AV 27th July 2019

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

BoJo’s MoJo Modi-Johnson "special relationship" in a post-Brexit UK for stronger ties with India

27 JULY - 2 AUGUST 2019 - VOL 48 ISSUE 13

inside: India launches mission to moon SEE PAGE 23

ICJ stays Jadhav’s execution SEE PAGE 25

India refutes Trump's 'mediation' claim in Kashmir dispute SEE PAGE 26 Full story on page 6

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onetoone WITH KEITH VAZ, MP

Kiran Panesar Kiran Panesar is a second-generation Sikh born in Walthamstow and settled in West London.

Her workplace is predominantly in Southall with clients spread across England and Wales. She is an accredited Senior Advisor and Supervisor in Immigration, Asylum and Human Rights Law awarded by the Law Society.

Kiran has 30 years’ experience in this field in which she has had the privilege of working at the same legal firm - Sriharans Solicitors. She has conducted thousands of cases in Immigration and Human Rights Appeals ranging from the Immigration Tribunal, High Court, Court of Appeal, House of Lords and in the European Court of Human Rights.

She also has the additional responsibilities of being Practice Manager of the firm and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) authorised by the Law Society. She is multilingual with fluency in Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu.

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Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?

I am most homely in London and greatly appreciate the multiculturalism and diversity that is abundant around the city.

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What are your proudest achievements?

"I consider it a proud achievement every time an application or appeal conducted by

me is successful. Winning such cases makes me feel proud that I can provide a new lease of life for my clients.

I am proud of having the conduct of a particular case in the Court of Appeal which was a reported case under JD Congo and Others, where I represented WN (Gambia) in which guidance was given on how the “compelling reason” limb of the second tier appeals test was to be applied. I am also

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What inspires you?

I am inspired by the challenges of winning Asylum, human rights and Immigration cases, which is driven by my passion for changing lives and the satisfaction of providing life and safety to people as well as reuniting families and getting the blessings, praise and gratitude from the young and senior people from various ethnicities and nationalities.

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A fraudster who scammed around £130,000 savings from customers outside Tesco foyers faces prison.

Adahm Sheikh, aged 51, faces a 98-week prison sentence and 150 hours of community services after scamming homeowners who believed they would be refurbishing their kitchens and bathrooms.

The con artist is also facing a £59,354 penalty after more than 40 complaints were received by Trading Standards. These scams took place at a number of Tesco foyers, particularly

What are your long term goals?

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

I would like to change the immigration laws - not to be a hostile environment but to be humane, Firm and Fair to reflect the British values and way of life.

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

“Mahatma Gandhi – who believed in ‘ahimsa’ to achieving justice and harmony, which is lacking in the world today.

He was a man of incredible self-discipline and strength of will. I would love to learn from his conscious, productive and positive thinking.”

around areas in Harrow and Watford, operating under the titles of ‘Amazing Kitchens’ and ‘Home Improvement world’ between 2013 and 2016.

Tesco customers who fell for the scams would transfer money to Mr Sheikh for kitchen and bathroom remodelling yet failed to fully deliver refurbishments or offer any services at all. In response to complaints, Mr Sheikh was described to have a threatening manner or provided imaginative excuses such as being hit on the head with a

cricket bat and dealing with a blood clot.

Lord Toby Harris, Chair of National Trading Standards, said: “Mr Sheikh deliberately defrauded customers out of thousands of pounds and then used intimidating scare tactics to threaten them when they quite rightfully complained.

His actions were reprehensible, and I am pleased that he is now facing the justice he so richly deserves.”

Mr Sheikh also offered to take steps to refund £76,000 to customers following pleading guilty to the offences.

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The worst aspect about my current role is not being able to represent vulnerable or deserving clients who have been deprived of appeal rights and have no access to legal aid or justice

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And the worst?

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

The biggest influence is my mentor and senior partner of the firm Mr A Sriharan, who has been a celebrated Human Rights Lawyer for the last 30 years and served as a President of the Middx Law Society.

He has always pushed me to excel and encouraged me to believe in my own abilities. He has supported me throughout my career in which he has acted as a role model and inspiration to me through his guidance, motivation and emotional support for which I will forever be grateful for. His leadership qualities have developed me into the strong individual that I am today and taught me how to remain motivated in tough times when I most

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What is the best aspect about your current role?

I have three roles in my firm; acting mainly as a supervisor and caseworker in immigration and asylum law, Practice Management and Financial Management. The best aspect of my role is conducting cases in asylum and immigration and achieving positive outcomes.

My long-term goals are to continue working in this challenging area of law and do more legal work to serve the community.

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What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

As a legal professional, the biggest obstacle has been the change of culture in legal aid system which prevents access to justice due to a severe cut in legal aid for various groups of people. I try to do pro bono work as much as possible with the support of my firm, but a lot of clients still go unrepresented.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

ICJ verdict blow to Pakistan Several years ago a former Indian naval officer, Commander Kulbhusan Jadhav, on a visit to the Iranian province of Baluchistan, inadvertently strayed into Pakistani Baluchistan, currently in the grip of a local insurgency. Commander Jadhav was picked up by the Pakistan Army, arrested and tried by a military court and sentenced to death for aiding and abetting terrorism against the state. The trial was held in camera, and the prisoner denied Indian consular access. Such are the bald facts which prompted the Government of India to lodge an appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague, Netherlands.

The Court, consisting 16 Judges, including a Chinese Judge, (with Pakistan’s Justice Jilani dissenting) delivered a unanimous judgement last week, vindicating the Indian case by directing the Pakistan authorities to grant India consular access to the prisoner in accordance with the Vienna Convention to which Pakistan was a signatory.

It also held that the death sentence by military court was a violation of International Law, and hence Pakistan should refrain from carrying out the sentence of execution. A stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for review and reconsideration of the sentence, presumably by a civil court in public and not by a military court in secret.

The Court said Pakistan was remiss in not informing Jadhav of his rights, and by failing to inform India, Pakistan had breached its obligation under due process.

The India government and all shades of Indian opinion have hailed the judgement as a victory for the rule of law. The Pakistan government has claimed a victory of sorts, pointing out that that the Court had not accepted India’s submission to annul the Pakistani death sentence on Mr Jadhav.

‘Commander Jadhav shall remain in Pakistan. He shall be treated in accordance with the laws of Pakistan’, tweeted Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

In the circumstances, his note of defiance is understandable, but the story will not end there. Prime Minister Imran Khan, on his visit to Washington to reset ties with the United States, will have a hard time

convincing a recalcitrant President Trump that Pakistani laws conform to the grammar and spirit of the standard legal systems of the West and the rest of the civilized world. Under what law did Pakistani governments secretly harbour the jihadi fugitive Osma bin Laden or give protection and succour to Hafiz Saeed, the jihadi mastermind behind the terrorist assault on Mumbai in November 2008, in which some 167 innocent people perished. There will, for sure, be some blistering talk emanating from President Trump, not noted for pussyfooting with those he views, fairly or unfairly, as adversaries who have taken America for a ride in years gone by, defrauding its exchequer of billions of dollars with nothing in return. In this instance, at least, President Trump will respresent the voice of his nation, for Pakistan and its works have been conspicuously short of committed allies in Congress, indeed it is generally loathed across the aisle.

Whither Pakistan? Seriously short of cash , almost bankrupt, desperately in need of loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

There is, of course, all-weather friend, China. But all is not well there either. Beijing and Washington have locked horns in an expensive trade war. China’s current debt is 303 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Institute of International Finance. The figures may be contested, but not the slowdown of the Chinese economy.

Pakistan’s bloated military corners most of the nation’s wealth, leaving little for education, healthcare and infrastructure development. With the population at large averse to birth control measures and vaccination, its numbers are galloping towards doomsday levels. The Pakistan project of its founding father and his close associates may have been seeded in utopia, but has since descended into a fearful dystopia.

Imran Khan was once one of his country’s and the world’s all-time cricket greats. If he can rescue Pakistan from its plight, he will surely rank among history’s grandest and greatest statesmen. It’s an awesome challenge.

US-Turkey ties: Lessons for India US-Turkey ties are fraught, and becoming fraughter by the week. Turkey’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400f anti-ballistic missile system has deeply upset the Trump administration.

Turkey has been a close NATO ally of the United States for the past 7o years. Key US military bases have been, and are, based on Turkish territory; Turkey has by far NATO’s largest army and air force on the European continent; without Turkey NATO will have lost much of its sharpest teeth.

Turkey has security interests along the Syrian border; it perceives Kurdish nationalists as an existential threat; these issues were subsumed by an attempted coup by units of its armed forces to overthrow the Erdogan government. Many hundreds of lives lives were lost during this episode. The Obama administration was slow to respond to the crisis, presumably because the entire exercise was one of America’s attempts at regime change, for long a staple of American statecraft across party lines to maintain its global hegemony.

Such attempts are too well documented to need further elucidation. It has been part of the country’s self-perceived ‘exceptionalism’ and Manifest Destiny.

In this instance, regime change might have succeeded but for the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s timely tipoff to President Erdogan on what was afoot. A shift in the geopolitical tectonic plates followed, Turkish-Russian moved into a higher trajectory of mutual understanding. Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system duly followed, much to Washington’s annoyance and discomfiture.

The Trump administration responded by aborting the sale of US advanced F-35 stealth fighter aircraft, to which

around 100 Turkish companies have contributed with critical components. Turkey has lodged a protest with the United States on its disregard of the norms and spirit of the NATO alliance, refusing also to bow down to US diktat.

Should the breach continue, Turkey will turn to deepen military ties with Russia, undermining NATO itself. The subject with its many imponderables is best left here.

What are the lessons for India? India has never been a member of NATO, although the US Congress favours according it NATO status similar to that of South Korea and Israel, both registered military allies of the United States.

India has had a decades-old, time-tested relationship with Moscow to their mutual benefit. It fits in with the cardinal principal of Indian foreign policy, viz, to maintain its strategic autonomy.

International relations are not a zero sum game. Each relationship has its special dynamic based on shared national interests. Thus India and the United States are in close dialogue on China’s rise and its possible consequences for the Asia Pacific region. It has similar concerns with Japan on the subject.

However, like Turkey, India has refused to abort its acquisition of Russia’s S-400f anti-ballistic missile system or other Russian weaponry - of which Moscow has been a trusted supplier, when the US banned high technology exports to India – and these time-tested arrangements and understandings are unlikely to change going forward. As the writer Harold Nicolson remarked, the most effective diplomacy is based on proven trust. No short-term expedients can replace it as insurance of desired patnership.

Inspirational Kane Williamson New Zealand cricket captain and star batsman Kane William won the plaudits of every cricketer past as an exemplar of true sportsmanship in facing up to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in the ODI World Cup final at lord’s, which, alas, his side lost. The tie with England was one neither side deserved to lose, so close was the result. But England prevailed and carried the day.

India’s over indulged stars, some of whom believe they are bigger than the game, have lessons to learn.

Most owe their bogus reputation to mass hysteria brought on by media hype.

Think of the modest media exposure of PV Sindhu, India’s women badminton champion, and of the remarkable 19 year-old woman Hima Das from a humble Assamese background, who has won a series of gold medals in 200 and 400 metre races across Europe in testing international athletic meetings. Hima has donated half her prize money to the victims of Assam’s floods. Her grace and modesty and talent put to shame the pretentious posturing of India’s cricketing mediocrities, with their glib one-liners and tutored responses – hollow men indebted to partially sighted selectors. India pays more deserves more from its principal national sport.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

- Winston Churchill

“Our London” Navin Shah

GLA Member for Brent and Harrow

Safety of Temples Asian Voice front page article covering the vandalism incidents on the Shree Ram Mandir in Walsall, reaffirms the need for increased security across religious places of worship across the country. The incidents saw, sacred statues outside the temple destroyed. This follows a number of incidents involving Temples in London such as Swaminarayan temples in Brent, Harrow and a Sri Lankan temple in Harrow. I am deeply concerned with the safety of religious spaces across London and the country, particularly in these tumultuous and divisive political times.

The latest data from the Metropolitan Police’s hate crime dashboard shows that in the twelve months to May 2019, there were 1,033 recorded religious or racially motivated hate crime incidents in my constituency of Harrow and Brent. In this climate of a worrying tide of hate crime incidents and the horrific terror attacks in Christchurch and Sri Lanka it is important for communities to feel safe in their places of worship.

We quite rightly expect and demand protection from Government, Local Councils and Police but in the age of austerity funding is scarce. In my view community organisations and faith groups need to join hands to see what they can collectively do to protect themselves through better security of their premises.

I am committed to working with the Mayor of London, local councils, police and stakeholders to support our community organisations and faith groups who contribute so much to the wellbeing of Londoners and promotion of culture and spiritual values.

In November last year, I raised concerns with the Met Police and Harrow Council after the London Ayyppan Temple in Harrow was attacked and vandalised on two separate occasions.

Following joint support from myself, Met Police and Harrow Council, the Temple was able to access Home Office funding to boost security. I have also worked closely with Willesden and SKSS Temples in the aftermath of the burglaries to see how best they can secure the temple and reassure the community that it is safe to visit our temples.

As a proactive approach to promote safety, this month, I co-hosted a Community & Faith Engagement Roundtable with Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, Debbie-Weekes Bernard, alongside London’s community and faith group leaders from the Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities. Nearly 30 representatives from across London participated in discussions and the issue of security at places of worship was high up on the agenda. Security experts from the Community Security Trust (a Jewish Charity), Thrive London and Met Police made vital contributions to the discussions giving advise on security. It was noted that in March, the Government doubled its places of worship fund to £1.6 million which has been set up to provide financial support for faith groups to introduce physical protective security measures such as fencing, lighting and CCTV. I continue to work with the leaders of our faith groups and would be happy to guide groups that may be concerned about security of their places of worship. You can contact me on navin.shah@london.gov.uk Editor: CB Patel Asian Voice is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

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Moped muggers rob finance director and husband at Hampstead home A woman robbed by masked men at knifepoint in one of the most affluent areas of London has slammed the police after watching her husband 'nearly murdered' by the robbers.

Wealthy financier Ratun Lahiri, 51, said she now lives in fear in her home in Hampstead, in a street she shares with ambassadors and football stars, saying she 'might as well move to Malaysia'.

On July 14 Ms Lahiri, managing partner at a venture fund, had returned from dinner with the Indian high commissioner and the Indian commerce minister when she saw two masked men in helmets dressed in black on a moped. She and her husband, a fellow financier who was driving their Mercedes, pulled up to park at their home at around 9.20pm to find when the moped did a U-turn and drove to her passenger-side

Ratun Lahiri, 51, pictured with her husband

window. She opened the window to ask if she could help, at which point the pillion rider on the back of the moped sprinted to the driver's side. As he drove away, preventing the mugger opening the door, the criminal 'tapped' on the window, she explained, 'and the whole glass shattered'.

The moped rider put his hands through the window and opened the door, deacti-

vating the central locking system and brandishing a knife. As her husband tried to close the door and said he did not wear a watch, the robber told Ms Lahiri to 'tell him to give me his watch or I'm going to stab him'.

Ms Lahiri had managed to prise off her wedding rings and a diamond watch, which she had put by her feet.

The robber demanded

her watch then yanked her bracelet, a family heirloom with nine gems set in gold, from her wrist. He also forcefully stole a gold wedding band which she had not taken off for 26 years, leaving a deep scar. 'He would have hacked my hand to get it off,' she said. He also saw her watch by her feet and stole it , before the two men sped off on their moped.

Ms Lahiri said that she feels let down by the police, who took 25 minutes to come. She provided registration plate of the moped, which was stolen, but no one was sent to chase it, she said.

The Metropolitan Police are treating the incident as a robbery. Scotland Yard said that it had conducted doorto-door inquiries and was gathering CCTV footage. No arrests have been made.

The force cancelled medical treatment after deciding that the couple had suffered only minor injuries.

Swansea City footballer Yan Dhanda opens up on racist abuse he experienced growing up Swansea City star Yan Dhanda has revealed how he was racially motivated to make it in professional football after being called the Pword during kickabouts growing up as a kid in the west Midlands.

The 20-year-old went from his local park, in Tipton, to the first-team squad at the Liberty Stadium after spells in the West Brom and Liverpool youth teams.

Dhanda was a regular in the youth side of the sixtimes Champions League winners before leaving Merseyside for south Wales in May last year. He has also been capped at under-16 and under-17 level for England and is one of the very few professional players in the British game, who is of Asian descent.

There's around a dozen

Yan Dhanda

Asians currently playing professionally in the four divisions with former Swan, Aston Villa and Wales defender Neil Taylor, whose mother is a Bengali from Kolkata, and Leicester’s Hamza Choudhury among the highest profile.

Dhanda himself is of mixed race: English on his mother’s side and Punjabi on his father’s. But it didn't stop him being subjected to the

P-word when growing up.

He told The Guardian: “It was from random people who’d either be playing with me and my friends or against us.

“They’d say things like, ‘he’s a Paki, he’s never going to make it [as a footballer]’.

I’ve also heard it a few times since – ‘Paki this, Paki that’, again from random people.

"But it never affected me. It just made me want to prove those people wrong.

Growing up, I never really thought about why there were so few Asians in football – I was purely focused on making it myself. But now it does ring alarm bells.

“My dad also helped me deal with racism. From a young age he told me that if people said horrible stuff to me they were stupid and I should just ignore them.

Which is what I’ve always done.

“It’s important that as many Asians as possible make it at the highest level.

We’re role models for the next generation and they need to see football is for them. If you love doing something and want to make it your career, you should be able to do so, regardless of your background.”

Dhanda made a sensational start to his Swansea career, scoring with his first touch in professional football off the bench against Sheffield United last season.

He found first-team opportunities harder to come by as the campaign progressed, but with Steve Cooper at the helm in SA1, he will be hoping for more game-time this time round.

Rotherham grooming gang brothers given £500k in legal aid Three "pure evil" brothers have received up to £500,000 in legal aid after raping children in Rotherham - while dozens of their victims have yet to receive any compensation.

The Hussain brothers, who poured petrol over their victims, are said to have "owned" the South Yorkshire town for more than 10 years.

Some girls were just 11 years old when they were raped, tied up and tortured and passed between abusers.

Ringleader Arshid, 42, was jailed for 35 years, Bannaras 19 years, and Basharat was given 25 years.

Sammy Woodhouse, 34, one of their 50 victims, said: "This is completely outrageous and immoral.

"They have probably

received 25 per cent more money than what the survivors of their abuse have had in total as compensation.

"Something needs to be put in place to stop these people just laughing at the system and milking the taxpayer dry."

Former youth worker Jayne Senior MBE, who helped expose the scandal, said: "I'm totally shocked and horrified.This is terrible.

"These rapists and abusers are pure evil but they've had almost half a million pounds spent on them, yet these poor girls get nothing.

"It feels like the judicial system is not set up to protect victims of some of the most horrendous crimes of

in brief PARAMEDIC CONFISCATES TERRIFYING GIANT MACHETE FROM PATIENT Jaw-dropping footage has revealed a paramedic holding the giant machete he confiscated from a suspected drug addict.

The patient was under the influence of crack cocaine and the synthetic spice-like drug Black Mamba when he had his bag confiscated in Birmingham city centre.

After discovering a foot-long Ayaz the paramedic confiscated a machete and a broken pair of blade and a broken pair of scissors, the paramedic posted scissors from a man who was on crack cocaine and Black Mamba his findings on social media.

'Whilst treating he was agitated and reaching for his bag.

Upon inspection this is what he was reaching for, and it was appropriately confiscated. Luckily no one was hurt and police dealt with the situation accordingly. Crazy to think that someone had been walking amongst us in a busy area carrying these weapons. And they were seized before any manic episodes.'

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed that a crew attending to a patient in Birmingham on Thursday evening reported finding a number of weapons in a rucksack that the man was carrying. 'The crew immediately asked for police to attend the scene. The patient, who was disorientated, was taken to hospital for further assessment and treatment,' said the spokesman.

West Midlands Police said they could not comment without knowing the name of the street where the incident happened.

PROTEST APPEARS OUTSIDE NOTTINGHAM PRIMARY SCHOOL AGAINST SEX EDUCATION AND LGBT LESSONS

The demonstrators (pictured) are opposed to relationship and sex education (RSE) lessons being delivered, including lessons which discuss LGBT relationships

Protesters were demonstrating outside a primary school to highlight their opposition to sex education and LGBT lessons.

Dozens of people gathered near Fernwood Primary School in Wollaton, Nottingham Tuesday. The demonstrators are opposed to relationship and sex education (RSE) lessons being delivered, including lessons which discuss LGBT relationships. There was also a counter-demonstration taking place from those who support such lessons at the Arleston Drive school. Nottinghamshire Police said they were 'monitoring the situation'. The organiser, Ayaz Ahmed - who lives in Nottingham but also took part in recent protests outside Birmingham schools - said the Wollaton protest was 'a last resort' and insisted he did 'not want to create division in the community'. Nottingham City Council leader, Cllr David Mellen, described the protest as 'worrying and alarming' and urged parents to not listen to the 'misinformation' from the group. Protester Amir Ahmed, from Birmingham, : 'These lessons are indoctrinating children that LGBT relationships are normal. Traditional families are about modesty and chastity. They are diminishing. Just as their family structure is important to them, our structure is important to us.

ABUSIVE PARENTS ARE MAKING TEACHERS' LIVES HELL BY POSTING PERSONAL ATTACKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Arshid, Basharat and Bannaras Hussain formed a violent, gun-toting, drug-dealing gang

abuse, torture and trafficking this country has ever seen."

Sammy, who gave birth to a son after being raped by Arshid and is fighting social workers' attempts to allow the rapist access to the now

17-year-old child, also slammed "public servants at the police and council" who "failed" to do their jobs.

Solicitor David Greenwood revealed just 16 of his 86 cases have been finalised.

Nightmare parents are making teachers’ lives hell with personal attacks on Facebook and emails at every hour of the day, schools inspectors warn. Ofsted said many fail to help when children are naughty and in some cases even encourage bad behaviour. Others form ‘mobs’ to shout at staff at the school gates if they disagree with its rules. The watchdog’s end-of-year survey found a lack of support from parents is a key factor in the poor well-being of teachers.

Teachers said parents emailed in the middle of the night expecting an ‘instant response’, calling the school in the morning if they did not get one.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

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YUVA UNSTOPPABLE SUPPORTS A STREET FOOD SELLER TO BECOME A DOCTOR – “GIVES WINGS TO HIS DREAM” According to the census carried out, it is to be noted that the literacy rate of India is 74.04%. So basically25.96% of the population is illiterate. A major reason for illiteracy is lack of financial support. Many students drop out of school at a very tender age because their parents do not have sufficient money to educate their child. There are many of those who do not even get a chance to enroll themselves as a result, just increasing the illiteracy rate and after a few years’ time unemployment rate.

Abhishek Khushwa, a 17 year old resident of India, is an epitome of a firm determination. He used to attend school in the morning and tuitions in the afternoon after which he would assist his father to sell pani-puri (Indian Street Food) in the streets of Ahmedabad, India.

After facing police harassment, His family moved to another city in search of better opportunities.

He, However, refused to go along with his parents as he loved going to school everyday.

Fighting against these odds, He would sell pani-puri all alone after school hours for his daily bread and butter and would study until late night. Despite these devastating circumstances, He scored 71% (Distinction) in his 10th Grade.

Becoming doctor in India costs more than what he could earn. After his 10th grade, When Yuva Unstoppable (NGO based in India) accidently met him, He was about to drop out as he could not afford fees for a school. A eduationalscholarship by Yuva Unstoppable was not only a monetary assistance but also an only ray of hope which ignited his dream again. Now he is currently pursuing his education in 11th science (Medical stream). Even today, He runs his pani-puri shop, But now with a determination to move from streets to top instituion for Medical science in India and uplift those who have had similar struggles as he had. Yuva Unstoppable has empowered him to take a road of brighter future and has moved his life forever.

Along with Scholarship he also gets regular mentorship from the organization The objective is to provide financial support and related expenses to those students who deserve and do not have financial support to pay the school fees and eventually dropout. Research shows that the highest dropout is after 8th standard reason being financial problems.

Just like Abhishek, YUVA Unstoppable has benefitted 5,00,000 children across India by providing 1000 educational scholarships to briliant yet needy students with rigourus selection process and have also transformed 1000 Municipal schools across India wherein Deloitte is their Process review partner and KPMG does the financial & tax audit.

Sponsored Charity of Asian Achievers Awards 2019

To know more about Yuva Unstoppable please visit www.yuvaunstoppable.org.

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BORIS, BREXIT AND HIS CABINET Priyanka Mehta Boris Johnson has finally achieved his long-standing dream of being the UK's Prime Minister. For the former “journalist” turned politician, occupying home at Downing Street is a jewel in his crown. But political pundits are betting over his tenure, his new cabinet and policies that will be unveiled under his contradictory “multiple personality” premiership. Ahead of it all though, the former foreign secretary will be tested on delivering the Brexit clincher.

All eyes will be glued on his diplomatic skills in negotiating with the EU and forging “special bonds” with countries such as India.

BORIS, BRUSSELS AND BREXIT The EU under Donald Tusk and Juncker had sent out a clear message: No further negotiations. Now, the European Commission's newly elected President, Ursula von der Leyen, has said that she is willing to grant the UK another extension to the Brexit talks if London comes up with good reasons.

Although he has earlier advocated for a no-deal Brexit, Johnson had also written two letters- one in favor of leaving the EU while the other against that choice. It seemed as if he was clarifying his thoughts around the subject.

Does this mean that he will be successful in charming the European MEPs and go down in history books for overturning the UK's Halloween nightmare?

“I hope that he will be a strong leader and use his negotiation skills to avoid a damaging hard or a no-deal Brexit.

“Sadly, experience leads me to believe instead his lack of attention to detail (Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe), his indifference to the truth (almost all of his career), and complete lack of principle, always willing to seek the most populist line (two letters, one for leave and one for remain), makes him totally unsuited to office and a danger to this country and everyone here,” said Virendra Sharma MP for Ealing Southall.

Many have likened his impulsive decisionmaking personality to that of A m e r i c a n President Donald Trump. But many across the political spectrum argue that unlike Trump, Johnson allows himself to be guided by those around him: his cabinet.

CABINET Speculation is rife that in a major reshuffle of the cabinet, some Indianorigin MPs and Asian politicians can be promoted to key decision-making portfolios.

Rishi Sunak grabbed the spotlight when he had said, “he wouldn't support Boris if he was racist”. Sunak, who is currently parliamentary under-secretary of state at the ministry of housing, can be made chief secretary to the treasury. In the meantime, another “ally of Boris” who has been at the forefront of “cutting deals” is the present Home Secretary. Sajid Javid has been eyeing for the keys to No. 11 before he formally even announced his support to Johnson. Alok Sharma, currently minister of state for employment at the department of work and pensions, is also tipped for a higher position. He can return to the housing and communities department as secretary of state.

