institutions charging top-level fees.

12

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Scrutator’s Pascal Lamy, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief, addressing an international economic conference in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, referred to the “unimaginable” role played by India and China and other emerging economies in the unfolding global order. “With the change in the geo-political landscape, India, China and other emerging economies are playing a role which was unimaginable even 20 years ago.

Over 3 billion people – in China, India, Indonesia and other developing countries – are achieving in a generation what it took the West a century or more to achieve. This alone stands as the most significant economic event in history,” he said.

Quoting the well-known commentator on international economics, Martin Wolfe, whose columns appear in the Financial Times, Mr Lamy said, “the periphery is becoming the core and the core is becoming the periphery.” Globalisation has both enabled a shift in production, investment and technology to emerging countries; and while the US remains a key player, “it is no longer dominant.”

The simple – even simplistic – North-South divide had given way to a more complex world of many different Souths and many different Norths. The multi-polar system, said Mr Lamy, was much more “democratic” than the old post-war order. The days when a single or a few countries could design and direct the international system had long gone. “Yet the old powers are cautious to share centre stage and worried about decline – while the new powers are timid in sharing responsibility,” the WTO chief concluded. (Mr Lamy's speech appeared on the WTO website, from which the Hindustan Times June 14 carried extracts)

Obama warning to America

Indo-US trade

The Hindu newspaper (June 10), reporting US Assistant Meanwhile, US President Secretary Robert Blake's speech Barack Obama, speaking in to a seminar in Kolkata, “West North Carolina, Durham, Bengal and Beyond,” told how warned Americans against comhe had highlighted the burgeonplacency, pointing to the chaling trade and investment relalenge from “hungry” Indian and tionship between India and the Chinese students who focused US. Its true significance could on mathematics and technology be gauged from Mr Blake's proin a bid to secure their future. jection that India was likely to emerge as the world's third-largest economy by 2030 and, possibly, the largest by 2050 if present GDP growth maintained its broad trajectory.

Mr Blake said: “The incredible growth of India's economy has resulted in positive spillover effect for the US between 2002-2009, US goods exports to India quadrupled, growing from $4.1 billion to more than $16.4 billion in 2009. US services exports to India more than tripled from $3.2 billion to $9.9 billion during this period,” he said. Last year, USIndia trade in goods broke a record, with US exports increasing by 17 per cent and US imports Robert Blake's with children in Kolkata from India rising by 40 per cent. “This surge of He told how American firms nearly 30 per cent to a high of were having a tough time finding $48.8 billion in goods trade the right candidates for jobs in moved India up two notches to science and technology. Mr become [America's] 12th largest Obama explained that there trading partner. This positive were four job seekers for every trend continues, with two-way job in the US, “but when it trade up 19 per cent in the first comes to science and high-tech quarter of 2011 over the same fields, the opposite is true.” He period last year,” he said. It was said only four per cent of all US a win-win situation for both undergraduate students enrol in countries. “Robust two-way STEM subjects – science, techtrade means citizens from nology, engineering and maths.

Kolkata to Kansas will see the Of this number, one-third will benefits of our trade agreeswitch subjects, and only two in ment.” five will graduate with a STEM Mr Blake also pointed to degree in the next six years, he Indian investment in the US, said. which, he said, was growing at

an annual compound rate of 35 per cent. India was currently the seventh-largest investor in the US, and the investments were set to increase, he said.

Wipro plans cheap 'iPad' Robin Pagnamenta, in The Times (June 14) told of a plan by Indian software giant Wipro “to produce a £20 tablet computer designed to bring iPad-style technology to the country's masses.

Wipro, the IT giant founded by the tycoon Azim Premji, said that it was developing a touchscreen PC device that would cost a fraction of the 29,500 rupee (£400) starting cost of an Apple iPad in India.”

The tablet, aimed at the rural poor and schoolchildren, is under development at the company's Electronic City campus in Bangalore, home to a workforce of 11,000 people. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, said that economising on the cost of a tablet PC to the desired level of £20 posed significant technical challenges. “It's very difficult. The cost of every single element has to be reduced without compromising on the quality.” Current technology made a £50 iPad feasible, but a cheaper product without loss of quality would be difficult, he said.

Wipro has teamed up with Imec, a nanotechnology company in Belgium, to collaborate on the project.

“Mr Premji.....donated shares worth £1.2 billion in Wipro into a trust, the Azim Premji Foundation, last year to help improve state-run elementary education in India,” writes Mr Pagnamenta.

Sreedharan to retire Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director Elattuvalapil Sreedharan has decided to retire on December 31, at the age of 79, having been given five extensions by the government. He was the architect of the worldclass Delhi Metro, which is now into its third expansion phase, after completing 190 kilometres comprising six corridors.

Mr Sreedharan had earlier been in charge of the Konkan Railway, the 760 kilometre-long line that connects regions along the rugged Konkan coast, a gigantic feat of engineering involving a multitude of tunnels and bridges bored through hard rock (Indian Express June 4).

It was this achievement that earned him his job as Managing Director of the Delhi Metro, which , up and running, has made him a household name in the city and its environs to the farthest corners of the land.

Adani port acquisition According to a Business Line report (June 1), the Adani Group has completed the acquisition of Australia's Abbot Point Port for 1.8 billion Australian dollars. The name of the company has been changed to Adani

Abbot Point Terminal Pty Ltd. The Australian state of Queensland, where the port is located, is selling the coal export terminal as part of a 15 billion Australian dollar asset sale programme, the money to be used for reconstruction following the devastation caused by recent floods and cyclones in the territory.

Adani expects revenues from port operations to almost triple to 305 million Australian dollars by 2016 from the 110 million Australian dollars it earns now.

World Bank loan for Ganga clean-up A report in The Hindu (June 3) tells of a $1billion World Bank credit and loan for the clean-up of India's famed River Ganga.

The sprawling river basin accounts for a fourth of the country's water resources and is home to some 400 million people.

The $1.556 billion National Ganga River Basin Project with $1billion in financing from the World Bank group, including $199 million interest-free credit and a $801 million lowinterest loan, was approved by the Bank's board of executive directors and will be implemented over eight years.

The project will support the National Ganga River Basin A u t h o r i t y (NGRBA) in building the capacity of its nascent operational level institutions so that they can manage the long-term Ganga clean-up and conservation programme, which will include a stateof-the-art Ganga Knowledge Centre to act as a centre for relevant information and data on the eco-system of the area.

While NGRBA will fund schemes such as sewage treatment plants, sewer networks and the like, all critical for the reduction of pollution in the river, cities and municipalities will be responsible for their maintenance and management in the long run.

Lethal weapon system The Economist, a participant in the secret deliberations of the sinister Bilderberg Group, is much given to sneering at things Indian. Its June 11 issue poohpoohed the Indian military as huge but ill-equipped and taken with a dutiful pinch of salt by the Herrenvolk. A trifle arrogant, wouldn't you say, considering that they were driven out bag and baggage from the Iraqi port city of Basra by the natives, are having a terrible time coping with the Taliban in Afghanistan and given the run-around by Colonel Gadaffi's tribal levies in Libya.

In case the paper's handlers have their eye on an Indian adventure (you never know where insanity can take people), they would do well to read Sivathanu Pillai in the Indian Express (June 14). The BrahMos Aerospace CEO and Managing Director in an interview talked of the joint Indo-Russian venture: the supersonic cruise missile system, the only one of its

Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai

type in the world, which has been inducted into the Indian Army and Navy, with the Air Force awaiting its turn next year.

BrahMos upgrades were designed to maintain its superiority, he said.

Dr Pillai told his interlocutor: “BrahMos is the fusion of great scientific minds of two countries that has helped to design and develop a world-class weapon system with unparalleled capabilities.” Enough said.

BrahMos upgrade designed to maintain its superiority

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Political Sketchbook Alpesh Patel’s

Moral Courage and India A few more slaughtered in Syria this past week. Libya too.

Yes some by Nato fire. The case was made to me this week that the reason India abstained in the UN resolution on Egypt was that the West were hypocritical, that they turn a blind eye to Bahrain, that they are acting in their own self-interest and why should India support that? Why should India support a UK sponsored UN resolution when the UK was wrong on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

Why should India support the UK in the UN when they want regime change and just call it humanitarian relief?

Well, I wouldn’t worry, but this was put to me by a senior Indian Government official. I worry because if this is how India sees herself and reasons then she has no notion of who she is. God help India.

The West are hypocrites argument: It doesn’t matter.

What matters is right and wrong when it comes to deaths in Syria at the hands of their Government, or in Egypt, or anywhere else. That the West are not intellectually consistent is a pathetic excuse by the morally uncourageous to actually protect their own self-interest because they don’t want the light of moral indignancy from a weapons rich West to be shone on their own internal affairs.

If India does not stand for Human Rights because the UK does not do something about human rights in Saudi Arabia, then India is worse than someone who does not think for themselves; they only think the opposite to someone who thinks for them. If India, the world’s largest democracy aspires for nothing more than this, then it has no moral courage, or moral backbone, and certainly no right at all to be on the Security Council of the United Nations. If it does not know its heritage, the land of Gandhiji, and it does not, then it may as well rank amongst the ordinary nations of the world for surely by its inactions it shall be judged.

The West were wrong on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Argument: The immaturity of this level of thinking astounds me. So on that basis anything the West ever does must be wrong and the opposite right. No, actually the West went into Iraq based on a breach of UN res-

olution 1441. Iraq broke the law. The law they broke was NOT that they were concealing weapons of mass destruction. So it was not an illegal war. Read UN resolution 1441 and then come and talk to me.

The West are acting in their self-interest argument: Again, so what? Is it not in India’s interest to say, as the largest democracy in the world, we stand for the rights of the ordinary citizen. But India can’t do that. It would be the hypocrite. No corrupt Government, even a corrupt democratic one can say that. And that is why India abstained. It would be incredulous for India to say we stand for the rights of the Syrian people not to be slaughtered, and at the same time Indian officials robbing her own people blind.

The West want regime change argument: When a government slaughters its own people, regime change is right.

Simple. If you think a government is more important than genocide, then you know nothing of the better values of what India can and should aspire to and the best parts of her heritage and I don’t have time for you.

So it occurs to me, it is India that is self-interested, hypocritical and sadly not the nation that bore the greatest generation ever of world citizens. Maybe greatness comes in cycles not in straight lines. So maybe we wait another few hundred years for a Gandhiji or an Asoka. There were Indians who knew right from wrong and defined themselves according to their own values. Of which Indian would Einstein today say as he did of Gandhiji, ‘in years to come the world will scarcely believe one such as this of flesh and blood once walked this earth?’ Sonia Gandhi, Chidambaram, Sibil?

So it is, for all the charges you level against the West and the UK, they have the moral courage to go in and do something. Call their motives ill, but the outcome is better than sitting on the sidelines whining and cowering on the fringes of history. You want to know why you’re not getting the respect on the world stage you think money can buy? Now you know why. Arise oh Bharat, thou were once great, what has become of thee?

13

One to watch Sheena Amin has been appointed as a Trustee of the National Board of Young Enterprise, the UK's leading business-led, enterprise education charity responsible for inspiring the UK's next generation of enterprising young people.

Sheena joins the National Board as a Young Enterprise Alumnus having first gotten involved with Young Enterprise six years ago when she participated in the Company Programme whilst a student at North London Collegiate School. She served as the Managing Director of Cocktail, which she successfully led to be the London representative at the 2005 National Finals, where the Company was awarded the National Marketing of the Year Award.

Sheena went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The University of Oxford, graduating with double first class honours in 2009.

During her time at Oxford she further cultivated her passion for entrepreneurship, for example, in her capacity as the External Relations Officer of Oxford Entrepreneurs, the largest free university society promoting student business and entrepreneurship in young people. Whilst a student, Sheena also cofounded and ran a gradu-

Sheena Amin

ate recruitment marketing agency and headhunting business, UniVentures Ltd., serving clients such as Barclays Capital, RBS, Blackstone and Bain Capital. Sheena currently works in Venture Capital / Private Equity for an $11 billion growth equity investor.

In February 2010, Sheena was appointed as a Trustee of Young Enterprise London and is now looking forward to building on her role as a Regional Trustee in her new capacity as a National Trustee of the recently merged National Board. "I am excited about the prospects that lie ahead for Young Enterprise. As a Trustee, my main aims and objectives will be to make sure that we best capitalise on the new opportunities that the national merger will create for the charity and ensure that our actions are guided by a core focus on the Young Achievers we seek to inspire."

14

ART & COMMUNITY

Wickes Store Manager proves ‘tried and tested customer service’ still works Raj Patel, Wickes Store Manager from Tottenham, has proven that old fashioned customer service is still appreciated by employees and customers alike by winning Wickes Store Manager of the Year for the second time, having first won the accolade in 2004.

At a time when footfall in stores is becoming increasingly more important, Raj and his team are focusing on good old fashioned customer service on the shop floor. Raj believes that everyone can learn, and has been known to use quizzes and role play as motivating team building exercises. He focuses on increasing his team’s all round knowledge and sales capabilities, so they can use their new skills and focus with customers on the shop floor.

Raj’s success was announced following a strict judging process.

Store Managers are recommended by peers to become Regional Store Manager of the Year, then visited and interviewed by their Divisional Director, Managing Director, and Operations Director David Furness, before a winner is selected.

Of the winner, David said; “His store standards

are excellent, his results impressive, but his attitude to his people is his biggest achievement and he should be very proud of what he’s delivered.”

And with more plans to improve the service that they give to customers in the pipeline, it’s likely that the Wickes Tottenham store will continue to be one of the success stories of the current retail climate.

Raj added: “I’m delighted to have won this award for the second time in my career and it is testament to the hard work and dedication of the whole team, without whom this would not be possible. My leadership ethos is to continually engage, develop and inspire my team to reach their full potential and I aspire to achieve this on a daily basis; I believe this is the key to management success.”

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Double Bill: Shammi Pithia and Hari Sivanesan As part of its twentieth anniversary celebrations (1991 – 2011), the Asian Music Circuit presents an evening of traditional and contemporary music from two up-and-coming British Asian artists: Shammi Pithia and Hari Vrndavn Sivanesan.

Having trained from age 8 at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London, Hari Sivanesan was under the expert tutelage of Guru Smt Sivasakthi Sivanesan, one of the UK’s more prominent Carnatic figures. He won a prize from the Asian Music Circuit aged 13, enabling him to further his training in India study under Guru Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan, a living legend among veena artists, for more

Hari Sivanesan

Shammi Pithia

than six months.

‘Being able to present Hari in concert at London’s Southbank Centre, ten years after the Asian Music Circuit helped him further his studies in India is tremendously fulfilling’, said CEO of the Asian Music Circuit, Viram Jasani. ‘We’re passionate about nurturing the next generation of musical talent, and being able to support Hari’s career

from such a critical stage to professional musicianship is a wonderful feeling.’

‘Box office receipts represent a crucial part of our income, so we invite all lovers of Indian and Asian music to support live concerts, and enjoy a very special evening with us,’ said Jasani.

Tickets are on sale for the special price of £10 (£5 concessions; limited availability).

Day with Shri Shirdi Sai Baba at Nagrecha Hall, East London

Young Gujarati lawyer becomes a Partner at a renowned law firm Mitesh Patel has become the first Gujarati Partner at Levenes Solicitors in London. Mitesh, who is a fine and talented solicitor, has risen ‘through the ranks’ at Levenes Solicitors.

Always noted for his strong commitment to the local community, Mitesh has regularly advised at charitable organisations and is the face of the firm in to the Asian community.

Mitesh has been instrumental in bringing legal services offered by his firm to the Asian community. His team has quadrupled in size over the past 18 months and goes from strength to strength.

He is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and his present case work encompasses a wide variety of work which has seen him attend hearings in the High Court,

Coroner’s Court for Inquest hearings, and Mediation for numerous high value cases.

Mitesh has a special interest in catastrophic and fatality claims as well as employers liability cases. He has partaken in cases before the Court of Appeal and has an enviable multi track caseload and record of cases where he has helped recover millions of pounds for clients.

"This appointment reflects a strong performance by Levenes at a diffi-

cult and challenging time for legal services in general and litigation in particular," says David Levene, Levenes founder and Senior Partner. "Mitesh has helped make a big contribution to the Levenes success story in recent years."

Of his own success in the legal field Mitesh told Asian Voice, ‘I am fortunate to have a very supportive family, I also have a hard working team at Levenes, my achievement of becoming a Partner therefore also recognises the support and efforts of those around me.’ He added:- ‘We have become trend setters in delivering results to our clients in the fields of employment law and personal injury law.

