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VOL 41. ISSUE 26

80p

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe 27th October to 2nd November 2012

Britain opens new chapter with Modi

UK envoy James Bevan meets Gujarat CM to develop relations with state

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with British High Commissioner to India James Bevan at Gandhinagar on Monday.

Commissioner said. Modi also welcomed the decision of British Prime Minister David Cameron to strengthen and develop relations with Gujarat. He said he appreciates Britain’s Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire’s statement on behalf of the British government and its people to develop relations with the state, sources said.

Monday’s was Britain’s first official engagement with Gujarat after more than a decade. Britian had snapped off all ties with Gujarat after the 2002

riots and tarnished human rights record of Gujarat under Modi. Three British nationals had also been killed in Gujarat then.

However, with Modi emerging as the strongest prime ministerial contender in the BJP, Britain, after consistent lobbying

by Gujaratis and Modi fans settled in Britian, have decided to resume official ties. The timing is crucial since Modi faces a crucial election that is expected to decide upon his pan India political ambitions.

Continued on page 26

The founder of Bollywood’s premier banner, Yash Raj Films, and perhaps the industry’s most powerful movie mogul, Yash Raj Chopra who turned 80 on September 27 died following complications caused by dengue at Mumbai’s Lilavati hospital on Sunday. He was still on top of his game; eagerly awaiting the release of his latest directorial venture, “Jab Tak Hai Jaan,” next month.

Among the most influential directors in mainstream Bollywood, Chopra’s films shaped the careers and, in a sense, defined the work of Bollywood’s two biggest superstars: Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.

It was Chopra’s “Deewar” (1975) that firmly established Bachchan’s angry young man character that millions in 1970s India

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identified with. Similarly, the director further crystalised Shah Rukh’s negative image in “Darr” (1993) before remolding it completely with romantic superhits such as “Dil To Pagal Hai” (1997) and “VeerZara” (2004). (Continued on page 26)

A jihadist group from Birmingham were on a quest to carry out a terrorist attack perhaps as big as “9/11”.

The Woolwich Crown Court were told that effects and devastation would have been greater than the London 7/7 attacks.

Continued on page 2

Irfan Naseer, 31 (left), Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali, both 27

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Yash Raj Chopra

Police and MI5 'sabotages' Al Qaeda’s plan of another 9/11

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Following on from the recent announcement by the UK Government to enhance relations with Gujarat and its chief Minister Narendra Modi, Sir James Bevan, the UK High Commissioner to India, visited Gujarat on Monday. It was the first time in over 10 years that a senior UK official had visited the state to meet Mr Modi – opening a new chapter in relations.

Though it was downplayed as just a courtesy visit by the UK, the significance of the meeting was reflected in the huge media interest in the meeting across India and the world. Narendra Modi is seen increasingly as the most credible candidate to become prime minister of India in polls scheduled for 2014.

Bevan was with Modi for almost an hour in Gandhinagar, heralding a cordial beginning to resuming diplomatic ties. British Council will also participate in the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat summit in January, the High

Bollywood’s ‘king of romance’ is no more

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AV_P2_6 temp 23/10/2012 19:07 Page 2

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

one to one

Keith Vaz MP with

Hitan Mehta, Executive Director, The British Asian Trust Hitan Mehta is the Executive Director of The British Asian Trust. Along with his lead role in establishing The British Asian Trust, Hitan served as Head of Operations for The Prince’s Charities Events organising commercial activities to raise funds with a programme of music, sports, films and exhibitions. He has first-hand volunteer experience with the Indian NGO, BAPS and has organised the international launch of the film “Mystic India” and other large-scale fundraising events.

1) Please tell us about your current position?

I am the Executive Director of The British Asian Trust – one of the seventeen Prince’s Charities. The British Asian Trust meets crucial needs in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Founded in 2007 by HRH The Prince of Wales, The Trust has already touched the lives of more than 800,000 people in the poorest communities. We do this by investing in high-

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

I think HRH The Prince of Wales – as the person who founded the Trust – his genuine care and compassion for the most disadvantaged has had a huge influence on me.

Following the Pakistan floods in 2010, I still remember receiving a call from His Royal Highness on a Friday evening at 8pm – asking what could be done to help those in need!

impact local charities known to deliver lasting change, transforming lives through education, health and livelihood initiatives that generate self-sufficiency.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Helping set-up the Trust in 2007 with the guidance of HRH The Prince of Wales and group of British Asian businessmen including Manoj Badale, Chris Mathias and Rajan Singh by organising an official

one day international cricket match between India and Pakistan in Glasgow, Scotland.

3) What does the British Asian Trust represent?

The Trust represents the ability to address the most challenging issues faced by the disadvantaged, such as mental health ini-

Police and MI5 'sabotages' Al Qaeda’s plan of another 9/11 Continued from page 1 Yet another attempt to carry out a form of mass genocide, “in the name of Allah”. A newspaper highlighted how Al Qaeda even bragged about he attacks and that it would cause “mass deaths in crowded areas”.

Various methods of mass poisoning were being discussed, along with using AK47 assault rifles and attaching blades to the wheels of a vehicle before driving it into a crowd of people.

One even claimed to have made a sinister remark to his estranged wife that they were not the “Four Lions” (a reference to the film about “home-grown” British based Jihadists) because there was only “three” of them.

The estranged wife (Salma Kabal, 23) of one of the men involved, Irfan Naseer, will be charged for having knowledge about the activities and “failing to inform the authorities”. If she had informed, actions could have been taken earlier.

It is shocking how the group raised thousands of pounds to fund such a nefarious plot by acting as street collectors, under the name of “Muslim Aid”, a humanitarian charity.

Two of the men, allegedly travelled to Pakistan to receive train-

ing, learning how to operate weapons , explosives and poisons, at a terrorist camp for 15 months. They have supposably recorded “martyrdom videos” about how the attack will be carried out, which was to be released to the media after they had blown themselves up. The men were recorded talking about training with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades along with “firing a rocket launcher and vehicle bladeplot” all which were featured in Al Qaeda's magazine,“Inspire”. The terrorist cell seem to have emerged from the inspiration of internet videos and writings of Osama Bin Laden, as well as a USborn Yemeni extremist, who has now been killed.

On their return to Birmingham during July 2011 they started up a bomb factory and recruited a number of eight accomplices.

However, the terrorist cell's plot was blown out by the counter-terrorism police and MI5. They kept the cell under “intensive surveillance, bugging the men's cars and the bomb factory”.

Irfan Naseer, 31; Irfan Khalid 27; and partially sighted Ashik Ali 27, all unemployed, were “senior members of a home-grown terror cell”, according to prosecutor Brian Altman QC. They

the way charity work is conducted in South Asia, addressing the issues of lack of trust in their ability to work on the ground and bringing to the forefront those NGO’s that are trail blazers in addressing some of the taboo issues that communities tend not to acknowledge.

were charged with being involved in 12 terrorist activities, which they have denied. The three were among eleven men and one woman to have been arrested. The jury are going to take account of others who have admitted their involement and these men are “awaiting sentence”.

The senior member of the cell were accused of “radicalising and recruiting” young Muslim men to their jihadist activities and all of those involved in the planning of the plot are either of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin, belonging from Sparkhill, Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath and Alum Rock parts of Birmingham.

“The police successfully disrupted a plan to commit an act or acts of terrorism on a scale of London bombings in July 2005. The defendants were proposing to detonate up to eight rucksack bombs in a suicide attack...” Brain Altman claimed to have added.

In a recording, Irfan Naseer had been seen to agree with another man that July 7th had “gone a bit wrong” simply because the bombers did not think of using nails.

Naseer, a broad built man, often referred to as “Chubbs” used “knowledge from his pharmacy degree to mix chemicals”.

tiatives in Sri Lanka, child abuse in India and girls’ education in rural Pakistan in the most effective way through credible, hand-picked charities in the region.

4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

Changing mindsets about

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

Being able to touch the lives of 800,000 disadvantaged people across Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Giving them an opportunity for a better life in such a direct way is one of the best things about this role together with

meeting and persuading some of the key members of the Diaspora to support our work, from Tom Singh through to Simon Arora.

7) And the worst?

There is nothing bad as such – the most challenging is helping the Diaspora community to think through the way they give to South Asia and persuading them that collective giving to high impact causes is the best way to help those most in need.

8) What are your long term goals?

I would love to be able to help grow the work of the Trust to reach 2 million people over the next 5 years. I might take a little break after that!

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

I would love to be on the island with Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai and Lord Mountbatten – would be incredible to learn firsthand the difficulties and issues surrounding the Partition.

Sikhs against the EDL ‘Sikhs Against the EDL’ would be marching against the English Defence League (EDL) in Walthamstow, Waltham Forest on Saturday 27th October.

They would be there to support the counter demonstration against the EDL march in Walthamstow on the same day. The counter demonstration is being organised by a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multifaith organisation known as ‘We Are Walthamstow’. It is a broad-based network of local community groups, political organisations and trade unions. Their aim is to ‘celebrate diversity and oppose racism and fascism’ and to show the EDL that they are not welcome in Walthamstow.

The ‘Unite Against Fascism’ is also calling for a national demonstration to support the ‘We Are Walthamstow’ demonstration. The Waltham Forest council has also issued a statement to ‘call on our whole community to come out’ against the EDL march. This is the second time the EDL would be coming to Walthamstow within two months. The last time when they came, at the beginning of September, they suffered a humiliating defeat as they could only muster about 200 supporters and were blocked by more than 4000 local people. Thus the police forced them to abandon their march after making several arrests.

But now they want to cause deliberate provocation and offence to the Muslim community by returning during the holy Muslim festival of Eid. It has also been reported that 53 supporters of the EDL were arrested on the M1 motorway, on Saturday 20th October, hiding in a removal van, apparently to be used as a Trojan horse, which was heading towards London to, allegedly, target a Mosque while the police were occupied at the large TUC demo. Recently the EDL announced a formal alliance with the British Freedom Party (BFP), a breakaway group from the BNP but with equally fascist policies who want to ‘scrap the Equalities Act

and ban all manifestations of religious and cultural separatism’.

The ‘Sikhs Against the EDL’ campaign was formed about two years ago in response to some Sikh youth being recruited by the EDL. The campaign immediately received wide support from some major Sikh and Hindu organisations, MPs, councillors as well as many other prominent people from the community. As a result of the campaign most of the Sikh supporters of the EDL now seem to have disappeared. In the meantime, the Metropolitan Police is asking Theresa May to ban Saturday's marches by the English Defence League to prevent serious public disorder.

This week paid subscribers of Asian Voice will receive a copy of our 40 years anniversary special issue along with their newspaper Don’t forget that the British Summer Time finishes on Sunday 28th October, but which way to change the clocks? Easy! Just remember: "Spring forward, Fall back!"

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

COMMENT

Will Malala be a role model for Pakistanis?

Malala Yousafzai, the brave Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban, remains resilient and recovering in a Birmingham hospital. Malala is fearless and the one to fight for women’s rights. She is a relentless advocate for the education of girls, something the Taliban find very threatening. The Taliban, with all their bravado, seem to fear educated women most of all. Malala knew that she was on the hit list of Taliban, but she did not back down.

The Taliban, whose religious, social and political views are founded on a brutally anti-woman and suppressive ideology, cannot countenance even a young girl challenging their ideas on a blog.

It is said that even the darkest clouds have silver lining. This 14-year-old Pakistani girl has been making headlines all over the world for her courage and bravery in the face of extremism, uncertainty and fear of life. By speaking out, she became a beacon of hope for all the Pakistani girls, especially those who were deprived of their birthright to education when Taliban took over the Swat Valley in the northwestern province of Pakistan and

destroyed or closed their schools. It was heartening to see thousands of people on the streets of Pakistan condemning this act of violence and supporting Malala’s cause even when the perpetrators have warned of another attack if she survives.

Pakistan has perhaps realised the futility of hatred and violence. This tragedy has united the people of Pakistan against a mad and mindless fanaticism that seeks to destroy the very concept of a civilized society, based among other things, on education and gender equality. If you look at Indonesia or other western democratic countries, before it gets worst, it can be turned around.

Moreover, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the launching of a petition which “calls on Pakistan to ensure that every girl like Malala has the chance to go to school."

Malala has become a world idol and a true warrior and all of us should support her and also be like her. This is an unique 'opportunity' for Pakistani establishment to take, if necessary a “uturn”.

The future of print media The world renowned magazine ‘Newsweek’ which is in circulation for the last 70 years will not be in its usual form after 31st December 2012. A British publication called 'Loot' in the UK has gone for free distribution. Guardian, an upright publishing house, is also facing its first industrial action in its 191- year history. With the advent of new technologies and electronic media, information access and its availability together with rising printing cost, huge burden on distribution expenses (including the postage), as well as overheads are the cruel facts which the print media has to cope with. One more fact which we have to consider is that most of the publications depend on advertisements. For them, the readership and especially their purchasing power are very important considerations. Readers also like to be devoted to those publications that provide them news and features that are useful and truthful but also raise their issues of concern.The confidence of the readers are vital for the survival and the progress of the publications.

In the British-Asian media, Asian Voice/Gujarat

Samachar have remained viable in such adverse situation. Our readership has not been increasing steadily as it was happening till 2009, but the shrinkage is not much with Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar. There may be many reasons. May be we are in a niche market, may be our readers or advertisers have special sense of choice. We might as well talk about the bold step we have taken over a year ago. Long before eBay stopped taking advertisements from faith healers, magic cure providers or jantar-mantar, AV/GS voluntarily on their own initiative refused outright advertisements from such anti-social and exploitative advertisers. We knew that over the last 5 years such advertisements were a reliable source of income (£50,000 per year) for us. We are gratefully to our readers and advertisers that in spite of such heavy reduction in revenue; we remain as strong as we were, in our bottom line. We are grateful to all those who support us and trust us. Perhaps in the small world of ethnic press, survival is not only of the fittest but also of those who are committed to certain values and standards.

www.abplgroup.com

Thought for the Week

Discovery consists of seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought - Albert Szent Gyorgyi (1893-1986)

“Our London” Navin Shah

GLA Member for Brent and Harrow

SAVE OUR NHS Accident & Emergency Services Right across London people are facing a dramatic reduction in Police, Fire, Ambulance and Accident & Emergency provision (A & E) due to central government cuts. The government are cutting too far and too fast, fundamentally undermining the emergency services ability to do their job. A couple of weeks ago I questioned Mayor of London Boris Johnson about North West London’s A & E closures and London’s vital fire service cuts at Mayor’s Question Time.

cuts for millionaires the Mayor has refused to lobby government to keep A&E units open as he absurdly says it is outside of his remit.

I’m dismayed in the way the Mayor has disenfranchised the residents and stakeholders in London on the matter of NHS changes and A&E closures in NW London. It is mindless – a total act of vandalism to close the A & E services at the Central Middlesex Hospital and offer Northwick Park Hospital where the A & E Services are bursting

London is set to lose 7 of it’s 31 A&E departments, leaving the remaining 24 to cover an extra 120,000 residents each. I asked the Mayor if he supported Brent and Harrow residents in their campaign to keep Central Middlesex Hospital’s A&E department open. The Mayor refused to commit his support despite his direct role in the London Health Improvement Board and health inequalities in the capital. The Mayor was challenged over his failure to speak up for the NHS in London and protect A&E departments from closure. Despite repeatedly campaigning for tax

at the seams already. As a user of the Central Middlesex Hospital I can vouch for its excellent medical service. This is a hospital which was redeveloped with millions worth of investment.

One of the many major flaws with the closure proposal is the issue of poor public access. The study conducted in 2007 concludes “Increased journey distance to hospital appears to be associated with increased risk of mortality. Our data suggests that a 10km increase in straight-line distance is associated with around 1% absolute increase in mortality.” s Continued on page 6

Modi-Bevan meeting opens up many possibilities A historic meeting took place in Gandhinagar on Monday between British High Commissioner to India James Bevan and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. This was an hour-long meeting in which many complementarities between GujaratIndia and UK were talked about. And what we saw on the television screen and from the body language, the meeting went off very well. It is definitely good for Gujarat(India) and UK and other places, but even for the encouragement of more fair and all inclusive relations. Let the experts talk about how and why it happens. But two facts are very clear.

First the British Government over a long period has taken a very pragmatic approach. They want to change the course and took some distinct u- turns for certain values. Indeed it is the development of Gujarat and the presence of a million strong Gujarati diaspora in UK which was also under consideration.

7 million Gujaratis outside Gujarat are predominantly involved in trade and commerce.

Chief Minister Modi, unlike many other Indian politicians, is totally focused on the development of the state. He is completely unbiased about caste or religion like some others. This was greatly complemented by the no-nonsense attitude of Modi in providing able administration and good governance. To remain, un-tempted ever in the slightest corruption and never been under allegation of corruption, itself is a unique achievement in the present day India.

Second, the allegations against Modi could never be proved, because they were fabricated by vested interests. The elections of Gujarat will decide in two months of time its future.

Game change in Delhi may also happen in 2014.

But whatever happens on a political front, Britain and India are destined to grow as successful economies and democracies. So much synergy is possible on the horizons of the world’s oldest and largest democracies.

Who will bell the cat?

Even a cursory look at the Indian media makes you very upset, if not outright depressed. Corruption has been a part of most societies. There are ample examples of the corruption even during the reign of East India Company and British Raj. But the recent exposure of alleged corruption by Robert Vadra, Salman Khurshid, late Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ajit Pawar and Adarsh Housing Society, Commonwealth games scams are quite depressing.

Also in the frame are former Karnataka chief minister Yeddyureppa, BJP chief Nitin Gadhkari and other people. NCP chief Sharad Pawar is also accused of illegal land allotments. Where does the list end? There are many politicians and bureaucrats who are law-abiding and judicial about their roles and responsibilities. But the list of rogues is enlarging by leaps and bounds. The corrupt practice by politician and people in high posts cannot be condoned, let alone be tolerated.

Like former Mumbai municipal commissioner

Khairnar there are many bureaucrats who had the courage and conviction to expose what is not acceptable. India Against Corruption and its leader Arvind Kejriwala and his friends have exposed some 27 incidents of alleged corruption by Congress, and especially the Gandhi parivar devotees. Perhaps the politicians with powerful positions may be able to divert attention from the issue. Any human being with common sense will know that a close relation of the most powerful person in India was able to acquire wealth of several hundred crores in a short span of time. India in 20s, 30s and 40s was able to rise because there were many leaders like Mahatma Gandhi who were above corruption. With all the limitations, IAC, Anna Hazare, Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi are exposing the people in power, whether in political or money power and it is indeed a welcome sign. Someone has to bell the cat now because if it is not caged at the earliest, it is certainly going to grow into a man-eating monster soon.

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LEICESTER/MIDLANDS VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Businessmen cannot find tenants for ÂŁ1m buildings in Granby Street Businessmen who paid ÂŁ1 million for a section of a street in Leicester city centre say they cannot find anyone who wants to rent space there.

The three partners bought four buildings in Granby Street for ÂŁ1,010,000 at an auction in London last October.

But Mehil Somani, one of the partners who bought the buildings – which spread from numbers 113 to 133 and incorporate office space and seven retail units – said the investment had not lived up to the businessmen's expectations

Businessmen who paid ÂŁ1 million for 113-133 Granby Street, Leicester, say they cannot find any tenants

as nobody wanted to rent any of the space.

He commented: "To say we are disappointed is an understatement.

Myself and my partners thought we would be investing in a prime section of Leicester city centre which would pro-

vide us with an exciting opportunity.

Granby Street is a major gateway into the city because of the railway station and we want people to shop on it not just pass along it on their way to Highcross. Some people are renaming it cheap street and that is not helping us at all. We just can't get the businesses we need to rent the space."

Mr Somani said the partners had hoped to discuss "a way forward" with city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby but had "not been able to get past his personal assistant".

Keith Vaz cycles to raise cash for Thurnby Lodge youth facilities MP Keith Vaz last Friday revisited his past as he announced a sponsored cycle ride to raise money for an estate's youth facilities – including a disused Scout hut at the centre of a dispute. He will ride around the estate on Saturday, November 24 and is urging others to join him.

The future of a disused Scout hut, in Nursery Road, is at the centre of negotiations between the city council, residents and a Muslim group called the As-Salaam Trust, which wants to turn the building into a community centre.

Some residents have staged regular protests outside the neighbouring Thurnby Lodge Community Centre, where members of As-Salaam have been meeting for almost three years. Some have said they would prefer the Scout hut to be developed for the wider community.

Many support a proposal to turn it into a boxing club and community gym. They are also concerned about extra traffic the building might create if it became a community centre. Mr Vaz has previously suggested the Scout

'Sufferers are too slow to seek the advice of their GP' Dr Arumugam Moorthy, pictured, is a consultant rheumatologist at Leicester's hospitals. He is concerned a delay in the diagnosis of many patients means they are at risk of not getting treatment which could prolong the quality of their lives.

He said: "One of the reasons is that many delay the time they take in seeking help. Studies over the last two years show it will be three or four months before they go to their GP with symptoms and then it can be another nine months before they are referred to a specialist.

The window of opportunity is in the first 12 months of onset of the condition.

In this time we can pre-

scribe drugs which can make improvements and stop deformities. After that the condition is irreversible."

Another problem is that understanding of rheumatoid arthritis is poor among people, particularly minority and ethnic communities, says Dr Moorthy.

Mr Vaz sets off with the help of, from left, Allan Gratrix, Councillor John Thomas and Maxine Williams

hut should be put to use for the wider community

instead of being taken on by a faith group.

Lip-reading Nehal Bhogaita crowned Miss India Leicester Stunning Nehal Bhogaita has been crowned Miss India Leicester after impressing judges with her interview answers – despite not being able to hear the questions.

The profoundly deaf beauty therapist, who can lip read, spoke through an interpreter at the regional round of Miss India Worldwide, held in Birmingham.