London. According to data obtained from London & Partners (L&P), the Mayor of London's promotional agency, FDI from India into London increased by 255 percent from 2017 to 2018. While China is included on a list of countries offered easier UK student visa application norms is one of the preferential routes currently not open to India.

Priti Patel Sajid Javid “London and UK's continuing position as a world leader in higher education and research needs supportive policies.

This is why we – along with London’s institutions – have called on the Government to introduce clear post-study routes of up to two years for international students considering the UK as a place to study.

Alok Sharma Rishi Sunak “It remains to be seen whether the UK can secure Among those leading the a trade agreement with India faster headlines however is Priti Patel, former than the EU – however, businesses International Development Secretary. have been very clear that exiting the EU She can be rewarded with either being without a withdrawal agreement and the new Home Secretary or being relying on World Trade Organisation appointed as the International Trade rules will cause significant harm to Secretary. These names only vouch for London and the UK's economy,” said greater representation of the ethnic Rajesh Agrawal, minority in the government. More sigDeputy Mayor of nificantly, this is indicative of a rejuveLondon for nated UK-India relationship in the Business. post-Brexit UK. Boris previ“India is in a great position to fulfill ously married to the skills gap left by Brexit. The new Marina Wheeler Prime Minister is no stranger to the whose mother loyalty and success of Indians for the was Indian and United Kingdom. Indians are already has attended two punching well above their weight for of Indian Journalists’ Association’s dinBritain. ners. At one of the events he celebrated “We look forward to working with 70 years of India’s independence as forPrime Minister Boris Johnson to eign secretary. Although, Boris has strengthen ties with the Indian diaspoTurkish DNA and a special connection ra in the UK and with India, a key partwith India, he is also embroiled in conner post-Brexit,” said Rami Ranger, troversy around Islamophobia and Co-Chairman, racism.

Conservative Friends of India.

ISLAMOPHOBIA But strengthening bilateral “When Boris Johnson made the comand economic ties ments about the face veil, we had with India has Muslim women sharing their concerns always been with us, with one stating that 'such haunted by stickcomments have real consequences for lers around securreal women ing a visa for in the real Indian students and professionals. Will world' – and Johnson and his team be able to fix the that goes to UK's broken immigration system? the crux of the issue. It is INDIA AND IMMIGRATION perfectly possible to “I think the new Home Secretary will express your have to re-think the immigration poliopinions on cy. a matter “We saw a tug of war between Sajid without needing to resort to objectifyJavid and Theresa May concerning the ing and dehumanising Muslim women. hostile environment policy. I think We have previously shared our disapwhoever becomes the Home Secretary pointment that he was found not guilty under Boris Johnson, would not face of having broken the Conservative the same presParty's code of conduct, as we felt that sures of clamping this would only go towards legitimising down on numbers prejudice and hate towards Muslim as they did under women.

May. There is no “But, we need a Prime Minister that doubt that his will help promote women's empowerinstincts are proment, not inadvertently hinder it,” said immigration Nazmin Akthar, Chair of Muslim especially in the Women's Network UK. context of skilled However, in a letter welcoming the migration,” said new Prime Minister, Harun Khan, Sunder Katwala, Director, British Secretary General of the MCB, said, Future.

“We wish, our new Prime Minister, Indian businesses employ around well as he attempts to navigate the 50,000 people in London and are the country through the Brexit process.” second-biggest foreign investors in

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'Removing my tattoos has been a part 12 year old Indian-origin girl beats Stephen of accepting myself’ : Payzee Mahmod Hawking and Albert Einstein’s IQ Following the new truecrime drama ‘Honour’ based on victim Banaz Mahmod’s honour killing, her sister, Payzee has now decided to share her story. She has never publicly spoken about her sister before; and has actively campaigned against child marriage and honorbased violence.

“I’m working with various charities like IKWRO on a campaign called girls not brides. It’s basically to push the legal age of marriage to the age of 18 because at the moment the age is 16,” said Payzee.

Payzee started to get her tattoos around the time of her sister's death in 2006.

She got her first tattoo, an inscription of her name on her left breast following an

impulsive decision.

“When my sister passed away I was 18 and having my tattoos was almost a way to cope with my pain. The person I was when I got my tattoos to the person I am now has been a huge growth and I’m finally on my way to accepting my truth and becoming myself,” she said.

However, now Payzee has been visiting Pulse Light Clinic for a consultation for

the removal of her tattoos.

Pulse Light Clinic London was founded in 2000, and had started as the only clinic in London offering laser treatments for Rosacea developed with a precise technique involving IPL trechnology along with a well balanced diet provided by nutritional therapy. For any further information contact Nina: pr@pulselightclinic.co

Infosys co-founder awarded honorary doctorate by Royal Holloway Infosys co-founder, an IT veteran N R Narayana Murthy has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Royal Holloway, University of London, on Friday for his contribution to the field of computer science and the role model he represents in India and on the global

stage.

The ceremony was held at the university's campus in Egham, Surrey. Murthy was joined by students from the Department of Computer Science who received their undergraduate and postgraduate degree certificates in the field of Computer Science.

19

A 12 year old Indian-origin girl from Birmingham has scored 162 in Mensa test recently, higher than Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein who had an IQ of 160.

Ritisha Baidyaray’s IQ is now among the highest 1% of the world population.

Her dad Dr Rudraprasad Baidyaray a Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon and mum Dr Moumita Chattopadhyay, a Dermatologist, are both originally from Kolkata, India.

Ritisha a Year 7 student of the renowned King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham, has also won an academic scholarship and the prestigious foundation scholarship in the entrance examination of the school. Her major achievements began as early as 2016, when she won the

In a statement, Murthy said, “It is a great privilege to receive this award and I am grateful to Royal Holloway for recognising me in this way. I am honoured to be joining this new generation as they graduate. They are each about to take their next steps in what I hope will be produc-

N R Narayana Murthy

She regularly takes part in cultural activities including Bengali recitations all over UK. From performing in the London City Pavilion before an audience of more than 2000 to showcasing her recitations and musical Ritisha Baidyaray with her parents talent on television UK National Junior streaming live worldwide, Language Challenge there is no end to her accoChampionship at the age of lades. Ritisha is on the high9 years and as part of the est grades of viola, violin, £5000 prize money visited a piano and singing and a school in Malawi, Africa. member of the orchestra in She topped the Birmingham the highly acclaimed Royal Grammar School Birmingham Conservatoire.

Consortium examination in She also plays in the school 2017 by obtaining the highSymphony Orchestra and is est marks recorded in the part of the school choir. She history of the examination has won several competitill date. tions in Music and Speech However, Ritisha balfestivals. In the future she ances her academic life with wants to be an cultural and musical life. entrepreneur. tive and positive careers.”

He exuded confidence that the graduates, with their knowledge and skills, would make a positive difference to the world.

Infosys which today is among the largest IT services companies globally, generates over $3 billion in quarterly revenues.

Murthy received Padma Vibhushan in 2008, Padma

Shri in 2000 and Legion of Honour in 2008. His son in law, Rishi Sunak is a Conservative MP. His wife, Sudha Murthy, is a social worker and author. She does philanthropic work through the Infosys Foundation. In 2007, he was honoured with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen.

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AWARDS CATEGORIES Achievement in Community Service Woman of the Year Sports Personality of the Year Business Person of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award Uniformed and Civil Services Entrepreneur of the Year Professional of the Year Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture 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.

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As I See It

From nowhere to somewhere, and towards the sky CB Patel

Dear Readers,

Back in 1957, the Soviet Union shocked the USA and the world by launching the first ever artificial satellite Sputnik. A couple of years later, in 1960, then American President John F Kennedy stood in front of the Congress and pledged that the USA be the first country to put man on the moon.

"We choose to go to the Moon", he said.

Nine years after the monumental speech, on July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon.

Ever since then, Russia, the USA, China, now India, and other countries have joined the race. One, that was started by the Soviet Union.

It was almost around at the same time, that the journey of British Indians/Asians began. Before 1957, there was only a miniscule presence of Indians in the UK. It is well-known that they hugely worked in a rubber factory in Southall. Predominantly Sikhs, the migrants were personnel demoted from the British Army and recruited to work in the factory. In the late 40s and early 50s, mostly Pakistanis from Mirpur, and a handful of Bengalis migrated to the UK. Many of them involved themselves in the textile and wood industry in Lancashire/Yorkshire, while others joined the metal industry in Midlands. As the numbers of British Asians increased, so did the “Internal trade”. However, their prominent entry into the FMCG market happened in the 50s and 60s. In last week's Gujarat Samachar, we published an obituary of Ramanbhai Purushottamadas Patel.

Born in 1922, in Ras, India, he lost his mother at the age of 3 and was raised by his grandmother Jaravarba. Ramanbhai was a keen sportsman, good wrestler and swimmer in school and had a number of medals in both sports including two life saving medals. He married Taraben in 1942, and later arrived in the UK to study in 1952.

Ramanbhai was a qualified motor mechanic and worked Frase Nash, Formula One (F1) and Ford in Dagenham.

In 1958, he opened his first grocery store in Westbourne Park, West London.

He later went on to own several stores in West Hampstead, Blackheath, West Hendon, Croydon and Queens Park. His wife passed away in 1983, and he himself became a paraplegic in 1990 and spent the remaining of his life in a wheelchair.

Despite his limitations, he continued to visit India every year from 1994 to 2010.

Ramanbhai is survived by three daughters and grandchildren. His third daughter Bhawanaben was one of his biggest supporter and took care of him until his last breath. She holds a big post in the civil services.

I personally knew Ramanbhai for a long time, and have been an admirer for as long as I've known. We spoke often and eventhough he was limited to a wheelchair, his spirit was indomitable. I share his story because over the years, I have met and seen many Ramanbhais, who arrived to the UK and grew here. I would like to give my own humble example. While I came here to study law, very soon, marginal funds pushed me into working in the financial services. I worked retail in 1968, and in the next seven years, I, along with my group of friends were running 10 different shops prior to my call in the publishing industry.

The Kenya exodus happens to be a turning point in the history of Indian/Asian migration to the UK. In 1968-69, a large number of Asian population, voluntarily

migrated to the UK. The numbers there in 1963 was around 180,000. By 73, the numbers had gone down to 80,000. Today, over 100,000 people or more have Kenya connections, as do equal number of people from Uganda and Tanganyika. It is admirable how the African dukawalas soon became to be known as "Cornershop Owners". It is a fact, that you could go anywhere in the UK and chances are that you will find an Asian corner shop owner.

Back in 1990, Margaret Thatcher wrote in an article for ‘Asian Business’ magazine that, "Asians move everywhere voluntarily, dispersal is in their nature." Almost 40,000 shops within the M25 were brought by East African Asians in the late 70s and early 80s.

I remember having conversations with some wholesalers, who said, "Napolean Bonaparte once said England is the country of shopkeepers, now it is the country of Asian shopkeepers."

I have to admit, the main reason behind the opening of shops was discrimination. I remember not even qualified Asian men got proper jobs. I have known doctors and engineers who worked hard for long hours and still twiddling at the lowest level of career growth. Rampton Report on Inner London Education said Asian shopkeepers work very hard, and sacrifice a lot to make sure they bring good education to their children.

Today, you see a good number of Asian penetration in different sectors. Chances are, their parents were shopkeepers. I must also acknowledge that British education gave them the confidence that now reflects in them. Lord Gadhia once spoke in the House of Lords and said that over 1/5th of high value jobs are held by British Indians.

A Sikh railway employee in East Africa, came to the UK and bought a post office.

His son is now one of the most successful hoteliers in the UK. Jasminder Singh. With 12 luxury hotels in the UK, he is now building a brand new hotel in Leicester Square investing £300 million, within three miles of his father's post office. Such examples are many. Sir Anwar Pervez opened his first small retail store in 1963 in London's Earl Court. In 1976, he opened his first wholesale warehouse in Acton, West London.

The company later grew into a multibillion-pound organisation. Bestway is now the second largest independent wholesaler in the UK. Sir Anwar Pervez is also the biggest cement manufacturer in Pakistan.

There are also the Dhamechas. Any such entrepreneur or professional has been nurtured by their parents or grandparents.

Even in their success, they remember their upbringing with utmost gratitude.

Our Kenya exodus magazine is in the final stages of production, and it has truly been a journey for me. I have personally gone threw each and every story sent to me, and have taken pride in whatever I have read. Every single struggle, no matter how big or small in scale, has led our community to what it is today. Fortunately, despite our prosperity, our hearts has managed to stay connected with its roots.

Working on the publication has led me to think what about the next generation?

We are law-abiding, hardworking citizens.

What are our children's future? My brief worry was quickly answered by myself. I am optimistic and know there will be a positive geometrical progress. From retail to a large booming business, the younger generation moved on to an unknown territory. We are repaying this country as well as bridging with our ancestors.

Success is not confined to an individual, it is in fact, an international mode of cooperation within communities. I wish good luck to our future torchbearers, and hope that every bit of everything we have build for them as one society, contributes to their well-being.

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Remembering Cathie

Honouring the contribution of women to the Hindu community Frank Ward, one of the most proactive individuals in the 10 year campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna Temple from public closure (1986- 1996), led a memorial service there in memory of his late wife Cathie on 14 July.

“The physical and mental support I received from Cathie during the campaign made it possible for me to render my services in full for the Hindu community, to ensure that the holy shrine of Bhaktivedanta Manor would be open for public worship.

“At one point in the campaign we needed to adopt a strategy of civil disobedience, which could well have resulted in my arrest and a custodial sentence.

This failed to deter Cathie, whose only response was ‘I will always support you, even if it means prison.’

On behalf of Akhandadhi das (Temple President from 1982 – 1996), Temple Spokesperson, Radha Mohan das said “…Of course the efforts of Frank in helping to save Bhaktivedanta Manor are well known. But he wasn’t alone. Cathie’s time and sacrifice was just as much Frank’s. Cathie’s support of her husband was recognised and respected across the

Frank and Cathie Ward with their daughter Clare on left and Mr CB Patel, at a function in the House of Commons in commemoration of the Campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manor, organised by the Asian Voice

Hindu community.

Moreover she was very respectful and understanding of the culture and she looked great in a sari!

“The fact that Bhaktivedanta Manor’s doors are wide open is something our younger members do not and should not take anything for granted, for it came after a long legal struggle.

“And everyone should know, that behind every great man there is an even greater woman. There are actually many unsung heroes from those Campaign days, and a great many of them are women.

Frank Ward added

“Cathie was only one of the many thousands of ladies within the Hindu community who shared the trenches with the Manor’s Patrons Council and Hare Krishna Temple Defense Movement.”

“The ladies made the protest banners and accompanied their children on marches to demonstrate their defiance, and at the end of the day still find time to cook and feed thousands of other participants. They were remarkable.

“Although many ladies may have appeared translucent, they performed vital services until the bitter end, when victory was achieved”.

Independent expert appointed to advise on Islamophobia definition An independent adviser has been appointed to provide expert advice on a definition of Islamophobia to the Government.

Imam Qari Asim MBE, Deputy Chair of the AntiMuslim Hatred Working Group will lead a process for establishing a definition of Islamophobia. He will be joined by a second adviser to be confirmed in due course.

This new work will build on the definitions of Islamophobia currently being considered, including the APPG definition. It will also draw on a wide range of opinions and work in close collaboration with the cross-Government AntiMuslim Hatred Working Group, to ensure that it commands broad support with Muslims and the wider society.

Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said, “The Government is wholeheartedly committed to ensuring that Muslims are not targeted for hatred, persecution or discrimination.

“Imam Asim’s appointment marks a further step in helping us to achieve that goal and ensures that we

Imam Qari Asim MBE

develop an effective definition of Islamophobia which commands widespread support.”

Imam Qari Asim MBE told Asian Voice, “To tackle the alarming rise in antiMuslim sentiment, it is imperative that Islamophobia is defined.

“I am deeply committed to working across Muslim communities and with relevant stakeholders to formulate a legally robust, comprehensive and workable definition of Islamophobia.

“I am honoured to be entrusted with this role, which will have a far reaching impact in protecting British Muslims and tackling anti-Muslim hatred.”

The Government agrees there needs to be a formal

definition of Islamophobia to help strengthen our efforts against anti-Muslim hatred. But there are questions around the APPG definition, as concerns have been raised that the APPG definition could unintentionally undermine freedom of speech, and prevent legitimate criticism of Islamist extremism, or of unacceptable cultural practices. This is a matter that needs careful consideration.

The Communities Secretary announced earlier this year that we would instead be appointing two advisers to drive the process of establishing a definition on Islamophobia forward and lead work on making recommendations for the Government to consider.

The advisers will work with the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group which will continue to engage with Muslims and address hate and discrimination.

Imam Qari Asim MBE was appointed for his experience working with a broad range of communities to tackle Islamophobia, including in his role as the Deputy Chair of the CrossGovernment Working Group to Tackle AntiMuslim Hatred.

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PayPal Xooms in on over 130 countries Swinson: First female

leader for Lib Dems

Cecil A Soans International financial services provider PayPal Holdings last week launched Xoom, its international money transfer service, in the UK and 31 other European countries. People here can now use Xoom to pay bills or top up phones to more than 130 countries internationally. Calling it a significant milestone, a spokesperson for the company said that Xoom’s launch in Europe is another example of PayPal’s efforts to make the movement and management of money more convenient, accessible, secure and affordable.

According to the World Bank's figures the global remittance market is approximately a $689 billion industry with Britons remitting over $26 billion annually. The Office of the National Statistics estimates that the United Kingdom is home to over 9.3 million people who were born outside of the UK. Latest figures from the World Bank show that almost half (45%) of all money transfers from the UK are sent to Nigeria, India, Pakistan, China and the Philippines.

Families in India who bank with Punjab National Bank (PNB) can benefit from deposits in minutes when money is transferred from the United Kingdom using Xoom. For most other bank accounts, such as

Xoom's VP and Gen Mgr Julian King (left) with Global Brand Ambassador Usain Bolt

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and Kotak Mahindra, Xoom transfers are usually deposited within minutes for amounts less than two lakh INR. Transfers over two lakh INR are usually available within two hours when sent during Indian banking hours. Families can also pickup their Xoom transactions in minutes in cash, at over 100,000 locations across India. You can also send mobile reloads via Xoom to India.

Xoom which was historically only available in the USA and Canada now also serves 34 countries across the African continent.

Speaking at the launch Xoom’s Vice President and General Manager Julian King, said: “We know how important these money transfers are in the lives of millions of people, and how

crucial it is that money arrives swiftly and more securely so it can be used for things that matter. With Xoom, someone with a smartphone on a bus in London can send money that can be accessed within minutes in Mumbai or Hyderabad.”

A pioneer and market leader in digital cross border money transfer, currently, PayPal has 277 million active account holders who can connect and transact online, on a mobile device, in an app, or in person.

Available in more than 200 markets around the world, the PayPal platform, including Braintree, Venmo, Xoom and iZettle, enables consumers and merchants to receive money in more than 100 currencies, withdraw funds in 56 currencies and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in 25 currencies.

LateRooms owner considers sale The owner of Super Break and LateRooms.com has reportedly put itself up for sale. According to Sky News, Malvern Group, which is 49% owned by the Indian travel specialist Cox & Kings, has appointed the professional services firm KPMG to advise on the strategic options and have also reported about some interested parties.

The move potentially puts the LateRooms.com platform, acquired by Cox & Kings from Tui Travel in 2015, and Super Break on the market.

It apparently made a net loss of about £6.5 million last year, Sky News reported as per their sources. The decision came after Mumbai-based Cox & Kings, allegedly defaulted on debt repayments and had its Billing and Settlement Licence suspended by IATA. However a Malvern Group spokesman told Sky News to its enquiry that, “We can’t speak on behalf of Cox & Kings.

“As a business, Malvern Group is in very good health with a total booking value of £170 million.

“In regards to the future, we’ll always con-

sider all options that deliver value to the company and our customers.”

According to Travelmole, in a statement on Tuesday 23 July, they further said, "Following the recent news regarding Cox & Kings corporate financial circumstances, The Malvern Group has engaged KPMG as a strategic advisor to consult on options to best support the Malvern Group. The group has today confirmed that it is pursuing a sale of the entire shareholding of the business and has already received interest from a

number of parties.

"The Malvern Group will continue to trade with its partners and customers, through its Super Break and LateRooms brands and the innovative Wizian trips platform."

Executive chairman Hugo Kimber reportedly added, "The Malvern Group is an exceptional mix of brands, technology and people that we are confident will shortly find a new home with shareholders who are able to support the high value growth potential of our business".

FINANCIAL A SERVICES MORTGAGES Residential Buy to Let Remortgages

PROTECTION Life Insurance Critical Illness Income Protection

A 39-year old MP from East Dunbartonshire has succeeded Sir Vince Cable and become the first female leader of Liberal Democrats.

Winning by an almost staggering 48,000 votes, she defeated her competitor, Sir Ed Davey by almost 20,000 to become the first woman and the youngest ever leader in charge of her party.

When Sir Vince Cable had inherited Liberal Democrats in 2017, the party was in a mess and continues to be in the political wilderness after its hammering in the 2015 general election. It hadn't made the progress it had hoped for in 2017's snap poll, and Tim Farron had quit suddenly as leader amid uncomfortable questions over his views on faith and homosexuality.

The Lib Dems were obliterated from 57 seats Commons to merely eight in 2015 after going into an austerity-pushing Coalition with the Tories - and breaking a promise not to hike university tuition fees.

However, in the recently conducted EU and local elections Lib Dems managed to surge ahead of Tories and the Labour Party gaining strong footholds

Jo Swinson

both in the UK and the EU. Now, political pundits and analysts predict that Swinson's election could pose a threat to Boris Johnson as she gears ahead to be a Prime Ministerial candidate.

"I stand before you today not just as leader of the Lib Dems, but as a candidate to be prime minister.

There is no limit for my ambition for our party, our movement and our country.

I am ready to take my party into a general election and win it," she said.

She was only 25 years old when she was first elect-

ed to Parliament in 2005, and regained her East Dunbartonshire seat in the 2017 general election after losing it two years earlier.

But it apperas, that it is the Labour party that should be concerned about their splintering vote share as opposed to Johnson herself. Swinson talks passionately about the identity issues that matter to many young Labour voters – her victory speech rallied against violence against LGBT couples and Islamophobia and antisemitism dominant in both main parties.

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Ideas and information

ICC Tournament

Secret privatisation of NHS

I read CB’s ‘As I See It’ column about caste system and he mentioned my friend Ambu Patel of Bhadran.

He was staying in Ahmedabad, 29 Capital Park, Ahmedabad 380009. But after 18 months he returned to Bhadran then went back to Nairobi where he passed away.

But I like all the ideas and information you wrote.

Your articles are full of diversification of ideas and information.

Congratulations Professor Chandrakant Patel USA

I wholeheartedly endorse the views expressed by Mr Jayant Tanna ( AV 20-26 July 19) in reply to comments by Lord Popat regarding supporting India (AV 15-19 July 19). I feel that we all should enjoy sports without involving any politics.

My grand children ( born in UK) did support and appreciate performance by all participating teams in the current tournament but somehow their priority went to India irrespective of their performance.

May be effect of IPL, culture or just in their blood? Lord Popat should also read a wonderful article written by our respected Shri CB Patel ( AV 15-19 July 19 page 8) high lighting how much the UK has provided to immigrants and how much the immigrants have provided to the British and at what cost?

I strongly feel that taking a foreign citizenship doesnot make one any less of an Indian. Finally let us hope this lucky win for England now make cricket as popular as football thus encouraging all age group of citizens to participate and strongly support England team ( like they did in final match) to prosper in all future competitions.

Amrat Vadher By email

There is an underground movement going on by the government in secretly privatising the NHS. Outwardly it appears no such thing is happening because the whole move is being done in nefarious way. Recently it has come to light that a new partnership between Amazon and the NHS has taken place where people can now get “expert health advice” from Amazon’s Alexa devices. With drastic NHS funding crisis, this does not augur well. The collaboration is part of a new government initiative called NHSX. This aims to make “more NHS services available to all patients through digital technology”.

The NHS is offering more than 20 contracts to private companies, despite health secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons health and social care committee: "I am going to be much more concrete. There is no privatisation of the NHS on my watch, and the integrated care contracts will go to public sector bodies to deliver the NHS in public hands." The data shows 21 NHS contracts worth £127m are currently out to tender - 19 of which have been put out since mid-February.

Many people questioned why, amid ongoing NHS cuts, staff shortages and a crisis in healthcare, the UK government has outsourced this service to a US company. In 2018, Amazon recorded multi-billion dollar revenue and profits, yet it has managed to avoid paying full taxes both in the UK and the US. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet, worth an estimated $121bn. Data protection and privacy becomes a problem also.

Mr Hancock should be true to his word and now block these latest NHS privatisation proposals.

The other alternative is a properly funded NHS. Therefore, the only way to get that is a general election and a change of government.

Baldev Sharma Rayners Lane, Harrow

Violent crime and poverty The causes of violent crime are multi-faceted and complex, and we know that these have been compounded by the Government’s £1 billion cut to the Met Police’s budget by 2023. But it has no place in London, and we must do everything in our capacity to stop it in its tracks.

This must include being tough on the root causes of crime. This week, City Hall shone a spotlight upon the specific and significant link between poverty and violent crime.

It is something that is widely acknowledged, but not talked about nearly enough on the public stage.

From City Hall, the Mayor is addressing this issue through the roll-out of a £45 million Young Londoners Fund, as part of his wider public health approach model.

There’s no escaping the need for the Government to confront the empirical reality that violent crime is one of the side-effects of their programme of austerity.

Of course, there is no excuse for criminality. We now need everyone – communities, the police and politicians – to play their part in tackling these vile acts.

Navin Shah AM London Assembly Member for Brent & Harrow

Self-inflicted Wounds Tension between Britain and Iran is self-inflicted wounds, Britain playing role of policing the world as if we have Empire to run, playing dangerous game when Royal Marines boarded Iranian super tanker Grace One, off Gibraltar, on the pretext that it was carrying out EU dictate of sanctions imposed by EU on Syria.

EU consist of 29 nations, with more powerful nations like Germany and France, economically if not militarily. In any event Britain is set to leave EU on 31st October. While EU encourages Britain to do its dirty work, especially France and Germany, they go on establishing close relations with Putin’s Russia, stealing our trade, financing pipeline from Russian Siberia to Germany, costing billions that would make Europe dependent on Russian gas and oil, thus Russia having an unhealthy hold on Europe.