We look forward to continuing the work we do to reach out to the community and protect the rights of those who have suffered,’ Congratulation Mitesh!

A day with 'Shri Shirdi Sai Baba' in East London was held on Sunday the 05th June at Hariben Bachubhai Nagrecha Hall and was a grand success.

It was an excellent opportunity for devotees in and around the area to take part in the event. Prayers were offered to Baba (Moorthi Swaroopam) throughout the day and a staggering 1500 devotees attended the special event.

The Nagrecha family permitted the use of the premises with all necessary facilities free of charge. The devout family has also permitted the use of their premises every Thursdays & Sundays to enable uninterrupted Sai sandhya bhajans for months now & continue to provide their support.

Focus on Tourism

A seminar "Focus on Assam Tourism" with an exclusive book launch "Assam" was organised by the courtesy of Lord Adam Patel of Blackburn on 13 June at House of Lords, Palace of Westminster. It was chaired by Mr. Ashish Roy, well-known journalist (Times of India) along with Dr Audrey Cantlie of the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Gurkha veterans take pension fight to European courts The British Gurkha Welfare Society has announced that it has lodged an application with the European Court of Human Rights in the latest step in its battle to secure equal pensions for Gurkhas who retired with any service before 1997.

The BGWS has filed the petition following a test case in the UK courts, in which a judicial review and the Court of Appeal both found in favour of the Ministry of Defence.

The Supreme Court refused permission to appeal last December While all Gurkhas are

that, after many now allowed to setyears of committle in the UK, those ted and courawho retired with any geous service, service before 1997 these old soldiers still receive smaller cannot find juspensions than their tice within the British and UK's borders Commonwealth forand it should be mer comrades - leavto the ing many elderly and Government's ailing veterans, both shame that the in the UK and Nepal, particularly those Major Tikendra Dal Dewan (retired) outside RCJ continuing poverty with other Gurkhas they face goes with no post 1997 uncorrected." service, in desperate step reluctantly but with The BGWS expects the poverty. the knowledge that not European Court of Human Major Tikendra Dal pursuing legal options furRights to hear the case no Dewan (retired), ther would effectively put Chairman of the BGWS, earlier than late 2012, a nail in the coffins of said: with a verdict potentially many veterans.

"We have taken this reached possibly by 2013.

"It is desperately sad

Overseas Friends of BJP (UK) is organising OFBJP Convention in London. It will be addresses by Shri Nitin Gadkari on Saturday 16th July at the City Pavillion. To discuss about that event, Vijay Jolly (right), Ex.MLA and Vice President and Spokesman of BJP Delhi and All India BJP Jt. Convenor External Affairs visited the Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar office with Lalubhai Parikh (left), Vice President, Overseas Friends of BJP (UK).

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

15

by Shree Short Story by Neha Garg

The Naughty Fairy Faith hated being a tooth fairy. She had begged and pleaded with Queen Mother but still had been punished.

'Be the Tooth Fairy. Collect broken teeth,' grumbled Faith, 'yuck!'

All she had done was turn the dog's bone invisible. How was she to know that he would get upset and chase the fairies?

Faith wondered how to get out of this punishment as she slipped a hand under a sleepy little boy's pillow and brought out a small tooth. She put a pound in it's place.

Suddenly an idea struck her. She had money! Money that she was giving children in exchange for their teeth.

Couldn't she just go and buy herself a hundred false teeth? She was sure Queen Mother wouldn't know the difference.

But there was a problem. She couldn't fly into a shop and ask for false teeth. Humans didn't believe in fairies.

She thought and thought and finally an idea came to her.

Why not do this at night; take what she needed and leave money on the counter for the humans to find in the

morning? Oooh, she was full of good ideas today.

Feeling thrilled, Faith waited for night time. She squeezed in through a fancy dress shop's keyhole and looked about. Her eyes fell upon a container full of false teeth. She scooped them up in a jar.

Next morning, she knocked on Queen Mother's door.

'Enter.'

Faith walked in smartly. 'I have completed my punishment,' she said. 'Here are a hundred teeth.'

Queen Mother silently looked at the teeth, her face slowly turning red with anger 'These are false teeth, Faith. You dare trick the Queen?'

'I .. I am sorry,' said Faith, scared.

'You will be punished,' said Queen Mother. 'You will be the evil wizard's slave forever.'

'No .. No, Queen Mother. Not him ..

Not him,' said Faith taking a step backwards. Queen Mother clapped and the evil wizard appeared.

'Aaah, been naughty, have we?,' he said, advancing on Faith, his hand stretched out to grab her.

'Nooooooo,' cried Faith as she woke up with a scream. She looked around her. She had fallen out of her bed and lay panting on the bedroom floor.

It had been a dream, thought Faith.

Oh thank goodness that it had only been a dream.

Sudoku with Radha Abw

Last week’s solution 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 row/column/box that might just have an empty box.

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)

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 rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com with their details.

No. 1.

2.

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Name

Address with postal code & phone number

Sign

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

Rain Rain Go Away, Maxi skirts are here to stay Summer isn’t being very good to us in London this year. Even in the middle of June, the last weeks have been miserable, drizzly disasters only briefly interrupted by

fleetingly fortunate rays of sunshine. So with a little bit of wishful thinking I decided I would write a fashion post that would hopefully inject a little bit of sunshine into this grey, rainy day.

The maxi dress! The lovely, breezy, figure-forgiving maxi dress. They were spotted at every party, barbeque and street-corner last year and the good news is that they are still showing no sign of fading off. You only need to look at any fashion magazine or take a peek into shop after

True Grit: Continued from page 1 Sam Zarifi, the Asia programme director for Amnesty International, said there was evidence that failed asylum seekers had been tortured. He said: “If people are being returned to Sri Lanka, who are known or are suspected to be Tamils associated with the LTTE, the possibility of reprisals from the authorities are a concern.”

A UK Border Agency spokesperson told a national daily: “Returns to Sri Lanka will only be undertaken if we are satisfied that the individual has no protection needs.

The improving situation in Sri Lanka has meant it is safe to remove people there.”

But will Sri Lanka ever be safe for any of these hapless Tamils?

Continued on page 26

shops bursting at the seams with these billowing hemlines. H&M has very pocket-friendly versions, Zara stocks beautiful chiffon numbers that would look gorgeous with gladiator sandals for a dinner out, Topshop has pleated ones that have been worn by virtually every celebrity this side of earth. And for the money is no object option, Alberta Ferretti had summer romance captured on its runway with floaty sheer floorlength skirts. Erdem has even mixed it with another major summer trend and come up with lace maxis!

The best bit of all this

is that mega lengths are one of the most forgiving silhouettes of all times.

They hide a multitude of sins and almost universally impart an ethereal greek-goddess vibe. You should know, however that not all maxis are the same. Some gather in a languid pool around your feet for a red-carpet feel and some graze the ankles just perfectly to show off your bejeweled summer flats. They are not just for summer though. Come autumn, slip on your favourite boots under them, throw on a luxe bike jacket and you’ll have transeasonal chic under your thumb.

Belt them up to celebrate your curves or team a floral maxi skirt with a vest and headbands for that boho-flair, you’ll never be wrong to ‘maxi’mise this trend .

Harrow resident passes away in a tragic car crash A Harrow Hatch End resident Amit Balubhai Makwana, 48, died in a tragic car accident on Sunday 12th June at 4am.

Amit is the son in law of Harishbhai Gohil, owner of Hari Om Holidays and worked as the CEO in a Pharmaceutical company.

He is survived by his wife Sharmila and children Priyanka and Rahul.

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BollywooD

Asian Voice Saturday 25th June 2011

Ranveer Singh was selected to play the wild and extreme KC in Bijoy Nambiar’s “Shaitan.” However, the “Band Baaja Baraat” actor opted out due to the boldness of the character and only then did Gulshan Devaiah stepped in. A well-placed source in the film crew reveals, "Ranveer was like any other struggling actor at that time. He hadn't signed BBB then. He was one of the first guys auditioned and selected for the role. Bejoy immediately decided to cast him. He loved the energy and spontaneity RS brought in front of the camera." However, a sexually explicit scene made him change his mind. "Ranveer loved the part and agreed to do it. However, he chickened out later on as his character was supposed to be introduced in the movie in a sexually explicit scene. The actor told Nambiar he wouldn't be comfortable debuting with such a bold scene. His family also had their reservations against the role," the source adds. The scene was later changed and the film's salaciousness was toned down a bit.

The source further adds, "Though it was a risky call but I am glad that Ranveer took it because it worked in his favour. Everyone has his or her own dos and don'ts.

Ranveer comes from a conservative family. Moreover, he wanted to do a solo hero film. He then waited for the right film to come his way and made a great start with BBB." Ranveer Singh and Bijoy remained unavailable for comment.

AishwAryA rAi

Addressing his fans for the first time after being discharged from the hospital in Singapore, actor Rajinikanth swore that his goal would now be to

entertain them. He also promised that he would appear in the film "Rana".

"I have no words to thank you," he said, in a hand written note released to the media. This he stated, after apologising for not having spoken to his fans earlier. In his characteristic enigmatic style, he spoke of tossing a coin to determine who would play first. In the game that he had to play recently, the world’s top specialists and the latest medical technology were on one side, while his fans, and their prayers were on the other. He expressed his (100 per cent) belief that it was the prayers that finally saved him.

Vidya turns down Kamal

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan seems to be battling with weight issues.

And what’s worse: her choice of clothing is only adding fuel to her fitness pyre. What with her recent appearances, the bulge that should be cloaked, is accentuated by her dresses. Her appearance at an event in France earlier this week, where she wore a peach coloured flowy day dress with a cape-styled jacket, has resurfaced the debate on her weight. Everyone from bloggers to fashion editors, fans and critics are voicing their concern over the 37-year-old’s weight gain.

A reader on a fashion blog posted, “Ash badly needs to lose weight. She looks like those plus sized models and I’m sure she’s not going for that look.” Other comments weren’t pleasant either. “The dress highlights what should be hidden,” posted another.

“Her body type is such that when she puts on even slight weight, it shows on her face, arms and legs. She has put on a few kilos. Hopefully, it is for a role, and like in previous years, she’ll shed these extra pounds quickly,” says fashion critic Umesh Jivnani.

“The dress and the hat she wore in France were not put together well. It seems to be the case with all her recent appearances. It’s not that she can’t carry Western silhouettes, she just needs better styling,” says fashion editor Ekta Rajani. “She shouldn’t be bogged down by the weight, because in an attempt to hide the extra kilos she’s wearing wrong clothes. Like at Cannes, her gown just made her look broader,” adds stylist Rin Jajo. Her fans too have noticed the change in her appearance.

hrithik roshAn turns choreographer

Kollywood actor/director Kamal Haasan is planning another film, “Viswaroopam,” which is reportedly inspired from Brian De Palma's Mission Impossible (MI) series.

Kamal is keen to have Vidya Balan in his film! However, Vidya, who is over-committed in Bollywood, has allegedly said a 'no, thank

you' to him. An insider says, Kamal wanted Vidya to allocate dates for his film from August. However, Vidya has to complete and promote two films (Dirty Picture and Kahaani) before the end of 2011. She was actually very keen to act opposite Kamal but was forced to turn down the offer.

Hrithik Roshan has turned choreographer for the song ‘Khwabon Ke Parindey’ for “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.” Not only did the director hand over the reigns of the song to Hrithik, but also to Farhan Akhtar, who directed the number. Our source said, "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is about three boys on a road trip. Everyone on the sets is like one big family. Hrithik and Farhan wanted to make the film special and so, Zoya Akhtar insisted that the boys do more than just act.

She requested them to choreograph and direct one song in the film.

Hrithik added, "We all landed up early on the sets, as Zoya wanted me to choreograph this song. She was wondering how we would do it. So Farhan and I showed her how we could do it.

To attempt another Kites?

Hrithik who had taken a backseat following the failure of “Kites” and “Guzaarish,” is now all set to hog the limelight. The reason behind this is of course his active participation in the promotion of “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,” and his first dance reality show on television which seems to have generated a lot of hype, and of course not to forget his “Krrish 2” (where he reportedly essays a triple role), which is all set to go on the floors.

While talking to the press during the promotion of ZNMD, Hrithik revealed that he had spent a lot of time analyzing the failure of ‘Kites’ and it has definitely matured him, and after a lot of deliberations and thinking he realized that ‘Kites’ was ahead of it's times. The superhero said that somewhere down the years; say five to six years he would be game enough to try another film along the same lines, quite like Kites, because he was quite sure that the audience would be mature enough to accept such a film.

The clash of titans: Vijay vs Ajith Veena Malik to make a Bollywood debut

Ilayathalapathy Vijay and Thala Ajith Kumar are all set to clash at the boxoffice. Yes, the superstars’ upcoming movies “Velayudham” and “Mangaatha” are hitting the screens in August.

Tamil film industry considers Vijay and Ajith as boxoffice (BO) rivals. It is wellknown that their fans also believe that there is a bit of competition between the two actors for the number one spot. Now that Velayudham and

Mangaatha are releasing in August, the stage is set for a BO battle and it will eventually decide who is the best among them, claims a report.

However, the movies are not hitting the screens on the same day.

There will be a gap of two weeks between the release of both the films, confirms a report. Industry insiders say that the shortage of theatres issue might arise, as both the films need at least 500 cinema halls for release considering their market.

Bigg Boss participant Veena Malik makes her B-Town debut in a double role in “Daal Mein Kuch Kaala Hai.” The film also marks the directorial debut of actor Aanand Balraj who has featured in several Subhash Ghai films like ‘Ram Lakhan,’ ‘Khal Naayak,’ ‘Saudgar’ and ‘Pardes.’ The project was announced at an event held in Versova last week.

Aanand will begin shooting shortly in a start-to-finish schedule.

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ranveer singh: no sex please!

A weighty issue for I will be back in ‘Rana’, says Rajnikanth

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Raveena getting ‘sexy’ Actress Raveena Tandon, whose item number 'Chandigarh di star' is much being talked about, is all set to bring sexy back. The actress, who is now a mother of two, has hit the gym and come back to the big screen with a vengeance. Ravishing Ravs as she is fondly called has got into such great shape, and is looking so gorgeous that she could well give the current hotties of cinema a run for their money. Ravs was contemplating whether or not to be a part of ‘Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap.’ However, sharing screen space with Amitabh proved to be the horse's carrot.

The actress now doesn't regret her decision one bit.

Asin calls herself a lucky girl Southern beauty Asin Thottumkal, who stepped into Bollywood three years back and has already worked with bigwigs like Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, says that she finds herself lucky to have got such opportunities.

"I do find myself lucky because in the film industry there are a lot of factors that probably result in success. You need talent and discipline but somewhere you need to have that X factor also. What that X factor is, whether that's luck, or god's grace or the wishes of all the people around you, that is open to interpretation. But I think that that one factor that helps is definitely with me otherwise I wouldn't have got all these opportunities to work with these bigwigs of the industry," Asin said.

The 25-year-old has worked with Aamir in "Ghajini" and with Salman in two films - "London Dreams" and "Ready". She is now geared up to work opposite Akshay Kumar in "Houseful 2".

Chitrangda to jump from 14,000 feet Chitrangda Singh is leaving for Los Angeles to learn Accelerated Freefall, a form of skydiving where you jump from 14, 000 feet above sea level.

This action sequence is part of the actress' character in Krissh's sequel. She plays a mutant in the movie. It's also something that she has wanted to do for a while now. So there's a personal and professional interest at stake here. She says, "I've already done four skydives from 4,500 feet. But what I am now going to attempt is a jump taken from 14, 000 feet. I am heading to a skydiving centre near LA."

Dutt's driver is Mallika’s ‘dad’ Sanjay Dutt makes his chauffeur enact a scene in “Double Dhamaal.” Like Sanjay Dutt, his chauffeur Prasad also loves to act. Having been part of the Dutt household for ages (he has been driver to Sanjay Dutt's mother Nargis as well as to his sister Priya during her student days), he feels some of the acting skills of his boss have rubbed on to him. To fulfill his wish, the star made him act out one scene in “Double Dhamaal” with full costume and make-up. His co-star was Mallika Sherawat and though he had to play her father, he was absolutely thrilled!

Karisma making a 'filmi' comeback Karishma Kapur is returning to films after a hiatus with Vikram Bhatt's next 3D venture 'Dangerous Ishq'. The film is a supernatural thriller and Bhatt's second 3D after the success of 'Haunted'. Karishma was last seen in “Mere Jeevan Saathi” that released in 2006. "When I first gave Karisma a narration, she loved the story and the script. It's a woman-centric film and she plays the main character. Dangerous Ishq is a supernatural thriller based on past-life regression. We start shooting in September in Rajasthan," Vikram said.