Nehal works as a support worker for charity Action Deafness and had never modeled before the competition, where she competed against dozens of young women, whittled down from a shortlist of hundreds of online applicants. The 24-year-old, who lives in the Abbey Lane area

Montfort Hall celebration each year, which could see the grant ending, but that did not dampen the atmosphere at the venue on Friday night.

Prayers and songs marked the third night of the nine-day festival, celebrating the strengths and values of Hindu deities, followed by mass dances involving everyone attending.

Pratik Patel, 38, of Oadby, who was at the celebration with family members, said: "It's a religious festival, but it's a fun festival, too. The great thing about De Montfort Hall's celebrations is that it's for everyone – all the Hindu communities come here and can be together."

Maganbhai Patel, president of the festival council, said he did not think the

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Masked robbers in claw hammer attack on family A father who was attacked in his home by three masked men has said he thought he and his family would be killed during the raid.

Jitendra Damani, 54, was struck with a hammer when he refused to hand over cash and jewellery to Jitendra Damani, 54, was struck with a hammer the armed robbers, who had forced their beating him up with a way into his home in claw hammer. I ran down Western Park, Leicester. and saw my son lying on His son Neel, 25, was the floor in the living room repeatedly hit with a hambruised and battered." mer and left with a fracThe men demanded tured cheek during the Jitendra hand over cash attack. and gold, and struck him The robbery happened on the head with a hamat about 9.50pm on mer when he refused.

Saturday, September 29, Upstairs, Jitendra was when the gang jimmied threatened for a second open the locked front door time and handed over a with a screwdriver. briefcase which contained Neel and his mother about ÂŁ300, the family's Divya, 53, were relaxing passports, various docuin the living room and ments and his Russian Jitendra was asleep stamp collection valued at upstairs after finishing a about ÂŁ500. long shift at work.

Jitendra and Neel were Jitendra said: "I woke taken to Leicester Royal up when I heard my son, Infirmary for treatment to Neel, screaming and their injuries and returned shouting as they were home the following day.

NHS & Aston Villa Scheme Benefits City’s Children

Cllr Steve Bedser addressing the audience

of Leicester, said: "The whole day was overwhelming and when they announced I was the chosen finalist for Leicester I was over the moon and completely shocked."

Hundreds attend Navratri festival Hundreds of people danced and sang the night away at a celebration to mark the colourful Hindu festival of Navratri.De Montfort Hall, in Leicester, is the venue for a major celebration of Navratri each year, with other events taking place at temples and in communities around the city.

Leicester City Council is reviewing the ÂŁ20,000 grant it provides for the De

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city council could cut off the funding for something enjoyed by so many people.

"About 10,000 people in Leicester celebrate Navratri each year and if they stop our funding it would be a disaster for the Hindu community," he said.

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling on council bosses not to axe the grant.

A partnership programme between Aston Villa FC and the local NHS in which aims to educate children about healthy lifestyles has received funding from the Premier League Community Fund to continue for another three years. ‘Villa Vitality’ which was first established in 2005 has proved to be so successful in teaching children the necessary skills in how to improve diet and physical activity through links with football, that partners have given the green light for it to continue.

A launch event took place this week at which Cllr Steve Bedser, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing gave a keynote speech, together with Dr Adrian Phillips, Director of Public Health for the

city.

Dr Phillips explained the benefits of the scheme: “Children have access to a whole range of different activities including a ‘community food academy’ where they can have fun cooking up healthy dishes, an ‘Ice Gym’ - a purpose built gym for children and the ‘Community Radio’ where they can produce & record their own radio show around the healthy changes they have made. In addition they get to participate in physical activity with Aston Villa coaches, as well as a classroom based interactive healthy eating session.

This rounded approach has proved to be so successful that the scheme is now set to continue its good work for at least another three years.�

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Political Sketchbook

www.PoliticalAnimal.me

5

BAPS UK Children’s Forum multievent Kidz Ultimate Challenge

Alpesh Patel’s

A Manifesto for a Superpower It sometimes astounds me when reading an article I or others have written, that someone can read the exact opposite of what was actually stated. So now that the British Government has decided to fully engage with the Government of Gujarat (the invitation was always open from the Government of Gujarat), and the Indian Government has announced more economic liberalisation, I thought I should repeat and update a column I wrote a couple of months ago before these two events, which led to the accusation I was in favour of recolonisation of India by the British. My aim is to see an India elevated in deed not just word to her rightful destiny as the greatest nation on earth – so she can be a beacon to raise others.

A manifesto then for India may state the following: It shall be the policy of this Government to invite all the best and brightest with incentives to lead our major institutions. So that we may learn from them, in place of thinking we know it all because our ancestors can be traced back to prehistory.

It shall be the policy of this Government to invite the British to run an anti-corruption ‘untouchables’ unit who will have the authority to set up and enforce an anti-corruption unit. Of course there is corruption in Britain, but we can no longer use that excuse for it to be in India too.

It shall be the policy of this Government to invite the British to run a national infrastructure programme throughout the country to ensure power grids do not lead to black outs for one in twelve people on the planet. Of course there are power cuts in Britain, but that is not an excuse for them to be in India.

It shall be the policy of this Government to invite British NRI’s to India with a red carpet wel-

come and immense respect– because they like Gandhi, Nehru and Patel, went to Britain for the opportunities it provided and with a British education and British training came back to India to lift a nation.

It shall be the policy of this Government to invite the British police force and security services to train the Indian police force and intelligence agencies. Whilst Britain has had failures in policing and security, none can be as incompetent as those that led to the Mumbai attacks.

It shall be the policy of this Government to once again ensure it will create a man or woman of whom at their passing the world will say, as they once did of the greatest Indian of them all, ‘The object of this massive tribute died as he had always lived - a private person without wealth, without property, without official title or office…not a commander of great armies nor ruler of vast lands. He could boast no scientific achievements or artistic gift. Yet men, governments and dignitaries from all over the world have joined hands today to pay homage to this little brown man. Pope Pius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, President Truman, Chiang Kai-shek, The Foreign Minister of Russia, the President of France... are among the millions here and abroad who have lamented his passing.

This Indian had become the spokesman for the conscience of mankind, a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires."

Others will add "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."

To make Indians such as these, shall be the policy of this Government of India by all means and help necessary. Spurred on are we now by what we have seen the world achieve for fear we will be left behind.

Memory test by a participant

The BAPS UK Children’s Forum multi-event Kidz Ultimate Challenge (KUC), launched in January 2012, culminated on the last weekend of September with the final Memory Challenge (purna mukhpath) and Skills Challenge (talent contest).

Both events took place at the BAPS Swaminarayan mandirs in London and Leicester on 29 and 30 September, respectively.

More than 800 children aged 3 to 14, divided into four age groups, participated in a variety of competitions over the weekend.

The event began with a vibrant opening ceremony including a procession of children playing the dhol and waving flags. Younger children on tricycles also joined in the fes-

tivities with their own welcoming procession. This climaxed with the video blessings of HH Pramukh Swami Maharaj.

The Memory Challenge, more than just a test of recollection, was an opportunity for the children to learn and recite passages from Hindu texts, while also learning the traditional styles of reading and intonation.

The Skills Challenge provided an opportunity for the children to develop their talents in a variety of disciplines, including storytelling, speechmaking, essay writing, monoacting, art, dance, singing, and instrument playing.

In all, the Kidz Ultimate Challenge has helped more than 1,000 children across the UK and parts of Europe.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

How associations can be better than advertising for a brand

By Spriha Srivastava

NRI voting march in London Pravasi Bharat, a nonpolitical organisation carried out a march in London over the weekend to campaign for special ballot postal/online voting for Indian citizens living abroad. The members and supporters met near the Gandhi statue in Tavistock Square and marched towards the Indian High Commission.

Pravasi Bharat has previously demonstrated peacefully and submitted petition to government of India through Indian High Commission on 31st August 2012 – It’s been over 40 days and we have not heard anything from the officials yet on Special Ballot for NRIs. We feel every vote is important and counts hence decided to submit a follow up petition to Government of India and March to raise awareness on abroad voting system, the group said in a press release.

“We all know how important the ‘vote’ is in democratic system. The Representation of the People (Amendment) Act – 2010, allows the eligible Non-Resident Indian (NRI) citizens to vote for an election in India.

However, only those who are physically present in India on the day of the election can vote,” the press release read.

The march was supported by a number of groups and individuals including the Cambridge India Students Association, Overseas Friends of BJP and India Against Corruption – GB. The aim of the march was to raise awareness on Non Resident Indians voting rights and to submit a follow up petition to Election Commission & Government of India, requesting to allow the ‘Special ballot postal/Online voting for Indian Citizens Staying Abroad’ The Indian government has last year allowed NRIs to vote by amending the Representation of People’s Act but for that they have to be in their respective constituencies on the voting day to employ their franchise.

The rule, Pravasi Bharat the group campaigning for NRI voting rights says, is deterrent for the over seven million Indians living abroad constrained from travelling to their constituencies for that particular day.

The Pravasi Bharat

campaign went online a few months back requesting people to sign a petition on www.pravasbharat.org. Our readers can log on to this website and sign a petition as well.

Aks is back London-based Aks performing arts group is back with a series of performances in Central London.

“Come As You Were” is their upcoming play that explores the relationships between five best friends from school when they meet ten years later. Set in Delhi, this is a truly unique production that showcases the technique of flashback in a live stage performance.

Aks is a South-Asian amateur theatre group based in London. They have made several performances in the past and

sixty five years after Independence and how that is defined, through vignettes of different narratives linked together by a chorus of dancers. The show will be performed mainly in English but there are scenes in Hindi.

The performances will be made from November 27 to December 1 daily at 7:45PM. The play will be 90 minutes long and ticket prices are £15.

A Soulful evening Asian Music Circuit presents an evening of soulful music with Mehboob Nadeem and Hanif Khan.

Mehboob will be providing vocals and playing the Sitar whilst accompanied by the versatile Hanif Khan on Tabla. The event will take place on Wednesday, October 31 at Museum of Asian Music in

Mo Luthra Branding Consultant www.moluthra.com On the 14th of October Felix Baumgartner jumped from the edge of space, twenty four miles above the earth’s surface.

He broke numerous world records, including the first man unaided to break the sound barrier and at the same time left awe struck a whole generation of people.

Some described the event as historic as man landing on the moon. While that might be debatable without doubt it captured the imagination. The event was a symbol of human spirit, fearlessness and adventure.

From a marketing perspective it was pure

genius. In the lead up to the jump the world’s media was already talking, and on the day it was fixated with the event.

After the jump occurred, millions of views on YouTube had quickly been racked up. Hours of news time and print space dedicated to it. The only way you could avoid the words ‘Red Bull’ would have been if you were trapped in a cave.

For a company that merely sells ghastly tasting, highly caffeinated, sugary water, they have done brilliantly. The power of the brand has been realised.

Deliberately designed to distance itself from just being seen just as a

drink, it has become a set of values, a philosophy and ideology which is far reaching. By embracing

extreme sports and other similar associations, the Red Bull brand has travelled far and wide. While gaining immense exposure which would literally costs hundreds of millions to achieve otherwise through traditional advertising.

This is the real trick in building great brands.

To sell the emotion and the engagement that sparks in the hearts and minds of consumers.

This is more powerful than the functional attribute of the product alone. Here consumers no longer feel they are merely buying an energy drink, they are endorsing a lifestyle statement.

The ability for a brand to leverage itself like that is hard to calculate from a ROI (return on investment) perspective.

Who would have known that an event like this would hook a global community so intensely?

Think outside the box and see where your business could build compelling associations.

Healthcare show with a strong Indian accent Rudy Otter

remain popular among both the Indian and the British theatre-goers.

If you wish to attend another brilliant performance by them, grab your tickets now at www.aksperformingarts.co m. Tickets are priced at £12.50 however if you are a bigger group, buy 5 for £50.

Salaam India in November The Indian stage and screen actor and director, Lushin Dubey will arrive at Watermans with Salaam India, a play inspired by Pavan Varma’s bestseller, “Being Indian”. The play is presented as part of Watermans ongoing commitment to showcase international work from South Asia, and is being presented in the UK for the first time.

The cast features, Shena Gamat, (Dev D, Band Baaja Baraat); Ashish Paliwal (theatre actor); Andrew Hoffland (teacher & theatre actor) and Lushin Dubey (stage and screen actor, Rangrez, Murder Unveiled for which she won a Gemini and Othello in Black and White which won a fringe first at Edinburgh).

The play will reflect on what it is to be Indian

London. Tickets are priced £10 and require advance booking.

Mehboob Nadeem was born into a highly illustrious family of traditional musicians of the Agra Gharana. Endowed with a rich melodious and sonorous voice, Mehboob was initiated in the art of music at a very young age by his father Ustad Yakub Hussain. He then began his Sitar training under the guidance of his uncle Shri Rafat Khan. Mehboob possesses a keen, aesthetic sense and a matured ability in the development and rendering of a raga. Under the devoted teaching of his Guru and mentor Pandit Arvind Parikh he has excelled in perfecting the techniques and style of the legendary sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan. Hanif Khan is a versatile and innovative Tabla player based in London. He is equally at ease accompanying some of India's most successful and celebrated artists, as he is collaborating with upcoming Fusion Projects. Hanif Khan was trained from a young age in the Delhi style Gharana under the tutelage of his renowned Father, Usted Hideyat Khan.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Ayurveda cropped up in everything from medicines to massages at the 10th annual Camexpo, the complementary natural and integrated healthcare event at London's Earls Court.

Asmita Jani of Pavilion Healthcare International, East Sussex, told me: "We supply natural Ayurvedic herbal food supplements, teas, massage oils and also run workshops and courses." Adviser Hiran Patel of

Lypo Spheric Nutrients of Ireland was promoting USA health products in Europe, including a special way of delivering a Vitamin C supplement more effectively into the body. Director Sumita Singh of Affable Therapy Training of Beckenham, Kent, was telling visitors about their 45 courses spanning sports therapy, massage, beauty and spa treatments. She ran a show workshop on weight loss using body wraps.

Visitors, mainly women,

SAVE OUR NHS Continued from page 3 I’m not prepared to sign up for any proposal that poses a real threat to the survival of emergency patients. It is disgraceful for the Mayor to rubbish closure opponents of ‘jumping on the bandwagon’. This is an insult to hundreds and thousands of people who are deeply care about their local health services and genuinely worried about losing them. The Mayor rather than disfranchising communities should standby them.

At a time when London’s emergency services are already stretched cuts and closures simply do not make sense. London’s population is also forecast to grow to 9 million people how will the emergency services cope? Our emergency services and their dedicated staff do a fantastic job keeping us safe and helping us when we are at our most vulnerable. It’s time that the Mayor stood up for

learned about natural pain relievers and energy boosters. Lectures and workshops on Ayurvedic skincare included one by Dr Shamini Singh Sachdev of Pukka Herbs, Bristol; Dr Deepa Apte, training chief of the Ayurveda Pura Academy of south-east London ran workshops on Ayurvedic facelifts and tongue diagnosis; and Kush Kumar, chair of the Complementary Therapists Association spoke, among other things, on east/west therapies.

Accident & Emergency Services

Londoners and got a better deal from central government. We must continue to

fight tooth and nail against the closure plans for A& E departments in NW London.

• OCI Applications • Wills and Probate • Private Tax Planning • Immigration Visas (including appeals)

• Property • Divorce 502-504 Honeypot Lane Stanmore Middlesex HA7 1JR

020 8951 6959 • info@pindorialaw.com

www.pindorialaw.com

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Shakoor family funeral organised

Is Dow Chemical finally being held accountable for the Bhopal Disaster?

Olympic Sponsorship Protesters in a "Told You So" moment as Criminal Case Takes Dramatic Turn

Sabah Usmani and her five children

A funeral for a doctor and her five children who died in a house fire in Essex will be held on Wednesday at the harlow Islamic Centre. The funeral service will be followed by burials at the Parndon Wood Cemetery.

Dr Sabah Usmani and her sons Sohaib, 11, and Rayyan, six, and

daughter Hira, 13, died on 15 October in Harlow.

A third son, Muneeb, nine, and daughter Maheen, three, both died in the hospital. Dr Usmani's husband Dr Abdul Shakoor was also injured but was released from hospital on Friday.

An investigation into the cause of the fire continues.

The only real scandal to have tainted an otherwise superb Olympic Games this summer was the ongoing controversy surrounding the sponsorship by The Dow Chemical Company (Dow). Dow, LOCOG, Lord Coe, and even the British Prime Minister maintained throughout that Dow had no case to answer regarding the Bhopal Disaster. A 'full and final settlement' had been made they all claimed.

Campaign groups argued that this was not true. Dow were, and still are, involved in a number of court cases pertaining to the disaster and one of these, a criminal case, has now taken a dramatic turn.

Solanki dismissed their petition stating that it is for the trial court to decide whether Union Carbide has ceased to exist as a legal entity and further observed the trial court had issued notice to Dow Chemical well within its jurisdiction. The order states: “The question with respect to merger of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) in the Dow Chemical Company, USA and whether UCC still survives as a separate legal entity are open for determination before the trial court.”

Colin Toogood, of the Bhopal Medical Appeal, said: "It remains a scandal that public servants of this country should have chosen to defend a foreign corporation when

The 'real life heroine' recovering in B'ham

A policeman looks on as he tours the site of the deserted Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India

Malala Yousafzai

Terror group Al-Qaeda are furious that Malala Yousafzai - who was shot in the head in a botched Taliban assassination - is being regarded as a heroine around the world. The 15-year-old Malala who is now treated in Birmingham "remains in a stable condition at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham," the hospital said in a statement.

Pakistan's KhyberPakhtunkhwa province's Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain visited the hospital to meet Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at the facility.

"In a private meeting Dr Rosser gave a clinical progress report on Malala's treatment and condition," the hospital statement said.

The Minister also brought get-well cards and flowers for the Pakistani schoolgirl although he was not able to visit her personally.

He sincerely thanked the nurses, doctors and support staff involved in her care.

Hussain said she was receiving the "best care in the world" as the hospital could provide the most appropriate expertise and experience to treat the injured teenager."

The schoolgirl was flown to the UK last week following a surgery in

Pakistan during which a bullet lodged near her spine was removed.

Malala along with two of her classmates was attacked in the restive Swat region of northwest Pakistan as they made their way home from school on October 9.

The teenager was treated by neurosurgeons in a Pakistani military hospital. She was transferred to the UK by an air ambulance arranged by the United Arab Emirates.

While Sunni clerics in the country even issued a fatwa against the Taliban, decrying an attack on a girl as un-Islamic, but AlQaeda member Ustad Ahmad Farooq compared the attack on Western military operations, saying in a letter: that nobody spoke up for thousands of such Malalas who became victims of military operations, and nobody protested for them on the roads...

“But these circles made so much noise when we targeted this girl who made fun of jihad, the veil and other Islamic values...”

This attack created shockwaves in the ruling circles around the world, and Malala's recovery was prayed for by many countries and youths, especially students. Indian students also participated in a prayer ceremony in support of and for the recovery of Malala Yousufzai.

LOCOG et al, also maintained that 'Dow never owned, nor operated, the Bhopal plant'. Campaigners pointed out that they understood this perfectly well but that Union Carbide, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow's, had the controlling interest and should answer the charges made against it.

Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) has been wanted on criminal charges of Culpable Homicide in India since 1987 but has refused to submit to the courts. Dow was issued a summons in 2005, asking it to explain the non-appearance of UCC, but managed to use another subsidiary, Dow Chemical International Private Limited (DCIPL), to block the summons.

This stay order has now been lifted, by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, paving the way for the summons to finally be delivered to Dow. Though Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), in 2001, it maintains that UCC is a separate legal entity. Madhya Pradesh High Court Justice G S

it put the reputation of the London Olympic Games in jeopardy. The Bhopal Medical Appeal presented LOCOG with a clear set of facts The Madhya Pradesh High Court has finally lifted a seven-yearold stay order that prevented the summoning of Dow Chemical in the ongoing criminal case in connection with the Bhopal gas tragedy. A ministerial panel has ordered laboratory testing of toxic waste arising out of the December 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy before deciding upon the place for its safe disposal. The meeting was called after a German firm, which was appointed to dispose 350 tonnes of toxic waste from the disaster site pulled out from the contract recently.

The Supreme Court had cited that existence of toxic waste is

demonstrating that Dow is involved in this, and other, court cases related to the Bhopal Disaster. What would they have said had this stay order been lifted just a few months ago in the run -up to the Games?"

B a r r y Gardiner MP, Chair of Labour Friends of India said: “I welcome the decision by the Madhya Pradesh High Court to throw out Dow Chemical’s petition against the 2005 court sumDow This photograph from December 4, 1984 shows victims mons. who lost their sight in the Bhopal poison gas tragedy as Chemical has been they sit outside the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India obstructing justice

Sanjay, who lost his mother, father, brothers and sisters in the disaster spoke to Asian Voice reporters a few months back

for the victims of the Bhopal disaster for many years. It will now have to answer for the actions of its subsidiary, Union Carbide, in court. I hope this is the first step in the process that will see victims and their families rightly receive the justice they have struggled for since 1984.”

Cllr Navin Shah AM, said: "I have raised this issue in the Assembly and elsewhere, on numerous occasions, and have always heard the same response. I said, back in March that Lord Coe, the Mayor of London and even the Prime Minister would tell you that there is no problem with the sponsorship with Dow. That is completely bogus. It is offensive, they should apologise for the kind of offence that they have caused to hazardous to health and had set a deadline for disposal of the waste by December 2012.

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere from the plant of Union Carbide and the breeze carried the lethal gas to the surrounding slums. The Indian government says around 3,500 died because of the disaster.

However, social activists fighting for the rights of the victims estimate that nearly 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed. the poor victims of Bhopal but none of that is happening.”

