AV 25th June 2016

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India allows 100% FDI in defence 25th June to 1st July 2016

In a relaxation of norms that has made India "the most open economy in the world for FDI", India flung its door open to 100 per cent foreign direct investment across nine key sectors. In a move that probably shook the global markets, the Modi Sarkar made entry and control of foreign investor in several sectors, a cakewalk.

A statement from the PM's Office read, "The Centre has radically liberalised the FDI regime, with the objective of providing major impetus to employment and job creation in India. This is the second major reform after the last radical changes announced in November 2015. Now most of the sectors would be under automatic

approval route, except a small negative list. With these changes, India is now the most open economy in the world for FDI." Among other decisions, 100 per cent FDI has been permitted in teleports, direct-to-home, cable networks and mobile TV under the automatic route.

100 per cent FDI has also been permitted under the government approval route for trading, including through e-commerce, for food products manufactured or produced in India.

The country's FDI inflows

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

this year increased to $55.46 billion as compared to last year's $36.04 billion.

At present, 49 per cent FDI in defence is allowed under the automatic route, while FDI above 49 per cent is permitted through government approval on case-to-case basis, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and ‘state-of-the-art’ technology in the country. The new FDI limit for defence sector has also been made applicable to manufacturing of small arms and ammunitions covered

The World Celebrates Yoga

PM Narendra Modi participating in the mass yoga demonstration at the Capitol Complex, Chandigarh

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

email@travelinstyle.co.uk

Continued on page 26 >>

under the Arms Act 1959. More than 49 per cent FDI has been permitted, under the government approval route, however, the condition of access to state-of-the-arttechnology, has been done away. Local sourcing norms for single-brand retail trading are also relaxed for products seen as having 'state-of-the-art' and 'cutting edge' technology.

The Centre also decided to allow 100 per cent FDI under automatic route in brownfield airport projects as opposed to the current norm of 74 per cent under automatic route, and beyond 74 per cent under government route. The FDI limit for scheduled air transport service/domestic scheduled passenger airline and regional air transport service has also been raised to 100 per cent, of which up to 49 per cent would be allowed under automatic route and beyond 49 per cent through government approval. For NRIs, 100 per cent FDI will continue to be allowed under the automatic route, but the FDI limit for foreign Continued on page 26

Brexit: Tearing apart an already divided nation? n Marcus Parekh n Rupanjana Dutta

With Thursday’s allimportant referendum dominating news across the continent, the British public is being made painstakingly aware of the enormity of the consequences.

Leave, and the nation will be plunged into immediate political chaos, face decades of economic turmoil and potentially instigate the collapse of the European ideal.

Remain, and millions PM David Cameron at will feel disenfranchised Bhaktivedanta Manor for the and terrified over an historic Haveli impending migrant crisis groundbreaking event that could threaten the nation’s way of life.

The hyperbole of the rhetoric is startling.

The Leave campaign have abused the politics of fear in a fundamentally irresponsible manner, with race baiting and mud slinging becoming the staple of most speeches. Despite the murder of MP Jo Cox, Nigel Farage and other Leave campaign leaders have refused to ratchet down the incendiary tone. The Remain Chancellor George Osborne at BAPS Shree Swaminarayan side has been forced to combat the aggressive, Temple on 14 June negative campaign with their own negative and Tribute: defensive tactics. Both Jo Cox, an MP with David Cameron and a common touch.

BAME MPs have been See page 6 forced to discuss negative, rather than positive Prime Minister issues.

David Cameron and James O’Brien spoke Chancellor George out on the LBC radio Osborne speak waves following the murabout the imporder of Jo Cox, attempting tance of to expose what he Commonwealth and deemed to be incendiary British Asian voters; “political debate” pushing

urge the community to vote Remain.

Continued on page 17

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ONE ONE with Keith Vaz, MP

Asian Voice |25th June 2016

www.asian-voice.com

to

Sarju Raikundalia

Sarju Raikundalia, aged 39, is the Managing Director of Kerala Ayurveda Centre which was founded in 2008. After graduating with a first class degree in Mathematics he went on to work in blue chip companies and qualify as an Accountant. Sarju first encountered Kerala Ayurveda Centre after exhausting conventional treatment for whiplash sustained in a car accident. Initially, dismissive of his mum’s recommendation that he try Kerala Ayurveda, Sarju was astounded by the results. Years later, married with children he founded the first Kerala Ayurveda Centre in Leicester to bring proven benefits of authentic Ayurveda to the UK. What is your current position?

I am the managing director of a group of holistic treatment centres called Kerala Ayurveda Centre which was established in 2008. We have four branches; Leicester, Leeds, Blackburn and Birmingham.

What is your proudest achievement?

As a company we have served in excess of 25000 patients with various conditions. A number of our patients have been in signif-

icant pain and discomfort.

Seeing clients having a positive experience through our authentic treatments is perhaps one of my proudest achievements.

What inspires you?

Hanumanji the mighty hero of Ramayana is a perfect integration of spiritual awakening, intellectual skill and dynamism in action. Such a personality is an inspiration and applying these qualities to the daily challenges faced gives me the moti-

AsianVoiceNews

ed; therefore it is essential the right choices are made. Having your own business presents many decisions and your success in business depends on the choices you make.

I feel that when you follow your heart and intuition the decision proves to be successful.

vation and inspiration to succeed in any challenging situation.

What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

In my twenties I had great ideas to make a difference and to pursue my dreams as an entrepreneur. However, the lack of confidence held me back from moving out of my comfort zone.

Sometimes, life is about giving everything you have for a dream that no one can see but you!

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

My parents! Thousands of Asians endured great challenges when they were excluded from Uganda in 1972. Growing up in this era of hardship gave me the vision and determination to work hard and to be successful in a career based on ethics, values and love. I believe the youth of today can learn from these principles.

What is the best aspect about your current role?

I value the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life with

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

I would try and change people’s mind sets through love and being a role model. Imagine if we all work together for the same cause - we can move mountains! diverse knowledge, experiences and culture. As well as dedicating my time and efforts to my business my role allows me to have the flexibility to spend my time with my family, friends and hobbies.

And the worst…..

Whenever something stops challenging me, I just move on. The real challenge is to stay motivat-

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

Mahatma Gandhi. A man of great personality; he was respectable, humble and an ambitious man. His teachings convey good values and ethics for a good role model in society.

George Galloway apologies in court Teachers referring FIVE pupils a day George Former MP Galloway has made a rare public apology as he withdrew his allegations that his former parliamentary aide used his home to have sexual activity with a former counter terrorism officer. The Respect party leader has paid the legal costs and damages for Ms Aisha Ali-Khan, though not disclosed has reportedly run into five figures. The former MP has been feuding with his former assistant following his by-election victory in Bedford West in 2012.

It is claimed that Ms Ali-Khan’s ex-husband, who at the time was in the police counter terrorism unit had been feeding disinformation aimed at damaging him and the officer was being aided by a member of the then MP’s staff.

A year later Ms Khan sued him for libel over his allegations she carried out a dirty tricks campaign with the help of the police officer. Ms Khan claimed her character and reputation is seriously injured and suffered embarrassment and upset and was brought into public scandal and contempt.

Mr Galloway, meanwhile felt to have been violated after Ms Khan “enjoyed nights of passion”, at his home in

George Galloway

Counter terrorism officer Mohammed Afiz Khan was sacked by the police and given a suspended jail sentence.

Ms Khan’s lawyer, Mark Lewis told the high court, “The claimant sued for libel. She had not been feeding disinformation or deceit or acting as a police agent. She had not slept with the officer, to whom she married in a Sharia

The former aide to Bradford West MP George Galloway, Aisha Ali-Khan (left) with her ex-husband Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Afiz Khan

South London while he was abroad according to the accusation.

In 2014, Ms Khan received a conditional discharge for encouraging the same detective inspector to get emails without consent to strengthen her position as Mr Galloway’s assistant.

ceremony, at the defendants home.” While Mr Galloway was not at court his lawyer, Adam Speker said “The defendant accepts that these contained defamatory accusations for which he apologies. He now withdraws those allegations.”

to anti-radicalisation programmes Teachers are referring five pupils per day to the government's anti-radicalisation programme in a bid to steer them away from terror, figures show.

More than 1,000 school-aged children in the UK were referred to the Channel programme scheme amid fears of suspected extremist behaviour in the past year.

That equates to more than five children being referred per day. In 2012 the year that the scheme was rolled one - just nine children were referred.

Critics have said the figures, revealed by The Times on Tuesday demonstrate a tendency by teachers to over-refer.

In January, it was revealed a 10-year-old Muslim boy was quizzed by police after he mistakenly wrote that he lived in a 'terrorist house' rather than a 'terraced house'.

The following month, a 15-year-old boy was referred to police after clicking on the Ukip website in the classroom to research immigration.

Malia Bouattia, president of the NUS, said the programme thrives off 'confusion and paranoia'.

Since last July, under

the government's counterterror strategy, teachers have been legally obliged to report any suspected extremist behaviour to police as part of the anti-

radicalisation strategy.

This can include support for extremist ideas that are 'part of terrorist ideology'.

The obligation, introduced under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, requires 'specific authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism.' The law governs local authorities, police, prisons, health centres and education.

Man held over Facebook threats to MEP Sajjad Karim A man has been arrested on suspicion of making social media threats to North West MEP Sajjad Karim. Mr Karim, pictured, gave a statement to police on Friday following what he claimed were "direct threats" on Facebook. A 55-year-old man was later arrested in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and released on bail. Conservative MEP Mr Karim has campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union ahead of the forth-

coming referendum.

Speaking to the BBC following the death of MP Jo Cox, the 45year-old said there had been a building up of tensions as the campaign intensified. "There have been very direct threats which are now currently with the police. They are being investigated and I anticipate there are individuals who will be spoken to as a result of those threats," the Blackburn-born MEP said.

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Rajan’s exit causes firestorm Rarely has an economist gained as much popularity and notoriety as Raghuram Rajan. While serving as the chief economist to the IMF, Rajan was one of the few men who predicted the 2008 global financial crisis that nearly crippled the capitalist system. With over 250,000 FaceBook “likes” and 60,000 well-wishers signing an online petition asking him to stay, Mr. Rajan has risen to the status of the “rockand-roll” economist. So great is his popularity that, following his appointment as governor of the RBI, the Economic Times of India photoshopped and published an image of Mr. Rajan impersonating James Bond, holding a pistol of rupees with the headline “Name’s Rajan, Game’s Bond”. As such, his decision to decline a second term (known in India as “Rexit”) and see out his contract before returning to academia in the US, has raised significant financial uncertainty and many to question the actions of Prime Minister Modi’s government.

However, during his time as governor of the RBI, Mr. Rajan has not been without controversy. His hawkish stance on inflation and his decision to force state-owned banks to recognise trillions of rupees of dud loans means he has made several powerful enemies. Even some factions of the BJP party have attacked Mr. Rajan. Subramanian Swamy has described him as “not appropriate for the country” as well as responsible for the “collapse of industry and rise of unemployment”. Dr. Swamy even questioned the governor’s patriotism, claiming he is “mentally not fully Indian”. While many of Governor Rajan’s policies are set to outlast his reign including the introduction of inflation-targeting regimes and

the creation of a monetary policy committee - he is a divisive figure.

Following the announcement that Mr. Rajan would not seek what is seen as a customary second term, the Bombay Stock Exchange saw a 0.9% rise in the market, despite claims in the Financial Times that his departure would be a “serious blow to investor confidence”.

Perhaps the initial warnings from government figures about him seeking “FaceBook likes” over focusing on his job were not unfounded. Following his appointment, his refusal to budge on inflation policies have made him unpopular in the business community. Furthermore, his refusal to continue to work alongside a government that does not always support him - despite his claims that “I do what I do” - exposes more personal flaws.

Mr. Rajan is a young, handsome man with ambition. He has been an exceptionally fast riser in the international world. His international fame after his 2008 predictions have only served to fuel this. It is therefore likely that he has what he perceives to be better job offers waiting for him in the autumn. And while some see “Rexit" as a victory for crony capitalism and an assault on the independence of the central bank, it must also be said that the Indian economy will see some sizeable growth if they move toward a more open, liberalised economy - as Prime Minister Modi has long advocated for. FICCI President Harshavardhan Neotia even went so far as to state that "the government will soon find an able hand to continue". This is a smart move for both sides.

Lessons of Orlando for US and the world The deaths of 50 innocent people at a club in the city of Orlando, Florida, was yet another wake-up call to America and the world on the scourge of jihadi terrorism and the threat it poses to civilize communities across continents. This was the worst outrage of its type in American history, but it comes on the back of smaller such outrages. The perpetrator in this instance was one Omar Mateen, a member of an immigrant Afghan family.

Mateen, who was shot dead by the local police, claimed to an ISIL devotee, his father was a known Taliban supporter. He has condemned his son’s act, saying he would have killed him if he could.

This is all very well, but is of small comfort to the bereaved and their pain that no words can assuage. The Liberal inquisition has pounced upon Donald Trump, Republican party contender for the US Presidency for inflaming public opinion and indulging in Islamaphobia.

President Obama struck a self-righteous note recalling the provisions of the American Constitution upholding the sanctity of free speech and the right of all faiths to exist in harmony in the body politic. Democracy based on the rule of law is a principle so well known to the vast majority of the world’s citizenry that it hardly bears constant repetition from pulpits of rectitude. In face of these repeated tragedies in America, in France, Belgium and, let us not forget, in India, most notably in Mumbai in March 1993, when jihadis slaughtered 300 innocent citizens, in Mumbai again in the bombing of a suburban train, which left scores dead and injured, and in Mumbai for the third time on 26 November 2008, when 167 citizens were massacred in cold blood by gunslingers who came by sea on boats from neighbouring Pakistan.

Jihadis attacked India’s Parliament in December 2001.There was more embarrassment in western capitals than outrage at these deeds. If only India settled the Kashmir issue withb Pakistan all would be well and we would live happily ever after.

Alas, we haven’t. Saudi Arabia flogs and beheads apostates; blasphemy laws in Pakistan take a toll of Christian lives, while random jihadi kills in Bangladesh of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and apostate Muslims are now an almost daily occurrence. Boko Haram in Nigeria has been on the rampage for years and have ceased to register on the western radar.

Is bogeyman Donald Trump responsible for this deplorable state of affairs? His incendiary words on the jihadi threat to the lives and limbs of ordinary

Americans have awoken mainstream American leaders from their slumbers. Apart from repeating ad nauseam the scriptural texts of the liberal narrative they appear to be at a loss with any coherent plan of action. Trapped in a crisis whose principal causes they do not remotely understand they fall back on their handbook of rancid clichés. For instance, does President Obama, when he talks glibly of the freedoms and opportunities America has sought to giver newcomers to its shores, realize that significant numbers of these recent immigrants from the Islamic world scorn such values because they are wedded to beliefs with a wholly different moral foundation.

A number of courageous and contrarian Muslim women, such as the Somalian-born Ayan Hirsi Ali, the Bangladeshi novelist and writer Taslima Nasrin et al have spoken out on the deep social abuses that have confronted, and still confront, women in the heartland of the Islamic world. Among these voices is Shireen Quodosi, who lives in America, is a frequent contributor a publication called Counter-Jihad, and is a supporter of Donald Trump. Asked by an Indian reporter on rump’s statement in the aftermath of the Orlando tragedy, Shireen Quodosi says, ‘Donald Trump is right in calling our against radical Islamic ideology as the foundation for extremist groups like ISIS – what happened in Orlando goes beyond immigration and gun control.

Trump is right – our crisis goes to the heart of Islam.’

That should be at the heart of the national conversation, she proclaims.

Calling people who, like her, have the courage to raise deep, searching questions Islamophobic merely compounds the problem. Shireen Quosodi says, ‘ It sickens me to see Muslims complaining about Islamophobia when they’re safe in countries the secure their civil liberties.’ To question faith is not to destroy it but rather to open up possibilities of renewal and enrichment. That is what the history of the world’s enduring civilizations tells us.

Trump’s critics, Obama and Hillary Clinton are dedicated to a new Cold War. The President has initiated the ultimate nullity of a comprehensive modernization of America’s nuclear arsenal, guaranteeing a new arms race. President Eisenhower, a distinguished general in the Second World War, in his valedictory address to the nation, warned his fellow Americans against the irregular power of the country’s military industrial complex.

Quo vadis? Uncle Sam.[wither goest thou?]

Two Tamil Nadu villages nurtured two Nobel Laureates Two obscure hamlets in Tamil Nadu have captured the limelight on Wi-Fi. Mangudi and Purasdakkudi, about two kilometers apart were where two Indian Physics Nobel Laureates were born. Villagers will be only too happy to show visitors where Sir CV Raman lived his early years, as did his nephew Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar in the adjoininghamlet. The former won his prize in 1930, the latter in 1983. For all that, the two hamlets still do not have internet connectivity. Chennai-based firm Microsense, an internet and Wi-Fi solution provider, is now bridging the digital divide in these villages.

‘The catalyst is World Wi-Fi Day. We were asked to by

the Wireless Broadband Alliance to do something to connect the unconnected.’ said S. Kailashsanathan, Managing Director, Microsense. The Wireless Broadband Alliance is a global organization that champions the adoption of wireless broadband all over the world. Its members include leading companies like Google, Intel, Cisco and Microsoft. ‘They work with cities, governments and service providers like us,’ remarked Kailasanathan, an IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta alumnus, and co-founder of Microsense with his Calcutta peer Rajiv Talwar. The spirit of Raman and Chandrasekhar appear to have cast a luminous presence on the game-changing undertaking.

A faithful friend is the medicine of life - Apocrypha

Cllr Sachin Shah Leader of Harrow Council

Building a Better Harrow The shortage of housing is the single biggest issue we face in Harrow and across London. No matter if you own your own home or rent, lived in Harrow for years, or just moved in, everyone is worried about the cost of housing.

Even for those that are able to buy a house, the mortgage is taking up more and more of their salary, and those that rent, they can see almost half their after tax income gone.

Being a second generation immigrant, I’m proud of my Indian traditions and roots. I know for the Asian community in Britain, just as for all communities across Britain, being able to buy a home means more than just a place to live; it represents stability and a sense of belonging.

Under my leadership of Harrow Council, we will continue to build affordable homes to allow that dream to stay alive.

I will work with the newly elected Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to implement, in Harrow, his plans to get more homes built in London that are affordable to people on average incomes. We have seen recently how billionaires from across the world are buying up homes in London and leaving them empty. Not only is this practice disgraceful in a city that has a growing homelessness problem, it is pushing up the price of homes for ordinary people to. That is why I support Sadiq Khan’s plans to make sure that London’s new homes are marketed in London before they are

put out for sale abroad.

Londoners should be first in line for London’s new homes.

But in Harrow our regeneration programme cannot just be about houses, it must be more than that. It must be about the communities that live, work and play in Harrow too. Not only must there be places to live, but also places to relax. Culture, leisure and places to shop must be part of the plan. The regeneration programme must also include a purpose, a signature message that will define Harrow for years to come.

Listening to Harrow residents will be key to a successful regeneration programme. We’ve set up a resident’s panel to ensure that what we do is rooted in the views of our residents. But we must now go further.

We cannot leave behind the people that have lived in Harrow for decades. For them, sometimes the regeneration programme is remote. What can the regeneration of Harrow provide a retired owner occupier, who has lived in Harrow for 30 years?

We need to be able to answer that question.

We must also make sure we have the right number of schools, GP practices, roads and parking places to meet the demands that a larger population with bring. The Building a Better Harrow programme will bring not just new homes to the Borough, but will make it a great place for residents and families to live too.

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UK

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Man given life sentence for vicious sexual assault in Leicester city centre A man who subjected a woman to a vicious sexual assault before leaving her for dead has been given a life sentence.

Vijay Singh (43), of Oxford Street, Leicester, was found guilty of attempted murder and serious sexual assault following an eight day trial in May. He carried out the attack at a premises in Leicester city centre on the night of Friday, June 5, last year.

Singh left the victim with multiple serious injuries which were so horrific she spent a "considerable" time in hospital recovering, Leicestershire Police said.

At Stafford Crown Court last Friday, Singh was handed a life sentence. He will have to serve a minimum of 14 years before the parole board can begin to con-

Vijay Singh sider whether it would be safe to release him on a life licence. He will remain on the sex offender register for life.

After the attack, Singh fled the scene

with Balbir Singh, who was waiting outside the premises when the attack took place. He then took Vijay Singh home, gave him a change of clothes and hid his bloodied clothing inside a shed.

Balbir Singh (50), was convicted of assisting an offender and sentenced to two years imprisonment.

After the hearing Detective Sergeant Sarah Walker, the investigating officer, said: "The victim has shown immense bravery and courage throughout the investigation. It was an incredibly distressing experience for her and she has had to relive the attack in order to assist officers to piece together the events of that night and ultimately bring those responsible to justice."

Shop worker fends off knife thugs with a baseball bat after they tried to raid store A hard-working PhD student battered two knife thugs who tried to raid a grocery store.

Gregory Booth, 37, and younger brother, Matthew, 32, went to rob the Eccles shop after going on a drink and drug binge.

However, the pair were fended off

by Lushan Weerasooriya, 28, who picked up a baseball bat kept behind the counter and began to defend himself.

The brothers shouted ’hand over the money' and then lunged at Lushan, trying to overpower him.

But Sri Lankan national Lushan, whose dad is a policeman in his homeland, defied previous advice from his boss just to hand over any cash - and instead sent the two crooks

In Brief

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice |25th June 2016

Lushan Weerasooriya

CCTV footage of the attack

running empty handed.

The pair were arrested when police recognised them from the CCTV footage.

As both brothers began four years and four months in jail, Lushan - who pays £8,000 a year for his electronics course at Salford University in Greater Manchester - was back at work behind the counter after a judge commended him for his bravery.

Lushan said: "The judge was very kind in his words but I’m not sure I was that brave I just felt I had to act on instinct to stay alive. I really need the college degree to become a man and make my life better and I need the job to help pay for my studies. if I had been seriously hurt then all that opportunity would have gone.

“I remembered my boss telling me that if anyone ever came in trying to steal just give them the money and let them go but I was worried that they would take the money and kill me too. They were that aggressive, I thought if I had let them get the money then they would have probably stabbed me anyway because people who are under the influence just don’t care about anything but themselves. If I had been cut at all then I could have dropped the baseball bat and they would have stabbed me to death.”

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Boy, 17, admits killing three pals in Whalley Range horror crash A 17-year-old boy has admitted causing the deaths of three friends while driving a sports car at such speed it became airborne.

Arayeb Saqib will be sentenced on his 18th birthday after admitting killing his passengers Hamzaa Jacob Iqbal, 24, Arayeb Saqib H a m z a Gujjar, 21, and Munib Afzal Karim, 20, in a crash earlier this year. A fifth man in the Audi S5 involved was Wholly Range Crash seriously injured.

Saqib had no licence and no insurance at the time of the accident in Whalley Range. He admitted three charges of causing death by dangerous driving, and one charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, at a Manchester Crown Court hearing last week.

The deaths of the three friends, who were returning from a family wedding at the time of the tragedy, prompted an outpouring of grief from the community, and their funerals drew hundreds of mourners.

Brendan O’Leary, who defended Saqib in the brief Manchester Crown Court plea hearing, asked for the case to be adjourned for a pre-sentence report, even though Saqib ‘faces an inevitable custodial sentence’.

Mr O’Leary applied for bail on Saqib’s behalf, saying: “It’s a sensitive case and a tragic case, but there have been no problems whilst he’s been on bail - he’s 17-years-of-age and it’s Ramadan.”

Judge Martin Steiger refused the application, saying: “In a case involving a triple homicide it would not be appropriate to grant bail, and so the defendant is remanded in custody.”

Passenger dies aboard flight from Dubai to Manchester

A passenger has died on board an Emirates flight, which was bound for Manchester Monday.

The airline confirmed the death of a passenger with Emirates 24|7, adding the incident occurred on flight EK21, which departed from Dubai at 3am and landed in Manchester at 7.50am UK time.

When quizzed on the cause of death, a spokesperson with the airline stated it could only confirm the incident at this time, saying:

'Industrial scale' drugs gang jailed for 101 years An evil Birmingham gang supplying heroin, cocaine and cannabis on an “industrial scale” in a sophisticated drug dealing operation have been jailed for a total of 101 years.

The Handsworth-based network even sent out text messages advertising their products and used a chain of phones with dedicated names such as ‘The T Line’ to take orders from addicts.

Kingpin Shaymas Ulhaq managed the group of drug runners and a string cannabis farms.

One of the drugs factories produced a yield worth £150,000 from the back of the Euro Tyres premises in Winster Grove, Erdington.

When West Midlands Police officers

stopped the 32-year-old in a car in July 2014 he was wearing a diamond encrusted ring and a jewel-laden Audemars Piguet watch, while £1,000 in cash was found in one of his pockets.

He claimed to be a successful car dealer – but analysis of his phone showed regular contact with other numbers linked to the drugs cartel, including texts issuing orders and instructions showing he was directing the enterprise.

Detectives later carried out a series of car stops and house raids netting drugs, dealer paraphernalia and a haul of phones. During one of the raids police discovered 50 wraps of heroin and blocks of crack cocaine at a home of one of the gang members.

Ulhaq, who was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis, was jailed for 18 years at Birmingham Crown Court.

Accomplices Masoud Ali, 32, of Wills Street, Lozells, and 22-year-old Mohammed Rahman-Harries, of Brunswick Road, Handsworth, admitted the same offences and were handed sentences of 11 and nine years respectively.