Our relations with outside world, especially Russia and China are at its lowest, even close relations between Britain and India under premiership of David Cameron is going down-hill. Who could forget the event when PM Modi addressed packed Wembley crowd of seventy thousand cheering British Indians, with PM Cameron standing side by side with PM Modi, on a bitterly cold day in November, and PM Modi describing CB as a good friend to the cheering crowd!

As so often mentioned, Britain is the worse governed nation in EU. There is crisis on home-front with queues outside “Food Banks” lengthening, even those in work queuing for food hand-out to put food on the table for their children that include hard-working nurses, NHS technicians and many more.

Number of people sleeping rough on our streets are at its’ highest, in bitterly cold and damp winter months. No wonder their average age is just 43 when national average is touching 80! The homeless population is also a disgrace for the fifth biggest economy, over a million people living in temporary accommodation, so often whole family living in one room with shared facilities.

London is also knife-crime capital of EU, with drastic reduction in police numbers while Overseas Aid budget is swelling. It is time our politicians come out of slumber; look after their own, follow into the foot-steps of Germany before playing Robin Hood overseas!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

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Friends in high places As a young boy growing up in India, I would sometimes sit on the steps of our sweltering verandah and look up at the wide blue Maharashtrian sky. I would let my mind wander around the cloud clusters in a day-dreaming trance, casually wishing I had a toy drum of my own, or a new cricket bat or hockey stick, spinning top, scooter, catapult or kite to fly. To my surprise my silent wishes would sooner or later be granted by my parents or relatives. After each wish materialised, I would make another wish, rejoicing when every one of them came true.

Without knowing it all those years ago I was apparently indulging in something called "the law of attraction" according to an internet site I spotted the other day. It made fascinating reading, backed by video explanations on how to communicate with the universe making "ask ... believe ... receive" appeals.

Do we really have benevolent friends up there, ready to reward us if they think we deserve it? We often see tennis players and footballers look up at the sky after a triumph and say a silent "thank you". It also seems that expressing your gratitude to the universe for everything good you already have in your life will bring you even more pleasant surprises and blessings from our friends in high places.

Isn't life wonderful?

Rudy Otter By email

Could deposit scheme ebb plastic tide?

Plastic pollution has been grabbing limelight for more than two decades. Although several countries have taken steps to ebb plastic tide, it is not having much effect. While Scandinavian countries and Germany, along with few more nations are on board, Britain, as always is late comer to climb the gravy train, although Britain has promised to be carbon free by 2050. But in the opinion of experts, a major economy like ours, would find it difficult to meet the target date.

Norway, where 56% of cars are electric, compared to our 1%, it could go carbon free by 2030, as many experts predict.

Norway is one of the best, most efficient and well governed nations in the world, with dedicated, knowledgeable politicians who always put their own people first, unlike our unconcerned politicians whose charity begins and ends overseas!

The Daily Mail national, most widely read newspaper, has taken lead, with slogan, “Turn The Tide On Plastic” campaign. Deposit scheme is working well in Germany, South Korea, Singapore and few more nations who took the lead while others are dithering.

If deposit scheme is to work, it has to be run professionally, with at least 20p deposit but preferably 30p that would encourage, stimulate return of these bottles. The scheme should be well thought, well planned, with refunds on return simple, instant and uncomplicated.

This will also encourage children to collect thrown away, discarded plastic bottles, as it would bring a few pounds to add to their pocket money. But this is tiny step in the fight against plastic waste that pollutes our rivers, lakes and seas, enters our food-chain. The world has to work fast before it is too late, oceans polluted beyond repair!

To reuse glass bottles, as was the case in pre and post war world, when all soft drinks were sold in glass bottles, with hefty deposit, is another, more efficient way to recycle, reuse bottles, sometimes as many as 20 times, before they are thrown away, become unusable.

Kumudini Valambia By email

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If you are new, then write to Rupanjana at rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com - AV

Private vs state schools The Labour Party stated last week that they would abolish private schools when they come to power. They also intimated that they will slap VAT on private school fees until then.

They say that the amount thus raised will pay for free school meals to all primary school children.

However, this will add another 25% or so on the already sky high private school fees. This Robin Hood style policy of robbing the so called rich to give to the poor will cause distress to people who sacrifice little luxuries and comforts of life to provide better education for their children.

Many of us Asians, particularly Gujaratis, do not have much faith in the state education system and hence we scrape and save and send our children to private schools, where standards are higher and the pass rates surpass that of state schools, even though we have to pay exhorbitant amount of fees.

We Asians know that it is only good education through which our children can advance in their life. We know that to get better propects in the employment market and to get a better standard of living, our children need to be better qualified than the rest.

The impostion of VAT on private school fees will mean that many parents will have to give up the ghost and transfer their children to state schools. This is one reason why I will not vote for Labour in the impending next General election.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Cricket World Cup So many Indian cricket fans in India and around the world were dishearten by semi final cricket World Cup 2019 loss and their dreams of winning World Cup shattered. What lesson we can learn by this loss which also applies in our life.

Winning or losing is two sides of coin. In any sports if one team, one player, one country wins then obviously the other loses. And never ever underestimate any team or player. When India came in semi final against New Zealand everyone was very happy and thought that India can easily defeat them. Also in our jobs, businesses, federal, provincial, municipal, political parties election results, our relations with family members and friends, countries economy and many other fields ups and downs, good times and bad times, hurdles, winnings or losing come which had to be accepted graciously.

America’s great President Abraham Lincoln born in poor family a son of cobbler. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and even had nervous breakdown but never gave up and finally became president and achieved his life time goal of abolishing slavery.

The other very important lesson to be learn is - many cricket fans in India did Havana, pujas, offering to gods and goddesses, chanting mantras, and even during match praying and chanting mantras for India’s win and what results it got!

You will be judge. At least we should be proud that twice India won World Cup, T20 cup and Championship cup and in this World Cup our of 8 won 7 matches and remained top in points standing while England won first time and that too with controversy filled result.

Suresh and Bhavna Patel Markham, Canada

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EDUCATION

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27 July - 2 August 2019

Brum's Jamia Islamia Islamic school books 'promoted extremism'

University applications could be after A-levels Universities are considering whether to shift the timetable of the admissions system so that applications would take place after students have their A-level results.

A review into the admissions process has been launched by Universities UK. It will examine whether it would be fairer to move away from a system based on predicted exam grades.

Paul Cottrell, head of the UCU lecturers' union, said an "overhaul of university admissions is long overdue".

The review, to be chaired by Paddy Nixon, vice-chancellor of Ulster University, says it will "draw on best practice from across the UK".

But universities in Scotland have run their own review of admissions, with an emphasis on ensuring access for applicants from deprived areas.

Universities have been under pressure over entry systems - with criticism over the increasing use of unconditional offers, in which students commit to a university place in return for being accepted regardless of their exam results.

Unconditional offers give universities more certainty over their recruitment numbers and finances - but there are concerns this is achieved at the cost of "pressure-selling" tactics on students.

There have also been challenges over whether disadvantaged students have fair access into the most selective universities. The review, due to report back next spring, will look again at the findings of an inquiry carried out under the Labour government, which called for applications to be made after A-level results changing to what is called "post-qualification admis-

sions".

At present, students apply and narrow down their selections before they take their A-levels - and universities make offers using the grades predicted by their schools. But most predicted grades are incorrect and there have been arguments that students would make better informed choices and rely less on guesswork if they could apply after they knew their results.

There have also been social-mobility arguments that under the current system some disadvantaged youngsters might not even apply to universities their subsequent results might have allowed them to enter.

The Sutton Trust education charity has called for an end to the use of predicted grades, with figures showing almost three-quarters of students did not achieve the grades they had been predicted.

Schools 'desperately need' cash injection, MPs say Schools and colleges in England need a "multi-billion cash injection" and a long-term approach to funding, say MPs on the Education Select Committee.

Its report on school funding confirms the concerns of head teachers and teachers' unions who have protested about worsening budget shortages.

The committee found that schools and colleges "desperately need" extra cash. A Department for Education spokeswoman accepted that schools were facing "budgeting chal-

lenges".

ASCL head teachers' union leader Geoff Barton, said the report was a "damning indictment of the government's dreadful record" on school funding.

Robert Halfon, who chairs the committee, said the report showed the need for a "comprehensive, bottom-up national assessment" of what it really cost to have an "education system fit for the 21st Century".

The cross-party report says that schools have faced increased financial pressures from rising numbers

of pupils and growing demands, such as supporting more pupils with mental health problems.

MPs say funding "has not kept pace" and the government needs to put in more cash.

"The government needs to cover the 8% funding gap currently faced by schools," says Mr Halfon, with the report saying this would require a "£3.8bn uplift".

The committee's report also calls for extra support for pupils with special needs and disabilities, to tackle a "projected £1.2bn deficit".

Books found in the library of an Islamic private school promoted extremism, inspectors found. Ofsted rated boys' school Jamia Islamia Birmingham in Sparkbrook "inadequate" after visiting last month and finding books that "promoted support for an Islamic State".

The materials were "actively undermining fundamental British values", the regulator said. The BBC has contacted the school for comment. Inspectors said school leaders told them they were "unaware of the existence of these texts" though they were found in the library and "stamped with the school's name".

One book set out a series of aims which included "To help the Taliban government in the accomplishment of enforcement of Shari'ah in Afghanistan" and "To struggle for the creation of Islamic states in which the Islamic canons will enforced practically [sic]".

On the front page of the book, the watchdog said, were the words: "Don't make the Jews and the Christians your friends".

Other books "contained misogynistic messages" and condoned using the cane "to the necessary extent" as well as "actively promoted intolerance and discrimination" inspectors found.

All 132 school pupils

have daily access to the library, Ofsted said. There are also no pupils with special educational needs or disabilities at the school because its "admissions policy excludes them".

Ofsted said that was "unlawful" and "amounts to direct discrimination".

"Leaders are not preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. These materials are actively undermining fundamental British values and are not compliant with the Equality Act 2010," inspectors concluded. The school's outdoor space was also deemed as "dangerous", "poorly maintained" and in some areas, "strewn with rubbish" and "filthy".

Tamil couple fight to see their kids Mohammed and Jasmin, who have been accused of 'using their kids' to seek financial support, have not seen their children in four years, despite UK law granting them visitation rights.

Jasmin (aka Saheera Banu Amakeder) and her husband Mohammed Yussuf, originally from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, are faced with every parent’s worst nightmare: losing their children forever.

The couple was living on expired visas in the westerncentral city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, when their two children – a six-year-old son and a fouryear-old daughter – were taken away by authorities in August 2015.

The children were taken away by the Birmingham City Council and placed under the foster care. Why? The local authorities allege that the parents 'used the children' to seek financial support after Mohammed

lost his job at a pizza chain in April 2013.

After four years of separation and a seemingly endless battle with the local authority, all that the family wants is to return to India with their children. The parents are even willing for the children to be returned in care of a relative in India if the British authorities will not approve them as caregivers for the children. The family has alleged that the children were taken away by the local authorities despite an interim court order that reportedly gave the parents permission to keep the children.

The trouble started for the family in April 2013, when Mohammed lost his job. Though they managed with his small savings and a bank loan they procured for a year, they had to approach a charity in April 2014. The charity in turn referred them to the local authorities.

Meanwhile, the couple’s immigration status was pending with the Home Office as Mohammed and Jasmin’s visa had expired.

For all legal purposes, they were overstayed immigrants. Mohammed and Jasmin had been receiving 70 pounds per week as monetary assistance and they had asked for 70 pounds more for the two kids too – an amount less than Rs 7,000 back in 2015. After denying this meagre assistance, in August 2015, the Birmingham City Council took the children away.

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12 MEDIA WATCH

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27 July - 2 August 2019

SCRUTATOR’S India’s keenly awaited Moon mission, Chandrayaan 2, was launched successfully on Monday July 22 at 2.43 pm. The earlier scheduled flight of July 15 was aborted 56 minutes before liftoff, following a glitch in the launch vehicle GSLV MK-111. India’s most advanced mission has been designed to put a rover on the moon’s South Pole, where no country has explored before. If successful, the flight will place India in fourth place after the US, Russia and China in moon exploration.

NIA bill passed Home Minister Amit Shah called for a vote on the amendments to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act. The amended bill strengthens and widens the scope of the agency’s powers.

It was passed with a massive majority of 278-6, with the Trinamool Congress and BSP opposing it.

India to overtake Japan in 2025

India-built homes for Rohingyas

India is set to pass Britain as the world’s fifth-largest economy in the current financial year, and will be poised to overtake Japan as the world’s third-largest economy in 2025, according to IHS Markit report.

Markit estimates that India will surpass the UK in 2019, and predicts that Indian GDP will reach 5.9 trillion dollars in 2025, making it the world’s third-largest economy. The consumer market will expand exponentially during the projected period (Statesman, July 14).

India has built 250 homes for Rohingyas in Myanmar. Recently, Indian Ambassador to Myanmar, Saurabh Kumar handed over 250 pre-fabricated homes to the

PM pulls up errant Ministers Prime Minister Narendra Modi reprimanded Ministers for truanting from roster duty in Parliament, taking cognisance of complaints by Opposition leaders.

Addressing the weekly meeting of BJP Parliamentary caucus, Mr Modi said he has asked for names of errant ministers, and was taking the issue seriously (Hindu, July 17).

Sheila Dixit dies Sheila Dixit, a former Chief Minister of Delhi and a long-time Congress Party stalwart died suddenly from a heart attack, aged 81. She was dynamic, visionary, indefatigable administrator,

While congratulating Prime Minister Modi for his grand economic vision, industrialist Adi Godrej warned against hate crimes

India builds 250 homes in Myanmar to assist Rohingya

Myanmar authorities, with more to come. This was part of the pact signed by the two countries in 2017. Thousands of Muslim Rohingyas fled Myanmar and have taken refuge in Bangladesh. They allege rape, torture and attack by the Myanmar army. Rohingya refugees willing to return to Myanmar will be assured of such clustered housing (Hindu, July 14).

Novel desalination

Industrialist Adi Godrej

unfailingly courteous, an affable figure much loved and widely respected. The modern New Delhi we see today owed much to her three transformative periods in office. The glowing tribute paid to her on television by BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli transcended party politics, and hence especially commendable.

President Kovind, Prime Mister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh paid their individual tributes to her life and work as a public servant. Her cremation was attended by top Congress and BJP leaders (Hindu, Times of India, July 21, 22).

Airspace opened Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan gave orders to reopen his country’s airspace, lifting a sixmonth ban to Indian civilian aircraft. Their detour had put airlines under considerable financial strain, leading to a rise in passenger fares (Hindu, Times of India July 17).

HDFC surge The Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), India’s largest private sector lending facility, has posted a profit of 42 per cent in the second fiscal quarter ending June 30. Revenue from operations was up 7 per cent while other incomes jumped 62 per cent (Business Line, July 17).

Sheila Dixit, former Chief Minister, Delhi

The Indian economy is the world’s fastest growing large economy with an annual growth of 7-7.2 per cent. It has overtaken that of France, and is poised pass the UK at the end of the current financial

Adi Godrej warning

Jihadis held in Tamil Nadu In a major crackdown, 14 members of a new radical Islamic Tamil Nadu-based group called ‘Ansarullah,’ were arrested by the NIA for planning terrorist attacks across India with the goal of establishing Islamic rule in the country (Times of India, July 16).

Parlous economy

that could derail economic growth (Statesman, July 14).

More technology for India Texas-based Dell Technologies CEO, Dell Digital, Jennifer Felch told reporters in Bangaluru, that, ‘We invested $12.8 billion in Research and Development in the past three years. We have transformed virtually every corner of IT function this year by staying focused, executing and delivering business value and quality at a higher velocity.’ This had made Dell a key enabler of transformative IT trends including multi-cloud management, edge computing, Internet of Things, digitisation and Artificial Intelligence. ‘Today, we are number one in everything, all in one place, be it servers, storage, PC or infrastructure, software.’ said CEO Felch.

India outlook On prospects for the Indian market, she said the country would witness significant amounts of investment in the areas of cybersecurity, Internet of Things, multi-cloud environment and Artificial Intelligence in the next 1 to 3 years. As per the Dell Digital Transformation Index, India was the most digitally aware country in the world, she said.

Some 91 per cent of India business leaders believe digitisation should be more widespread , compared with the world average of 78 per cent, was her concluding observation (Hindu, July 16).

Scientists at the famed Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, have desalinated seawater to drinking water by a novel method. Unlike the conventional reverse osmosis that is energy intensive, they have used gold nano-particles that absorb sunlight over the entire substance including the telling near infrared light. Using 2.5 milligrams gold nano-particles, the team led by Vivek Polshettiwar from TIFR’s Department of Chemical Sciences, succeeded in using sunlight to heat the seawater to 85 Centigrade and generate steam, and hence produce drinking water in about 30 minutes. This is a preliminary study. The next step will entail replacing the gold with a less expensive substitute to make the process sustainable (Hindu, July 14).

Trashing India Christophe Jaffrelot, a Director of the CERI Po/CN RS, Paris, published a vitriolic attack on the Modi government in the July issue of Le Monde diplomatique. He took issue with its exorbitant election expenses, while presiding over a stagnant, crisis-ridden economy; of oppressing India’s minority Muslim and Christian communities. Most candidates in US Congressional and Presidential elections require funding from huge business corporations – many in arms manufacturing or from the all powerful gun lobby.

No problem there. Double standards require that the lesser breeds without the law abide by the economic standards to which they have been long accustomed.

Meanwhile the homicidal, impoverished French dependencies in West and Central Africa continue regardless, scare evidence of Gallic enlightenment, without stirring Monsieur Jaffrolet conscience, assuming he has one.

year, as the world’s fifth largest economy.

Oppressed minorities Bracketing Indian Christians with India’s Muslims, all supposedly oppressed by the state, is clearly an echo of a recent US State Department report designed to pressure India to conform to Washington’s global requirements and prescriptions. Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi has expressed concern on India’s alleged discriminatory treatment of its Muslim minority.

Monsieur Jaffrolet’s critique is also directed at gullible western audiences unfamiliar with Indian reality. India’s Christians include a sizeable middle class – among the largest in the country per head that straddles a wide range of occupations, from education, healthcare, professions and the officer corps of armed forces.

Christian-run education institutions are among the best in India, with staff and students overwhelmingly Hindu. The most enthusiastic Christmas celebrations in Kolkata take place at the Ramkrishna Mission. The BJP Governor of West Bengal lauded Kolkata’s St Xavier’s College (now University) as a model for India.

Muslims belong to a different category. Their difficulties and grievances are not without cause or justice. But jihadi terrorism is also a fact of life in India, as it is in Europe and the United States. The massive bombings of Mumbai in 1993 and 2008 killed hundreds of innocent citizens. Indians were appalled by the jihadi assault on the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris and the shooting dead of its entire editorial staff. The 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, no less than jihadi outrages in London and Manchester have horrified the Indian people. If India were the hell-hole for Muslims, Monsieur Jaffrelot appears to suggest, why are there no Muslim queues seeking to emigrate to an Islamic haven of their choice? Because they prefer life in India, warts and all, and use Indian space in defence of their rights and liberties under the rule of law which is as it should be.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

Guru Purnima celebration in Neasden temple

The full moon day (purnima) of the Hindu lunar month of Ashadh is traditionally celebrated as Guru Purnima. Also known as Vyas Purnima, the day is observed by Hindus in remembrance of sage Veda Vyas who classified the Vedas and composed the eighteen Purans.

The day is an occasion for Hindus around the world to offer their gratitude to the guru for his indispensable spiritual role in their lives.

A special assembly of devotional songs, videos

and discourses to celebrate Guru Purnima was held on Saturday 13 July 2019 at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London (popularly known as the ‘Neasden Temple’) in the presence of Sadguru Pujya Ishwarcharan Swami – a senior and learned swami and the Convener of BAPS global activities.

Youths began the evening programme by singing bhajans extolling the virtues of a guru.

Swamis then discoursed on the unique qualities of a guru and the spiritual nourishment that a guru

provides.

Ishwarcharan Swami further elaborated on the ways in which aspirants can relate to the guru and be inspired to emulate his pure devotion to God and selfless service to society.

In a pre-recorded video, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj narrated the spiritual greatness of his gurus Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj, before swamis and devoteesconcluded the celebrations by offering guru pujan to the sacred images of the gurus.

Karuna Manor celebrates Guru Purnima On 16th July, Tuesday, Karuna Manor Care Home in Harrow celebrated Guru Purnima - a day dedicated to all Gurus (teachers) for their knowledge, patience, teaching, and understanding. The temple gods were decorated with flowers and other shrines to demonstrate gratitude by our priest and residents.

The ceremony was started with the priest’s sermon for Karuna Manor’s residents on what the ego is and what it does and how attachments in relationships are formed. The ceremony was followed by bhajans and aarti, by residents, relatives and team members, in turns where they offered their prayers to thank their Gurus.

One of the residents at Karuna Manor was a teacher in the past and during this session, she took opportunity to teach

Gujarati to other residents who are not fluent in the language by reciting and getting them to repeat Bhajans. This was an interactive session for residents at the home whereby they shared their views and past experiences about their Gurus – Teachers and thanked all the team members for arranging this ceremony.

Should the UK look to India to navigate the Iran crisis?

India has far better relations with Iran than the UK, yet some of the captives in Iran, are Indian.

Until India is willing to project its power and influence on the international stage, as opposed to chest thumping to a domestic audience about mosques to its own nationals, it will remain a second-rate power (Rather, thirdrate, because I assume the re-joinder will be that the UK is second-rate as stated by the Russian President).

The on-going crisis with Iran is the perfect opportunity for India to join forces with the UK and press the Iranians for release of the Indian nationals and the British Stena Impero.

Instead, the UK has looked to Europe and the US. In the meantime, headlines in India as broadcasted by NDTV, highlight of our obsession with Pakistan and Bollywood.

Simultaneously, this is also time for the famed British Indian diaspora to press India in assisting the UK to speak to Iran. Indian leaders especially, with the Prime Minister has been voted to power by the largest number of people in the history of democracy and the world. You would think he has the legitimacy, more so than the EU and the US, to claim to be a world leader, and a spokesperson for democratic values, the human rights that flow from the promise of free and fair elections. Such leadership does not need a UN Security Council seat – the EU doesn’t have one, Germany and Japan do not have one. Indian political leaders have never since Gandhi managed to capture the world stage, or project their imprint or thought.

Yes of course, India as it celebrates its Independence has many domestic issues to resolve, but as it reaches for the stars in its

space programme it surely should raise all of mankind with its unique position on Earth.

A democracy in a tough non-democratic neighbourhood. I mean, you have China, Russia, Afghanistan and Iran on your doorstep. Ultimately, world history does not favour the non-aligned, the neutral. You will always be forced to take sides – and the side we want is an India with a global voice on the world stage. Still too often she is willing only to play timidly in her neighbourhood.

What does this mean in practical terms?

Clear pressure on Iran to comply on its nuclear non-proliferation treaty obligations – ironic you may think from India, but the US is no less a nuclear hypocrite.

A threat to Assad that he halt killing Muslims or India seeks another resolution in the UN for military intervention, because India speaks for Muslims in democracies. A clear message to Putin that destabilising Ukraine is not in the EU’s interests and therefore not in India’s – because democracies stand together – join the club or get lost in isolation. The message to Hamas – Israel has a right to exist. She is the only democracy in the region. Bombing democracies will not be tolerated. A message to ISIS – India is the land of 300 million muslims – she is against ISIS and speaks for 300 million muslims when she says that. India alone can shore up democracies at a time when democracies are under threat. An independent India means an India with a strong voice on a global stage – not an India that makes big speeches to small neighbours alone.

Until all these things are done – India is not quite ready to be … a second-rate power just yet.

14 COMMUNITY

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27 July - 2 August 2019

LIVING BRIDGE Saraswathy Bavan and outdoor catering Rohit Vadhwana

Regeneration Project: Old is Gold I, recently visited the Regeneration Project at Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Willesden, to represent the High Commission of India, UK. The Regeneration Project is completed this month at the cost of GBP 9.99 millionand offers free community service. The Temple is under Shree Narayandev Temple of Bhuj and was constructed in 1975. Initially, the Pooja (ceremonies and rituals) started in a church but understanding the sentimental value of the Hindu diaspora, in 1988 it was re-furbished to a traditional Hindu temple. Active support from the community has played an important role in building, expanding and maintaining this temple. Today, various activities are conducted on the premises of this ceremonious institution.

Approved by the Brent Council, this Regeneration Project involves sheltered old age care homes for elderly people. The rooms are independent units with facilities of kitchen-let, washroom and basic furniture. In addition to the above, it also offers a community kitchen, open recreational area, library and other facilities where, I was told that a community kitchen will serve two hot meals a day and provide various engagements for the inmates.

The Council has also recognized this project and will extend its support to the initiative through provision of counselling sessions.

Old age is the withering phase of adulthood marred by isolation, depression and in certain circumstances, physical and mental breakdowns as well. This often means that they require emotional, mental and, physical support. Medical needs and psychological care is a sine qua none at this stage of life. At a time when nuclear families have increasingly become a dominant feature of our present day social construct, our care homes need more support than ever. The western world is challenged by an increase in the ageing population. But India also has a proportion of retired people to provide social security to when an aspirational next generation strives to live as expats in different parts of the globalised village for professional reasons. This means that our parents need that extra TLC. Developed countries have been fast in providing old-age care facilities with government support and also through social sector initiatives. But in India, retirement homes, old age care homes or regeneration projects are yet to gain that traction.

The social structure of India does not easily accept the concept of old people living separately on their own, away from family and children. Although in reality, such cases are increasing, it is still a taboo to send parents in retirement homes with stigma and shame associated with the concept. It needs to be understood that such retirement homes are not free facilities like vruddhashrams and therefore, there is no need to feel ashamed in opting for old age care homes. In fact, such premises are well equipped with old age-friendly facilities. They schedule activities for the wellness and entertainment of elders. Library, community centre, yoga, medical and counselling related amenities are generally included in premises of retirement homes. The company of same age group people gives comfort to develop social bonding with other inmates.

Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Willesden is an example of a living bridge that endeavours to build an exciting future for the whole community.

(Expressed opinions are personal.)

(Do you have a story or suggestion for this column?

Email me at: livingbridgeasianvoice@gmail.com)

Announcement We will publish the full coverage of the Shree Hare Krishna Mahotsav and the grand opening of the Regeneration Project of the Shree Swaminarayan Temple Willesden in our next issue dated 03rd August.

The ultimate taste of North and South India Four minutes from the Wembley Central Underground station, and if you enter Saraswathy Bavan, you will be transported to India within minutes of ordering your first meal.

At first appearance, the modestly furnished restaurant may look like another hole in the wall. But they always say never judge a book by its cover and Saraswathy Bavan is one such restaurant. Its owner, Anil Varma has now culminated the restaurant's success into starting a parallel outdoor catering service.