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Celina postpones wedding to December Celina Jaitley has pushed back her wedding date to avoid a clash with her brother’s marriage plans. Earlier this year, the actor had announced her engagement with Dubai-based Austrian hotelier Peter Haag.

They were to tie the knot on September 3. “However, my brother’s wedding that was to happen in July has been pushed to September now. He is a special forces officer with the Indian Army and wasn’t getting leave in July,” she reasons. The actor had also planned her wedding in Egypt but her fiancé’s grandmother hasn’t been keeping well, and will be unable to travel to Egypt. So the location may be shifted to Peter’s hometown in Austria. The couple had met last year in Dubai through common family friends.

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18

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

India’s home ministry clears Reliance-BP deal Dear Financial Voice Reader, ‘What should I put my money in?’ The one question I am asked more than any other. So here are my best tips – all of which you will ignore.

Don’t try to look for the next small tiny company no one has heard of just because you heard a story about it. Just because Cavanagh and SeaEnergy and Solo Oil and so many other AIM stocks are up over 100% in the past 6 months. Yes you would have doubled your money. But AssetCo, and Gas Turbine and Desire are down 90% in the same period.

Don’t think you are going to ‘trade’ when in fact you only have the time to invest. That means you have a day job. You don’t have the time to nip in and out of the market. Yes you want to be Gordon Gekko, but you really will make a Mr Bean of yourself if you try. That means you need to find stocks you will hold for a year minimum.

Well, that pretty much then leaves larger companies for the long term doesn’t it? Yes. And pick the cash rich ones. They can only fall so far. Try to go for ones which are undervalued. Don’t know what that means? Well look up probably the most important and only financial stock picking statistic you need – the price-book ratio.

What does it mean? It’s the price of the company compared to what it’s worth. What it’s worth, it’s book value, is a measure of how much it paid for its assets or what it would get for those assets if the company were liquidated. So how does that tell you if the company is undervalued? You compare price-book ratios to where it was for the company and compared to other companies. Oh and Warren Buffett says it’s the most important ratio.

So now you know why I bang on about Apple and Microsoft. Cash rich companies are easier to value because we all know the value of money. You see too many companies are trying to sell themselves on a lie – that their stock should be valued on some amazing unproven technology or what customers may pay in advertising in the future or may buy one day. But cash doesn’t lie. Cash is king.

In fact if you want to know what is the most important thing to look at on a company’s accounts – it is the cashflow. It’s the most difficult to manipulate. You see balance sheets in my view are pretty worthless. Every businessman thinks his assets are worth the moon.

Often they should be in the liabilities column. In fact when you consider the running costs of some so called assets, you see why the cashflow looks bad and the balance sheet looks healthy – believe the cashflow.

But what of looking at earnings or profits? A bit better than balance sheet, not as good as cashflow. You see losses wont kill you. No assets wont kill you. What will kill you is running out of cash.

So there you have it – go for big cash rich companies for the long term – your best bet all things considered.

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

India’s foreign exchange reserves fall to $ 310.503bn India's foreign exchange reserves fell to $ 310.503 billion as on June 10 from $ 312.904 billion in the previous week, the central bank said in its weekly statistical supplement on Friday. Changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation

or depreciation of other currencies held in its reserves like the euro, sterling and yen, the central bank said.

Foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the central bank said.

India’s home ministry has cleared the sale 30 per cent stake in Reliance Industries’ oil and gas blocks, including KG-D6 gas fields, to UK’s BP for $ 7.2 billion. According to an oil ministry official, the ministry of home affairs wrote a one – page letter to the petroleum ministry on June 1 giving security clearance and no objection certificate for BP buying a 30 per cent stake.

While the NOC to the Reliance-BP deal is unconditional, the Home Ministry asked if Reliance could not have offered the stake to state-owned gas utility GAIL India or any other PSU.

RIL Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani and Robert Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive sign the RIL-BP relationship framework and transactional agreements in London. (File Photo)

“Our PSUs do not have the expertise Reliance has been looking for. It wanted an expert in deep sea technology and

India set to be largest economy by 2050 US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O Blake on Friday said the future of Indian economy seems very bright and the country is likely to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030, and the largest by 2050.

He added, “The incredible growth of India’s economy has resulted in positive spillover effect for the US between 2002-2009, US goods exports to India quadrupled, growing from $4.1 billion to more than $16.4 billion in 2009.”

“US services exports

to India more than tripled from $3.2 billion to $9.9 billion during the period,” he said.

Last year, US-India trade in goods broke a record with US exports increasing by 17 per cent and US imports from India rising by 40 per cent, he said during a seminar, ‘West Bengal and Beyond: US-India business links and prospects” in Kolkata.

“This surge of nearly 30 per cent to a high of $48.8 billion in goods trade moved India up two notches to become our

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12th largest goods trading partner. This positive trend continues, with twoway trade up 19 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, over the same period last year,” he said.

Mr. Blake said US trade with India was very much a two-way exchange with mutual benefits to both the countries.

Mr Blake added that India is also a growing source of foreign direct investment into the US “The total stock of FDI from India stood at almost $5.5 billion at the end of 2009. It has grown at a

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GAIL, which is a gas marketing and transportation company, hardly fits the description,” he said.

Reliance wants to lever-

age the worldwide experience of Europe’s second biggest energy company to resolve sub-surface technical issues at its KG-D6 gas fields, where production has fallen from 61.5 million standard cubic metres per day to about 48 mmscmd, instead of rising to the planned 69 mmscmd.

The Mukesh Ambaniled firm hopes BP would be able to fix reservoir issues at the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields in the KGD6 block to rapidly raise output to the planned peak of 80 mmscmd and also help in formulating viable plans to bring to production other finds in the block and in other areas.

Rent £50,000 p.a.x.

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compound annual growth rate of 35 per cent during 2004-2009, making India the seventh fastest-growing source of investment in US.” Indian companies invest heavily in many US industries such as energy and IT, he said, adding that “We expect their investments to increase.”

Mr Blake added the Indian market offers tremendous opportunity to US exporters of goods and services. “India has a market of 1.2 billion of world’s consumers,” he said.

O2 joins international calling card business

One more company, O2, has joined the international calling card business with a promise to give customers 100 per cent advertised minutes. According to the company, (Synovate research on international calling cards) showed that the current calling cards deliver just 28 per cent of the advertised minutes.

O2 offers competitive rates from just 1p per minute combined with a high quality call experience and no hidden rates such as connection charges, disconnection charges, maintenance fees or premium rate access numbers.

O2 promises value rates from 1p per minute, no hidden charges, one simple access number, UKbased telephone customer service, O2 mobile-level call quality and ability to call almost every country across the globe.

The O2 international calling card costs £5 and will be available from over 20,000 retail outlets across the UK, including O2 stores.

“The international calling card market is notoriously grubby and we know that consumers are crying out for a quality product from a trusted brand,” said Gary Booker, O2’s consumer general manager.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

19

Nothing Is Certain Except Death And Taxes

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

Many ask the question: is it better to purchase property through a limited company? There is no easy answer to this question, as it depends on your future intentions and current situation. Here we will go through some of the issues around purchasing through a company.

Firstly the biggest constraint we come across, and most accountants seem to be completely unaware of this, is the restrictive impact this has on getting borrowing. When purchasing through a LTD company there are fewer lenders on the market offering you less loan to value coupled with a higher interest rate.

Many individuals purchase the property in their personal names and then hold it in trust for the company. This way the asset is treated as a company asset for all tax purposes. This way they get the best of both worlds. It depends which accountant you ask as to whether they will say if this is possible. Investors have done this successfully without issues as long as the asset is not treated as a personal asset one year followed by being a company asset the following year.

Let’s look at the benefits of holding properties in a LTD company.

Firstly the tax rate will be charged at 20% on profits up to £300,000.

If you’re a lower middle rate tax payer you can take dividends without paying further tax. However if your dividends’ income takes your personal income above into the higher rate tax band, then you’re liable to pay at the higher rate.

You can grow your company more quickly by reinvesting profits without having to pay tax, so for aggressive growth this would be a good option. Not the case if the properties are held in personal names.

Cu rrent ly you will only be charg ed 20% on pro fits up to £300,000 wit hin t he company. The company can be transferred to a f amily member withou t incurrin g an immed iate capital gain s liability.

Th e ot her poin t is a compan y is a separate en tity, so apart from the tax ang le if there is any issu e such as a t enant decidin g to sue you the compan y will be held liabl e t here fore your liability is also limited .

Many investors when purchasing a property do it in the vehicle of a company known as an SPV, when it comes to selling they are not selling the property but selling the company holding only one asset. This makes the sale easier as the potential purchaser would be paying 0.5% as opposed to 5% assuming the property is worth over £1m.

SPVs are companies or trusts that are set up for the sole purpose of owning a specific property – often a commercial building like a factory, warehouse or retail premises but more frequently houses and flats since the recent stamp duty changes.

The SPV buys the property and then the SPV is sold to the purchaser.

The net effect is stamp duty is charged at 0.5% on the purchase of shares in an SPV rather than at the full rate of stamp duty.

For example, let’s look at buying say a five bedroom house in Knightsbridge with a tag of £6.95 million.

Putting the property into an SPV could save the buyer about £240,000 in stamp duty.

Paying less stamp duty with an SPV is not for every property buyer – the process does incur costs in setting up the company to hold the property that do not make the arrangement practical for cheaper property purchases, but then they attract a lower rate of stamp duty anyway.

So what of the down side?

If you’re purchasing to sell on in an individual name and the gain is likely to be less than £10,600 per tax year then there is zero tax. For a couple this means they can make £21,200 per tax year without any tax.

Th is is a ve ry large advantage an d most people are not tak in g advantage o f this very simple wind ow. T his is a large amoun t of mone y to be go t tax free every year. In st ead peo ple opt to put the re mon ie s in an ISA which gives paltry rates o f ret urn o f abou t 3.1% to take ad vantage of the tax exemptions.

Yet ve ry simply you will n ot e ve n be able to pu rchase the same amo unt of petrol a year lat er at th is level of gro wth - t ax ben efit or no tax ben efit!

Even above this amount in gains the tax rate applied will only be 18% above the exemption level this is a relatively low amount of tax.

So if one were a high rate tax payer, it would make sense to concentrate on this strategy of very simply buying and selling.

This is possible especially in the current market. Currently we are putting on the market a property purchased for a client at £250,000 a few months ago for £350,000 after doing £25,000 of work on it.

Purchasing a high income yielding property for a high rate tax payer would not be too advantageous, as the income generated would be slashed in half for those in the 50% bracket. So when a high rate tax payer is looking for property it is better to go for properties which actually do not generate income and focus instead on capital growth as the rates applicable will be less.

When considering to purchase an income generating property it is always better to purchase it in the names of someone not generating income to take advantage of the zero allowance and lower rates applied on income tax. For example in the case of a couple the housewife or a child who is not working.

For lending purposes the property can be bought in joint names but the second owner would be holding it in trust for the beneficial owner.

This is executed by way of a trust deed. It is important to maintain these funds in a disciplined way so as to avoid any problems in the future.

Typically when we ask whether an investor wants capital growth or income the answer 9 times out of 10 is both! As this small small article illustrates it’s not so simple!

This by no means should be used as a guide. We do not give tax advice, this is simply to serve to illustrate some of the issues you should be aware of in your decision making process of how to invest into property.

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This is probably the cheapest you’re ever likely to see in this location the property has low service charges and a long lease This is a golden goose, it requires deposit of £49K (approx) and in return would give you an income of £5K Net per annum after expenses including service charge mortgage payment and management fees.

The property is currently rented at £1200pm Property type and address: 175 John Aird Court, Porteus Road, Paddington, London, W2 1UU Purchase Price: £185,000 Type: Studio Flat Description: The property has got entrance from the front and the back . The front entrance is from Porteus Road and back entrance is from the green square with a football/basketball pitch. The property comprises of a bright reception/bedroom room, decent size balcony (good views for Paddington). The property is close to the cosmopolitan boutiques and cafes of Porteus Road, while a good selection of shops, bars and restaurants can be close by in Paddington. Transport links include Paddington and Edgware Road tube stations.

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Tips of the Week l Make sure you set out your tax strategy in advance of investing in property l There's a lot of exemptions against your rental income the list is on the HMRC website

20

finanCial voIce

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Leadership and Human Resource Management

A Perfect Storm

maria@abplgroup.com

Maria Fernandes

Changes, Changes, Changes Following considerable changes to Tiers 1, 2 and 4, attention is now being focused on Tier 5 (Temporary Workers). A further consultation is due to begin shortly. The plan is to restrict the leave to 12 months and remove the ability of dependants to enter and/or work.

Settlement route for Tier 2 The plan is to categorise visas into either temporary or permanent.

Only the permanent visa category will qualify for settlement. Tier 2 will be defined as temporary (with the possible exceptions of Ministers of Religion, elite sports persons and those earning over £150,000). Those with temporary visas will be granted a maximum period of 5 years and will be expected to leave at the end of it. However, the plan is to create a new category into which, after 3 years in the UK, the most exceptional Tier 2 migrants can apply for settlement. It is likely that there will be very strict selection criteria and a limit on the total numbers allowed to enter into this category.

Domestic workers A worrying development is the proposal is to abolish this route entirely

or to restrict it to a 6 month period as a visitor or 12 months if accompanying a Tier 1 or Tier 2 migrant. There will be no possibility for extensions, a right to change employer or the right to bring dependents.

If the route does remain in place, the plan is to strengthen the conditions.

The proposal is also to stop settlement to domestic workers working in diplomatic households and restrict their leave to 12 months as well as removing their ability to bring in dependants or allow dependants to work.

Legislation in relation to domestic workers has changed on a number of occasions over the years.

In order to protect domestic workers from an abusive relationship, they were allowed to change employers. However this re-introduction of restrictions will mean they could be potentially caught in exploitative relationships with employers.

This is an indication that domestic workers have no value in relation to other categories (for example investors). They will be treated as serfs.

They will not be allowed to bring dependents or

apply for settlement.

What does this say about our society?

Are we returning to the Middle Ages?

Extension of English Tests Dependents of Tier 2 migrants currently do not have to meet an English language test at the point of entry although they later have to do so at the point of settlement. The proposal is to bring forward the English language test.

Naming and Shaming This policy has been used to name and shame employers who employ illegal staff and this policy is now being extended to financial institutions who do not verify documents.

At present these are proposals which will undergo a consultation process. Therefore there will be an opportunity to engage in responding to this consultation.

Although the changes made as a result are usually minor.

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.

GoAir going for major expansion; orders 72 Airbus jets

India’s low-cost airline GoAir is embarking on a major expansion drive and has placed orders worth Rs 324 billion with Airbus to purchase 72 “Airbus 320 NEO” aircraft. The deliveries will start from 2015, with an induction rate of 15 aircraft per year. That is, 2,700 seats will be added every year to the existing capacity of the Wadia-group backed budget airline.

Prior to this, the airline had placed an order for 20, A320s and these aircraft will be delivered over the next 24 months. With the latest deal, the total aircraft on order with GoAir jumps to 92. Currently, the 2005-born airline, which adheres to the low-cost model of having a uniform

this year, low-cost airline IndiGo placed the largest jet aircraft order in commercial aviation history with a deal for 180 A320 aircraft. The deliveries will begin in 2016. Last year, Spice Jet had placed an order for 30 Bombardier turboprop aircraft.

"In terms of aircraft, we see tremendous potential in India which has barely six airlines with 350 aircraft catering to a billion people, compared to China's present 1,100 aircraft. "With all the present orders placed

by Indian carriers we could only reach 1,100 aircraft by 2020," he said, putting it in perspective with the US-based SouthWest Airlines which has close to 700 aircraft.

aircraft fleet, operates 133 daily domestic flights with a fleet of 10 A320 aircraft.

"We are evaluating various fund-raising options (for the deal). It will be a combination of debt and equity," Jeh Wadia, GoAir man-

aging director, said announcing the 72-aircraft order placed with Airbus last week.

The fuel-efficient, 180seater "A320 NEO" aircraft are an upgraded version of Airbus' best-selling A320 150-seat workhorse. Early

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I watched an old George Clooney film at the weekend called ‘A Perfect Storm’. Clooney plays the role of a captain of a fishing vessel who had fallen on hard times. In desperation he decides to go to further out to sea into an area notorious for bad weather, but famous for abundant fish. They get to the area and as expected catch lots of fish.