Brothers 35-year-old Narinder and Sandeep Kandola, 34, of Stanmore Road, Edgbaston, and pal Azim Thakur, 30, of Cuthbern Road, Winson Green, were imprisoned for 12, 11 and 10 years having been found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

“Emirates can confirm that a passenger on board today’s Emirates flight EK21 from Dubai to Manchester passed away during the flight.

Emirates expresses its condolences to the family.”

According to reports, all passengers on board the Boeing 777 aircraft were first deplaned upon landing at Manchester Airport, before the deceased’s body was removed.

A Greater Manchester Polices spokesman has been quoted in the media as stating the deceased person was an elderly male passenger and any foul play has been ruled out.

The cause of death has not yet been confirmed but the passenger, who has been described as 'elderly', is understood to have been ill before boarding the Emirates flight.

UK Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

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Mallya spotted in London book launch, sparked controversy

DU DUB D UB BAI Justt a ca JJus cal l away... away

fr £595

ATLANTIS HE Navtej Sarna, Jo Johnson MP and Suhel Seth

His Excellency Navtej Sarna, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, walked out of a book launch event attended by Vijay Mallya, the Indian business tycoon who has been declared a proclaimed offender by the Indian authorities.

The event was held on June 16 by the 100-ft Journey Club of the South Asia Centre at the London School of Economics to release “Mantras for Success: India’s Greatest CEOs Tell You How to Win” a book by author Suhel Seth and journalist Sunny Sen. Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science, released the book.

Mr. Sarna had been invited as part of a panel to discuss the book. Mr. Mallya was seen walking in and sitting at the back of the Old Theatre auditorium at the LSE with his daughter as soon as the evening func-

tion started.

Responding to criticism over Mr. Mallya's appearance at the event MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup in a statement issued on Saturday said, “The list of invitations for the LSE event was determined by LSE. They have written to the High Commissioner that Mallya was not on their list. They have also said that the event was advertised widely through social media and attendees were not required to register in advance. When the High Commissioner spotted Mallya in the audience he left the stage and venue immediately after making his comments and without waiting for the interactive session.”

A High Commission spokesperson confirmed Mr. Mallya's attendance at the function and the High Commissioner's departure from the room upon seeing

(photo courtesy: @SAsiaLSE)

him in the audience. "The LSE has written to the High Commissioner that Mr. Mallya was not on their list and that the event was advertised widely through social media.

Attendees were not required to register in advance." Neither was Mr. Mallya invited nor present at a subsequent reception at the High Commission, he added.

However, in a tweet Mallya said was not a "gate-crasher", suggesting that he was invited to the book launch event in London. "Never gatecrashed in my life... I am not a gatecrasher and would never be one," The flamboyant businessman, who had walked in soon after the event started, tweeted, "I went for my friend - the author.

Sat quietly with my daughter and listened. Headline news and unfounded speculation followed."

British Asian Trust welcomes the Mayor of London for a special Iftar evening One of The Prince’s Charities, The British Asian Trust, the UK’s leading organisation for British Asian philanthropy, hosted a special evening to observe the Islamic month of Ramadan. The event, which featured a traditional Iftar dinner, took place at the prestigious The Savoy and was attended by some of The Trust’s key trustees, supporters and ambassadors. The night highlighted the important work of the Trust’s Ramadan appeal ‘Mind, Body and Sew’ for vulnerable women in Pakistan.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, attended the evening as the Guest of Honour and addressed the audience about the essential charitable work The British Asian Trust is undertaking across South Asia, as well as the importance of Ramadan amongst the Islamic community in the UK. The event was also attended by British boxing champion Amir Khan, music producer Naughty Boy and BBC Sport presenter Reshmin

Chowdhury amongst others.

Sadiq Khan said: “This is my first Ramadan as the Mayor of London, and it has been a great opportunity to bring together all communities across the city. It has been especially humbling to see the Muslim community making incredible efforts to support charities and philanthropy throughout the month. The British Asian Trust in particular has continued to do outstanding work - their contribution to the South Asian community

globally over the last nine years has been exceptional and as a British Asian myself, I am proud to see so many influential Londoners supporting them.

R a m a d a n Mubarak.”

The event was hosted by BBC News presenter and Trust ambasAsad sador Ahmad, who last month travelled to Pakistan, where he met some of the country’s most vulnerable women to learn more about The British Asian Trust’s work upon their lives.

During Ramadan this year, The British Asian Trust has launched the ‘Mind, Body and Sew’ appeal to highlight the life-changing work and raise funds to help give more women a hand up instead of a hand out to ensure they can secure a sustainable livelihood for themselves and their families.

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Asian Voice |25th June 2016

Jo Cox, an MP with a common touch Anand Pillai On June 16, 2016, Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot dead in broad daylight in her constituency in Birstall, West Yorkshire.

Her alleged killer, Thomas Mair, is a white man with links to far-right groups. Thomas Mair gave his name in court as “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain”.

A rising star in British Parliament, 41-year-old Cox was elected as MP for Batley and Spen in the 2015 General Election.

Besides being a parliamentarian, she was a muchloved wife, a cheerful mother of two beautiful young kids, daughter, sister, friend, colleague and a former aid worker who was fiercely passionate about politics and justice.

An alumnus of Heckmondwike Grammar School, Cox graduated from Cambridge University in 1995 and then built a career working for charities, including Oxfam, Save the Children and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

After graduating, she worked as an adviser for Labour MP Joan Walley and then Glenys (now Baroness) Kinnock. By the end of the 1990s she was head of campaigns for the pro-European pressure group Britain in Europe.

She also took on further study at the London School of Economics.

She was passionate about many causes, not least the plight of refugees in trouble-torn Syria. She lauded the benefits of immigration to the UK in her first speech in the House of Commons. She had said that local communities “are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us”. It was this positive outlook that made Cox such a darling among her con-

Jo Cox: 1974 - 2016

stituents.

In Westminster, she was chairman of Labour Women’s Network and a senior adviser to the Freedom Fund, an antislavery charity. When MPs’ pay was reviewed, she said she would use the raise to increase the donations she makes to charity.

democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve.

It is a profoundly important cause for us all,” he said.

She was one of the MPs who nominated Corbyn so he could take part in the 2015 Labour leadership election.

But Cox had also come down heavily on the leadership in the wake of local election drubbings in May 2016, saying: “I think Jeremy needs to personally recognise that this isn’t good enough. He needs to take responsibility. We need to look very hard at what we’ve got wrong in the last eight months and put it right.”

In December 2015, Cox was one of five Labour MPs

Floral tributes were paid to Jo Cox.

And she had spoken out on equal pay, railways and against reducing parents’ tax credits.

Political leaders cutting across party lines, including Prime Minister David Cameron, Tory MP Boris Johnson, UKIP leader Nigel Farage, came together to express their grief and condolences for Cox’s murder. US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Hillary Clinton too, among others, paid their tributes to Cox. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described her as “a much-loved colleague, a real talent and a dedicated campaigner for social justice and peace”.

“Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our

who abstained in the vote on air strikes against Islamic State in Syria. She was co-chair of the Friends of Syria All Party Parliamentary Group.

She had said: “In my view it is only when civilians are protected that we will defeat IS, and until that is at the centre of our plan, I will remain an outspoken advocate for that cause.”

Although Cox’s death has rattled Britain, the response from British politicians has been extraordinarily dignified.

Most of them have refrained from politicising the murder. This assumes significance especially when the murder took place on the eve of the cru-

Contemporary Wedding & Pre-Wedding Photography

Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall

Our future as a nation is brighter and more secure inside EU Our future as part of the Europe and that of my children and grandchildren will be decided on the 23rd June this year.

There is a stark choice between an outward looking Britain with a future for young people as part of the EU, or a leap in the dark. Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm and I urge all of you to vote remain.

As a Grandfather with three grandchildren, one at University, and two still at school, I want them to have all the opportunities and advantages I wish I could have had at their age. My grandson has the opportunity to study at universities all over the 28 EU member states, his cultural experience has been enriched by the students he has already met that have come to the UK to study. Over 200,000 British students have taken the opportunity to study abroad, and I hope many more have the chance. A vote to leave the EU for them is not

some luxury option to cling to an outmoded view of sovereignty; to them membership of the EU guarantees them an outward looking future.

Diversity has always enriched Britain and the European Union has helped bridge that gap in the UK. There are many people from the UK living across Europe just as there are EU nationals that have come to the UK. The freedom to study, travel and live across Europe represents an immense value to people of all ages. While older people are free to retire to warmer climes in Spain or Italy, workers can take a high paying job in Germany or France, and young people can inter-rail across Europe. Europe offers great cultural benefits to people of all ages, and by voting remain future generations can continue to enjoy the same benefits we have seen.

A vote to leave is a vote for risk. Vote Leave say they’ll walk away from the single market

cial EU referendum. In fact, as a mark of respect to Cox, both the Remain and the Leave camps temporarily suspended campaigning for the referendum.

Jo Cox was married to campaigner Brendan Cox, and she had two young children. She divided her time between their constituency home, and her river boat on the Thames.

Cox’s husband Brendan has vowed to work against the hate that killed his wife.

He said: “I and Jo’s friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo. Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy and a zest for life that would exhaust most people. She would have wanted two things above all else to

happen now: one, that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous. Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full.”

On Monday (June 20), Brendon and family saw the House of Commons unite in tribute to Jo Cox. Labour's Rachel Reeves choked back tears as she said voters will elect Mrs Cox's successor but “no one can replace a mother”.

Jean Retired Leadbeater, Jo Cox's mother, said: “There are some evil people in this world but there are an awful lot of good people too.”

Kim Leadbeater, Jo Cox's sister, said: “She will live on through Brendan, through us and through her truly wonderful chil-

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and negotiate a new deal, but they can’t explain what it would be and how long it will take. The truth is if we left, the EU would not give us a better deal than they have for themselves. If we leave the EU we will not get any special trade deals and recession and job losses will surely follow.

How can young people looking to start a home and raise a family hope to do so against the average loss of £4,300 for each UK household experts expect if we leave the EU. With £36bn in spending cuts, how will our children hoping to become doctors and nurses in the NHS or teachers in our schools hope to find a job.

Remaining in the EU helps protect jobs, gives us lower prices and helps ensure we have enough money in the economy to protect funding for local schools and hospitals.

The EU isn’t perfect, but our future as a nation is brighter and more secure inside it, so that’s why I’ll be voting to remain. dren who will always know what an utterly amazing woman their mother was.

She was a human being.

She was perfect.”

A memorial fund launched in honour of Jo Cox has raised £1 million in just three days. Over 30,000 people have donated from across the globe, in support of her warmth, love, energy, passion and belief in the humanity of every person in every place, from Yorkshire to Syria.

Cox’s death goes beyond politics. The entire country was shocked and deeply saddened when the news broke about her tragic death.There is also a deep shock that an elected representative should have been attacked in the course of fulfilling her public service. Her killing should remind us that life is too short and precious. Like all of us, Cox went to work on June 16, but sadly didn’t return home. Her death reminds us to value our loved ones and not take them for granted – sadly, we do so most of the time because of our busy lives.

Her untimely demise should make us realise that we should make the most of each day and not spend it wishing for tomorrow to come as we really don’t know when it could be snatched away.

www.asian-voice.com Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

BOOK N OW!

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UK

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Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

EXCLUSIVE

A subtle hint by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth shows Prince William who’s the boss.

An amusing clip has emerged showing the 90year-old Queen telling off Prince William.

The shot was captured on camera recently during the monarch’s birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, when the entire Windsor family was watching the RAF flypast, the Duke of Cambridge was seen crouching down to talk to his two-year-old son, Prince George, but the Queen’s expression suggested she was far from impressed with his behaviour. Close examination of the footage suggests that while motioning with her hand for him to rise, she said: “Stand up, William.”

The shocked 33-yearold future king stood to attention immediately at his grandmother’s side as the royal family watched the RAF extravaganza. She then gestured him to appreciate the flypast.

Queen’s horse wins 0The Queen had tears of joy after Dartmouth, owned by Her Majesty,

Staying in EU right for Britain’s prosperity

Seema Malhotra MP speaks on Indo-British relationship in the light of EU Referendum

Anand Pillai

The delighted Queen

Queen Elizabeth pats Dartmouth after Royal Ascot win

won the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. Such was the finish that it took a stewards' inquiry to declare Dartmouth the winner over Highland Reel – Her

Majesty's first at the meeting for three years. Nearly £130,000 in prize money went to the winner, with the majority of this for the victorious owner.

India-UK Alliance on Nano Material Research and Solar

Charusmita

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister of for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Government of India, interacted with the press at India House on June 15th.

Following the 5th Indo-UK Science and Innovation Council Meeting (SIC) held at London on the same day, he informed that India and UK have agreed to work together on two major initiatives.

As a part of the promised solar alliance, they aim to establish India-UK Networked Centre on Solar Energy linked to India’s renewable energy mission and UK’s Supergens Program. It will focus on systems level design and development covering Solar energy generation, Storage systems and Grid integration particularly for microgrid systems. India would be investing INR 50 crores over a period of five years with matching contribution from Research Council UK under Newton-Bhabha program.

Another agreement was on the access to Indian researchers to the Neutron Scattering facility of the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford. This will enhance Indian capability to create interesting and technologically important materials

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Dr. Harsh Vardhan with Minister Jo Johnson

through research in fundamental science. As a part of its Nano mission program, the Department of Science and Technology (India) would be investing INR 26.5 crores. Currently, the value of investment in Indo-UK research and development cooperation from multiple Indian and UK agencies exceeds £200 million of co-funding. UK is currently amongst the top three collaborating countries in science and technology with India.

Under the NewtonBhabha Programme two sides also agreed on the collaborative program on Energy Efficiency in Built Environmentas a part of the Smart Cities mission, in the area of life and health sciences, virtual joint centres on Agricultural Nitrogen, a collaborative research program to improve water quality in India, pharmaceutical and personal care products. This program is being developed to support implementation of the goals

of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, ‘Namami Gange’.

On the looming issue of Brexit, which might affect UK’s economy and subsequently its investment in such collaborative research organisations, Dr. Harsh Vardhan seemed optimistic. He said, “Till now, the UK has honoured its commitment to this research funding and we do not see why that will change in the near future in case Britain decides to exit the EU.” Earlier, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and his delegation had visited the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Oxford. He held discussions with Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor for research & Innovation on possibilities of collaboration in the area of Science and Technology. During his visit Hon'ble Minister had interaction with students Oxford India Society, CRISP and Rhodes scholars.

If Britain decides to stay In, how would Indians be better off?

In my view Britain has got to stay in the EU, because it is right for our prosperity. It is also important because we are seen as attractive to people coming to work, coming to invest, because we are gateway to Europe. Our culture, heritage, history is so close, particularly to our Commonwealth nations that we have to learn history together. I don't believe any of us have anything to gain from leaving, from turning our back on our neighbours.

When we think of the challenges the world faces, we are much stronger when we stand together.

Recent polls show Brexit having a slight edge over Remain campaign. Does it disturb the Labour Party?

Anyone who is interested in us remaining in this country, the Labour Party is absolutely campaigning for us to stay in the EU. Of course, we are going to be concerned but what we are more concerned is that people are in many ways being misled and betrayed as well – whether that is the issue of immigration, the issue of shortage of chefs, family visas, policies of the government brought in – we were very concerned about them in the last Parliament and would have asked for review. Those are the issues on which the Leave campaign is now seeking to gain support.

You have Boris Johnson talking about more money for the NHS. But we know already there is a 10 billion pounds black hole in the NHS from the Tories own finances right now. He has said in the past that the people would value the NHS more if they paid fund.

Michale Gove, another Leave campaigner, said the NHS should be dismantled. Daniel Hannan, who is a Tory MEP, has said he believes NHS is a relic. When you have got people leading that campaign who don't believe in the NHS, how could you ever believe that they would guarantee more funding going to it. So I think it is important to separate national issues and those issues of the EU. And anything that we believe needs to be changed, we should

do that by leading, not by leaving.

There is a fear that Britain is becoming less British. How do you allay that fear?

I have never seen Britain becoming less British. Britain is British. Look we have just elected the first ethnic minority mayor (Sadiq Khan) with the largest number of votes in the history here. And that measure of support from people of all backgrounds to a single politician because of what they believed is a mark of how we believe in having a united politics in this country. I believe Britain is really strong, standing tall in the world.

With the influx of migrants, how do you plan to generate more jobs for the immigrants?

What's important to recognise is that when people talk about immigration in these terms, they were doing the same for my parents and they were doing the same for others' grandparents. I don't believe there's a language around which we should be happy and we should be talking.

Many people are coming because they are working here. They are working because there are also jobs here because the economy has grown and that's what makes Britain attractive. And people have been paying taxes. Those taxes are going to the public services that are serving all of us.

And what we need to be clear about is as the economy grows as we need to deal with filling those jobs and dealing with those skills – I was in the North-west recently where in the construction there is 80,000 skills gap to what they have to do in the future. These are skills we need to make sure people in Britain have access to as well. What I have been campaigning for in the Parliament is to make sure that the government is investing in skills. Those are domestic issues. And it's right we look to growing our economy and not looking to shrink it and being satisfied with that.

Britain's favourite tea collaborates with its dearest celebrity UK's third largest tea brand, Typhoo has revealed a new packaging design featuring celebrity brand ambassador Nigella Lawson. A part of its 'Typhoo Moments' campaign, the new pack shows Nigella and features the recipe to her "tea moment".

Chief Executive Officer Somnath Saha said, "We are continuing to build our long term partnership with Nigella and amplify the 'Typhoo Moments' campaign through our exciting new Nigella-endorsed packs which are rolling out across the core Typhoo range. Our key business focus is to serve great quality cups of tea to the nation, at the best possible price."

He added, "We are also excited that announce that

we will soon be releasing the exclusive Nigella Chocolate Cake Recipe that features in our advert; this will be available to our shoppers very soon and we are superbly proud to have such a great recipe that has been invented by Nigella exclusively for Typhoo."

The new advertisement

on the boxes display Nigella's approval of the taste and quality of the brand.

"Typhoo has always been an everyday tea of choice, so when I was approached to work with them, it felt like a natural and happy fit.

Everyone who knows me knows I never go anywhere without Typhoo in my handbag and I never leave the country without a box in my suitcase," said Nigella. The campaign celebrates the magic of a simple cup of tea and how the perfect brew holds different meaning to different people.

UK Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

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9

INTERNATIONAL WIDOWS DAY 23rd June 2016

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Hiten Patel on providing a helping hand for landlords Help2Let is a social lettings agency run by Harrow Council providing accommodation for families in housing need. There is a choice of options available for landlords and our team of experts are on hand to provide advice and guidance on all aspects of letting your property.

Help2Let provides a special service to families on low incomes who find it difficult to access the private rented market while also providing a structured support system for landlords.

Hiten Patel, Senior Lettings Negotiator at the Help2Let agency, says: “Help2Let is a lettings agency with aims to make a difference to thousands of people struggling with housing needs. Our friendly and diverse team manages a portfolio of over 350 properties in the South East of England, including London, and the Midlands.

Last year we helped almost 300 families to find their own homes.”

Developing good relationships with landlords is key to the company.

Hiten says: “Here at Help2Let we understand that letting your property is one of the biggest investments of your life. We are with you for every step of the journey - from our first meeting inspecting your property, to ensuring your home is well maintained and keeping you updated at every stage.

“We love what we do and pride ourselves over the reputation and strong relationships we have built with our clients over the past six years.

“But don’t just take our word for it; read some of our landlord feedback.”

The advantages of working with Help2Let: Help2Let can offer grants to bring empty properties back into use and improve your property*.

Landlords who live in London and work with Help2Let can also benefit from free accredited training.

Of the training scheme, Hiten Patel says, “There are a lot of responsibilities attached to being a landlord. The training is for a whole day and aims to help you, as landlords, to improve your management skills and keep you updated with the latest landlord legislation. The comprehensive training will help you to operate a successful business and give you

Lord Loomba CBE presenting World Widows Report to the UN General Secretary His Excellency Ban Ki Moon in New

Hiten Patel

information on how to avoid the pitfalls and problems associated with operating a rental business. The cost of the course is £120 however for landlords letting their properties through Help2Let, Harrow Council will cover the full cost. Please see our website for more information and details on topics covered during the training day.

Help2Let are looking for properties all over the South East and the Midlands. There are a number of schemes available to Landlords some of which include cash incentives and guaranteed rent.

Hiten says; “We would love to work with you whether you have one property to let or hundreds. We offer a number of schemes to suit your needs. Our lettings negotiators will be ready at short notice to view your properties, offer advice and answer any questions. You are not tied in at any time before the arrangement is signed and are free to progress at a pace that suits you.”

Here are some testimonials, what users say about Help2Let; Mr Motilal Varu, three properties on our Leasing Scheme “I have been working with Help2Let for three years now and because of

the good experience I honestly couldn’t think of going anywhere else. The team are friendly, trustworthy and reliable and this is important as they manage your property.

“The guaranteed rent gives you peace of mind and the incentives are a bonus. There are many schemes that Help2Let offer and will help you find the right one. I’m so happy with the service, I’m confident once you give them a go, you’ll wish you knew about them sooner!”

Mr Asif Hassan, two properties on our Leasing Scheme “I was previously letting my property through a private letting agency, but after building a great relationship with the Help2Let team I won’t be going back.

“The team are so helpful; they answer all your questions quickly, and provide a professional service with that extra security you don’t get elsewhere.”

Why choose Help2Let? - No management fee - Rent guaranteed* - Cash incentives We make it easy for landlords to do business with Help2Let. All areas considered For more details onthe scheme you can email us at landlords@help2let.co.uk or visit our website www.help2let.co.uk *Terms and conditions apply

The 23rd June 2016 is International Widows Day recognised by the United Nations. It is a day for effective action to raise awareness of the plight of widows and their children around the world, who are suffering through poverty, illiteracy, diseases such as HIV/AIDs, Malaria and Tuberculosis, conflict and social injustice.

International Widows Day was initially launched by the Loomba Foundation, accredited by UN ECOSOC, at the House of Lords in the United Kingdom in 2005. After tireless lobbying for five years the United Nations adopted 23rd June as International Day at its 65th General Assembly in 2010.

In addition to our core work of educating over 10,000 children of poor widows and empowering 5000 impoverished widows each in Varanasi, constituency of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the state of Punjab, Lord Loomba’s home state in India, we have been busy advocating and promoting the fundamental freedoms and human rights of widows, linking these with the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations at its General Assembly in New York on 25th September 2015.

World Widows Report Launched in New York: Our recent major achievement has been the publication of the World Widows Report on 1st February. This

UNITED NATIONS

comprehensive research study was officially launched at a parallel event during the 60th anniversary meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CWS60) in New York on 17th March 2016.

Before the official launch, the publication had been welcomed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson; the Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi; and the Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, widely known as Chatham House in London, Dr Robin Niblett CM. The World Widows Report shows that discrimination against widows is deeply ingrained in cultures across all continents, resulting in extreme poverty, gender-based violence, child labour, discrimination against girls, increased infant mortality and numerous other severe consequences, which directly affect over 259 million widows and their 584 million children around the world. It has also revealed that discrimination against widows is a deep-rooted feature of gender discrimination all over the world, though its form and impacts differ from place to place and from culture to culture – from shocking stories of child widows below the age of 10 in parts of India, and widows in some African countries forced to undergo degrading “cleansing” rituals.

NATIONS UNIES

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL MESSAGE ON INTERNATIONAL WIDOWS’ DAY 23 JUNE 2016 There are some 259 million widows around the world, and nearly half are living in poverty. Widows are often stigmatized by their families and communities. Many suffer discrimination based on age and gender. Some have lived lives marked by physical and sexual abuse.

Older widows often have few economic assets, after a lifetime of hard but unpaid work. Even in developed countries, the value of women’s pensions can be some 40 per cent lower than men’s. www.theloombafoundation.org The Loomba Foundation Loomba House 622 Western Avenue London W3 0TF 020 8102 0351

Younger widows face other challenges, as heads of households with childcare responsibilities and very limited economic opportunities.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda with its pledge to leave no one behind has a particular resonance for widows, who are among the most marginalized and isolated.

On International Widows Day, let us pledge to make widows more visible in our societies, and to support them in living productive, equal and fulfilling lives.

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READERS’ VOICE

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Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

European Referendum Saga Whichever way the vote swings, I for one feel it has not helped the UK by creating a divide. Both sides have, professionals, experts, intellectuals and politicians whom we voted to power pitting against each other.

Also, the major opposition political party seem divided, Scotland or at least Nicola Sturgeon prays for remain; this could be sincere or an opportunity yet again for a fresh Independence referendum. Northern Ireland’s unionists politically choose to remain and Wales seems divided; based on the polls and debates thus far. The term Referendum means “a general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision”. The main crux of calling for a referendum has not been clarified in the first place. Why and what was the reason?

The people elected the government with complete trust that they would ensure a fair governance and importantly secure the best interests of UK and its people. From a layman’s point of view, the government should, therefore, be negotiating what is best for the UK with the European Union and should they be satisfied there is no need for any referendum. However, should this not be the case and the UK have to comply with every whim of the European Union, this is a definite sign of a central European power control and hence a call for a referendum is justified. On the leave side opportunists like Nigel Farage have tarnished the image and the true essence of the Leave party. Tony Blair’with the pending Chilcot report and the known fact there were no weapons of mass destruction and siding with the Remain side makes one wonder.