Anil caters for all occasions such as weddings, birthdays, house-warming parties among others across the UK. While catering for a minimum of 50 people, Anil offers three kinds of platters for his customers to choose from. For the South Indian combination, customers would have an assortment of 10-12 types of dosas, uttapams, idlis, medu vadas, biryani, two chutneys, raita, and sambar. In his second platter, he offers a wider variety of about 25 types of dosas, uttapams, idlis, wadas, biryani, chutneys, sambar but alongside these regulars, they also offer chili paneer (cottage cheese), Gobi Manchurian, and crispy potato bhajias along-

side two varieties of desserts of their choice. Aside from offering these delicacies, he also offers flexibility to his customers in replacing the starters of their choice.

While Saraswathy Bavan specialises for the taste of South India, Anil has offers the taste of Italy where he provides a salver of pizzas, garlic bread, cheesy garlic bread, coleslaw, potato salad, chili chips, and green salad.

Considering, a large proportion of their customer base is from the Hindu community, he also offers a Jain and Swaminarayan menu both at the restaurant while on their outdoor catering.

“I do all the shopping and I won't compromise on the quality of the food being served under my watch.

That is why some believe

that dishes here are relatively more expensive in comparison to other outlets and services. But quality comes with a price,” said Anil, owner of Saraswathy Bavan.

Anil has previously catered for weddings of highprofile celebrities such as the relatives of Laxmi Mittal. In the meantime, his fully-licensed restaurant has been running successfully for the last 16 years.

I was spoilt for choice after my first glance at the menu and if you are fond of Indian cuisine then you might get carried away while placing your order. But be careful: the chefs at Saraswathy Bavan not just bring their culinary skills to the restaurant but also their generous serving portions. It serves an array of dishesright from Punjabi chole bhatures to the classic South Indian medu vada sambar. I had been craving dosa (ricebatter crepe) for quite some time. So, I went for the cheese and masala dosa for my mains and sampled chili paneer as my starter. Indian food is usually synonymous with overt use of chili, garlic, and caramelised onions.

However, the chefs hailing from the Indian curry industry add just the perfect quantities of spice, oil, and condiments. The paneer cubes are sautéed to a medium golden-brown texture which perfectly compliments the diced onions and green peppers. For those of you who can't take the heat, beware of the green chilies that are finely chopped and sprinkled on top, you can also request the chef to omit them, as I did. But, I can barely finish half the portion of my starter when I am greeted by the smell of freshly prepared sambar (vegetable stew), the tell-tale sign that my dosa is here.

The cheese is grated and melted inside the dosa roll.

The masala made of mashed potatoes, onions and garnished with curry leaves is served separately to ensure that the dosa remains crispy.

Four other bowls serve three different kinds of chutneys or dips- tomato, mint and grated coconut- and vegetable sambar. While the food is impeccable, the staff must also be credited for their prompt service.

For further information about catering, pricing, bookings, and reservations please visit: http://www.sarashwathy.co m/ or call at: 0208 902 1515 / 07748 636 264

Mahatma Gandhi’s statue proposed outside Manchester cathedral A bronze statue of the iconic spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi is being proposed outside Manchester Cathedral in the 150th anniversary year of his birth (1869 -2019). The International Day of Non-Violence is marked on 2nd October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, to disseminate the message of non-violence, peace, tolerance, understanding through education and public awareness.

The icon of Peace, Mahatma Gandhi project is initiative of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur UK (SRMD UK), a worldwide spiritual movement headquartered in India.

Shrimad Rajchandra was Mahatma Gandhi’s spiritual guide and attributes the foundations of his values of nonviolence and self-improvement to him.

Subject to planning permission, the 9ft high, 800kg statue crafted by renowned Indian artist Ram V Sutar will be the first in a series of public realm improvements in the city’s Medieval Quarter. Its location and scale is carefully considered in the context of the space, and there will be pedestrian and disabled access.

If planning approval is granted, the unveiling of the statue will take place in November, 2019. The project is supported by Manchester Cathedral, Manchester City Council, High Commission of India, Greater Manchester Lieutenancy office and the Manchester India Partnership. Letters of support have been received from local business owners and representatives from both religious and non-religious organisations across Manchester and beyond. This will be the fourth statue in the UK after 2 in London and one in Leicester.

During a 1931 visit to the UK, Gandhi visited textile mills in Lancashire, travelling from London to Blackburn via Manchester, to meet with mill workers and explain the Indian perspective on the boycott of British goods that was damaging their industry. During this visit, Gandhi attracted large crowds of admirers and received a warm welcome.

Following the 2017 Arena attack, Manchester’s unique civic pride displayed the values of non-violence and compassion. People of Manchester are inspiration for their strength, decency and community in the face of this

Mahatma Gandhi

unparalleled tragedy.

It is believed that the statue of Gandhi in central Manchester will ensure that the heart of British politics and democracy, can all be blessed with his ethos and wisdom today, tomorrow and for generations to come.

The statue is proposed to express harmony between form and function, place and purpose, history and present.

Manchester, as UK’s second largest city has stood together against those who would seek to destroy multi-racial, multi-ethnic societies.

Gandhi regarded nations not as abstract legal entities but as agglomerations of human beings with names, noses, aches and smiles, and international relationships should be founded on interdependence and love.

Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings remain as potent today as when he first said, ‘be the change that you want to see in the world.’

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TLIGHT

Chili Hawes The Shape of Stillness, and the South Asian Visual Arts

Chili Hawes

Sunetra Senior

dreamy performance, The Shape of Stillness, will be showing, this Wed, 24th at the venue: “take the artist, Vena, for example. She takes Bharatanatyam, the classical Indian dance, to another level. Highly trained, she can incarnate – meaning making the vision come into the flesh – actually bringing down the Gods and Goddesses, who are central to this dance into her space. It’s astonishing.

She also channels her own background in Yogic mediation and counselling to explore geometry as well as the message of wellbeing.”

Dancer, Vena, commented: “I’ve deliberately never trained in anything other than classical Indian dance. My own style has developed out of the tradition and is part of it. It is constantly updating itself from within. No external influence is needed. I’m passionate about making this known far and wide because there is a misconception that Classical Indian Dance doesn’t have anything new to offer.”

Here, Chili emphasised the special, evocative power of Bharatanatyam dance: “All dance is physical, but Indian movements use this more deeply, having the ability to really transform. The dancer can inhabit another world; perhaps even go into what could be described as a trance, occupying another emotional plane altogether.” Vena added: “Dance is prelingual. It speaks to the audience’s full consciousness without being restricted by specific words.”

hili is one of the Founders and Director of the prestigious October Gallery, which has been responsible for raising the profile of experimental South Asian art through London, and beyond.

Established almost forty years ago, and based in the trendy area of Holborn, this extraordinary institution has been “instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists.”

These include Lakshmi Shankar, Hindustani classical vocalist of the Patiala Gharana and sister-in-law of the late great Ravi Shankar, and the creator of the Indian dance form, Bharata Nrithyam, Padma Subrahmanyam. “It was tough getting started,” Chili said of the inception of the Gallery. “No one was actually doing what we were: nurturing artists of different ethnic backgrounds, who were showcasing vibrant visual arts from across the world. It was hard terrain.

However, continuing to work with talented artists, who were not afraid to express themselves, we began to see the Gallery flourish. We became the home of Indian performance in the city!”

Together with a lover of contemporary music of the time, Sri Varadarajan, October Gallery formed the joint events venture: Nadabrahman. This was a regular series of South Asian visual arts that exhibited the creation of a chosen individual each month.

“The audience would sit on the floor in front of the performers. We would have Indian food to be shared out too.”

The Shape of Stillness with Vena Ramphal Indeed, reminiscent of other famed underground cultural movements, Tapping into her modern training such as the Beats who challenged social then, “this specific piece explores yogic conformity in the US, Chili’s artistic cosmology,” to holistically promote project has authenticity at its very health. “After the launch performance,” heart. Advocating cosmopolitanism in she told us, “many people in the audithe West, the Gallery has not only proence spoke of being emotionally vided a platform, but given a mutual moved. One lady even said she ‘left authority, to the artists it has extenfeeling whole again’. It is an unforgetsively works with. table experience: a visual feast!”

“We co-ordinated our projects with Vena’s adept performance then the former Music Village (Cultural directly transmits the benefits of pracCooperation) to really bring the mestising corporal calmness to those sage of South Asian artistry to the watching through an almost primal urban fore. Over the years, our magic. Chili elaborated on the audiences have gone organiintrinsically complemencally from being simply “Classical tary relationship between Indian, Sri Lankan, Indian dance is fitness and Vena’s rapNepalese, or Pakistani ture: “Classical Indian to wholly multiculturvery centric. It’s dance is very centric, al.” The Gallery’s artists based in the raw, lumsimilar to martial passionately promoted bar area of the body. It’s their events, creating an arts that way” similar to martial arts engaged and increasingly that way.” varied audience as London Vena further stated: “I was, in turn, changed by them. created The Shape of Stillness in Interestingly, October Gallery response to the need for wellbeing in also coined the term, ‘Transvangarde’, our modern world. I want to give out which further intellectually acknowlhope. More people are asking for it and edged the Avant Garde, as “a strictly the time is right. Stress and burnout are western term,” which needed to too prevalent and we need to tackle become less Eurocentric. “Novel, chalthem. The piece intimately shows the lenging art was very much limited to explosion of Creation from a still point Western culture in 1979 when we startinto complex patterns of vibration, ed, and we wanted to open it up.” falling back into stillness. There are fast rhythmic sections and meditative sec*** tions of dance.”

Chili elaborated by talking on current Indeed, this strikingly reflects our expressive artist, Vena Ramphal, whose

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27 July - 2 August 2019

Dentist qualifies for Miss England Final

recent socio-political climate which appeared to be settled, but has been thrown into great flux. Now, as mirrored in Vena’s piece, the public consciousness is inevitably moving back towards the uniform state. Here, Chili offered some beautiful insight: “Everything that we see on the outside is also inside of us: we tend to project onto others. Coming from deep within the wellspring of the human body, dance can then help us recognise what

Padma Subrahmanyam

we’ve had no way of expressing, but always knew in the unconscious.”

Using a most visceral art form then, Vena is helping people form a hugely beneficial, clearer connection within.

One which could also eventually inspire new, more honest relationships with others in a multifarious society: “The title of the show came to mind during meditation. I didn’t know what it exactly was but it was clear and vibrant. My work aims to support people in finding their own Shape of Stillness: their own peace.” As well as through performance, Vena is spreading her Yogic wisdom through corporate workshops, and various keynote speeches. “It’s becoming my brand in a way.”

And so, untangling the constructed from the organic and the confusions from reality, Vena’s work radiantly epitomises the motto in the evolution of the October Gallery itself: ultimately, human truth lays not so much in a simple break away from, or return to, the old as the bigger, expansive idea of the unbounded inner self. As opposed to a circle, life is an upward spiral in which we as individual vessels timelessly persist. The illusion of surrounding politics may change, but pulsing, our nature stays the same. Chili concluded: “I’m only ever drawn to the revelation of the inner life of man. I don’t get distracted by the technicality of performance. This can leave one feeling cold.

I want to know what is behind it: who is that person?” Why not come to the Gallery’s upcoming show to discover how this philosophy speaks to you?

The Shape of Stillness is an evening of Dance and Conversation.

Tell us more?

The dance will be followed by a conversation with Vena, in which she will explain a few movements, the link to yoga, and discuss the ideas brought up. But you will see in the dance, what you will. You’re taken into a higher state, and that’s an individual experience.

Describe the arc of the movements in the piece?

Fluid movements are juxtaposed with linear shapes. It’s a solo dance where the dancer’s body expresses a cosmic story.

The Shape of Stillness will show this Wed, 24th at the October Gallery @VenaRamphal<https://twitter.com/V enaRamphal> W; http://www.octobergallery.co.uk/ W: contact@venaramphal.com<mailto:contact@venaramphal.com>

Anika Walia

A 23-year-old dentist has secured her place in the Miss England Grand Final. Anika Walia has set up her own charity called Anika's Food Charity (AFC) as part of her her Beauty With A Purpose project for Miss England.

Through her charity, she has distributed food, and other basic necessities (such as quilts, blankets, sanitary kits, sleeping bags etc ) to under-privileged children, homeless families, refugees, asylum seekers, suicide attempt victims and domestic violence sufferers. But aside from providing materialistic aid, she has also helped in rehabilitation of the vulnerable through CV writing and cooking classes.

She has also raised funds for underprivileged children in India, for their educational costs and dental and medical checkup and treatment. Actively campaigning for children and women on menstrual hygiene, diet, dental hygiene, Anika has also organised several workshops in the slum areas in India. She has also taken English classes and taught the children there. In the past, she has raised funds over for both Marie Curie and WOHAA charities.

“Through my Beauty With A Purpose project, I make it my mission to empower others to achieve equality and the right to live with dignity and self-esteem. If I had the opportunity to win the title of Miss England, it will provide me with a platform to advocate for social causes that I truly believe in and be a voice for the voiceless,” said Anika.

One of AFC’s upcoming projects is to install a sanitary pad making machine near Faridabad city, Haryana state, India to provide the poor women there with employment and a means to take care of their menstrual hygiene. She has also taken English classes and taught the children there. In the past, she has raised funds for both Marie Curie and WOHAA charities (over £1,500).

Anika has also won the title of Miss Charity Queen in the Miss England semi-fi- nals, being the contestant who has raised the most funds for charity so far. She has raised over £4000 for Beauty With A Purpose Charity which helps disadvantaged children worldwide.

Miss England has raised over £500k in the last 10 years for deserving charities across the country. To see some of the projects the contest has funded please visit the Beauty with a Purpose section of the Miss England website: https://www.missengland.info/beauty-with-apurpose/

Dairy allergy kills an 11-year old

A 11-year-old boy with dairy allergy died after his father accidentally gave him a bar of chocolate that contained milk powder, an inquest heard on Monday (22). Raffi Pownall, from Lancashire, died on June 8 following a severe allergic reaction.

Blackburn Coroner's Court heard that his father, Thomas, gave Raffi the bar thinking it was part of a Morrisons supermarket's "free from" range. But after the boy started vomiting, Thomas looked at the label and saw that it was gluten-

free but contained milk powder. Thomas tried to save his son by giving him an EpiPen and his inhaler.

He called emergency services when it became clear Raffi wasn't recovering.

Raffi was immediately taken to a hospital in Blackburn where he was declared dead. Coroner Richard Taylor told the inquest that Raffi had “inadvertently ingested a small piece of chocolate containing milk powder that was believed to be ‘free from’.”

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Gandhi and the Parsis Lord Bhikhu Parekh Parsis, or Persian Zoroastrians as they were once called, are a trading community which originally came to India from Iran. They had already been trading with India and established small settlements on the coast of Gujarat at places like Navsari, Bilimora, Broach, and Bulsar. When subjected to persecution by the Muslim rulers of Persia, many of them left the country and joined the already existing settlements in Gujarat.

The story about ‘the milk and sugar’ that is so popular alas is a fiction. The Parsis were already known to Gujaratis and were welcomed on their arrival. From these port towns they moved to Bombay, a paradigmatic Parsi city, and from there to other parts of India.

Mahatma Gandhi had many reasons to be deeply grateful to the Parsis. His political heroes like Dadabhai Naoroji were Parsis. Such other powerful figures as Pherozeshah Mehta who dominated Bombay guided Gandhi through public life.

Many Parsis also funded Gandhi’s activities including the removal of untouchability and promoting communal harmony. As Gandhi once said, the Parsi community had never disappointed him whenever he turned to it for help. Doctors like Dinshaw Mehta and Dr. Gilder operated on him for appendicitis and saved his life. In South Africa Rustomji Sheth, a leading Parsi, saved his life when he was under attack. For these and other reasons Gandhi remained deeply appreciative of the Parsis. He also thought that they had cultivated a civic culture that was relatively new to India. They had settled in Bombay in large numbers and made it the site of their public philanthropy and civic spirit. As Gandhi said in a moving paragraph ‘If Bombay was beautiful, if Bombay was noted for its generosity, if Bombay was noted for its public spirit, it was due to the Parsi community. If it were not for the Parsis, Bombay would be like any other city in India and the whole of India was thankful to the Parsis for this.’

While Gandhi had an enormous regard for the Parsis, two major areas separated the two. First and most important, the Parsis were committed to constitutional politics with its commitment to the rule of law, respect for civil authority and representative institutions. They also thought rather well of the British rule and argued that the Indians were not yet ready for full independence. Their politics therefore was one of peaceful pressure and moderation.

In contrast to this Gandhi’s politics was based on Satyagraha or civil disobedience and the early overthrow of British rule. It also involved mass mobilisation and collective action which the Parsis greatly feared.

Secondly, Gandhi was keen on regenerating Indian society and removing what he thought to be its ugly practices. He insisted on wearing Khadi and abjuring alcohol.

These and other related ideas were central to his programme. The Parsis were opposed to both of them. Many of them preferred silk saris and the usual whisky. Some of them also ran liquor shops, and any attempt to picket or abolish them was economically ruinous. At a deeper level they did not see why they should systematically remove traces of Western influence from their own ways of thinking and aim at intellectual autonomy.

When Gandhi started his Non Co-operation Movement in 1920, it was based on a simple but powerful idea that brought him into sharp conflict with the Parsis. He believed that victims of oppression were never innocent. In their own ways they submitted themselves to the oppression and were complicit in it. All power ultimately depended on the co-operation of its victims. If therefore Indians stopped co-

operating with the British, the Raj wold not last a day. The Non Co-operation Movement involved boycotting British schools, colleges, courts of law, parliamentary institutions and so on. When the Prince of Wales was visiting India during this period, Gandhi asked Indians to boycott him and stop co-operating with him in any form.

All this created great difficulties for the Parsis. They were used to co-operating with the colonial government, and indeed depended on it for their security, wellbeing and even jobs. Naturally they submitted a welcome address to the Prince, something that deeply upset Gandhi’s followers.

Some of their women wore silk saris, and many of their members continued to practice law and attend British schools. Thanks to all this, there was a lot of tension between Gandhians and Parsis. As some of the former became aggressive and attacked Parsi women or liquor shops, the Parsis fought back, sometimes with bamboo sticks and on other occasions with firearms. More Parsis had licensed firearms than any other community, including the Hindus. The situation became very tense and there was almost a racial divide between the Parsis and most of the Indians.

Gandhi caps and Khadi coats were a red rag to the Parsis just as their European dress was to their opponents. Gandhi did his best to calm the atmosphere which helped up to a point. He ordered that the picketing of liquor shops be stopped, and set up a committee made up of representatives of Parsis and other communities to decide on monetary compensation for the Parsi victims of the riots, run a cadre of National Volunteer Corps to resolve differences, and so on.

However, violence between the two communities persisted and Gandhi was deeply upset. As he said ‘I have been put to shame.’

He decided to go on fast until violence ceased. He also began to point to the dangers of mass mobilisation and civil disobedience unless they were properly guided.

All this led to better mutual understanding. There was considerable internal debate within the Parsi community and among the Gandhians. As for the former, they realised that the British rule would not end by constitutional pressure alone, and that some parts of the Non Co-operation Movement had to be retained. They stopped appealing to the colonial government for protection and saw their future as linked with the Indian. They also began to explore the Gandhian idea of decolonising the imagination and aiming at Swaraj or autonomy in ideas. As for the Gandhians, they began to appreciate the importance of constitutional politics, the differences between a small minority like the Parsis and a large minority like the Muslims, and the limits on individual liberty. During the conflict many Parsis had asked why they did not have the liberty to drink alcohol so long as they did not harm others. The Gandhian reply that this was not in the general interest or was an intrinsically evil practice persuaded few. It did however generate a fascinating debate on the basis and limits of individual liberty. In a strangely dialectical manner the four days of rioting had integrated the Parsis into the mainstream and made them feel proud to be Indian.

In the aftermath of the riots and better mutual understanding, there was no further occasion for tension between the two communities. The Parsis, having made their point, became an integral part of India. Some feared that the riots might recur in a Hindu majority independent India and decided to leave the country.

Most thought otherwise, so much so that they refused to demand many of the privileges, reserved seats and the policy of positive discrimination that the other communities had clamoured for. Gandhi’s remark about the Parsis, ‘in number, beneath contempt but in contribution, beyond compare’ remains as true as ever.

Zoroastrian APPG report on the celebration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and his relationship with the Parsis

Lord Diljit Rana, Lord Raj Loomba, Rusi Dalal – Ex-President of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE), Lord Karan Bilimoria, Her Excellency The High Commissioner of India to the UK - Ruchi Ghanashyam, Lord Bhikhu Parekh and Malcolm Deboo - President of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE)

The Zoroastrian All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) hosted a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth at the House of Lords on Monday 8 July. Members of both the Houses of Parliament and representatives from the British and International Zoroastrian communities gathered together to speak about the life and lasting contribution of Gandhi and his relationship with the Parsee community.

Speakers included, Lord Bilimoria, Gareth Thomas MP, Lord Bhikhu Parekh, Her Excellency, The High Commissioner of India to the UK Ruchi Ghanashyam, Lord Suri and Malcolm Deboo. Lord Bilimoria, founding Chair of the APPG, opened the meeting by thanking the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE), Parliamentarians and repre-

sentatives of the Zoroastrian community for their attendance. He further quoted anecdotes of his family’s historical connection with Mahatma Gandhi.

Lord Parekh presented a lecture on the relationship between Gandhi and the Parsee community, exploring in detail both the agreements and disagreements at the time and highlighting, in particular, the core differences in their understandings of liberty.

The APPG members were honoured to welcome Her Excellency, The High Commissioner of India to UK, Ruchi Ghanashyam.

She highlighted the importance of the Parsee community’s integration into the culture, economy, and value system of India by citing the analogy of ‘Sugar in Milk’.

In her remarks, she also discussed Gandhi’s life in South Africa and the role of his mentor, Gopal Krishna

Gokhale.

Malcolm Deboo, President of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE), expanded on issues brought up in the discussion by elaborating on the Zoroastrian contribution to the Indian Independence movement and presenting archival pictures of Gandhi with the Parsees.

The event concluded with a series of questions and answers as well as personal contributions from the participants regarding well-known but sometimes overlooked Parsees, including female photographer, Homai Vyarawalla, who was known for taking photographs of leaders of the Indian Independence movement including Mahatma Gandhi.

The event was attended

by Lord Bhatia, Lord Loomba, Baroness Ludford, Stephen Pound MP, Lord Rana and Lord Sheikh.

South Asian Heritage Month celebrates positive contribution and diversity within UK

Dr. Binita Kane, a Manchester based doctor featured in the award winning BBC1 documentary My Family, Partition and Me, where second and third generation British Asians were taken back to South Asia to explore their family stories during the time of Partition and has been campaigning for Partition to be commemorated ever since.

She said, “The Partition of India was one of the most important historical events in the 20th Century and has shaped much of modern day multicultural Britain “I was ashamed that even with such a personal connection, I knew little about this and I had learned nothing about it in school. I felt compelled to raise the profile and we are now also

campaigning to have Partition History taught on the school curriculum.”

“I hope that South Asian Heritage Month will stimulate a much-needed conversation about this important part of our national history but also be a celebration of the incredible influence that South Asia has had on British Culture.”

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Floods wreak havoc in Assam, Bihar killing 114; over 10mn affected

27 July - 2 August 2019

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SARDAR PATEL MEMORIAL SOCIETY UK invites you to

SARDAR WALK IN THE SPIRIT OF UNITY

SUNDAY 4th AUGUST 2019 Enjoy a fun walking day from Sardar’s London home 23 Aldridge Road Villas, Ladbrook Grove, London W11 1BS Nearest underground station Westbourne Park

Start 11:00 for 11:30 Over the last few days, the state of Bihar and Assam are grappling with flash floods caused by torrential rain in Nepal, leaving 10 million in the throes of despair. The flood fury spiraled the death toll to 114. The swollen rivers in the two states have washed away villages, towns and livelihoods in the two states.

In Bihar, the death toll from floods shot up to 78, with 11 more casualties reported during the last 24 hours. Altogether 18 people have died in Sitamarhi district alone on the IndoNepal border.

The floodwaters also engulfed vast countryside in 12 districts of Bihar, where people were seen trying to find their way to safety with bamboo sticks in hand.

In Assam, over 54,00,000 people were affected as floods claimed nine more lives, taking the number of those dead during the current spell of monsoon rage to 36. More than 2,26,000 displaced people were taking shelter in 1,080 relief camps, with large areas of 28 of the state’s 33 districts affected.

Barpeta district was the worst hit with 13,48,000 people facing the wrath of nature.

Besides this, the state administration is also running 689 relief distribution centres where essential items like food, potable water, baby food, medicines, mosquito repellents, sanitary napkins and fodder are being provided.

Over 4,000 houses were damaged across the state where rampaging waters swept away 130 animals, besides affecting many more, including 23,00,000 poultry.

The NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) teams were working round the clock to evacuate those marooned. The mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries were in spate, including in the state capital Guwahati. Several other rivers were flowing above the danger mark.

Northeastern states of Meghalaya and Mizoram also grappled with the floods. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conard M Sangma sought the Centre's

assistance as floods enter West Garo Hills district and parts of Khasi Hills region, officials said. The chief minister, his deputy Prestone Tynsong and Tourism Minister Metbah Lyngdoh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and appealed to him for assistance, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. A total of 159 villages with an estimated population of 1,30,000 people have been affected by the unprecedented floods in the area this year, Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills Ram Singh said. Twenty relief camps have been set up by the district administration.

Vast areas of Kaziranga, Manas National Parks and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary were submerged, forcing the wild animals, including deer and buffaloes to move towards the highlands in Karbi Anglong Hills. The Northeast Frontier Railway has slowed down trains in Abhayapuri-Jogighopa section for safety as flood battered villagers, who have flocked to the railway embankment to take shelter.

SARDAR PATEL MEMORIAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP FORM Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________Post Code: _____________________ Tel: _______________________ Email: ______________________________________________ Life Membership Fee: £51 I, ____________________________________________________ apply to become a member of SPMS and agree to abide by the rules and regulations of SPMS Signed: _______________________________________________________Date: ____________________ Please send your payment cheques of £51 payable to SPMS to become a life member, post or hand delivered cheque to: CB Patel, Karma Yoga House, Unit 1, 12 Hoxton Market London N1 6HW

Let’s all get together to pay tribute to Sardar Patel on a Summers day, celebrating forthcoming Independence Day with family and friends.

All welcome. Walk along picturesque Grand Cannel to Wormwood Scrubs Park. We start with refreshments followed by a picnic in the park after the two mile walk. You can carry on from East Acton underground station, home bound.