Suddenly their ice making machine breaks down. While they had already caught a small fortune in fish they would have to immediately turn home before the fish began rotting. Just then they receive an extreme weather warning wherein a hurricane was coming up from the south and was due to collide into two other weather fronts forming what some called the ‘perfect storm’.

Suddenly they have to decide between staying where they were until the storm passes but in doing so losing all the fish and in effect all the money or

they could make try to navigate the storm in order to get the fish to market in time. Sitting in a living room the decision is rather easy. You try to preserve life at all costs.

However, when you have no money and are desperate to provide for your families and you have the fish which will give you that money – the decision is not so straight forward.

The whole plot is actually very similar to the situation in Greece. The Greek government has introduced severe austerity measures to reduce the deficit and in return the European Central bank (ECB) has provided loans.

The measures are deeply unpopular with the population and almost every week there are protests.

Now the ECB has decided to withhold further loans until the Greek government introduces more austerity measures.

Without the loan the country may well default on its debts. Defaulting would be ethically wrong

By Amit Patel

and could cause another financial meltdown.

However, many Greek citizens believe they should as they were not responsible for the mess in the first place. So who do they appease – the EU or the Greek population? In other words they are facing a perfect economic storm.

What did Clooney do?

He asked his crew what they wanted to do and they all took a decision together to take on the storm. Sometimes when faced with a ‘perfect storm’ and the odds are stacked against whichever way you turn there is nothing wrong with giving the information to your people, explain the consequences and let them decide. This is also called ‘consulting’.

Sometimes consulting doesn’t work and you just have to make a decision.

The rest should be left to fate. Clooney and crew took on the storm.

India’s FDI up by 43% in April

India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) grew by about 43 per cent to US $ 3.12 billion in April 2011 reversing the decling trend of the last three months.

The country received US $ 2.17 billion worth of FDI in April, 2010.

"The figure is showing a recovery in the global markets, especially in European economies," an official said. Mauritius, Singapore, the US, UK, Netherlands, Japan, Germany and the UAE are the major investors in India.

In April, the maximum investment came from Singapore (US $ 1.17 billion), followed by Mauritius (US $ 976 million), Japan (US $ 235 million), France (US $ 220) and Cyprus (US $ 170 million).

During the month, the sectors that attracted the maximum FDI include services (US $ 658 million), construction activities (US $ 311 million), power (US $ 256 million), computers and hardware (US $ 96 million), telecommunications (US $

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Tata Motors global sales up by 11 pc in May

46 million) and housing and real estate (US $ 38 million).

In January, February and March, 2011, foreign investment inflows dipped by 48 per cent (US $ 1.2 billion), 30 per cent (US $ 1.04 billion) and 11 per cent (US $ 1 billion), respectively, vis-a-vis the corresponding periods in the previous year.

FDI declined by 25 per cent to US $ 19.4 billion in 2010-11 from US $ 25.83 billion in 2009-10, which was also lower than the US $ 27.33 billion invested in the previous fiscal.

However, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has initiated steps, including consolidation of all related rules and regulations into a single document, to boost FDI in the country.

Recently, relaxing FDI norms, the DIPP had allowed Indian companies to issue equity against the import of capital goods and liberalised the conditions for foreign investment for production and development of seeds.

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Tata Motors said its global sales increased by 11 per cent in May to 88,251 units driven mainly by commercial vehicles and Land Rover. Sales of luxury brands from Jaguar Land Rover were at 22,296 units during May, up 17 per cent from the same month last year, Tata Motors said in a statement.

While sales of luxury sedans of Jaguar brand declined by 18 per cent last month to 4,221 units, Land Rover sales grew 30 per cent at 18,075 units, it added. It said total passenger vehicles sales stood at 44,181 units in May 2011, a growth of 2 per cent from the same month last year.

Commercial vehicles sales were up by 20 per cent to 44,070 units from the same month last year, it added.

The Tata Motors Group's global sales comprises Tata, Tata Daewoo and Hispano Carrocera range of commercial vehicles, Tata passenger vehicles, along with Jaguar and Land Rover.

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FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 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

Greece Crisis Takes Centre Stage UK saw inflation remained unchanged at 4.5% for June the same as in May, which caused Sterling to improve slightly against the USD. However the BoE is still concerned that inflation could increase to or above the 5% level if commodity prices continue to rise. The MPC are still adamant not to change its monetary policy but may be forced to take action if it goes above the 5% level. RPI was released from UK, which came in line with market expectation but CPI took centre stage with both being inflationary data. As RPI came in line with expectations and didn’t cause movement in the currencies, indicated that inflation could be contained in the short term.

ILO employment rate came in flat; however the Claimant Count Change saw Sterling weaken against the majors as figures showed that there were more people making benefits claims than the previous month, in fact it was over double the amount of the expected figure. Near the end of last week we had Retail Sales figures which came out worse for both month on month and year on year, this fuelled further speculation that the BoE will not be thinking of raising inter-

est rates anytime soon.

The large drop from last month’s Retail Sales figure is speculated to be because of the royal wedding and the revenue this bought in for the UK. The Euro currently is in a very volatile state due to the problems in Greece, the Euro has therefore taken centre stage in the currency markets as there is no sign of a firm resolution to avoid a default. Towards the end of last week we saw the EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss how to give Greece any possible assistance.

The meeting ended with no conclusion once again which caused the Euro to drop against all the majors. There was further dismay added by the EU finance minister as he made comments that the ESFS fund should be doubled to €1.5tr, which indicated that they may need further assistance in the long term and that there was a big chance that Greece may default. At the end of the day there is a second bailout on the cards and any chance of Greece defaulting on its debt looks to be out of the question, being that European and American banks have so much exposure to Greek debt it’s in the interest of those concerns to give the

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 21st June 2011 @ 11.30am GBP - INR = 72.71 USD - INR = 44.89 EUR - INR = 64.38 GBP - USD = 1.62 GBP - EUR = 1.13 EUR - USD = 1.43 GBP - AED = 5.95 GBP - CAD = 1.58 GBP - NZD = 1.99 GBP - AUD = 1.53 GBP - ZAR = 10.98

aid where in fairness it might not be warranted.

The US Retail Sales figure came in lower than last month but in line with expectations and therefore didn’t see any negative impact on the USD. The US CPI figure came in positive, which showed good signs of economic growth across many sectors; this however lost its charm when worse than expected figures were released

in the form of Net Long Term TIC flows, NAHB housing market and Industrial Production.

US Philadelphia FED survey came in well below its expected 7 figure at -7.7 and jobless claims came in slightly better at 414k, the figures had little impact as all eyes were on Europe’s debt problems, which helped the dollar trade strong throughout the week reaching a 2 month high against sterling.

GBP - HUF = 301.54

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.

22

Pakistan-Bagladesh-sri lanka

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

No Pak judge available for 26/11 case Islamabad: The trial of LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks was on Saturday adjourned for a week as no judge was available to conduct proceedings in the Rawalpindibased anti-terrorism court hearing the case.

Rana Nisar Ahmed, who had been hearing the case since he was appointed judge of Rawalpindi's anti-terrorist court no. III in November 2010, was transferred shortly after the last hearing on June 11. No new judge has been

would be appointed before the next hearing. Ahmed's transfer marked the fourth change of the judge conducting the trial of the Pakistani suspects.

Ahmed had also been conducting the trial of five suspects charged with involvement in the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

He was transferred hours after he issued a permanent arrest warrant for former President Pervez Musharraf for failing to cooperate with investigators probing Bhutto's assassination.

Ahmed had constantly

pushed prosecutors to ensure Musharraf's appearance in court.

Experts said Ahmed's sudden transfer could affect proceedings in the Mumbai attacks case as any new judge will need time to acquaint himself with the details of the complex case.

The trial has been marred by delays and technical hitches since proceedings began in 2009.

At least one of the three judges who previously heard the case was changed after he received threats from militant groups, sources said.

Lanka rejects US court summons

Pak army chief fights to keep his position

Colombo: Sri Lanka has rejected a US court summons served on President Mahinda Rajapaksa over a USD 30 million damages suit against him.

The summons, first delivered to 'Temple Trees' but not accepted there, was later received by the ministry of justice, which rejected it.

"It was based on an unfounded allegation. We have no obligation to respond to that as a sovereign state," justice ministry secretary Suhada Gamlath told the stateowned 'Lakhanda' radio.

He said Sri Lanka had stated in writing the legal position on the issue to the US court.

"We have informed the

Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi

appointed for the court though a hearing was scheduled, sources said.

The case was placed before a duty judge, who adjourned it till June 25, they said.

The sources said it was expected that a new judge

Mahinda Rajapaksa

District Court of the Southern District of Columbia of our legal position," Gamlath was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times.

He said the Sri Lankan statute - the Mutual Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters Act No 39 of 2000 - had laid

down that the country need not heed such summons, "if we consider that the execution of the request will be prejudicial to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka."

Gamlath argued that Lankan president enjoyed legal immunity as the head of state and no court could summon him.

Kasipillai Manoharan, a Tamil, had filed a complaint in the District court of Columbia claiming USD 30 million over the alleged killing of his son Raghiar Manoharan.

Gamlath said the plaint was the work of the Tamil lobby in the US backing the defeated LTTE and the motive was to create tensions in Sri Lanka.

Zardari to become father of all 'unknown parentage' kids Islamabad: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has asked Pakistan's national database to use his name as the father's name in official documentation for children of unknown parentage, a top official has said. The move is an attempt to legalise the status of a large number of children who were born legally but whose parentage is unknown, National Database and Registration Authority chairman Malik Tarek said.

NADRA plans to issue identity cards to thousands of children of unknown parentage, a

majority of whom were dropped by their parents at welfare centres. A large number of such children arrived at welfare centres after losing their parents in the 2005 earthquake and last year's devastating floods, he said.

NADRA was at a loss about filling the registration forms for such children as it is mandatory to mention the name of the father and mother, he added.

"When it came to the knowledge of President Zardari, he voluntarily offered his name to be used in the father's name box for such people,"

Tarek said.

"I want you to make a strategy to make thousands of children with unknown parentage responsible citizens of the state.

In order to deal with the sensitive and complex issue of children of unknown parentage, NADRA approached different schools of Islamic thought in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran and some suggested that " Adam and Hawa" should be named as the father and mother of such children.

Welfare centres where the children are living will be named as their guardian.

Ashfaq Parvez Kayani

Washington: Pakistan's army chief is fighting to save his position in the face of "seething anger" in the army establishment over the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden, according to the New York Times.

Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who has led the army since 2007, "faces such intense discontent over what is seen as his cosy relationship with the US that a colonels' coup, while unlikely, was not out of the question," the influential US daily said in a report from Islamabad citing Pakistani officials.

The Pakistani Army is essentially run by consensus among 11 top commanders, known as the Corps Commanders, and almost all of them, if not all, were demanding that General Kayani get much tougher with the Americans, even edging toward a break, the Times said. Washington, with its own hard line against Pakistan, had pushed General Kayani into a defensive crouch, along with his troops, and if the general was pushed out, the United States would face a more uncompromising anti-American army chief, it said citing a Pakistani source.

Pakistan, Lanka in 'most failed states' list New York: India's neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka - are in the list of the "most failed states", according to the annual ranking prepared by the Foreign Policy magazine. Pakistan is at number 12, Myanmar at 18, Bangladesh (25); Nepal (27), Sri Lanka (29) and Bhutan is at 50 in a list of 60 countries in which African countries dominate.

Other countries in the top 10 are Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of

Congo, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan Central African Republic and Iraq.

On Pakistan, the report said, "Pakistan has long been dubbed the world's most dangerous country in Washington policy circles" and "yet Pakistan isn't just dangerous for the West-it's often a danger to its own people."

On Bangladesh, the report said, two of five Bangladeshis live under the poverty line. Any improvements will also be fighting the environmental

clock. If sea levels rise just by 1 metre, scientists warn, 17 per cent of the country could be submerged.

"Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia, according to the United Nations, and that's unlikely to change until the peace process is implemented and security restored. There are signs that the Maoists may be losing patience - and thinking about going back to the trenches to fight for more," the report said.

On Sri Lanka, it said, "The government's final push against the rebels relied on the shelling of civilians and other atrocities, according to a 2010 report by the International Crisis Group.â&#x20AC;? The most recent statistics from last year indicate that some 327,000 are still displaced from the conflict."

"Despite the pronounced fractures still lingering, the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo seems eager to forget the past," it added.

IN focus 6 Pak Rangers jailed for videotaped killing

Karachi: In a rare rebuke of Pakistan's powerful military, police presented chargesheets against six members of a paramilitary force for the killing an unarmed man last week, a government lawyer said. The incident in Karachi was caught on videotape and broadcast on television channels nationwide, fueling anger against the security forces already under pressure since Osama bin Laden's killing last month in a US raid. "The police have submitted their investigation report to me, which will now be scrutinised and submitted to the court, after which the trial will be held in an anti-terrorism court," state lawyer Arshad Iqbal Cheema said.

18 killed in Pak drone strikes Islamabad: At least 18 suspected militants have been killed in three drone strikes in northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, a media report said. Dawn News said four missiles hit a vehicle carrying the suspected militants some 10 km east of Miranshah, the headquarters of the North Waziristan area, last week. All eight people on board the vehicle were killed. Ten more people were killed when drones targeted two houses in South Waziristan, Xinhua said. More than 30 drone strikes have taken place in Pakistan this year, killing around 250 suspected militants.

UN urges Lanka to investigate war crime charges

New York: In the wake of a documentary aired by Britain's Channel 4 on Sri Lanka's war, the United Nation renewed its call for Sri Lanka to investigate the alleged violations of human rights during the last phase of the three-decade long conflict with the Tamil Tiger terrorists. Martin Nesirky, the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General ban Ki-moon said the UN Chief was aware of the documentary. Nesirky, updating on the Secretary-General's own investigation said the UN Chief has reviewed the recommendations of the Panel of Experts report on Sri Lanka and is working with the Secretariat to determine how to follow up on the recommendations.

Ayman al-Zawahiri is the new al-Qaida head Cairo: An al-Qaida affiliated website says Egypt-born Ayman al-Zawahiri has succeeded Osama bin Laden as head of the terror network. Bin Laden was killed in a US commando raid in Pakistan last month. AlZawahiri, who will turn 60 next week, had been bin Laden's second in command. He is the son of an upper middle class Egyptian family of doctors and scholars.

His father was a pharmacology professor at Cairo University's medical school and his grandfather was the grand imam of Al-Azhar University, a premier center of religious study. The announcement was posted on a website known to be affiliated with the terror network.

Karzai to step down in 2014 Washington: Hamid Karzai has said privately he intends to step down in 2014 as president of Afghanistan as required by the country's constitution, US defense secretary Robert Gates told a Senate panel last week. Afghanistan's constitution limits a president to two terms in office but there has been speculation in the past that Karzai might attempt to change the rules to allow him to stay in office longer.

Pak court issues notice to govt on Sarabjit case

Lahore: A Pakistani court has issued notice to the federal government seeking its response within three weeks to a writ petition against the possible grant of a presidential pardon to Indian national Sarbajit Singh, currently on death row. Singh was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. Lawyer Rana Ilamuddin Ghazi filed the petition in the Lahore High Court in which he contended that Sarbajit was awarded death sentence by the trial court while the High Court and the Supreme Court rejected his appeals. Even former President Pervez Musharraf dismissed his mercy petition, he said.

Pak judge hides in washroom to avoid gang fight

Lahore: In another security lapse in less than a month, two criminal gangs attacked each other with sharpedged weapons in a Pakistan courtroom, besides trying to assault a judge and hold him hostage. Judicial magistrate Kaleem Aslam Awan had a narrow escape as he rushed to his retiring room and hid himself in the washroom. Sources in court said that the judge acted on time after he saw one of the accused rushing towards him. He said that the courtroom of the magistrate was very small, and when both groups entered the room fighting, the judge got scared and locked himself inside the washroom.

world

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

In focus Ban Ki-moon gets 2nd term as UN Secy Gen Washington:The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution recommending UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon be elected for a second term. UN officials say the full UN General Assembly is expected to hold a formal vote next week. Ban Ki-Moon's reelection required the approval of all five permanent members of the Security Council. The UN General Assembly is expected to confirm the appointment soon.