Tikendra Dewan By email

The EU Referendum

There is lot of rhetoric and hot air created in the E.U. Referendum by the Brexit side. But the hard facts show. Brexit are talking about loss of, sovereignty, mass migration in to UK, lack of democracy in E.U., will have faster growth outside E.U. and negotiate new trade agreements. Regarding sovereignty there are 28 countries in the E.U. what about their sovereignty? Are Brexit saying that only UK will lose it and not the other E.U. countries? Mass migration is a figment of their imagination, no such thing is going to happen. There are mechanism in place to deal with such a situation. Migration is good for the economic, culture and social well-being of this country. We need more young people to keep the economy going. They do useful work in the agriculture sector, industrial sector, construction industry, leisure industry, NHS, and do jobs which local people are unwilling to do.

How can there be lack of democracy in E.U. when we have ministerial representation the in the Council of Minister, we have representation in the Commission and also in the European parliament though our MEPs. We have a meaningful say in all the 3 main institutions of the E.U. What more do they want? It will not be easy to get new markets straightaway for fast economic growth. Brexit have not talked to any non E.U. county who would do a trade agreement with them. The non-E.U. countries would rather do business and trade with E.U. which has a market of 500 million people than a country like Britain which a market of only 70 million people.

They are misleading the people for their own vested interests. It is time to make up one’s mind and support to remain inside a reformed E.U. which will give a better future to our children and grandchildren. We have to overcome this’ Project Fear’ of Brexit and make a decision to remain in the EU. Baldev Sharma By email

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Shining example MPs of all political parties are greatly shocked and saddened but also inspired by the outstanding legacy of their much-loved colleague Jo Cox. They will be keen to emulate her remarkable ability not only to care more deeply for one’s constituents but to enhance the lives of everybody everywhere with single-minded determination, courage, flair and charm.

Jo Cox had worked incredibly hard for under-privileged people overseas before becoming an MP and seized the opportunity to demonstrate the true value and purpose of politics. She was a superstar go-getter with a heart of gold who will be hugely missed.

Rudy Otter By email

Housing crisis solution The shortage of housing had reached its peak last summer and still continue to rise.

Despite successive Government’s promises to build more houses and existing schemes like ‘Help to Buy’ and staggered removal of tax relief on the interest of loan for Buy- to-Let properties, the situation had very little effect.

The predicament is worst in London where the rich, including foreigners purchase the properties for investment to earn lucrative profit.

In addition Buy –to -let has created booming uncontrollable prices and shortage of properties.

Consequently, first time buyers are precluded to get on property ladder, even the professionals, paying higher rate of tax are finding it difficult to pursue the purchase.

Ila Kapadia By email

Murder Most Foul

Brutal murder of popular, grandiose Labour MP Joe Cox has sent shock waves throughout political establishment. Joe was unique, pertinacious, pragmatic talent destined to become political heavyweight, as she was kind, caring, easily approachable, an experienced charity worker who had worked in most troubled countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, yet met with violent death in one of the safest country imaginable.

It is time security is renewed, re-examined and MPs given protection they deserve, as ours is a free society, fundamental part of British democracy, MPs mingling with their constituents in free environment, unmatched anywhere in the world. No wonder many MPs have minders when they meet their constituents in their surgeries, helping constituents with immigration, housing and such problems politicians are best equipped to deal with. No wonder Joe received unusually moving praise from politicians of every persuasion. Tooting by-election victor Rossina Ally Khan, front line A & E doctor, even refused to celebrate her victory, doubling the Labour majority of Sadiq Khan.

Joe entered HOC at the last general election, young 41 year old MP with two children who will never see their mother again. The motive behind killing is uncertain, although “Far Right” perception is suspected. It is indeed a senseless killing that has generated genuine outpour of sadness at the loss of such a talent. This may discourage young, dedicated talent from entering Parliament.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

Jo Cox’s life cut short It’s shocking that a hugely likeable labour MP Jo Cox, so passionate to serve her country has been mercilessly killed simply because her killer hold different views from hers.

This is an assault on democracy and British public who value their freedom of speech so dearly. Sadly, a beautiful, decent human being has been taken away from us. The life for her family will never be the same again. She will be greatly missed by all fair minded British public.

Niranjan Vasant By email

Brexit

BREXIT propoganda took away the life of a Labour MP Jo Cox who was "fighting for the better world"? So took the basic voting right of the Gurkhas those who indeed have sacrifice the cream part of their lives for more than 200 years for the vested interest of the "British Empire?

BREXIT is a universal issue not a "IMPERIALISTIC" issue like introducing the universal pay for the the Gurkhas when British have to leave the last British administrative Hong Kong for pre July 97 Gurkhas? British cannot have both cake and eat.

Regarding the migration issues British did used the Gurkhas to control the border control on the expense of the Hong Kong government. The British government will not use the Gurkhas here to control in the UK border, because British government do not want to put their hands in the pocket? There is a saying in Nepali poverb."Age Napnu ek hath pachhi napnu barha hath" meaning look before you leap or think before you speak.

Yam Gurung (rtd) By email

Atrocities in Orlando

Think of Orlando and the faces of excited children having fun in Disneyworld come to mind. But the place has now become synonimous with death and disastor. A gay bar in Orlando is where the random killing of 49 innocent people by a solo gunman took place. He was probably brainwashed and did not relaise the consequences of his actions. These people will go to any length in the name of religion.

This time a specific group was targetted but follow up actions can take place anywhere. It is disturbing and scaring to think that other such attacks may be carried out by people with twisted mind who seem to believe that this is a path ot fame and glory.

It all boils down to religion. People with various beliefs and cultures hold different views and those who they feel are breaking the norms become their targets. This comes in the wake of the killings of innocent people in Brussels and Paris.

The latest shooting of people in Orlando seem to have been carried out in the name of God. But none of our Gods condone the random killing of people. If natural disasters like the Tsunamis, earthquakes, flash floods and mud slides are not enough, we have these man made disasters taking place today. Why did this attack on innocent people take place or to put it in other words, would this happen again? Would this create a trend for things to come?

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

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EDUCATION

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Secondary schools need 16,000 new spaces within seven years More than 16,000 new secondary school spaces are needed within seven years to accommodate new pupils starting primary education, official figures reveal.

Data analysed by BBC News shows the scale of the challenge to meet rising demand by the time current four-yearolds move schools. Surrey County Council a n d Birmingham City Council face the biggest shortfalls. The Department for Education (DfE) said £7bn is committed to new places. Official figures reveal the number of applicants starting primary school in 2016 exceeds the number of current secondary school places by at least 16,284. The analysis covers 134 areas but excludes 16 councils where there is a "three-tier" system, as the DfE did not account for children in middle schools, which typically cater for 913 year-olds.

Figures released last Thursday show that one in six families missed out on their first choice of secondary school.

The DfE said local

authorities had plans for 52,000 more secondary school places by 2018.

However, the National Union of Teachers said the problem of school places was being "ignored by the government".

Kevin Courtney, acting General Secretary, said: "It is resulting in overcrowded classrooms, schools expanding beyond an optimum size and children travelling further to school.

Population changes are not a new phenomenon and local authorities, who are responsible for providing sufficient school places, have traditionally been able to plan to meet rising and falling demand. The significant factor in the current situation is that, since 2010, the government has undermined local authorities' legal powers to deliver new school places.

This is an abdication of responsibility."

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

11

BAPS Children’s Forum Receives Gold Award for Supplementary Education The BAPS Children’s Forum was founded in 1954 to encourage children to become responsible adults through inspiring activities, events and publications.

The Forum in London is based at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden – the ‘Neasden Temple.’

In 2012, the supplementary school was awarded a Gold Award from the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE) for its “high standards of service in providing supplementary education to the community” – the first supplementary school in the London borough of Brent & Harrow to have achieved the gold standard.

The NRCSE is a national strategic and support organisation for the supplementary education sector across England. They are the ‘national champion for excellence, innovation and partnership in supplementary schools.’

The Forum has once again won a Gold Award following a detailed observation by representatives of the NRC on Sunday 5 June 2016.

Evidence was gathered during assemblies and classes as well as a thorough examination of policies.

Discussions with pupils, teachers and the school director also formed part of the assessment.

The findings from the visit were documented in a statement pre-

pared by the observer. One of the assessors commented on the “fully engaged and eager students” and the “clear, confident technique [of the teacher]” which contributed to a “most effective and enjoyable lesson.”

The awards from the NRC follow the distinction of The Queen’s Award in 2009 for the Forum’s outstanding voluntary services to the community.

Among its various activities, BAPS Children’s Forum organises a Sunday school to teach Gujarati, in which it has attained a 100% success rate in GCSE exams, with more than half of the students receiving a grade A or A*.

During the weekly classes, some 70 volunteers assist the 350 students. The school also strives to provide value-based education helping young people develop into responsible and respectable British citizens.

Sharing his thoughts on the award, Kirit Wadia, lead volunteer at the Children’s Forum said: “We are very honoured and delighted to receive the Gold Award once again.

The achievement is a testimony of the collective efforts from pupils, parents and all the staff. We are committed to providing a positive and rewarding learning environment and hope we can continue to build on this success in the years to come.”

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MEDIA WATCH

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Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

The Bombay High Court ruling overturning the 13 cuts imposed by the Censor Board on the film ‘Udta Punjab’ to a solitary cut with the damning words: ‘stop acting like a grandmother .’ The other key passages in this landmark judgment bear repeating.

‘Whether it is cinema or television, leave it to the people.’ Next: ‘The audience is mature in this day and age.’ Further, ‘Adults won’t be tempted to use cuss words simply because they heard it in the movie.’ Finally, ‘Filmmakers will soon realize that that the use of expletives alone will not make a film successful.’

The court ruled that the following lines be added to the disclaimer at the start of the film: ‘We acknowledge the battle against drugs being fought by the government and police. But this battle cannot be won unless the people of India unite against the menace.’

Lead story

The fact that the Bombay High Court ruling was the lead story of every national broadsheet was surely an indication of growing public disquiet over creeping censorship, assaults on freedom of expression and moral policing in some instances that are rightly perceived as erosions of Indian democracy and infringements of the rule of law that guarantees its existence.

Filmmakers and artistes have hailed the judiciary for upholding the right to free speech in the face of creeping bigotry in the garb of moral rectitude.

Modi message to BJP faithful

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an impassioned appeal in an address to the BP National Executive to follow a code of conduct entailing seven principles that stressed restraint and balance which should be reflected in the mindset and behavior of all party members. ’For us power is not happiness but displaying responsibility is our duty,’ he said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said apropos of the Bombay High Court judgment, ‘We are going to announce radical changes. …The correct word is certification. Norms will have to be radical.’

BJP makeover required

The Times of India (June 14) published an exemplary editorial on the subject of the Prime Minister’s speech and the one made by the finance Minister.

The BJP and the Sangh Parivar mindset had to respond to the changing dynamics of Indian society. Many of the old slogans and attitudes, such as ‘minority [read Christian and Muslim] bashing that divides and unnecessarily alienates people,’had passed their shelf life.

Congress malaise

However ‘Congress bashing will, of course, continue. But its very success, coupled with the decline Congress has inflicted on itself means it will yield diminishing returns in future.’ The exodus from Congress has more to do with its poor leadership than anything else. But this does ‘present BJP with an opportunity. To embrace development and modernity more fully to bring it line with the aspirations of the country’s burgeoning youthful population. The Times concludes: ‘BJP’s success in Assam demonstrated, after all, that a rel-

atively non-sectarian campaign pitch can deliver the goods.’

Distilled wisdom, indeed.

Tawde charged with murder

Central Bureau of Investigation sleuths (CBI), having scrutinized Virendra Tawde’s e-mail correspondence with Sarang Akolkar, an absconder and one of the accused in the 2009 Madgaon bomb blast in Goa, has charged Tawde with conspiracy to murder Narendra Dabolkar, a rationalist intellectual, writer and academic, almost three years ago. The exchanges in Marathi between Tawde and Akolkar, according to local media reports, ‘are deeply disturbing, Tawde has also been charged with involvement in the Madgaon bombings. Tawde and Akolkar are members of an extremist Hindu group called Sanatan Sanstha (Hindu June 14, 15)

Reasons for TMC Bengal triumph

Against all odds and numerous poll forecast West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) defied the ant-incumbency factor, increasing the party’s s Assembly seats from 184 to 211 in the total of 290 seats. Her previous triumph in 2011 against the Communist Party-led Left Front Alliance was a rout for the latter of their 34-years in office. There was no comeback as the Left Front debacle was even greater.

So what, in a word, brought on the Mamata wave?

Development mantra

Development was the answer.

Consider the statistics. Almost 2000 kms of road built and repaired, a substantial increase in the availability of electricity for poor households, improved water supply, availability of rice, wheat and sugar at subsidized prices for households in greatest need, new schools, new healthcare centres, four million bicycles for school children free of cost, grants for housing: all monies paid directly into bank accounts to prevent fraud or abuse, youth clubs across the state and help for small scale and medium sized enterprises, insurance safeguards for cinema, television workers and folk artistes. The task now for the next five years, said Finance & Industry Minister Amit Mitra was attracting big ticket industrial investments to bring greater job opportunities and improve the quality of life for people in general (Economic Times June 5)

Corporates to save Bangaluru lakes

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

President cemented India-Ghana ties

Bangaluru’s drying lakes are to be given a new lease of life thanks to the city’s frontline high tech companies, Biotech, Wipro, the UB Group, India and Sensara Engineering will join forces with the Karnataka Lake Development Authority and civic agencies to preserve these water bodies (Hindu June 14)

Surviving cancer

A Delhi man, Arun Lal has lived most of his life in Calcutta, working in the corporate sector, and playing Ranji Trophy cricket for Bengal and Test cricket for India, After his playing days were over, he did stints as a commentator and attained considerable public

President Pranab Mukherjee received by the President of the Republic of Ghana John Dramani Mahama

President Pranab Mukherjee’s three-day visit to Ghana has been a significant step forward in cementing ties between the two countries. India is to increase its aid package to Ghana from its present $3 billion to $6 billion. At the delegation-level talks both sides agreed that while trade and investment had been growing steadily there was scope for targeted opportunities in key sectors of Ghana’s economy.

Chair of Indian studies at Accra

It was also agreed that India would establish a Chair of Indian studies at Accra University. A statement at end of President Mukherjee’s visit included Ghana’s deep appreciation of Indian grants, lines of credit and other financial packages (Hindu June 15)

Arun Lal

esteem. A problem with his jaw turned out to be a rare form of cancer, bringing him to death’s door. Friends advised him to go to London, but he chose the Tata Medical Center at New Town, on the outskirts of Calcutta, where a team of brilliant surgeons performed a difficult operation and gave him a new lease of life. ‘I am a walking advertisement for the Tata Medical Center and would gladly serve as brand ambassador’, he told a local reporter (Telegraph June 15)

Chinese ordered to quit India

The Odisha State government has ordered 10 Chinese nations working on a local Adani Group port project in Bhadrak district to leave India. This was done at the request of the Home Ministry in Delhi. Indian intelligence services had discovered that the men were working two kilometers from India’s missile testing facility at Abdul Kalam Island. They had been employed by a Thai company sub-contracted for a project involved in port expansion (Times of India, Hindu June 15)

Chinese media against India’s NSG entry

China’s state-run Global Times expressed strong opposition to India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), as this would lead to an arms race in the subcontinent between India and Pakistan, leading to regional instability, and because Indian NSG membership would be counter China’s national interest. There were platitudes and clichés aplenty on the dangers arising from nuclear proliferation and the need for Indian compli-

ance to the Nuclear nonProliferation Treaty (NPT), which India has refused to sign (Mint June 15).

Chinese proliferation

What should now be aired publicly is the role played by China in arming Pakistan with a readymade nuclear bomb and providing it with the nuclear weapon technology to produce bombs on its own and the web of deceit that enabled Pakistan to export these secrets to North Korea as a quid pro quo for North Korean missile technology. For those interested in the origins of this traffic and its other ramifications would well to read Andrew Small’s book ‘The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics,’ published in 2015.

Calcutta school wins Leicester cricket trophy

St Xavier’s Collegiate School have won the Goodwill Cricket Tournament 2016 hosted by Leicester’s Cricket Academy earlier in the month. India’s former iconic Test captain Sourav Ganguly, and former Bengal Ranji Trophy captain Raju Mukherjee - the team’s present mentor – are ex-Xaverians. This was a 35over tournament involving two British schools and St Xavier’s Collegiate School. The matches started off on a round robin format, with the three top two sides contesting for places in the final. The St Xavier’s motto Nihil Ultra (nothing beyond) was brilliantly fulfilled. Principal Benny Thomas said: ‘It isn’t just a proud moment for the school or the city, but also for the country.’

Orlando scene after shooting. see comment page 3

Physics Nobel Laureates C.V Raman (left) and S.Chandrasekher. see comment page 3

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Seema Malhotra MP

UK

13

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and MP for Feltham and Heston

We should be leading, not leaving

What Indians Did For Europe

I write to you en route to Vienna to speak at the European Agency on Fundamental Rights. This too on the day of the Referendum Vote.

The irony of it. On Referendum day I'll be speaking in Vienna to the European Union Agency on Fundamental Rights with the President of Austria - to talk about how we ensure greater inclusion of the socially excluded in europe and the fundamental human rights of our community including refugees.

What am I supposed to say "not my problem...my country has just voted a big f^&k you EU, so take the poor, the destitute, the soon to be radicalised and shove it."

Or am I to say we are a nation which developed and fought for these fundamental rights, we not only have a seat at the table we will shape the agenda and participate to the fullest in the most important issues of our age.

We are part of your community, it is our community too and together we will make ourselves the best hope for humanity and a beacon to the rest of the world, that principles borne from this continent, from democracy to the fundamental rights of equality shall not die when the going gets tough but principles are only worthwhile when tested.

And we shall never shy away from our share of any burden for surely we have always reaped most the benefits from economic growth of this continent. My country has paid too high a price in forging

peace on this contintent to now remove itself from Union with it; paid too high a price to ensure fundamental rights for all citizens of this continent, to now stand by muted.

Our greatness shall be measured not by our past but our voice here, now, in the rooms where decisions are made shaping the history of a continent as we once did shape the whole world - and just because we are not the only or no longer the loudest voice, we shall not go quietly into the night.

The message from the President of Austria is "I would like to congratulate the Fundamental Rights Agency on its initiative to establish a Fundamental Rights Forum in Vienna, providing a unique possibility to bring together European and international human rights decision-makers, activists and rights holders.

Not least in view of the extraordinary challenges of the current migration crisis we need to keep a strong focus on the basic values and principles our societies are based on: human rights, equality and intercultural understanding.

In order to further develop a comprehensive and strong human rights culture in our societies we need more than the mere knowledge of a set of rules and principles. Above all, we need to develop the corresponding attitude and behaviour.

Human rights exist to the degree that they are respected by people in their relations with each other, and by governments with regard to their citizens."

LONDON SEVASHRAM SANGHA

99a Devonport Road, London W12 8PB Tel 020 8743 9048 Regd 261363 Email: sevashramvision@hotmail.com Website: London-sevashramsangha.org

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OM DAY GLOBAL VISION FOR UNITY AND PEACE 2016

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TOPIC: ACHIEVING PEACE OF MIND FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE INDOGENIC RELIGIONS

CHIEF GUEST: Dr Desmond Biddulph, President, The Buddhist Society Lectures by: Swami Nirliptananda,Ven Seelaweemala, Ajit Singh, Sister Samani Pritibha Pragya Punita With her students at the Bhavan

The decision British people face on the 23rd of June will have real consequences and it is vital that everyone votes. The outcome will shape the future of our country for generations to come. The debate on the European Union (EU) referendum has been dominated by men – one of the reasons why the Labour Party held a women’s press conference recently which I spoke at alongside Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP, Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle MP and Shadow Equalities Minister Kate Green MP. This decision on 23rd June will affect our prosperity and security. I am proud of being British and of my Asian heritage, and proud of our confidence in our diversity and our place in the world. Some have tried to suggest there is a choice between our relationship with the Commonwealth and the European Union. That is a false choice – all of us gain from being in both.

Indeed even Prime Minister Modi and so many Indian businesses I speak to say that companies who trade with us gain from the access that partnering with Britain brings to the single market. This decision will also affect our jobs, our children’s jobs and our grandchildren’s jobs. It will affect living standards, rents, mortgages, and the price we pay for goods in the shops. And it will affect the vital rights and protections we have fought so hard for. Our membership of the European Union has purpose – our prosperity, our security, our progress as a nation.

And there are difficult issues – like immigration. We have said we recognise people’s concerns and must address those issues of undercutting wages, and pressure on our public services. That’s why it was so wrong for the Conservatives to scrap the

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BOLTON BL1 1BG

15-25 Market Street, Oldham

209-210 Grange Road

26 Deansgate, Bolton, Greater Manchester Let to Wilko Retail Limited until 2026 (no breaks) Rent £260,000 p.a.x

HUDDERSFIELD HD1 2AX 1-5 New Street, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Tenants include Partners The Stationers (t/a Rymans) Rent £122,000 p.a.x

LEICESTER LE1 1WA 7, 9 & 11 Humberstone Gate Asset management/redevelopment opportunities (subject to lease and consents), approximately 589.60 sq m (6,347 sq ft) Rent £22,500 p.a.x

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Cultural Programmes: Shanti Yajna, vocal and musical by: Smt Punita Gupta and children, Youths from the Vihara and groups from the Ashram and Gurdwara Vegetarian Meals will be served Supported by political and community leaders, and others Coming Events: GURU PURNIMA TUES 19 JULY AT 7PM PILGRIMAGE OUTING TO TEMPLES ONSAT SEPT 17TH, LEAVING ASHRAM AT 8AM – RETURNING 8PM CENTENARY CELEBRATION SUNDAY 25TH SEPT AT 2PM

Labour Government’s Migrant Impacts Fund, that gave extra resources for public services. And we know that those who have come to work have made a net contribution in their taxes.

Being part of the EU has been a powerful force in empowering women both here in Britain and around the globe, bringing protections for women in the workplace, expanding the right to equal pay, maternity and paternity leave, strengthening protections against discrimination in work and improving remedies for women who have been unfairly treated.

And it has benefitted the many women who work part-time or on a temporary basis, improving their pay and conditions and giving them access to rights at work that they were previously disqualified from. These rights matter for all working people. But they are particularly crucial for women.Those who want us to walk away from the EU have been asked what they would do to protect the jobs, growth, and investment that our membership of the EU brings. How they would ensure that the hard-fought progress on equality would not be reversed. And which of the workers’ protections the EU has brought us they would be willing to scrap. Priti Patel has cutting back on rights protections will save £4.3bn – but has failed to say what rights will be reversed.

The EU provides a floor of the basic, minimum rights which we must not go below. We can and should aim higher. The EU has been a friend to women in this country – let’s not leave and risk turning the clock back. Europe isn’t perfect – but let’s be confident and change it from the inside. We should be leading, not leaving.

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WALTHAM ABBEY EN9 1DN 6 Market Square, Essex Let to Barclays Bank Plc until 2028 (subject to option) Rent £18,500 p.a.x

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14 COMMUNITY

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Remember, Recollect, Recharge

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

British Asians have come a very long way since their arrival in the UK. They worked hard and achieved so much to reciprocate the warmth and hospitality of the British people renowned for their open, fair and law-abiding way of life.

Paid subscribers of Asian Voice are invited to send in their journey report (up to 600 words narration) with at least 2 photographs (one when they arrived in the UK and another with

By Upendra Kapadia

I was very glad to read that you have invited Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar letter-writers to the Houses of Parliament to celebrate their good work and dedication by giving them some sort of Award/Certificates and providing them an opportunity to get together and also meet ABPL staff as well! It's a novel idea for the newspaper industry!

My life at a glance:I hail from a Modh Vanik renowned Kapadia family from Ankleshwar, Gujarat which became oil-rich in the early 60's and brought prosperity to Gujarat and India! In Bharuch centre I came 4th in SSC and was selected by Modh hostel in Bombay. I did my BCom Degree, being sanguine to excel, and became an accountant of a pharmaceutical company while living in Khar.

On spur of a caprice, I applied to the British High Commission where I got an employment voucher, married Ila in February 1965 and came to London in April! With spunk and spirit I found an Asst. Accountant position with VW Motors, then as a Group Financial Accountant with large Eng. Co., Accountant with Pickker International ( GEC ), Chief Accountant with Mazda Cars, etc. I too achieved a Chartered (British) Institute of Management Award!

Thus my career lasted over 32 years.

Ila joined me in February 1966. Born in Nadiad, she graduated from Bombay University with Psychology, worked with Govt. War Pensions, Tele Communications.

Our children are well established in their professions. Asmita excelled in banking and is Head of Communications for a top Investments bank. Pareen passed his Mensa IQ test with high score at 12, got exceptional results at all school exams and achieved Master in Aeronautics from Imperial College, London.

He is now a Chartered Engineer!

We visited India frequently, had a fabulous time in the USA and Europe as well. Last year

their family members at the moment).

These life stories will be published without any charge in Asian Voice as a service to celebrate ABPL's 44 years as well as to put on record our sojourn for the knowledge of our younger generation as well as neighbours.

Here is another story this time by Upendrabhai Kapadia about his life in the UK and the struggles he has faced during his time here.

to shopping, cinema, restaurants and elsewhere As per Shri C B's philosophy, we should remember and recollect the good things in our life and recharge' for the future!