Meredith Alexander, ex Commissioner for Sustainability to London 2012 said: "I resigned from the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 thanks to the Dow Chemical issue. I knew enough about Bhopal to know that their association with our 'sustainable Games' was just not tenable. Since then I came to learn much more about Dow, and its ongoing Bhopal liabilities, and found it more and more astonishing that LOCOG were happy to continue defending it. Let's not forget that while all of this legal posturing takes place there are still thousands of people suffering the effects of the disaster, who have never seen any justice, and thousands more being poisoned, day to day, by the ongoing contamination disaster.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

South Yorkshire Police chief admits failure of the force to prosecute sex groomers

David Crompton

report from 2010 warned that several hundred girls, most aged from 13 to 16, were being targeted for abuse in South Yorkshire every year. MPs asked Mr Crompton why, when Scotland Yard was holding a large-scale inquiry into child-sex crimes allegedly committed by Sir Jimmy Savile, he had failed to order an inquiry into his force’s handling of thousands of alleged

crimes against “ordinary girls from South Yorkshire”.

The chief constable said that he was looking at allegations by The Times and admitted to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that, until recently, the force had not given a high enough priority to the sexual exploitation of children.

When MPs asked for prosecution figures for 2012 and were told that no offenders had been charged over such offences in South Yorkshire this year, Keith Vaz, the committee’s chairman, described the admission as “an embarrassment”.

'Hitman' claims South African police assaulted him An alleged "hitman" accused of accepting money from honeymooner Shrien Dewani to murder his wife Anni claimed on Monday he was never at the scene and was tortured into confessing by police.

Xolile Mngeni, 25, said police coerced him into confessing to the murder in Cape Town in November 2010 by forcing his head into a bag of pepper spray and slamming his genitals in a drawer.

Mngeni denied several claims by his co-accused Mziwamadoda Qwabe, who was jailed for 25 years for his role in the murder of the 28-year-old Swedish engineer and who named Mngeni as the gunman in his plea bargain.

Qwabe pleaded guilty

to kidnap, robbery, murder and illegal possession of a firearm in August, saying he was paid 15,000R (£1,400) by Shrien Dewani, 31, a businessman from Bristol, to ambush their taxi and kill Mrs Dewani.

Mngeni, pictured, has pleaded not guilty to the same charges. Giving evidence in his trial at the Western Cape High Court on Monday, Mngeni said

he had spent the night of the murder with his girlfriend, adding of Qwabe's claims: "He is lying".

He said he had seen Qwabe driving past on the day of Dewani's murder, but had no further contact with him until the following day when he gave him a Blackberry and a Nokia to sell – phones the court has heard belonged to Dewani and her taxi driver. After Mngeni was found in possession of the stolen Nokia and arrested, he confessed to police.

He alleged that police assaulted him in custody. " Shrien Dewani denies any involvement in his wife's murder and is fighting extradition from England to South Africa.

The case continues.

Killer jailed for life A man who murdered his girlfriend in a jealous rage was branded a “disgraceful coward and a bully” by a judge who jailed him for life.

Powerfully-built Santosh Kumar’s 20minute assault on 5ft 3ins Samantha Warren was described by Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC as “deliberate, pitiless and cruel.” Judge Durham Hall, who ordered that Kumar serve a minimum term of 20 years before he can be considered for parole, told him: “There is a deal of cruelty and sadism about you. “Your utter callousness thereafter, of preventing Samantha Warren from seeking medical attention, is unbelievable. Had you done so she would, in all probability, have survived.” Kumar, 43, pictured, was convicted of murder by a majority verdict of 10-2 by a jury at Bradford CrownCourt.

Slightly-built Miss Warren, 33, who weighed only eight and a half

stone, suffered fatal bleeding on the brain and died in Bradford Royal Infirmary, three days after Kumar attacked the mother-of-three at her home in Libbey Street, Manningham, Bradford, in April. She also suffered two black eyes, a broken nose, and a fractured rib and finger. Kumar then prevented her getting medical help until it was too late, even driving her away from the hospital after a porter saw her slumped in the footwell of

the car. Kumar, of Crosley Wood Road, Bingley, who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Miss Warren but denied her murder, was insecure and jealous and constantly accused her of being unfaithful, prosecutor Paul Greaney QC had told the court.

Leading Lights

by Rani Singh

Special Assignments Editor

Jayesh Hirani, 26 Jayesh Hirani is the founder of Safer Minicabs. He has a BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering from Kingston University, and worked in the telecommunications and enterprise banking software industries. Safer Minicabs was given an Enterprise Graduate Award by Kingston University in July 2009, one of 20 recipients. In January 2011, Jayesh was given a Level One award by UnLtd, the foundation for social entrepreneurs. He won the Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas award in October 2011. That year he was added to the top 40 UK entrepreneurs list. Jayesh was short listed for other prizes, including Kingston University’s entrepreneur of the year.

He is part of the Virgin Media Pioneers community which helps young entrepreneurs connect with others to share knowledge and expertise.

Why did you choose this subject for your business?

I'm passionate about technology, location based services and making a difference from a social and community perspective. I always wanted to build something that involved tracking, which benefits and fulfils customer needs.

es, insurances and inspect the vehicles they have on their books.

In what way has Virgin Media Pioneers been helpful?

Virgin Media Pioneers has been very supportive in many ways; marketing strategy and planning, operations, sales and more. I have been very lucky to be supported and mentored by operations, sales, commercial and marketing directors. Their help is invaluable because they are at the top of the business in their own areas which makes it easier to gain expertise with particular challenges, as well as being introduced to others within the organisation. I have also been introduced to peo-

How did you start your business?

I started Safer Minicabs after doing my final year dissertation on a minicab booking app. I got first class for this project. I conducted market research, built contacts and relationships with people who can help me build this business (my advice is, know who you need to connect with and find a way to meet and connect!). Whilst doing the background research, I also worked as a contract product tester in the telecommunications industry and when my contract finished I left there in order to focus on my business full time. I put my hard earned cash into the business. If you believe in your idea, then prove it by putting money in yourself if you want investors to take you seriously.

I have been very lucky to be supported and mentored by operations, sales, commercial and marketing directors ple at Virgin Group which I could never have been, had I worked alone. I have been given one to one sales advice, strategy and execution assistance for half a day now. For a busy company like Virgin Media to give up time with two top sales guys to support Safer Minicabs is a huge privilege for me.

What are your latest developments?

We are about to launch our booking website by the end of October 2012 which means customers who do not have smart phones or any of the apps we currently serve, can always book online. We will also be releasing the prebooking feature so customers do not always need to book ASAP but

How do you choose your cars?

We choose our cars and minicab companies on three requirements; are they holding an operator’s license from Transport for London, what is their customer service attitude like (we make random ‘mystery shopper’ calls for example) and finally we meet companies at their offices and ensure they have the relevant licens-

Jayesh Hirani

also for later.

What are your ambitions?

Safer Minicabs’ ambition is to provide two key things. One of them is to ensure customers get competitive fares in real time when companies bid for their business. This can either be the cheapest fare and if they are in a rush, this can be the quickest car that comes to pick them up. Our second goal is to ensure our customers are safe and book with licensed operators. We would like to build a strong safer community both in London, the rest of the UK and in even some international markets. We see our service being one of the top places to go to when needing a minicab in most cities concerned with social objectives.

What is your website address and do you subscribe to the Asian Voice?

Our website address is www.saferminicabs. com where you will be able to book online shortly. You can follow us on Twitter @saferminicabs or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saferminicabs I am not currently subscribed to Asian Voice but that’s going to change!

Navratri celebrations by UK organisations If you are an UK based non profit organisation and have recently celebrated Navratri, email us a photo of your Navratri celebration by Monday 29 October 2012 along with the name of your organisation in full with address and phone number, and we will try to publish the photograph in our Asian Voice newspaper in the coming weeks. Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Photo courtesy: Raj Bakrania

A police force hit by a scandal over groups of men grooming girls for sex has failed to prosecute anyone for such offences this year, MPs were told last week.

The admission was made as David Crompton, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, appeared before a parliamentary inquiry into agencies’ handling of street-grooming sex crimes.

He was summoned to give evidence after confidential documents, revealed by The Times, showed that organised networks of sex offenders were able to operate with virtual impunity in Rotherham for more than a decade.

One internal police

Greenford Jalaram Mandir

Karamsad Samaj

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

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YOUR VOICE

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Corruption in Britain

God says no to blind faith

Ambassadors of Goodwill

Taking advantage of the weak

In response to Lalit Shah's article in your last issue allow me to make a few points.

From being a world leader in manufacturing UK has become a nation which has lost all its competitive edge and the ability to create wealth. Without creating wealth the Welfare state will shrink no matter which party is governing the country. As the Welfare state shrinks we are bound to see serious poverty which in turn will increase the crime rate. The nation is in trillions of pounds of debts and cannot afford to go on printing money. We hear of reports that many thirteen year old can not spell their own names and of children going to school on empty stomachs. It is becoming common for many people to depend on free food distribution to survive. On the other hand around a thousand people own around £400 billion of wealth. Almost half of the population is taking more from the state then giving back. The massive scandal of politicians, the phone hacking scandal, scandals in the armament and the banking industry, the billions wasted on the NHS computer the list goes on and on. The unemployment situation is grim and there are no prospects for the young in a double deep recession. This is in a country with 58 million people. India has a population of over 1 billion and with all its faults it has a booming economy and a robust democracy. It is the Indian industrialist Tata who is the biggest employer in this country. 36% of NASA scientist are Indian and 34% of Microsoft employees are Indian. There is much more to India then just doom and gloom. Meanwhile let us begin to put back the great in our country Britain.

Your policy to reject advertisements by unscrupulous charlatans is praiseworthy. Such advertisements exploit helpless people and create wrong image that you are after money rather than for safeguarding readers. It also exonerates your group from indirectly inviting unsavoury karma. Blind faith arises also from momentary panic, or by peers’ pressure, besides various causes mentioned by you.

Normally clearheaded people are worse victims of blind faith, need more guidance when they are facing test of faith.

Your measure falls short of ground realities. There exist many people who are groping in ignorance and helplessness, for which your group can offer guidance. Many organisations help needy people, but people area not aware of these. ABPL group can form referral service team as resource for readers.

Information about helpful organisations or pragmatic people can be published, or to whom needy persons may forward their problems.

Organisations like Masonic Lodge, Rotarians, Round Table, Theososophical Order of Service, Swadhayya Parivar can help. At times, the helper remains anonymous. Temples, RSS and VHP plus many groups can also help. Sometimes, mere listening can solve problem or enlighten sufferer. Temple priests or counsellors can hear such problems.

Citizens Advice Bureau, Samaritans, counsellors who console grieving party and / or cancer sufferers can be publicised by you. Many silent helpers will also register their names to such team.

Creation of agony aunt column can also help those in need of help and also for warning smug people who step into trouble easily.

Creating more resources from GS/AV or forming liaison with social religious and other groups can also augment rejection of advertisements.

May I congratulate Manoj Ladwa, C.B. Patel and Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar for the front page article “There were no Lobbyists, only Goodwill Ambassadors” setting the record straight.

(AV 20th October 2012) As Manoj mentions, it was the combined efforts by dedicated Indians, in particular Gujaratis in every walk of life, from princes to paupers and such influential organizations like Labour and Conservative Friends of India led by one and only CB using his publications for all the right reasons in the cause of justice and fairness that paid handsome dividends.

Then again when CB puts his mind and efforts behind a cause, he almost inevitably succeeds where so many fails, whether it is a fight to save Hare Krishna Temple, for Gujarat and Modi. Then there is no reason why an honest endeavour for a just and noble cause that has mass appeal should fail!

The Labour Government under pressure from international lobbyists and ignorant politicians all played their part in depriving Gujarat and CM Modi his rightful place on the international stage.

While politicians like Barry Gardiner, Stephen Pound, Bob Blackman, Keith Vaz, Lord Gulam Noon, Lord Dholakia, Lord Popat and many more were indeed great friends of Gujarat who fought tooth and nail to bring out truth. However there were and still are detractors who did not hesitate to climb the gravy train to malign Modi when it was fashionable and politically profitable to do so.

These are politicians without principal, without pride or honesty who are now as eager to court favour with Gujarat and Modi, to climb the bandwagon that is successfully thundering through Gujarat, bringing peace, harmony, jobs and prosperity on an unprecedented scale. As Ratan Tata famously said, “You must be a fool not to do business in Gujarat!”

When people are in health, mental or social problems, they need help. That is a critical time when any body can be influenced by sweet talks. Some of the priests from all religions are also experts in convincing people with the name of God to take the advantages of the suffering people. If you believe in God then try to believe in him more firmly. God loves you and does not want to harm you. But do watch what you are doing daily. If you are doing good things, it is most certainly that you will come over your problems.

Nitin Mehta Via Email

Lifestyle of goons I read the story of Mrs Elmer-Laird, who was pushed on the ground as the drunkard attacker stole her bank and travel card. A few days back a Gurkha former soldier Taitax Phlamachha was attacked at a knife point. Though the former forgave the perpetrator and the latter fought back, we must realise that Britain is entering a certain pattern. The reason is not complex. We have a generation of jobless youngsters, living on social benefits, never worked, never seen parents working, no idea perhaps of the real father- a generation of hopelessness!

These children grow upto be alcoholic, often drug addict, many times clinically violent. As requirements and greed increases, the easiest way is to snatch.

Creating a crime free world is a utopian concept, but making such life an easy option must be checked upon. The law must ensure that such people are ripped off their benefits and forced to work, like in prison. That would straighten heads of people like Eric Banton and Stapleton!

Emily Das London

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

Defying the Force of Gravity A principle of science dictates that what goes up must eventually come down, the force of gravity will not let anything to remain up in the air for too long.

Not so with price rises. Every six months or so, we are faced with a hike in energy prices. Even when the price of oil comes down, it is not reflected in gas and electricity prices. Like petrol prices and council tax, fuel bills are a very visible cost: they land on your doormat regularly and each time they are more expensive. And to add fuel to the fire, the energy providers raise their prices when winter is round the corner and people would have no recourse but to use more energy to heat their homes. It is not just the energy prices that we have to tackle – every thing else is going up. When a few years back we would come out of a super market with a trolly full of goodies for just under £50, nowadays, you will not

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' $ & ! %& $ $ ! $ " '$ ! % "'$& ( % & &" ! "! & !( & & "! " " '! %& $&* " ! ) $ ! " % '%% "! ) & &"# ! % $% # In a rare gesture, China’s top leadership hosted his delegation at Great Hall of People and had a free and frank discussion and exchange of ideas on a range of subjects including trade, industry, socioeconomic development, investment, and prevailing global economic scenario. Modi emphasized about the shared heritage of India and China, and common vision for improved quality of lives of their people.

In his meeting with the Mr Wang Gang, Vice Chairman of the China People’s Political

Consultative Conference, (and a member of the politburo of Communist Party of China), Modi showcased Gujarat as a destination with a conducive environment to invest and work. He also explained Gujarat becoming a major tourist destination. He brought out the richness of Buddhist culture in Gujarat which solicited very keen interest among Chinese leadership. He also dwelled upon the ancient Indian and Chinese ethos, relationship, friendship, cultural and business ties.

While showcasing

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A new theory says that any physical activity for 15 minutes every day is a good insurance against a plethora of health problems, be it related to the heart, the brain or even cancer.

A study published in The Lancet, a British medical journal, said that just a quarter-hour of physical exertion a day could reduce a person's risk of death by 14% and increase life expectancy by three years compared to inactive people.

Incidentally, another theory published in a different British journal said daily TV-viewing for six hours could take

away five years from your life.

Adding and subtracting years from your life has never before been quantified in such medical terms, say doctors.

The 15-minute short-cut to good health, in fact, changes the most fundamental rule that was approved by the World Health Organizationthat 150 minutes of activity a week is needed to stay healthy. )(.#(/

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G Mistry Via London

Tattoos on Asians

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Karan Singh London

1 Year 2 Years

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UK EUROPE WORLD £25 £55 £70 £45 £100 £125

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Brand ‘Gujarat’ – which is equated with Guangdong of China, he invited Chinese business community and public enterprises to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit- 2013.

He highlights Gujarat’s special investment regions as areas where Chinese companies could invest. He called on China to invest in infrastructure and power projects in the state, wooing potential investors with a sales pitch that showcased Gujarat as a state with levels of “governance, transparency and stability” that they could not find elsewhere in India. He declared that “the two great countries will make Asia the centrestage of the global economy.”

You expressed concern in your column in Gujarat Samachar about British Indians not taking part in politics with a view t o be elected in Parliament and local Councils.

I do not consider that the first generation of us would take to and succeed in Politics mainly because our concerns remain parochial, as evidenced by numerous letters you print in Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar .

It does not seem to be possible for such first generation to ever think or become “British” in the way our young generation born, brought up and educated in this country think or become..

It may be that we have subconsciously passed on (for lack of better expression) our “attitudes” to them and they are therefore too shy to take to public life.

The few MPs and Councillors we have do from time to time address issues of national concerns: like Mrs Priti Patel MP on women’s issues and Dr. Bhikhu Parekh on Britain’s role as icon of a multi-cultural society. I fear that the second generation British Indians will need more time..

The Indian Obama is still in the making but he is sure to come one day as the Prime Minister recently prophesied.

I read Rani Singh’s tattoo article with a lot of interest. The first paragraph sums up what the whole attitude has been towards Tattoos. My grandmother never went to school. She grew up in the remotest part of a village in Rajashthan. I recall her having tattoos on her, curving out her name. She also had three dots on chin and in the corner of her eyes. It did not make her cool or ultra cool. It was the same for perhaps all the women from her village of her age.

Tattoos or body arts just don’t depict a choice. Sometimes it talks of a personality, a life style and a faith or belief. I think the social inhibition or bias we have towards such a form of art, especially involving Asians is silly. Tattoos are not always a ‘cool quotient’ but often it is a symbol of one’s life and existence.

*Subscriptions paid will not be refunded ."

*

British Indians and Politics

see much change out a £100 note to buy the same items.

As prices keep rising, our incomes do not rise in line with them. For pensioners and people on benefits, their incomes do not keep pace with rises as the Government has already made a switch in the rate at which pension payments increase from the more favourable retail price index (RPI) to the less generous consumer price index (CPI). This is fundamentally unfair. The Government is still at the stage of considering options, and would not unveil its final proposals until the publication of the Energy Bill in a few weeks’ time. They are going to look at the various options, set those out in the Bill and put the obligation on energy companies to offer the lowest tariffs to more people.

Please detach the form and send it with your payment or credit card instructions to address below $%&

Dharam Sahdev Ilford

E-mail: support@abplgroup.com

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

11

12

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Scrutator’s Bad news usually travels faster than good. When Indian students in Australia were targeted by racist thugs the impact in India led to a significant fall in the numbers travelling Down Under for a prized university education. This was understandable given the violent nature of the crimes, which in a number of cases resulted in death or serious injury. Yet, Australia, as a whole, is hospitable and fun loving, and the country, with its wide open spaces, long hours of sunshine and excellence in sports, has been attracting generations of migrants in search of a better life. In the not too distant past they were overwhelmingly of European stock, the “White Australia” policy barring, or severely restricting, the entry of other ethnic groups into the country.

to Maoists. Is it boredom that gives them the emblematic itch of the jholawala?

Street theatre Reflexive contrarianism is fast turning into a mindless spectacle of street theatre. India is badly in need of energy to drive its economy forward. Nuclear power is non-polluting; and it can be produced in abundance. Australia’s decision to supply uranium ore has provoked India’s antinuclear lobbyists to remonstrate with Julia Gillard. Their hyperbolic accusations of oppression by the government sound dreadfully hollow, signifying a congenital infantile disorder.

Kundakulam start-up

Australian Premier Julia Gillard with Manmohan Singh

No longer is this the case.

Australia has changed, and as in any frontline liberal democracy, national policy has also moved on. Large numbers of Asians – mostly skilled and well educated - have joined the mainstream of new immigrants, giving Australian society a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic dimension. What may come as a surprise to readers is that Indians now outnumber Britons, North Americans, Europeans and Chinese in the inflow. An Australian TV reporter, accompanying Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her high profile threeday visit to India last week, remarked that certain suburbs in Sydney carried the proliferating Patel and Singh brands from workplace to homes.

Sachin Tendulkar

The India-Australia relationship has never been less than friendly at the government level; their civil societies have been more intimately bonded because of their shared passion for the game of cricket.

Prime Minister’s announcement of the coveted “Order of Australia”, award – rarely bestowed on nonAustralians – to Sachin Tendulkar, as expected, went down exceedingly well in the country. Mr Tendulkar reciprocated with his usual grace, saying how deeply honored he felt, and spoke of his pleasure and enjoyment playing in Australia, and of the affection he had received from the Australian public.

Apart from being a symbol of

goodwill, the award also reflects, among other things, Australia’s desire for a deeper and more enduring relationship with India. This makes admirable geopolitical sense. Australia, an island continent, rich in natural resources, is located in the seas south-east of Asia’s coastline.

Australia and Asia need each other’s trade and investment; they have also a common interest in a regional security architecture that would guarantee long and medium-term peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific heartland and rim land.

Australia and India have not exchanged prime ministerial visits in the last decade, maybe because of Canberra’s pre-occupation with China’s rise. The first significant step towards a just balance has been struck with Prime Minister Gillard’s presence in Delhi. Her conversations with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior Indian ministers extended to separate meetings with leaders of India’s opposition parties as well.

Ms Gillard’s government has removed a previous export ban of Australian uranium ore to India, which will now be available to meet India’s civil nuclear energy needs after talks on safeguards have been concluded.

Australia and India are ready for business. Serious business.

(Hindu, Times of India October 17,18)

NDTV Science Correspondent Pallava Bagla writes that following months of disruption and intimidation by rent-a-crowd mobs, the first unit at Kundakulam has been fully loaded with the requisite enriched uranium fuel and is en route to power generation, and that the procedure is totally safe.