CIA plans Pak-style drone op in Yemen Washington: The CIA is planning to launch a secret mission to kill al-Qaida militants in Yemen, where months of anti-government protests, an armed revolt and the attempted assassination of president have left a power vacuum, US officials have said. The covert program is the latest step to combat the growing threat from Qaida's outpost in Yemen, which has been the source of several attempted attacks on US and is home to an American-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki. The CIA program will be a major expansion of US counter terrorism efforts in Yemen, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Jewish court sentences dog to death by stoning

Jerusalem: A Jerusalem rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a dog it suspects is the reincarnation of a secular lawyer who insulted the court's judges 20 years ago, Ynet website has reported. According to Ynet, the large dog made its way into the Monetary Affairs Court in the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, frightening judges and plaintiffs. Despite attempts to drive the dog out of the court, the hound refused to leave the premises. One of the sitting judges then recalled a curse the court had passed down upon a secular lawyer who had insulted the judges two decades ago.

Ban on Mubarak's daughters-in-law to leave Egypt Cairo: Egypt's ministry of justice has imposed travel bans on two daughters-in-law of former president Hosni Mubarak, Al Ahram reported. The ban was imposed by the ministry's department for economic crimes. Heidy Rassekh and Khadiga El-Gammal - the wives of Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal respectively and their children, Omar Alaa and Farida Gamal, were prohibited from leaving the country in line with a probe on corruption charges against Mubarak and his family.

Mubarak, 82, is being investigated over deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 18-day uprising that forced him from power in February.

Produce kids, get land, Russians told Moscow: Russian families who produce three or more children can get free land from the government.

President Dmitry Medvedev has signed an amendment to the country's land laws, the Kremlin said last week.

"Citizens with three or more children will be granted free parcels of land held in state and municipal property, including for the purpose of individual housing construction," a statement said. The step is aimed at reversing a severe population fall in Russia. Russia's population peaked in the early 1990s -- at 148 million people. It now stands at 143 million. Experts fear it will plunge to 111 million by 2050.

Sikh group seeks UN intervention to save Bhullar

Washington: A Sikh advocacy group is seeking UN intervention to save Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar who has been given the death penalty in a 1993 car bombing case in New Delhi. Bhullar, a former Khalistan Commando Force militant, was given the death penalty in 2001 by a Delhi court under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA). President Pratibha Patil rejected his mercy petition last month.

Tunisian court jails toppled president, wife Tunis: Toppled Tunisian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and his wife were sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prison each in a trial for misappropriating public funds, a judge said. Judge Touhami Hafi also fined the exiled ex-leader 50 million dinars (25 million euros) and his wife Leila Trabelsi 41 million dinars on the first day of the trial. He postponed a trial in a second case until June 30 to allow Ben Ali's lawyers more time to prepare their defence.

Somalia jails British, US nationals Mogadishu: A Somali court has jailed six foreigners, including three Britons and an American, for illegally carrying millions of dollars into the country to pay ransoms for the release of vessels held by pirates.

Authorities in the Horn of Africa country, where a lack of effective central government has allowed piracy to boom off its shores, seized two aircraft carrying $3.6 million in the capital Mogadishu late last month.

23

Australia welcomes highly skilled Indians Mumbai: Australia has welcomed highly skilled human resource from India and those with outstanding abilities to the country through its new reformed immigration policies, aimed at boosting its economy.

This will enable highly skilled human resource from India with Indian degrees in the fields of health care, IT, engineering to apply for immigration to Australia under its Global Non-discriminato-

Indian-origin doc among most wanted in USA Chicago: The Federal Bureau of Investigaton (FBI) has launched a nationwide manhunt and alerted Interpol to locate one of its most wanted fugitives, an Indian-origin doctor Gautam Gupta, whose ads promising weight loss are wellknown, for allegedly defrauding the US insurance companies of $25 million over the last decade.

An FBI complaint alleges that Gupta had received almost $25 million over the last decade when he submitted claims to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois and Illinois Medicaid for services that were not medically necessary or, in some cases, were never performed, according to the Chicago Tribune.

ry Immigration programme, Peter Speldewinde, Assistant Secretary, Labour Market Branch of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship of Government of Australia told reporters in Mumbai.

"We have brought in a fundamental shift in the immigration process, focusing on medium and long-term skill needs for Australia and the age limit for immigration of such human resource has been

increased to 50 (from 45 years)," he said.

Those who apply from July 1 this year will come under the new point system for a direct visa application. While the proposed system of skilled migrant selection model will be based on an Expression of Interest (EOI) and will be launched from July 1, 2012, he said.

For the 2011 application, once the threshold English language requirement is met with, the

applicant can claim points under a range of different factors (Indian degrees are now recognised by Australia) and must meet the pass mark of 65 points to be eligible for a points tested visa, he said adding that the highest points were for PhDs. The EOI is an on-line application form for skilled migration to Australia and once selected under the merit list, the candidate will be invited to apply for visa, he said.

Indian chained to hospital bed for five months in Saudi Arabia Dubai: An Indian has been chained to a hospital bed for nearly five months after he was arrested in a forgery case and is waiting to be deported back home, a report said. Ram Pradip Mali was brought to the King Fahd hospital in Jeddah from the prison in January after his health deteriorated. The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) called Mali's treatment as inhumane.

He is suffering from severe anaemia, which has caused life-threatening problems of inflammation and acute bone marrow, The Saudi Gazette reported.

Mali was admitted to the intensive care unit and moved to an isolation room due to infection concerns.

The hospital has writ-

Ram Pradip Mali

ten several letters to prison officials, demanding his speedy deportation after his condition stabilises since the treatment is costly, said the report. There are also fears of a relapse in his condition since his leg has been chained to the bed for five months.

"The man is disgruntled because the Indian consulate has not made any serious effort to solve his case after its represen-

tative visited him in the hospital," Dr Hussein AlShareef, supervisor of the NSHR branch said.

Mali also claimed that the same treatment was not meted out to him by the consulate as to his colleagues, who were promptly deported following their arrest in a forgery case, AlShareef added.

"We are preparing a report on the patient's condition, which we will refer to authorities for expediting his deportation due to his heath condition," Al-Shareef said.

"Chaining him is an inhuman and inappropriate act," he said. "It is humiliating and does not show any regard for the patient's dignity and it is causing him fear," he added.

Indian Consul General slapped with labour-suit in US New York: Prabhu Dayal, the Indian Consul General in New York, has been accused of treating a former domestic help as a slave and making sexual advances, charges rejected by him as "complete nonsense".

Santosh Bhardwaj, Dayal's former maid, has filed a forced labour-suit against him for making her work for long hours everyday at US $300 a month, confiscating her passport and letting her sleep in a storage closet. She has also alleged him of making sexual advances.

"I filed the complaint because I want to be paid for all the labour I provided and for all the injustice

I suffered - and I want my passport returned," Bhardwaj (45), the mother of four children, said.

"The Dayals did not treat me fairly," she said in a statement issued by the Legal Aid Society, which is representing her.

Dayal, however, has rubbished the charges against him. "Complete nonsense. These are mischievous and malicious lies," he said.

Bhardwaj said she was lured to the US with a promise of an hourly pay of US $10 and overtime pay. Instead, she said her payment was less than US $1 an hour, and her passport was confiscated.

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Contact: Ashvwin Gosai

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

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24

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

In divine light

Any quest ions writ e to m amta @thinkspalon

By Mamta Saha don.com

Psychologist

Pearls of wisdom

This weeks article is going to focus on motivation, confidence, engaging others and living your values at work. I have been lucky enough to explore some alternative perspectives on these topics by speaking to Aekta Mahajan (A) and Pratik Dattani (P). Both have been successful in their careers and life through experience, hard work and focus. Read ahead to learn the psychology of their success.

1. How do you stay motivated?

(A) I recognise the importance of fulfilling my personal goals and I try to clearly define these at the outset. I then link each task, however cumbersome it may appear to be back to the overarching personal goals I've set for myself. This helps me to understand the importance of doing whatever is required to fulfil my personal goals and as a result I stay self-motivated.

(P) For me, self-motivation comes from knowing what I want to achieve and the timeline in which I want to do it. It gives me focus and drive – the motivation follows from there.

2. What advice would you give to someone who lacks confidence?

(A) To believe in himself or herself and to realise that everyone has the capability to do anything. Usually people who lack confidence think negatively and always fear the worst so I would encourage them to confront these fears and to write down "what is the worst that could happen" in a particular scenario. By doing this and by thinking positively, they should feel more confident in their ability to do what they set out to do.

(P) It is a spiral – low confidence begets a lack of access to the opportunities you want, and the lack of opportunities results in further low confidence. Make a

list of what you want to achieve in an ideal world, find a sponsor for each of those things (i.e. someone more experienced who does those things well that you feel comfortable talking to) and ask them to help you reach your goal. People are happy to help, but you need to ask the question.

3. How do you best engage others?

(A) I try to understand the personal interests / motivations of others and then connect any messages that I want to convey back to their personal interests. For example, if I am trying to convince someone to support a charity, I would emphasise the benefits to them rather than focusing purely on the benefits to the charity.

(P) All five digits on your hand are different sizes.

In the same way, everyone around you responds to different stimulations. You need to find these and tailor your approach to each person – you need patience because it can be hard work in the short-term, but it pays off in the long-term.

4. What advice would you give to best manage upwards?

(A) Take some time out to fully understand your managers. Every manager is different and has different preferences / styles.

Depending on your manager's style, I try and tailor my communication and working approach accordingly so for example since my manager is very busy, always short of time and prefers verbal communication - I avoid emails and instead get more face time through setting regular 1:1s with them so I get instant feedback.

(P) Make the life of the person above you easier by being proactive, flag up issues early and give constructive feedback.

5. How can you live your values at work?

(A) I think it is incredibly important to work in an organisation that is closely aligned to your personal values, so I would stress the importance of researching this in advance. It's not uncommon, to ask at an interview about an organisation or team's values, culture or ways or working.

This makes it far easier for you to "be yourself at work".

When you are working in organisation where your values don't fully align, I would advise people to not be afraid of sharing their personal values with stakeholders at work. This should help the stakeholders understand and acknowledge your values and subsequently should make you more comfortable in pushing back any actions that may not align with your personal values. This comes back to being confident enough in your ability to recognise that you can produce excellent outcomes without having too compromise on "how they are delivered".

(P) It can be difficult, depending on the job. I find ‘constrained discretion’ helps – I set myself a framework with outer bounds of what I would and wouldn’t consider being in line with my values. Then with that ‘constraint’, I give myself complete discretion on how to apply them – whatever I do, I know I will be working in the bounds of what is internally consistent with my value system.

Due to high demand I am now conducting Skype and phone coaching, if you are interested in learning more about this contact me: mamta@thinkspalondon.co m. Alternatively you may prefer attending a training course, in which case register on thinkspalondon.com.

Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter. Good luck and god bless.

Indian President to disclose assets

Cartoon: Jami

…………please do not try such risky experiments in an effort to save money on fuel

Indian President Pratibha Patil is all set declare her assets and set an example for ministers and bureaucrats to do so. Earlier this month, the prime minister had reminded the ministers about the annual declaration of assets and business interests along with that of their spouses.

Former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar had also written to the ministers on this on June 2.

More than 600 IAS officers of the 4,000-odd in the service have missed the May 31 deadline for declaration of assets, and the list of movable and immovable properties of IPS officers are still trickling in.

By Rajen Vakil

Inner Development of Nala

When Nala was in Ayodhya, Damayanti was staying in Cedi. She did not reveal her true identity but had told the queen mother how she lost her husband and was looking for him. In the kingdom of Vidharbha, Damayanti’s father was concerned at the whereabouts of Nala and Damayanti after hearing the news that Nala had lost everything in a game of dice. He called a large group of Brahmins and asked them to travel in different directions and promised to reward whoever brought news of Nala and Damayanti. One of the Brahmins whose name was Sudeva reached Ayodhya. There in the palace he caught a glimpse of Damayanti and recognised her immediately. Damayanti too knew him as he was a friend of her brother.

On seeing him, Damayanti started crying and this was being observed by the queen mother from afar. She called Sudeva and asked him who he was and how he knew Damayanti.

Sudeva told her Damayanti’s story and this brought tears to the queen mother’s eyes. She went up to Damayanti and told her, “You are my sister’s daughter; I had last seen you when you were born, and your mother had come to our father’s kingdom to give birth to you.” The queen mother narrated how she had rubbed some skin off Damayanti’s forehead so everyone could see the mole showing her high bearing. Damayanti then asked the queen mother to send her to her father’s kingdom. This she did and Damayanti, after a long period of pain and suffering, met with her parents.

Once in her father’s house, Damayanti immediately called many Brahmins and asked them to go out again and look for Nala. She asked them to recite this verse wherever they went. “O deceiver, after tearing half my dress and leaving me alone in the jungle, where did you go.” A Brahmin called Parnad reached the court of Rituparna, where Nala (as Bahuka) was present. Here, he sang the verse as Damayanti had told him. The words of Parnad hurt Nala and he went to him and said, “Ladies of a high family have the inherent wisdom to save themselves even in the worst of circumstances. If her husband left her, she would understand that he had lost his kingdom and what he was going through, and it was

not right for her to get angry.”

Parnad went back to Vidharbha and reported this conversation to Damayanti, who realised that even though his appearance was ugly and different, it had to be Nala.

She then devised a plan to force Nala to reveal himself. She calls Sudeva and tells him to go to Ayodhya and announce in Rituparna’s court that Damayanti, the princess of Vidharbha, was going to marry again and the swayamvara to choose her husband would take place the following morning. She knew that except Nala, no other person could reach Vidharbha in such little time and this would force him to come out of hiding.

When Rituparna hears that Damayanti is remarrying, he gets very excited as her beauty and virtues were well known. He calls Bahuka and tells him that he would like to reach Vidharbha by sunrise and only he could make that possible. Bahuka was also shocked that Damayanti is marrying again and wanted to reach Vidharbha as soon as possible to find out why. He told Rituparna that he would choose the horses so that they could leave immediately.

When Rituparna saw the horses that Bahuka had chosen, he scolded him saying such thin horses would never be able to take them so far. Then Bahuka showed Rituparna special marks on the forehead, on the top of the head, on each of their shoulders, on their chests, and on their backs. When he saw the marks, Rituparna praised Bahuka for his skill. Even Nala’s old charioteer, Varshneya, who was present there was shocked at this skill. The three of them then started out for Vidharbha and Rituparna was shocked at the speed at which they were passing rivers, mountains, lakes and valleys.

Now let us try to find hidden meanings in the story till here. We saw that Nala is the real ‘I’ or controller within us. In all of us, this real ‘I’ is asleep and needs to be awak-

ened. This is done by developing the power to observe and control. This power is called Damayanti.

We have also seen that the inner observer acquires this power by marrying her. But he cannot hold on to this. In a small lapse of unawareness he loses the power.

To acquire it again and also hold on to it requires two things: (1) Depicted

by Nala having mastery over horses – this is symbolic of feelings and emotions. He has mastery over the instinctive and emotional centres, but he is still not a master of his thinking centre which is symbolised by the lack of knowledge of the dice.

Nala loses everything in the game of dice. He has to acquire this knowledge and art from Rituparna.

Only then, in Gurdjieff’s language, he would have developed both higher thinking and higher emotion; the latter he already had. (2) All our happiness is dependent upon life fulfilling our desires through gaining objects of the senses. Nala’s two children were named Indrasen and Indrasena, whom Damayanti sends to her father’s kingdom.

Their names mean army of the senses. This implies that Nala has lost the enjoyment he gets from objects of the senses.

Now he must develop the power to enjoy and be happy from within which is not dependant on any desire being fulfilled. This is the real source of happiness that lies hidden in all of us. Only when Nala acquires this, will he be able to hold the power called Damayanti.

The marks on the horses are very significant – forehead signifies logical thinking, top of the head the power of divinity, whereas the shoulders show strength, love, and surrender. The chest shows generosity and the back the power to lift a burden.

Next week we will see how Nala frees himself from Kali and is reunited with Damayanti.

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

InDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

25

Treasure trove found at Satya Sai Baba’s abode A huge amount of gold and silver along with millions of rupees in cash were found on Friday inside Yajurveda Mandiram, the personal residence of the late Sathya Sai Baba at Prashanti Nilayam in Puttaparthi.

The find, which amounted to 98 kg of gold, 307 kg of silver and Rs. 115.60 million in cash, came to light on Friday after the Sathya Sai Seva Trust members took an inventory of the things stored inside

“The cash found at Yajur Mandir has been deposited in the account of the Trust in State Bank of India, Prasanthi Nilayam,” Mr. Ratnakar told reporters in Puttaparthi.

Yajurveda Mandiram or Yajur Mandir, the personal chamber of Sai Baba, had remained closed ever since he was hospitalised on March 28. He died on April 24 following multi-organ failure.