Anyway, now Ila and I are retired and in our 70s. I get courage, solace and inspiration Upendrabhai and Ilaben Kapadia from reading biographies of great people like in February we celebrated Gandhiji, Sadar Patel, the Golden Jubilee of our Nehru, GB Shaw, Tolstoy, Wedding Anniversary Lincoln, etc. Also I have and also 50 years of our read the Bhagwat Gita coming to London by hir(my mother gave me a ing a limousine going all copy before I came to over London. As a treat to London) minutely, like to us by our loving Asmita, write on it and spread its we partook of our evening philosophy and intrinsic meal in a posh restaurant values everywhere! l too in Knightsbridge! By the write short stories for Grace of God we've had a children to make them good life!

Upendrabhai and Ilaben pictured with daughter Asmita and son Pareen

Nonetheless, life is not always smooth and smiling. I have never had a day of sick leave in my life yet in 1994/5 I had a heart mitral valve repaired following which I had series of operations and serious illnesses and had my both eyes' retinas detached, now I am left with only 25% vision in my left eye.

My vision is severely impaired, hence I read and write with special visual aids! During this turbulent time Ila showed immense courage and strength and inspired the children to work hard and progress.

Some times life is so brittle, cruel and uncertain, you don't know when you will fall in an abyss of difficulties and distress! It all comes like a tsunami! Now Ila's love and support keeps us going and I understand how a woman bears alone with the family silently as per our Hindu culture!

Despite all this, I am happy that I have some eye sight and Ila, Asmita and Pareen still take me

humane and morally strong, we keep abreast of news by reading Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar, The Times, etc. and like to write articles for Asian Voice Readers' Voice.

I have sent many dealing with world current economic, political, cultural and social issues, some are as follows: Hinduism; Yog; Gandhi's Statue in Parliament Square; Sardar Patel's Statue of Unity; Advent of Modi' Digital India; Hindu Manifesto for GE 2015, Energy Prices, Cameron's Historic EU Deal; How to tackle or solve world two biggest problems of Islamic terrorism and African and Middle-East Migration; Urgency of Security of LOC and LAC Borders; Riddle of Flight MH370, Penalty and Punishments of Crimes (in India), etc.

This AV, GS event to award the writers will set a unique example for the news media world! Best wishes for a great success to remember!

If you have a similar story you would like to share please send it and any pictures to CB Patel, Publisher/Editor, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar at Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW, or you may write to CB Patel at cb.patel@abplgroup.com

Mike Whine

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Jews and Israel

Since their expulsion from the Holy Land, that is modern Israel, by the Romans in around 131 of the Common Era, Jews have prayed for their return at least three times daily.

The centrality of Israel, and its capital Jerusalem, constitute a core element in Jewish religious practice, and the word Jerusalem appears 669 times in the Bible, known in English as the Old Testament and in Hebrew as Tanakh.

“If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my right hand lose its cunning” is the opening of one of the most famous Psalms, and summarises this longing. It is offered up at the conclusion of the Day of Atonement service, the most solemn in the Jewish calendar, and at Passover, the festival that we have just celebrated.

Yet one more religious reference. The breaking of a glass at the conclusion of a Jewish marriage service is to remind the groom not to allow his own rejoicing to be greater than the need to recall Jerusalem’s destruction, and the Jews’ expulsion from the Holy Land by the Romans.

The importance of Israel to the overwhelming majority of Jews around the world is therefore underpinned by religious belief and practice.

In 2010, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, whom I have mentioned in previous articles, carried out a large scale poll of British Jews’ attachment to Israel. For 82% of respondents, Israel plays a ‘central’ or ‘important but not central’ role in their Jewish identities. 90% believe that Israel is the ‘ancestral homeland’ of the Jewish people and 95% have visited Israel in some point.

This figure has grown over the course of several similar polls, suggesting that Israel now assumes a greater role in their lives than previously. Moreover an overwhelming majority (87%) agreed that Jews are responsible for ensuring the survival of Israel’.

But Jews’ attachment to Israel, and Israel’s attachment to the worldwide Jewish diaspora go much further than one based only on religious bonds. They both invest an enormous amount in each other. Jews support charities in Israel which fund every facet of life from the emergency services, to children’s homes,

to helping new immigrants to integrate, to schools, universities and other educational services. Virtually every public building has a plaque recording the generosity of a foreign Jew who has endowed the building in memory of parents, or other relatives. Israel is the preferred holiday destination for many European Jews, especially during religious festivals and in winter when the beaches of Eilat and the Red Sea beckon.

High school students from most European states now spend several months in Israel, and many do so for a gap year between school and university.

The US-based Birthright Israel funds educational visits for a growing number of American youth. Practically every synagogue raises money for charitable and developmental work in Israel during important Jewish religious festivals via the United Jewish and Israel Appeal, or the Jewish National Fund, which owns the freehold of all public land in Israel, and which has been the main vehicle for agricultural development there since 1901.

In return, Israel sends emissaries to Jewish communities to help educate the young, and to assist in local community development. Israel’s diplomats don’t only represent Israel to foreign governments: they also act as a bridge between their government and local Jewish communities. The Jewish Agency for Israel, a government agency founded in 1929 to represent Jews’ concerns to the British mandatory power, and which acted as embryonic government before the birth of the modern state in 1948, now serves as the main link between the Jewish state and Jewish communities everywhere, helping them to confront the many challenges they continue to face. It acts as first responder to Jews in crisis, acting together with local national governments and their agencies, and has been the main agency rescuing Jews in peril since the 1930s.

Perhaps this historic and possibly unique relationship between Jews world-wide is expressed best in the Hebrew Am Israel, which translates as ‘the Jewish people’, through which Jews everywhere see themselves as part of the same family.

Nadiya Hussain to have her cake and eat it too!

The Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain is about to walk down the aisle again, this time, for a traditional British wedding, with a cake and all. She married 11 years back in Bangladesh, in true Islamic tradition, at the age of 19; a arranged marriage with now-husband Abdal.

The mother of three said, "We're married Islamically, but we've never done the proper vows here. So we're talking about making it all official.

Muslim couples need to take part in a civil ceremony as well as a religious wedding for their marriage to be recognised under British law. It's a great excuse for a party!" Talking about the arranged marriage system, Nadiya said, "Marriage isn't easy, especially when you don't know each other very well. We got married six months after meeting. There were definitely times when I could have said 'I'm done. I'm not enjoying this anymore.' But we've always been very happy. We're one of the lucky ones."

The baker cum author had made the official cake for the Queen's 90th birthday cake in April.

Nadiya with husband Abdal

SP

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Inside out

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Hate is hate, reasons for it are excuses

Yogesh Patel We live in a democracy, not the hate camp. Why a politician –Jo Cox - who practised good democracy should be shot dead is always beyond me.

Hatred is owned by everyone, but love is not.

Hatred is common, but love is not. Hatred is natural, but love is what you have to work at.

Compassion is easy to talk without borders, but own preservation has borders.

Both generate hatreds by camping against each other as absolutes! It reminds us that we cannot submit to hate.

Trump’s rhetoric is a product of democracy. So was Hitler’s. Democracy has also shown us an appetite for poisoning Socrates. Truth has the same ability to send Galileos to gallows.

Therefore, hate is nothing new. Bent truths are also nothing new, but when they are in our time, we cannot deal with them just as our predecessors.

As long as a state like Russia cannot apologise for any corruption as in doping scandals, and hooligan gangs like Ultra fed by it, the human race will always have hate bending on murders. So long as Muslims do not correct Muslims, the hate will continue. Kindness never had violence as its face. Hate has a powerful violent face and it will always appeal to the large disenfranchised population as an action pumped by power and authority invoking basic animal instincts in humans.

Albeit, a systematic removal of any rationale and compassion to create absolutes and equipping them with guns or violence as an ultimate purpose, like Hitler did or Al Qaeda (meaning absolute law) and others do, will always create human robots of violence demonstrating a cruel immunisation to love, just as in computer games of gore.

Thus, hate also appeals to those who have developed apathy, which is much more in abundance in our time due to the advanced technology, which introduces Kafka’s outsider or D o s t o y e v s k y ’ s Raskolnikov to the new generation through social media, hence young ones from a good background also take up arms as they do drugs. For them, it is

also about feeling high.

They say there is nothing to do for them. There is boredom to fill. They even say the life needs a purpose even if it is violence!

They will even quote Gita to say that having a purpose is better than not having one at all. A philosophy of karma! They see wars as a glory. Wars may be the conflicts of purposes, but they instil an array of hatreds in the coming generations.

There are no jihads of love against murderers of Islam within Islam, on the scales of a sea of guns.

Therefore, the hatred we see around us will continue for a long time to thrive until a new God’s messenger is invented by humans. Thugs will always hijack love, destroy it, and justify it after their acts of inhuman acts as God’s commandment. It doesn’t matter which religion is a culprit. But thank god there are some who light up our skies with the light of humanity. They can be even politicians like Jo. I have written in Asian Voice before when politicians are demonised, even recently when David Cameron was attacked twisting the finds of Panama Papers. Modi is a prime example. They are humans and flawed as us, but as long as the greater good is done and legality of the day is observed, they must be respected.

Therefore, my message to all is to express it through the ballot papers, not guns and knives. Socrates took poison in spite of having been offered an alternative, for he wanted to enshrine the human destiny in the democracy with non-violence at its heart. He believed in votes, good or bad.

David Cameron, if he is wise, even if he loses the referendum, though I believe he will win, should call and organise a conference of national unity at the Exchequer immediately after the vote. He should declare it now rather than leave it for after the vote. He will be amazed and find out how people come together. For hatred is not the democracy. He has succeeded in delivering a divided nation; he must raise after 23rd June, whatever the result, to deliver love and one nation. He must accept that the other side’s view is equally important in a democracy, and as a leader who has pledged to leave at a fixed time, and has nothing to lose; he must deliver us one nation. That will be his legacy. That is what Jo Cox would have wanted.

TLIGHT

15

Archana Kumar: The Essence of Bollywood

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

Sunetra Senior

Dance allows you to get lost in a place where you can be free: so liberated, in fact, that you can even inhabit the skins of other characters

Archana is an award-winning Choreographer with her own bollywood performing arts school, AK Bollywood.

Her authentic yet striking ethos is reflected in the rich colours and the vibrancy of theatre which are elegantly intertwined with the dance teaching: “at AK Bollywood we have a range of dynamic classes,” Archana told us. “They cater to toddlers (ages 3-6), older children (ages 6-12) and teens; the latter involves more intricate choreography and helps develop to professional standards. We also run bollywood workout classes, offering sequences to get you toning, sweating and burning those excess calories. But, the one element they all have in common is expressiveness of the self. This is what AK represents. Dance allows you to get lost in a place where you can be free and relaxed. There’s a personal creativity and beauty to it. If you watch the old Bollywood movies, the actresses will go through several costume changes sporting a different sari for every time you’ve blinked! Radiating charisma and the ability to feel a whole spectrum of emotions.” *** You know the delectable dancer’s outgoing philosophy is airtight when the entertainment aspect of her academy is thriving through it too. AK has successfully hosted a plethora of dance productions and provides specialist services, from corporate and public events to more private functions such as weddings and throwing Mehndi night parties. Archana told us: “I’ve had the great pleasure of working and dancing alongside Gary Lineker for the Walker’s Onion Bhaji crisps commercial! Running the school and developing our place on the social stage has given us the evolution of opportunities such as this.” Archana also happens to be the UK Battle of Bollywood Champion and took home the winning title for the Yash Raj Madhuri Dixit dance competition. But the final sparkle is Archana’s honest passion. She made sure to emphasise to us: “it is fun to glam up in beautiful garments and attend high profile events, but what is central to AK’s legacy is the building of self-esteem: the idea of inner confidence and just being yourself in dance is the ultimate ideal we hope to spread throughout the community. We have done a lot of work to encourage fitness and well-being in Brent and Harrow our main base and hope to keep doing this through our high quality signature teaching.” It only makes sense.Only someone with a big heart could be promoting the broad benefits of a whole cultural canon.

Were you always interested in Dance? Tell me about your journey and how the Company came to be?

I started dancing at the tender age of 3. I started off with Diwali functions where my dad was choreographing my dance moves. Since then I’ve enjoyed dancing and performing and that organically escalated into the teaching of dance. AK has been running for 5 years now and I couldn’t be more proud. We educate children on dance, bring out their inner confidence and offer them opportunities to shine on stage. I’ve been teaching for a while now, working within the community and on several side projects. The dance school came about after an independent dance lesson where one of the students approached me to ask whether I could do classes on a regular basis.

We now have a fully-fledged institution of roughly 150 students. I’ve arrived at where I am today because of the passion of my students, my team of dedicated instructors, my supportive husband and family.

Do you think Bollywood is an exciting way of engaging other cultures?

Yes! We do keep the foundation of traditional dance but we also have elements of Bhangra, Street, Salsa and very recently also the Bollywood and Zumba workouts. It’s about having fun, embracing culture and keeping fit and active all at the same time! I think it’s

an extension of my own personal style: I have training in Classical Dance but have also trained with some great modern choreographers when I’ve flown out to India.

What are the keys to professional success for you?

Being passionate about what you do while keeping humble in the process. If you stay grounded and keep in mind where you started off from – not getting too lost in the stardom – you’ll find that you go far. For example, as a dance school, AK has also worked with and fundraised for charities such as: KIDS, Cancer Research, Water Aid and the NSPCC. How exactly does fashion and colour enter into this type of dance?

Bollywood is full of colours, beautiful henna prints and authentic jewellery. At AK we believe having a multiplicity of garments split across one act, gives an element of surprise: it’s beautiful to watch and really gives the dancing an edge.

In your experience as Artistic Director, what have been some of your most memorable events?

Diwali in Trafalgar Square: an event we do regularly. The vibe is incredible; there are thousands and thousands of people. You can feel the communal

spirit. All these talented dancers come together to promote the diverse act of dance and culture. We did a piece there -a few years back – which was a 6 minute long medley of fusion dances. There were 15 dancers and there were costume changes every minute. You can imagine the energy was incredible

What is a sophisticated dance technique you really enjoy?

I really enjoy the traditional hip movements such as the Thumka.

What’s been the most difficult obstacle in launching your company?

I don’t see many obstacles actually.

When you have passion, you find that you’re naturally adapting to overcome difficulty.

What are some of your favourite sequences in a Bollywood Movie?

Madhuri Dixit dancing to Dhak Dhak in Beta; she is expressive to the point where she’s telling the entire story through her eye movements.

Finally, do you have a personal Motto?

Live, love, dance.

W

www.akbollywooddance.co.uk

info@akbollywooddance.co.uk

16

EU REFERENDUM

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Battle lines drawn over Brexit consequences for NHS Anand Pillai The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is a key battleground for the EU referendum. As the D-Day approaches, the battle lines have been drawn between In and Out campaigners over what Brexit would mean for the NHS. While the debate whether Britain staying in the EU is good for the nation's health is heating up, there have been strong views from either side on the consequences for the NHS. Britain leaving EU could harm patient care and public health, according to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), the doctors' professional body representing 30,000 medics.

According to a report in The Independent, Professor Jane Dacre, RCP president, said: “The RCP call for views has demonstrated support for the UK to remain in the European Union for health reasons,” she said. “It has highlighted the considerable health benefits that EU membership brings to this country as well as the harm to patient care and public health that a withdrawal from the EU could entail.

“The EU is not without its faults, but there is a consensus that solutions are best found through continued EU membership, given that the health benefits of remaining in the EU outweigh the disadvantages of leaving.”

In the same media report, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, who submitted evidence to the RCP, said: “The survival of the NHS and its capacity to improve hinge on three core needs: more money, more people and more research. Each of these will be negatively impacted should we leave the EU.” Although the British Medical Association (BMA) has officially not taken any position on EU referendum, it has published a document on the EU for doctors. The guide enumerates several benefits of Britain's EU membership for the NHS, the medical profession and public health.

Dr Mark Porter, the BMA's chair of council, said the referendum was a “momentous issue” with “huge implications for both the nation and indeed the medical profession”.

The BMA's document highlighted that 30,000 doctors, 11 per cent of the workforce in the UK, were trained in another European Economic Area state (the EU, plus Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein) and praises the principle of free movement of professionals that the EU

Dr Mark Porter, BMA chief

enshrines.

According to RCP and nearly 150,000-member BMA, benefits to staying in the EU included access to billions of pounds worth of European research funding and world-leading quality checks on medicines.

Although NHS England Media Relations Advisor Mike Forster said they aren't commenting on the referendum, its chief executive Simon Stevens has warned that leaving the EU could damage the health service.

Stevens' comments came after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned that Brexit could affect the economy, saying that the risks could “possibly include a technical recession”.

Stevens told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: “If Mark Carney is right, then that is a severe concern for the NHS, because it would be very dangerous if at precisely the moment the NHS is going to need extra funding, actually the economy goes into a tailspin and that funding is not there. It's been true for 68 years of NHS history that when the British economy sneezes, the NHS catches a cold and this would be a terrible moment for that to happen at precisely the time the NHS is going to need extra investment.”

The UK attracts many skilled workers from Europe. They make up around 10% of NHS doctors and 4% of nurses. In total, around 130,000 citizens from other EU countries work in the NHS. “Doctors and nurses want to stay in Europe because they understand that quitting the single market would damage the NHS by shrinking the economy,” chief secretary to the Treasury Greg Hands was quoted as saying in The Independent report.

Stevens rejected the idea, suggested by Leave campaigners, that exiting the EU would free up money that currently goes to Brussels. At best, this would fund the NHS for 19 days a year, he said.

Stevens said the NHS had “benefited enormously” from having doctors, nurses and care workers from the EU working within the health service.

There would be an impact if any of those 130,000 staff chose to leave the NHS because of uncer-

Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary

Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive

tainty over work visas if the UK left the EU, he added.

And shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander said: “If we vote to leave the EU on 23rd June, we risk plunging the NHS into an even deeper crisis – a crisis that could leave us with fewer doctors, fewer nurses and frontline services at risk of closure.”

On the other hand, Leave campaign has claimed staying in the EU could increase the UK's population by up to 5.23m by 2030, which will put the NHS under “unsustainable” pressure.

The group calculates the NHS could have to contend with a new group of patients the size of “four Birminghams”, and A&E demand could increase by up to 57%.

Its calculations are based on five new states

Opposing Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's assertion that the NHS would suffer if Britain quits Dr Max the EU, Pemberton, writing in the Daily Mail, said: “The money we spend on the EU would, in one fell swoop, sort out the financial difficulties faced by the NHS. By leaving the EU we can solve the NHS financial crisis without having to increase taxes or make cuts elsewhere. The other reason leaving the EU would help the NHS can be summed up in one word: immigration. This is putting the NHS under immense strain. It simply wasn't designed to support untold numbers of people from multiple countries having ready access to its resource. Immigrants from the EU are more likely to have children than UK

Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO). About 15,000 to 20,000 doctors from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka work in Britain.

According to the health secretary, the economic shock caused by Brexit could starve the health service of investment. He said some of the 100,000 foreign EU citizens who work in the NHS could also leave the country amid “uncertainties” over the status of visas and work permits.

Writing in the Observer Hunt said he believed Britain would survive outside the EU and would make trade deals but not without “years of economic uncertainty”.

According to doctors Chris Hall, 77, and wife Elizabeth, 75, leaving the EU would be an enormous threat to the institution. In a report in Essex County Gazette Standard, they highlighted the views of senior medical professionals who agree leaving the EU would have a detrimental impact on medical research into fatal conditions such as cancer. They said there would also be implications to information sharing and data used to combat rare or infectious diseases across borders. Mr

(Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia) joining the EU by 2020 and the pull factor of the UK's Living Wage.

Countering the claim, the Remain campaign said it was “absurd” to base figures on five new EU states by 2020 and the UK could veto any new country joining, and apply restrictions on free movement for new EU states.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said it will be “decades” before Turkey joins the EU and there is no firm date for the accession of Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia.

The Office for National Statistics predicts that net migration to the UK – from countries across the world, not just the EU – will add up to just under 3 million by 2029.

However, according to Dr Max psychiatrist Pemberton, Britain leaving the EU is the only way to save the cash-strapped NHS.

nationals, for example, meaning that they place more pressure on maternity services.

“Part of the problem is that no other EU country operates a system quite like the NHS, entirely free at the point of access and entirely funded by taxpayers' money. It is easily misused by those who can come here under EU free movement legislation, receive free healthcare, then return home. Most of the doctors working here who qualified overseas are not from the EU anyway.

There are as many doctors here from India alone as there are from all other EU countries put together, despite changes to immigration rules in 2010 that made it significantly more difficult for non-EU doctors.”

At present, an estimated 50,000 Indian doctors are working in the UK, according to Dr Ramesh Mehta, the president of the British Association of

Hall has spent 49 years as a GP and Mrs Hall retired as medical director of St Helena Hospice after 25 years.

PAGB (Proprietary Association of Great Britain), a UK trade association representing manufacturers of branded overthe-counter medicines, self care medical devices and food supplements, said over-the-counter medicines, self care medical devices and food supplements are highly regulated at the EU level.

The manufacture and supply of these products in the UK is largely governed

by EU legislation, which has been significantly shaped and influenced by UK governments in the past. Leaving the EU would leave the UK with no further influence in future on such legal developments.

Speaking to Asian Voice, it said: “PAGB does not seek a voice in the referendum debate, nor does it intend to influence the

decisions of its staff or member companies. Those who have a vote in the referendum should exercise it according to their own beliefs and convictions.

However, it is important that full information is available to the people of the UK and so the PAGB wishes to express its support for the UK remaining a member of the EU. This will underpin the continued strength of the consumer healthcare industry to invest and employ in the UK.” “In terms of high street pharmacies, we do not see any immediate major impacts were the UK to leave the EU,” Benedict Lam MRPharmS, Senior Editor – Opinion and Blogs, The Pharmaceutical Journal, told the Asian Voice.

The Pharmaceutical Journal is a Royal Pharmaceutical Society publication.

“The argument for leaving the EU has been formed from misunderstandings and wild speculation. In reality, there is too much at stake for the UK to leave the EU,” says Martin McKee, professor of European public health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in The Pharmaceutical Journal.

Jamie Martin, science policy adviser for Scientists for Britain, a group of scientists who want to leave the EU, wrote in The Pharmaceutical Journal: “It is time to dispel the myth that Brexit will be detrimental for scientists, healthcare professionals and the pharmaceutical industry in the UK.” When contacted Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, its Communications Officer Melinda Mabbutt said PSNC does not have a position on the EU referendum.

Dr Mark Porter, head of the British Medical Association, has said campaigners for Brexit have made “farcical and fatuous” claims about the benefits of Britain leaving the EU. Leave campaigners Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have said that the health service would get a “£100m a week cash transfusion” if Britain left the EU. But the BMA chief – in a keynote speech to hundreds of doctors at the union's annual conference in Belfast – has said the claim is “based on fantasy figures” which are designed to deceive the public.

He said the NHS might not exist at all without the contribution of tens of thousands of doctors who have come from overseas to work in the NHS. Dr Porter, however, insisted that the union holds a neutral view on the EU referendum.

EU REFERENDUM Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

www.asian-voice.com

Brexit: Tearing apart an already divided nation?

Continued from page 1

the public “to the brink of murder”. The point he makes is abundantly clear and utterly valid. He provides overwhelming evidence of media coverage bombarding us every minute of every day with claims that our “very existence is under siege” and that “we’ve got no chance of protecting ourselves” unless we “reclaim our country”.

O’Brien slams the politicisation and securitisation of innocent people - most notably incoming migrants from the Muslim world that incites irrational and emotional responses from the wider public.

The Brexiteer camp is most at fault for the vicious rhetoric.

Anti-migrant propaganda has been rampant throughout the campaign, tarnishing the wider issues of the debate. Nigel Farage’s recent endorsement of the “Breaking Point” poster is clearly a racially-motivated, targeted attack designed to turn man against man and create racial animosity.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi described it as part of a “nudge-nudge, wink-wink xenophobic racist campaign [that] may be politically savvy or useful in the short term but it causes longterm damage to communities”. So upsetting was the poster that she has officially left the Leave campaign.

Employment minister and Leave campaigner Priti Patel has also denounced the poster describing it as “wrong, wrong, wrong”.

Thomas Mair (the deranged murderer of Jo Cox), while clearly an extreme example, has claimed he was inspired to carry out the attack over fears created by race-baiting on the part of the Leave campaign - naming himself in court as “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain”.

But migrants are not the only intended targets of the Vote Leave campaign.

The Spectator recently released it’s comprehensive anti-EU manifesto article, claiming that the current incarnation of the Union “represents…the Habsburg Empire in its dying days” and has turned in to a “bloated bureaucracy that has outgrown all usefulness”. But perhaps most inflammatory is its claim that the EU represents a “globalised elite telling the governed what to think”, implying that the EU is an Orwellian-style global governing body that is attempting remove the free will of millions, thus turning them in to mindless zombies.

This racially-charged rhetoric has forced the Remain campaign to engage in a campaign that

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

is less issue-orientated and more emotional in character - Chancellor George Osborne has called for more reason and fact and fewer “baseless assertions”. David Cameron has accused the other side of creating a “hostile and intolerant climate” by focusing on the migration issue while blaming Nigel Farage of “taking Britain backwards, dividing rather than uniting and questioning the motives of anyone who takes a different view”. In a recent FT interview, former PM John Major described the entire debate as “a battle between economics and emotion”.

Commenting on the unpleasant nature of the

divide, an irreparable split.

Regardless of the outcome of this referendum, advocates and supporters of both sides will be left scarred and bitterly disappointed. There is no doubt there will be a prolonged and protracted battle after the result. If we believe current polling data, this vote will be won by a minimal margin (the FT’s most recent poll on Monday morning had the two sides tied at 44/44, while the most recent YouGov poll has Remain ahead 44/43).