The 1000 MW reactor made with Russian assistance and based on Russia’s most advanced technology takes in about 70 tons of fuel. Once the controlled nuclear fission chain is stabilized the reactor will begin generating electricity to the power deficient southern grid. The reactor will produce power for the next 40 years.

Congratulations to T.S. Subramanian, Frontline magazine’s Associate Editor (part of the Hindu Group) for winning an “Indian Nuclear Society Outstanding Science Award for 2011”

Advani strikes right note Speaking at the UN as a member of the Indian delegation, senior opposition BJP leader L.K.Advani, displaying the national statesman in him, praised the government for its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme, enacted in August 2005. The scheme, he said, had empowered much of

Anti-nuclear perversity What is there about a vocal section of the community, popularly described as “social activists,” that they snarl and scream hysterically at anything designed for the common good? Many of the faces and names which became familiar to households across India during the anti-Narmada dam agitation are now as resolutely opposed to GM crops, space projects, high rise dwellings, slum clearances, counter-insurgency measures against terrorists, from jehadis

L.K.Advani at the UN

the country’s rural poor and promoted economic growth.

Addressing the General Debate in the Third Committee, Mr Advani said: “This programme has helped break down social inequalities, empower rural people, build up rural infrastructure and revive economic growth.”

He described the scheme as the largest cash for work programme in the world, ensuring that poor households would be guaranteed 100 days employment. He listed India’s efforts to help women and vulnerable groups through initiatives in education, public health, skills training and affordable housing.

Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien wrote of his pride in being a member of the Indian delegation. Despite their “bickering” within the country, he said the opposition presence at the UN symbolized India’s democratic face. It was India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, said Mr O‘Brien, who had initiated the practice of including an opposition presence at UN deliberations (Times of India, Telegraph October 11).

Rome was not built in a day, and neither will the vast needs of India be met in one lifetime. But India’s achievements receive nothing like the exposure reserved for its failings.

Super optic highway While on the subject of rural uplift mention must be made of the National Fibre Optic network now under construction to link up all parts of India. At the end of this month some 250,000 villages stretching from Ajmer, Vizagpatnam and North Tripura will be connected under the popularly known Bharat Broadband

model HSG expanded to 20 centres.

Harvard was struck by HCG’s “drug dispensing method,” which they said “was unique.” The hospital had set up pharmacies within its premises, procuring drugs directly from manufacturers, thus reducing costs. Low-income patients benefited by using well-tested generic drugs instead of relying on expensive imported ones.

Hub-spoke outreach HSG collaborated initially with a local doctor with an active practice, but upgraded facilities and provided some capital investment like radiation equipment. It retained 51 per cent ownership of the facility.

Telemedicine gave spokes access to hub consultants.

While the spokes attracted local communities, hubs in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi had an extensive outreach, with arrivals from across India, Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Germany, Australia and even the US. (Times of India October 14)

Goons undermine Lankan justice The Economist (October 13) carried a scathing report on the activities of goons belonging to Sri Lanka’s ruling party who

Tamil refugee camp in Sri Lanka

scheme.

This knowledge-based product will be a huge boon to mass education and surely spur economic development (Hindu October 4).

Cancer care model On any given day, at least 10 new cancer patients present themselves at Bangalore’s HCG hospital to get their lifethreatening tumours removed.

Intrigued researchers at the Harvard University Business School mulled over the fact that no patient was turned away for lack of funds. The Harvard Business School team decided that this was worthy of a study.

What interested them was Dr Ajai Kumar’s hub-and-spoke expansion model in which the central hub in Bangalore performed high-end imaging therapy, and complicated procedures at lower cost, while the spokes provided basic therapy and follow-ups in the patient’s local community in smaller towns. Using this as a

sought to undermine the authority of the country’s judiciary. It found a dangerous erosion of the rule of law, which constitutes an essential pillar of civil society and democratic governance.

Xenophobia is an inebriating brew initially, but it provides more remorse than excitement when the intoxication wears off and the social and political damage is clear to every unclouded eye.

Sowing the wind

President Mahinder Rajapakse’s regime has won the war against the Tamil Tigers, but winning the peace has been quite a different matter. Centuries ago the political philosopher Edmund Burke pronounced: “Magnanimity is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire [nation in this case] and little minds go ill together”.

Unless the concerns and aspirations of Sri Lanka’s substantial Tamil minority are properly addressed and a healing touch administered the seeds of a further tragedy will be sown.

Sowing the wind means reaping the whirlwind. A fractured society merely guarantees a repressive state with foundations built on sand.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Cherishing the camaraderie and lifelong friendships made along the way

Prashad distribution raises concern Dharam Sahdev It was really pleasing to listen, seeing, and photographing the event of "Hare Krishna and Hare Rama" Rathayatra which took place in Ilford couple of weeks back. I feel every one involved to organise this walk deserve our appreciation.

It was indeed a step towards the right direction.

At one place a priest started throwing prashad towards the people instead of it giving in their hands. Throwing prashad in itself is an insult to the God and more to the people, gath-

aImagine you have a demanding career as the 2012 Games Legacy Director for Leicester & Leicestershire which requires you to have a broad knowledge base and a carefully managed diary. Combine that with a young family and you would probably want to put your feet up in your odd spare moment.

Shimul Haider-Heming has another solution – she puts on her RAF uniform and reports for duty as a Senior Aircraftswoman with 504 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force where she has trained to be a chef.

Shimul joined the RAF Reserves twelve years ago and has since learned four new trades, taken trade qualifications, served on operations in Cyprus as part of the Force Protection Wing and travelled the world on training exercises. “I’ve learnt so much over the years in the RAuxAF…” she said, “…from basic survival & military skills, combat training, orienteering to skiing, diving and abseiling. It has been brilliant and I’ve got as much out of the RAuxAF as I’ve put in. I’ve been trekking in New Zealand, sailing on the Solent, skiing in Germany and diving off

the Ascension Islands.”

But why would a young woman with a busy career and family life join the Reserve Forces in the first place?

“I was looking for a new challenge or a hobby that beat shopping at the weekends! My friend and I went along to a tri-service open day at the Duke of York barracks in Chelsea for the reserve forces. I was sold on the Royal Auxiliary Air Force when they told me I could wear heels and lipstick and didn’t need to sleep under a bush at night!” said Shimul with a grin.

On a more serious note, she went on to explain that what she has learned with the RAF has been highly beneficial within her civilian career: “Through the RAuxAF, I’ve grown in confidence which has enabled me to advance in my civilian career and seek promotions. I’ve learnt to cope well under pressure and this has been invaluable in my current civilian role where I am working to very tight deadlines. The military has taught me discipline, structure, organisation, communication skills & teamwork

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ered to collect it. The organisers must remember that people are not just beggars but devotees and it is sinful to throw

– all sought after attributes in today’s competitive job market.”

Shimul’s employers recognise the value of her RAF training, she said: “Continuing my commitment to the RAuxAF has only been possible because of the support I receive from my employers. I am given time off to do my Annual Continuous Training every year and my employers have always been flexible around my compulsory call out duties.”

Shimul is the proud holder of the Reserve Forces long service medal and the Queen’s Jubilee medal. As well as the memorable experiences Shimul has had, she cherishes one outcome above all others: “the camaraderie and lifelong friendships made along the way.” It certainly beats shopping.

If you would like further information on spare time service, search on line for RAF Reserves.

something as auspicious towards anyone. I hope this matter will be taken seriously and will not be repeated in the future.

Rulings by informal religious councils questioned House of Lords peers were told that rulings by informal religious “councils” and tribunals are sometimes no more “consensual” than rape, a national daily has reported. The warnings came in the first ever full Parliamentary debate on the subject in the UK. Baroness Cox, the independent peer and Third World campaigner, last year tabled a private member’s bill in the Lords setting out plans to rein in a network of unofficial self-styled “courts” which apply Islamic principles. One study estimated that there are around 85 Sharia bodies operating in Britain, although there is no official estimate. They include legally recognised arbitration tribunals, set up primarily to resolve financial disputes using Islamic legal principles but which have taken on a wider range of cases.

14

ART & CULTURE

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

by Neha Garg For more stories visit www.scribbledesk.com

The Enchanted Bed

‘Jess is always late for everything!’ complained her mother.

‘Why?’ said her friend Wendy, looking up from her sewing.

‘Because she never gets out of bed!

When her alarm goes off, she just rolls over and goes back to sleep. Next thing you know, she’s running down the stairs, tripping over the cat, missing breakfast and huffing and puffing all the way to school because she’s missed the school bus.’

‘Why doesn’t she just set her alarm to half an hour earlier?’ said Wendy.

‘HA! That would never work. Her brother dropped a water balloon on her head last week and she still carried on sleeping,’ said Jess’s mother with a sob. ‘I don’t know what to do Wendy,’ ‘Hmmmm,’ Wendy thought to herself.

‘Maybe I can help.’

You see, unknown to anyone, Wendy was a very famous witch.

The next day, early in the morning, Wendy set off to her friend’s house. She was almost at the gate when a little girl with pigtails crashed into her.

‘Ooof!’ said Wendy as she fell over.

‘I am sorry,’ mumbled the little girl as she ran off again.

‘JESS! YOU FORGOT YOUR LUNCH,’ shouted her mother, running after her.

Wendy got up and beat the dust from her dress.

This would not do, she thought to herself. I’ll have to teach that girl a lesson. She closed her eyes and mumbled a few words in a strange language.

The next morning, it was business as

usual in Jess’s house.

‘JESS!’ hollered her mother up the stairs. ‘UP! NOW!’ Jess grumbled and rolled over in her sleep.

‘JESS!’ This time though, something strange happened. Jess’s bed shivered. She didn’t notice. Her bed then reached out one leg and tapped Jess on the shoulder. Jess still didn’t notice. Now the bed, tired of Jess not getting up when she should, lifted off the ground and sailed clean out of the open window Over tree lined streets it went, waving a leg to the stunned neighbour washing his car.

Over buildings and traffic flew the bed, with Jess still snuggled in it, snoring lightly.

Over excited children flew the bed until it settled in front of the school gates with a jolt.

All the children gathered around the bed, pointing at Jess and laughing.

Jess woke up at last.

‘Whaaat?’ she said, still groggy from her sleep.

‘Her bed flies!’ shrieked a little boy standing at the foot of her bed.

It was then that Jess noticed that she was still in her bed, sitting at the school gates. She gathered up her bed clothes to her and went red in the face.

She got out of bed slowly and walked into the school.

All day she had to endure her friends pointing at her frilly night dress and laughing.

And to this day, she gets out of bed as soon as her alarm goes off, in case it decides to fly off with her again

Diwali with the City Hindus Network Over the last year; the City Hindus Network (CHN) has welcomed an increasing number of professionals to social, spiritual and educational events, enabling our membership to spend time and network with like minded individuals in the City.

Diwali is traditionally about spending time with loved ones and, depending on your beliefs, remembering the return of Lord Rama, Bandhi Chhor Diwas and the attainment of mokhsa by Mahavir.

Over the last few years the development of corporate Diwali parties has meant a move away from the mythological and religious roots towards a more social element. In the City, Diwali is about family but it is also about the wider, professional family.

Sharing a special time of year with people from all backgrounds and helping to foster cultural awareness.

This year the CHN Committee and Advisory Board would like to invite you to our annual CHN Diwali Dinner and Dance taking place at The Courthouse Double Tree Hilton Hotel on Friday 2nd November. Tickets include a 3 course meal and entertainment followed by an

evening of dancing. Dress code is formal evening wear (ladies – traditional Indian sari/ evening ball dress; men – traditional Indian / black-tie).

Achievements we’d like to celebrate over the last year include the introduction of our Advisory Board, a very ambitious Sewa day project, introduction of a new Mentoring Scheme, a three-day meditation series, a very successful series of intimate networking dinners with leading personalities, skiing and camping social trips, and events which aimed to tackle dilemmas for young An evening of get together, networking, Indian canapes and drinks were organised on Thursday 18th October at the Gandhi Hall, India House by Jasminder Kasturia, Counsellor (Press & Information and Commonwealth Matters). Dr Jaimini Bhagwati, High Commissioner of India had joined the gathering and addressed the guests, welcoming them to discuss freely about issues and concerns regarding India.

He was also accompanied by the Deputy High Commissioner, Rajesh N

British Hindus.We have very ambitious plans for the coming year and look forward to building on our achievements to date; for more information, please visit: www.cityhindusnetwork.org.uk If you have any queries please email chnshonal@gmail.com.

The CHN Committee would like thank all of our partners, members and well-wishers and wish them a joyous Diwali.

- Dimpi Dattani, Pratik Dattani, Dipen Jobanputra, Aekta Mahajan, Bijal Shah, Shonal Tankaria

Dr Jaimini Bhagwati and Ms Jasminder Kasturia

Prasad, Rahul Shrivastava, Counsellor (Pol/HOC), Sukhdev Singh Sidhu, Minister (Coordination), Padmaja, First Secretary, Press and Information and many others guests including journalists.

The second Anand Mela-yet another success The appeal for the charity contribution was made by Ravi Ganatra, Mini Patani and Priti Chulere through a video visual.

TV Star Mauli Ganguly of serial 'Kya Hua Tera Vada’ was on the stage and interviewed by Presenter Nilkumar.

The lamp lighting ceremony by Bob Blackman This was followed by MP, Cllr Nizam Ismail and CB Patel a dance performance tive offers of investment. on Dholi Taro Dhol on stage perOn the first day, Harrow’s formed by her. Brent Hindu Mayor Councillor Nizam Ismail Council and Kera Kundanpuri’s and Harrow West’s Labour MP 14 ladies performed garba. Mira Gareth Thomas, Harrow east Art Academy’s Mira Salat and Conservative MP Bob Mansi Salat, Shivangi Patel, Blackman, Lord Dollar Popat, Lina Vekaria, Hiral Gori and London Assembly’s member, Anita Arora did a Rajesthani councillor Navinbhai and dance. Tiny Vraj came up with a Rekhaben Shah with CB Patel, breakdance. A Ganesh dance inaugurated the mela by lighting was performed by Mira Salate the lamp. With this the proand a garba by ‘Federation of gramme progressed with rock Patidar Associoation’ - N.C music, Hindi songs, Gujarati academy’s artists Payal Patel, s a n g a m Hinal Amin, Dhrutidattani, sangeet, along Trushna Kumari, Akshay Patel, with Honey Tony Patel, Pratik Kara, Harsh Kalaria’s bollyPatel. Nice bollywood numbers wood dance were performed by Madhuleena group.

Chattoraj, which were highly Last time appreciated by the youngsters. the mela was arranged for On the second day, CB Patel the cause of along with other guests had ‘Akshaya Patra’ attended every stall at the mela. charity, and The Radha Krishna dance perthis time it was formed by mentally challenged for a charity Bhavin Dhruv was greatly organisation appreciated by the audience. called ‘Food for Lataben who supports this cause A dance performance by youngsters Life Vrindavan’ also received acknowledgment

In response to the rising demands, Anand mela was organised the second time this year, at the Byron hall in Harrow Leisure Centre on 29-30 Sept.

The mela was buzzing with variations of entertainment, cultural activities and food stalls. Mouthwatering cuisines like southIndian, Gujarati and even Italian food stalls were available. Being a festive time of Navratri-Diwali, it is obvious that their were stalls of Chaniya-choli, jewellery and many other traditional Indian designer dresses in many hues and colours. There also was also a section with property offers in Gujarat, Property developers like Sankheshwar’s Adinath developers (Mukesh Shah), Rajkot’s Skyline Developers (Ketan Ravalia), AnandVadodara’s Satva Galaxywala (Mahip Patel), Montec Dwarkadhish-Dwarka project (Alibhai), Goa’s Akron group and Rajkot’s Kantilal & Co who had come up with many attrac-

see the cultural happenings of India in London.

Meera performed Hanuman Chalisa in a form of dance that was commended by the audience. Then the introduction programme was carried on the stage by the Sales Executive of ABPL, Navin Kundra Mouli Ganguly Nihir Shah, along with Hindu Journey’s Kishan from them. A range of Gujarati Devani , ‘Sangat’ community songs were sun by Rajkot’s centre’s Kantibhai Nagda and Gujarati singer Vinodbhai Patel, Sandeep Sheth, who were all a dance by Kuntal academy, introduced by CB Patel. A Love fusion dance by young couple Gujarat book was presented to Jay and Tejal were also enjoyed Prasad Manjrekar Thanks went by the audience. Navin Kundra out to Kokilaben Vasani and also thrilled the youngsters as Prafulaben Chotai for designing well as other audience from the beautiful rangolis. The mela other age group with his groovy would not have been complete numbers. without Kathiawadi Loksangit, Harrow’s Om shakti day cenHaridan Gadhavi and his tre’s senior ladies performed a Uphaar group, and sincere dance and garba. TV star Mauli appreciation was conveyed to presented dialogues from her them as well. serial, and conveyed her joy to

Audience singing and dancing along the performers

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

15

If you have any particular topics you would like covered on my page, please let me know.

MusIc

Tanveer Mann

Aamir Khan returns, with new music video story ‘Talaash’ The thrill of suspense drama films will never die thus why this new jazzed up version of the genre is highly acclaimed in new film Talaash. The movie, which features the acclaimed actor Aamir Khan (who has been India's Oscar choice frequently and whose production house, Aamir Khan productions has co produced this film, was nominated in the foreign language category at the Oscars, for Lagaan), newly married Kareena Kapoor, and Rani Mukerji, has a significant music video for the song Muskaane Jhoothi Hain. This song shows all suspects of the crime in the same room, under one roof. Talaash being a film of suspense drama genre, this music video is set to build up the anticipation of the audiences even more.

Kareena Kapoor with Aamir khan

(from Gangs of Wasseypur) and all principal cast of the film in one single frame making it a never seen before visual.

In such an interesting and nail biting

way, Talaash is thus reviving a popular long forgotten genre of Bollywood film-making i.e. suspense drama.

The film also marks the amalgamated reunion of Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani who last came together in the cult classic film, Dil Chahta Hai. The much-anticipated Talaash is out on November 30, 2012 and brings back the action drama genre to Bollywood cinema. The link to the video is: http://youtu.be/UM_-ZpzsmT4?hd=1

The movie is about a police officer played by Aamir Khan, who is trying to investigate and solve what seems like a perfect crime. All suspects in the film are going to be seen together in that one single music video, which is special because the film has Sunday 28th October been, scripted in such a way that DIWALI IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE three lead characters of the film Trafalgar Square will be hosting a fun-filled afternoon of don’t ever come face to face.

The video will thus have Diwali celebrations that attracts thousands of people to Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Central London. The joyful event will see the square transRani Mukherji, Nawazzudin formed with magical light displays, floating lanterns, food stalls, music, dance and storytelling. The event will also be raising money for the charity Wherever the Need Sunday 18th November 2012 – Did you know..?

Screening of Milange Babey Ratan de Mele Te The Grand Canyon can hold around 900 The documentary, titled “Milange Babey Ratan de Mele Te” (Let's Meet At Baba Rattans Fair), by Ajay Bhardwaj, explores trillion footballs local cultural continuities and demonstrates a most imaginative transgression of rigid religious identities in postWord of the Week: partition east Punjab. It will be screened at 1pm at Efficacious adj. Successful in producing a the British Film Institute London and the direcdesired or intended result; effective. E.g. tor will be present for a Q&A after the “Efficacious treatment for the disease.” screening.

UPCOMING

EVENTS

RAPID FIRE INTERVIEW One to One with Bhangra legends RDB… How do you stay grounded with all this fame?

Success comes with hard work and dedication.

We believe what you put in is what you get out – hard work is its own reward. We love entertaining our fans and producing great music, that is the most important thing for us. Fame is just another chapter…

What makes your music different from others in the same genre?

We blend Western genres with traditional Desi music, giving that unique flavour that is undeniably the RDB signature sound. By having such a diverse and culturally rich upbringing, this has exposed us to so many sounds and musical styles, which we have incorporated into our own unique interpretation.

What is your favourite track?

At the moment, I have a real liking for Justin Bieber's new album and especially, "As Long As You Love me" What have been the high points and low points since you started out in 2000?

We have improved our game and the quality of our work. We’ve stepped things up a gear, but the quantity of work is bigger too. But this is an industry that is always changing and RDB has changed with it, adapting to the hunger for a variety of music, from Bhangra roots to Bollywood bangers and mainstream collaborations.

Some of the best points have definitely been

working with big stars like Snoop Dogg and Ludacris.

The only low points are really missing quality time with family and friends.

With the prominent influence of R’n’B and Hip Hop making its way into Bhangra music, how do you continue to create the unique RDB sound that people love?

We create a new genre of Bollywood music mixed with our unique Punjabi styles and Western beats.

We produce and perform slow ballads to dance tunes and club bangers What artists do you admire and would like to work with?

In a dream world, Michael Jackson as he is one of our biggest idols. But other than that, Madonna, Timberlake, Usher. UK rappers have really stepped up their game too, like Tinie Tempah, Tinchy Styder, Kano.

www.punjabeeblonde.wordpress.com tanveer.mann@abplgroup.com

UK’s Richest Man Lakshmi Mittal Honoured at Third Annual Sikh Awards The third, annual, starstudded Sikh Awards took place on Sunday 21st October at The Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster Bridge, London. The Awards recognised Sikh contributions and excellence in a variety of fields from nominations received from around the world.

The UK’s richest man Mr Lakshmi Mittal attended and received the Special Recognition Award from the world Sikh community for his joint venture between State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Mittal Energy Ltd, in the Punjab region of India.

Acknowledging the award Mittal said, “I am very proud to be associated with the project in Bhatinda, Punjab. I have seen a great deal of motivation and dedication from the community in Punjab.” Mr Mittal rededicated the award to the 45,000 people who now working on this new site.