WORTH CHANGING YOUR PLANS Further information and to register your interest email before 2/8/2019 Sharad Parikh: sharadbalmukund@yahoo.co.uk Sulochana Sethi: pollylifestyle@gmail.com Hemesh Patel: hemx37@googlemail.com Deepak Patel: pateldeepak@live.co.uk

M: 07734 915211 M: 07956 811078 M: 07908 864185 M: 07900 588727

SPMS FOUNDED 1985 UK TALLEST “STATUE OF UNITY” INAUGURATED 2018

Create A United Future - Create A United World

A courteous call by Chairman C.B. Patel:

Sardar Patel imparted us the priceless possession of a united and independent India.

Sardar resided at 23 Aldridge Road Villas in Ladbroke Grove, London while studying to become a barrister in London. He used to walk about 13 miles, from his residence to his college located in Middle Temple, everyday for two and a half years of his stay.

Sardar also earned a reward of £50, a substantial amount at that time, having acquired top position in the exam. The plaque outside his residence continuously reminds us of the historical stay of the 'Iron Man' of India in the country. Sardar, after returning to India, made an invaluable contribution to India’s Independence movement and guided its integration into a united, independent nation.

Let us commemorate Sardar Saheb, and come together and contribute to support the charity walk organised on the joyous occasion of Independence day. Sardar Patel Memorial Society (SPMS) is committed to support the community. Therefore, all the funds collected during this walk will be donated to Sangat Advice Centre. Sangat Advice Centre has been operational in Harrow for years, and is well-known for providing free legal advice in various areas like welfare benefits, immigration, housing among others. The Advice Centre does not receive any grants from the council.

The administration of the SPMS has been revamped during last year. SPMS organises various programmes commemorating the life and contribution of Sardar. Last year, Bardoli Day was celebrated. Also, various programs like Sardar Janm Jayanti and Nirvana Din were also hosted by the organisation.

SMPS, an organisation committed to foster and promote life-virtues of Sardar, has a nominal Lifetime Membership Fees of £51. All the members are notified about organisation's activities and upcoming events well in advance via e-mail. If you aren't a member yet, I urge you to join the organisation at the earliest, simply by filling up the form and paying the fees. I also request the patrons to spread the word among friends and relatives about SMPS and also inform them about the charity walk.

SMPS UK Executives G Chairman: CB Patel, G Vice Chairman: Dr Rami Ranger G Committee: Kanti Nagda, Pravin Patel, Krishna Pujara, Jitu Patel, Mahendrasinh C. Jadeja, GP Desai, GM Patel, Kala Patel, Bhanubhai Pandya, Jayraj Bhadranwala, Rajesh Patel, Sumantrai Desai, Jayant Patel

18 FINANCE - UK

AsianVoiceNews

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27 July - 2 August 2019

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel Dear Financial Voice Reader, Schools out. What better education over summer to give your children than a primer on the basics of share investing? Could set them up for life.

The return on any stock is realized through annual dividends earnings and the net profit realized over the purchase price when the investor decides to stop holding the security. Stock prices change every day due to the forces of supply and demand. If market participants are optimistic about a company’s performance, more people would want to buy its stock and thus the price would move up. Conversely, if they have a negative outlook, they will want to sell it and the price would drop.

The most important factor that influences any stock’s price is the company’s earnings. Investors consider earnings a key benchmark while gauging a company’s operational performance. Listed companies report earnings every quarter and these figures are closely monitored by analysts and investors. A stock’s value is based on forecasted earnings and thus any unanticipated change in the released figures can cause sharp movements in its price thereby affecting the P/E multiple and Price to book value ratio.

Another factor that has an effect on pricing is the investor’s outlook regarding the company’s growth potential and general widespread euphoria for a sector/country. During the dotcom bubble, the market capitalization of many internet companies exceeded a billion US$ without the backing of profits. When the bubble burst, most of these valuations did not hold and the market crashed. Some of the prominent losers were Infospace (which plunged from US$1,305 per share in 2000 to US$22 per share in 2001) and The Learning Company (acquired for US$3.5 billion in 1999; sold for US$27.3 million in 2000).

Other factors that influence the expectations of an investor are various financial ratios such as: 1. Price earnings ratio: The price earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is the most widely used valuation ratio in investment community. First made popular by Benjamin Graham, he declared the ratio as one of the quickest and most accurate ways to make value comparisons.

2. Price to Book Ratio: The Price to Book Ratio is a measure of a company common stock price in relation to the book value of each share. The price to book ratio is a high level indicator of whether or not a company's stock price is undervalued or overvalued.

3. Dividend yield: The dividend yield is obtained by dividing the dividend by the share price and expressing it as a percentage. This measurement tells the investor what percentage return he can expect from his investment.

4. Debt ratio: Debt ratio indicates the proportion of company’s debt to its assets. The measure gives an idea to the leverage of the company along with the potential risks the might company face in terms of its debt-load.

5. Interest coverage ratio: The interest coverage ratio is a measure of the number of times a company could make the interest payments on its debt with its earnings before interest and taxes, also known as EBIT. 6. Return on equity: Return on equity indicates how much profit a company earned in comparison to the total amount of shareholder equity on the balance sheet.

That’s a start. Hope the education will continue under your own steam over the hot summer.

Struggling lender Metro Bank plans to sell loans Struggling lender Metro Bank is readying a £500 million deal to offload a mortgage portfolio back to US hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management in its latest attempt to strengthen its finances after an accounting error hammered its shares. The major loan book error in January left a hole in Metro’s balance sheet and wiped more than £1.5 billion of its market value.

Metro Bank responded in a stock market announcement.

Shares rose 4% in morning trading.

It said: "The company regularly assesses various opportunities in the market and accordingly confirms that discussions regarding the potential sale of a loan portfolio are taking place. "There can be no certainty at this stage that an agreement will be reached. A further announcement will be made if and when appropriate."

If confirmed, the sale would provide a boost to Metro Bank's capital position following a torrid few months for the challenger bank. While Metro, led by founder and chairman Vernon Hill, managed to raise £375 million in an oversubscribed share sale in May, the stock remains down 72% since the start of the year.

British banks accused of leaving poorest in lurch Digital bank Pockit recently conducted a research that revealed that banks are closing branches in deprived communities in England four times faster than in wealthy areas. High street banks have collectively closed 990 branches in the most deprived areas of the country since 2010, compared with 230 in the richest local authorities. The research said a quarter of the poorest local authorities had lost over 40 per cent of their bank branches, totalling 705 closures, over an eight-year period.

Between 2010 and 2018 about 5,035 bank and building society branches in England closed, a rate of almost two every day. The report said that in Bradford,

the 30th poorest local authority, the number of branches has dropped 60 per cent from 190 to 75. At the same time, Windsor and Maidenhead lost 17 per cent.

Pockit has claimed that people without access to a bank account face paying up to and £485 each year as they miss out on preferential discounts on utility bills.

Pockit chief executive Virraj Jatania said, "Big banks are marginalising the

poorest in society by shutting shop and leaving them behind. These findings suggest that high street lenders prefer serving the most well-off rather than the most in need. Banks should be supporting customers to improve their financial health, not abandon them." Gareth Shaw, head of money content at consumer group Which?, said banks needed to provide suitable

alternatives before they shut branches.

He said, "Our research shows that consumers in the two lowest household income groups rely on cash the most, but these people are struggling to access this vital payment method through the double blow of bank branch and cashpoint closures."

The Treasury select committee recently called for basic bank accounts to be accessible to all consumers regardless of whether they are eligible for another bank account, and recommended that the Financial Conduct Authority mandate banks to relax their opening restrictions on these accounts.

UK rail passengers lost out on £100 mn compensation last year UK industry watchdog, Transport Focus says that rail passengers have been urged to claim compensation for every delay they suffer after missing out on an estimated £100 million in payouts last year. It said passengers should send a message to train operators that reliability must keep improving by claiming their full entitlement. Research by the rail industry has suggested train operators have been reluctant to advertise passengers' rights to compensation, with 82 per cent of delayed passengers entitled to a payout saying they did not hear any announcement on the train or at the station informing them they could make a claim.

Chief executive of Transport Focus, Anthony Smith has launched a campaign to encourage more passengers to claim.

He said, "Too many rail passengers miss out on compensation for laterunning trains. When things go wrong train operators must ensure every eligible passenger knows about Deplay Repay and how to claim. They must also do more to make it easy to claim and autommate this process wherever possible."

The group's research for the Department for Transport found only 35 per cent of eligible passengers claimed compensation in 2017-18, with a total of £18mn paid out. Smith said, "To make their voice heard passengers must claim every

time."

Many passengers are failing to claim for short delays, where they would only receive a smaller payment. While 39 per cent of passengers claimed for delays exceeding 30 minutes, only 18 per cent claimed for delays of 15 minutes. Transport Focus has calculated that a total of £100mn goes unclaimed each year. It said companies should put more automated compensation schemes in place, taking the responsibility to claim from passengers. The industry body the Rail Delivery Group said, "We want passengers to get the compensation they're

entitled to. Train companies have helped to increase compensation payments by 80 over the last two years."

Darren Shirley, the chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport said, "When things go wrong too many (passengers) are missing out on compensation due to complex systems or a lack of information on how to claim. Ultimately, the reliability and punctuality of train services have to improve."

StanChart's executive remuneration policy questioned The head of the British parliament’s Work and Pensions Committee has questioned Standard Chartered Bank's executive pension pay levels after more than a third of shareholders voted against its directors’ remuneration policy.

Committee Chairman Frank Field asked in the letter why the remuneration committee put forward a proposal where the existing directors would receive 40% of base salary (20% of total salary) as the pension contribution whereas the contribution of new executive directors is limited to 10% of total salary.

The letter also questioned whether the

remuneration committee supported the Investment Association’s guideline that pension contribution rates for executive directors should be aligned with that of their workforce and enquired if the remuneration committee planned to revisit the executive pay policy next year.

Some 36% of StanChart’s shareholders voted against the bank’s 2019 directors’ remuneration report at its annual shareholder meeting in London, which set out plans to increase Chief Executive Bill Winters’ pension allowance among other measures. The bank failed to cap pension contributions as a

percentage of base salary, instead calculating against a bigger total salary base which annoyed its investors.

The letter from Field closed by asking whether the remuneration committee shared the views of Winters where the chief executive called investors “immature” for voting against his pay package.

Winters and remuneration committee Chair Christine Hodgson said earlier they believed the pension allowances paid to executives were in line with British corporate governance codes, even though the bank’s definition of basic salary includes fixed-pay allowances paid in shares as well as cash salary.

THE HIT & RUN GAME

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However, one must change with the terrain. And the terrain has changed. There are many reasons why commercial is preferable to residential, and a few reasons why residential is better in some aspects.

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

19

27 July - 2 August 2019

I will be attending an auction today to pick up a lot which consists of a shop and uppers. This is unusual for us as traditionally we concentrated on pure residential.

Suresh Vagjiani

REAL ESTATE VOICE

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

First and foremost, the biggest thorn in everybody’s behind is the extra premium on the stamp duty BTL residential properties attract.

Even though, to be fair, in the current market you can find enough of a deal to compensate for the extra premium. Another, is there are 160 separate pieces of legislation which govern BTL investment. BTL investment requires adherence to these, and also one needs to keep an eye out to see how the horizon is changing.

It seems there is a lot of politically driven bias against BTL landlords. It feels as if it has been on the agenda to have them persecuted, to the point of unfair discrimination.

On the other side of the coin is that I can’t imagine that residential property, especially at the bottom end of the pyramid, is really going to go down in value. There is a housing shortage in

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the UK, which is not being satiated. Often, we get caught up in the speculative side of property, forgetting we are actually dealing with a human need. A need for shelter. And when you concentrate at the bottom end, which is around the £300K mark in London, you’re no longer dealing with speculative property but the end of the market which is based on need; a need which is not being satisfied.

You can still get a property which will get you a 5% yield in this market, in a strong location. The positive aspect of residential property is typically it will rent in days. You have very little void periods, the market is variegated and strong.

The shop and uppers I am hoping to acquire for my client today, is a mix. The details say there is a one bed flat, and below this an HMO which consists of three rooms. Underneath this is a barber shop paying £10K per annum. The garden is an overgrown jungle consisting of about 100 sq. ft. length.

The angle here is a hit and run strategy. Meaning purchase and then break up and resell. The break up value comes to £565K. The ideal situation is we agree with the commercial to retain the garden space, and use this to get further residential planning. This will be done in addition to disposing of the whole property first /"".)0*1*)', 2**

and cashing in.

We have done a lot of flipping which involves buying and selling prior to completion.

In this deal we will be aiming to replicate this strategy. With property it’s reasonably easy to make money using a buy and hold strategy, it goes up medium to long term. What’s more interesting is how to make money through property in the short term.

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Notes: 1: Total fee includes lender's arrangement fee, valuaton fee, legal fee, redemption fee, funds transfer fee, etc. and would vary on a case to case basis.

2: The above mortgage rates are based on a property purchase price of £350,000 and LTV of 65% on a term of 20 years and is for illustration purposes only.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

3: Mortgage rates, fees, etc. would change on a case to case basis.

4: All applications are subject to lending criteria and underwriting.

5: The interest rates stated above are available as on 22/07/2019.

6: The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate Business Buy To Let Mortgages.

7: Your Buy to Let property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Email mortgages@sowandreap.co.uk or call 0207 096 1083

Sow & Reap Limited is an Appointed Representative of Connect IFA Ltd 441505 which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The FCA does not regulate Business Buy to Let Mortgages and Commercial Mortgages to Limited Companies.

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY London, HA1 Purchase price: £350,000 Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

l Large two bedroom first floor flat with garden l Freehold l Expected income of £60K from the lease extension of the ground floor flat with 55 year lease l Effective price to be approx. £290K l Two bedroom leasehold flats in this location are sold in the range of £370K - £385K l Can be converted into three bed after loft conversion thereby increasing the value and rental l Excellent investment opportunity Call us now for more information!

Sow & Reap Properties Ltd

0207 993 0103

info@sowandreap.co.uk www.sowandreap.co.uk 27 Gloucester Place, London, W1U 8HU SowandReapProperties

Sowandreapuk

Turning land into cash Get in touch about our land opportunities

20 FINANCE - INDIA

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Panel moots 'nominal' transfer of surplus RBI reserves to govt The government may not obtain windfall gain from the RBI's reserves as the Bimal Jalan Committee on Economic Capital Framework has proposed “nominal” transfer of surplus to the central government in a phased manner, according to a source in the know. The six-member committee, appointed by RBI, headed by former RBI governor Jalan was tasked with examining the central bank’s requirements on provisions, reserves and buffers. That would determine how much of the reserves could be transferred to the government.

“The report has proposed a formula for a nominal transfer of a portion of the RBI’s reserves to the central government in a period of three-five years. This is in line with the current practice being followed by the RBI for transferring dividend annually,”

a person close to the development said. The final report will be presented before RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in 15 days. However, it also suggest that the committee might not be unanimous on the issue and that Finance Secretary Subhash C Garg, one of the six committee members, has some divergent views on the matter.

These objections will also be included in the final report.

The committee, which met on July 17 for the last time, has reportedly recommended transferring of funds from both contingency and revaluation reserves to the government.

However, the panel has also sought a 'period review' of the RBI capital framework. Though there's no clarity on the committee's suggestion on the amount of money to be transferred to the government,

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had budgeted to receive dividends worth over £16 billion from the central bank this year.

The central bank had total surplus cash reserves of £94.3 billion as on June 30, 2018. Right now, the central bank's assets development fund amounts to £2.28 billion and its foreign exchange forward contracts value at £326.2 million. The RBI's investment revaluation account is worth £ 1.33 billion.

Apart from Jalan and Garg, other members of the panel include former deputy governor Rakesh Mohan (vice-chairman of the panel), RBI deputy governor NS Vishwanathan, and RBI central board members Bharat Doshi and Sudhir Mankad. The transfer of RBI's reserves to the government has been a contentious issue between the two sides for a long time.

Modi govt tightens anti-money laundering law The Modi government has tightened the anti moneylaundering law by widening the definition of 'proceeds of crime' stating that a property will be considered as tainted if it relates to any offence on the basis of which a PMLA case has been slapped. The definitions were brought in the form of amendments to the Finance Bill, 2019, in the Lok Sabha, which was later approved by the House by a voice vote.

According to the amendments brought by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, "a person shall be guilty of offence of moneylaundering if such person is found to have directly or indirectly attempted to indulge or knowingly assisted or knowingly is a party or is actually involved" in

Nirmala Sitharaman

"concealment, or possession, or acquisition, or use, or projecting as untainted property or claiming as untainted property."

The government brought eight amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, of which six are explanations to

Azim Premji quotes Gandhiji at last AGM In his last address to shareholders as Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Wipro, Azim Premji said the IT firm is making significant investment in digital, cloud, engineering services and cyber security as the company aims to outshine its previous performance. After more than five decades of chairmanship of the company, Premji will pass on the mantle to his son Rishad Premji, though he will continue to serve on the board as non-executive director and founder chairman. Premji will call it a day after 53 years on July 30.

The outgoing chairman said he has always believed in Mahatma Gandhi's dictum that we must remain 'trustees' of our wealth for society, not its owners. He noted that he has irrevocably renounced more of his personal assets and earmarked them to the endowment that supports the Azim Premji Foundation's philanthropic activities. The total value of the philanthropic endowment corpus contributed over time is £15 billion, which is 67% of the economic ownership in Wipro.

the existing clauses. The minister said explanations are being brought to certain existing clauses to remove the "confusion, grey area or ambiguity which might exist" in the vintage Act. The Finance Bill said that the "proceeds of crime" under PMLA would not only include

property obtained from the PMLA offence but also any property which may "directly or indirectly" be obtained as a result of any criminal activity related to the scheduled offence on the basis of which a money laundering case is filed.

Further, entities would be accused of money laundering when they conceal, possess, acquire, use, and project or claim a property as untainted.

Sitharaman said of the eight amendments, one relates to deletion of a proviso.

"A new proviso is being added to only make sure that where a case exists in one court and the hearings are going on there, and where in a different court there could be proceedings happening, this two cannot be clubbed together and treated as one".

Cos face penalty for failing to meet CSR spend target The Union cabinet has approved changes to the Companies Act that make it mandatory for companies to create a ring-fenced escrow account for corporate social responsibility expenditure and transfer unused funds to the National CSR Fund. Sources said a bill would be introduced in Parliament to carry out the 43 amendments to the Companies Act and the bill would replace an ordinance issued this year.

A key change pertains to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) norms, wherein companies will be penalised if they fail to meet the mandated 2% spending requirement towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) and “fit and proper” criteria for debarring directors from holding board positions. For companies that are not able to spend their full amount for CSR activities in ongoing projects within a particular financial year, the money can be transferred to a CSR account. The latter amount has to be spent within the next three financial years, sources said.

Sources said the move to introduce a penalty on companies not meeting the CSR

obligation was inserted as over 40% of the entities were not complying with the requirement, with close to a fifth not spending any money. “Companies have been given five years now. It is high time they start complying with the rules,” sources said.

Companies with a net worth of £50 million or more, or turnover of over £100 million, or net profit of over £500,000 have to spend at least 2% of the average net profit made during the three immediately preceding financial years on CSR activity. So far, they were only required to report it to shareholders. But the government has now decided to crack the whip.

Similarly, companies now have to disclose the details of significant beneficial ownership, an obligation that was so far cast on shareholders. The government saw it as a loophole and has sought to plug it. The rules mandate that details of all shareholders with interest of 10% or more in a company, either direct or indirect, have to be disclosed.

Further, the government has sought powers to mandate dematerialisation of shares for all category of companies.

in brief RELIANCE JIO OVERTAKES BHARTI AIRTEL

RIL's telecom unit Jio pipped rival Bharti Airtel to become India's second-largest operator by subscribers as of May, government data showed. Jio has revolutionised the telecom industry in the country since it was launched in 2016, offering cheap bundles and prompting shutdowns. As of the end of May, the operator had added 8.2 million users since April to end the month with 323 million wireless customers, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, showed. Both Vodafone Idea, which was the top operator with 387.6 million customers, and Bharti Airtel lost users over the month.

ADB CUTS INDIA'S GDP GROWTH FORECAST TO 7% Asian Development Bank (ADB) lowered India's growth forecast from 7.2 to 7 per cent for the current fiscal, due to moderation in growth prospects. ADB, however, maintained that India would continue to remain the fastest growing major economy ahead of China. It said China will grow at 6.3 per cent in 2019, and slip further to 6.1 per cent in 2020, mainly on account of continuing trade war with the US. India's economic growth, it said, is expected to inch up again to 7.2 per cent in FY2020 (2020-21), helped by recent reforms to improve the business climate, strengthen banks, and relieve agrarian distress. Notably, the 7.2 per cent economic growth projection in April this year was also curtailed from ADB's earlier projection of 7.6 per cent for the current fiscal ending March 2020.

JET AIRWAYS CREDITORS PUT IN CLAIMS WORTH £2.5 BN The NCLT-appointed Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) of Jet Airways has received 16,643 claims worth £2.49 billion from financial and operational creditors of the Naresh Goyalled airline. While 37 financial creditors have claimed £1.02 billion, 33 claims worth £846.3 million have been admitted by the IRP. The operational creditors (other than workmen and employees) have claimed £1.24 billion from Jet Airways, but IRP Ashish Chhawchharia of Grant Thornton India, is yet to approve these. Claims of £138.1 million, including some from entities owned by Naresh Goyal have been rejected. Jet Airways LLC, which has put up a claim of £42.6 million, is under verification. A £23 million claim

by Jetair, a general sales agent of Jet Airways and owned by Goyal, has been rejected. More claims are expected in the coming days.

NCLT ALLOWS GOVT TO PROSECUTE AUDITORS DELOITTE, BSR The NCLT has permitted the government to prosecute Deloitte and BSR Associates for their failure to detect and report the scams that took place in the now bankrupt IL&FS group and 21 other entities, when they were the auditors of IL&FS Financial Services. The NCLT said the corporate affairs ministry can go ahead with prosecution based on the findings of the probe conducted by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). The tribunal also allowed to the government plea to implead Udayan Sen, a partners of Deloitte, and BSR Associates partners Kalpesh Mehta and Sampath Ganesh.

The tribunal allowed prosecution of C. Sivasankaran and his group as the probe has revealed that management of IFIN abused their position by giving loans to the Siva group as some group companies failed to repay the earlier loans granted to them by IFIN.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

in brief FORMER PAK PM SHAHID KHAQAN ABBASI ARRESTED Former Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with a corruption case. Abbasi became the country's third high-profile politician to be arrested after Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari. Abbasi was arrested in connection with the liquefied natural gas (LNG) scam, where he and others are accused of illegally awarding LNG terminal contracts for a period of 15 years to a company of their liking in violation of defined rules, incurring losses to the state exchequer. Last year, NAB had launched an investigation against Abbasi and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif over the alleged misuse of authority. Abbasi served as the prime minister from August 2017 to May 2018, following the disqualification of Sharif from office by the Pakistan Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal.

PAK LOST $50 MN FROM AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS Pakistan's aviation minister said that his country suffered loses of over 8 billion rupees ($50 million) from airspace restrictions imposed since February which affected hundreds of commercial and cargo flights. Pakistan closed its airspace after an attack by a Pakistan-based militant group in Indian-controlled Kashmir led to clashes between the nuclear-armed powers, adding flight time for passengers and fuel costs for airlines. “Over eight billion rupees worth of losses have been suffered by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority,” Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Pakistan’s aviation minister said.

Pakistan reopened its airspace to international civil aviation last week.

MARYAM DONS KURTA DEMANDING NAWAZ'S RELEASE PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz wore a kurta demanding the release of her father and jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. This is not the first time that Maryam has taken to this unusual way of demanding her father's release. She was previously seen wearing a black kurta with a monochrome picture of her father along with a message 'Free Nawaz Sharif'. On Sunday, Maryam wore a green-coloured kurta which had the words 'Free Nawaz Sharif' on the hems while a large sketch of the jailed leader was printed on the front of the outfit with the slogan 'Vote Ko Izzat Do'. Just like last time, matching shoes completed the political leader's look.

Maryam has been consistently demanding her father's release from prison since the past few months.

BLAST NEAR AFGHAN UNIVERSITY KILLS SIX An explosion near a gate to the campus of Kabul University in the Afghan capital killed six people and injured at least 27 as students waited to take an examination, officials said. Afghan security forces are facing almost daily attacks by Taliban militants, despite reported progress in efforts by the United States to broker an end to Afghanistan's nearly 18-year war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast just hours after Taliban militants set off two car bombs outside police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least 12 and wounding more than 80. Health ministry spokesman said there were students among the 27 injured taken to hospital after the blast, which a student at the university campus said took place while a number of students waited to appear for an exam.

No big welcome for Imran Khan in US WASHINGTON: In a major embarrassment for Imran Khan, the Pakistan prime minister received no official welcome when he landed in the United States on Saturday. Khan was accompanied by foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood and commerce advisor Abdul Razzak. Khan travelled by a commercial flight, Qatar Airways, instead of a private jet, to cut down expenses. He was received at the airport by his foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and a large number of Pakistani Americans. The highest-ranking US official present at the airport was reportedly a protocol officer.

Khan in his maiden trip to the US was accompanied by chief of the Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He took a metro ride to the Pakistani envoy’s house.

The relations between Pakistan and the US have remained tense during Trump's tenure. The US president went on to say it publicly that Pakistan has given us "nothing but lies and deceit" and also suspended security and other assistance for backing terror groups. Pakistan's recent efforts have been appreciated for facilitating peace talks with the Taliban. Actions like launching

Imran Khan travelling in metro train to reach Pakistani envoy’s house

of cases of terror financing against Hafiz Saeed, head of the Jamaat ud Dawa are signals aimed at addressing concerns by India and the US. Khan's visit to the US is also marked by protests by several ethnic and religious minorities of Pakistan, including Baloch, Sindhis and Mohajirs. While Khan was addressing a huge gathering of Pakistanis residing in the US at Arena One in Washington DC, a group of Balochistan activists disrupted the event and raised slogans seeking justice for the region.

The Baloch groups began a mobile billboard campaign in America's national capital urging President Trump to help end “enforced disappearances”

in Pakistan. A bipartisan group of 10 influential American lawmakers asked President Trump to raise the issue of human rights abuses in Pakistan's Sindh province in his meeting with Khan. To which Trump replied, "I'll do that."

Khan meets IMF & World Bank chiefs Khan, meanwhile, held separate meetings with IMF chief Christine Lagarde and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva and discussed the cash-strapped country's efforts to tide over the financial woes. Pakistan is seeking $8 billion from IMF to bail itself out from a severe balance-of-payments crisis.

After the meeting, Lagard tweeted that she was glad to

meet Khan in a meeting where a comprehensive policy package was discussed to alleviate Pakistan's economy.