This will create a massive faction of the populous that will be unhappy with the outcome. Half the nation will feel aggrieved. We face

Asian Voice Readers' Poll

In an independent study by Asian Voice, 43.4% people said they would want UK to stay within Europe, as opposed to 33.84% who would want to leave EU and 22.75% who have not decided.

referendum campaign the FT has warned of a new wave of “nationalist violence” incited by the “ugly mood” created by the “focus on immigration”.

BAME MPs in the UK have also been forced to comment and defend minority groups from bigotry. In a recent piece on the Guardian website, BAME MPs have warned that the economic consequences of leaving “would hot minority communities the hardest”. They went on to state that a victory for Nigel Farage and the Tory right would give momentum to those who seek to scrap anti-discrimination laws and workers’ rights, setting back the progress of ethnic minority communities by “generations”.

Labour MP Chuka Umunna wrote in a column for Asian Voice recently that not only is “Britain better off in Europe” but it is also “good for other Commonwealth countries as well”. Finally, Rushanara Ali - a former shadow minister for education - claimed that “Nigel Farage is no friend of Britain’s ethnic minority communities”.

So what does this all mean? What is the issue and end-product of all this vitriolic fear-mongering?

Our great fear is that this will lead to an unbridgeable

the certainty that, after being inspired by brutal and inflammatory rhetoric, the defeated side will lash out, further tearing apart an already divided nation.

British Indian councillors unite publicly 71 British Indian councillors from across the UK and across the political spectrum have united to publicly pledge their support for the cross-party 'British Indians for IN' campaign and to make the case for the UK remaining a member of the European Union.

Councillors spanning the whole of UK believe that being a member of the European Union significantly benefits the country not just economically, but in terms of security, trade and our presence globally, and are actively campaigning in their local areas to secure the 'Remain' vote on the 23rd of June.

Areas represented by the supportive councillors include wards in England, Wales and Scotland, and councillors represent the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties respectively.

Conservative MP Alok Sharma, who is co-ordinating the 'British Indians for IN' campaign, commented: “There are around 1.2 mil-

17

EXCLUSIVE

George Osborne: "Cannot manage immigration by putting economy at risk" Charusmita George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, addressed a hall filled with Asian diaspora audience at the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple (Neasden) on June 14th. He was welcomed in a traditional ceremony with Tilak (a holy sectarian mark) and a Mala (garland). After being received by the temple officials he was given a tour of the grand temple following which he joined the members of the press.

Speaking to Asian Voice in a one-to-one, Osborne reacted to Minister Priti Patel’s recent promise that in case of Brexit, the UK will have a fair immigration policy which would bring in the brightest and the best from countries like India, Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand. He said, “The Brexit camp is based on the vision of Nigel Farage, who is against the idea of immigration. It is a complete myth that they wish to encourage the immigration from the rest of the world.” Further, given the cap on the number of immigrants every year, the claims made by the Brexit camp seem hollow and unplanned for.

We also raised the issue of FDI, as India and UK are the third largest investors in each other’s economies. The long term impact if UK quits EU, as Osborne suggested, will lion British Indians voters across the UK and our votes could be absolutely crucial in determining the outcome of the EU referendum on 23 June. It is clear that very many people and business leaders within the British Indian community agree that voting to remain in the UK is the right choice for our country and our community. Please make sure your vote counts as we are better off and safer as member of the EU.” To see the full list of supporting councillors and their comments, go to www.asian-voice.com.

What will happen if Britain votes for a Brexit?

According to The Hindu, key impact would be on UK laws. According to a 2010 House of Commons Library study, around 17% of U.K.’s laws are the result of its membership in the EU. Much of this has to do with agriculture, fishing, environmental policies, and trade.

For example, British farmers have to meet the EU standards of quality control to export to mem-

Photo credit: Rick Findler/PA

AsianVoiceNews

George Osborne at the Swaminarayan Temple

be terrible for not only Britain’s own economy but also its trade relations with the world. He said, “Britain is the gateway to EU single market. The diaspora has a lot to worry about in that case.

We want more Indians to come in and use UK as a stepping stone to EU.” Despite this argument, Osborne failed to clearly delineate how much proportion of foreign investment is likely to be affected on both the sides. His statement that “making the economy stronger is the first priority” did not however explain the plans for stabilising the IndoUK foreign investments post-Brexit. This is a concern since the FDI has already been decreasing from both sides in the short-term due to economic instability over the Brexit debate.

So what is Osborne’s single-most compelling argument for the part of the Asian community that feels that the current UK

rules discriminate against them (non-EU) in favour of EU immigrants? He says, “We do not control immigration by destroying or damaging the economy. It is a complete myth to believe that if we quit the EU, there would be more immigration from the rest of the world.”

With the Leave camp surging ahead in polls, what does Osborne imagine the victory to be like in terms of numbers? As he put it, “I am not a commentator, I am a participant. It is a close vote but I do hope people realise the economic risks and vote against a DIY recession.” He also paid a tribute to the Pramukh Swami Maharaj and said that the Neasden temple stands out as one of our best British landmarks.

He urged the Asian community to understand that Britain is a more attractive partner for investment as part of Europe, not outside of it.

ber countries. EU’s agriculture policy lays down the law on GM crops, animal husbandry and even how much of his field a farmer must leave fallow to get subsidies.

Another example is the fishing policy. There is a 200-mile fishing zone around the UK coastline.

Under EU law, UK fishermen can fish only up to a specific quota and fishing fleets from other EU countries are given equal access to the zone. The UK boats get an exclusive 12-mile zone. Now if the UK left the EU, the 200-mile zone will be back in its control though it may have to have individual agreements with countries that want to fish there.

With agriculture, British farmers will lose the EU subsidies. But the British government will probably help out there.

The other areas where the EU laws reign are in the fields of criminal justice, data protection, immigration and broadcasting, human rights among others. If the Brexit happens, then Britain will have to

negotiate with the EU on a case-by-case basis.

A 'no' result might also take a toll the country's political scenario, given that the Prime Minister himself is a EU supporter.

Should India worry about it?

Though India has refrained from officially commenting on the crucial June 23 referendum, it remains deeply vested in the outcome. The Hindu point out that the first concerns the welfare of a nearly three-million strong diaspora of Indian-origin U.K. citizens, while the second concerns the interests of a large moving population of Indians who come to Britain ever year as tourists, business people, professionals, students, spouses, parents and relatives.

There are 800 Indian companies in the UK — more than the combined number in the rest of Europe. Britain's exit from EU may affect Indian companies’ appetite for investing in the U.K., particularly those seeking access to the European market.

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BUSINESS

www.asian-voice.com

India makes it easy for new airlines to fly abroad AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

The Union Cabinet made a few amendments to the civil aviation policy, making it easier for new airlines to fly overseas, ramp up air travel almost four times in five years, and massively expand air connectivity.

The National Civil Aviation Police was approved, replacing the controversial 5/20 overseas flying rule for domestic carriers with a "0/20" formulation.

Existing rules for domestic airlines wanting to fly abroad require them to have a minimum of five years of operation and at least a fleet of 20 with the rider that 20 per cent of the total seat capacity of the airline be deployed locally,

which ever is higher. This means new carriers like AirAsia India and Vistara, can operate internationally even before completing five years of operations provided they increase their fleet strength to 20 aircraft.

Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the "centrepiece of the policy is making regional connectivity a reality". Which is why, he added, the government plans to develop 50 nofrills airports and promote connectivity in "unserved areas" through airfare of Rs 2,500 for one hour flights to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

The Centre will provide viability gap funding to air-

lines for the success of the regional connectivity scheme, while states will give tax sops in the form of lower excise duty at 2 per cent and VAT at 1 per cent on aviation turbine fuel picked up at RCS airports.

The scheme will come into

Modi tells taxmen to bridge trust deficit Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged tax administrators to bridge the trust gap with taxpayers and turn mentors, setting an ambitious goal of almost doubling the taxpayer base to 100 million from around the current 540 million. During the inauguration of a two-day meet, Modi urged senior direct and indirect tax officers to remove the "fear of harassment" from minds of assesses and emphasised that their behaviour should be "soft and sober".

The tax department was under scrutiny after taxpayers complained of harassment and the BJP government coined the term 'tax terrorism' to describe notices sent out to large companies, ranging from Vodafone to Cairn

Narendra Modi

and Shell for recovery of dues that ended up in litigation. Although the Modi government has sought to streamline processes by insisting on e-filing and reducing face-to-face interface, PM's statement indicates that there is a lot of scope for improvement.

While he refrained from talking about black money, Modi did point out

that nearly 92 per cent of direct taxes came through advance tax payments, selfassessment and tax deducted at source, with 42,000 cadre of tax officials and junior staff chasing the remaining 8 per cent. He also suggested that the tax department should look to expand the base although he did not provide any deadline to meet the target of 100 million income tax assesses.

"There is no shortage of good officers and there is no shortage of good people. So, why is there a trust deficit?" Modi was quoted as saying.

Gold surges Rs 580 to trade above Rs 30,000 Gold prices surged by Rs 580 to trade above the Rs 30,000 mark at Rs 30,250, the highest level in over five weeks at the bullion market. Silver also managed to recapture the Rs 42,000-mark by rising Rs 700 backed by increased off take by

industrial units and coin makers.

In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity surged by Rs 580 each to Rs 30,250 and Rs 30,100 per 10 grams, respectively. Sovereign followed suit and climbed Rs 200 at Rs 23,300 per piece

of eight gram. At futures market, gold for delivery in August contracts was trading Rs 408 or 1.34 per cent higher at Rs 30,852.

Tracking gold, silver ready shot up by Rs 700 Rs 42,050 per kg and weeklybased delivery by Rs 855 to Rs 42,365.

Chinese shylocks ask for nude photos to secure loans China is laying bare the naked (loan) truth. If you need a loan in China, just hand over a naked shot of yours. It’s as simple as that. There are many ways for a lender to guarantee their loans, but Chinese online loan sharks have resorted to an unconventional way or to say a ‘below-the-belt’ way of securing repayment of their loans – by demanding naked photos from female borrowers.

The Financial Times reported female college

students in the southern province of Guangdong were told to hand over naked photos of themselves holding their ID cards, with lenders threatening to make them public if they failed to repay their microloans, according to local newspaper the Nandu Daily. Weekly interest rates at 30% leave borrowers with spiralling debts.

One student told the Southern Metropolis Daily she first borrowed 500 yuan (US$76) at a weekly interest rate of 30%. She

then kept taking out new loans to pay off the old ones, and her debt snowballed to 55,000 yuan.

That was when the lender demanded a nude photo as a guarantee for new loans.

However, following publication of the story, the loan sharks had suspended the practice, the newspaper claimed in a follow-up article.

According to Chinese media, it is difficult for college students to get credit because of strict rules and limited availability.

effect in the second quarter of 2016-17. The government will provide funds to the RCS through a levy per departure on domestic flights at a rate decided by the aviation ministry from time to time.

The government will

also exempt airlines from all landing, parking, and other charges on the RCS airports. Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said the government expects the policy to push up the sale of domestic tickets from existing 80 million to 300 million in five years. It also dropped its earlier proposal of auctioning unused bilateral traffic rights on international routes as it has opposed strongly by domestic industry across the board. "Auctioning is not the only way of transparently allocating bilateral traffic rights," Choubey said. About auctioning of additional entitlements, the policy reads, "For coun-

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tries within 5,000 km radius, where the Indian carriers have not utilised 80 per cent of their capacity entitlements but foreign carriers/countries have utilised their bilateral rights, a method will be recommended by a Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary for the allotment of additional capacity entitlements."

The Ministry said the 5/20 rule will be replaced by a "formulation which provides a level playing field and allows airlines, both new and old, to commence international operations provided they continue to meet some obligations for domestic operation."

RBS planning to cut 900 jobs Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to cut about 900 jobs in Britain, sources familiar with the process said, taking the total number of layoffs in the last four months to around 5 per cent of the bank's British workforce.

The latest cuts at RBS are in information technology and back office positions that support the commercial, retail and private bank, the sources said.

RBS, which is 73 per cent state-owned, is in the midst of a major restructuring aimed at returning the bank to profit after eight straight years of losses. The Edinburgh-based bank was rescued with a 46 billionpound ($67.82 billion) state bailout during the 2007-09 financial crisis.

The bank confirmed some staff would lose their jobs but declined to give

specific numbers, pointing to its long-stated ambition to shrink from the world's biggest bank by assets into a much leaner, UK-focused commercial and retail bank.

"We understand how difficult this is for our staff and will be offering as much support as we can including redeployment to other roles where possible," the bank said in a statement. Chief Executive Ross McEwan has already cut thousands of jobs partly in response to low interest rates and slowing economic growth which have pushed RBS and several of its UK rivals to take out costs. RBS had 64,000 staff in Britain as of December 2015.

The RBS staff affected by this latest round of redundancies work in cities across Britain, including London, Edinburgh, Manchester and

Birmingham. At least 100 jobs are being transferred to India, where people can perform the same role on lower salaries, the sources said.

The latest cuts mean RBS has axed at least 2,700 staff across the country since the beginning of March. Most layoffs have fallen on its branch network, where the bank had earlier announced plans to cut about one in every 10 jobs in 2016.

More cuts are expected to be announced in the coming months, the sources said.

The RBS cuts come just days before Britain heads to the polls to vote on membership of the European Union. Some banks have warned they may have to cut even more jobs if the country opts out of the 28nation bloc.

Microsoft offers software help in marijuana business Updates on the 420 is that Microsoft has announced a partnership to begin offering software that tracks marijuana plants from "seed to sale". The software, a new product in Microsoft's cloud business aims to help states in the United States that have legalised the medical or recreational use of marijuana keep an eye on sales and commerce. While marijuana remains still illegal as per the federal government, there are several states in the American continent that look forward to making consumption of the product legal. At least five states, this fall, will vote on whether to legalise marijuana for recreational use. The IT giant's entry into the government compliance side of the business only indicates at the beginning of a legitimate infrastructure for an industry that has been growing fast and attracting lots of attention, both good and bad. Kimberly Nelson, executive director of state and local government solu-

tions at Microsoft said, "We do think there will be significant growth. As the industry is regulated, there will be more transactions, and we believe there will be more sophisticated requirements and tool down the road."

The move was announced saying the company will be teaming up with a Los Angeles-based start-up called Kind, that built the software the tech conglomerate will market. Microsoft will work with Kind's "government solutions" division, offering software only to state and local governments that are trying to build compliance systems. However, Microsoft's willingness to attach its name to the marijuana industry is definitely good news for those involved. Founder of Green

Wave Advisors, a company that provides data and analysis of the marijuana business, Matthew Karnes said, "It's very telling that a company of this caliber is taking the risk of coming out and engaging with a company that is focused on the cannabis business."

David Dinenberg, the founder and chief executive of Kind, said it had taken a lot of courting of big-name companies to persuade the first one to get on board. It's hard to know if other corporate giants have provided their services quietly ways to cannabis purveyors. The Kind software will be one of eight pieces of preferred software that Microsoft will offer to users of Azure Government -and the only one related to marijuana.

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Suresh Vagjiani Sow & Reap London Property Investment

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

REAL ESTATEVOICE Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

The Good Old Days

19

Currently the BTL mortgage arena is being squeezed. The rental cover, which is the amount the rent must exceed the mortgage payments has increased from 125% to 145%. This in effect reduces the amount one can borrow on a BTL property. The Mortgage Works the BTL arm of Nationwide, started the ball rolling with this increase.

This is laying the framework for when the new government proposal starts to kick in April 2017.

This will mean one can no longer offset their mortgage interest cost from their rental income. The maximum allowable will be at the basic rate.

Therefore, if you’re a basic rate tax payer this will have no effect. It will really start to pinch you if you’re a high rate payer. It doesn’t take much to be a high rate payer, the current threshold is £43,001. If you’re living and renting in London on this salary, after paying your dues you would just be able just to breath and stay afloat.

Many papers who have reported the news of the increase mentioned: “In low-yield areas like London, landlords with less than 40pc deposits would struggle to borrow in future.

"In London where yields are down to 2 or 3pc you’re only going to be able to get a 60pc mortgage from now on. Landlords are going to have to put more cash in.

"It's likely that these costs will be passed onto tenants, so the cost of renting will go up, too."

The reality is a lot worse. This quote was by a broker, however I cannot see the reasoning behind this statement.

In central London the yields are very low as it is, typically 1-2%. To give you an idea we have two properties which we are looking to rent.

One which is valued at £1.75m which is currently on the market at £895pw giving a rental yield of 2.6% assuming we achieve the full rental figure. This is a two bedroom property in W1.

The second property is in Chesterfield House, Mayfair which is on the market for £1,250pw of a valuation of £3.5m giving a yield of 1.8%.

Due to the low rental on these properties, assuming a 5% interest rate and a rental cover of 25% the amount allowed to be borrowed on this property will be just over a million. With the rental cover increasing the amount allowed to be borrowed will be about £900k, this is a LTV of 25% down from 33%.

This means now 75% in cash is required to purchase this property today. In regards to the two bedroom property the cash required will be 63%.

I doubt the increase in cost will be passed on to tenants, it will result in the landlords absorbing the loss. Let’s face the facts, property has been a big income earner for landlords in recent years, this move will mean less in their pockets. This move will result in less liquidity in the market place.

The LTV of these mortgage products is now irrelevant as the amount that one is able to borrow will be driven by the amount of rental the property can generate and not its value.

I foresee the market reacting in the following ways:

Real Deal The

London, NW9 Purchase Price: £310,000 l l l l

A large two double bedroom maisonette Long lease Parking facility Close to the the numerous amenities at Kingsbury Road l Very good buy and hold opportunity

The ripple effect will ripple in wider circles, meaning investors will start to scout areas outside of London, in the pursuit of higher yields.

There will be a renewed interest in HMO properties, this is the method to increase yields whilst enjoying the benefits of owning a property in a strong Location.

There will be a renewed increase in online crowd funding platforms, this dispenses with the need of obtaining mortgages and is likely to shield one from the tax changes which are due to come in from next year.

I have also heard a whisper of a new and innovative product in the market, it works in the following way: the amount of shortfall of rental from the mortgage, given the rental cover, will be deducted from the amount lent over the period of the product. This seems sensible and allows the investor to borrow close to the 75% LTV mark. The issue here is given the limited providers of this type of product what happens when the times comes for remortgage? You will be limited to the provider you’re with, and maybe a couple of other providers.

Given the BTL market in London is heavily reliant on credit, any shift in policy will have an impact on the way the market operates. This is less true as you go into the centre.

Here the ‘world’ operates under different laws. Property here hasn’t made sense from an ordinary BTL perspective for decades. This is due for several reasons, firstly many are owned in cash, secondly they have been bought through off shore structures, and thirdly they have financing from private banks which have a different lending policy than your average high street lender.

The current environment is in stark contrast to the good old pre credit crunch days. Back in 2002 I was offered 10 flats in West End Key, Paddington. The properties were new build and came with two year tenancies. The valuations were £350k each and the purchase price was £275k each. This was the time when you could get an 85% mortgage based on the valuation and not the purchase price. In short I could have bought all ten for free having enough money left over to cover the sourcing fees and the stamp duty.

At the time these were the most expensive one bedroom properties to ever come on the market. I was unable to foresee where the prices would go.

Currently these properties are worth around £650k each, a profit of £3m, and that’s not the best part. The best part is the return on funds deployed is infinity, as no money had been put into the deal.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The London property market is going through some interesting changes, there are restrictions but opportunities are also being created.

One thing is for sure the property market will not disappear, it will evolve and adapt in response to the changes imposed.

Any time new rules come into play there will also be legitimate and innovative ways to respond. Call the office to find out more.

Call us now to reserve!!

0207 993 0103

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

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Central London Property Sourcing

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Tips of the Week

l The money you invest in property will grow in direct proportion with the location you invest in.

l You should think about the funding properly when considering a property requiring work, BTL funding may not always work as this is based on a property which is ready to Let.

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ASIANVOICE

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Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel

Dear Financial Voice Reader, What should we investors do to make society better?

Of course a lot of people have asked me how to improve their finances as a result of the Referendum. After all it was about making our lives better. So how do we, in finance, in business, entrepreneurs, regardless of our views on Brexit, make society better?

I was fortunate enough to be a guest of Lloyds Bank and Kamel Hothi at the Womens India Association Charity Summer Ball. A financial outfit, alongside Barclays Bank, supporting charity. And among the guests one did not need to look far to see those in business known for philanthropy – Lord Loomba, Lord Paul, Rami Ranger. Let alone others whose philanthropic work I am personally aware of – the editor of this paper, CB Patel and Baroness Verma and Baroness Flather. Sure role models showing us how to be are easy to find in our community.

Perhaps the best example of philanthropy from finance is ARK ‘absolute return for kids’ founded by hedge fund managers. I say this because someone claimed we in finance are ‘too lazy to work hard and profit from the works of others’.

That’s a shame there are such divisive views from those whose tax pounds, aside from their own philanthropy, gives more. And of course it is easy on the sidelines to say more and more should be given – I would even agree – there is never enough to give away.

When at University studying Tax Law, there was a concept of ‘unearned income’. This fascinated me. This is money you could argue you did not work for. A windfall. Maybe a dividend from a stock, rent from a property.

How easy would it be for you when I tell you stocks, or as I have been telling people the windfalls from trading GBP during Brexit, to some aside, in gratitude for all you have that is ‘unearned income’.

What are some of those wealth making stocks then? I’ll do you a deal, for free in this column, I will give you the wealth of my Award winning picks – but you in return, like me, give your ‘unearned income’ away – at least in part.

The British stocks I like: BGEO, Meggit, Ashtead, Babcock, Bovis, CRH, Compass, NMC. And American – Applied Materials, Fiserv.

Good luck – good luck for all those in need too. I don’t to tell you, the readers of this paper any of this – you’re a generous bunch, I know, as I meet so many of you.

Sunil Mittal elected chief of International Chamber of Commerce Sunil Bharti Mittal

Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder chairman of Bharti Enterprises has been elected as the head of the International Chamber of Commerce, based in Paris.

He will become the third Indian business leader to head ICC, as he will take over from Terry McGraw, Chairman Emeritus of S&P Global.

The ICC World Council elected the new leader in a voting held in Sao Paolo, Brazil. "I am honoured at being given the opportunity to lead this prestigious global institution and look

forward to working with our members. There is an urgent need to restore trade and investment as a driver of growth and jobs, particularly in the developing world and this will be a focus of my tenure," Mittal said. Mittal is currently the Chair of the World Economic Forums Telecommunications Steering Committee, also serving on different international bodies and think tanks. He is also a member of the India-US, India-UK and India-Japan CEO Forums.

Rajan says no to second term as RBI governor AsianVoiceNews

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has been quite in the news lately as his term is coming to an end soon.

While several leaders chose to hurl dirt at him, many came forward in his defence, Rajan, however, maintained a quiet and dignified stand, dropping the bomb at the last minute saying he chooses to return to his old teaching job at the University of Chicago.

The chief's "Message to RBI Staff" announcing his departure even took the government by surprise as top finance ministry officials seemed clueless at least a few hours before the announcement. While the real reason behind the decision is unknown, indications are that he was open to serving as governor for the next two years, but wanted an early signal from the Prime Minister and Finance Minister as to whether they wanted to retain him. As the assur-

Raghuram Rajan

ance did not materialise, Rajan decided to exercise his option to return to academia, instead of hanging in for a confirmation.

Rajan had written and spoken at length on the dangers of crony capitalism, and made quite the number of enemies after he declared war on bad loans, forcing banks to declare massive losses and turning the screws on business groups that had

grown by not repaying banks. "While I was open to seeing these developments through, on due reflection, and after consultation with the government, I want to share with you that I will be returning to academia... I will, of course, always be available to serve my country when needed," said Rajan in his notice. A couple of hours after the announcement, Finance Minister Arun

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Jaitley tweeted, "The government appreciates the good work done by him and respects his decision.

A decision on his successor will be announced shortly."

Rajan was appointed by the previous UPA government for a three-year term that began on September 4, 2013. He has been under attack from some quarters in the BJP, including its Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, for what they say his failure to lower interest rates and boost economic growth.

He has a formidable reputation as an internationally renowned economist and is still being hailed all over the world for accurately predicting the 2008 global meltdown. No RBI governor before him enjoyed a celebrity status like he does. His words on the economy are taken very seriously in the West.

Green signal for merger of associate banks with SBI The Indian government has given the green signal to the merger of State Bank of India and its associate lenders, a move that would make the state-owned lender a global-sized bank.

SBI had put forward the proposal for a merger of its five subsidiary banks with itself, last month. Its fellow lenders include State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.

SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said the coalition would be a win-win for all the sides.

"Currently, no Indian bank features in the top 50 banks of the world.

SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said the coalition would be

a win-win for all the sides.

"Currently, no Indian bank features in the top 50 banks of the world. With this merger, some visibility at global level is likely to increase. Customers of associates and subsidiaries of the Bank will also be beneficiaries," she said. She added that with the merger, the SBI network will increase and its reach will multiply. "Customers of associates and subsidiaries of the Bank will also be beneficiaries. Any intro-

duction of new technology

by SBI would simultaneously be available uniformly. The scale of operations and common cost would get rationalised. Overall, the synergies being pooled at one place are going to be a big positive," she said.

The final entity after the merger, will be a banking giant, with an asset base of £370 billion, 22,500 branches, and 58,000 ATMs. It will cover a customer base of 500 million.