He also acknowledged the support of the Indian government and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in making the project a reality and helping develop the economy of the region. In response to the awards being held in London the Mayor Boris Johnson said, “I consider London to be the most multicultural city in the world, and have seen firsthand the hard work, dedication and religious strength that sits at the heart of everything the Sikh community do. Sikhs

are a credit to this city and bring pride and respect where ever they go in the world through their actions, deeds and unique identity".

This year, the gala ceremony was presented by former Mayoral advisor Mr Kulveer Ranger and model/actress Ms Anu Singh. Over 750 guests attended including Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, BBC’s Head of religious programming Mr Tommy Nagra, Ms Charlotte Leslie MP, Mr Paul Uppal MP and Dr Kate Wharton from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office.

Some of the winners included: Business Man of the Year Mr Rajinder Singh Baryan, Business Woman of the year Mrs Sukhinder Singh and Ms Bibi Inderjit Kaur Ji (India) who took away the Sikh Lifetime Achievement Award The evening also launched the first Sikh 100 power list detailing the most prominent Sikhs in the global community, hosted by the media organisation The Sikh Directory.

Where was the best crowd you have ever played in front of? Why was it so good?

All our performances are memorable to us, we can’t thank our fans enough for their long standing support. It’s an amazing feeling to know how many supporters we have worldwide. We love entertaining our fans with our music and it’s great to know that our music is not just heard nationally but internationally too.

What's in store for your fans in the future?

We have a lot in store, so watch this space! We have more collaboration with some mainstream artists. We’re going to continue making great music as our international fan base grows – doing what we do best, making hits for Bollywood to keep the industry on its toes! But we will also make sure we continue growing as artists and developing our sound.

Ha Ha.....

He He.... :P

A PAIR of rough-looking jump leads walk into a pub.

The barman says: “I“ll serve you “but don“t start anything.“ WHAT“S the best thing about being aged 104? No peer pressure.

WHY couldn“t the pirates play cards? Because the captain was standing on the deck.

16

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Diwali celebrations return to Trafalgar Square The celebrations to mark the festival of Diwali return to Trafalgar Square on Sunday 28 October, with an uplifting and colourful mix of music, dance and live performance, as well as displays and food stalls.

Diwali is five day festival celebrated in India and many other countries around the

by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, which each year takes place between mid-October and mid-November. The celebrations in Trafalgar Square are free and open to all and organised by the Mayor of London in association with the Diwali in London Committee, with support from presenting partner Lycamobile, as well as Zee TV and Incredible India.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'London's many communities make an important contribution to the social life and economic prosperity of the capital and celebrations like the Diwali festival add to our city's vibrant cultural calendar. I am delighted to support this wonderful event, which brings a wonderful boost of colour as the nights draw in. It's a festival, which with values rooted in peace and mutual respect is of relevance to all Londoners as well as to Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. To everyone celebrating in London and beyond a happy and prosperous Diwali.'

Subaskaran Allirajah - Chairman and Founder of Lycamobile, commented: 'At Lycamobile we are committed to forging long term ties across all communities through supporting a wide range of activities. As a proud sponsor of Diwali on the Square for the third consecutive year, our mission is to help our customers stay in touch with their friends and family during the festival of lights, a key event in the Hindu, Jain and Sikh calendar. We are committed to providing our customers

South Asian community and can be credited with attracting massive crowds to Trafalgar Square through a heavy-weight campaign over the last two years. Once again we are looking forward to delivering a full house at Trafalgar Square by extending a warm Zee Family welcome to all along with exciting and breathtaking entertainment on the Festival stage to create a fabulous start to the Diwali celebrations.’

The word Diwali or Deepavali means 'a row of lamps', which are lit to signify the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. The festival marks a new beginning, a renewal of commitment to family values, and represents the universally revered values of love, reflection, forgiveness and knowledge.

Date: Sunday 28 October 2012 Times: 2pm - 7pm Venue: Trafalgar Square, London Entry: FREE – ALL WELCOME Programme (subject to change at short notice): with high quality and affordable services.

We would like to wish our Hindu, Jain and Sikh customers a Happy Diwali.'

Virad Kaul, Territory Head - ZEE Network, Europe said, 'Zee has been a market leader entertaining audiences in the UK for over 17 years now and our partnership with the Diwali Festival for the third consecutive year could not have come at a better time when ZEE is celebrating its 20 years of providing pure entertainment. Keeping South Asian values, trends and traditions at its heart of its entertainment our association with the Mayor's Diwali Festival is ideal and a mutual fit on all fronts. Zee reaches every

Wherever the Need Targeting to the root of the problem Tanveer Mann Over 2.6 billion people do not have access to a toilet, which means that 2 million tons of raw sewage is mixed with the world’s water systems every day.

Diseases, such as diarrhoea, spread with the contaminated water. This drastically hinders the lives of people whose livelihood rests on their ability to work.

Acclaimed as the only UK charity that puts sanitation first, Wherever the Need are solely dedicated to bettering the lives of many impoverished people, through the enforcement of effective sanitation. They provide ecologically sustainable composting toilets, which are long lasting and provide the fertiliser to use on crops. Once proper sanitation is enforced, the charity ensures that clean drinking water is available. Not only do they focus simply on sanitation, the charity follows through with the sanitation they have put in place, by creating livelihood programmes, so people have the opportunity for sustained employment.

Their mission is to “solve problems of poverty at the point at which they originate, providing sustainable solutions to those who need it most and enabling them to improve their own lives.”

Wherever the Need was founded by David Crosweller and Andrew Barrs in 1997 and began as a charity providing humanitarian aid to those in need. Over the next eight years, it became apparent that the underlying problem keeping people in poverty was ill health due to a lack of sanitation and water facilities. By 2005, they had come up with a long-term sustainable solution to poverty called ecological sanitation (ecosan).

Since then, the focus of Wherever the Need has remained on providing ecosan,

clean water and livelihood programmes.

Describing one of these projects, David said, "we helped set up a scheme in India for women to produce and sell handbags.

They decided they would pay themselves a bare minimum wage so as a group they could save the profit to reinvest in the business's future. They were so thrilled to get even this money because it meant maybe they would have a little extra food to eat.”

The charity operates in India, Kenya and Sierra Leone, engaging closely with working to alleviate poverty through sanitation programmes. Whilst each country has different issues to deal with, David said, the problems are the same.

“Wherever you go, people want their children to have a better life. If you are really serious about getting people out of poverty, you have to start with sanitation.” He continued, “Our message to our donors is, it is very much about good health, sanitation and water. Once you have this, you can focus on livelihoods and income”.

Most of the money that the charity raises comes from high net worth individuals and corporations mainly derived from the commercial property business. David stressed that the charity ensures that any money given by donors is efficiently used and donors can see exactly how and where it has gone.

His final words were, “We have to stop thinking about is it going to work next year, we have to start thinking will this work for the next ten, twenty years.

Wherever the Need works for long-term investment only.”

Wherever the Need are the designated charity at Diwali at Trafalgar Square this year, on Sunday 28th October. There will be various different stalls to raise money for this significant charity.

2pm: Traditional Garba dancing in the centre of the Square with live music by Bali and Angrez 3.15pm: Opening Ceremony with Diwali messages and speeches

3.35pm: This year's event has an Olympic theme starting with a Ganesh dance from Winners, followed by children celebrating our British medal success singing 'We are the Champions'. l Shamaa Dance portraying an Indian street game in traditional kathak style l Taal Torongo from Bangladesh - tea pickers folk dance l Encee Academy - Spanish flamenco music interwoven into traditional Indian dancing l Dancephrenics – rock from girls strutting their guitars l Binal Trivedi's Academy - Olympic torch dance. l Pritraj - Bollywood anthem hits l Honey's Dance Academy–multi-faith song and dance.

5.15pm: Official Media partner Zee TV presents performances by Ash King, Sonia Panesar, Juggy D, Navin Kundra, Bhangra dance group VPA Entertainment, Punjabi Hit Squad, Alyssia, Shiavali and Swaati.

With presenter Asad Shan and special guest stars.

6.40pm: Closing ceremony with religious hymns and musical Aarti provided by Oshwal Association of the UK. 7pm: Event ends (www.london.gov.uk/diwali / www.diwaliinlondon.com)

What Diwali means to us...

Vasant Nayi, 17 (Leicester): "Diwali is a time of the year where not only does the wax of the divas melt, but also your heart with the love of your family around you."

Neel Parmar, 18 (Leicester): "Diwali is in many ways a reminder of overcoming hard times and knowing that everything will work out perfectly, with the belief that good conquers evil and light is found at the end of darkness."

Krishna Solanki, 18 (London): "Diwali is not just about lighting candles and getting together with the ones we love, but rather a celebration of the goodness or divinity in the world and its

eventual triumph over bad."

Monisha Gondalia, 18 (University of Roehampton): "Diwali to me represents the love and joy of being around friends.

Together, on this day we celebrate the meaning of Diwali. To us, it's the day we come together and strengthen our beliefs as Hindus."

Kruti Patel, 19 (London): "For me, Diwali has been about renewing and constructing resolutions that lead your character towards betterment. Whether or not we fulfill our resolutions is down to us; but the festivity of Diwali takes us away from our daily difficulties and revives a sense of hope and optimism."

HAPPY DIWALI

Asian community urged to celebrate safely The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is urging the Asian Community to celebrate safely as part of their Autumn nights campaign.

Diwali message from Parliamentarians and Community leaders Diwali is a time of great celebration amongst family and friends - a festival that marks the triumph of good over evil and darkness over light. It's a time to celebrate the best of human spirit and the determination that we will make the world of tomorrow even better than today.

On this auspicious occasion of happiness and prosperity, I wish everyone a wonderful, exciting and happy Diwali.

Seema Malhotra, MP Diwali is one of the most celebrated festivals in the Hindu calendar, and rightly so.

It's message over the centuries, of light over dark and good over evil, is central to mankind and the way we live.

I am delighted that this message of peace will once again be celebrated in Trafalgar Square in the heart of London.

I wish all those attending in the Square and the many more celebrating in the rest of the country, peace, happiness and prosperity as we once again seek the triumph of good over evil.

Shailesh Vara MP Diwali is a festival that feels ever more relevant in the twenty-first century as we celebrate the victory of good over evil.

It is a time to reflect on the year gone by, to brush away our bitterness and negativity and to pray for both forgiveness for our wrongdoings, whilst also praying for wisdom to become better people.

Like a diwa lamp I hope that we can bring light and joy to our family, friends, community and to this great country that has given us so much. I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Diwali and

a prosperous New Year.”

Lord Popat of Harrow Over the last year; the City Hindus Network (CHN) has experienced an increasing membership of professionals who are interested in networking with like-minded individuals in the City. Highlights over the last year include the introduction of our Advisory Board, a very ambitious Sewa day project, introduction of a new Mentoring Scheme, a three-day meditation series, a very successful series of intimate networking dinners with leading personalities, skiing and camping social trips, and events which aimed to tackle dilemmas for young British Hindus in conjunction with several leading banks, law firms and professional services firms.

We have very ambitious plans for the coming year and look forward to building on our success to date; for more information, please visit: www.cityhindusnetwork. org.uk.

The CHN Committee would like thank all of our partners, members and well-wishers and wish them a joyous Diwali.

Dimpi Dattani, Pratik Dattani, Dipen Jobanputra, Aekta Mahajan, Bijal Shah, Shonal Tankaria

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Diwali and a peaceful and prosperous new year! Diwali is a story of celebration of the return of Lord Rama and Sita having vanquished the evil Ravana. It is a story of good over evil and today we can all reflect on the past year to commemorate our own personal achievements in conquering similar evils together.

This year, I have been visiting local charities in my constituency of Ealing Southall that work tremendously hard to tackle the

everyday evils of our society. I celebrate with them on their hard work and success and hope today they enjoy this special festival of lights.

Virendra Sharma MP I pay a tribute to the very many community organisations who every year, without fail lead events to celebrate key festivals like Navratri and Diwali in my constituency of Harrow and Brent. I thank them for hosting such events and keeping the flag of Hindu values flying.

The celebrations are more than the religious rituals – they mark our cultural heritage and inspire the young British Hindus to practice and promote the ideals of peace, inclusivity and harmony. Its great to be a Londoner because one gets to celebrate and appreciate a whole host of different events given we are multicultural and multi-religious community. Happy Diwali and a happy New Year.

Cllr Navin Shah AM Deepavali (meaning a garland of lights) also commemorates the death of Narakasura at the hands of Lord Sri Krishna. It is believed that Narakasura, a wicked demon, tortured common people and they prayed to lord krishna to defeat him. The people then celebrated Narakasura's defeat with sparkles, lights and crackers. This celebration was continued down the generations as Deepavali. The day begins with an early morning oil bath, wearing new clothes, bursting of crackers, visiting Lord Ganesha, Lord Vishnu/Siva temples. The exchange of sweets between the neighbours, visiting the relations, preparing Deepavali special sweets are tradition of the day. On Behalf of World Tamil Organisation, I wish you, your families and loved ones A Happy Deepavali!

Jacob Ravibalan, President

"Don't let burglars ruin your celebrations" - that's the message from the MPS who are advising home owners and residents to be extra vigilant against burglars during the forthcoming religious festivals as part of its Autumn Nights campaign.

"Don't let a burglar spoil the enjoyment."

Over the next few weeks popular festivals especially Sharad Poonam celebrations and Diwali will be marked across London with many thousands of families joining together to celebrate. Unfortunately, at this time of year, we see an increase in burglaries largely due to more gold and jewellery being present in Hindu, Sikh and other households.

In recent years thefts from homes have increased between October and January leaving many families' celebrations ruined with treasured items being taken away forever.

To help reduce the amount of burglaries of this kind the MPS is urging residents to take a few simple measures to protect their homes and themselves. Throughout the year and in particular during religious festivals we are asking people to keep vigilant and make sure your homes and possessions are secure.

We also advise the following:

l Do not leave valuables on display so they can be seen from the outside. l Store high-value goods in a safe when you are not at home. l Remember to lock all your doors and windows when you leave your home unattended. l Consider using time switches for lights if you are away from home. l Photograph any items of jewellery separately before the festivals begin. l Where possible, and if you are wearing or holding valuable items, always travel to and from the festival in a group using well-lit streets. Try to avoid walking alone. l If you drive, keep your car locked and remember where it is parked.

In addition to offering crime prevention advice the Metropolitan Police Service has been working to identify and pursue suspects believed to have been involved in stealing from peoples' homes.

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Letchford said: "Unfortunately we do see more burglaries at this time of year.

These important festivals are a time of celebration for tens of thousands of people in our communities - don't let a burglar spoil the enjoyment.

"Whilst suspects are being arrested and put before the courts for breaking into people's homes, we do urge people to take some simple, but effective measures to reduce the chances of them becoming a victim."

To use our new interactive graphic or to get more crime prevention tips and advice on how to secure your home, you can contact your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team. In an emergency, always dial 999.

What is Diwali?

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia, and is also the occasion for celebrations

by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. Diwali extends over five days and celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance, although the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different parts of India.

Because of the lights, fireworks, and sweets involved, it's a great favourite with children too.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Flying licence of Kingfisher Airlines suspended

Dear Financial Voice Reader, As I mentioned last week, I recently gave a talk at the Women Empowered event in London. So I am writing this mini-series for the female entrepreneur. This is the finale in the series.

Financials " I started The Body Shop in 1976 simply to create a livelihood for myself and my two daughters, while my husband, Gordon, was trekking across the Americas. I had no training or experience and my only business acumen was Gordon’s advice to take sales of £300 a week. Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. Running that first shop taught me business is not financial science; it's about trading: buying and selling." – Anita Roddick "You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they want to tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period." The Pursuit of Happyness, 2006 Issue: Women tended to score lower on hard skills like financial planning than softer skills like relationship building Solution: Any weakness should not be seen as an obstacle but an opportunity to learn new skills. There are resources which teach all this and show best examples. Copying those is a good start. For instance I have uploaded some on my blog of business plans and financial plans so you can see what good ones should look like. www.thedealdaddy.me "If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped." (Valedictory Speech, Ursuline Academy, 1982.) Belinda Gates Alpesh Patel, author, ‘Our Turn’. For the first 10 women to ‘like’ Women Empowered on Facebook and who attended my talk at Women Empowered event – I’ll send you a free signed copy of my book Our Turn for Women Entrepreneurs. Just private message a mailing address to Reena Ranger at Women Empowered on https://www.facebook.com/WEWomenEmpowered

Don’t restrain credit rating agencies: Sebi

Credit rating agencies, lately facing restraining orders from courts on their rating opinions, have urged India’s market regulator Sebi to assert its legal position as the only statutory authority to address and decide on everything related to ratings in the country. Recently, the regulator met all the rating agencies to take stock of the situation arising out of Srei Infrastructure Finance and Videocon Industries taking India Ratings (formerly Fitch Ratings) to court, which in turn had stopped the ratings firm from publishing its credit rating and opinion on the debt instruments issued by these companies.

Speaking to reporters, U K Sinha, chairman, Sebi, said that companies should not take credit rating agencies to court, since these

entities are regulated by the capital markets regulator.

He also urged that companies should let the due process of assessment prevail. “My message to corporates is that if they are raising money, they should be willing to follow the rules of the game,” the Sebi chief said. “I am also sure that all the boards in the country are aware that if Sebi is regulating a particular industry and a particular instrument is looked after by Sebi, I hope that they will let the due process prevail rather than coming in the way of this,” he said.

The recent move by the rating agencies came after the Calcutta high court on October 10 restrained India Ratings from publishing its current rating in relation to the loans and financial assistance obtained by Videocon Industries.

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The flying licence of Kingfisher Airlines has been suspended after the debt-laden carrier failed to satisfy concerns from the aviation regulator about its operations. The licence of the airline has been "suspended until further orders," India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation officials were quoted as saying. The airline's fleet had already been grounded since the start of this month after its staff went on strike over unpaid salaries.

Govt won’t interfere: Ajit Singh: Meanwhile, India’s civil aviation minister Ajit Singh ruled out interfering in Kingfisher Airlines matter, saying that it is not for the first

time that an aviation company has failed.

Kingfisher Airlines has not paid its staff for seven months. A series of strikes called by its pilots and staff and repeated flight cancellations forced the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to suspend its licence, until it came up with a viable working plan for its financial and operational revival.

"Government cannot

interfere because a private company is failing, some companies fail, some make money; in civil aviation it is not the first time a company has failed. Kingfisher is in bad shape and for employees working there it is a big problem. It is difficult to find new jobs in this scenario. It seems difficult for Kingfisher but not impossible to fly again," Singh said.

Debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines on Monday offered its agitating staff overdue salaries in three installments before Diwali.

The offer, which was termed by the Kingfisher management as positive and a way forward, hopefully will end the over three-week-long lockout in

Tatas launch bid to acquire Orient Express Hotels Tata-owned Indian Hotels Company Ltd has launched a bid to control British luxury chain Orient Express Hotels along with Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Paul White. Interestingly, White is a former chief executive of the New York-listed Orient Express Hotels and had earlier opposed an alliance with the Indian conglomerate.

IHCL informed the bourses that it would be making an offer for 100% shares of Orient Express five years after it purchased a minority stake in the London-headquartered hospitality giant. IHCL currently holds about 7% stake and is making an offer to mop up the entire outstanding Class A shares at $12.63 a piece, valuing Orient Express at almost $1.9 billion. This represents 40% premium to the closing price of Orient Express last week.

IHCL vice chairman R K Krishna Kumar wrote to the Orient Express interim CEO Philip R Mengel about the unilateral move

after failed attempts to strike a partnership, which analysts describe as a bold hostile move from an Indian group little known for board room adventures. IHCL will fund the proposed buyout through a combination of equity and debt, with financing coming from Bank of America, ICICI Bank and Standard Chartered Bank of America. Merrill Lynch is advising IHCL on the transaction.

Tata group hospitality entities will chip in with the equity contribution.

Samsara Properties, a 100% subsidiary of IHCL, is leading the bid, in which Paul White is a director.

Ferrari chief Montezemolo's family fund, Charme II, will contribute $100 million in equity making it a broad based IndoEuropean bid for the marquee asset. Outgoing Tata chairman Ratan Tata had once nurtured a desire to acquire a stake in Ferrari and has long-standing ties with the family, which has now led to a joint acquisition bid for Orient Express.

the beleaguered carrier.

Kingfisher's management said they would be approaching the DGCA again to understand what it expected from the carrier to facilitate the end of the 23-day-old impasse.

Protesting employees, however, said they wanted a written assurance from the airline management, as the latter had earlier backtracked.

The offer was made to the employees’ representatives, who have been demanding payment of pending salary dues of at least four out of seven months before they resume work, held a meeting with management representatives at the Kingfisher House in Mumbai.

Vijay Goel made member of London Chamber of Commerce

Orient Express has two types of equity shares Class A and Class B, the former listed on the bourses, while the latter is held by an OEH subsidiary with disproportionate voting rights. This still leaves the takeover battle an intriguing affair, if the Orient Express board decides to stall the Tata move once again.

IHCL's previous attempts to clinch an alliance with Orient Express were rebuffed by the latter's management led by Paul White, which had led to a clash of words which at times acquired racist overtones. White stepped down as Orient Express CEO last year, and made a stunning move to the Tata camp, which has bolstered the latest buyout offer.

This could mark a big exit hurrah for Ratan Tata and his close associate Krishna Kumar who transformed the salt to software conglomerate through a string of high profile acquisitions, including Jaguar Land Rover, Corus and Tetley Tea among others.

Mr Vijay Goel, Sr Partner of one of the largest Indian law firms Singhania & Co, is being appointed as "Committee member of London Chamber of Commerce Asian Business Association" London Chamber of Commerce is the largest business chamber in UK. Mr Goel is also Founder of Indo-EU Business Forum & Special Advisor to Commonwealth Business Council. He is involved in many non profit organizations such as Tie and Loomba Trust as well.

forfeit more than $1.1 million, an estimate of the hedge fund titan's personal gain from his tips, prosecutors argued.