"We discussed prospects for a comprehensive policy package and international financial support to help stabilize the economy of Pakistan, and also the need to strengthen governance and protect the poor," she said. An IMF team is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad later this month for a round of talks.

Meanwhile, the World Bank pledged to further strengthen cooperation with Pakistan, in a meeting between Khan and the global lender's top official.

Georgieva assured of further strengthening cooperation with Pakistan in the areas of disbursements programme lending and guaranteed provision for raising external funds. Khan informed her about the recent steps taken by his government to improve Pakistan's economic and fiscal situation. He also apprised the official about the socioeconomic measures taken by the government to lift the people out of poverty. He appreciated the role played by the World Bank in regional connectivity, poverty alleviation, financial management, infrastructure projects and ease of doing business.

Hafiz Saeed arrested ahead of Imran's US visit ISLAMABAD: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the radical cleric and US-wanted terror suspect implicated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was taken into custody just days ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan's trip to Washington. The arrest came a day after Pakistan opened its airspace for flights to and from India. Saeed was taken into custody in Punjab province while traveling from the eastern city of Lahore to the city of Gujranwala, according to counter terrorism official Mohammad Shafiq.

Saeed is blamed to be the socalled 'mastermind' behind Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

His charity organizations, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat, are alleged fronts for Lashkar-e-

funding militant groups through charities and leading to recent arrest. Prime Minister Khan is to leave for Washington over the weekend on his first official visit to the United States as premier.

After his arrest, Saeed was taken before Hafiz Muhammad Saeed being taken into custody a judge and was Taiba (LeT) armed group. The ordered held in jail until the next United States has offered a $10 hearing, Shafiq said. In Pakistan, million reward for Saeed's arrest a suspect can be free on bail and Washington recently pending investigation and trial. stepped up pressure on Saeed's spokesman Nadim Awan Islamabad to crack down on denounced the arrest and said terror groups. the cleric had dissociated himself In response, Pakistan from Lashker-e-Taiba in 2001 registered over a dozen cases and has had no links with the against Saeed and several of his organization since then. associates, accusing them of Lashker-e-Taiba was banned in

2002. Awan said they would challenge Saeed's arrest before a higher court. Saeed had been arrested in the past and set free many times, including after being detained in the aftermath of the November 2008 Mumbai attack. He lived freely in Pakistan until he was booked along with 12 accomplices for terror funding. He is facing 23 terror-related cases in Pakistan.

In recent months, the government also took over schools, mosques, seminaries and all properties linked to Saeed's charities and froze their assets.

Pakistan is currently on the Financial Action Task Force's grey list, denoting its status as a haven for money laundering. It has until October to avoid black listing.

Sindh adopts resolution to end forced conversions of girls KARACHI: Pakistan's Sindh Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the practice of forced conversions and abductions of Hindu girls must be stopped and action be taken against those involved in such activities. The resolution moved by Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) lawmaker Nand Kumar Goklani - was supported by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party as well as Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM),

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the hardline Jamaat-eIslami.

The resolution comes months after the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in its annual report in April raised concerns about incidents of forced conversions and marriages of Hindu and Christian girls, saying around 1,000 such cases were reported in the southern Sindh province alone last year.

In March, two Hindu

teenage sisters - Raveena (13) and Reena (15) - were allegedly kidnapped by a group of "influential" men from their home in Ghotki district in Sindh on the eve of Holi. Soon after the kidnapping, a video went viral in which a cleric was purportedly shown soleminising the marriage of the two girls, triggering a nationwide outrage.

Introducing the resolution in the House, Kumar said that around 40 Hindu girls, mostly

minors, from Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Karachi, Tando Mohammad Khan, Khairpur Mirs, Hyderabad and other areas, have been forced to convert religion in the last few months. "This assembly has passed a law against child marriages. The minor girls of our community go missing and later appear in a seminary where they tie the knot with a Muslim boy," he said, adding that all this is being done under pressure.

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Tension escalates as Iran abducts British-flagged tanker 18 Indians among 23 crew members TEHRAN: Tension mounts as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it seized the Stena Impero, a British-flagged oil tanker, in the Strait of Hormuz, alleging that it collided with a fishing vessel. The United Kingdom has called on Iran to release the oil tanker and its crew- 18 Indians, three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino immediately, describing the seizure as illegal.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commandos rappelled from helicopters and seized the tanker on 12 July in apparent retaliation for the British capture of an Iranian tanker two weeks ago. Footage showed the British tanker docked in an Iranian port - with Iran's flag hoisted atop. While Iran's official line is that its capture of the oil tanker was because of safety issues, it has done little to hide that the move was

retaliatory.

"The ship was seized under false and illegal pretences and the Iranians should release it and its crew immediately," British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said. "We do not seek confrontation with Iran but it is unacceptable and highly escalatory to seize a ship going about legitimate business through internationally recognised shipping lanes."

"We are going to be looking at a series of options," Tobias Ellwood, junior defence minister said. "We will be speaking with our colleagues,

our international allies, to see what can actually be done," he added. "Our first and most important responsibility is to make sure we get a solution to the issue to do with the current ship, make sure other Britishflagged ships are safe to operate in these waters and then look at the wider picture."

Serious consequences British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned of "serious consequences" if the issue was not resolved quickly. He added, "we're not looking at military options, we are looking at a diplomatic way to resolve the

situation." Followed to the incidence, London warned British ships to avoid the Hormuz Strait for "an interim period". "We remain deeply concerned about Iran's unacceptable actions which represent a clear challenge to international freedom of navigation," a government spokeswoman said after an overnight meeting of the government's COBRA emergencies committee.

Release our sailors, India tells Iran India has reached out to the Iranian government to help release 18 Indian crew members on board the British oil tanker.

“We are ascertaining further details on the incident. Our (Embassy) is in touch with the Government of Iran to secure the early release and repatriation of Indian nationals,” said India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

Zuma confirms initiating newspaper, channel ideas with Guptas PRETORIA: Former South African President Jacob Zuma said that he initiated the idea that led to the controversial Indian-origin Gupta family establishing their media empire, which has since collapsed. He said he had conceived the idea of having an "alternative media" in South Africa because "the media in this country is very biased; at all material times, just critical".

He started his long-awaited testimony before the Zondo Commission, which is inquiring into allegations of “state capture” during his rule. He had then suggested that a newspaper be established, which the ANC had agreed to. This led to him approaching the Guptas with the idea.

“When this paper was operating and really being appreciated in this country to bring in an alternative voice, … I wondered whether I could push them further,” he said. “I suggested the paper to them; I

suggested the (TV) channel (ANN7). The Guptas partnered with a media house in India to establish the ANN7 channel, which was closed down after allegations of their involvement in "state capture" emerged.

Zuma resigned as president in February last year after huge outcries over his alleged involvement in corrupt and illegal activities that left a number of government departments bankrupt. He was replaced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was subsequently re-elected during national election.

The commission had heard evidence from a number of witnesses, including former ministers of state, implicating Zuma in a range of activities, among them his closeness to the three Gupta brothers who allegedly fleeced a number of government organisations of billions of rand. Zuma has repeatedly denied these

allegations.

I was targeted on the presidential jet Testifying before the commission, he said numerous attempts had been made to poison him in early 2019 as well as to kill him at a stadium in KwaZulu-Natal. "On the plane that I had been using, many things were found that were aimed to get rid of me. Not one, many. At the right moment, I will give you those items that were found in order that I should not reach my destination."

Ramaphosa calls watchdog's report 'flawed' Meanwhile South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he will seek an urgent judicial review of what he described as an irretrievably flawed report in which the country's graft watchdog said he misled parliament over a campaign donation. "After careful study, I have concluded that the report

category.

Khosla is a part of the critically acclaimed band, Goldspot, for his score on NBC’s hit drama series, “This Is Us,” starring Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, and Siddhartha Khosla Punam Patel Sterling K Brown.

Khosla composed Jim Parsons, garnered a nod for the hit song, “We Can Always her role in the show in the Come Back To This,” which ‘Actress in a Short Form earned him an award Comedy or Drama Series’

KENYAN FINANCE MINISTER HELD ON GRAFT CHARGES Kenyan finance minister Henry Rotich and 27 other treasury officials were arrested on corruption and fraud charges over project building multi-million dollar Arror and Kimwarer hydroelectric dams. The case can become one of the highest profile graft prosecutions in the country’s history. Noordin Haji, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that Kenyan officials are suspected of making fraudulent payments to the Italian firm and ignoring legal procedures to ensure that the CMC di Ravenna was awarded the contracts.

The two dams were budgeted to cost 46 billion shillings ($446 million), Haji said, but the treasury borrowed 63 billion instead, needlessly ratcheting up Kenya’s ballooning public debt, which stands at around 55% of GDP. Hundreds of senior officials and business people are facing graft charges in Kenya, but the number of successful prosecutions remains low.

FIVE BUDDDHA STATUES VANDALISED IN NEPAL Five Buddha statues have been vandalised near Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha in southwest Nepal, police said. Some unknown people vandalised the statues along the road section adjoining Naya Mill near Shankar Chok, the police said. The statues in sitting posture were constructed with cement, limestone and sand. Each of the statues weighed over 120 kg, they added. The act of destruction was an attempt to damage the social and religious harmony in the area, according to local residents. Meanwhile, Nepali Congress leader Balkrishna Khand has demanded strong action against them.

According to the mayor of the municipality, Bashudev Ghimire, authorities are probing the incident. Lumbini is the Buddha's birthplace, one of the world's most important spiritual sites and attracts Buddhist pilgrims from around the world.

OZ BOY CLAIMS HE IS PRINCE DIANA'S REINCARNATION Jacob Zuma

is fundamentally and irretrievably flawed," Ramaphosa told a media briefing, adding that it was therefore appropriate the courts make a final and impartial judgment on the matter.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's report followed an investigation by the watchdog into a 500,000 rand ($35,878.56) donation to Ramaphosa's 2017 campaign for the leadership of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) from the CEO of services company Bosasa.

Two Indian-Americans in Emmy awards nominees CALIFORNIA: Two Indian Americans – actress Punam Patel and film and television composer and singer/songwriter/producer Siddhartha Khosla – were nominated for the 71st annual Prime time Emmy awards. The nominee announcement was held at Wolf Theatre at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center in Los Angeles.

Patel, who stars in the new Netflix comedy series, “Special,” which is produced by

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nomination from the Guild of Music Supervisors for Best Song/Recording for Television.

Bravo TV’s “Top Chef,” hosted by Indian American model-author Padma Lakshmi, has been nominated in the ‘Competition Program’.

Pakistani American actor Kumail Nanjiani's performance in CBS All Access’ “The Twilight Zone” earned him a nomination in the ‘Guest Actor in a Drama Series’ category.

A four-year-old Australian boy has claimed to be the reincarnation of Britain’s Princess Diana. The boy’s father, a noted Australian television presenter, has said that his son believes he is the reincarnated embodiment of Diana. Billy Campbell, son of Australian TV personality David Campbell, was born 18 years after the princess’ death in a car crash in 1997. The bemused father said: “Billy (aged two at this time) pointed and said, ‘Look! It’s me when I was a princess’,” when he spotted Diana on a card. However, David goes on to say that the kid’s obsession with Diana didn’t stop there. Peculiarly, Billy could apparently recount details about Diana’s life as a toddler, he would refer to Princes William and Harry as his “sons” and have conversations with freaked-out family members in which he would casually mention his “boys”. Even more ludicrously, David alleges that his son would talk about Diana’s brother John, who sadly died as a baby just hours after his birth.

DISRUPTIVE PASSENGER FACES $106,000 FINE BY AIRLINE A passenger accused of severe misbehavior on a Jet2 flight that had to return to London in June has received a huge bill from the airline. Chloe Haines, accused of “aggressive, abusive and dangerous behaviour” on a flight, has been sent a bill of $106,000. Officials say the plane bound for Turkey had to return to Stansted and was escorted by two Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

INDIA LAUNCHES MISSION TO MOON India on Monday successfully launched its second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 with a plan to land the rover on September 7 in the unexplored lunar south pole, exactly a week after the liftoff was aborted due to a technical snag. Carrying a "billion dreams" in a giant leap for the country's ambitious low-cost space programme, the most complex and prestigious mission ever undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO), if successful, will also make India the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to pull off a soft landing on the moon.

"We bounced back with flying colours after the earlier technical snag. Success is coming after a call-off," said a beaming and visibly relieved ISRO Chairman K Sivan at the mission control room of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota as scientists broke into cheers, shook hands and exchanged greetings. Sivan was addressing the scientists shortly after the towering geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-MkIII-M1, dubbed as 'Baahubali', lifted-off from the second launchpad at the spaceport into cloudy skies at 2.43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850-kg Chandrayaan-2 into the earth orbit about 16 minutes later.

The ÂŁ97.8 million unmanned mission also brought woman power to the fore as it was helmed by two woman scientists of the ISRO -Ritu Karidhal and M Vanitha, the Mission and Project directors respectively.

Joined by President Ram Nath Kovind and leaders across the political spectrum, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the scientists and said every Indian is immensely proud today. In a series of tweets, Modi referred to the indigenous systems used in Chandrayaan-2 and said the mission is "Indian at heart, Indian in spirit!...

The ISRO is aiming for a soft landing of the lander in the South Pole region of the moon where no country has gone so far.

Immediately after Chandrayaan-2's separation from the rocket, the solar array of the spacecraft automatically got deployed and the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru successfully took control of the spacecraft, the ISRO said in a statement.

According to the statement, Chandrayaan-2, a three-module spacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover, will be subjected to a series of orbit manoeuvres using its onboard propulsion system to take it to the vicinity of Moon over the next few weeks with the rover soft landing planned on September 7.

The mission was called off on July 15 barely an hour before the planned lift-off after scientists noticed a glitch in the three-stage rocket during the propellant filling phase. According to the ISRO, the lunar South Pole is an interesting surface area which remains in shadow than North Pole. There is a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it, the agency said, adding craters in the South Pole region have cold traps and contain fossil record of the early solar system. Chandrayaan-2 comes 11 years after ISRO's successful first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 which scripted history by making more than 3,400 orbits around the Moon and was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.

The 43.43-metre tall three-stage rocket GSLV-MkIII-M1 dubbed as Baahubali for its ability to carry heavy payloads, successfully placed the Chandrayaan-2 in the Earth orbit, ISRO said. Now, the mission will undergo a series of manoeuvres by scientists to carry out different phases of the mission over the next 48 days. At the end of the Earthbound phase, the orbit of the spacecraft will be finally raised to over 105,000 km before nudging it into the Lunar Transfer Trajectory taking it to the proximity of Moon in the next two days.

Then gradually over the next few days it will be brought to 100 X 100 km circular orbit when the lander 'Vikram' carrying rover 'Pragyan' will separate and after another few days of orbiting it will make a soft landing at a chosen place on the Lunar surface. The mission, which carries a total of 13 payloads, including three from the Europe, two from the US and one Bulgaria.

A Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) of US space agency NASA is among the payloads and is aimed at understanding dynamics of Earths moon system and deriving clues on

Lunar interior.

The lander Vikram carrying the rover Pragyan, will be landed in a high plain between two craters at a latitude of about 70 degrees South of the moon. Then the 27-kg Pragyan will set out on its job of collecting information on lunar surface. A safe site free of hazards for landing would be decided based on pictures sent back by the camera onboard the lander and after touchdown the rover will carry out experiments for 14 Earth days, equalling one Lunar Day.

Women behind Chandrayaan-2 For the first time in India's space mission history, the ISRO expedition was spearheaded by two women. While Muthayya Vanitha is the project director, Ritu Karidhal is the mission director of Chandrayaan-2. And the incredible feat of this mission does not end at that, because 30% of the team working on it comprised of women and it is Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first space mission to be led by women scientists.

Muthayya Vanitha (Project Director) In her 40s, Muthayya Vanitha has had a distinguished career within ISRO, and this latest Chandrayaan 2 mission is just another feather in her cap. Vanitha has become the first ever woman project director at ISRO, breaking barriers like never before.

Reluctant to take the responsibility of project director of Chandrayaan 2 at first, Vanitha finally came around after persuasion by M Annadurai - the project director of Chandrayaan 1 - who knew Vanitha was more than capable of doing a splendid job. An electronics system engineer, Vanitha has also been responsible for handling data operations for the country's remote sensing satellites, and she's highly regarded for her problem solving skills, since she's tasked with the unenviable task of handling Chandrayaan 2 from launch till successful landing on moon's surface in September. In the past, Vanitha has won Best Woman Scientist Award of the Astronautical Society of India in 2006, and also played a key role in the launch and success of Mangalyaan in November 2013.

Ritu Karidhal (Mission Director) Ritu Karidhal is fondly regarded as the "Rocket Woman" of India, as she was the deputy operations director for Mangalyaan in 20132014. She's been there and done that, and now holds the mantle of Chandrayaan 2's mission director. She is working closely with Vanitha throughout the Chandrayaan 2 mission, taking a prominent role once the spacecraft takes off from earth. It was her responsibility to design Chandrayaan 2's onward autonomy system - which gives the spacecraft the ability to navigate its trajectory and respond to satellite with a relative degree of independence. Ritu has a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from IISC, Bengaluru, and has previously received the ISRO Team Award for Mars Orbiter Mission and also the ISRO Young Scientist Award from former President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2007.

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Can't direct Governor to release Rajiv case convicts: Madras HC CHENNAI: The Madras High Court dismissed as not maintainable a writ petition filed by S Nalini, a life convict in the former PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu Governor to “countersign” a state cabinet recommendation made in September 9 last year for premature release of her and other six convicts in the case. A division bench of Justices R. Subbiah and C. Saravanan upheld the objections raised by the high court registry for numbering the case and agreed with Advocate General Vijay Narayan that no direction as sought for by the convict could be issued to the Governor who had to exercise his power under Article 161 of the Constitution.

“Therefore, questioning the discharge of the act of a

S Nalini

Governor or failure to discharge his constitutional obligations cannot be subjected to judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution by arraying the Governor as a party to the writ proceedings,” the bench said.

The AG argued that the

court could not even order notice to the Governor since he enjoyed complete immunity under Article 361 of the Constitution and he would not be answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his office. He pointed out that insofar as the present case was concerned, the Governor had to exercise his constitutional power under Article 161, which relates to granting pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends.

When such was the case and when he was seized of the issue, courts could not compel the Governor to act in a particular

fashion, the AG said.

Nevertheless, accepting that the Governor had to act as per the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers while exercising his constitutional powers, the AG said no court of law could issue a writ of mandamus directing him to exercise his constitutional functions, especially when he was awaiting legal opinion before taking a final call on the matter. Also, taking exception to the “peculiar” nature of the petitioner’s plea, the AG had said, “Petitioner wants a direction to the first respondent (Governor) to countersign a recommendation made by second respondent (State government). Where is the question of countersigning when the Governor has to exercise constitutional powers under Article 161?”

PUNJAB

Punjab, Haryana CMs discuss steps to curb drug menace CHANDIGARH: The Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar came together for greater collaborations in the battle against drugs and agreed to hold an inter-state meeting of all the northern states in this regard on July 25.

"Besides Haryana and Punjab, the chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi, as well as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi Lieutenant Governor and Chandigarh Administrator are expected to join the second inter-state meeting on drugs," an official

spokesperson said.

The first meeting was held in April last year. The northern states had then decided to set up a centralized secretariat at Panchkula (Haryana) with nodal officers from each state to be deputed there for intelligence and information sharing. The states had also agreed on a more proactive campaign to fight drugs on a joint platform, with faster sharing of information on drug trends, cases registered and persons identified or arrested.

Singh, after the meeting with Khattar, said, "Our government is committed to the total elimination of drugs, which were being smuggled into

Captain Amarinder Singh and Manohar Lal Khattar

Punjab from across the borders, not just from Pakistan but also from within the country, especially Kashmir." Khattar

welcomed Captain and presented him a copy of the Bhagavad Geeta along with a memento.

Bengal to use drones to supply medicines in remote areas people immediately and effectively. The concept of aerial robotics is used by many countries. If things go as per plans, we will try to implement this here also. This will be a great help during natural calamities especially during floods and landslides in the hills and Sundarbans.”

Chaudhary said, “According to the latest Economic Survey (for FY 2018-19), Bengal is ahead of many states in the areas of employment, agriculture, women’s empowerment, school education, rural roads and this drone concept will be an added feather. I am sure with this drone concept, Bengal will show the path to others.”

Besides the concept of drone, the monitoring cell is also

INDIA’S 'DOSA KING’ DIES ONE WEEK INTO LIFE TERM The 71-year-old “dosa king” of India, P Rajagopal, died days after losing a last-ditch attempt to avoid a life sentence for murder. The popular restaurateur was taken with heart problems to Vijaya hospital in Chennai, where he died. “We failed to revive him and he passed away due to cardiac failure,” a hospital official said. Rajagoal, founder of the world’s largest chains of vegetarian restaurants, Saravana Bhavan, was convicted of killing the husband of a woman he wanted to make his third wife. He harassed, threatened and tried to blackmail her, and hired a gunman to kill the woman’s husband. In 2004, Rajagopal was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years. When he appealed, the sentence was increased to life and the punishment was upheld by the Spreme Court in March.

RED ALERT IN KERALA FOLLOWING HEAVY RAINS The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red alert in Kasargod, Idukki, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur districts following heavy rainfall. It has also predicted extremely heavy rainfall in Kannur and Kasargod districts of the southern state. The weatherman has also issued orange alert in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram. The Central Water Commission website said water in Periyar, Pamba and Chaliyar rivers in the state is rising. Even though the intensity of rains has reduced, coastal areas of the state continue to bore the brunt of the rough sea.

The Thiruvananthapuram district administration has opened six relief camps and moved 143 families there from the coastal areas. Authorities declared holiday for all educational institutions in the wake of red alert issued by the IMD.

PUNJAB CM ACCEPTS SIDHU’S RESIGNATION

WEST BENGAL

KOLKATA: In a first of its kind attempt in India, the monitoring cell of West Bengal government is mulling the idea of sending medical supplies through hightech drones to remote areas in the state.

The state government is planning to rope in aerial robotics experts in order to implement the concept. The scheme will prove to be a boon for people living in remote areas who often find it difficult to access immediate healthcare facilities, if implemented successfully.

Colonel Diptanshu Chaudhary (Retd), who heads the West Bengal monitoring cell said, “Yes, we are mulling the idea of drones. The whole idea is to engage technology to serve

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working on corruption-free Public Distribution System (PDS), pension at doorstep, pipe water and 24x7 healthcare in these remote villages with a special focus on Jungalmahal, hills and parts of Sundarbans where quick reachability is a problem.

Asked to elaborate more on the functioning of the monitoring cell, Chaudhary said, “The monitoring cell, under our Chief Minister, is acting as a huge catalyst to ensure beneficiaries to get their dues at their doorstep and also to curb the corruption at grassroots level which causes in denying the marginalized their daily

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has accepted Navjot Singh Sidhu’s one-line resignation and forwarded the same to the Governor, said an official spokesperson. Sidhu had sent his resignation on June 10 to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and tweeted the same more than a month later. Thereafter, he had tweeted that he would formally send his papers to the Chief Minister, in whose Cabinet he had been allocated the Power Ministry as part of a reshuffle post the Lok Sabha elections. Capt Amarinder recently said if Sidhu did not want to do his job, there was nothing he could do about it. Capt Amarinder and Sidhu have been at loggerheads since the Lok Sabha poll. It started with Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu accusing Capt of blocking her Lok Sabha ticket from Chandigarh. Later, the Chief Minister blamed Sidhu for not handling his department well, which he claimed had resulted in the Congress’ “poor performance” in urban areas in the general election.

12 BENGALI ACTORS JOIN BJP

bread and social schemes.”

“Recently, we travelled to remote places in Purulia and found that nearly 700 marginalised villagers could not collect their pension cheques due to health issues for several months.

We immediately arranged the scheme to reach their doorsteps with the assistance of Rahul Majumdar, DM Purulia,” Chaudhary, who is also a Kargil war veteran added.

In a major boost for the BJP in West Bengal, 12 well-known Bengali actors joined the party in presence of party leaders Mukul Roy and Dilip Ghosh. The popular faces in the world of Bengali TV series and films who have joined the BJP are Rishi Kaushik, Parno Mitra, Kanchana Moitra, Rupanjana Mitra, Biswajit Ganguly, Deb Ranjan Nag, Arindam Halder, Moumita Gupta, Anindya Banerjee, Sourav Chakravorty, Rupa Bhattacharya and Anjana Basu. The new recruits came to Delhi from Kolkata and joined the BJP during a press conference. Senior party leaders Rahul Sinha and Sambit Patra were also present as the actors joined the saffron party formally. The inclusion of these popular faces is seen as the BJP's answer to the Trinamool's celebrity first-time MPs Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan, who have managed to win the recently held Lok Sabha elections.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

ICJ stays Jadhav’s execution Pak allows consular access to Indian naval commander Pakistan has ordered consular access for Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian naval commander condemned to death for spying, following a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week. The United Nations court in the Hague last week asked Pakistan to undertake an "effective review" of the case, adding that a "continued stay of execution" was needed for that to happen. "As a responsible state, Pakistan will grant consular access to Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav according to Pakistani laws for which modalities are being worked out," Pakistan said in a statement.

ICJ stays Jadhav's execution ICJ last week stayed the execution of Jadhav by Pakistan. Jadhav had been arrested in Pakistan’s restive province of Balochistan in 2016 and accused of terrorism, spying, and fomenting trouble in Balochistan.

He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in 2017.

However, the ICJ in a 151 decision, directed Pakistan to stay his execution and allow him consular access.

The only judge to dissent was Tassaduq Hussain Jillani of Pakistan. ICJ president judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, who read out the judgement, also directed Pakistan to review and reconsider the death sentence awarded to Jadhav under the provisions of the 1963 Vienna Convention that defines a framework for consular relations between countries.

This can be seen as a victory for India as these were the main arguments on which New Delhi had based its case.

India has said that the

Kulbhushan Jadhav

Jadhav’s sentencing followed a “farcical trial".

New Delhi acknowledged that Jadhav was an Indian national, but said he had been kidnapped by Pakistani agents from Iran, where he had gone on a business trip after retiring from the Indian Navy. Pakistan, which has constantly accused India of supporting Baloch separatists, saw Jadhav’s capture as proof of India’s involvement in the unrest.

New Delhi also took exception to the fact that Islamabad had informed the Indian High Commission of Jadhav’s detention three weeks after Pakistan had first taken him into custody.

India was also angered as repeated requests from its high commission in Islamabad to meet Jadhav were denied by Pakistan. In May 2017, India approached the ICJ, which restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the adjudication of the case.