British firm merges with Indian company British IT and software firm RSK Business Solutions has joined Indian partner BSL Information Technology, in a merger to deliver consultancy services across the world.

Managing Director of the new holding company Danny Bird said, "The merger will enable us to provide a wider range of services to new and exist-

ing clients while maintaining the high levels of customer service and the high quality of output to which our clients have become accustomed." Operations Director of RSK Business Solutions Holdings Limited, Praveen Joshi said, "This is a very exciting time for us and the merger adds a brand value to the quality service currently

offered by our technical staff to a range of customers worldwide."

The England-based company merged with its Gurgaon-based partner to create UK-registered RSK. RSK BSL issued a release that read, "Their knowledge and experience of managing business and project risks across a wide range of industry sectors

Gleneagles owner to launch budget hotel chain If you are looking for an affordable hotel offering rooms for under £100, then this piece of news is for you.

Ennismore, a private investment group led by the Doon School educated Indianborn entrepreneur Sharan Pasricha, is launching NoCo, a new budget hotel brand “challenging the status quo of today's budget brands”. The group owns the five-star Gleneagles hotel in Scotland and the hip Hoxton Shoreditch and Hoxton Holborn boutiques in London.

The company plans to open 25 hotels in key cities across the UK, including Manchester and Leeds, with the first scheduled to launch in 2018. NoCo hotels will have 150-200 rooms each, with nightly rates for under £100. It will allow guests to book and check-in using an app. “We've created NoCo to

challenge the status quo of today's budget brands,” said Sharan Pasricha, CEO of Ennismore. Ennismore said it was aiming to offer travellers an alternative to what it termed 'overpriced' and 'underwhelming' budget offerings.

“Our aim is to raise the bar for affordable hotels and provide business and leisure travellers with a stylish alternative to bland, cookie cutter hotels so often found in cities outside of London,” said Pasricha, an MBA from London Business School.

help to provide clients with practical solutions that combine traditional management principles with the bespoke software solutions that are essential in today's working environment."

The new structure will see no change to staff employment contracts or to terms and conditions agreed with clients.

Port Talbot steel plant sale hit by fresh delay

The sale of the beleaguered Port Talbot steel plant has hit a roadblock after its Indian owner Tata Steel asked the potential bidders for more details on their plans.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the shortlist may not be finalised until the end of this week or later. Port Talbot is Tata's biggest UK plant with about 4,000 workers, part of the 11,000 workforce at the wider Tata Steel UK operation.

CURRENCYVOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Pound fell two month low against dollar Currency Specialists.

The pound fell to two month lows against the dollar on Monday and hit multi-year lows against the yen as worries over a U.K. referendum took hold. Sterling has sold off in recent sessions amid fears that a U.K. exit could trigger a period of uncertainty in financial markets and hit growth in the region. The latest ‘poll of polls’ shows voters are evenly split. The day after the referendum, the pound will either sink to the lowest level in more than 30 years or climb to the highest this year.

U.K’s 10-year bond yields fell 2.6 basis points, or 2.11%, to trade at 1.209% after hitting an all-time low late last week, amid growing anxiety over Berxit leaving investors scrambling for safe haven assets. Despite economic data proving to be dependant on the impending referendum, the consumer price index released on Tuesday came out slightly worse than expected at 0.3%.

Furthermore, the Office for National Statistics released Producer Price Index figures for May which shows an increase of 2.6% against a forecasted 0.9%.

On Thursday morning, the unemployment rate which fell to its lowest level since October 2005, dropping .1 percent to 5.0%.

Also on Thursday, the Bank of England voted 0-0-9 to keep inter-

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Foreign Exchange

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

est rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5%. Warning that uncertainty about the referendum is the "largest immediate risk" facing global financial markets; the Bank warned of "risks of adverse spillovers to the global economy”, stating that it was "increasingly likely" that sterling would fall further if vote leave succeeds. The MPC said there was growing evidence that UK businesses and consumers were putting off "major economic decisions" until after the referendum, with real estate and car purchases delayed, along with business investments. A vote to leave would also mean that interest rates would probably stay on hold for some time where a remain vote would once again open the door for a rate hike in 2017.

Sterling ended the week on a high following the murder of proEuropean Union MP Jo Cox, as both in and out camps suspended their campaigns. The probability of a remain vote rose to 67% on Friday after falling to a 60% low early on Thursday. The markets perception of Brexit probabilities may have been reduced as a result of the incidents on Thursday, however this will have a limited impact or sustainability unless followed through by polls released in coming days. Traders are indicating volumes have fallen with many

investors trying to close out their positions that were placed on a weaker pound in a bid to limit their exposure to an instantaneous 10-15 percent jump after a remain vote.

Japanese retail investors, collectively nicknamed Mrs Watanabe are said to be building huge positions in GBP as the sterling is currently quite cheap.As polls close at 10pm, Japanese investors will be amongst the first to react to the result on Friday and set the tone for other markets to follow; Mrs.Wantanabe’s sell offs could add fuel to the fire on the expected volatility on Friday morning.

Europe's largest economy, Germany saw it’s 10-year government bond fall below zero for the first time since records began as investors seek safe haven assets.

This impact could be from ECB’s policy of negative interest rates and asset purchasing program, a global slowdown and the UK’s Brexit.

Talking points at the EcoFin meeting on Friday included the status of the EU and the Brexit threat.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble made an impassioned plea for a stronger European Union, while Britain was not directly mentioned, he said ‘no country in Europe would cope with the challenges of the 21st century on its own’.

The markets have reacted to

the next rate hike by the U.S. central bank after disappointing employment report in May, showing the slowest rate of jobs growth since September 2010. Despite this retail sales have proved to be very positive. The US kept interest rates unchanged as expected following a poor jobs figure early this month.

The Federal Reserve still plans for two hikes this year, although six of the Fed’s 17 individual forecasts projected just one hike this year.

The US central bank also lowered its economic growth forecasts for 2016-2017 to 2.0% growth from 2.2% perviously indicated. Fed Chair Janet Yellen also spoke about UK’s referendum saying “It is a decision that could have consequences for economic and financial conditions in global markets, in turn for the US economic outlook that would be a factor in deciding on the appropriate path of policy.”

U.S. consumer prices moderated in May, but sustained increases in housing and health care costs kept underlying inflation supported, which could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year. Claims for state unemployment benefits for the week ending 11th June saw it increase from 13,000 to 277,000. With the claims under 300,000 for 67 consecutive weeks indicating a strong job market.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 21st June 2016 @ 3.45pm

GBP - INR = 99.55

USD - INR = 67.61

EUR - INR = 76.16 GBP - USD = 1.46 GBP - EUR = 1.30

EUR - USD = 1.12 GBP - AED = 5.40

GBP - CAD = 1.88

GBP - NZD = 2.05

GBP - AUD = 1.96

GBP - ZAR = 21.64

GBP - HUF = 410.20

www.rationalfx.com

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22

WORLD

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Briton among 3 astronauts return from space station after 6 months

In Brief

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

MOSCOW: A Soyuz capsule brought back three astronauts from the International Space Station, including the first to represent Britian, in a safe parachute landing on Kazakh city, Zhezkazgan.

The crew included Tim Kopra from NASA, Yuri Malenchenko from Russian agency Roscosmos, and European Space Agency's Tim Peake.

The three were extracted from the capsule and set for a quick examination by a recovery team. Smiling as he was examined by flight surgeons, Peake said he was enjoying "the smells of Earth" and fresh air, a stark contrast to the artificial atmosphere and high temperature inside the capsule.

Former army major, he was on a mission for the ESA and is the first astronaut to wear a Union Jack flag on his arm.

His mission called 'Principia', after Isaac Newton's seminal work, included a number of scientific experiments like

Pak woman throws acid at man who refused to marry her

ISLAMABAD: A local woman was arrested for allegedly throwing acid on a man who refused to marry her. Local police official Bashir Ahmed said the attack took place in Mukhdoom Rashid, Multan, Central Pak. He identified the woman as 32 year old Monil Mai. The incident comes as a surprise as it is very rare for women to carry out such violence against men in the conservative society of the country.

Pak shops selling `Om' inscribed shoes

testing the use of nitric oxide gas as a tool to monitor lung inflammation.

"This is about the UK becoming involved in human space flight hopefully for the foreseeable future. Not just for our community and our industry, but also for the kids and for outreach and to try and inspire people. Space is going to play an increasingly important part in our lives, and if the UK is not in the forefront of that we are missing out, quite simply," he said. The first Briton in space

was Helen Sharman, who spent eight days on the Russian space station Mir on an expedition jointly funded by a private consortium and the Soviet government. Nasa astronauts with joint British citizenship have flown since, but Peake is the only Briton to have been sent into space by the British government via the European Space Agency.

During his long stint in space, Peake ran a marathon strapped to a treadmill and held a science lesson for 300,000 schoolchildren.

KARACHI: Some shopkeepers in Pakistan's Sindh province allegedly sold shoes with Hindu word `Om' inscribed on them, angering the minority community in the country which described it unfortunate and blasphemous. The patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar said they had already lodged protests with the Sindh government and local authorities in Tando Adam Khan after it was brought to the notice of the Hindu community that shoes were being sold with the word `Om' inscribed on them.

Major Peake had also taken with him two tiny educational computers set up to measure the space station's environment, follow its journey through space, and pick up the Earth's magnetic field, as well as give schoolchildren the chance to have their computer code run in space. After flying by a Nasa gulfstream jet to Norway, Major Peake will go on to Cologne, Germany, where the European Astronaut Centre is based, for medical tests and a spell of recuperation.

In Pak, man kills pregnant sister, hubby for `honour'

LAHORE: In yet another case of "honour killing" in Pakistan, a pregnant woman and her husband were both shot dead by her brother for tying the knot without the family's consent. Muhammad Shakil, 30, and wife Aqsa, 26, were killed for "honour" by Aqsa's brother who recently returned from Saudi Arabia. They had been married for four years and were mercilessly beaten up before the coldblooded killing, by the v ictim's brother, mother, maternal uncle and another accomplice. They were later taken to an unidentified location and shot dead.

Indian-origin ex-Marine hailed as hero in Orlando NEW YORK: Former US Marine sergeant of Indian origin, Imran Yousuf, was hailed as a hero for saving dozens of lives at last week's Orlando night club massacre where a terrorist went on a killing spree, taking 49 lives before he was shot down.

Yousuf who was working as a bouncer at the Pulse Club that fatal night heard the gunshots and quickly acted on his feet. While almost everyone froze in fear, Yousuf jumped up and at personal risk, opened a back door allowing people to escape. In an interview, he said, "I'm screaming 'Open the door! Open the door!" and no one is moving because they are scared.

There was only one choice.

Either we all stay there and we all die, or I could take the

Hillary & Bernie call truce

WASHINGTON: Democratic Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, who could not match up to the charms of fellow Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, finally shoot hands with Clinton after bowing out of the last primary in Washington DC, where he lost 21-79. After the conclusion of the Washington DC primaries, Clinton won over 400 more pledged delegates than Sanders and around 15 million votes which was 3.5 million more than the 74-year old Vermont senator. Both the leaders agree on a single agenda, push Trump out of the race.

While official announcements are pending, Sanders is most likely to endorse Clinton.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Imran Yousuf

chance, and I jumped over to open that latch and we got everyone that we can get out of there." He said his action saved 60 to 70 lives but regretted not saving more. "I wish I could have saved more to be honest. There are a lot of people that are dead."

He was praised by the Marine Corps Times newspaper who shared Yousuf's Facebook post on their site.

It read, "There are a lot of

Ameer Yousuf said, "This was people naming me a hero and as a former Marine and so unexpected but because of Afghan veteran I honestly my brother's training in the believe I reacted by instinct...

Marine Corps, he was preWhile it might seem that my pared and used strategies actions are heroic I decided from that to do everything he that the others around me did." needed to be saved as well and so I just Asian Voice Newsweekly reacted." While there Bumper & Trustworthy News has been a little confuVarious informative/inspiring sion over his name, it columns, Subscribers also is reported that his receive sevaral Theme based mother and paternal grandmother are Special issue, Diwali Magazines, Hindus and he identiAnnual Calender fies with the religion. delivered at home He grew up in Niskayuna and joined SUBSCRIPTION FOR the Marine Corps soon Please tick as appropriate: after he finished high GUJARAT SAMACHAR & ASIAN VOICE school at the age of 17, ASIAN VOICE serving both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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India, US to enhance military cooperation WASHINGTON: The US Senate has approved a move to enhance military co-operation with India to develop threat analysis, military doctrine, force planning, logistical support and intelligence collection and analysis.

The amendment titled 'To authorise military-tomilitary exchanges with India', was unanimously agreed in the Senate by a voice vote as part of the National Defence Authorisation Act, which was passed by an overwhelming bipartisan support of 85-13 votes. The amendment was moved by Senator John Sullivan, and co-sponsored by Senator John Corny and Mark Warner along with Senator Mark Kirk. The bill asks

the Secretary of Defence to ensure that the IndoUS co-operation for developing threat analysis, military doctrine, force planning, logistical support, intelligence collection and analysis, tactics, techniques and procedures, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The passed legislation says the Defence Secretary may take "appropriate actions" to ensure that exchanges take place between senior military officers and senior civilian defence officials of the Indian and US governments. It also asked the Defence Secretary to ensure significant enhancement of joint military operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

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www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Two Indians among 25 killed in Kabul attack

KABUL: Two Indian nationals were among 25 people killed in a string of bombings across Afghanistan on Monday, days after Washington expanded the US military’s authority to strike the Taliban. The Taliban and the Islamic State both claimed the first attack, which killed 14 security guards, including the Indians, working for the Canadian embassy in Kabul in a massive blast that left their yellow minibus spattered with blood. “We have learnt that 2 Indian nationals, Ganesh Thapa and Govind Singh from Dehradun, died tragically in the blast in Kabul today morning,�

India's external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted on Monday night.

Russian pop singer recites Sanskrit shlokas in Moscow

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

MOSCOW: Visits of world leaders to different countries are often seen as a sign of increased economic tolerance, acceptance and a commitment to mutual co-operation.

However, it is usually a lot more than just business.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been called upon by several nations ever since he assumed office.

He has consistently promoted the India as a whole. Right from the market for foreign investment, to yoga for health benefits, Modi, for the past two years, has unfailingly shown what India is and can be.

With the pride he emits when it comes to Indian culture, fellow countries have begun to pick it up too; celebrating Hindu traditions and its perks. One of the best examples of this was seen at the 'Friends of India' event

Sati Kazanova

held in Moscow, Russia, last year. PM Modi who was in Russia for an annual summit that was focused on boosting cooperation in defence and nuclear energy along with India's participation in Russia's oil and gas sector, attended several engagements including the said event where addressed the gathering after the cultural programme.

One of the major highlights of the evening remained

Death threat to Ramakrishna Mission in Bangladesh NEW DELHI: India said it has raised the death threat from suspected Islamic State militants to a priest at the Ramakrishna Mission, with Bangladesh, and has been assured "full support and protection" also beefing up security at the ashram premises.

India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said that the Indian High Commission in Dhaka "had contacted both the Bangladesh police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs". "We are also in direct contact with the Ramakrishna Mission in Dhaka," Swarup said.

He added that the Bangladesh has also strengthened police presence around the office of the Indian spirituality movement. The letter, as per a media report, reads, "You are Hindus, Bangladesh is an Islamic country.

You cannot preach Hindu religion in the country. Go to India.

Otherwise, you will be hacked to death."

The country has seen quite a number of attacks on minority groups leading to a nationwide crackdown on the militants. The most recent attack was on a Hindu ashram volunteer Nityaranjan Pandey who was associated with the

Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra Satsang Ashram. Islamic Stateaffiliated militant groups have claimed most of the killings even as the Bangladesh government brushes aside their presence in the region. Officials say the attacks are carried out by homegrown militants, and have arrested 12,000 people just this year.

The suspected Islamists have killed secular activists, Bloggers, Hindus and other minorities across the country.

Some of them were linked with outlawed Jamaatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh.

Assassination attempt on Hindu lecturer In another case, a Hindu lecturer survived an assassination attempt when sus-

pected Islamists barged into his home and hacked him with lethal weapons, critically injuring him.

Ripon Chakrabarty, a 50year-old Mathematics lecturer at the Nazimuddin Government University College, was hacked with lethal weapons by the attackers who stormed his residence in Madaripur in southwestern Bangladesh, police said.

Chakrabarty, who was hacked by three assailants in his head, neck and shoulders, raised an alarm, prompting local residents to grab one of the attackers while others fled. "The detained attacker is now being questioned in our custody. We suspect he could be a member of a militant group," Madaripur police superintendent Sarwar Hossain said.

the performance of popular Russian pop singer Sati Kazanova, who kicked off the event by reciting Sanskrit shlokas impeccably. Singing "Om Ganapataya Namah", Sati won many hearts with her performance. A vegetarian who practises Yoga and vows by its effects, Sati later met with Modi and shared her views regarding Sanatana Dharma, adding she wants a big Hindu temple in Russia.

Later during his address, Modi commended her performance saying, "The way Russian artistes presented Indian culture, I want to congratulate all of them. I heard the chanting of Vedic Mantras and I am told the singer who recited the Mantras is a famous pop singer in Russia. A pop singer who can perform those mantras, without a paper in her hand, shows her level of devotion."

WORLD Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

In Brief

23

Mother yanks boy from lion's grip

DENVER: A Colorado woman came face to face with a mountain lion as she raced to her front yard to find the beast hunched over her 5-yearold son. She charged towards the animal, pried open the lion's jaws and saved the boy. Pitkin county sheriff's deputy Michael Buglione said, "She's a hero". The boy suffered deep cuts to his head, face, and neck while the woman also has scratches and bites. "The boy was completely under the cat," said Buglione.

Pak trying to hire lobbyists in Washington

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is planning to hire lobbyists in Washington to refurbish its image in the United States at a time of deteriorating relations between the allies. Relations have been particularly strained following a US unmanned aircraft strike that killed top Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in western Pakistan last month, which Islamabad protested was a violation of its sovereignty.

Relations have also been tense since a plan to buy eight F-16 fighter jets from the United States fell through this May after the US Congress refused to approve the deal.

Islamabad dropped its official lobbying efforts during the 1999-2008 military rule of General Pervez Musharraf.

24

INDIA

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Karnataka cabinet reshuffle sparks protests In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's cabinet reshuffle has made quite a stir, triggering protests across the state as senior leaders were sent away and fresh faces were brought in for "dynamism" in the Congress government. The move came at a time when dissidence was already brewing against his leadership.

Disgruntled Congress leaders and sacked ministers went on a rampage across the region, an unrest that turned ugly within the first few hours

itself. Several vehicles were torched and party offices ransacked by mobs.

Siddaramaiah, however, remained unaffected with the unrest, as he went ahead and chose 13 MLAs who took the oath of office at the

Amma brand of services to continue in TN CHENNAI: Governor K Rosaiah addressed the Tamil Nadu Assembly saying that the state government would continue to offer affordable essentials and services to the people under the 'Amma' brand of schemes and also strive to establish the anticorruption body, the Lokayukta. He said the price control measures taken by the AIADMK government, like Amma pharmacies, Amma canteens, Amma drinking water, Amma cement and Amma salt, have all protected the poor and the middle-class families from the pressure of price rise.

"These novel initiatives will be continued," he said as the assembly roared in approval. As the Amma call centre "has emerged as an effective grievance redressal mechanism responding to public calls round the clock," it will further be strengthened, he said. Rosaiah said the people of the state gave a historic verdict by voting for a second consecutive term of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

"This historic verdict has vindicated the people-friendly

glasshouse of Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.

He addressed the media after convening a short meeting with the new cabinet, saying, "Reports of dissidence within the party are only rumours. I will personally speak to all the MLAs. Be it the leadership or reshuffle, there is no dissidence in the Congress party."

Of the 13 new ministers, nine were given cabinet rank while four have been state ministers with independent charge. Amidst criticism by

his peers, Siddaramaiah ensured a blend of experience and fresh faces, hoping to rebuild the image of the government with his new cabinet.

Vijayanagar and RPC Layout area witnessed widespread protests by supporters of M Krishnappa, following the withdrawal of his name from the ministerial probables' list.

The protesters even barged into Hosahalli Metro station to register their protest after burning tyres and holding up traffic for hours in and around the busy West of Chord Road area.

One arrested for rape, murder of Kerala student

Jayalalithaa

policies and programmes implemented by the government under her leadership."

As the government was committed to improve transparency in administration, it will establish Lokayukta in the state through an appropriate enactment of legislation, once the proposed amendments to the Lokpal Act are enacted by the Parliament.

Outlining the policies and initiatives of the government, Governor Rosaiah said the House has the onerous responsibility of ensuring healthy and constructive deliberations and setting the highest standards of democracy. He hoped that the Assembly will debate and deliberate on important issues and come out with pioneering development-oriented policies and programmes.

ERNAKULAM (KERALA): A migrant labourer has been booked and arrested for the gruesome rape and mutilation of a 30 year old Dalit law student. Officials said the man was living and working in the area around victim's home and had fled on the night of the crime.

"It was the labourer's footwear found from the site that was the main lead. The investigation involved several states," said a police officer.

In his confession, the man claimed he knew the victim and had a quarrel with her on April 28, the day of the crime.

The student's body was found with wounds and bite marks with her intestines hanging out. The investigation of the case was littered with mistakes, the house was not

blocked off as a crime scene, and forensic experts were summoned late.

It was only after the Leftled government that came into power, that a team of 100 police personnel were formed and a senior woman IPS officer was appointed as the head. 1,500 people were questioned, 5,000 fingerprints were taken and 2000,000 phone calls were traced.

Political parties suggested the police had initially tried to protect the previous UDF government by claiming the student had not been raped.

"The accused must be hung to death for the crime he committed. He must be dealt with in the same manner as he dealt with my daughter.

There is no other justice," said the mother of the victim.

Congress appoints Sheila Jat quota stir continues, Dikshit as Punjab in-charge INLD lends support CHANDIGARH: Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has been appointed to play general secretary in charge of poll-bound Punjab, merely a day after Congress leader Kamal Nath was relieved of the post.

Veteran Congress leader, Nath resigned from the post and wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi requesting her to relieve him from the position after controversy erupted over his appointment. "Have been hurt by developments in the past few days where unnecessary controversy has been created around 1984 riots," said Nath. The man in question faces allegations of leading a mob near Gurdwara Rakabganj in Delhi during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, and is a controversial figure in Punjab.

Coming out in his support, Captain Amarinder Singh said, "Nath had no role to play in riots. I was the only leader from Punjab to visit Delhi post

Sheila Dikshit

the riots. I heard names of five leaders to be responsible for the riots. Nobody named Nath then. The issue was raised only after the Sikh for Justice leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun sought a ban on his entry to the US in 2010."

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal called Nath's appointment as "the ultimate insult to Sikhs".

"It is an unbelievable brazen act of insensitivity towards Sikhs and crass and vulgar disregard of national opinion on the guilty of the massacre of thousands of innocent Sikh children, men and women by Congress goons in November 1984," Badal said.

CHANDIGARH: A new phase of the Jat quota agitation continued in different parts of Haryana as opposition party INLD lends out its support.

Abhay Chautala, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, said his party favours that reservation given to Jats and five other communities should be maintained.

"Right from the beginning, we doubted the intent of the government in giving reservation to Jats and five other communities, which is why the matter has got stuck in the courts," Chautala said. On the other hand, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the issue could be sorted out through mutual dialogue.

"Though the issue is with the High Court, efforts are being made to get the stay vacated," Khattar said. He added the government also offered the organisations involved in the current agitation that if they intended to hire their lawyer for pleading the case in the

court, the state government is ready to pay the fee.

Activists from All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti have been staging dharnas at various places, mostly in Rohtak, Sonepat, Jind, and Hisar districts to support the demands. Some activists have been even sitting on fast unto death at several places. The violent agitation that went on for three months under the leadership of AIJASS, which resulted in the death of 30 people.

Nearly 20,000 security personnel were keeping a strict vigil on the Jat agitation this time to ensure no violence takes place. A special roundthe-clock control room has been set up in Chandigarh to monitor the situation. The protesters were demanding quota under the OBC category, withdrawal of cases registered against community members during the previous stir in February, status of martyr for those killed.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

50 stray dogs burnt alive

CHENNAI: Over 50 stray dogs were burned alive at Keezhamur villager, 50 km from Chennai. The dogs were sedated with food laced with pesticides and then set on fire. The incident came to light after a villager informed animal activist P Aswath. Police said the villagers claimed a few community dogs injured a few sheep and goats while they were grazing. Aswath claimed the police did not take him seriously at first. "They seemed to support the version of the villagers. But the dogs were poisoned and doused with kerosene before being set on fire."

TN teacher performs 69-hour yoga

COIMBATORE: A yoga teacher has made an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records by continuously performing Yoga for 69 hours, which concluded on June 21, International Yoga Day. The attempt by V Gunasekaran, titled 'Longest Yoga Marathon', commenced at 5 pm on June 18 and ended at 2 pm on June 21.

During the event which was spread across 4 days, the performer was able to take a break of five minutes every hour, during which he could consume food. During his 69-hour attempt, he performed around 200 yogasanas. He has made several records in the past, including the Elite World Record and Unique World Record for doing yogasanas for 43 hours.