They also wanted Gupta to pay restitution of nearly $6.8 million to Goldman for legal fees, compensation and investigative costs.

However, lawyers for Gupta said he should receive probation and community service because he never profited from the alleged illegal trading, lived an "exemplary" life and had already suffered serious consequences.

As one option, they suggested Gupta work on health care and agriculture in rural Rwanda. "It would be punishment reflecting the seriousness of the offense of which he was

convicted," Gary Naftalis, a lawyer for Gupta, said, while "enabling him to give back to society and employ his talents in a country, and in a manner, consistent with US interests."

In handing down a sentence to Gupta, US District Judge Jed Rakoff, is likely to consider the defence's arguments about Gupta's "exemplary life of uncommon accomplishment" and dedication as a family man despite a demanding career, the Journal said.

That has been reflected in more than 400 letters from Gupta's relatives and supporters, including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates that Rakoff has received through his lawyers.

US prosecutors want Rajat Gupta jailed for 10 years

US prosecutors want Rajat Gupta, a former Indian-American director of Goldman Sachs Group, jailed for up to 10 years, but his lawyers suggest he could repay for his "shocking" crimes with community work in rural Rwanda.

Prosecutors have urged a sentence of 97 to 121 months for Gupta, 63, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 24 for his June conviction for insider trading on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.

"Gupta held positions of extraordinary privilege and prestige," said Assistant US Attorney Richard Tarlowe in a court filing, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"He understood as well as anyone the special

Rajat Gupta

responsibility that came with being in such an extraordinary position of trust .....Yet, time and time again, over the span of nearly two years, Gupta flouted the law and abused his position of trust."

Gupta, who allegedly passed corporate secrets he learned in the boardroom about Goldman to convicted hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, should also

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

19

In The Comfort Zone

Suresh Vagjiani Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

Last week I was called to see a Gujarati gentlemen living in Wembley.

As with many first generation Gujarati immigrants he had worked hard and saved hard to ensure all his mortgage has been paid up, in addition to a small property in Sudbury fully paid up. He was still working as a builder and he had been following our articles for many years, he even attended our seminar in East London. In short he was keen to invest in our proposition.

He was convinced to invest in property and saw the benefit of investing in Central London. As his savings where modest I mentioned the way forward is to refinance his existing BTL property which was paid for in cash and invest this lump sum.

Currently he did not require a monthly income, as his salary was enough to cover his minimal outgo. Therefore the way forward was to invest for capital growth. This means in short buying and selling.

The only way this can achieved be for this particular client is by grouping together with others who have small amounts of money.

What one individual cannot do alone, can be achieved by the group.

In Cen tral Londo n the ce ilin g on prices is al ways rising. A ceiling is the maximu m price a property will sel l for in a location. In Ce ntral Lon don du e to the demand this ce iling is al ways inc reasin g.

The demand for this location comes from over 60 countries according to the recent Knight Frank report. This is very different to the level of demand in the outer regions of London where the demand is generated by one or two predominating ethnicities.

Investing in property especially in the current situation is a no brainier . The issue is simple, when Quantitative Easing takes place anything real goes up in value. Easy to understand if we imagine a little country say with 10 houses, if the money in circulation is increased then you will need more money paper to buy these houses.

And the paper you have will be worth less and less the more paper is being printed. This why property will be destined to rise in the long term simply by virtue of it being a real tangible asset irrespective of what is going on in the short term.

Of course in the above example we have kept this very simple and ignored many variables which exist in the real world, just to drive the point home.

Given property in principle is a great asset and will always go up in the long term where should you invest for the maximum returns?

If you reduce the time period to shorter and shorter, to say monthly, and analyse where the prices are going up almost month to month you will arrive in Central London, in the UK at least.

So going back to this gentleman in Wembley, after a very enthusiastic meeting where he saw the logic of the above and agreed this is where his hard earned money should be invested, the next day he called back with a negative answer. Why? The reason cited was that the family did not agree with the decision to invest. Not the first time I have heard this reason for not investing, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. The question is, if the decision was not his to make what was the purpose of the meeting?

When analysed this can be reduced to throwing the decision making ball into another court. We all do this to some degree or another in different areas of our lives. Society on the whole does this from the areas of finance to even religion.

We give our decision making faculty to an individual or an insti-

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tution, this way we cannot be blamed if things go wrong, so we quickly give our power away. This way we cannot be held liable at all for whatever happens. Thus we become victims of circumstance rather than controllers of our own destinies.

In this situation the ball was quickly caste across to someone else so that the individual cannot be blamed for not even being able to make the decision of saying 'no'.

The bot tom line is inde cision , the inability to make a decision. The Latin ro ot o f the wo rd dec ision mean s "to cut off from all alt ern atives". T his is what you d o whe n yo u make a d ecisio n.

Don't leave yourself a life-raft so that you can give up later. A famous example of this kind of decision is Hernan Cortez, in his conquest of Mexico. When the Conquistadors first arrived in Mexico, Cortez literally DID burn their boats. There was no way back home.

They could literally only go forward and conquer.

We deal with a wide variety of clients and one of the attributes the wealthy have from those who live more modestly is that they make decisions and execute them. They take their destiny in their own hands. By developing this attribute alone you can change your finances. This does not mean you take stupid decisions. But do not avoid makeing decisions.

Note this does not mean every decision is going to be correct, but realise the importance of the power of making them. In my experience when it comes to investing in Central London more people lose money by not making a decision than by making the wrong decision.

An example we use in the seminar is a real one: We offered a property in November 2011 to a signed up client, a pharmacist, he had the money in the bank and had shown he was interested in investing in property. The property was a three bedroom duplex, in Burlington Close in Maida Vale W9 for £325,000. The client was clearly interested and had funds, but did not commit to making a decision, the story here was he was going on holiday and therefore was unable to decide. Even though we only need two bits of paper signed for us to execute this transaction. The property was purchased by someone else, blind, as time was running out. It was valued in April 2012 for £425,000, the works done only amounted to a few thousand pounds.

Money kept in a bank account earning a paltry rate of interest means it does not even keep up with the levels of inflation. So actually the funds are not even stagnant, they are degenerating. This is very often the actual scenario. By taking a decision you have a chance to stop this and start earning instead of losing. By not taking a decision inevitably your cash is decreasing.

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

0207 313 4595 Westbourne House, 14-16 Westbourne Grove, London, W2 5RH

Tips of the Week l When renovating a Buy To Let property always ask the question: How much more will I get in terms of rent for doing this work?

Many investors get carried away with developing properties as if they were their own homes. l When investing, most of the money will be invested by the bank not you, remember they will always do a valuation to check their investment is secure, this is an additional check for you, the investor.

20

financial voICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

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

Praise and Popularity

maria@abplgroup.com

Maria Fernandes

Delays, delays, delays My postbag is full of questions about the delays in applications being considered both abroad but particularly within the UK. There is a great deal of frustration with the system and representatives often have to bear the brunt for this. It is a subject that I have covered on many occasions and sadly, in all this time, there is very little available for the vast majority of applicants. There is a same day service but even those require a month’s notice and a new postal service has been set up for some Tier 2 applicants but because the conditions are strict and the numbers limited it is not providing anywhere near a solution.

The real scandal is the time that it is taking for Sponsorship licences to be issued. The goals are forever changing. Initially they were taking around 3 months but this has now shifted to 6 months and is rising. Moreover when licences are granted, it takes weeks and months for certificates to be allo-

Pavers gets FIPB nod for 100% FDI The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) allowed shoe firm Pavers England to set up India’s first 100% foreign-owned single brand retail venture, setting the stage for the likes of Ikea and Fossil to follow.

The FIPB nod, which has to be approved by finance minister P Chidambaram, came 10 months after the Mauritiusbased entity sought the Centre’s approval. The British shoemaker was already present in India through its master franchisee Triton Retail. It will now acquire its local partner and pump in Rs 1.06 billion into the venture.

Along with Pavers England, at least two other single-brand retail ventures were cleared by FIPB, which included a proposal from Brooks Brothers, America’s oldest clothing retailer, to set up a 51:49 joint venture with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Brands.

things can only be expected to get worse.

In trying to assess the reasons for this, undoubtedly numbers of staff have been reduced and partly explains for the increase in delays. But this is not the whole story. The whole focus of immigration has been negative and perhaps one way to stop people entering is to make their life so miserable that they will not want to go down that path. If this is the strategy then it is working.

Many employers are so fed up that they do not want to continue with the process. The downside of this is that where possible they are looking abroad for their staff and their business and this unfortunately is bad for business.

Maria Fernandes has been in practice exclusively in immigration for the past 25 years.

Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by telephone on 02087330123, by email on info@fernandesvaz.com.

cated to employers. When employers are applying for certificates for those who are already here the procedure should be easy as these applicants do not come under the quota set up by the Government.

They are basically staff who are simply changing employers. However even this process has round to a halt. The only means of contact is by email and the usual response is…er …… no response.

Customer service standards have completely bypassed the immigration departments.

It is not simply about delay. It is a complete lack of regard or anyone who has dealings with these Departments.

And as to solutions, there are to put it simply, none. The new immigration minister has refused to hold ministerial meetings instead preferring to leave everything to the UKBA. Therefore as he appears to have no appetite for grappling the difficult issues and as there is little momentum within the UKBA itself

Jet slashes Mumbai-London airfare to less than `10,000 The exit of Vijay Mallya from India’s skies may have pushed domestic air travel rates soaring skywards, but the imminent entry of Branson and his Virgin airline on Mumbai-London route is triggering a crash landing of sorts in fares.

Jet Airways, India’s pre-eminent private carrier, has slashed fares on the Mumbai-London sector to less than 10,000 per person (excluding taxes), reviving memories of a price war that made fares on the South-east Asian routes from India one of the cheapest in the world.

The Naresh Goyal-promoted airline is offering 9,990 per passenger (round trip, excluding taxes) on Mumbai-London for 18 days beginning October 29, the day Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic resumes its India operations after a three-year break.

The fare is considerably cheaper than, say,

that of British Airways, which charges Rs 27,820 for a round trip between October 29 and November 5, excluding taxes, and Jet's full fare of 60,000.

Including taxes, the BA fare will be 59,654 compared with Jet's 27,990.

Aviation analysts say Jet plans to take on Branson's Virgin Atlantic head-on once it resumes Mumbai-London operations from October 29.

"At Virgin, we pride ourselves in delivering a fantastic experience at competitive prices."

"We're happy that our arrival in Mumbai will offer passengers better choice and increase competition," said Stephen King, general manager, Virgin Atlantic India.

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‘Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.’

Socrates. This is advice that Ed Miliband would do well to heed. He is certainly the man of the moment, by default if nothing else, with Labour leading the Conservatives by 8 points in polls and having just effected the resignation of Andrew Mitchell. While times are good it is important that he makes the most of it, as they say, ‘make hay while the sun shines’ but he would be wise to ensure that he remains completely grounded too.

For any leader, praise is something that believe it or not, if you seek, you certainly shall find. And there will be times when any sort of praise will be a welcome respite. However, praise, like all good things is best taken in small, measurable doses. This is where the role of your advisors, aide, confidant’s, call them what you will, comes into focus. It is important to surround yourself with people who can be honest with you at

the best of times and reassuring at the worst.

But one should be aware that as your popularity increases, it becomes increasing difficult to distinguish the coaches from the cheerleaders. Because as much as people like to root for the underdog, they definitely prefer to back the winning horse. As a result one finds that there suddenly becomes a loud chorus of people who celebrate your every move and applaud your every word.

Throughout the preelection televised debates, Nick Clegg performed admirably and came across as a credible candidate with some people even suggesting that he was ‘No. 10’ material. It was a time when he was receiving high praise from virtually every quarter. In reality the Lib-Dem’s faired very badly at the polls, however, I do wonder if all the pre-election hype influenced Clegg’s decision making when agreeing to form a coalition government. A decision which now seems to have destroyed his political ambitions as even his re-

By Amit Patel

election in Sheffield being far from a forgone conclusion. A sign that when things go wrong, those who so eagerly tried to get near you can be just as hasty to run away.

It would be interesting to know what advice he was given at the time. It would also be interesting to know what sort of people David Cameron has around him. For it certainly seems as if he could do with some honest critique of some of decisions.

Definitely about his tendency to stand by people who have let him down.

We would all do well to heed to words of Winston Churchill, ‘Censure is often useful, praise is often deceitful.’

Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Personal Development and Human Resource Management. He has delivered speeches on People Management and Development throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. To contact Amit, email amitpatelmail@gmail.com

Pandit’s departure restores air of calamity Vikram Pandit and Citigroup were supposed to be enjoying a year of celebration. In this, the bank’s 200th anniversary, shareholders were expecting their first share buyback and increased dividend since the financial crisis. Now, Mr Pandit is gone, shareholders are still waiting for their payout and the new chief executive and chairman have offered little insight into either the future direction of the company or the reason for management change.

In a conference call with analysts, Mike O’Neill, who was appointed chairman this year, predicted a “sharpening” of focus on “sustained, strong operating performance.” Yet the details were fuzzy. Michael Corbat, the new chief executive, said he did not want “to alter the strategic direction” of Citi, with a continued concentration on increasing the size of its emerging markets business and the shedding of the remainder

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mishaps seemed to ensure that it was too early for him to claim mission accomplished on the Citi turnaround. The first shock was misjudging the Federal Reserve by requesting permission for a multibillion-dollar share buyback. The Fed blocked the proposal in March.

Second, the board failed to gauge shareholder sentiment correctly and suffered an embarrassing defeat on a “say on pay” vote when investors voiced their disapproval in April over Mr Pandit’s $15m pay package – particularly over performance targets widely seen as too soft. Mr O’Neill refused to give any detail on the board’s response to that vote.

The question is: Why go now? Citi’s third-quarter earnings were neither bad enough to stoke speculation of management change nor obviously good enough to allow Mr Pandit to claim he had finished restoring the company’s fortunes.

Vikram Pandit

of Citi Holdings, the “bad bank” of non-core assets.

He said that before he drew up next year’s budget, “I can’t speak to necessarily what I’m going to do differently.”

Glen Schorr, analyst at Nomura, asked the pair: “If there’s no big change to the strategy, no big change to the operating metrics… what just happened?”

Mr O’Neill said simply: “Well, what happened is that Vikram submitted his resignation and that we accepted it.”

If the year had gone according to plan, this might have been an obvious time for Mr Pandit to leave. But a series of

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financial VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

21

Foreign Exchange Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX, Currency Specialists.

Bailout beliefs offer unreserved optimism With all eyes focused on the EU summit last week, the event turned out to be an anti-climax, as leaders failed to draw any substantial conclusions from the meeting.

It is still unclear when and in what form the European Banking Union may be set up, whilst though it wasn’t on the official agenda, sis put on hold for now whilst it stubbornly continues its self sustenance.

Demand for Spanish debt increased, driving yield prices down and enabling the troubled nation to continue to fund itself through the markets. Indications that any bailout announcement is not in the proximity and the lack of progress from the summit could also mean investors will get restless about the perceived lackadaisical attitude of euro zone leaders.

One boost for Rajoy was a convincing win for his Popular Party in his home region. The victory can be seen as an endorsement of the way that the Spanish Prime Minister is leading the nation, suggesting that a bailout announcement would be unopposed.

The inevitability of the

bailout has led a resilient euro to four month lows against sterling.

As Spain distances itself from the topic and as economic performance struggles, the euro defies the pessimists to continue its charge.

Last week shocks in the equity markets shook numerous currencies, with the main beneficiary the safe haven dollar.

Google had poor earnings data leaked, which caused a massive $20bn to be wiped from the search engine’s market value.

Investors rushed back to the security of the dollar, this may suggest that investors haven’t digested the frustration in the euro zone.

Minutes from this month’s MPC meeting have shown that committee members are split on whether or not to implement further easing measures to assuage concerns of an ailing performance. If the economy shows positive steps in the economic releases this week the Bank of England may hold off, whilst if results are negative Mervyn King may follow the lead of the Fed, ECB and Bank of Japan by boosting the money supply.

The Bank of Japan, having

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 23rd October 2012 @ 12.10pm GBP - INR = 85.75 USD - INR = 53.56 EUR - INR = 6987 GBP - USD = 1.60 GBP - EUR = 1.23 EUR - USD = 1.30 GBP - AED = 5.88 GBP - CAD = 1.59 GBP - NZD = 1.96 GBP - AUD = 1.55 GBP - ZAR = 13.83

already injected stimulus, is gearing up for a new round to aid the economy’s slowdown.

Resultantly we have seen the yen weakening off as the government also look to make Japanese exports cheaper for international customers. An announcement is expected this Tuesday on the Bank of Japan’s decision.

In the coming week, the markets are likely to see movements

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from a range of data. Italian 10y bond auction, Spanish GDP, German retail sales, euro CPI and unemployment rate, manufacturing PMI and US employment data are all likely to attract attention, though if the trends continue, the eventual promise of the Spanish bailout will keep the euro marching to the beat of its own drum.

GBP - HUF = 344.68

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

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

After Malala, another Swat girl claims threat from Taliban In Focus Islamabad: Just days after a deadly attack on Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yusufzai, another schoolgirl from Swat has claimed that she is on the Taliban hit list for raising her voice against their atrocities.

Hina Khan, who was a pioneer in raising her voice publicly against Taliban atrocities in the Malakand Valley, is now claiming to be on the Taliban's hit list, Dawn News reported.

What has been further worrisome for her family is that despite repeated requests for security, they claim no steps have been taken to provide protection

to them after they fled from Swat and moved to Islamabad, the report said.

The teenaged girl, a student of Class 11, had publicly denounced militants atrocities in 2009. "I had left Swat with my family because the militants had threatened girls' education there but now I feel I would not be able to go to school in Islamabad as well after these renewed threats," Hina was quoted as saying.

Hina held a press conference at the National Press Club in 2008 after her friends in Swat told her that the militants were becoming further intolerant towards girls seeking education and had started

bombing schools as well.

Hina claims that she fears not being able to attend school even in Islamabad, since she was receiving threats warning her that she would be targeted or kidnapped.

Hina's father Raitullah Khan told the daily that he was very worried about his family after his wife Farhat, a social worker, also started receiving threatening calls since August this year.

About the renewed threats and the family worries, Raituallah said, "A few days ago when I came out of my house I saw a red cross on my gate but I removed it assuming it might have been drawn

by some kids, but the very next day it appeared again which really terrified me."

The next day, he claimed, "we received a call that Hina will be next after Malala."

Malala, 15, was shot on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of the Swat valley last week as a punishment for campaigning for the right of girls to an education, in an attack which outraged the world.

Malala was brought in an air ambulance to Birmingham on October 15 as specialists at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital are considered among the best in the world at treating the kind of injuries she has sustained.

Hand over 'brain' behind Malala US negotiating with Kabul attack: Pak to Afghanistan to extend troop presence Islamabad: Pakistan has asked the US to use its influence on Afghanistan to extradite Maulana Fazlullah, a wanted Pakistani Taliban commander whom it says was involved in planning the recent attack on teen rights activist Malala Yousufzai.

The diplomatic sources here said that the demand was made by Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar during her meeting with US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mark Grossman, The Express Tribune reported.

Grossman was told that Fazlullah was involved in the attack on Malala and that the US should employ its influence towards the extradition of Fazlullah. Fazlullah along with his men is hiding in Kunar province of Afghanistan, the Pak-Afghan especial envoy was told.

Pakistan had, on many occasions in the past, informed the ISAF and Afghan authorities about Fazlullah's activities, the paper said.

According to sources, Fazlullah has executed as many as 15 cross border attacks in Pakistan over the past one year. Fazlullah is

US diplomat meets Khar, Kayani Islamabad: Issues related to peace and stability in Afghanistan and progress made on counter-terrorism figured prominently in talks visiting US diplomat Marc Grossman had with Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar and army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Grossman, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan who arrived on Saturday on a two-day visit, exchanged with Khar views on recent developments in Afghanistan.

The two leaders “expressed the commitment to continue to work together in support of Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process and for progress and stability in the country,� said a foreign office statement.

Grossman also met army chief Kayani and discussed the military aspect of the Afghan issue.

During Grossman’s meeting with Khar, they also exchanged views on a wide range of issues.

also known as 'Mullah Radio' for his fiery radio broadcasts in Swat Valley. Earlier, it was reported that Fazlullah had sent a hit squad to kill 14year-old Malala for being a proponent of girls' education in the valley.

Bravery award for Malala: Sitara-e-Shujaat, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards for bravery, will be given to Malala, interior minister Rehman Malik said.

Taliban, meanwhile, said Malala deserved to die because she had spoken out against the group and praised US President Obama. Calling her a "spy of the West", it said, "Islam orders killing of those who are spying for enemies."

"We targeted her because she would speak against the Taliban while sitting with shameless strangers and idealized the biggest enemy of Islam, Barack Obama.

We did not attack her for raising voice for education.

We targeted her for opposing mujahideen and their war," said the Taliban. "Shariah (Islamic law) says that even a child can be killed if he is propagating against Islam."

Washington: The United States troops, who were scheduled to leave Afghanistan by 2014, would now be extending their stay in the war-torn country, and negotiations over the extension would be beginning soon, a top State Department official has confirmed.

The news comes despite Vice President Joe Biden telling Americans during his Oct. 11 debate against Republican rival Paul Ryan that US troops were leaving Afghanistan by 2014.

"We are leaving in 2014, period, and in the process, we're going to be saving over the next 10 years another 800 billion dollars. We've been in this war for over a decade.

Now all we're doing is putting the Kabul government in a position to be able to maintain their own security. It's their responsibility, not America's," Biden had said.