Yajurveda Mandiram - which was opened on Thursday - in the presence of retired Supreme Court judge A.P. Mishra and retired Karnataka High Court judge Vaidyanatha.

An assessor approved by the Income Tax Department was also present to assist in evaluating the gold, jewellery and silver, according to Trust member and Sai Baba’s nephew R.J. Ratnakar.

Meanwhile, a day after police arrested the driver of a trustee of the Sathya Sai institute and seized Rs 350,000, which was believed to be spirited out of Sathya Sai Baba’s abode of Puttaparthi, the Anantapur police recovered over Rs 50 million stuffed in two gunny bags from a Puttaparthi-Bangalore bus. Police, who were acting on a tip-off, detained two Tamil Nadu-based men.

In focuS 2,25,076 pilgrims registered for Amarnath yatra As many as 2,25,076 pilgrims for Amarnath yatra have been registered at various registration counter and online centres across India, Nodal officer of Registration officials and Vice President, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Abdul Hamid said. Giving further details, Hamid said that as many as 1,13,048 pilgrims have registered themselves for pilgrimage to cave shrine via Baltal route, while 1,12,028 pilgrims opted for the traditional Pahalgam-Amaranth route via south Kashmir.

Barber kills customer over haircut row

A barber stabbed a customer to death after the latter pulled him up for not cutting his hair properly, police said.

The incident took place at Durgi in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday. It happened a few hours after the customer's wife delivered a child. A barber at a hair saloon was angry when the customer, unsatisfied with his hair cut, returned to the shop and picked up an argument with him. The barber stabbed him with a scissor. The profusely bleeding customer was rushed to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Lankan Navy detains 23 Indian fishermen, 5 boats

The Sri Lankan Navy has taken into custody 23 Indian fishermen hailing from Mandapam and Rameswaram areas in Tamil Nadu when they were fishing in mid sea, a government official said. Assistant Director of Fisheries Markandeyan said that the reason for the detainment was not known. The Sri Lankan Navy has also taken their five boats into custody. Authorities came to know about the incident from a fisherman who managed to escape with his boat from the Lankan naval men, he said.

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Narrow escape for 1,000 train passengers in Assam

A train carrying around 1,000 passengers had a narrow escape on Friday with security forces detecting a powerful bomb inside the train at the Guwahati railway station in Assam, police said. The bomb, kept in a steel container and concealed inside a bag, was fitted with a time device inside coach S5 of the Kanchengunja Express. It was detected by security forces during a routine check just when the train from Bangalore arrived in Guwahati around. Passengers were immediately evacuated from the station and soon after a bomb disposal squad arrived.

100 % cut-offs in Delhi University Well, if you are looking to do a B Com Honours course at the Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) of Delhi University, you need to have scored 100 per cent in your class 12 board exams to even try for the first list. At the nearby Hindu College you'll need 99 per cent marks and if you settle for the south campus, Lady Sri Ram college has a first list cut-off at 97 per cent. Admissions began and students were in a daze.

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26

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Air India on death bed: fails to pay salary to staff Employees of Air India were not paid last month and instead they received an apology letter from the chairman and managing director stating that the airlines was passing through a challenging and critical phase.

Rising debts and growing interest burden and increased fuel costs only added to the burden hence nearly 40,000 employees of the airlines remained deprived of their monthly pay. The carrier, groaning under $8.9 billion (£5.4 billion) of debt, withheld salaries for about 33,000 pilots, cabin and ground staff, as well as 7,000 casual workers. Bonuses were not paid for the second consecutive month.

The woes for the airlines did not end there, the airline was forced to cancel some of its flights when oil companies refused to

fill up its aircraft because of unpaid fuel bills.

Air India’s chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav said that the airline was passing through a “very challenging and critical phase” and said, ``I am sorry that your salary statement could not be released on June 8,” he wrote, adding that “with help from the Government, we have got the funds released and your salaries will be credited to your accounts soon”.

Experts in the aviation industry point out that when Praful Patel was the civil aviation minister, there was so much of hope

that he would revive the sick carrier because of his business background.

People thought Air India will reach the epitome of success and public services under his leadership.

Experts add that certain decisions by Patel too added on the financial burden of the airline. Air India under Praful Patel shut down its lucrative direct flights to Ahmedabad from London Heathrow. Whereas, on the contrary private airlines were given slots between India and UK. These private operators are raking in profit, so are the airlines from the Middle Eastern countries.

On the contrary Air India is on the verge of bankruptcy. So like other public sector undertakings no one wants to take the blame for the failure and corruption ruled leading to

the suffering of the staff.

The failure to pay staff salaries is the latest humiliation for the airline, once known as the Maharajah of the Skies but now battling against fierce competition from no-frills domestic rivals such as Kingfisher, Jet and IndiGo. While private operators rule the skies at least four flights were cancelled in south India on May 27 until an agreement was brokered to supply fuel on a cash and carry basis.

Jitender Bhargava, a former Air India executive who is now a media analyst said: “Air India is defaulting on its employees, its vendors and banks.

The crisis is at a very critical phase.” He said that the airline needed to accelerate a turnaround programme to make an operating profit by 2013 and a net profit by 2015.

No consensus on Lokpal bill Continued from page 1 This was the ninth meeting held between the two sides.

The two sides had first met on April 16 to chalk out a strong Lokpal bill aimed at curbing corruption in high places have been engaged in a war of words since the first day.

Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal said, “Six sticking points remain between us. Drafts were exchanged.” At the meeting, the two sides presented their versions of the

bill, which will now go to the cabinet to take a final call. “We had a friendly discussion and we agreed to disagree,” Sibal said.

The government would take the issue forward in two to three days. “We will take it to the political parties for a nod. Then it will go to the cabinet.

Then we will take it to parliament,” he said. Both the versions will be merged into one document with the differences listed out for a final decision to be taken by the cabinet. However, disagreeing with Sibal’s ver-

sion, lawyer and civil society member Prashant Bhushan said, “The meeting was disappointing.”

Civil society member and Hazare confidant Arvind Kejriwal said in the government draft, the prime minister, the judiciary and junior bureaucrats has been excluded from the purview of the Lokpal.

The other contentious issues that civil society wants in the bill are - acts of parliamentarians inside parliament to be covered

by Lokpal, punishment prescribed for corruption and that the Central

Bureau Investigation (CBI) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) be merged into the Lokpal.

The differences between the two sides remain on inclusion of Prime Minister within the ambit of the Bill as also the higher judiciary and conduct of MPs inside the House, funding model, CBI under Lokpal and Lokayuktas in state.

"We have differences over six issues earlier.

Now two more added to the list," said activist Arvind Kejriwal.

We are proud of you and really happy to have you as our daughter/sister/grand daughter/niece. We still remember the day you were born and it all seems just yesterday! You are a big girl now, make sure you remain so sweet, responsible and lovely for ever.

With lots of love and blessings Ma, Daddy, Dinu, Didima, Dadu, Thakurma, Bhakti pishi, Ghumache dadu, Sakti pishi, Ashok dadu, Choto pishi, Mesho, Bara pishi and Vivek.

AIIMS agrees to stop experiments on monkeys People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and its affiliates and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have signed an agreement to make significant improvements in the care of animals at its Central Animal Facility in New Delhi. PETA affiliates also urged AIIMS to both retire aging monkeys who have been used for experiments in many years, and to improve living conditions for all the animals imprisoned there. PETA UK supporters also staged protests at the Indian High Commission in London to urge ministers to take action against the cruelty.

AIIMS has agreed to cease all experiments on monkeys and sheep until additional improvements are made, and sent six

monkeys to an animal shelter and has agreed to free more monkeys for rehabilitation, and has relocated other monkeys from small cages, in which they were kept alone, to more spacious ones where they may be housed in groups.

Additionally, AIIMS has agreed to work with PETA India to make further improvements in animal welfare. PETA India is pushing AIIMS to explore modern alternatives to experimentation on animals.

"We are pleased to be at this new stage in our campaign and sincerely hope that AIIMS' positive actions are the beginning of a continued effort to improve conditions for these animals, who have suffered terribly", says PETA India's Dr Manilal Valliyate.

True Grit: Unveiling Sri Lankan war crimes Continued from page 15 The Channel 4 documentary, presented by Jon Snow, investigated alleged war crimes carried out in the final weeks of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009 and was broadcast in a late evening slot due to the shocking nature of some of the footage.

The documentary attracted 700,000 viewers and an 8.3% audience share in its slot, with about another 100,000 watching an hour later on Channel 4 +1.

In 2009, the Sri Lankan Sinhalese government, led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, declared a victory on their War on Terror. They portrayed the offensive that ended the civil war as a humanitarian operation that freed the Tamil people from the tyranny of the LTTE, recalling justifications for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In later interviews, President Mahinda Rajapaksa went on to state: "We have achieved something that no other country could do: getting rid of all these terrorists," and only "one or two civilians might have got caught in the crossfire".

Furthermore, there were absolutely no war crimes committed by his soldiers, and to ensure that the country recovered as swiftly as possible, he had even set up a Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission.

Before the offensive against the LTTE, the Rajapaksa government had already started a crackdown on critics of its administration, many of whom were exiled, murdered, or disappeared. The film's opening shows how the UN and other international agencies were then pressured into leaving Kilinochchi and other LTTE-held areas. As Gordon Weiss,

the UN's official spokesman in Sri Lanka at the time, says in the film, "the government regarded the UN as impediments to their conquest of the Tamil Tigers. By removing those organisations, there were no longer international witnesses to what was coming."

In one of the most heartbreaking scenes of this documentary, crowds gather outside the UN compound, asking them not to go. Says an aged Tamil, "We are begging you to stay and witness our suffering. If we allow you to leave, the truth is that everyone here will die. The knife is at our throat."

But the Sri Lankan government had international support, and such pleas went unheeded. International organisations removed their personnel from all LTTE-held areas, and over the next few months, the Sri Lankan government offensive began in earnest.

The film documents how, in the course of this war, the government herded 400, 000 Tamil civilians into ever-smaller areas of land labelled as "no-fire zones," that could more accurately be described "target practice zones." The estimates of civilian casualties ranged from President Mahinda Rajapaksa's "one or two civilians might have got caught in the crossfire" to a fourth of the civilian population, according to various human rights organisations. Furthermore, the hospitals in these zones were shelled so frequently that they asked the Red Cross not to pass on their GPS coordinates, for they were being used for targeting rather than avoidance.

The extent of the crimes committed during the war are still unknown. After the war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the government soldiers

"went to war with a gun in one hand and the Human Rights Charter in the other."

The most chilling parts of this documentary were trophy footage taken by soldiers- which included ogling at naked bodies of women.

When this documentary was first aired, the Sri Lankan government was conducting an international seminar on how to defeat terrorism while pursuing a "zero civilian casualty" (a seminar attended by representatives from the US).

Afterwards, Sri Lanka's government quickly went on the defensive. These videos, it claimed, were nothing more than propaganda created by Tamils seeking asylum, and the atrocities depicted had been carried out, not by government forces, but by the Tigers themselves.

But while LTTE was responsible for its own human rights violations, the atrocities attributed to government forces have been corroborated by civilian accounts. And Christopher Heyns, UN's special investigator on extra judicial killings, brought in a number of experts to check the authenticity of the videos. They all came to the conclusion that they were not faked.

Despite this, the Sri Lankan government refuses to investigate these incidents, and still refers to its offensive as "a humanitarian operation that saved half a million Tamil lives".

Channel 4 has come in for some criticism for their decision to broadcast the footage on public television. However, their decision to show the footage has catapulted Sri Lanka to the top of international debate. The international community and the Sri Lankan government will have to work together to ensure that meaningful reconciliation is reached on

both sides, where Tamil and Sinhala grievances are given equal importance. Failure to achieve this would leave the documentary worthless.

Lord Dolar Popat told Asian Voice, "Whilst I did not and have not seen the documentary on the situation in Sri Lanka, I am aware of many of the issues that have been raised. I agree with Prime Minister David Cameron in that I think that there should be a free and fair investigation to be carried out regarding the allegations, with the full cooperation of the Sri Lankan Government.

International humanitarian law explicitly forbids certain actions, and if these has been violated, then appropriate action should be taken. I am very concerned by what has been reported, and I know many of my Parliamentary colleagues share these concerns."

A Tamil reader of Asian Voice who did not want to reveal his name in print told us, "There is no answer to what happened and why it happened. What Channel 4 showed is just part of the whole story. We still live in fear, as we worry that if we visit our home back in Sri Lanka, we might be kidnapped and killed. We have lost so many of our family members to the hands of Sri Lankan army. What they have done is called genocide!

“While the west is only interested in saving civilians of oil rich countries, we are sad that they do not do anything to help us, when they could have! We do not support the action of LTTE in killing former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi, but the whole community cannot be punished by India for the misdeeds of some. We urge India to help us to save those unnamed civilians still dying."

Women & hiStory

asian voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Indian Wedding A typical Christian wedding in Goa On the day of the wedding, the groom sends a family member with the wedding gown and other accessories to the bride’s house to get the bride ready for the wedding.

After the bride is dressed she receives blessings from her parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, friends and neighbours.

Similarly at the groom’s house, the Best Man helps the groom to dress and he places a flower in his buttonhole.

Usually the groom’s buttonhole flower also appears in the bouquet of the bride as a declaration of his love. The groom also sends the wedding car to collect the bride and waits for her outside the church. When the bride arrives, the Best Man welcomes her with a kiss on the cheek and hands her a bouquet of flowers.

The Best Man is assigned to protect the groom from bad luck. It is his duty to see that the groom begins his journey to the church and does not return for any reason

questions that the couple must answer honestly. He asks them if they have come to the church on their own free will to give themselves to each other in marriage. They must also answer in the affirmative when asked if they will honour and love each other as husband and wife for the rest of lives; if they will accept children from God lovingly and bring them up according to the law of Christ and Church.

The solemn Promise: The priest guides the couple through this rite. He tells them to join their right hands and declare their consent before God and Church. Having done this, the couple takes their wedding vows. They promise, individually, to be true to the other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.

They promise to love, respect and honour each other all the days of their lives. The priest blesses the couple, joining them together in marriage, and says, “May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your

other symbolizes couple’s vows to nourish and care for each other. It was the tradition to pile several small cakes, one on top of the other, as high as they could, and the bride and groom would kiss over the tower and try not to knock it down. If they were successful, it meant a lifetime of prosperity for the happy couple. Today’s three-tiered wedding cake is based on the unusual shape of the spire of Saint Bride’s Church in London. The wedding cake is flat and round and contains fruit and nuts which symbolize fertility.

Toast: After cutting of the wedding cake the champagne is popped (uncorked) and served. A toast is raised to the bride and groom by the Best Man, or by a close friend of the couple. The Best Man’s toast may be brief and sentimental or it can be more detailed and personal, often amusing and anecdotal. Whatever the case, it should reflect the hope and happiness the couple has for the future.

since that is believed to bring bad luck. He also gives the groom a small mascot or lucky charm to keep in his pocket on the wedding day. The Best Man is accompanied by the bridesmaids.

Bridesmaids are very important for the welfare of the bride. Their presence is meant to confuse the evil spirits.

The wedding Mass: The priest begins the ceremony by welcoming the bridal couple into the church and offers them his good wishes. The wedding mass begins with a hymn and the bridal couple walks down the aisle with the wedding procession preceded by little flower girls and pageboys. These children are considered an important part of their lives and they are a symbol of innocence and unconditional love.

They represent the future.

Children are considered good fortune at a wedding.

The bridal couple, the bridesmaids, Best Man and close family members, follow the children.

The Nuptials: During this rite, the priest asks a few

consent and fill you both with his blessing. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”

Blessing and Exchange of Rings: The priest blesses the wedding rings so that the couple will have a deep faith in each other, do the Lord’s Will and always live together in peace, goodwill and love. The bride and groom exchange rings with a promise of unconditional love and fidelity.

Post-Wedding The Reception: The Master of Ceremonies leads the bridal couple into the reception hall, to the accompaniment of music. They are welcomed by all with a shower of confetti. Confetti is Italian for sweets, which in Italy, are sprinkled over the couple as they emerge from church. In the same way we use paper confetti. Raisins and nuts may also be used.

Cutting of the cake: The couple cuts the wedding cake and feeds each other a bite of the first slice.

Cutting of the cake signifies sharing their life and feeding cake to each

At the end of the toast, the Best Man raises his glass and toasts the bride and groom. The guests will then raise their glasses and join in the toast.