Boy paraded naked in Karnataka to please rain god

CHITRADURGA (KARNATAKA): A boy was paraded naked at a drought-hit village in Chitradurga district, Karnataka, to please the rain God. The bizarre ritual came to light after a video of the incident went viral. It showed water being poured on the boy, and the villagers performing pooja. The naked kid is then made to carry the idol in the village while the villagers beat drums and chanted mantras. He is later offered new clothes as per the practice prevalent in the village. Officials said the incident happened in Pandarahallin on June 10.

Sarpanch opens fire in Batala village, injures 3

BATALA: An Akali sarpanch fired at a group of people over a land dispute, injuring three.

Sarpanch Navjot Singh has been at loggerheads with neighbour Gurdeep Singh over the past few years over the ownership of a tract of agricultural land. Both parties were having a heated argument when Navjot allegedly pulled out his pistol and started firing. Gurdeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Balwinder Kaur were injured in the firing and were recuperating at the Civil Hospital.

Centre okays ChandigarhLudhiana highway project

NEW DELHI: The Central government has approved a ÂŁ207 million highway project to ensure faster traffic movement between Chandigarh and Ludhiana. Being implemented under the Centre's hybrid annuity mode, the project will see six/four lining of Kharar to Ludhiana section of national highway 95. "The 76 km highway stretch will be constructed at a cost of nearly 207 million and land required for it is 383.22 hectare, majority of which has been acquired and remaining 145 hectare will be acquired soon," said union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari.

Haryana CM denies issuing order against jeans

CHANDIGARH: After a recent report showed the Haryana government imposing sexist dress code on school teachers, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar came forward to deny any such directive. "No, there is no such order that has been issued by the state government. And, if someone has said anything like this, then we take it back, but no such thing has happened," said Khattar to the media. According to the report, the order issued by the Director of Elementary Education, asked district education officers to ensure teachers do not wear jeans when they go to school.

INDIA Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

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25

Cameron extends UK support for India’s NSG bid AsianVoiceNews

In a green signal that came later than expected, British Prime Minister David Cameron has assured Indian counterpart Narendra Modi of the UK's "firm support" for India's Nuclear Suppliers Group membership bid. He confirmed the country's backing in a telephone call made to Modi on Monday.

"The Prime Minister spoke to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about India's application for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a group of nuclear supplier countries that works together to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons," a Downing Street spokesperson said. Adding, "The Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would firmly support India's application. They agreed that in order for the bid to be successful it would be important for India to continue to strengthen its non-proliferation credentials, including by reinforcing the separation between civil and military nuclear activity."

The NSG handles issues related to the nuclear sector and its members are allowed to trade in and export nuclear technology. India

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Narendra Modi and David Cameron

has been seeking membership of the group, which works under the principle of consensus and a single member-country's vote against India will dampen the deal. While majority of the elite group backed India's membership, China along with New Zealand, Ireland,Turkey, South Africa and Austria were opposed to it. China maintains opposition to India’s entry, arguing that it has not signed Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty (NPT).

The Chinese official media went public over its stand regarding India's NSG bid, saying New Delhi's membership will touch a "raw nerve" in Pakistan, and increase a nuclear arms race

PRESENTS

in the region. The very first write-up on the issue said, "India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers in the region, keep alert to each other's nuclear capabilities.

India's application and its potential consequences will inevitably touch a raw nerve in Pakistan, its traditional rival in the region."

"As Pakistan is not willing to see an enlarging gap in nuclear power with India, a nuclear race is a likely outcome. This will not only paralyse regional security, but also jeopardise China's national interests." The commentary titled 'India mustn't let nuclear ambitions blind itself' also said, "Last week, Indian PM Narendra Modi embarked

on a diplomatic journey, travelling halfway across the world with his top goal to garner support for his country's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)" ahead of the plenary meeting of the group expected to be held in Seoul on June 24.

"The US and some NSG members have given a push to India's bid, but the reported opposition from most countries, especially China, seems to have irritated India," it said.

India wooing doubters India's diplomats have, meanwhile, mounted a final exercise to lobby the country's case for a seat NSG. The "no risk, no gain" mantra seems to be guiding the

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AWARDS

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Modi government in the hectic diplomacy that may include a meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.

As one official observed, "Whether we get to the final or win the tournament, we have no option but to play the best match we can.

India's last-mile push comes even as China muddied the waters on Monday with its foreign ministry saying the India membership question is not on the agenda of the plenary. Answering a question on the possibility of India not making the cut during a media interaction on Sunday, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj drew a revealing comparison with fighting elections. We, who contest Lok Sabha polls, don't think about such things. We are pursuing our objective with immense focus," she said.

US seeks support for India "The United States calls on Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) participating governments to support India's application when it comes up at the NSG plenary, which I think is next week," state department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "I'm not going to get ahead of how that's going to go or hypothesise and speculate about where

it's going to go, but we've made clear that we support the application," Kirby said in response to a question.

During the US visit of Modi last week, US President Barack Obama welcomed India's application to the 48-member grouping.

Canada gives open support At a time when questions are being raised about India's non-proliferation credentials, one of the world's leading proponents of the international nonproliferation regime, Canada, has come out openly in support of India saying that the presence of India in the exclusive nuclear club will actually strengthen the group's export controls.

Canada also said that it was encouraging all NSG members to join in the consensus needed to achieve this objective “at the earliest possible date''. “India's role in international nuclear commerce is bound to keep growing in strength as the size of India's fleet of nuclear power plant, already one of the world's largest, rapidly increases,'' Canada's acting high commissioner, Jess Dutton, said.

“As such, we believe India's membership in the NSG will reinforce the international nuclear non-proliferation regime,'' he added.

I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H

NOMINATION FORM

The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians par excellence. If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation then please nominate them for one of the awards listed below.

Make sure that you fill in this application form and send it on or before 31st July, 2016 by post, fax or email to Mr. L George, Tel: 020 7749 4013, Fax 020 7749 4081, Email: aaa@abplgroup.com. If you are sending it by post the address is Mr. L George, ABPL Group, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

Please tick the appropriate category Uniformed and Civil Services For outstanding achievements in uniformed and civil services or contribution to the community through any of the above services.

Entrepreneur of the Year Awarded to an entrepreneur with a proven track record of operating a successful business enterprise.

Achievement in Community Service In recognition for an individuals service to community.

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

Sports Personality of the Year Awarded for excellence in sports.

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

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

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

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

Application Form Full Name of the Person you are Nominating: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ His/Her Contact Details (Tel & email): ___________________________________________________Occupation of the Nominee:____________________________________________ Please attach the Nominees's CV which includes the following information (Please do not exceed a limit of 1000 words) (1) Personal background

(2) Most important career achievements till date.

(4) Future Plans, ambitions and visions.

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

(3) Nominee's contribution to the community and nation.

Summary- (Please include a summary in not more than 150 words why the nominee is worthy of winning the particular award in a separate sheet) Your name and contact details: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your current Occupation/Company: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your contact ____________________________________________________________ Email: ____________________________________________________________________________

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INDIA

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The World Celebrates Yoga

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

The second International Yoga Day was by all means an international event as people all around the world marked the celebrations in their own style. With a total 135 countries participating in the celebrations, over 40 Muslim nations lent their support to the event in India. The main Yoga celebration in India was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as was last year, with the NDA government taking careful steps to not repeat the faux pas committed previously.

Dressed in a white tracksuit, Modi addressed the 40,000 odd people present in Chandigarh.

Calling Yoga a "people's mass movement", he joined millions of others across countries, to take the mat.

"Through the United Nations, International Yoga Day is being celebrated throughout the world.

The whole world supported it whether it was developed or developing nations.

Every section of the society supported it. There are several days celebrated by UN, including World Cancer Day, World Health Day, World Mental Health Day, and several others. In the field of sports, there are several days which are celebrated. But this (IYD) is the only, which has direct relation with health and also with physical, mental and social health. I think, this speaks about the power of this heritage, identity of this heritage which was given by our ancestors."

Present at the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh, Modi announced two awards, international-level and national-level, for good work on Yoga. The theme of this year's event was 'Connect the Youth', and over 100 differently-abled children were seen taking part.

Keeping religion at bay, this year's event was purely focused on spreading awareness about Yoga.

Speaking about the logo, a government official said, "The logo of International Day of Yoga is the folding of both hands. It symbolises 'Yoga' that is the union, which reflects the union of individual consciousness with that of universal consciousness, a perfect harmony between mind and body, man and nature - a holistic approach to health and well-being. Clearly, it has nothing to do with religion."

President Pranab Mukherjee kicked off a demonstration at

Rashtrapati Bhavan in which around 1,000 people were present. The participants included officers and staff of the President's Secretariat, their family members, members of Delhi Police, ITBP and President's Bodyguard as well as other residents of President's Estate. On the PM's orders, 57 Union Ministers led yoga celebration programmes across the country. A theme song for the day, named 'Yog Geet' was released in addition to the Yoga Protocol of 45 minutes.

The world marked the day in their unique style, contributing to an age old Indian practice.

Yoga Day celebration in numbers

135 plus nations participating.

Estimated 400-500 million yoga day participants from across the world.

Over 100,000 yoga programmes across India.

35,000 people, led by the PM, participated in the event in Chandigarh.

57 ministers led yoga programmes in various parts of the country.

10,000 participants simultaneously performed yoga at various locations in Delhi. $80 billion: the estimated evaluation of the yoga industry worldwide

NEW YORK Theme of the annual Yoga Day celebrations in Times Square was 'Mind over Madness Yoga'. The event was lead by Rashmi Galliano of the Integral Yoga Institute who said the significance of the day was showing how the practice was bringing "peace and ease into the lives of the New Yorkers in a city known for its fact-paced environment."

President of the Times Square Alliance, Tim Tompkins began the celebrations at 5 am and over 30 yoga studios took part in the event. Around 6,000 people joined in the sessions held in a three block radius. India's Consul General Riva Ganguly Das spoke prior to the spreading of the mats, and talked of the universality of yoga and its recognition by the United Nations which declared the International

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Yoga Day two years ago.

The event was co-sponsored by the Indian consulate, which is also organising events the next day, at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and Newark Liberty Airport as well as the consulate.

PARIS More than 2,000 yoga enthusiasts celebrated yoga at the Parc de La Villette, Paris' largest urban cultural park. Indo-French cultural associations, friendship groups, Indian diaspora and yoga schools like Art of Living, Swami Shivananda Yoga Centre, Tapovan, Yoga and Co, Sahaja Yoga, Isha Foundation and others came together to make the day a success.

Addressing the gathering, Indian Ambassador Mohan Kumar emphasised the importance of yoga in modern lifestyle.

He exhorted the youth to regularly practice yoga for personality development and stress management. The Indian Embassy in Paris has also planned to organise another event, in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower.

Over 100 people also performed yoga on board a boat in the Seine river sailing from the Eiffel Tower to Cathedral Notre Dame.

Besides Paris, several other cities of France also marked yoga day, including Strasbourg, Nice, Avignon, Angers, Gretz, Samoens, Toulouse, Nantes, Gouvieux and in French overseas territories like Guadeloupe, Martinique and the Reunion Islands.

BEIJING Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Siongh Chouhan participated in a Yoga programme in Beijing. Tweeting his message for the day, he said, "Great enthusiasm in China, sharing moments from today's #YogaDay celebrations @Beijing," He also wrote "Celebrated the 2 n d #InternationalDayOfYoga with my new friends here in Beijing. Yoga connects people heart-to-heart."

Chouhan said that yoga binds people and their hearts and builds positivity.

"It gives peace to mind and body and gives boundless happiness. Yoga has no geographical boundaries, it can be performed anywhere."

In another event, more than 100 daring yoga enthusiasts took part in a special session at the Stone Forest Gorge. Suspended

Yoga Day celebration organised by the High Commission of India by Tower Bridge

near Tower Bridge, on Sunday, 19 June from 8.30 am to 5 .30 pm. The daylong event saw more than 10,000 people participating in various yoga and meditation sessions. Alongside the main event near Tower Bridge there was another event organised in the beautiful grounds of Alexandra Palace, North London.

Inaugurating the event, H.E. Navtej Sarna, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, said, “It is important, that Yoga is

the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, were screened at the event. Priti Patel MP, Minister of State for Employment and Prime Minister Cameron’s Indian Diaspora Champion, congratulated the Indian High Commission on the occasion. Lord Ranbir Singh Suri and Mr. Bob Blackman MP also attended the event and recognised Prime Minister Modi’s initiative of bringing Indian yoga to the world

stage. The organisations which came together for the event included British Wheel of Yoga, Patanjali Yog Peeth (UK) Trust, The Art of Living Foundation, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Brahma Kumaris, Isha Foundation, Datta Sahaj Yoga Mission UK, Heartfulness, Coolherbals, Chi Kri, The World Yoga Festival, Special Yoga Foundation and SKY Trust UK. The polarity of yoga is no surprise with Britons reportedly spending £790million a year on yoga lessons. There has been an increasing number of middle-aged people, the so called ‘sliver yogis’ are discovering the benefits of yoga. Credited with stimulating grey matter, protecting against heart attacks, providing better sleep, reducing back and joint pains among others. Now even science is backing the benefits gained by the practise. Researchers at the University of California found that doing a three month course on yoga is more effective that brain training exercises and helps improve sleep among breast-cancer survivors.

When former advertising executive Lucy Edge, 53, fell into depression, she opted for yoga instead of anti depressants. “I took a six month break, travelled to India to learn yoga. As daughter of a scientist, I did n’t want to make mad claims, I wanted evidence and I found much of it through yoga.”

Continued from page1 airlines has been capped at 49 per cent for both scheduled and non-scheduled air-transport services.

The requirement of ‘controlled conditions’ for FDI in animal husbandry, pisciculture, aquaculture and apiculture has been removed. At present, 100 per cent FDI in these activities is allowed under the automatic route under controlled conditions.

For establishment of branch office or liaison

office or any other place of business in India if the principal business of the applicant is defence, telecom, private security or information and broadcasting, it has been decided that approval of RBI or separate security clearance would not be required in cases where FIPB approval has already been granted.

The changes are welcomed by market experts, as the allowance of FDI in food processing is seen as a positive step for farmers.

"The policy change will definitely benefit farmers as it will enable them to get better rates for the produce and at the same time, overall reduction in wastage of food products for the country. It seems a win-win situation for consumer as well as the farmers, but we need to wait for the fineprint of the detailed guidelines to check the kind of conditions attached," Devraj Singh, Executive Director Tax & Regulatory Services, EY said.

700 metres in the air and hanging more than 32 metres off the face of a cliff, the glass viewing platform is the world's largest and, situated in northeast Beijing.

LONDON The High Commission of India along with the Government of India Tourist Office in London, in collaboration with 14 British yoga institutions organised the Yoga Day at the Potters Fields Park,

practised correctly and in a disciplined manner to tap into its full potential. In this event today, here at Potters Park, I welcome our partners to demonstrate by their example, Yoga in its correct form. I must emphasise, that the International Day of Yoga is just a day to remind the world of India’s gift of yoga to the world, but it is for each individual to benefit from the practice of Yoga.”

For the occasion there were special messages from

HE Navtej Sarna lighting a lamp at the Yoga day celebration

India allows 100% FDI in defence

AsianVoiceNews

HEALTH&WELLNESS

AsianVoiceNewsweekly | Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

Mediterranean food best to lose weight FOOD

FITNESS

study by a group of scientists in Spain have found that people who stuck to a Mediterranean diet, without calorie restrictions, lost more weight than people on a diet that generally avoids all kinds of fat. They said this suggests eating food traditionally considered to be "low fat" may not be the best way to maintain a healthy weight.

Over 7000 participants followed one of three diets.

The first group was given an unrestricted Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil. The second group maintained a similar diet except with its focus on

nuts, while the third group avoided all kinds of fat.

Over 90 per cent of the participants were either overweight or obese and all had Type 2 diabetes or were considered at high risk of heart disease. After five years, while all three groups

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LIFESTYLE

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were found to have lost a small amount of weight, people on the olive oil-rich diet had lost an average of 0.88 kg.

Lead researcher Dr Ramon Estruch from the University of Barcelona, said, "More than 40 years

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of nutritional policy has advocated for a low-fat diet but we're seeing little impact on rising levels of obesity. Our study shows that a Meditteranean diet rich in vegetable fats such as olive oil and nuts had little effect on bodyweight or waist circumference compared to people on a low-fat diet. Nutrition expert Professor Dariush Mozaffarian from Tufts University said it was time to re-evaluate "outdated" guidelines on fat consumption. "We must abandon the myth that lower-fat, lower-calorie products lead to less weight gain," he said.

Insufficient sleep makes you prone to heart diseases

Treat Down's Syndrome with green tea locatechin gallate changed the way neurons in the brain connect with one another. "This is the first time that a treatment has shown efficacy in the cognitive improvement of persons with this syndrome," said Mara Dierssen, senior author of the study.

While the results cannot be called a "cure", "It may be a tool to improve these individuals' quality of life," Mara said.

Unhealthy marriage may lower risk of diabetes in men

The study may be suggestive about wives' constantly regulating their husband's health behav-

iours, especially if he is in poor health or diabetic.

The team used data from the US National Social

One-third Brit women embarrassed to talk about periods rassed to talk about periods.

Menstrual Hygiene Day on ne in three British O "This is a natural occur28 May. women are embarrence that affects 50 per It was found out that rased about their periods say a new poll released by organisation ActionAid. With the poll of more than 1000 women in the UK aged 16 and above, they explored British women's attitudes towards their period ahead of the World

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement it. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

women aged 25-39 were more likely to be embarrassed about their periods than women aged 16-24.

The findings also showed regional variations across the country, with women in Wales seen to be far less likely to be embarrassed about their periods than women in Scotland, followed by women for the South of England. A spokesperson of ActionAid, Jessica Holland said it's "deeply saddening" that even in 2016, so many women still feel so embar-

cent of the population, so why are we still shying away from talking about our periods? This is a problem that extends to women and girls around the world, where taboos around periods and lack of access to sanitary products often affect their ability to live their lives to the fullest."

The survey also saw that while over three and a half million girls and women in the UK have missed school or work because of their period, only a quarter spoke honestly about the reason.

Life, Health and Aging Project, and analysed survey results from 1228 married respondents over five years. They investigated the role of marital quality in diabetes risk and management and found two major gender differences.

They found an increase in negative marital quality lowered the risk of developing diabetes and increased the chances of managing the disease after its onset. For women, a good marriage was related to a lower risk of being diabetic five years later.

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n interesting study has revealed that the development of diabetes in men may slow down if they are in a unhappy marriage.

"The study challenges the traditional assumption that negative marital quality is detrimental to health," said lead investigator Hui Liu, Associate Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University.

"It also encourages family scholars to distinguish different sources and types of marital quality.

Sometimes, nagging is caring."

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esearchers from the Northwestern University in the US have linked insufficient sleep to heart diseases. Both, insufficient sleep and circadian rhytym disturbances have been associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes but the cause is unclear.

The body's involuntary processes may malfunction in shift workers and other chronically sleepdeprived people, and may lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, said the scientists. In order to study the impace of circadian rhythm disturbances on cardiovascular function in sleepdeprived people, the researchers studied 26 healthy people aged between 20-39. The participants were restricted to just five hours of sleep for eight days with either fixed bedtimes or bedtimes delayed by 8.5 hours on four of the eight days.

Researchers found sleep restriction combined with delayed bedtimes when compared to sleep restriction without delayed bedtimes was associated with an increased heart rate during the day for both

fixed bedtimes and delayed bedtimes groups.

The same occurred at night. The candidates also experienced reduced heart rate variability at night, an increase in 24-hour urinary norepinephrine excretion in the sleep restricted and delayed bedtimes group, reduced vagal activity related to heart rate variability during deeper sleep phases.

"In humans, as in all mammals, almost all physiological and behavioural processes, in particular the sleep-wake cycle, follow a circadian rhythm that is regulated by an internal clock located in the brain," said Daniela Grimaldi from Northwestern University.

"When our sleep-wake and feeding cycles are not in tune with the rhythms dictated by our internal clock, circadian misalignment occurs."

"Our results suggest shift workers, who are chronically exposed to circadian misalignment, might not fully benefit from the restorative cardiovascular effects of nighttime sleep following a shift-work rotation," said Grimaldi.

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reen tea is known for its different for its benefits and apparently, there's more! A chemical found in the tea appears to improve cognitive ability in people suffering from Down's Syndrome. A yearlong clinical trial showed improved scores on memory and behaviour tests, with the positive impact staying six months after the trial concluded. Brain scans revealed that the compound, called epigal-

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Oscar winner takes over Sivakarthikeyan's 'Remo' Work begins on Mani Ratnam's next AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

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ubbing for Sivakarthikeyan's 'Remo' has commenced under the able supervision of Oscar winner Resul Pookutty. The film is

one of the most exciting projects for this year as the actor is said to have donned multiple getups, including that of a young lady. Sources said Siva will also dub the

£2 million each for Murugadoss and Mahesh!

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ecent buzz says Mahesh and Murugadoss are all set to receive £2 million each for their upcoming untitled films which will roll from midJuly. One of the brightest directors in the industry, Murugadoss' pay cheque makes him the highest paid director ever in South Cinema. Actor

female voice using modern technology. One of the film's producers, RD Raja tweeted, "World's Prestigious Oscar Award & golden reel award winner India's Proud

@resulp starts #REMO dubbing". The film is being directed by newcomer Baghyaraj Kannan and Keerthy Suresh plays the female lead.

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which will be directed by Bhoopathi Pandian, the cast consists of expert actors Prabhu, Karthick Kumar, Saranya Ponvannan, Nassar, Jayaprakash, Yogi Babu and Robo Shankar.

Vimal gets a hot heroine for his next

fter a few quiet months following minor hit 'Desingu Raja', actor Vimal has scored 'Mannar Vagaiyara' opposite one of the hottest young actresses in K-wood, Kayal Anandhi. The film

Mahesh is said to have a market of over £8 million in Telugu film industry.

Also featuring in the film, Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra has also reportedly charged a bomb for the project.

Guess the producers of the film will shell a lot more than expected from their pockets!

Shraddha learning guitar for 'Half Girlfriend'

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ani Ratnam has already cast Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead for his next film. While the official announcements from the directorproducer are awaited, it does seem that the song composing sessions for the film have already begun. Ratnam's regulars AR Rahman and Kaviperarasu Vairamuthu sat down with him for the composing session from what is seen in a video released by ace composer Rahman. Vairamuthu confirmed that they were working on the project, but added he is not supposed to reveal any other information about the film.

Sridevi to be honoured with IIFA award

Vivek Oberoi praises Salman’s ‘Sultan’

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'Raman Raghav 2.0'

Based on serial killer Raman Raghav, who scandalised Mumbai in the 1960s, Nawazuddin Siddique plays a convincing role in the Anurag Kashyap movie.

hraddha Kapoor is preparing for Mohit Suri's 'Half Girlfriend' in which, she will be playing a guitar for the first time on-screen.

She is currently learning how to play different chords of the instrument, so that she can realistically play one in the movie. "Yes, I love music and musical instruments also fascinate me. The guitar isn't much in 'Half Girlfriend', but yes, I do have to learn the chords of what I need to play. My favourite instrument is the piano and my second favourite is the guitar," Shraddha said in an interview. She has always taken her roles in the movies seriously. She learnt how to ride a bike for 'Ek Villain', and took dancing classes for 'ABCD 2'.

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eteran actress Sridevi will receive the award for outstanding achievement in Indian cinema, at the International Indian Film Academy gala in Madrid next week. The award will be presented to the actress during the four-day long Videocon D2h IIFA weekend from June 23 to 26 in the Spanish capital. With a long successful career in the Indian film industry, she has featured in several movies that turned into a cult classic. Along with the celebration of the Indian movie industry, the IIFA gala in Madrid is also going to be a celebration of 60 years of India and Spain's diplomatic relations.

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ctor Vivek Oberoi who is mostly known for his differences with Salman Khan, praised the superstar's upcoming film, calling it "fabulous".

While at a screening of Nagesh Kukunoor's 'Dhanak', Vivek was asked about Shah Rukh and Salman's upcoming 'Raees' and 'Sultan', to which he said, "I think it is looking fabulous. I think it is a great thing to see all this big stars experimenting with roles, doing different kind of roles or biopics. 'Sultan' is looking great."

The actor himself, will be next seen in adult comedy 'Great Grand Masti'.

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Arijit Singh tours UK

Deepika enjoying time Salman still unexplored as an with her family

Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

actor: Ali Abbas

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fter a successful stint in the UK last year, ace singer Arijit Singh is all set to arrive in London yet again! In his UK tour that commences on 8th July, the 'Kabira' singer will cater to already sold out shows. With as many as 10,000 people signing up to watch the 29 year old live, the tour will end on July 16.

"This is going to be the biggest Bollywood concert of the year, bigger and better than ever, we areso excited for Arijit to perform for his fans across the UK," said International Promoter and Rock on Music Director Vijay Bhola. Arijit, whose career took off with a reality show, has delivered back to back musical hits, mesmerising people with his soulful voice. He was the voice behind songs like 'Phir Mohabbat', which marked his Bollywood debut, 'Kabhi Jo Badal Barse', and super hit 'Muskurane' from the movie 'City Lights'. Arijit rose to fame in 2013, after the music release of 'Aashiqui 2'.

'Tum Hi Ho' struck the chords with many, and the song became the doorway for a successful career.

The young singer has worked with top Bollywood music directors including AR Rahman, Shankar-EhsanLoy, Vishal-Shekhar, and Himesh Reshammiya.

He is also the recipient of several awards including two Filmfare, an IIFA, a Zee Cine Award, and two Screen Awards.