However, according to a Foreign Policy blog, Marc Grossman, the US State Department's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, explained that that's not the whole story.

Grossman said that the point of the upcoming negoti-

ations is to agree on an extension of the US troop presence well past 2014, for the purposes of conducting counterterrorism operations, training and advising the Afghan security forces.

According to the report, US and Afghan negotiators met in Kabul to talk about a Bilateral Security Agreement that will govern the prolonged stay of US troops in the country, Grossman disclosed.

He said that while meetings on "how we will manage our forces going forward in Afghanistan," have already taken place, formal negotiations are yet to take place.

Once the negotiations formally start, the Bilateral Security Agreement must be completed within one year, according to the Strategic Partnership agreement, the blog said.

Karzai's Ambassador to Washington, Eklil Hakimi, would be leading the negotiations for the Afghan side, Grossman added.

Pak rights activist Ansar Burney performs kumari Puja in Amritsar

Amritsar: Pakistani rights activist and former minister for human rights Ansar Burney performed the Kumari Puja in Amritsar. The ceremony relates to virgin girls who have not yet hit puberty, and are worshipped on the eighth of nine-day long Hindu festival of Navratra.

It is believed that the goddess, although omnipresent, surely exists in the virgin.

Reverence to female children as goddesses is an age-old custom of India.

After performing the rituals, Burney said a girl is important in every role and the universe is incomplete without girls.

"I think the universe is incomplete without the existence of daughters (female), for me the whole universe is a girl child. If we don't evaluate the importance of a daughter then we cannot value anything in life. A girl is very important

Ansar Burney

in every role, be it a mother, daughter, wife or a sister. A girl or a woman in every role is beautiful and important in its own way," said Burney.

Worship of a living woman as goddess is of purely tantric origin. It is stated that virgin worship is nothing but Shakti worship.

The virgin worship is performed along with Durga, Kali and other Mahavidyas.

The salutation mantra of virgin worship is the same as vidya's salutation mantra.

Sometimes, it is also seen that the virgin is fed and clad

and saluted without any mantra. The tantrics believe that the virgin is the Goddess incarnate.

Burney also condemned the recent attack on teen Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, saying it was an attack on all girls across the globe.

"The Kanjak ceremony for me is very important and pious. This teaches us that we must realise the importance of the girl child, we must love them and nurture them in a way they deserve. Like what happened with Malala Yousafzai is very disheartening and unfortunate incident, which shook the whole world and this message went throughout the world and even to Pakistan that today is celebrated in your country as one of the most traditional religious event. With this, Malala Yousafzai is not only the child of Pakistan but also of the whole world.

Pak leader moots common currency for India, Pakistan

Lahore: Over 1,200 items on the negative list regime for trade with India will be withdrawn in December and the time has come for the two countries to think of introducing a common currency to boost trade, ruling Pakistan People's Party leader Jehangir Badr has said.

"Precisely 1,209 items on the negative list of trade with India will be withdrawn by December," Badr said while addressing a Pakistan-India Media Conference at the Lahore Press Club. The time has come for Pakistan and India to think of introducing a common currency for countering the pressure of the US dollar, British pound and Euro and to boost bilateral trade, he said.

Pak girl fires at boyfriend after being rejected

Lahore: Three people were injured in Lahore when a 20-year-old girl opened fire at her boyfriend after he refused to marry her. Asia, who worked in a factory in Sanda area of Lahore, was in a relationship with her co-worker, 22-year-old Mohammad Faisal. The affair between them continued for a year or so, following which Faisal started to avoid her, Faisal promised to marry me but he stopped taking interest in me. I was upset for the past few days after he told me that he was going to marry another girl," Asia told the police. Asia arranged a gun and some bullets and opened fire at Faisal and his friend, Mohammad Shakir, outside the factory where they worked. Asia tried to flee but she was overpowered by passersby and handed her over to police.

Opposition pandering rightist vote: Zardari

Islamabad: Acknowledging that Pakistan could not launch any fresh operation against militants as there is no national consensus on the issue, President Asif Ali Zardari called for greater unity to confront militancy and blamed the opposition of pandering to "rightist vote". Zardari asserted the country would have to fight the war against militancy but warned that people would have to be ready for the "blow back". Noting that operations had been conducted in the past in places like the Swat Valley with "complete consensus", he indicated there was currently no agreement with the opposition on a fresh offensive.

Ex-chiefs of Pak army, ISI face rap over poll rigging

Islamabad: Pakistan's supreme court ordered the government to take legal action against former army chief general Mirza Aslam Beg and former ISI chief Asad Durrani for distributing millions of rupees among politicians to rig the 1990 general polls. A three-judge bench headed by chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry also said that any "political cell" operating in the presidency, ISI, military intelligence or intelligence bureau should be shut down immediately as such an institution is unconstitutional. Any notification to create such a cell would be null and void.

2 Pak churches vandalized in 10 days

Islamabad: Two churches have been vandalized within 10 days in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, taking the total number of churches attacked this year to six and triggering concern in the minority Christian community. The Philadelphia Pentecostal Church of Pakistan, situated in a congested lane of Essa Nagri neighbourhood of Karachi, was attacked. Armed men barged into its premises during a power outage, vandalized it and fled with Rs 40,000.

The church was closed at that time. The men broke the windows, threw the Bibles on the floor and took away cash donations.

Afghan cop kills six colleagues

Kabul: A police constable who had link with Taliban militants and worked as chief in a police checkpoint in Gereshk district opened fire on their colleagues leaving six police colleagues dead and fled away to join Taliban, reports said. The murderer was identified and arrested in the neighboring Musa Qala district. The green-on-blue attacks by men in Afghan army or police uniform against NATO-led forces have claimed the lives of more than 50 foreign soldiers so far this year.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Indian couple donates $12 mn to US university

Washington: An IndianAmerican doctor couple, Dr Kiran C and Dr Pallavi Patel, have donated $12 million to the University of South Florida in a new endowment aimed at creating the Patel College of Global Sustainability. The endowment would expand on nearly a decade of world-leading applied research to advance sustainability around the globe and improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people, according to the Tampa, Florida based university. Pending approval from university panels, the new college will elevate the work of the Patel School of Global Sustainability to a new level.

8 British airmen buried

Kuala Lumpur: Eight British World War II airmen have been buried with military honours in Malaysia, nearly 70 years after their plane crashed while on a mission in Southeast Asia.

The eight were crew members of a Royal Air Force plane that left Cocos Island on August 23, 1945, to drop supplies for prisoners of war in what was then Malaya.

Their remains were interred in a single grave at a military cemetery in a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur.

Bangladeshi man arrested in plot to attack Federal Reserve New York: Federal authorities last week arrested a Bangladeshi man they said was plotting to blow up the Federal Reserve building in Manhattan, just blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, was arrested in a sting operation after he parked a van filled with what he believed were explosives outside the building and tried to detonate it in a suicide mission, authorities said.

Earlier in the day, he went to a warehouse and assembled what he believed to be a 1,000pound (453-kg) bomb using inert explosives provided by federal agents. He also recorded a videotaped statement in which he said, "We will not stop until we attain victory or martyrdom," federal prosecutors said.

Authorities said Nafis proposed several spots for his attack, including the New York Stock Exchange - and that in a written letter taking responsibility for the Federal Reserve job he was about to carry out, he said he wanted to "destroy America."

The Bangladeshi native reported having overseas connections to al-Qaida, and traveled to the US in January to carry out an attack, according to

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis

a complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn. He was trying to recruit people, but one was a secret FBI source, and Nafis was closely monitored as he tried to act out his plot.

Federal authorities said the public was not in danger during any point in the investigation.

Nafis was awaiting a federal court hearing where he is facing a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support for al-Qaida.

US wants India to get Iran to N-talks table

New Delhi: The US wants India to persuade Iran to return to the negotiating table on its nuclear programme, the first time it has openly asked New Delhi to intercede with Tehran.

Speaking ahead of his meetings with India’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Shivshankar Menon and foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai as part of the US-India strategic security dialogue here, deputy secretary in the US state department William Burns said, “We feel a great sense of urgency…an urgency widely shared in the international community. There is a great deal at stake here given Iran’s failure thus far to comply with its international obligations - the danger of increased tension, nuclear arms race in a region that already has

more than its share of instability and which plays a very important role in the health of the global economy.” He said the US hopes India would reinforce this message to the Iranian leadership.

Despite almost crippling sanctions against Iran’s energy and finance sectors, all indications are Tehran’s nuclear programme continues apace.

Burns said the tough sanctions were necessary to bring Iran back to talks, insisting that diplomacy remained the US’s preferred option. Unspoken is

the fact that the sanctions also serve to keep Israel’s military option from taking off, which could trigger something far bigger than a regional conflict.

Burns said, “The US and India share an important strategic goal and that is to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon and does not create those risks. We believe it’s absolutely essential that Iran meet its international obligations and engage seriously in the diplomatic process of the 5+1 mechanism.”

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his conversation with the Iranian Supreme Leader on the sidelines of the recent NAM summit, had officially said India expected Iran to comply with its NPT obligations.

Man takes disabled mother on 3,500 km dream walk Beijing: A man in China took his wheelchair-bound mother to the holiday destination of her dream by undertaking an arduous 3,500 km journey on foot in 100 days.

Fan Meng, 26, took his mother Kou Minjun all the way from Beijing to Xishuangbanna prefecture, in Yunnan province.

The act earned him a widespread online appreciation, Xinhua reported.

The 3,500-km slog allowed Kou, suffering from infantile paralysis and had not left Beijing for many years, fulfil a long cherished dream of visiting Xishuangbanna about which she had learned through TV programmes and newspapers.

But "without my son, I was afraid I could never have made it here", she said.

Kou has been living

with her only son, Fan, since being divorced 10 years ago. She depends on a combination of government subsidies and relatives' help to make ends meet.

On July 11, the mother, the son, who resigned from his job as salesperson in an electronics firm for her, and their pet dog left their home in Beijing's Chaoyang district and started off their long journey.

The mother and son

followed highways through the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan. To sleep, they bunked down in their own tent or at cheap hotels.

They were treated for meals by many warmhearted locals and offered free hotel stays.

For security, Fan carried a knife to counter robbers. But he came across kind people along the way.

M A YO R O F L O N D O N P R E S E N T S

DIWALI F E S TI VAL Free festival of lights at Trafalgar Square with music and dance, 2 to 7pm. Everyone’s invited.

Sunday 28 October london.gov.uk/diwali

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INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Arvind Kejriwal dares PM, Sonia Gandhi to public debate

Arvind Kejriwal challenged PM Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to a public debate and said India Against Corruption would respond to questions raised by party general secretary Digvijay Singh only after the leadership came clean on charges against Robert Vadra and corruption. This came in response to Digvijay Singh's questions to Kejriwal on funding of his NGO and other issues. Earlier in the day, India Against Corruption (IAC) activists clashed with police who used water canons to disperse them while they trying to barge into Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda's residence in Delhi.

Condemning the police action, Kejriwal said his supporters from Haryana were on a peaceful demonstration to protest against the efforts to save Vadra, who they alleged was aided

by Hooda in favouring realty major DLF. "We had put some questions to Robert Vadra and the PM. Let them answer first. Then, we will answer all questions from Digvijay Singh. I request Singh to encourage Mrs Gandhi, PM or Rahul

Arvind Kejriwal

Gandhi to come for a public debate. Let's question each other and let public question us on personal and public issues. Is Digvijay Singh ready? If he cannot convince his party bosses or the PM, then people would think he is doing all this for cheap publicity and to divert attention," Kejriwal said.

When asked about Singh's remarks that there was evidence against the kin of BJP leaders A B Vajpayee and L K Advani of alleged corruption but Congress would never use it to embarrass them, Kejriwal said his group has been talking about each party protecting the other's interest."They are not bringing these issues out not on moral grounds but on corrupt grounds. I congratulate Singh for confessing this. He has evidence of corruption (against senior BJP

leaders' kin)... BJP has evidence against Vadra and Singh. But both have an understanding," he said.

Congress and the government are now trying to save Vadra. The chief minister has transferred the officer who ordered a probe into the incident. They are telling us corruption will go on and we will have to suffer. Our supporters had gone there to seek some answers from Hooda. But they were lathicharged," he said.

Defamation case against Kejriwal: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit filed a defamation case against activist turned politician Arvind Kejriwal for making defamatory remarks against her. According to reports, Dikshit's political secretary Pawan Khera sent a legal notice to Kejriwal for allegedly using filthy language against the chief minister.

Kejriwal has also been accused of maligning the Delhi Government, the report said.

Kejriwal has been given two days to respond to legal notice for civil and criminal defamation, falining which the government will take the next legal step.

Anna Hazare to launch new anticorruption team: Kiran Bedi

After severing ties with India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal over the formation of a political party, veteran ant-corruption activist Anna Hazare decided to recast his core team that was disbanded a month ago. Hazare's new team will comprise individuals known for integrity to take his anti-graft movement foward, said the activist's close aide and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi here Saturday.

"Individuals, who are an institution themselves, be it retired civil servants, corporate honchos or artists, Anna is looking for a new inclusive core group with individuals, who are

one call away from the powers that be but are known for their non-partisanship and are reformist by nature," Bedi said. She also named three such individuals, whom Hazare may approach to be part of his new core committee.

The three are former army chief General VK Singh, who had raised his voice against corruption throughout his tenure; former Uttar Pradesh director general of police Prakash Singh, who filed a public interest litigation seeking police reforms to rid the service from political interference and got the order passed; and Bhure Lal, who enjoys the confidence of the Supreme Court for heading inde-

pendent committees to examine social issues as a friend fo the court. Anna will convene the first core meeting of the new panel November 24 and 25, Kiran Bedi said. Anna is going to talk to these individuals and on the basis of their availability to be part of the movement against corruption. If they can join Anna's movement, they all will meet Nov 24 and 25, she said.

Differing with Arvind Kejriwal’s style of frequently targeting political leaders, social activist Anna Hazare told a news channel that his ex-teammate “should take every issue to a logical conclusion instead of gunning for a leader every week".

Leicester-based diabetes charity Silver Star has handed over a Mobile Diabetes Unit to the people of Mumbai on the 11th October. In a ceremony at a hospital in Mumbai, British Deputy High Commissioner to India Peter Beckingham and Leicester East MP and Founder Patron of Silver Star, Keith Vaz, presented the unit to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan.

In divine light

By Rajen Vakil

The Story of Creation Yudhishthira asked the great rishi called Markandeya: “You have seen the birth and death of the Universe a thousand times. You are the oldest of all mortal beings. Only Lord Brahma is more ancient than you. When the whole universe with all the devas and demons vanishes, it is you who prays to the Lord for its rebirth. And when the universe is reborn, you witness the birth of all beings. O great rishi, you have performed the highest of all tapas and are known as the one who plays in the lap of Lord Vishnu. In different ways, you have gathered great knowledge of the secrets of the universe. You have two eyes - one of the highest yoga abhyasa and the other of the highest vairagya. It is with these eyes that you are able to penetrate the Lotus of Brahma and understand His deepest secrets. It is with His grace that death or old age cannot touch your body. When the Sun, the Moon, the planets, the lords Agni, Vayu and Varuna have all been con-

Saudi-deported terror suspect arrested in Delhi Fasih Mohammed, suspected to have been involved in a conspiracy to set off bomb blasts in Bangalore and Delhi, and member of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist organisation, has been arrested, Delhi police said Monday.

According to police, Mohammed was deported from Saudi Arabia. As soon as he reached Delhi airport he was taken into custody.Fasih Mohammed, 35, is alleged to have been involved in the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in Bangalore and a bomb blast in Delhi, both in 2010. He is wanted by both Delhi and Karnataka police. "A year ago, he was arrested by Saudi Arabia police, and has since been in custody in that country.

Investigative agencies in Delhi were in constant touch with Saudi Arabian authorities for his deportation to India," a senior police official said.

Mohammed was employed as an engineer in Saudi Arabia and was allegedly picked up by Saudi authorities from Al Jubal May 13 for suspected terror links. Mohammed hails from Barh Saaila village in Darbhanga district of Bihar, about 200 km from Patna. His father, Firoz Ahmad, is incharge of the Benipatti primary health centre in Madhubani district. His mother is a school teacher in Darbhanga.

sumed by the great ocean, it is you who prays to Lord Brahma for the universe to start again. O twice born, you alone have been witness to everything. I am keen to hear the story of creation and dissolution.

Please tell us.”

Markandeya said, “This Pitambardhari (the one who wears the yellow clothes) who is sitting next to you is the Lord Almighty in human form. He is Janardana (the killer of his enemies). He is Krishna, the cause of both the seen and unseen universe. He gives it variety and form,

he is the Lord Spirit of all life. He cannot be thought but he is the saviour of all life form. He is beyond the beginning and end.” (Here, the rishi Markandeya is saying that even though he as a rishi saw the beginning and end of the universe, Lord Krishna is beyond that.) “When the worlds dissolve into the one seed, it is in this Lord in whom they vanish and it is from him that they are born again. The first era after the birth of the universe is called Satyuga and it consists of 4,000 deva years. Then comes Treta which has 3,000 deva years. Next is Dwapar of 2,000 and the last is Kaliyuga of 1,000 deva years. Then the cycle will be repeated again.”

Yudhishthira then asked the rishi to describe in detail what happens at the time all the worlds are destroyed and how they come into the belly of the Lord.

(Continued next week)

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

Gujarat is one of the preferred destinations for dental tourism

India, especially Gujarat, is emerging as one of the preferred destinations for dental tourism in the world. Thousands of people from USA, Europe and other parts of the world fly to India every year seeking dental treatment. Though tourists cite a variety of reasons for their travel, the major reason is the cost for dental implants and dental surgery, which is generally cheap in India.

Gujarat’s medical expertise and modern facilities are better than those of some of the South-East Asian nations.

Another reason for the medical tourism is due to the fact that there are waiting lists in various specialties, which is between three weeks to one year in hospitals in UK and USA. Apart from the low medical and dental insurance coverage, cost of the dental treatments is also extremely high in the western countries.

Madhav Dental is the first and only ISO 9001:2008 certified dental centre in Saurashtra and Kutch region and is located in Jamnagar. Madhav Dental has 1,000 sq. feet hi tech dental centre with 3 fully computerized dental units with all modern and state of the art equipment. Dr Swati Khakharia and Dr Mehul Khakharia,

Dr Mehul Khakharia

who are running the clinic, have done their graduation from GDC, Jamnagar.

Dr Swati has done many certified courses on cosmetic dentistry and root canal treatment.

After graduating from GDC, Jamnagar, Dr Mehul Khakharia took his postgraduation from world famous Tver state medical academy, Germany. He is an orthodontist and impantologist. Both Dr Swati and Dr Mehul have been running the clinic for the last seven years. The clinic offers dental implant treatment, orthodontic treatment, smile design, laser bleaching (tooth whitening), veneers and bridges, single sitting root canal treatment, dental fashion jewellery, tooth removal and surgery for gum problems.

Email: mehul_dr@yahoo.com, www.jamnagardentist.com

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

In Focus Union Home Ministry rejects Kasab’s mercy plea The Union Ministry of Home Affairs rejected Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab's mercy petition. The ministry has also forwarded it to President Pranab Mukherjee. The mercy plea was rejected by Union Home Ministry, just a month after the lone surviving perpetrator of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks set in motion the last option available to save his life. Kasab’s mercy petition to the President A letter seeking to be spared from his death Now, it is completely up to the President to reject his mercy plea or pardon him. If executed, Kasab will be the 52nd person to be hanged in India since Independence. During the last decade (1990-2000), the Indian President rejected seven mercy petitions and commuted the sentences of two.

India to run out of phone numbers by next year It was inevitable, but it is now closer than ever. All the phone numbers series currently in use, like the ones beginning with 98 or 99, are quickly getting used up with the subscriber base in the country expected to reach a billion and beyond by next year. "There might be a serious problem if a new series of numbers are not brought in by the middle of next year. We are theoretically reaching the limit of existing number sets with a subscriber base of one billion," said director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). The solution may lie in 11-digit phone numbers but Department of Telecom (DoT) is also looking at alternatives.

French diplomat gets bail in rape case French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, arrested in June on charges of sexually assaulting his four-year-old daughter, was granted conditional bail by the Karnataka High Court. Mazurier, deputy head of chancery in the French consulate here, has to furnish a personal bond of Rs.100,000, with two sureties for the like sum, surrender his passport to a local court, not leave Bangalore without the court's permission, and not tamper with witnesses. The bail on these conditions was granted by high court Justice H.N. Nagamohan Das. Mazurier, who does not enjoy diplomatic immunity, was arrested June 19 on a complaint by his Kerala-born wife Suja Jones that he had sexually abused their four-year-old daughter June 13.

Gujarat ATS brings terror accused Abu Jundal from Delhi Abu Jundal, one of the accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, was brought to Ahmedabad by a team of state Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) amidst tight security.

Jundal is one of the main accused in the 2006 RDX blast at Kalupur railway station injuring 25. The blast took place on February 19, 2006 at 1.43am on platform number 2 due to a consignment of 1kg of RDX concealed in a suitcase kept on a stack of plastic crates.

Police investigators suspect that the bomb was for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Karnavati Jundal is named for scouting and recruiting men from Gujarat and other states for terror training. He will be questioned about the local contacts.

$100 million Swaminarayan temple coming up in Los Angeles A sight inspiring grandeur and divinity, a grand Swaminarayan temple is coming up close to Hollywood. Los Angeles is all set to get a BAPS temple in its suburbs, built at a cost of an estimated $100 million. Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) will inaugurate the grand temple in the third week of December. "The construction of the temple, which is spread over 21 acres in the suburbs of LA, started in 2009. BAPS has 100odd temples all over the world. Of these, 50-odd are in the US and the UK. Ten shiploads of carved pink stone were especially sent from Rajasthan for this temple.