Pakistan had raised three objections to the admissibility of India’s application in the case before the ICJ, including India’s alleged abuse of process, abuse of rights and unlawful conduct.

The ICJ rejected all three. The ICJ said “a continued stay of execution is an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence" of Jadhav.

It found that India had been deprived of the “right

to communicate with and have access to Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation", which meant that Pakistan had “breached the obligations incumbent upon it under Article 36, paragraph 1 (a) and (c), of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations".

The judgement also said that “the appropriate reparation in this case consists in the obligation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to provide, by the means of its own choosing, effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence" of Jadhav. This means that Islamabad should take steps to remedy the violation of the rights enshrined in the Vienna Convention. Jadhav could now be tried once again in either a civilian or military court, but with proper legal assistance provided to him.

The judgement also said that Pakistan was under “obligation" to inform Jadhav “without further delay of his rights and to provide Indian consular officers access to him in accordance with Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations".

Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: “We expect Pakistan to implement the directive immediately.

This landmark judgment validates India’s position on this matter fully.

We will continue to work vigorously for Jadhav’s early release and return to India."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the verdict in a Twitter post.

“Truth and justice have prevailed. Congratulations to the ICJ for a verdict based on extensive study of facts. I am sure Kulbhushan Jadhav will get justice," Modi said.

Danta Maharana did not sign Merger • The ruler, a closed confident of Sardar Patel, preferred to wear Khadi • Of the two abdications, one was forced upon, another one voluntary My father who was the Maharana did not sign Merger agreement,” 87 year old Maharajkumar Madhusudansinh of Danta Princely State literally shocked us on 14 July 2019 when visited him at his residence in the Vashi Forest along with a senior journalist Gulabsinh Bhati. The Maharana of Danta, Bhawanisinh was a closed friend of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He wore Khadi even during the British rule. He had chicks to invite Patel as his guest for some days at his Ambaji Palace. “He preferred to abdicate in favour of my elder brother Prithvirajsinh who signed the merger agreement,” added Madhu Bana as the Maharajkumar is popularly known. A 1958 batch graduate in History and Law from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, he opted for retirement from public life when he was to be elected the President of Danta Taluka Panchayat for the fourth term apart from being the founder Chairman of the Banas Bank and a Director of Banas Dairy. Even at this age, he has flood of visitors at his private forest residence.

“

Bhawanisinh, a Mayo College product, was the Maharana of Danta State from 1925 to 1948. He succeeded his father Hamirsinh in November 1925. Comparatively a smaller State of 347 hilly square miles on the border between the modern states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, having 31,110 inhabitants in 1941, most of them a tribal folk called Bhils. The kingdom was founded in 1068 by a scion of one of the greatest ancient Hindu dynasties, the Parmars. It is claimed that they are descendents of the celebrated Emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain. Since one of the 51 Shakti peeths, Ambaji, was under Danta State, the ruler, naturally, occupied a special position. Even today, the present titular Maharana Mahipendrasinh, a grandson of Bhawanisinh, continues to hold same position.

Even when most of the rulers of Princely States signed the merger agreement by 10 June 1948, Danta State was yet to sign.

Maharana Bhawanisinh was reluctant Maharana Bhawani Singh of Danta despite being a closed confident of Sardar Patel since ‘the State was won by sword’. He “On 7 October 1948 the Maharana wrote opted to abdicate in favour of his elder son, to me that owing to his religious bent of Prithvirajsinh, who in turn signed the mind and his dwindling interest in mundane merger agreement as Maharana of Danta! affairs, it was not possible for him to attend V.P. Menon, the Secretary of the States to State work. He begged to be allowed to Ministry records in his book ‘Integration of abdicate and requested that his son and the Indian States’, the first authoritative heir-apparent be recognized as account of the magnificent the ruler. The Government of Next Column: achievement: “After the India accepted the proposal. merger of the Gujarat States, Khushwant Singh on a The new ruler signed the Smiling Death repeated efforts were made to merger agreement on 16 get into contact with the October 1948 and the State was taken over Maharana of Danta. He was a deeply by the Bombay Government on 6 religious man and was in the custom of November.” There was another abdication spending several hours a day in performing in Gujarat: Maharaja Pratapsinghrao religious rites and ceremonies. He used, in Gaekwad of Baroda’s abdication in favour of fact, to be so immersed from eight in the his eldest son Yuvraj Fatesinghrao. evening till nine the next morning The difference between the two throughout the period from June to was one was Dr. Hari Desai September every year. Eighty per cent of the forced upon population of his State consisted of Bhils. where as that (The writer is a SocioThis aboriginal population presented a most of Danta was political Historian. difficult problem of law and order to voluntary!

E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com) Bombay.”

UK e-mobility delegation visits India A delegation of UK e-mobility experts visited India from 1519 July, as part of a UK-India knowledge exchange programme on electric mobility. This follows a similar visit by a delegation of Indian Government officials to the UK last month.

Representatives from the UK Government, together with a mix of private sector organisations, were on a weeklong visit to Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, culminating with a workshop on 19 July in New Delhi focused on stateand city-led initiatives to scale up electric mobility markets in India. The visit was part of a project exploring future partnerships with India on electric mobility. Delegates discussed how to bolster charging infrastructure development, grid management, renewable energy integration, grid impact assessment, fleet transition programmes, pilots, vehicle to grid systems and city level planning.

Increasing the uptake of electric vehicles will require a transformational change to the transport and mobility sectors. The UK and India are helping to drive that

transformation through continued knowledge exchange and joint development of innovative solutions for sustainable and zero emission mobility.

The High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith, said: “Pioneering The delegates with British High Commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith year, one in five electric cars sold in Europe was made in the work on e-mobility is taking place in both India and the UK. UK and it was the second largest market for Ultra Low Whilst local needs may vary, the challenges we face are Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) in the EU. The Faraday Institute similar. Innovative technologies, practices and ideas bridge is investing £246 million is working with premier UK the gap and bring us closer. India is already demonstrating universities and battery and electric vehicle manufacturers global leadership on electric mobility - the UK is the right in the UK to address challenges around battery partner for that work, together helping to drive progress manufacturing. India is working towards a ‘shared, through innovation. Another example of the UK and India connected and electric’ mobility system and is exploring working as a force for good.” innovative ways to increase the share of low carbon vehicles The UK is taking significant strides towards making across the country. It recently announced a set of incentives electric mobility an integral part of its domestic in the Union budget, including tax incentives, to accelerate transportation policy. The 2018 Road to Zero Strategy to the adoption of electric vehicles. The two countries are reduce emissions from road transport is one of the most already working together across a number of areas related to comprehensive plans globally – mapping out how the UK the development of clean energy. will make all new cars and vans zero-emission by 2040. Last

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India refutes Trump's 'mediation' claim in Kashmir dispute US President Donald Trump made shocking remarks claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate in the longstanding Kashmir conflict with Pakistan, which were quickly refuted by India. The Indian foreign ministry tweeted within an hour that "no such request" had been made by the prime minister, adding that all issues with Pakistan were "discussed only bilaterally."

“We have seen @POTUS’s remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate, if requested by India & Pakistan, on Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by PM @narendramodi to US President. It has been India’s consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement & the Lahore Declaration provide the basis to resolve all issues between India & Pakistan bilaterally,” Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson for the MEA, tweeted.

Trump made the remarks in the presence of visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House ahead of their bilateral meeting. At the White House, Imran Khan,

responding to a question on Kashmir, said he will be asking Trump’s support to push for dialogue with India.

“He is… It is the most powerful country in the world, the United States. It can play the most important role in bringing peace in the subcontinent. There are over a billion and a quarter people in the subcontinent. They are held hostage to the issue of Kashmir. And I feel the most powerful state, headed

by President Trump, can bring the two countries together. From my point, I can tell you — we have tried our best. We made all overtures to India to start dialogue, resolve our differences through dialogue. But, unfortunately, we haven’t made headway as yet. But, I am hoping that President Trump can push this process,” he said.

Trump then said: “I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago. We talked about this subject, and he actually said would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator? I said: Where? He said: Kashmir. Because this has been going on for many many years. I was surprised at how long it has been going on.”

At this point, Khan said, “70 years”. Trump continued saying “I think they would like to see it resolved. I think you would like to see it

Imran Khan with Donald Trump

resolved. And If I can help, I would love to be a mediator.”

“It’s impossible that two incredible countries that are very very smart, with very smart leadership can’t solve a problem like that. But if you want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do it,” he said.

Khan then said, “President, I can tell you that right now you will have prayers of over a billion people if you can mediate and resolve this issue.”

Trump responded, “It should be resolved. He asked me the same thing. So, I think there is something. So, may be we will speak to him, or I will speak to him and we will see if we can do something… because I have heard so much about Kashmir. Such a beautiful name.

It’s supposed to be such a beautiful part of the world.

But right now, there are just

bombs all over the place.

Everywhere you go, you have bombs and it’s a terrible situation and has been going on for many years. If I can do anything to help, let me know.”

This is the first time Trump has claimed that Modi asked him to mediate on Kashmir. The two leaders met in Osaka on the sidelines of the G-20 summit on June 27.

Jaishankar clarifies India's stand The statement by the US President created a political storm in the Parliament session descending Rajya Sabha in chaos. The opposition protested and demanded a clarification from the government and raised slogans of 'Pradhanmantri jawab do'.

To which the External Affairs Minister S Jaishanakar reiterated India's

stand that Kashmir is a bilateral issue and categorically assured the House that PM Modi has made no request to US President to mediate in the Kashmir issue.

"It has been India's consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross-border terrorism," Jaishankar said.

Opposition parties were, however, not satisfied by the statement of the External Affairs Minister and wanted the Prime Minister to come to the House and clarify.

This led to a heated exchange between opposition benches and the Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu who commented on the row, saying, "It is a national issue. Country's unity, integrity & national interest is involved, we should be seen speaking in one voice." He accused the opposition of sending a wrong signal by prioritising Trump's statement over that of the external affairs minister. "You have more confidence in US President than Indian Foreign Minister? This is sending out the wrong signal. This is not in the national interest," Naidu said.

Congress MP Anand Sharma said, "The entire

Kumaraswamy resigns as JD(S)Cong coalition fails to win trust vote of the legislature. The vote was Karnataka Chief Minister HD conducted on Tuesday after Kumaraswamy tendered his three missed deadlines set by the resignation after the CongressGovernor. While 105 MLAs voted JD(S) government failed to survive for the Opposition BJP in the trust vote in the Karnataka House, the ruling coalition had Assembly on Tuesday, with the 99 MLAs on its side. BSP’s lone coalition falling short of majority MLA in the Assembly, who was in the 224-member House. The directed by party supremo trust vote was necessitated after 15 Mayawati to attend the MLAs resigned, plunging the 14proceedings, also opted to stay month-old government to a out. In a tweet, Mayawati said minority. the party has expelled N. Mahesh Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar for flouting BSP’s high announced that 99 MLAs had command. voted in favour of the motion and Even as deadlines kept 105 against it. The motion was HD Kumaraswamy submits his resignation to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala delaying, efforts of the coalition defeated, he said. Congress leader development will start now,” he was quoted government to convince the rebel MLAs to Siddharamaiah has sought for the as saying. participate in the trust vote didn’t bear any disqualification of the rebel MLAs who The Congress, meanwhile, has alleged fruits. At least 13 rebels in Mumbai had violated the whip and abstained from the the BJP of indulging in horse-trading. “The repeatedly asserted they would not budge trust vote. coalition government was subverted by the from their decision to resign.

BJP leaders will now meet Governor nefarious joint efforts of the Central The political crisis in the state began Vajubhai Vala to stake claim to form the Government, Governor, State Government with the resignation of at least 15 MLAs-12 government. Party leader Nirani said the of Maharashtra and BJP leadership. BJP from Congress and three from the JD(S), swearing-in of ministers is likely to take facilitated this dirty-dealing political drama leading to a three-week-long stalemate. The place on July 25. by offering a huge amount of black money rebel MLAs had moved the Supreme Court As party supporters celebrated the and ministerial berths to the defected against the Speaker’s delay in accepting their collapse of the state government, former MLAs,” AICC General Secretary K C resignations. On July 17, the top court left it chief minister and BJP state president BS Venugopal said in a statement. to the Speaker to decide on the resignations Yeddyurappa called it the “victory of Kumaraswamy moved the trust vote on but ordered that they should not be democracy.” “People were fed up with July 18 but the process of conducting the compelled to attend the proceedings of the Kumaraswamy government. I want to assure vote had been affected by procedural aspects state Assembly. people of Karnataka that a new era of

country was shocked to hear Trump tell Imran Khan that PM Modi requested him at G20 to mediate in Kashmir.

India speaks in one voice.

Head of state of a powerful country's statement about the head of another country conveying something has serious consequences. The Shimla Accord is clear. I submit to you that PM must respect the house and come and tell Parliament."

Damage control by the US In a bid to contain the damage created by Trump’s off-the-cuff stepping into Kashmir's quagmire, the state administration mandarins and American foreign policy interlocutors clarified that the Trump administration welcomes India and Pakistan sitting down to resolve the issue and the “US stands ready to assist”.

Alice Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, acknowledged that Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss - echoing India’s consistent stand on the subject.

“While Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss, the Trump administration welcomes #Pakistan and #India sitting down and the United States stands ready to assist,” Wells tweeted.

‘No girls born’ in 132 villages of Uttarkashi in last three months Amid 'Beti Bachao' programme being continuously promoted by the government, a report revealed none of the 216 children born over three months across 132 villages in Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand were girls. The imbalance has raised the possibility of sex-selective abortions or the killing of girl children that may be occurring in these villages. The area’s recent female birth rate – collected by the local health department – was “suspicious and has highlighted female foeticide”, said Uttarkashi’s district magistrate Ashish Chauhan.

These 132 villages have been marked part of a “red zone”, which means local data will be scrutinised more closely and health workers have been asked to be vigilant. “We will monitor the data and activities of all these villages for next six months and will take strict action against ASHA workers if the situation does not improve. Moreover, we will also take legal action against the family who will be found guilty,” said Chauhan.

Any parents found to have carried out female foeticide will face legal action, Chauhan commented. Legislative assembly member Gopal Rawat said: “It is shocking to have a zero girl child birth rate in 132 village of the district, as we have rarely heard of seen any incident of female foeticide in the hills.“I have directed the health department to find out the real cause of such alarming figures and to take serious action to resolve it.”

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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

27

27 July - 2 August 2019

Hearing problems of the elderly Navnit Shah, FRCS DLO

vary enormously from person to person.

Hearing impairment is very common for all who survive into old age and a gradual deterioration in hearing with advancing age seems inevitable.

With slow progress of hearing loss many never complain and manage remarkably well in conversation or on the telephone.

The age of onset of this deafness is variable; however, it is estimated that at least 30% or more of all people over the age of 65 are deaf enough to require a hearing aid; and about 50% over the age of 80 have significant hearing and communication problems. Deafness is one of the most common disabilities of the elderly.

Type of deafness:

The hearing loss is bilateral and symmetrical affecting high tones making it difficult to hear consonant sounds especially in the presence of background noise. These people are not only hard of hearing, but their sensation of loudness is disturbed resulting in distortion of sounds or ringing in the ears.

Deafness may be aggravated by a common cold, drugs, in particular pain relief medications, quinine or ototoxic diuretics. There may be also a general slowing down of understanding, central processing and a reduced ability to listen.

function and meeting rooms of social events. Telephones compatible with hearing aids and telephones with adjustable volume and tone controls for home use can play an important role in maintaining safety, independence and quality of life of hearingimpaired elderly people.

Environmental design and planning of buildings which can reduce reverberations and background noise can make life easier for the deaf peo-

Fitting a hearing aid:

At the hearing aid clinic ears are examined for presence of wax or disease and hearing test (audiogram) is performed to assess the suitability for a hearing aid. Selection and fitting a hearing aid to an individual will depend upon many factors which include type and degree of hearing loss, medical, technical, cosmetic and user preference.

Fitting of hearing aids is based on intuition and experience of the dispenser. However, experience cannot provide all the information to be obtained from a meaningful measurements and performance. A hearing aid is of little value unless it fits properly on and in the ear and provides satisfactory amplification for an individual person.

One aid or two aids?

The main advantage of hearing with two ears is ability to detect the direction from which the sound comes. This directional hearing is important not only for knowing where the sound comes from, but also it enables us to hear better against background noise. It is advisable to have hearing aids fitted for

Effect of deafness:

This hearing difficulty if not recognised can lead to gradual detachment from everyday life. Family conversation, social events become difficult and embarrassing. Such people often become difficult to live with; asking for remarks to be repeated, misunderstanding conversation and turning the radio or television on so loud that causes annoyance for others.

These problems can seriously affect their quality of life and ability to live independently.

How to talk to an older person with deafness:

Most normal hearing people are totally unaware what it means to deaf.

Communication is a two-way process, involving both the speaker and the listener. Simple measures can help to a significant degree to minimise the difficulties arising from hearing impairment in the elderly, requiring active cooperation of the speaker. Public awareness programmes could emphasise the role of speaker in improving communication with the elderly.

Useful suggestions: - Be patient and eliminate distractions.

- Talk with a person face to face and make sure your face is in a good light and it is at the listener’s level allowing the person to be able to lip-read effectively.

- Speak clearly and slower than normal with moderately raised voice but do not shout.

- Reduce the speed of your speech.

- Leave longer pauses between sentences.

- Try to re-phrase sentences which are not understood the first time.

- Try to adopt a sympathetic attitude so that the elderly person is not agitated with his/her difficulties.

Listening devices:

Many modern devices can be helpful for hearing impaired elderly people by reducing the impact of background noise. These devices can be used in

ple. Rehabilitation services such as hearing aid advice, auditory training, lip-reading classes and counselling can help a great deal to cope with daily problems.

Hearing aid:

A hearing aid is a miniature sound system with its own microphone, amplifier and speaker. As the name suggests it makes sound louder and makes speech easier to understand in most situations, but it does not restore normal hearing.

Hearing aids are freely available from local hospital departments after a referral by a general practitioner.

Hearing aids have been helpful for many hard of hearing people, but most hearing-impaired people are reluctant to acquire a hearing aid and some who have an aid do not use it.

How does a Hearing Aid work?

Sound enters the hearing aid through a tiny opening and is picked up by the microphone. The amplifier makes the sound louder. The amplified sound comes out of the hearing aid through the speaker and is channelled into the ear canal. A tiny battery supplies the electrical power. Volume can be adjusted by turning a small control on the hearing aid. Some hearing aids adjust the volume automatically.

Types of Hearing aids:

The NHS can supply hearing aids which can be worn in the ear or behind the ear. A body worn aid with an earphone in the ear and a bone conduction hearing aid for use when an ear mould can not be put in the ear canal. Hearing aids can be built in into spectacles or built into or mounted on a headband. It is important to emphasise that it is the needs of an individual that are paramount in selection and fitting a correct aid and these needs

both ears.

NHS or Private aid?

NHS hearing aids are manufactured by reputable firms under contract and purchased in bulk for general use.

They are as good as commercial hearing aids and are freely available on loan from the hearing aid departments. Modern digital hearing aids are now available from most audiology departments.

Patience and perseverance:

Acquiring a hearing aid is a first step towards adjusting with difficulties in communication. The effect of unrecognised progressive hearing loss can lead to loss of a listening skill making it difficult to adapt use of hearing aid. Learning to listen again to an amplified sound takes time to learn new processing and communication skills. The main barrier to this still appears to be the stigma associated with wearing hearing aids.

Care of Hearing aid:

All patients fitted with hearing aids are instructed in use of the appliance and are also given a hearing aid booklet for reference and use at home.

Practical tips:

- Keep the hearing aids clean and dry.

- Do not drop them on a hard surface.

- Keep spare batteries readily available.

- Make a habit of keeping the aids at the same place at night.

- Let your family members be familiar with your hearing aids.

- Keep your aids away from your pets.

- Have your aid checked every six months or earlier if necessary.

- If possible keep a spare hearing aid for an emergency.

Doctors’ row over pensions ‘is putting lives in danger’ Cancer patients are being forced to wait weeks for scan results as thousands of doctors cut their hours over the NHS pensions crisis.

Waiting times have increased from one to six weeks at many hospitals – with some cases of cancer being missed as a result, a report said.

Top radiologists say lives are being put in danger as vital scans to determine the spread of cancer are left unread for weeks due to a backlog.

At some hospitals, patients are turning up for appointments with specialists but being sent home again because their scan has not been read.

The backlog has been caused by a pensions time-

bomb that is forcing hospitals to reduce services because soaring numbers of doctors are cutting down their hours to avoid a punitive tax on their pension pots.

New rules mean GPs and consultants can be hit with tax rates of up to 90 per cent on their total pension value if they earn more than £110,000 a year. It means consultants are substantially cutting back on any overtime or weekend work as they can be taxed thousands for earning a penny over the threshold.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it will be consulting on proposals to make NHS pensions more flexible for senior clinicians.

People with arthritis more likely to die of heart disease People with arthritis may be more likely to die of heart disease because their joint pain stops them exercising, scientists have said. A study found the chance of suffering a fatal heart problem rose the longer the patient had been diagnosed.

Living with the agonising condition for nine to 11 years, for example, raises the risk of dying prematurely by 16 per cent compared to the general population.

Doctors have long known that arthritic patients may go on to develop cardiovascular disease, which can be triggered by inflammation.

The reasons remain unclear, however these researchers suggest arthritis makes it difficult to be

active and a sedentary lifestyle may lead to obesity, a key driver of heart problems.

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden studied approximately 469,000 people living in Skåne, Sweden, between 45 and 84 years old at the start of the study in 2003.

The group included 16,000 patients with knee arthritis, 9,000 with hip arthritis, 4,000 with wrist arthritis and 5,500 with other forms of osteoarthritis. They had all been diagnosed in 2003 or before.

Knee and hip osteoarthritis, the most common forms of the degenerative joint disease, had the most severe outcomes of all types of arthritis.

Bubble bath before bed could combat insomnia Rather than counting sheep, relaxing in a bubble bath before bed could combat insomnia.

Indulging in an evening bath or shower an hourand-a-half before you turn in boosts the time spent asleep and the quality of shut eye, research suggests.

Experts said water temperature of 40-to-42.5°C (104-to-108.5°F) is 'ideal' and speeds up sleep's onset by up to 10 minutes.

Warm baths and showers redirect circulation to the hands and feet, which causes a drop in core body temperature, the

researchers claim.

This triggers the body's internal clock into thinking it's time for sleep, with body temperature naturally reducing in the run up to bedtime. The research was carried out by The University of Texas at Austin and led by Dr Shahab Haghayegh, of the department of biomedical engineering.

Insomnia affects up to 35 per cent of adults in the US to some extent, according to Sleep Education. In the UK, a third of adults claim to have insomnia, statistics show.

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement any advice. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

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Malaika Arora won't be part of Salman's 'Dabangg 3' Actor dancer Malaika Arora's biggest hits was with Salman Khan's 'Dabangg', which featured her song 'Munni Badnaam Hui'. While recent reports claimed that she may return with the third instalment of the cop franchise, Malaika has revealed that she will not be a part of 'Dabangg 3'.

A report quoted her as saying, "No my dear, I am not involved with the film. Everyone involved with the project has moved on and I only wish each and everyone all the best for the venture."

She was also involved with earlier films as a producer. It is now suggested that Malaika's famous song will be recreated as 'Munna Badnaam Hua' and will feature Salman dancing to the peppy number. It is reported that the peppy number will be shot for the part where his character Chulbul Pandey attends college. Malaika, meanwhile, has revealed that she plans to produce a short film.

"I would definitely want to produce some really good content in my company. The kind of

content you see across platforms, in films and otherwise, is so promising. I might actually produce a short film or something but nothing immediately. A lot of ideas have come my way and I am just taking my time to green light one or some of them. Actually, this is the best time of my life. For any woman today, life actually begins post 40. It's an age in which a woman was once considered oh-so-redundant. Today, she's a lot freer in that same age window."

Produced by Arbaaz Khan, 'Dabangg 3' is directed by Prabhudeva and also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Dimple Kapadia, Arbaaz, Mahie Gill, Sudeep. It also features Mahesh Manjrekar's daughter Saiee as Salman's young lover from his college days.

Akshay Kumar's '2.0' costs more than India's Mars mission Aditya Roy Kapur posts pic with ‘ringmaster’ Mahesh Bhatt

Speaking about his upcoming film 'Mission Mangal', actor Akshay Kumar said out of the 150 movies he has done, this film is the one that makes him the most proud. The actor was joined by his co-stars Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kalhari, Nithya Menon and Sharman Joshi at a trailer launch of the film held recently.

Speaking at the event, the actor said, "We didn't have that much knowledge about Mars Orbiter Mission before we started working on the film. But slowly we came to know a lot, and it is because of Jagan (director Jagan Shakti). Manglayaan cost only £45 million while Nasa spent more than £ 600 million for American Maven orbiter. My film '2.0' had a budget of £50 million and this was less than

that, so we are proud."

Akshay plays the role of mission director Rakesh Dhawan in the film and leads the initiative. The actor, however said, "This film is about the women and it will always be." He added that there was no question of saying no to such an offer. "Bringing five female actors together was such a difficult task. I had to do the film." 'Mission Mangal' is set to clash with John Abraham's 'Batla House' and Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer 'Saaho' on August 15.

When asked about the clash, Kumar said, "We only have 52 weeks in a year and more than 100 films coming. We are friends, so there is no problem in coming together with our films. Nobody should be blamed for it.

Now 2-3 films are coming together.’’

Actor Aditya Roy Kapur, who is shooting for the second schedule of his upcoming film 'Sadak 2' in Ooty, recently shared an adorable picture of himself with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt. He shared the picture on his Instagram account and captioned it "A new beginning with the ringmaster @maheshfilm."

The photo shows both the men hand in hand with their gaze fixed on each other. Aditya, who had made his Bollywood debut with 2009 release 'London Dreams', shot to fame with 'Aashiqui 2',

helmed by Mahesh. His upcoming 'Sadak 2' features actress Alia Bhatt as the female lead. The movie, which is a remake of the 1991 blockbuster of the same name, will also feature Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt,

lead actors of the original flick. While plot of the movie is yet to be disclosed, the original film was a romantic thriller and revolved around the life of a young man who falls in love with a sex worker.

SRK takes children for vacation ahead of 'The Lion King' release

Actor Shah Rukh Khan was found arriving in the island nation of the Maldives on a family holiday as he was photographed with his three kids, Aryan, Suhana, and AbRam. His wife Gauri was, however, missing from

the pictures. While Shah Rukh is seen casually dressed in a creamsweatshirt and jeans, Suhana is in an all black kurta pajama, Aryan is seen sporting a black T-shirt with blue jeans, while AbRam is in a white Tshirt and black baggy pants. The actor appears to be on a break from films and is currently spending all his time with his children.