Catch Arijit live in action at: De Montfort Hall - 8th July (Sold Out) Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham - 9th July Manchester Arena - 10th July SSE Arena, Wembley, 16th July (Seats Filling Fast)

Bollywood actress sleeping on the streets

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mall time actress Alisa Khan was recently found sleeping on the streets after her family abandoned her and threw her out of the house. Khan's exboyfriend had allegedly leaked a private video of the actress on YouTube, an act which did not go down well with her family. Alisa claimed to have worked with the Bhatt camp, across Emraan Hashmi in a movie named 'Aaina'. They, however, denied working with her, and said no such film even existed. "Rubbish, I have no idea where this is coming from," says Emraan, who is currently in Toronto with his family, "I have never even heard of this girl before, leave alone, working on a film with her."

Alisa was last seen in 'My Husband's Wife'.

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perfect balance of work and pleasure, Deepika Padukone who finished shoot for her debut Hollywood movie 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage', flew back home to spend time with father Prakash Padukone on his 61st birthday and stayed for Father's Day too.

When asked about her fondest memory of her Pa, she said

whenever she thinks of him, she always imagines him in a lungi.

She added he would always wear a lungi while dropping her to school. Deepika has often spoken out about her grounded childhood. She said that both her, and her sister Anisha picked up a lot of positive traits from their father, a renowned badminton player.

Kukunoor’s 'Dhanak' winning hearts

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agesh Kukunoor's 'Dhanak' has people swooning all across the country. In a recent screening of the movie organised by corporate social responsibility wing of one of India's biggest cinema companies, for over 1,000 underprivileged children in New Delhi. "It was a beautiful experience for the kids as they enjoyed the movie, especially the songs. The entire theatre was full of fun, laughter and joyous vibes," a guest said.

Producer Manish Mundra said, "The children's joy knew no bounds, and we at Drishyam Films feel proud to have brought smiles on so many innocent faces." Director Nagesh couldn't have asked for a better audience.

He said, "I have mentored many

children over the years in collaboration with these NGOs, so for me, it was a very special moment to have these kids watch and enjoy my film." The movie is about the journey of a visuallyimpaired yet spirited boy and his loving sister who travel across Rajasthan to get his eyesight back.

Mallika not in the mood to quit her 'single life'

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allika Sherawat seems to be in no mood to quit her "single" life. While she has made her relationship with business tycoon Cyrille Auxenfan official, she has been putting all her energy into her career.

While all the media can talk about is the actress and the long honeymoon she went on with her beau, Mallika has kept herself busy with the promotions of her latest film 'Time Raiders'. Not only has she denied her m a r r i a g e , Sherawat has also said she was not keen on tying the knot t h i s year.

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ultan' director Ali Abbas Zafar has quite the words to say about actor Salman Khan. "The thing that I got most fascinated by SK was that he was still very unexplored as an actor. There is a certain persona that people have made around him.

But once you get to know him, there is definitely lots and lots of talent. That is what makes such a big star today. He is very identifiable," Abbas said about the superstar.

He said the actor has always had a great bond with his audience and does not need to put in a lot of effort to make them believe in him on screen. "That is his strength, the less he does the more it is for the audience but it happens very rarely. He knows the craft so well that whatever little I used to ask him to do, he would do that well and beautifully. He does not just use his mind, he uses a lot of emotions. So, you have to get him charged emotionally not logically. He is very straightforward that way." Salman plays wrestler Sultan Ali Khan in the YRF movie and had to undergo a drastic physical transformation for the role.

There was a lot of anticipation over the names of top actresses to play the female lead. Abbas said he was clear from the beginning that he wanted a solid performer in his movie and Anushka's name was on the top of the list. "We wanted an actress, who could match the stardom of SK. I wanted a solid actress and Anushka has proven herself as an actress. The only glitch was that she is also a sports person in the film. But when researched about wrestler, I found out that they don't have to be bulky, they can be slim."

Aamir's look stuns

amir Khan has stunned everyone with his ripped look for 'Dangal'. The actor released a photo of himself on Twitter and dare we say we can't stop drooling. In the first look of himself as a young Mahavir Singh Phogat, Aamir looks striking with ripping muscles and a scowl on his face and dumbbells in either hands. Khan took a lot of physical pressure as he had to gain a lot of extra kilos to portray the older version of the legendary wrestler.

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Asian Voice |25th June 2016

BCC marks first anniversary Dr Chithra Ramakrishnan has been praised for her pioneering work in connecting communities through Carnatic music.

Carnatic music is a system of classical music associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent.

Speaking at an event in Birmingham last Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the British Carnatic Choir, or BCC, the first of its kind in the UK, Dr Ramakrishnan said: “I cannot believe just how far we’ve come in a year”. BCC aims to complement Prime Minister David Cameron’s British Values in an attempt to encourage all citizens to respect each other’s way of life and to celebrate good work, through the sounds, words and pictures of BCC.

Guests included the Lord Mayor of Coventry, Cllr Lindsley Harvard, Consul General of India in Birmingham Mr Jitendra Kumar Sharma, peace ambassadors Dr David and Patricia Earle, BCC mature

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and our senior news editor Dhiren Katwa.

A minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect in honour of MP Jo Cox. News of Jo’s tragic and untimely death had broken just hours before the event.

Goodwill messages were received from Paul Sabapathy, Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Carl Rice – who on the day signed up to be a Patron of BCC - who said that it was through such kinds of music that “we can promote unity, peace, tolerance and togetherness”. In a letter from Her Majesty The Queen, she wished Dr Ramakrishnan well on “this notable anniversary”.

To find out more about BCC visit: http://www.britishcarnaticchoir.com/

Coming Events

l London Sevashram Sangha presents 17th anniversary celebration of Om Day Global Vision for Unity and Peace 2016.

Time: 1:30pm-5:30pm Date: Sunday 3 July 2016 Venue: London Buddhist Vihara, Chiswick, London W4 1UD CHIEF GUEST: Dr Desmond Biddulph, President, The Buddhist Societ, Lectures by: Swami Nirliptananda,Ven Seelaweemala, Ajit Singh, Sister Samani Pritibha Pragya.

For more details see advert in Asian Voice page 13.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 The Sun continues to put a

spotlight on your solar fourth house. This is a time to recharge yourself, get in touch with your innermost feelings, connect with your roots, and spend more time with your loved ones. Use this opportunity to find ways to improve your family relations and your home environment.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You are exploring and searching now, making connections, and paying attention to your immediate environment. Socially you are very popular and your communications strengthen your connections. You will be busy with errands, paperwork, phone calls, and light socializing. Siblings, neighbours, close relatives, friends, and co-workers may play a more important role than usual in your life during this period.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 You are in a brilliant period for increasing your earning power and you'll be busy taking charge of your finances. Achieving a sense of security becomes a priority. Although there is a lot of sorting out to be done in your relationship sector, it will not phase you as so many issues have already be dealt with.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 The Sun transits your first house and this affects your personal identity, appearance, outward behavior, and self-expression. This marks the peak of your physical solar cycle, and you are in the position to make an impression on others, and to assert your personal influence. Increased energy and a renewed feeling of confidence is with you now, so take advantage of your charisma to achieve your goals.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 The Sun travels through your twelfth house now, marking a time of retreat and regeneration. This also heralds a time for research and unfinished behind-the-scene activities. Matters which have dragged on for a while should now be re-assessed and put to rest. Some of you will be looking to spiritual enlightenment and take up yoga and meditation.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 The Sun illuminates your sector of friends, social gatherings and group activities. You will be in constant demand and will be in a position to network with new-found friends who will promote your cause. Personal relationships are also to the fore and some of you might even find true love. This is a time to follow your dreams and ideals, and to plant a seed in the form of a wish for the future.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 More than any other time of the year, your focus is drawn to your career and standing in the society. This is the time when you are more interested in, and focused on, accomplishing something important. Contact with authority figures is more likely during this period. Recognition will come your way whether you ask for it or not, and the responsibility that goes with it.

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SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 The Sun continues to put a spotlight on your solar ninth house. During this transit you will seek to expand your horizons through philosophical thinking, higher education, travel, or simply activities that take you away from your everyday routines. Your energy is strong and you are much bolder and adventurous than usual.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 The Sun highlights your solar eighth house. Your attention turns inward on a deeper level to personal transformations. There may be a strong focus on other's money, such as the resources of a partner, inheritance, banking and loans, or taxes. This transit should be positively dealt with to achieve any benefits.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 The Sun is transiting your solar seventh house--your partnership sector. It's not the time to push your personal plans forward; rather, it's a time to give. Focus should be on reconciliation, diplomacy and one-on-one interactions. You may feel a little drained physically but remember it is only temporarily.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 The Sun puts a spotlight on your solar sixth house. This is a busy period that finds you tending to many different aspects of your daily routine and health matters. You are in a very fortunate position to be able to improve your health and diet and also tackle any problems at work, which have been a source of irritation for some time.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 The Sun is transiting your solar fifth house. This is the time of year when you are ready to perform and express yourself creatively. It's a good time for recreation, romance, connecting with children, and enjoying "performing arts". Make sure you do not get over-sensitive if things do not go according to plan.

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India draw level with Zimbabwe AsianVoiceNews

India scored a 10-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the second Twenty20 international and level the three-match series 1-1 at Harare on Monday.

India's young seamer Barinder Sran laid the foundation for the victory.

Asked to bowl first by Zimbabwe skipper Graeme Cremer, a determined India restricted the hosts to 99 for nine in the stipulated 20 overs with Sran returning the best figures by an Indian debutant in T20 format.

Mandeep Singh (52) and KL Rahul (47) then led the way with unbeaten knocks as the visitors chased down the target with 41balls to spare.

Sran (4-10) was ably assisted by Jasprit Bumrah, who picked up three wickets for 11 runs in his quota of four overs.

Sran finished with excellent figures in his quota of four overs, which is the second best globally.

Before Sran, Pragyan Ojha (4-21) against Bangladesh

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in 2009 World T20, held the Indian record.

The duo of Sran and Bumrah picked up seven wickets between them while giving away just 21 runs in eight economical overs.

Bangladesh's Elias Sunny (5-13) holds the record for the best bowling figures by a debutant in T20I.

Zimbabwe shock India

In the first T20, Zimbabwe gave a shock defeat to India. Chasing a target of 171, India were restricted to 168 for six with seamer Neville Madziva bowling a brilliant over to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Needing 8 off the final over, Dhoni couldn’t connect a single big shot during his sedate 19 off 17 balls.

Manish Pandey (48) and Axar Patel (18) did their bit to set it up but when it mattered the most, the little known

Zimbabwean boys did it for their country. With 79 required off 42 balls, Pandey decided to take on rival captain Graeme Cremer, hitting him for two consecutive sixes as 16 runs came off the 14th over in company of skipper Dhoni. The presence of Dhoni also ensured that singles were converted into doubles. With Pandey getting a boundary off Neville Madziva’s next over that produced 12 runs - India’s victory bid was back on track with 38 runs coming off three overs. Just when

it looked that Pandey will take India home, he mistimed a lofted shot off Muzarabani’s bowling to get out for 48 off 35 balls having hit a four and three sixes. This brought down the equation to 28 off 16 balls.

However, Axar Patel hit one of the biggest sixes of the match over long-on to bring the equation down to 21 from 12 balls. A four and six off penultimate over saw Axar bring down the equation to 8 from the last over which the Indians failed to get.

Briton accuses India Hockey captain of rape and abuse A British woman Hockey player of Indian origin has filed a complaint with the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) against India Hockey captain Sardar Singh alleging that she was raped by Singh in a five-star hotel in Delhi in October 2014 and that he subsequently tried to kill her by trying to push her from the top floor.

The DCW has recommended registration of an FIR against Sardar Singh in the alleged sexual assault case as also demanded registration of an FIR against Punjab Police for failing to file an FIR against Singh despite the woman alleging rape and assault in January 2016. Hockey India presi-

Sardar Singh

dent Narinder Batra too has been issued a notice by the DCW and an explanation has been sought regarding allegations made by the British woman against Hockey India. The 21-year-old complainant was the first British-Asian woman to represent England in hockey in 2010 as part of their junior

women’s team.

The alleged victim had lodged a police complaint in February in Ludhiana. A special investigation team (SIT) was constituted to probe the sexual harassment allegations. The SIT had given a clean chit to Sardar Singh. In March, Sardar Singh, who is a DSP with Haryana Police, had denied all the accusations, describing them as “false” and “inappropriate”. The woman also informed the DCW that she got pregnant in 2015 with Singh’s child and on informing about it to Sardar, he forced her to terminate the pregnancy.

Talking to reporters, she claimed that despite providing police with all the

evidence, they did not file any FIR. “I was sent from SHO to ACP, then to the DCP and well way to DGP of Punjab Police, I also met the Ludhiana Police Commissioner,” the woman claimed according to a PTI report. Ludhiana Police instead asked her to file a complaint at either Panchkula or Sirsa police station under the Haryana police. According to the woman, the two met in London during the 2012 Olympics while she was still a teenager, and were formally engaged at a ceremony in October 2014. Soon after, he began assaulting her, she alleges according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.

Pakistan cricket pace ace Wahab Riaz joins local youngsters

Pakistani quick Wahab Riaz recently attended the Chance to Shine Street event in Walthamstow, encouraging local youngsters to get involved in tape ball cricket and helping to spread the ‘power of cricket’, inspiring and helping them to learn life skills and connect communities.

Wahab Riaz stepped back in time to his youth and tested his skills out with a tape-ball, before taking part in a Street cricket match, much to the delight of the local kids.

Speaking at The Peter May Centre in Walthamstow, the Chance to Shine Ambassador said:

“I’m proud to be here today supporting Chance to Shine Street. I remember how important cricket was when I was growing up and it taught me so

many valuable lessons that helped me on and off the cricket pitch.

“Cricket has the power to break down barriers and support young people

from all backgrounds to realise their dreams and develop important life skills.”

Chance to Shine Street is cricket, but not as you know it. Free, weekly sessions are held all year round at community venues, such as leisure centres, sports halls and caged areas around housing estates and parks.

Games are based on an exciting six-a-side format using a tape-ball – a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape. It is inclusive, lots of fun and accessible with little equipment required and everyone getting a chance to bat, bowl and field.

SPORT Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

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India complete whitewash

India predictably completed a 3-0 whitewash by bulldozing a sub-par Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the final ODI match in what turned out to be one of the most onesided series in recent times. Dhoni's boys outclassed the hosts in all departments by first bowling them out for their lowest total of 123 in the series with Jasprit Bumrah grabbing 4/22 and then romping home in 21.5 overs.

Openers KL Rahul (63 not out) and debutant Faiz Fazal (55 not out) flayed with what seemed like a club-level bowling attack to guide India home. India also completed a hat-trick of whitewashes against the hosts, having won earlier ODI series by 5-0 and 30 margin in 2013 and 2015 when Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane led the sides respectively.

For Dhoni, there were two milestones that he achieved from the series. With 107 wins as

captain, he equalled Allan Border for the second highest number of wins in ODI history behind Ricky Ponting (165).

Also he became the first Indian wicketkeeper-batsman to complete 350 dismissals in 50overs cricket. However, there wasn't much else to draw from the three matches as it was one rare series where only four batsmen - namely openers Rahul, Karun Nair, Fazal (this match) and Ambati Rayudu - got a decent hit in the middle.

The entire middleorder - skipper himself, Kedar Jadhav, and Manish Pandey (two balls) - did not get a chance to bat thanks to the impressive effort by the bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah with 9 wickets from 3 games.

The nature of the contest has been of very poor quality as there was only one team which had its foot on the pedal.

No Rio visit for Indian men's archery team

Atanu Das

There will be no Indian men’s archery team at the Rio Games after the trio lost to Malaysia in the final qualifying tournament at Antalya, Turkey, last week.

Needing to finish in the top three, the recurve team of Jayanta Talukdar, Atanu Das and Mangal Singh Champia got past Turkey in the first round before losing to Malaysia in the quarter- finals and bowing out of contention. The match was tied 5-5 after regulation time and went to a shoot- off. The Malaysian trio of Khairul Anuar Mohamad, Haziq Kamaruddin and Muhammad Akmal Nor Hasrin managed a total of 28 ( 9+ 9+ 10) in the tiebreaker. The Indians could only manage 27 ( 10+ 9+ 8) with Talukdar coming up with the lowest score which proved decisive.

India lost 3- 5 to Brazil earlier, but that was in the first round of the Archery World Cup - Stage III, the sidelines of which the Olympic qualification event was being staged concurrently.

The Indian women’s recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Laishram

Bombayla Devi and Laxmirani Majhi had secured a spot for the Rio Olympics at the World Championships in Denmark last year, while Champia has also won an individual berth for the country.

The Archery Association of India will now hold selection trials in Bengaluru on June 25 to finalise the four contestants who will represent the country in Rio. The Indian men’s trio was the top seeds owing to their performance in the qualifying round. They did just enough to beat Turkey but were piped by the Malaysians. The troika of Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai had managed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics at the last opportunity, but the Indians could not manage to book a spot this time round.

The federation is understandably miffed at the failure of the team to book an Olympic spot. “It was such a great opportunity and could not point to any mitigating circumstances,” a senior AAI official said.

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Asian Voice | 25th June 2016

Silver for India in Hockey Champions Trophy

India settled for their maiden silver medal in the Hockey Champions Trophy when they were pipped by reigning world champions Australia 1-3 via a controversial penalty shootout on Friday. After the 60 minutes of regulation play remained goalless in the final, Australian goalkeeper Tyler Lovell denied S K Uthappa, S V Sunil and Surender Kumar in the penalty shootout to drive Australia to their 14th Champions Trophy title most by any side.

Harmanpreet Singh was the only scorer for India, while for Australia, Aran Zalewski, Daniel Beale, Simon Orchard succeeded.

Indian goalkeeper P R Sreejesh could only deny Trent Mitton. However, it was India’s best performance in the history of the tournament. India’s previous best performance in the Champions Trophy was a bronze medal in 1982.

India, up against the mighty Australians, put up a strong defensive display and showed good counterattacking skills. Mandeep Singh created the first potent chance in the ninth minute as his speedy run on the right caught the Australians off-guard. His shot at goalkeeper Andrew Charter was deflected to Uthappa but the latter employed a lethargic backhand strike to waste it as the Australians were less in numbers in front of the goal.

Australia broke through the Indian defence in the very next minute, earning a penalty corner.

India protest leave jury in a fix

Off-field drama marred the title showdown as the tournament jury spent one and a half to find a way out to India’s protest against a shootout infringement against Australia. The tournament jury seemed to be in a fix when India filed an appeal against the video umpire’s decision to retake the second attempt in the shootout. It took the jury multiple replays to find a way out of the embarrassing situation that kept the result pending.

India had complained that Daniel Beale’s shootout attempt was allowed to go on for more than 14 seconds and the obstruction that was cited took place outside the eight-second limit for such attempts. The score then was 1-0.

After an hour and a half of the match’s conclusion, the jury eventu-

ally discovered that the ball had rolled under Indian goalkeeper’s pad for a couple of seconds.

The jury now cited this as the cause why the shootout was re-taken.

But it still took the jury a lot of explanation to the Indian captain and coach before announcing that the result would stay.

Australia thus won the title, but both teams had to be ushered out of the ground, to send a signal for the crowd to go home. The medal presentation was then staged in the media interview room, away from the spotlight in the middle of the pitch. “The umpires have failed,” said Narender Batra, president of Hockey India, who vehemently protested from the VIP galleries.

“Is this the quality of umpires you post in the final of the Champions Trophy?” asked Batra.

But India saw off four backto-back penalty corners and in their moment of turnover, earned two penalty corners but they did not bear fruit. Australia mounted the pressure on India but the latter managed to stay strong, thanks to the heroics of central defender V R Raghunath. During a penalty corner defence, the ball kissed the legs of Uthappa, India’s final defender behind goalkeeper Sreejesh, resulting in a penalty stroke in the 18th minute. But Blake Govers hit it wide, much to the relief in the Indian camp. India too earned two penalty corners before the half-time but Australian goalkeeper Andrew Charter denied goal to Raghunath.

India upped the ante in the final few minutes of the third quarter with Mandeep Singh in the centre of the action. India launched a quick counter-attack after defending a penalty corner but Charter rushed out and halted Nikkin Thimmaiah.

Later, a byline cross from Mandeep was deflected away by Jeremy Hayward, who then halted Chinglensana Singh’s speedy run.

Changed goalkeeper Tyler Lovell then was tested by a reverse-hand strike from Akashdeep Singh, whose direct shot was padded out of danger. Both the teams tried their best but they failed to break the deadlock, taking the game to the shootout, where the Australians won and claimed the title for the seventh time in the last 16 years

Shastri, Patil lead the race to become India coach The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has zeroed in on 21 of the 57 applications for the post of Team India's chief coach and left it on the threemember advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to take the final call.

The shortlisting of the applications that had come in since June 1, 2016, concluded and board secretary Ajay Shirke, said in a statement: "The cricket advisory committee will process and scrutinize all the applications, conduct interviews and seek presentations from candidates as the committee deems fit." Shirke added that should the committee desire to look at all the 57 applications as well, the said will be made available to them.

Former BCCI joint secretary and selector Sanjay Jagdale has been appointed

Ravi Shastri

Sandeep Patil

the coordinator of this committee and will work with the former India legends on the appointment. The advisory committee is most likely to be caught in the middle of three impressive choices at their disposal. Ravi Shastri, by virtue of having worked with the Indian team as director and as someone who enjoys the support of skipper Virat Kohli; Sandeep Patil, by virtue of having been the chief national selector of the BCCI and having seen the circuit from very close quarters; and Anil Kumble, by

virtue of being a legendary ex-cricketer, an exceptional leader and a much respected voice in the game.

Sources following the developments say the final choice for the committee may remain between Patil and Shastri, in that order.

Kumble, for all his accomplishments as a cricketer, has only coached in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and both his assignments - first with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and later with the Mumbai Indians - ended disappointingly. More importantly,

Kumble does not meet the BCCI's first condition in the advertisement listed for the post.

Shastri, on the contrary, enjoys Kohli and his predecessor MS Dhoni's support a fact that won't be lost on those in charge of taking decisions. Patil, meanwhile, comes with experience, having been involved with the Indian national team as the chief selector since 2012 and of course his tenure as coach of the Kenyan national team that made it to the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup. Patil's term as selector is scheduled to end this year. Since the IPL does not qualify as First Class cricket, Kumble's candidature is likely to be ruled out for now. Between Shastri and Patil, the former hasn't coached at the international or First Class level but has been in-charge of the Indian team for almost 18 months.

Saina No. 3 in top grossers list

Despite winning only one of the six Super Series titles so far this year, Saina Nehwal is No.3 in the list of top earners for women badminton players in 2016.

Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying leads the pack with a prize money of $102,675 while Saina has pocketed $77,275. Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, whose fantastic show this year included three straight Super Series victories, claimed a handsome $97,800.

Tai, who is Saina's most feared opponent having beaten the Indian the last six times, catapulted to the top as she won the $950,000 Indonesia Open, which offers the second highest prize money for players. It fetches the singles champion $67,500. The $100,000 Dubai Super Series Finals offers the maximum for the shuttlers. In men's singles, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei tops the list with $109,800. China's Lin Dan ($53,825) is second while Jan O Jorgensen ($46,525) of Denmark is third. The strong show in Sydney has helped Saina move up two places to No.6 in the rankings. Despite her first round exit, Sindhu was static at No.10.

Kidambi Srikanth improved two places to No.11 in men's singles while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa dropped one spot to No.16 in women's doubles.

Lankan bowler's action ruled illegal

On the day that Sri Lanka fast bowler Shaminda Eranga was hospitalised for experiencing an elevated heartbeat, he was also suspended from bowling in international cricket for an illegal action. Eranga had been reported for a suspect action after the second Test against England at Chesterle-Street in May. He was evaluated at Loughborough on June 6 and results showed his elbow exceeded the permitted 15 degrees of flex in all of his deliveries. The ICC allows a bowler suspected of an illegal action to continue playing international cricket until the results of biomechanical testing on his bowling action are released.

Hence, Eranga was able to take part in the third Test against England at Lord's. He opened the bowling in both innings and picked up a match haul of 4 for 152.

Now, however, Eranga cannot bowl for his country until he gets his action approved by an ICC-accredited testing centre. This comes as a blow to Sri Lanka, who have already lost Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera to injury. With Eranga unavailable, Sri Lanka have three specialist seam bowlers, to go with two seam-bowling allrounders, to play England in the ODI series due to begin in Nottingham. Eranga can continue playing domestic cricket in his home country, with the permission of Sri Lanka Cricket.

Kohli in Shane Warne's T20 dream team

Australian legendary spinner Shane Warne named Royal Challengers Bangalore and India's Test skipper Virat Kohli in his select T20 XI in his best T20 team. The leg spinner posted his favorite T20 team on social media website Facebook. The team also included the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers along with the recently retired New Zealander Brendon McCullum. Warne’s middle order consisted of de Villiers at No.4 along with his former teammate Shane Watson at No. 5. West Indian duo Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo also made the cut at No. 6 and 7 respectively. Warne also picked up England's wicketkeeper Jos Butler at No.8, who was outstanding for his side during the T20 World Cup 2016. Mitchell Starc, Sunil Narine and current sensation Mustafizur Rahman completed his list of the best XI. Kohli leads the ICC rankings in T20I due to his sensational performances in recent T20 tournaments. But likes of Aaron Finch and Martin Guptill who are second and third respectively in the ICC rankings have not been included by the former Australian spinner.