The Wedding March: The bridal couple leads the Bridal Special followed by the Best Man and bridesmaids, then parents, relatives and friends. The Master of Ceremonies takes them around the hall in various formations finally reaching the centre of the hall, while everyone else forming a circle around the bridal couple.

The band plays an appropriate tune for the couple’s first dance as husband and wife. The party goes on with everyone joining in the couple’s joy and happiness.

Lifting of the couple: The bride and groom are been lifted by their friends usually to the tune of “He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and carried around the hall until they are finally brought close to each other. They kiss at the end symbolizing the start of their journey through life together.

Travel

27

Tonic

By Sophia Lorena Benjamin

When in Tiracol

Waking up to comforts of a luxurious hotel is an indulgence in itself, but not When you’re in Tiracol. This gorgeous Island overflows with a promise of blissful Luxury that offers you the best of both worlds; the joy of waking up to the comfort of a plush hotel and the organic splendour of unpolluted nature.

Embraced on all Sides by a lazy ever flowing river, the picturesque landscape of a golden beach, a Connoisseurs delight of an ancient fort and the back to nature retreat of a tranquil Village. Where there is a Fort, there is history and like every Fort Tiracol Fort has it’s own story to tell.

The story goes that this 16th Century structure was built by the Raja of Sawantwadi which was later captured by the Portuguese; then years later the Fort is said to have been used actively by the freedom fighters during Goa’s freedom struggle.

The centuries old Fort has stood the test of time; It has witnessed the reign of the Raja of Sawantwadi and has witnessed the Portuguese colonisation. It can vouch for witnessing the days of Goa’s freedom struggle and now this ancient Goan splendour has been transformed into a heritage hotel as “Fort Tiracol” while it still stands strong with its architectural magnificence.

At first glance, this historic structure is quite awe inspiring to take your breath away. Standing tall and independent on a lofty hill, it nestles a white washed chapel in its courtyard which adds to it’s glory. A beautiful staircase leads guests to the many rooms which adorn this magnificent place where the stay ensures a lavish display of modern day luxury living yet, leaving you feeling like royalty in equal measure. A spacious patio has sets of tables and chairs lined up but it’s the sun loungers that add a touch of difference to the ambience. The in- house open air restaurant serves continental as well as traditional Goan

food served with a spectacular view of the coalescence of the Great Arabian Sea and river Terekhol .

For urban visitors who have forgotten how it is to glimpse at glittering stars and the radiant moon, dining at the restaurant is bound to relive those bygone feelings. Apart from the Fort’s splendour there is a real time opportunity to witness life in a village; spread amidst lavish green trees you can get a lung full of healthy and unpolluted air to breathe in. If you head inland you may even come across homes offering stay at budgeted rates, what’s more you can even find local eateries that dish out home cooked and tasty food and If you are a food lover it is here that your taste buds will relish fresh Goan fish curry and the stuffed mackerels with mouth watering recheiado masala.

The closest beach to the Tiracol Fort is the Querim Beach, As the Fort overlooks the Arabian Sea, the Querim beach serenely settles itself across this vast stretch of the ocean. The beach is virgin bordered with tall pine trees; this stretch of beach right opposite the Tiracol fort is less crowded and tranquil with a number of beach shacks providing shade and good food. Ferries are available to shuttle between the beach at Querim and the fort throughout the day.

There are different routes to get to Tiracol.

Situated on the northern most tip of Goa and close to the border of Maharashtra; if you are coming from Panjim, you could hire a taxi from the local bus stand and ask the driver to take you to Querim Beach. If you land at the Dabolim airport, from there it is about 70 kms away and the nearest train stations are Pernem or Tivim to get to Querim.

Upon reaching Querim, you must make it a point to experience the Ferry ride. This is one ride that is sure to leave you feeling relaxed and calm as you go through this spectacular sea-scape of uncluttered natural beauty at

Tiracol. The ride although short is still enough to imprint a beautiful picture on your mind to carry back and cherish and land on a curious yet refreshingly nice and simple jetty.

When in Tiracol; whether you choose being a guest at the heritage hotel or a sight seeing visitor, you don’t have to exert much effort to get refreshed as the entire place takes you into an embrace of peace and quiet. When in Tiracol; you cannot but help admire the guts of the local fishermen in their little canoes as they weave their way around the mighty ocean with tremendous skill and knowledge of the time and tide that’s right for fishing. Watching them is always an interesting sight. Then there are the toddy tappers that grab attention with a song or high pitched whistle as they athletically climb up the tall coconut trees and certainly look the ones with utmost job satisfaction as they conduct their routine without any hurry.

You can experience a lot when in Tiracol; Deeper in the sea, the Dolphins celebrate their freedom with a sudden dive out of the water and plunge back with joy and if you’re lucky to capture this sight, it’s certain to leave you spellbound with fascination.

The squeaky monkeys around here add to the amusement as they go about busily swinging between the trees and give you a customary glance.

When in Tiracol; you do enjoy a holiday at your own leisurely pace, and for those moments you feel like you have grasped in a piece of life so ‘susegaad’, the one word that beautifies the already chilled out and stunning Goan lifestyle. You may be a teetotaler or someone gulping down a mix of a good cocktail or someone adventurous enough to sip on a quick heady shot of the Feni, you’re going to love savouring these memories! You may reach me at Sophyee@gmail.com should you try to get in touch with me.

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

This week Dr Chai Patel CBE, a well known city entrepreneur and Appeal Chairman of Combat Stress, as well as Mr Harin Thaker, well reputed senior executive of a German group and committed supporter of Akshayapatra will be interviewed by CB Patel on various facets of the human service activities.

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500 Don't be afraid to act forcefully if your instinct tells you it's time for change. This week the focus is your house of family and home. Besides spending more time tending to domestic affairs, the focus can be on cultivating and nourishing your inner foundations, so to speak.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

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Don't miss !!!

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

Only on CB Live - MATV Sky 793 - Thursday 7:00pm to 8:00pm Coming Events l Caste Watch UK Conference: Caste and Equality Act l ISKCON Croydon presents Croydon’s first ever ‘Rathayatra’ on 3rd July 2011, 12.30pm-5.00pm, Park Hill Croydon.

Contact- iskcon.croydon@gmail.com l Ambo Utsav (also known as Aam ka Manorath), Sunday 3rd July 2011 in Crawley, UK. Sanatan Mandir, Crawley RH11 0AF. 10am-4pm.

Contact: 01293530105. l Old Delhi - Living Traditions, a book by Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr S Y Quraishi will be launched at the Nehru Centre on Saturday 25th June at 5pm. l Mare Kone Kahevu? at At Patidar Samaj Hall, Tooting, London SW17 0RG. 6.30PM, Saturday 16 July 2011 l Ernst & Young presents "How the Mighty Fall: Reading between the lines from the Mahabharata." 4th July. london@vpnglobal.org. l Jain Samaj Manchester presents Health Mela, Saturday 25th June, 10am-4pm. 669 Stockport Road, Manchester.

Contact: Ashok N Mehta 07956965778 l Annual Queensbury Eco-Cultural Festival in Eton Grove Park Queensbury on Sunday 3rd July 2011. Contact: Kamlesh Jadeja Tel: 078095697

2010, 2nd July, Conference Theatre, Coventry CV6 5SF. Contact: info@castewatch.org l Baroness Flather invites you to Vatayan: Poetry on South bank Award ceremony in association with The Nehru Centre and UK Hindi Samiti honouring Shri Prasoon Joshi. 30th June, 6:30pm, House of Lords London W1. Contact: divyamathur@aol.com. l SSGP presents Satsangi Jivan Katha Parayan, Monday 27th June to 3rd July, SKS Swaminarayan Temple.

Harrow HA3 9EA and Hindu Lifestyle Seminar, SKLPC Northolt UB5 6RE. Friday 22 July-Sunday 24 July.

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Health Problems Investments Married Life Marriage Compatibility Love Affairs Court Cases Any other problems

Call 020 8518 5500 & face your future with confidence!

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Much enthusiasm goes into professional ambitions right now, but you need to be your own boss in many ways. You will be determined to place your lifestyle on a foundation of greater security. Taking a broad perspective on the prevailing cosmic pattern, farreaching change begins to gather momentum.

It's time when experience will enable you to enrich your inner mind and personality. You are moving into a new phase of life which will bring wider scope for developing your unique qualities and talents. You are likely to move around more than usual. Life will become very lively and there will be a lot of social interactions.

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life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people of your own calibre and pursue any romantic liaisons that might present themselves. Your career is going from strength to strength - take advantage of this phase.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

Sneh Joshi, the UK’s leading Vedic astrologer, writer and TV personality can answer questions on:

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You should enjoy a

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 very popular phase in your

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

Amazing predictions

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The pace of everyday life will gather momentum and there may be times when you find it hard to keep your act together. Any obstacles that have stood in the way of your heart's desires should melt into the background soon. Your self-confidence will be extremely high and this will be helped by various encouraging events.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

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Your urge towards greater freedom and independence is very strongly accentuated. In intimate affairs, the prospect appears entirely favourable. In work matters you can expect a progressive phase.

Efforts to bring about desirable changes in your working life are more likely to be positive.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

You have been feeling disconnected for some time and this will be the week you will finally feel a sense of grounding. If unclear about what path to take you will soon realize exactly what you must do to fulfill your plans. Financially you will implement your plans to bring in the cash.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 This week you will make your best progress by focusing your mental and physical energies on what you want to achieve.

The underlying trend seems to be pulling you into a much wider social circle now. This is bound to enrich your life and give you a deeper sense of purpose. The prevailing pattern of planets gives you a marvellous opportunity - take advantage.

It's a time of slow and steady progress.

Of course, there are still challenging issues on both a personal and practical level. To get here you may have overcome obstacles by making important decision and choices. You will achieve a lot more, especially when you're motivated by your own desires.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

Take some time out to reflect. Try and work out where you want to make changes in your busy life. Once you know, don't hesitate to implement it systematically. A tremendous amount of planetary activity in your chart signals a time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to be dealt with.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

This is a favourable time for getting away from usual routines and seeking a retreat for a few days. All the better if you are interested in such things as meditation, yoga and therapies that help you. This will prove to be highly beneficial for your physical and psychological well-being.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 With Sun and Mercury in your 5th house of romance and creativity, you should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people of your own calibre and pursue any romantic liaisons that might present themselves.

HealtH Watch

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

29

Posture reflects your personality Right posture becomes a positive mirror of your personality. Posture is the relative disposition of the body at any one moment.

It is the relative arrangement of body parts for a specific activity or a characteristic manner of bearing one's body. It is very necessary to have a right posture.

Dr Susana Verghese explains how to get it right and benefits it has.

Parkinsonsism also influence posture.

The posture of acquired habit begins in childhood. Bad posture is an acquired habit which can be brought on by family and peer pressure or daily activities. Due to postural neglect, people can be seen to carry the head in front of the body with the chin poking forward or when a person stands in a so-called

The importance of good posture cannot be over-emphasised. When standing upright, the head should be carried directly above the shoulder girdle and this forms a gentle inward curve in the neck which is seen in the side view of the natural posture. This is called the Cervical Lordosis.

Good posture applies minimal stress on joints with ligaments and muscles and other supporting structures working to the best mechanical advantage. Correct posture enables a person to frequently stand tall, hence enabling him to look further with his eyes, and he feels it to be effortless, proper, cosmetically appealing and definitely pain-free.

There are three major factors that influence posture - heredity, disease and acquired habit. The familiar heredity factor is essentially a genetic body type.

Inflammatory and neurological diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and

relaxed fashion, the abdomen is seen bulging out. Job requirements such as operating on computers, lecturers correcting assignments, surgeons who operate and many others demand a head protruded posture. Emotions also influence posture.

One stands, sits, and walks as he feels.

Effects of bad posture What happens when one has continuous bad posture as in a continuous protruded head syndrome? When joints are placed in a distorted position, the soft tissues surrounding them are overstretched. Usually, the ligaments first give rise to pain. When spinal joints are considered, there are additional factors for the surrounding ligaments which are also the retaining walls for the soft discs that act as shock absorbers. Overstretching of these ligaments will, under certain circumstances, affect the discs.

When the disc bulges, it may press painfully on a

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cervical or sciatic nerve.

This may cause some of the pains, numbness, tingling and weakness that may be felt away from the source of trouble.

Good posture should be maintained Do a simple exercise everyday to correct faulty posture. Stand against a wall with your heals about six inches away from the wall with knees slightly bent. Stand tall so that your head and buttocks are just touching the wall.The chin is kept level and the neck is pressed against the wall. Also, attempt to press the small of the back against the wall. Do this slowly and then relax and repeat the process a few times. Done frequently, this exercise strengthens the short neck flexors, stretches the tight neck extensors and gives the feeling of pushing up to a taller stance. Once the tissues (ligaments, muscles and joint capsules) responsible for proper posture are well-conditioned, the feeling of good posture becomes more automatic.

Tips for good posture Stand and sit correctly, get the ergonomics right, interrupt prolonged neck bending, interrupt prolonged sitting, strengthen your muscles 2-3 times a week and go for 30minute walks everyday wearing good shoes. All these will help you attain a good posture and high self-esteem.

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Chores

turmeric from their cumin but don’t mind helping with other household chores such as doing the weekly shopping or collecting the dry cleaning. I can only imagine that in the Indian culture, we have stereotyped the roles a husband and wife should play at home.

With the decreasing divide between the man and woman in the workplace, surely a similar decrease in expectations in the house will eliminate room for arguments.

We should actively plan to raise a generation of boys and girls, who regardless of their gender, contribute to their daily life by taking on their share of chores.

Of course, it is difficult to pinpoint age appropriate chores but the following list may help you. Helping you clear up their toys, putting the laundry out on a clotheshorse and even helping you clean up spills and crumbs around the house seem like an ideal opportunity to teach a toddler the value of chores and have some fun at the same time. As your

children get older, you can extend this to asking them to help set the table, water your plants, feed any pets you have, put away groceries and maybe even help you look for items in the supermarket to help you get your shopping done.

Teenagers should be making their own beds, help you with the washing up and laundry and even support you in making dinner, ie make a salad or help you prepare the main meal.

Kids should learn to take responsibility from an early age so that they develop a sense of independence and also learn the importance of chores in their routine life. With adequate groundwork at early ages, we can prepare young adults to be selfsufficient and always remember, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy but equally all play and no work raises an irresponsible adult!

Quote: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy” - Maria Edgeworth

Should you have any comments or want to get in touch with me you can email on avmamaria@gmail.com

You have to use your mind while eating. Mindful eating is about how and why you eat and less about what you eat. When you are closely in touch with your eating, you know the exact moment you are satisfied.

"To understand why, what, when and how we eat, we have to be compassionate and non-judgmental. This allows us to take a closer look at our behaviour,"says Sveta Bhassin, Mumbai-based dietician and nutrition consultant.

She adds, "A human brain consumes a lot of energy to do the daily mental activities. This energy comes from carbohydrates in its simplest form - glucose, which is supplied by the food we eat or from the glycogen stored in our body. Glucose is also supplied from the proteins

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stored in the muscles.

"Most of us give in to binge eating during stress.

In such situations, stress hormones are released in our body, which protect our organ systems from any kind of damage, but create a phenomenal demand on the energy stores of our body. This leads to a drop in the blood sugar level, followed by a sudden craving to eat something that will give pleasure.

The so-called 'binge eating' or 'sugar cravings'

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My 2 year old likes to help ‘mummy’ with her chores. She often ‘accidently on purpose’ spills drinks and crumbs on the floor so she gets the opportunity to ‘clean up the mess’. I find that intriguing and amusing.

Do you encourage your children to start appreciating chores and what is the right age to start asking your children to help out around the house?

A ‘chore’ is defined as a small routine task. We all have ‘chores’ that we need to be managed on a regular basis. Some of us manage them better than others.

Where some accept chores as a meaningful and healthy part of their daily routine, for others it’s a source of stress. I wonder whether the difference is in the way you were raised by your parents and therefore the expectations you have as you grow up?

For instance, can you imagine (without giggling) a man rolling chapattis in the kitchen? Like many of my girl friends confess, their spouses would not know their

You have to use your mind while eating

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By Radhika Madlani

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or 'the sweet tooth getting active' triggers off from this point. If you eat in haste you reduce the satiety value of food. The colour, texture, flavour, taste and appearance of foods can impart a sense of satisfaction and contentment.

Even a simple yet balanced meal gives the pleasure of the most exotic-looking food laid out.

Get the most from your

meal: Eat slowly. Learn to savour your food. You may have skipped your meals earlier but no more!

Regular meals are a must.

Big isn't necessarily better when it comes to portion sizes. Smaller meals eaten through the day are better than three large meals.