He, however, will be heard as Mufasa in 'The Lion King's Hindi version with son Aryan as Simmba. The actor was last seen in

'Zero,' an ambitious film that failed to work at the box office. He has said in the past about how he wants to spend time with his children and will not sign films immediately. In an interview last month, he had said, "I have no film with me right now.

I am not working on any film.

Usually what happens is when your one film is coming to an end, you begin work on your next film and I get involved within 3-4 months. But this time I am just not feeling like.. My heart doesn't allow me to... I just felt that I should rather take time out,

watch films, listen to stories and read more books. Even my kids are in their college stage.."

"My daughter is going to college and my son is about to finish his studies. So I just want to spend more time with my family," he said. Shah Rukh may not have signed up on any films, however, he is very much in the industry.

He will be producing a zombie horror titled 'Betaal', his third production for Netflix after 'Bard of Blood' and 'Class of 83'.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

Priyanka celebrates birthday in Miami with 5-tiered cake

Actor Priyanka Chopra just celebrated her 37th birthday with close friends and family in Miami as she was flanked by husband Nick Jonas, mother Madhu Chopra and cousin Parineeti. The birthday girl wore a sexy outfit in shimmering red, matched the colours of her five-tiered cake. She also wore a tiara that read 'Birhday Girl'.

Nick has earlier in the day, shared a video of Pari in the same dress and had also posted a picture of his wife on Instagram with a caption that read, "Light of my world. My whole heart. I love you baby. Happy Birthday." Priyanka's sisterin-law, actress and Joe Jonas' wife Sophie Turner too wished the actor with an Instagram story. She shared a picture of the two and wrote, "Happy birthday, my sis... love you." Danielle Jonas, wife of Kevin J, wrote, "happy birthday @priyankachopra! i hope your day is as bright and beautiful as you love you!".

The Jonas brothers too wished the actress on their social media, as did their mother Denise Jonas, who posted a picture of the two from Nick-Priyanka's wedding. She wrote, "Gorgeous birthday for a gorgeous girl! Love you Dil." Parineeti, who was present in Miami to celebrate with her sister, wrote on Instagram, "In Miami with the birthday gurllll! Happy bday Mimi didi. There is never gonna be another one like you.

Actress or sister @priyankachopra."

Kat speaks on equation with exes: Why would I want to feel awkward?

Actor Katrina Kaif has always been a private person, even when rumours of her dating actors caught the wind.

Recently, just days after Salman Khan, whom she was rumoured to be dating in the past, spoke about his relation with his exes, Kat found herself speaking on her equation with her exes too.

Speaking in an interview, Kat said, "I just don't feel awkward and I don't carry any heavy thoughts about it. As I said, all my experiences have only given me something. Also, why do we have to make everything so complex and heavy? It's a personal thing and may not work for everyone, but if I had two options, I would always choose the simple one over the heavy and complex."

She added, "Why would I want to feel awkward in anyone's presence? I would rather smile, laugh, have a good chat and keep it easy, instead of keeping a sad face. Simple!" Katrina and Salman have worked together in several films, and recently reunited after many years for 'Tiger Zinda Hai' and 'Bharat'.

Four top action directors work with Hrithik, Tiger Shroff in 'War' Actors Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff have reportedly worked with four top action directors for their upcoming film 'War'. A report claimed that top three Hollywood action directors Paul Jennings, Franz Spilhaus, SeaYoung Oh and Indian Parvez Shaikh were roped in on the project directed by Siddharth Anand.

The report quoted the filmmaker as saying, "When we have Hrithik taking on Tiger, the promise of the film to audiences becomes huge and we wanted to deliver the action experience for people to feel the adrenaline rush. We have four of the top action directors from different parts of the world like Paul Jennings, Franz Spilhaus, SeaYoung Oh and Parvez Shaikh, all specialists in creating a different type of spectacle, choreographing breath-taking, never-seen-before action stunts. The two actors will be seen fighting each other on land, ocean, ice, and even air! We will be disclosing all these big action moments strategically to audiences."

All three action directors are wellacclaimed and have worked with massive Hollywood productions. While Paul is associated with 'Game of Thrones', 'The Dark

Knight', and 'San Andreas', SeaYoung is known for his hand-to-hand combats in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', and 'Snowpiercer'. Franz on the other hand, has choreographed films like 'Safe House'.

Anand said, "We were clear from the start that we want to give the Indian audience action they have never seen before. Our film has a huge car sequence that sees Hrithik and Tiger perform an adrenaline-pumping action stunt that has been entirely shot on ice. We shot this in Finland, which is in the Arctic circle and we were informed by our production team that we were the first ever film in the world to shoot an action sequence of this scale in the Arctic."

Deepika faces flak for rumours of her working with Luv Ranjan Deepika Padukone felt the wrath of the internet just hours after she was spotted at director Luv Ranjan's home with actor Ranbir Kapoor. It is presumed that the actress was discussing an upcoming project and in doing so, kickstarted the #NotMyDeepika hashtag on Twitter. Fans of the 'Chhapaak' actress are protesting the possibility of her working with a filmmaker who has been accused of sexual harassment and making chauvinistic films.

Exes Deepika and Ranbir were seen at the filmmaker's house last weekend, leading to speculation that they may be on the verge of reuniting onscreen for the fourth time.

Ranbir has already been announced as one of the co-leads of Ranjan's upcoming, which

also stars Ajay Devgn. Fans took to Twitter to bash the actress. a fan wrote, "Girl your a** better be not signing that luvrat movie or we going unstanning." Another wrote, "The fact that she met him and find it in herself to even sit and talk to him is disappointing

enough for me but her doing this film will prove that she's nothing less than hypocrite."

Another fan wrote on Twitter, "Being the top actress of your country you have many people looking up to you, it is YOUR responsibility to set the right example. Are you even aware of how you are gonna promote someone who has sexually harassed other women by working in his film?"

Ranjan has been accused of making cinema that caters to a very specific male audience that isn't particularly respectful of women.

His last film, 'Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety' has often been labelled as "misogynistic" by critics.

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27 July - 2 August 2019

Morning shows for Amala Paul's 'Aadai' cancelled

Actor Amala Paul has courted fresh controversy with her brand new film 'Aadai'. Morning shows of her movie were reportedly cancelled in Chennai, and updates suggest that a case has been filed against the makers alleging that the movie will promote rape culture. A report has claimed that Chennai politician Priya Rajeshwari has mentioned in her complaint that the nudity in the film "will send out

a wrong message to the youth and will encourage rape culture". 'Aadai' was reportedly awarded an A certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Ever since the trailer of the film dropped, it has been a hot topic of discussion online. While many loved it, there were others who were offended by nude scenes and a kiss between Amala and Ramya. Talking about the scene, Amala said, "That shot was spontaneous and not scripted. Once you are in the character, you should let your inner actor take over you. There is nothing sexual here.

You have to watch the film to understand the context of the scene. In fact, I felt extremely powerful."

She added, "Initially, I didn't know how I was going to pull off this scene, but once I was done, I felt even more comfortable with my body. I felt that I could face any challenge in the world. 'Aadai' gave me the strength and team spirit for me to become a producer for 'Cadaver'."

Prabhas’ 'Saaho' postponed to Aug 30, no clash with 'Mission Mangal'

Makers of Prabhas-starrer 'Saaho' have decided to shift the date of the film's release to August 30. UV Creations has released an official statement, which stated that the move had been taken as "the makers are not ready to serve the audience with any compromise on quality with the movie riding big on highoctane action sequences and never seen ever long actionpacked storyline." 'Saaho' was initially scheduled for an Independence Day release. The statement quoted a spokesperson of the company as saying, "We wanted to bring the best to the audience. For bringing finesse to the action sequences we need some more time. Although we are shifting the date from Independence Day but we want to stick to the month of Independence and patriotism with 'Saaho'. We are dedicated to bringing the biggest movie on the largest scale."

Speculation has been rife that 'Saaho' dates would be shifted to avoid a clash at the box office with many big films releasing on August 15. They include Akshay Kumar's 'Mission Mangal' and John Abraham's 'Batla House'. Making the competition even more tough is the fact that streaming giant Netflix will unveil the next season of its hit series, 'Sacred Games', starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Saif Ali Khan, on the same day.

Prabhas hasn't had a release since 2017, when the second part of the popular franchise hit the screens. It is also among the anticipated films of the year also because of reports of some amazingly daredevil action sequences, canned in Abu Dhabi for the film. The movie stars many Bollywood actors, including Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mandira Bedi, Chunky Pandey and Jackie Shroff, apart from Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor who play the film's leads.

Dhanush, Karthik Subbaraj’s gangster-thriller to be shot in UK Action-filmmaker Dhanush is set to star in director Karthik Subbaraj's upcoming Tamil gangster-thriller film, which will be completely shot in the UK. Dhanush tweeted a statement from the makers.

He wrote, "I am super exited about my next project, which will be directed by @karthiksubbaraj and produced by @sasha041075 of #ynotstudios with a brilliant cast and crew. Can't wait for this to start next month in London."

The statement read,, "YNOT Studios and Reliance Entertainment are proud to announce our association with the versatile actor Dhanush and the talented director Karthik Subbaraj for our next Tamil feature film."

Aishwarya Lekshmi plays the female lead in the film, which will go on the floors in August. The actress shared the news on Instagram, and wrote, "Extremely happy to associate with such industry stalwarts so early on in my career... Taking this as an opportunity to learn and improve myself as an actor.

And I am most thankful for all the love pouring in already for this news announcement, and I take it to mean that I have done something right in my acting career till now, and plan to take this forward in whatever better ways possible. Hoping that your prayers and blessings will be with me like always, and now back to work."

TV Listing

* Schedule is subject to change

SATURDAY JULY 27, 2019 23:09 FILM: WELCOME BACK 01:49 FILM: WOH LAMHE 05:00 FILM: BAS EK TAMANNA 07:12 FILM: KALYUG 09:17 FILM: GURUDEV 12:39 FILM: BAADSHAH 16:10 FILM: GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN 19:00 FILM: WANTED 22:05 FILM: AGNEEPATH SUNDAY JULY 28, 2019 01:00 FILM: TUMSA NAHIN DEKHA 05:00 FILM: LOGIN 07:00 FILM: MRITYUDAND 10:00 FILM: CHALO ISHQ LADAAYE 13:00 FILM: TEEN PATTI 16:00 FILM: WELCOME BACK 19:00 FILM: GREAT GRAND MASTI 22:00 FILM: EK SE BURE DO MONDAY JULY 29, 2019 01:00 FILM: ISHQ CLICK 05:00 FILM: HUFF! IT'S TOO MUCH 07:00 FILM: JIGRI DOST 10:00 FILM: GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN 13:00 FILM: SULTANAT 16:00 FILM: WANTED 19:00 FILM: DHAMAAL 22:00 FILM: JASHNN TUESDAY JULY 30, 2019 01:00 FILM: YEH ZINDAGI KA SAFAR

05:00 FILM: MUNNA MAANGE MEMSAAB 07:00 FILM: ANOKHI ADA 10:00 FILM: AGNIVARSHA 13:00 FILM: KRISHAN AVTAAR 15:56 FILM: GREAT GRAND MASTI 18:22 LIFESTYLE : STAR STOP 19:00 FILM: TUTAK TUTAK TUTIYA 21:40 FILM: JURM WEDNESDAY JULY 31, 2019 01:00 FILM: CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI 05:00 FILM: BEZUBAAN ISHQ 07:00 FILM: PARDESI 10:00 FILM: SHIKAAR 13:00 FILM: KASOOR 16:00 FILM: DHAMAAL 19:00 FILM: KOYELAANCHAL 22:00 FILM: TUTAK TUTAK TUTIYA THURSDAY AUGUST 1, 2019 00:53 FILM: DASTAK 05:00 FILM: THE PERFECT GIRL 07:00 FILM: MAST 10:00 FILM: SHOWBIZ 13:00 FILM: KRANTIVEER 16:00 FILM: JOSH 19:00 FILM: THENALI 22:00 FILM: AKAASH VANI FRIDAY AUGUST 2, 2019 01:00 FILM: UTTHAAN 05:00 FILM: LOGIN 07:00 FILM: KRISHNA ARJUN 10:00 FILM: SATYA 13:00 FILM: AAKHREE RAASTA 16:00 FILM: TAAL 19:00 FILM: GADAR - EK PREM KATHA 22:00 FILM: AATMA - FEEL IT AROUND YOU MON 29ND JULY - FRI 2ND AUG

TIME

TV PROGRAM NAMES

18:00 BEYHADH

18:30 VIGHNAHARTA GANESHA 19:00 MERE SAI * Schedule is subject to change

SATURDAY 27TH JULY TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPERSTAR SINGER 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 23:00 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW SUNDAY 28TH JULY TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPERSTAR SINGER 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 23:00 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 22ND - FRI 26TH JULY 2019 13:00: SWARAGINI 15:30: SIRF 30 MINUTES 16:00: THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 2 16:30: RASOI SHOW 17:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30: BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 22ND - FRI 26TH JULY 2019 18:30: KITCHEN CHAMPION 19:30: CHOTI SARRDAARNI 20:00: SHAKTI ASTITVA KE EHSAAS KI 20:45: GATHBANDHAN 21:30: BEPANAH PYAARR 22:00: BAHU BEGUM 22:30: SILSILA 23:00: VISH

19:30 YEH UN DINON KI BAAT HAI 20:00 CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA

20:30 ISHAARON ISHAARON MEIN 21:00 PATIALA BABES

21:45 LADIES SPECIAL 22:30 CRIME PATROL 19:00

SONY MAX 2 PRIME TIME

19:00

19:00 19:00 19:00

19:00: 19:30: 20:00: 20:30: 21:00:

MONDAY

DO DIL

TUESDAY

EK LADKA EK LADKI

THURSDAY

RAFOO CHAKKAR

WEDNESDAY PYAR KA DEVTA

FRIDAY

SAFAR

JAHAANARA BEPANNAH TERE NAAL ISHQ MOHE RANNG DO LAAL BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE 22:00: RED ALERT SAT 27TH JULY 2019 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30: BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 19:00: UNPLUGGED 19:30: RED ALERT 20:30: INDIA'S GOT TALENT (SEASON 8) 21:30: JAGTE RAHO SUN 28TH JULY 2019 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 18:30: BHARADWAJ BAHUEIN 19:00: UNPLUGGED 19:30: FEMINA MISS INDIA 2019 21:30: JAGTE RAHO

SAT 27TH JULY 2019 19:00: CHOTI SARRDAARNI KAHAANI AB TAK 19:30: DESI BEAT RESET 20:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 3) 21:00: DANCE DEEWANE SEASON 2 22:30: KAWACH MAHASHIVRATRI SUN 28TH JULY 2019 19:00: DESI BEAT RESET 19:30: CHOTI SARRDAARNI KAHAANI AB TAK 20:00: BFFS WITH VOGUE (SEASON 3) 21:00: DANCE DEEWANE - SEASON 2 22:30: KAWACH MAHASHIVRATRI

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Mahant Swami in Atladara A Journey of 550

Years: Sikh Studies in Academia

BAPS chief Mahant Swami came to Atladara on 19 July from Bochansan. He performed ground-breaking ceremony of two Harimandirs. Gurupurnima was celebrated in the Sunday assembly on 21st July. Mahant Swami in his speech said, “ We had blessings of Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami. They helped many to get rid of bondages while many have been saved. We should always resort to them." Over 15,000 devotees attended the Sunday assembly while many are visiting to seek blessings of Mahant Swami and attend his congregation. 'Sameep Darshan was arranged on 22 July. Mahant Swami will travel to Gandhinagar from Atladara on 1 August.

Coming Events

l Pigeon Union (UK) organises Pigeon Union Barbecue Date: 28 July, Sunday, Time 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm Venue: Chislehurst Sports and Country Club, Elmstead Lane, Kent BR7 5EL, Contact. 01689 821 922 l Hindu Council Brent organises Annual 5A Side Football Tournament, Date: 28 July Sunday Time: 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Venue: Alperton Goals Soccer Center, Alperton Lane, Wembley HA0 1JH. Contact: Ashwin Gloria 07914 000 675 l Gurupurnima Celebration by Anupam Mission in the Divine Presence of Guruhari Sant Bhagwant Sahebji Date: 4 August, Sunday, Time: 10:30 am to 1:00 pm Venue: Anupam Mission, The Lea, Western Avenue, Denham, Uxbridge, UB9 4NA. Contact. 01895 832 709

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Asian Business Publications Ltd (ABPL) is not in any way responsible for the goods and services rendered by its advertisers. The ABPL management accepts all advertisements in good faith and it is entirely up to readers to verify advertisers’ products and services, should they feel the need to do so.

Sneh Joshi

Attendance at the Conference is free but there is a £5 fee for the dinner on the evening of Tuesday 03 September at Sitara Hall in Wolverhampton and a a £20 fee for the dinner on the evening of Wednesday 04 September in the Chancellor's Hall at the University of Wolverhampton.

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Registration for the Conference is essential, to reserve your place for the conference and the dinner(s) please visit wlv.ac.uk/cspsevents. If you have any questions please contact csps@wlv.ac.uk

27 July - 2 August 2019

In The Dusky Path Of A Dream - by Rabindranath Tagore IN the dusky path of a dream I went to seek the love who was mine in a former life.

Her house stood at the end of a desolate street.

In the evening breeze her pet peacock sat drowsing on its perch, and the pigeons were silent in their corner.

She set her lamp down by the portal and stood before me.

She raised her large eyes to my face and mutely asked, 'Are you well, my friend?'

I tried to answer, but our language had been lost and forgotten.

I thought and thought; our names would not come to my mind.

Tears shone in her eyes. She held up her right hand to me. I took it and stood silent.

Our lamp had flickered in the evening breeze and died.

AJIT NINAN FOR TOI

Music 'calms nerves before surgery' Listening to the "world's most relaxing song" before an operation could be just as good at calming patients' nerves as medication, US researchers say. The song, written to reduce anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate, performed as well as a sedative in a study of 157 people.

But patients said they would have preferred to choose their own music.

And noise-cancelling headphones made communication harder, doctors said.

The University of Pennsylvania researchers, writing in a BMJ journal, now want to look at whether the type of music and how it is played to patients makes a difference to the results.

The patients in the trial were either given the drug midazolam or played the song Weightless by UK band Marconi Union for three minutes, while having an anaesthetic to numb a region of the body.

Patient anxiety reduced by the same amount in both groups. Feeling anxious before surgery can affect recovery because of the stress hormones produced in the body. But drugs that reduce anxiety can have side-effects and need constant monitoring by doctors, the researchers from University of Pennsylvania said. Music medicine, in contrast, was "virtually harm-free and inexpensive".

Dr Veena Graff, assistant professor of anaesthesiology and critical care from University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said: "Music lights up the emotional area of the brain, the reward system and the pleasure pathways.

"It means patients can be in their own world, they can be comfortable and have full control."

Music has been an invaluable tool in medicine for many years.

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The UK’s leading Vedic writer and TV personality

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Mars, your ruling planet and Sun

illuminate your fifth house. After a period of “nesting”, you are coming out of your shell, ready to perform and to express yourself creatively. You are feeling inspired creatively and romantically and you express your loving feelings quite openly now. At this time, you instinctively know how to place yourself in the best light in order to make a good impression on others.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Domestic and family interests

are likely to require lots of attention as two fiery planets transit your solar fourth house. Mars and Sun in this sector could produce auspicious results for those buying or selling property. There may be some sort of financial snag that impedes the free flow of funds - take expert advice. Try not to step on anyone's toes, especially your loved ones.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Sun and Mars are transiting your solar third house. These Planets will emphasize all forms of communications, dealing with relatives and neighbours, and short trips and visitors. There are various limitations or upsets to deal with as the week progresses. Try to be diplomatic with your loved ones.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

The Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies at the University of Wolverhampton invites you to it’s inaugural conference: A Journey of 550 Years: Sikh Studies in Academia from 3rd to 5th September 2019.

This three-day Conference will host internationally renowned scholars of Sikh Studies in showcasing the ground-breaking research which has been taking place in the academic discipline of Sikh Studies at Universities across the world.

The Conference will begin at 9am on Tuesday 03 September and will end at 1pm on Thursday 05 September.

Make hay while Mars and Sun transit your Solar 2nd house. There is a lot of energy to make the most of money-making opportunities and this is a very resourceful time for you. However, beware of conflicts over ownership and other legal issues. Also avoid being extravagant and trying to prove yourself to others using your material possessions.

31

Sun, your ruling planet and fiery planet Mars, occupy your sign for some time to come. Its influence will help you to maintain a high energy level and achieve positive results in anything that requires drive and initiative. If you are involved in a fairly competitive field of activity, you will be the one who comes out on top.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 Sun and Mars travel 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.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

The sun and Mars continue to put a spotlight on your solar eleventh house. You will benefit from networking in this period and you might find some great ideas through others now.

Working in a team will also benefit you. You are more attracted to that which is progressive or unconventional during this cycle.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Mars and Sun transit your solar tenth house. Relationships with authority figures,superiors, and with the public are in focus during this cycle. It's a time when being a team player reaps the most rewards, and you may be mixing business with pleasure now. This may be a time when you are especially enjoying your career or position and making the most of it.

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

The Sun and Mars continues to shine its light on your solar ninth house now. This is a cycle in which you seek to expand your experiences and awareness, whether through philosophical thinking, higher education, travel, or simply activities that take you away from your everyday routines. You may feel a little restless if you don't find ways to explore.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

Sun is transiting your eighth house of joint finances, loans, taxes, sexuality, and psychological matters.

You need to re-assess your future with this in mind. Do not get over-anxious if everything seems to be in slow motion - it is time to pull a few strings.

Mars and Sun in your opposite sign set a rather challenging theme. Although this gives increased potential for tension and conflict with other people, it also means that you are able to confront issues and sort any problems out. If this involves a close relationship, you can now resolve your differences

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

If lately you have had all sorts of demands being placed on you from all sides, don't despair. Try and work out where you want to make changes in your busy life. Once you know, don't hesitate to implement it. The planetary activity in your chart signals a time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to be dealt with.

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Sport

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27 July - 2 August 2019

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Dhawan returns, Pant named wicketkeeper for Windies tour

Rishabh Pant

Shikhar Dhawan returned to the limited-overs squads while Rishabh Pant has been named as the wicket-keeper across all three formats for the forthcoming India tour of West Indies, beginning August 3. Team India chief selector MSK Prasad announced the squads at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai.

Putting all speculations to rest about India captain Virat Kohli's participation in

Ravindra Jadeja

Krunal Pandya

Manish Pandey

Shreyas Iyer

Ajinkya Rahane

the limited-overs series, he has been chosen to lead the team in all formats.

Dhawan, who was ruled out of the World Cup after sustaining an injury to his left hand and thumb, has returned for both ODIs and T20Is. Meanwhile, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for three ODIs and as many T20Is. Hardik Pandya has been rested from all formats. Veteran wicketkeeper batsman MS Dhoni has himself opted out of the

tour but ruled out immediate retirement from the game. Pant has been named across all three formats and Wriddhiman Saha found a spot for the two Tests.

Krunal Pandya and Manish Pandey, who have been in brilliant form in the ongoing unofficial ODI series against West Indies A, have been named in the T20I squad. Ravindra Jadeja, who impressed with his performance at the World

Cup, has found a spot in all three squads.

Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, and Umesh Yadav have returned for the two Tests.

Following are the squads for West Indies tour: T20Is: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar

Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini ODIs: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini Tests: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc),

Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk) Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav India will tour West Indies for three T20Is and as many ODIs, and two Tests which are part of World Test Championship from August 3 to September 3.

47-year-old Bhavana Tokekar bags 4 gold medals in powerlifting The 47-year-old mother of two teenagers, Bhavana Tokekar, defies the norm, as she went on to win 4 gold medals in the powerlifting category at the Open Asian Championships in Russia.

This wonder woman has proved that age is just a number. Bhavana, who hails from Maharashtra, scored big at the Open Asian P o w e r l i f t i n g Championships organised by the World Powerlifting Congress in Chelyabinsk, Russia. She took part in the “Under 67.5 Masters 2” category (45-50 age group), and this was the first-ever competition she

participated. Making India and herself proud, this middle-aged woman has knocked it out of the park!

Interestingly Bhavana, a full time home maker and wife of Air Force fighter pilot Gp Capt S Tokekar started powerlifting training after the members of the Indian Air Force (IAF) broke the myth about weightlifting. She browsed on the internet and researched about weightlifting through YouTube videos. It was only before 6 years that Bhavana began her training for powerlifting only to become a champion. She began to

Bhavana Tokekar

workout in 2011 only to combat the side effects of some medicine she was

PrideviewCricket Cup raises £30,000 for One Kind Act

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prescribed. First, she began cycling, and slowly moved to a gym setup by 2012.

She came across World Powerlifting Congress (WPC) Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh state head Mohammed Azmat while browsing on the internet and found her inspiration.

She casually asked Azmat if she could represent team India in the international powerlifting event. She learnt about the techniques, rules and regulations of powerlifting and got selected for the Masters 2 category (40-45 age group).

Bhavna recalled that she got guidance from Azmat online as well. During her interactions with the media after winning, Bhavana said:

“There are many myths surrounding body building, weightlifting and other strength sports, especially related to women, like it is meant only for young people and that it makes the body bulky. I started training initially when I was 41, but I wanted to be sure of it since I didn’t want to injure myself or do the wrong technique since weightlifting is not popular here. Taking part in competitions was a far cry for me, as I didn’t know if I could participate in events at this age, or if I would be able to match up to the standards.”

Sprinter Hima Das wins five gold medals in three weeks Indian sprinter Hima Das extended her sensational run by claiming her fifth gold as she returned to her pet 400m competition with a seasonbest time of 52.09s in three weeks in Europe. The timing is slower than her personal best of 50.79 seconds, which she managed at the Jakarta Asian Games and she also narrowly missed out on the World Hima Das Championships qualifying mark of 51.80. However, it was better than the timing of 52.88 seconds, which she managed earlier in the season.

It was Hima's fifth gold medal since July 2 when she ran her first competitive race in Europe. In her first competitive 200m race of the year, she clocked 23.65 seconds on her

way to gold at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland on July 2.

After that, she won her second 200m gold at the Kutno Athletics Meet, also in Poland, on July 7 with a time of 23.97 seconds. On July 13, she won her third 200m gold at the Kladno Athletics Meet in Czech Republic with a time of 23.43 while her fourth gold came at the Tabor Athletics Meet in the same country last week.

It was first competition in 400m for the 19-year-old from Assam, fondly called the 'Dhing Express', in the 400m event since she struggled to finish the Asian Athletics Championship in April this year because of a back issue.