Neither stuff nor starve.

Eat slowly allowing your stomach to signal when it's had enough.

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30

Sport

English spinner reported for suspect action An off spinner dubbed the "English Murali" has been reported to the England and Wales Cricket Board for a suspected illegal bowling action. Maurice Holmes, who has played just one league match for English county Warwickshire, was reported by umpires twice in the past month.

If the reports are confirmed by the umpires, the 21-year-old Holmes' action will be examined by the ECB. He can continue playing for Warwickshire until a decision is made by the ECB. Holmes has been compared to Muttiah Muralitharan because his action is similar to that of the Sri Lankan great, who took 800 test wickets before retiring after this year's World Cup. It is Holmes' "doosra" - the off spinner's googly and Muralitharan's trademark delivery that is believed to be the area of concern.

Chennai to host final of T20 Champions League Chennai will host the final of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament later this year.

Kolkata and Bangalore will be the other venues for the Sept 23 to Oct. 9 tournament, which features leading provincial Twenty20 teams. Seven teams have direct entries into the tournament while three others will be decided in a six-team qualifier to be played at Hyderabad from Sept 19 to 21. The seven teams with assured places in the main tournament are: South Australia Redbacks and New South Wales Blues from Australia, Warriors and Cape Cobras from South Africa, and Indian teams Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. The teams confirmed for the qualifying tournament are Kolkata Knight Riders of India, Trinidad and Tobago of the West Indies and Auckland Aces of New Zealand. Two other teams from England and one from Sri Lanka, which are yet to be confirmed, will complete the line-up for the qualifying tournament.

New South Wales Blues won the inaugural edition of the Champions League in 2009 while Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to last year's title.

Cricket Australia to let players play in Lankan T20 Cricket Australia has said that it would not ban its players from taking part in next month's inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League Twenty20 tournament. It said that it would not follow in the Board of Control for Cricket in India's steps, which has banned 12 of its cricketers from taking part. According to The Age, Cricket Australia acting chief executive Michael Brown said he would discuss details of the tournament, which runs from July 19 to August 4, with Sri Lanka Cricket officials at the International Cricket Council's annual conference in Hong Kong next week, but indicated it had CA's "in principle" support.

"We want to support Sri Lanka Cricket, like we want them to support us. We want their players to play in our Big Bash," he added. Last summer, Sri Lanka blocked its players from playing in the Big Bash because it feared they could get injured and jeopardise the national team's bid to win the World Cup. The SLPL will be played in Colombo and feature seven teams, each with up to five international players. The fact Australia's tour of Sri Lanka begins with limited-overs matches should preclude any CAcontracted players from participating.

No London tickets for Libya: IOC No tickets will be given to Libya's Olympic committee for the 2012 London Games until it is "absolutely certain" they end up in the right hands, the IOC said. According to reports Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, who heads the country's national Olympic committee, had received hundreds of passes to the games from London's organizing committee, or LOCOG. "To be absolutely clear, no tickets have been printed or paid for," the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Sri Lanka hold out for draw, England take Test series

By Premen Addy

Sri Lanka, led by Kumar Sangakkara, their doughty captain (in the absence of Tillerkaratne Dilshan because of a broken thumb) for the third Test at the new Rose Bowl venue, achieved an honourable draw when play was called off at tea on the final afternoon as the rain bucketed down. The visitors were 334 for 5, 141 runs ahead of England, with Thilan Samaraweera unbeaten on 87. This comfort zone was made possible by Sangakkara's stubborn, yet elegant innings of 119. He braved the elements and the testing pace and lift of the England pace attack with admirable skill and fortitude to defy the prediction of an easy England win made, among others, by Ian Bell, whose earlier century for his side had taken his average for the three-match Test series to an astronomical 331.

Sangakkara was aided, initially, by Rangan Herath, the night watchman, who resisted the testing English bowlers for an excellent 36, before he fell lbw to Graeme Swann's offspin - a rash heave across the line to a straight delivery destined to hit off and middle.

But Samaraweera filled the breach and, together with his captain, saw off the English bowling.

The series was marred throughout by inclement weather, Sri Lanka's sole loss coming on the late afternoon of the first Test at Cardiff, when, quite inexplicably, they crumbled to 82 all out in 24.4 overs to leave their opponents improbable victors by an innings and 14 runs, the victory resulting in a one nil series score to England.

Rain took an early hand at the Rose Bowl. Given first use of a seaming surface by England, Sri Lanka were dismissed for 184. The wicket had dried out when England began their reply.

Captain Andrew Strauss (3) and

Ian Bell made 119 not out against Sri Lanka at Rose Bow

Jonathan Trott (4) were soon back in the pavilion, but Alastair Cook (55), Kevin Pietersen (85), Ian Bell (119 not out) and Eoin Morgan (71) took their side to 377 for 8 declared. The hope for English victory, however, proved elusive, but they were the better side overall, as Sangakkara conceded in the post-match press briefing at the Rose Bowl. Sri Lanka are in transition but there is enough talent in their ranks for the making of a good Test side.

Out in the Caribbean, India's blushes, on the opening day of the first Test at Kingston, Jamaica, were saved by Suresh Raina (82) and Harbhajan

Singh (70), who came together with the innings tottering at 85 for 6. Their 141-run partnership gave the visitors a sliver of hope, but a 246 total leaves West Indies in the driver's seat.

Earlier, India won the five-match ODI series 3-2 in a scrappy overall performance. Shikhar Dhawan, Yusuf Pathan and one or two others, were taken for the Caribbean cruise, judging by their abysmal contributions on the playing field. The mysteries of Indian team selection are a wonder to behold.

One must hope that the side for the England tour is not a midsummer night's dream turned nightmare.

India-Windies test in balance after gripping first day West Indies survived a daylight robbery by Harbahajan Singh and Suresh Raina to end the first day of the series in slight ascendance, if at all.

A damp pitch with uneven bounce, early wickets, a counterattack, a collapse, a spectacular catch, watchful anxious end, the first day had it all.

The tone was set when India took the gamble of batting first on a moist pitch to allow their two spinners best use of a surface likely to break.

Ravi Rampaul removed the openers in an unbroken eight-over spell in the heat and humidity of Kingston, getting at least one early wicket for a fourth time in his last five innings.

Rahul Dravid looked as solid during his 40 as he had during his two match-winning fifties five years ago at the same venue. Devendra Bishoo, playing his third Test, then intervened to remove VVS Laxman, Dravid and MS Dhoni in the space of 20 deliveries.

The way Harbhajan and Raina ran away with the initiative in a 146-run stand from 85 for 6, only bandanas and eye patches were missing. Even they couldn't see Fidel Edwards, though, who came back with a spell of

Raina and Harbhajan put together a century partnership

seriously quick bowling to help West Indies take the last four wickets for 15 runs. A spell of attrition followed, but it was just as tense, and Ishant Sharma came away with Lendl Simmons' wicket.

The 146-run stand between Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh is India's sixth-best for the seventh wicket in overseas Tests. In the West Indies, it ranks fourth. Two of those top six have come within the last year - Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni had put together 172 in the Centurion Test

against South Africa in 2010.

Kingston continues to be a tough venue for India's batsmen - in 20 innings here, only once has the team topped 400.

In his last seven Tests, Harbhajan has scored 478 runs, which is 23% of his total career runs scored over 94 matches. During this period, he averages 53.11, with two centuries and as many fifties.

The score at the start of the seventh-wicket stand (85) is India's second-lowest

against West Indies since 2000. Their lowest score at the start of the seventhwicket stand since 2000 is 46 for 6 against Australia in Mumbai in 2004.

In between there were unremarkable maiden Test innings for Abhinav Mukund and Virat Kohli.

The first to fall in the morning, which now seems days ago, was M Vijay, who might as well have been wearing his IPL kit when he slapped a full and wide delivery straight to point. Abhinav, his state-mate and prolific run-getter in domestic cricket, came close to edging thrice before he played one on for 11.

Dravid and Laxman, batting together for the first time since the Boxing Day Test in Durban last year, handled the misbehaving pitch - length balls reared towards the bat handle, short ones hardly reached the keeper, and the spinners extracted appreciable turn well during their 34-run stand. Bishoo then came on with immediate impact.

Brief score: West Indies 34 for 1 (Barath 26*, Sarwan 2*) trail India by 246 (Raina 82, Harbhajan 70, Edwards 4-56, Rampaul 3-59, Bishoo 3-75) by 212 runs

SPoRT wORlD

Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011

Collingwood, Prior dropped from England one-day squad

Paul Collingwood

England have dropped former captain Paul Collingwood and wicketkeeper Matt Prior from their one-day squad for the forthcoming limited-over series against Sri Lanka.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter has been recalled along with all-rounder Samit Patel.

England take on Sri Lanka in one Twenty20 international June 25 before a series of five one-day matches.

Collingwood, who led England to triumph in World Twenty20, was not included in either squad. The 35-yearold had retired from Test cricket and recently returned to form and fitness from a knee injury.

'His omission is purely down to form,' England selector Geoff Miller was quoted as saying on BBC.

Miller, however, insists that it is not end of the road for Collingwood.

'Paul Collingwood has been an inspirational limited-overs cricketer for England over many years, and we still see a role for him in this capacity based on form and fitness,' said Miller.

'We look forward to him getting plenty of cricket under his belt for Durham as he presses to reclaim a place in the England limited-overs set-up.

'He has always brought a great deal to the England team, and we know he'll be working as hard as ever to reach peak form and fitness - with an England recall firmly in the forefront of his mind.'

'Craig has been in exciting form for Somerset so far this year - and while Matt Prior has been outstanding in the Test team, we believe Craig will offer some real firepower with the bat along with his ability with the gloves,' Miller added.

Patel meanwhile has not appeared for England since earning his 11th oneday cap in November 2008.

'Samit Patel has taken significant steps in the right direction and he has more hard work ahead in order to make further progress,' Miller said.

'Samit is one of a number of players, like Craig Kieswetter, who comes back into the limited-overs set-up on the back of some excellent form and plenty of hard work.'

Stuart Broad, who picked up a foot

Matt Prior

injury during the third Test against Sri Lanka, is expected to be fit enough to lead England for the first time in the single Twenty20 game at Bristol Saturday, before Alastair Cook takes over the captaincy for the one-day series.

England squads: Twenty20: Stuart Broad (captain), Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright.

ODIs: Alastair Cook (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes.

Rafa muscles out Russell

Sania Mirza crashes out in first round

bloomers with a seethrough camisole that had an inverted V cut at the back, the giant American looked distinctly underdressed.

India's Sania Mirza crashed out of the women's singles event of the Wimbledon with a 6-7(4), 6-2, 3-6 first round loss to France's Virginie Razzano here on Tuesday. After losing a closely fought first set in the tie-breaker, the 60thranked Indian broke the 96th-ranked Razzano twice in the second to make it a set-all. Sania's first serve, however, dipped to 48 per cent in the final set and was broken twice for her to lose after a two-hour-12-minute battle. The 24-year-old Hyderabadi's loss levelled the two players 1-1 head-to-head. The last time they faced each other was in 2007 at the hard courts of Los Angeles where Sania won in straight sets. The Indian has never moved beyond the second round in the singles here. Sania still has the women's doubles event to back on, where she is partnering Russia's Elena Vesnina.

Venus enters second round beating Akgul in straight sets There’s the tennis. And then there’s ‘the stuff ’.

There’s always ‘the stuff’ when the Williams sisters -Venus and Serena - are on court. This time it was the 31-year-old five-time champion whose choice of gear for her 2011 Wimbledon outing confounded purists just as her tennis confused her opponent Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova.

The scoreboard showed 6-3, 6-1 in 60 minutes in favour of the big-hitting, long-legged Venus. Her choice of clothing on the opening day of The Championships, however, was best left unmarked. Pairing what looked like white, lacy

Worn with tiny cycling shorts and completed with a golden zip and belt, Venus’s style may have been out of line, but suffice to say that her tennis wasn’t.

A pick from her own line of clothing EleVen, Venus described the outfit that set tongues wagging and social networking

sites cracking from the moment she entered the court as a ‘jumper’. “It is very now, as is the lace,” she said, “The shoulders have a lot of draping which is also in the moment. It’s a trendy dress. It’s fun. I’m also into zippers. The back is a cut out, a peek-aboo.

I’m always trying to do something different and fun.”

There was no such drama as far as the men’s defending champion was concerned. Rafael Nadal, who officially opened proceedings in the 125th Championships, started slowly against American ‘Muscle’ man Michael Russell before coming through 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour and 58 minutes.

Pak to face Sri Lanka and England in UAE Pakistan's cricket chiefs have voted in favour of United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the venue as they plan to conduct most of their 'home' matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Zakir Khan, Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) director operations, announced on Tuesday that Pakistan will host both their series against Sri Lanka and England in the UAE. 'We have decided to host our matches against Sri Lanka and England in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The decision has been taken after carefully considering all our options,' said Zakir Khan, a

Zakir Khan

former Test fast bowler.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi were always the top choices for the PCB which has hosted most of the country's 'home' matches in UAE over the last couple of years as

international teams have refused to tour Pakistan because of security concerns.

Pakistan invited Sri Lanka to play this year's series in Pakistan but the islanders declined the offer as their players refused to tour a country where they were attacked by terrorists in March 2009. The attack in Lahore wounded seven of Sri Lanka's players. Several Pakistanis, mostly cops, died in the attack. Pakistan has not played host to a top foreign team since the attack.

According to PCB's plans, Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in October and November, and England in

January and February.

Zakir said Pakistan considered the option of hosting some of the matches in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe but finally opted in favour of UAE. 'We mulled over several options for both the series but finally we have confirmed UAE for all the matches in both the series,' said Zakir.

Pakistan will play three Tests, five one-day matches and a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. The England series is likely to include three Tests, up to five one-day matches and one or two Twenty20 games.

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Ross Taylor is New Zealand cricket captain Ross Taylor has been appointed New Zealand cricket captain, succeeding Daniel Vettori who stepped down after this year's World Cup. Taylor won the captaincy ahead of wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum after a lengthy deliberation.

He was recommended for the position by New Zealand's director of cricket John Buchanan, national coach John Wright and acting national selection manager Mark Greatbatch, and unanimously approved by the board of New Zealand Cricket. Chief executive Justin Vaughan said Taylor had been "an impressive deputy to Dan Vettori since taking over the vice-captaincy and (had been) shown to be a very capable leader when he has had the opportunity." "The process to select the captain has been robust," he said. "We wanted to make sure the right people were involved and that we appointed the right man for the job - I'm sure we have done that." Taylor, 27, has played 30 Tests for New Zealand, averaging 40, and 107 oneday international averaging 36.8.

I am not against DRS, says Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar is not against the controversial Decision Review System (DRS) but he wants it to be more consistent, the Indian batsman said. The general perception is that the powerful Indian cricket board's steadfast opposition to DRS stems partially from the apprehension that Tendulkar and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, share about the technology's accuracy. Tendulkar, however, said he was not altogether against the technology. "I am not against DRS, but I feel it will be more effective with the support of the Snickometer and Hot Spot technology. This will give more consistent results," he told a cricket website. The Snickometer is used detect edges, while Hot Spot gives more convincing indications of the ball's point of contact. Hawk Eye technology, used more often, replicates the ball's trajectory.

Roger Federer richest international athlete

He might not have won any Grand Slam title after the Australian Open in 2010, but Roger Federer still rules. The World No 3 is the richest international athlete in the list of Sports Illustrated's Fortunate 50. He tops the list of richest 20 non-American athletes with $61,768,110 in total prize money and endorsement contracts. Federer's nemesis, friend and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is ninth. Philippines boxer Manny Pacquiao is behind Federer with $52,500,000 while Formula One driver Alonso Fernando is the third richest athlete with $45,000,000. Ace golfer Tiger Woods edged Phil Mickelson for the top spot in SI's Fortunate 50 list of top US athlete moneymakers. Woods, who missed this week's US Open golf championship with a left knee injury, set the pace in figures released on Thursday, as he has in all eight years of the magazine's study, with $62,294,116 in prize money and endorsements.

Three-time Olympic boxer shot dead in Pak

Armed men have shot and killed three-time Pakistani Olympic boxer Abrar Hussain.

Police officer Hamid Shakil says Hussain died after assailants shot him in the head while he was driving from his office in Quetta.

The 50-year-old Hussain represented Pakistan in the 1984, ‘88 and ‘92 Olympics. Abrar Hussain He was serving as deputy director of sports in the capital of the Balochistan province. Police said no arrests have been made, and that the motive for the killing was unclear.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 25th June 2011