Interestingly, the temple is eco-friendly, to be powered by a solar power system. "It is a green temple, which has embraced renewable energy.

Saif-Kareena marriage is anti-Islam: Deoband Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband termed as "anti-Islam" the wedlock between film actors Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, saying the bride did not convert to Islam before the marriage. "According to the Muslim laws, since Kapoor has not converted to Islam, this marriage is anti-Islam," said Habibur Rahman, a senior cleric of the seminary. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor tied the knot on October 16. The couple got their marriage registered in Mumbai.

Although there were rumours that a 'nikaah' was held, Kapoor's close friend and fashion designer Manish Malhotra had said that there was a simple exchange of vows between the two actors, who have been dating for five years.

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Farmers land in Maharashtra gifted to Gadkari: Kejriwal India Against Corruption accused BJP president Nitin Gadkari of accepting favours from the CongressNCP government in Maharashtra, apparently seeking to level the political field on the issue of corruption and asking people to support their just-launched party. Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Anjali Damania accused Gadkari of securing allotment of 100 acres in Vidarbha, diversion of water meant for farm irrigation for his factories and causing pollution. They also listed Gadkari’s varied business interests — from power plants to sugar factories to distilleries — to question his competence to lead the public.

The activists alleged that the favours cornered by Gadkari from the CongressNCP government in Maharashtra were part of a quid pro quo which hamstrung the BJP from acting as the opposition in the state. They said former irrigation minister and deputy CM of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar overruled objections of officials to give away 100

acres acquired for an irrigation project to Gadkari at the cost of farmers who were cultivating it. “This is a classic case of collusion among politicians. Land is acquired for public purpose but is gifted to the BJP leader at the cost of farmers. In return, Gadkari remains silent about the loot of Rs 70,000 crore meant for irrigation projects in Vidarbha region,” Kejriwal said. To back up the charge, the activists recalled Damania’s allegation that Gadkari had refused to take up the issue of irrigation scheme when she approached him in August 2012. The activist quoted Gadkari as saying, “Chaar kaam wo hamare karte hain, char kaam ham unke karte hain (we keep

The holy Ganga is a poisonous river today. It’s so full of killer pollutants that those living along its banks in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal are more prone to cancer than anywhere else in the country, says a recent study.

Conducted by the National Cancer Registry Programme under the Indian Council of Medical Research, the study throws up shocking findings. The river is thick with heavy metals and lethal chemicals that cause cancer, it says. “We know that the incidence of cancer was highest in the country in areas drained by the Ganga. We also know why.

Now, we are going deeper into the problem.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to present a report to the health ministry in a month or two,” says NCRP head A Nandkumar. The worsthit stretches are east Uttar Pradesh, the flood plains of Bengal and Bihar.

Cancer of the gall bladder, kidneys, food pipe, prostate, liver, kidneys, urinary bladder and skin are common in these parts. These cases are more frequently found here than elsewhere in

India, the study says. Gall bladder cancer cases along the course of the Ganga are the second highest in the world and prostate cancer highest in the country. A survey by the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) throws up more scary findings: Of every 10,000 people surveyed, 450 men and 1,000 women were gall bladder cancer patients.

Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar’s Vaishali and rural Patna and the extensive tract between Murshidabad and South 24-Parganas in West Bengal are the hot zones. In these parts, of every 1 lakh people surveyed, 20-25 were cancer patients. This is a national high. Relentless discharge of pollutants into the riverbed is responsible.

“This is the consequence of years of abuse.

Over years, industries along the river have been releasing harmful effluents into the river. The disposing of waste has been arbitrary and unscientific. The river and those living along its banks are paying a price for this indiscretion,” Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute director Jaideep Biswas said.

Nitin Gadkari

helping each other).”

Bhushan and Kejriwal also said that while dams had been built for farm irrigation, water stored in those were being diverted to industries belonging to Gadkari and other politicians.

Likewise, they alleged that discharge of effluents from Gadkari’s Purti sugar factory had polluted the environment in the vicinity and, also, that an NGO belonging to the BJP chief was allotted government land even when it was not engaged in anything serious. The charges were milder than what BJP had feared and fell short of the “bombshell” that the activists promised last week. BJP was relieved, although its irritation with the activists for denting their “moral” edge over corruption showed through in the press conference where Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley fiercely defended Gadkari.

They said the activists trumped up charges against Gadkari in order to establish moral equivalence between Congress and BJP and launch their

own political platform.

India Against Corruption leader Arvind Kejriwal said his revelations about alleged corrupt dealings involving BJP chief Nitin Gadkari were "the tip of the iceberg" and a detailed probe would bring out "more truths". A day after his disclosures targeting Gadkari, the activistturned-politician told reporters here: "If there is a detailed investigation, more truths will be exposed."

"We have just started the process, it has to be taken forward."Kejriwal had accused Bharatiya Janata Party president Gadkari of grabbing land from Maharashtra farmers in collaboration with the Congress government in the state.The BJP is in the opposition in Maharashtra, where the NCP-Congress coalition rules. Gadkari had denied the charges as baseless, and sad he was ready for a probe. A day after Nitin Gadkari was accused of land grab and corruption, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Thursday described the BJP president as a "responsible man".

Former IPS officer-turnedactivist Y.P. Singh accused union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of being at the centre of a massive irrigation scam in Maharashtra.

Y.P. Singh also slammed India Against Corruption (IAC) leader Arvind Kejriwal for his selective exposures against politicians and alleged that he did not reveal all the information pertaining to the scam that they had both worked to expose.

"IAC had all information pertaining to the irrigation scam in Maharashtra but Kejriwal did not reveal all the facts. Y.P. Singh's claims came a day after Kejriwal targeted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari, accusing him of receiving personal favours by getting around 100 acres of agriculture land in Maharashtra after the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government

there allegedly bent rules to favour him.

Targeting Pawar over the Lavasa Corporation case, he claimed that the agriculture minister was at the centre of the real scam.

An associate of Y.P. Singh also pointed out that Kejriwal's contention that the farmers' land that was acquired should be returned to the farmers was against Supreme Court guidelines.

"According to the apex court, such land cannot be returned to the farmers as it has already been purchased from them. There has to be a public auction of such land," said Abha Singh, who is also a lawyer.

Ganga now a deadly Sharad Pawar involved in massive irrigation scam source of cancer

Sharad Pawar

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Overseas Friends of BJP welcomes meeting between Modi and Bevan

Yash Chopra, Bollywood’s ‘king of romance’ is no more Continued from page 1

Overseas friends of BJP UK are indeed very pleased with the decision of Government of UK to reestablish diplomatic contacts with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

As the president of overseas friends of BJP UK, I, Lalubhai Parekh, give credit to Shree C B Patel of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, who has played a very important part since 2002. He, as a journalist of highest integrity has made efforts to present the positive side of the Modi Government unlike any other print or electric media, which has been portraying negative aspects of the governance of the state of Gujarat all the time. Credit must also go to genuine efforts made by Honorable Barry Gardiner MP, Honorable Keith Vaz MP and honorable Bob Blackman MP who have been instrumental for re-establishment and recognition of the ability of our chief minister.

Of course, young Manoj Ladwa, with his legal skills along with Smt Smruti Irani during her visit to London in April with the help of good offices of Lord Popat, were able to convince the Government of UK to take the right step in the right direction about Gujarat.

I have read the article on page 27 of Asian Voice issue of 20/10/12 heading "Britain's decision to restore links with Modi is long overdue." I would like to convey the message on behalf of overseas friends of BJP that we are indeed grateful to Lord Popat and I will not use the word "obliged" as his lordship is one of us.

Overseas Friends of BJP said Mr Modi was widely admired all over India across the classes and by the top corporate leaders, as a strong administrator whose quick decision-making and strong focus on infrastructure contrasts sharply with the chaos and delays in other parts of India. Hugo Swire, the UK’s Foreign Office minister for India, earlier said that Mr Bevan was asked to meet Mr Modi and other leading figures in Gujarat soon.

The Tatas from India which runs and operates various iconic British names such as Jaguar, Tetley, Corus, Landrover etc have already made Gujarat their base for a lot of their projects after the red carpet welcome they received from the Gujarat Government when West Bengal did not allow the Nano project to operate.

Today various institu-

tions and countries around the world are studying and getting positive inspiration from “The Gujarat Model” and BJP is ready to soon make it “The Indian Model”!

Last but not the least OFBJP would also like to thank the thousands of Gujarati Diaspora living in United Kingdom for their tireless work and goodwill to bring about this change.

CIM protests UK govt’s decision Council of Indian Muslims - UK (CIM) Patron Lord Adam Patel of Blackburn has sent an open letter to Foreign Secretary Mr William Jefferson Hague protesting against British Government’s decision to “engage” with Gujarat Chief Minister Modi responsible for the massacre of more than 800 Muslims in his state in 2002.

The letter says: We are dismayed at the news of British Government’s failure to learn from history.

We are aghast and appalled that like Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s unwise move to try to please Hitler in 1939, the present Government has now decided to repeat a similar blunder and has gone out of its way to “engage” and

“rehabilitate” Modi who does not only belong to a fascist party but is responsible for the massacre of more than two thousand Muslims.

If this sounds exaggeration then please allow us to quote from the leaked report of British High Commission in India according to which the pogroms in Gujarat in 2002, “had all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing and that reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims is impossible while the chief minister remains in power.” It further said, “far from being spontaneous” this massacre, “was planned, possibly months in advance, carried out by an extremist Hindu organisation with the support of the state government.”

Sadly, for Modi there could be no opportune time, and no bad time for Indian Muslims, to be given such a “reward” when he is busy in his election campaign. Modi and his supporters - some of whom are, ironically, sitting inside the British parliament - are understandably jubilant at this grand success and have begun to portray it as Modi’s “moral” victory and a certificate of exoneration by what has come to be

known as “International Community”.

We are particularly disappointed because no consultation was done with British Indian Muslims in general and in particular the families whose members were butchered by Modi’s foot soldiers.

Mr Foreign Minister, this is not the first time when British Government has shown such open weakness. We are on record to have requested present as well as previous governments not to allow into Britain Hindutwa leaders who had been involved in the demolition of Babri Mosque and the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat but not a single time has any one of them been denied entry into Britain. On the contrary Muslims, like Indian televangelist Dr Zakir Naik, against whom there is not even a single allegation of murdering or terrorising anyone have been denied entry into Britain.

We really find ourselves at a loss and have no words to express our utter disappointment, frustration and therefore very humbly request you to review your decision. Asian Voice earlier tried to contact Lord Adam Patel for his comments, but he was not available for comment.

But more importantly, he produced the blockbuster “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” (1995) - directed by son Aditya (YRF’s boss) - which turned Shah Rukh into an A-list romantic star.

Nobody popularized chiffon saris like Chopra.

His later films often had ardent lovers bouncing in picture postcard Switzerland; so much so that the European country even named a train in his honour. Yet the title, ‘King of Romance’, was a late acquisition for the Lahoreborn filmmaker.

In a directorial career spanning over five decades, Chopra effortlessly hopped from one genre to another. Human drama (Dhool Ka Phool), stylish social (Waqt), and songless murder mystery (Ittefaq, his most experimental film) – he did it all.

Born in 1932 in Lahore, he initially assisted brother B R Chopra in the film production. He made his debut as director with “Dhool Ka Phool” (1959).

He launched Yash Raj Films in 1971. First YRF film was “Daag”. “Deewar” helped create Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘angry young man’ image and gave Indian cinema its iconic line “Mere paas maa hain”.

Continued from page 1

When asked whether the chief minister will be given visa to visit Britain, Bevan said, “Mr Modi hasn’t asked for visa. If he asks for one, we will decide on merit. As per the process we decide about visa on a case-to case basis.”

“During the meeting, Modi, keeping in mind the large number of Gujarat origin people living in the UK, urged him to start an office of deputy British High Commission in Gujarat,” said an official statement from Gujarat g o v e r n m e n t .

Acknowledging Britain’s expertise in the field of climate change, Modi sought its cooperation in addressing the issue, besides enhanced cooperation in infrastructure. Modi said there were great opportunities for British companies, particularly in projects like Gujarat International Finance Teccity and port development.

Modi also sought efforts from the British government to provide “proper and authentic guidance” to prospective students, the statement said. “CM also told the British government to guard interest of students due to a large number of unrecognised colleges in UK which dupe them,” a state official said.

Modi specifically conveyed best wishes from him and the people of Gujarat for the success of diamond

jubilee celebrations of the accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne.

He presented a memento for the British prime minister and also to the visiting dignitary - a Rogan painting by an artist from Kutch, reflecting the 2,000 year-old art tradition.” Modi also presented them his book on climate change, Convenient Action. Bevan said, “In my meeting with the chief minister, I reaffirmed the British government’s wish to ensure justice for the families of the three British citizens who were killed in the riots and our commitment to support the judicial process now underway.” He added, “Today I called on the chief minister, governor, Congress president and NGO representatives. Gujarati is most dynamic community even in UK and we want to strengthen ties now and develop the business. We would be focusing on education, science and innovation energy and climate change. We also discussed the broader questions of justice and good governance. Since we are interested in prospects of trade ties, the Vibrant Gujarat summit would be the earliest opportunity to start with,” he said.

When asked why it took so long to resume ties with Gujarat and why the present time was selected

to do so, Bevan said, “It is not that we were not present in Gujarat and we have been doing business in Gujarat. This is increased engagement, not the starting point. The legal process (hinting at riot-related cases) has gone forward.” Clarifying further, Bevan stressed, “We are not taking any political stand here and the voters in Gujarat are smart enough to choose their leader. This is about engagement, it is not about endorsement. To meet the chief minister was part of the process. If you want to engage effectively with an Indian state, you need to engage with the chief minister.”

After meeting Modi, Bevan called on Governor Kamla Beniwal and state Congress president Arjun Modhwadia.

Supporting Gujarati Student studying in the UK One of the largest groups of Indian students that go to study in the UK is from Gujarat. Narendra Modi said that he had heard that in the past year many colleges have been forced to close by the UK government as they have been found to be bogus.

Many Gujarati students have been left stranded without money or ability to complete their education as a result. He said "I would request the UK government to provide infor-

mation which my government would be happy to disseminate to our students before they apply for courses. I want to encourage more student exchange programmes between the Gujarat and the UK. UK Students are very welcome to come and experience life and study in Gujarat."

Strengthening ties Mr Modi said "Ultimately our relations can only be strengthened through more dialogue and interaction. I would therefore support the enhancement of the UK’s consular and trade & investment presence in Gujarat." This was a clear sign that Modi would welcome the establishment of a British Deputy High Commission in the state, should the UK government decide that that would be a most appropriate outcome of Mr Bevan's visit to Gujarat.

The meeting between Modi and Bevan has created some controversy.

Britain has been accused of putting economic expediency before moral responsibility as it ended a decade-old European boycott imposed after religious riots in which at least 800 people, including three Britons were killed.

The timing of the visit, two months before state elections, has led to accusations that Britain is inter-

fering in Indian politics and helping to rehabilitate the controversial leader. At the time Mr Modi, then a newly elected state leader, appeared to justify the violence as Hindus in the state hacked Muslims to death after 58 pilgrims died in a train fire blamed on Islamic arsonists. “Those still waiting for justice include the families of Saeed and Shakeel Dawood and Mohammed Aswat, from West Yorkshire, who were caught up in the carnage during a sight-seeing tour.

A former British diplomat who found Saeed Dawood’s charred bones a month later gave evidence in February at the trial of six men accused of killing the tourists. Hugo Swire, the Foreign Office minister, said that Mr Bevan would raise the case, but Saeed’s brother said that the family was not consulted and had lodged a complaint.

However, British Gas and BP both have substantial interests in Gujarat, with the former in talks with the state-owned fuel firm to build a gas terminal in a deal worth an estimated £465 million. British diplomats insist that the decision to end the boycott is not linked to the promotion of any single deal. They acknowledge, however, that the decision to end the boycott was taken principally on economic grounds.

Britain opens new chapter with Modi

On Monday morning, Bevan arrived at the Chief Minister’s Office and spent over 50 minutes with the chief minister discussing issues ranging from trade and industries, education and energy to climate change. While the Gujarat government officials called the meeting ‘extremely successful’ and said Britian was highly impressed with Gujarat’s radical and dynamic growth, Bevan later in the evening stated that the visit was to strengthen the ties with the Gujarat government as part of Britian’s exercise to augment bilateral relations with India.

Bevan said, “We want to secure justice for the families of the three British nationals who were killed in 2002. We want to support human rights and good governance in the state. We want to provide the best possible support for British nationals who live in, work in or visit Gujarat; and to the many Gujaratis who now make up one of the most successful and dynamic communities in the UK. And, as part of this government’s commitment to strengthen relations with India, we want to ensure that we provide a full and consistent range of services across the whole country, including in Gujarat.”

travel & WOMEN

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

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women achievers

Sunali Rathod - A singer from the age of ten

By AV Correspondent

Hong Kong is one of the most buzzing, vibrant Asian cities to visit, easily recognisable for its stunning glittering skyline and deep natural harbour. The best time to go is October through to March with mild weather and minimal rainfall. The top attraction is a visit to The Peak where you can take a slow, almost vertical train to the top of the island for unforgettable views of the harbour. A beautiful time to visit is before sunset to enjoy day and night views, and with many restaurants at the top, enjoy dinner overlooking the dusky sky.

must see is the Symphony of Lights laser show in the evenings, where the best place to watch is along the Avenue of Stars (alongside Bruce Lee’s statue), Hong Kong’s version of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Afterwards for an authentic Dim Sum dinner, try Serenade restaurant at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, then stroll up Nathan Road for designer shopping malls or haggle away at cheap street markets shooting off from the main road. There is a beautiful jade market bursting with jewellery dedicated to this

Sunali Rathod is a playback and a trained classical singer. Though she has not spent her childhood in Gujarat but has never felt disassociated as well from the Gujarati culture or its origin and roots. Sunali who was born in Maharashtra started to perform at the age of 10 under the guidance of Gujarati music composer Purshottam Upadhyay.

During this stage she was introduced to Pandit Hridayanath Mangeshkar, who became her mentor.

She also learnt the intricacies of Indian classical music under the guidance of Ustaad Faiyyaz, Niyaz Ahmed Khan, Ustad Mashkoor and Mubarak Ali Khan of Kirana School of Music.

She can sing in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, English and Telugu. She has been in the music industry and has many albums to her credit. She has been travelling abroad for concerts and has been catering to the Gujarati

diaspora. Sunali has many bhajan, artis and garbas to her credit which is played out at many garba venues not only in Gujarat but also in Mumbai dandiya venues.

Many of the songs that she has sung and given voice the are composed by her music director husband Roop Kumar Rathod. She was a playback singer for many Gujarati films as well.

She has been in the business of singing from quite an early age and it was during this time that her potential was realised by many. She though did not treat singing as a profession but realised that her talent could not be neglected as well. So she started the journey of a musical extravaganza.

She was born and brought up in Mumbai and studied at St. Xavier's College there. She is married to Roop Kumar Rathod, playback singer, music director and a music composer. They also have a daughter named Reewa.

Sunali gave her first stage performance at the age of 10 with Shri

Purshottam Upadhyay. At the age of 18, she released her first EP record of Gujarati song with HMV. In 1987, she released her first Ghazal album, ‘Aghaaz’.

She also won the Best Ghazal singer award in 1987 by Emirates International in Dubai. She has sung various types of music such as Ghazal, Bhajan, Kheyal, Tappa and Light music. On 15 August, 2005 Sunali and Roop gave a guest appearances in the sitcom called Sarabhai vs Sarabhai. She along with her husband participated in Mission Ustaad, an Indian musical reality show and was crowned with the “Ustaad Jodi’ title. She also performed in a webcert called “She is a Winner” celebrating Women's day in 2011 along with artists like Hema Sardesai, Kuhoo Gupta, Sunita Rao, Shibani Kashyap and many more.

She recently released a sufi album, Kalmaa, along with her husband. Sunali was crowned as the best Ghazal singer in 1986 for her debut album ‘Aaghaaz.’

Don't give mobile phone to girls, says BSP MP Rajpal Singh Saini

The 3 main regions to visit are Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. The New Territories is the rural area of Hong Kong, and still relatively untouched by tourism but if you want a real flavour of rural life, book a day tour to see local culture or a boat tour to see the smaller islands. On Hong Kong island, visit the Peak, take a sampan (boat ride) for a fascinating insight into the fishing culture, see the coastal gem Repulse Bay and enjoy a spot of bargaining at Stanley market. Lan Kwai Fong is the area for urban chic with top notch hotels, restaurants offering international cuisines and great bar hopping offering all types of music and cocktails with fantastic happy hour promotions.

To visit the mainland, take a Star Ferry over to Kowloon (attached to the mainland), the hotspot for tourists with the famous Tsim Sha Tsui (the Golden Mile) offering a plethora of hotels to stay in, great shopping, and nightlife. Visit the iconic landmark, the Clock Tower and a

green gemstone, as well as numerous clothes, bags, leather and handicrafts markets. Getting around Kowloon is easy with an efficient metro service (MTR) and cabs are not too expensive. To escape from the hustle and bustle of this happening city, visit Lantau island for long sandy beaches, parks, beautiful nature walks and hikes. For families, Hong Kong also offers an amazing Disneyland for a day of thrilling rides and adventure.

To truly explore Hong Kong, you need a minimum of a week to cover as much of this incredible place as possible. With a 7 night stay including flights and hotel from just £889pp if you book with Brightsun Travel, Hong Kong is an ideal choice for your next holiday. Brightsun Travel is Atol bonded so your payment is protected, giving you peace of mind and they offer a price match promise on worldwide flights and holidays so you will get the best deals. For your tailor-made holiday, call Brightsun Travel on 0208 819 0486 or visit www.brightsun.co.uk

A Bahujan Samaj Party MP has kicked off a controversy by saying that girls should not be given mobile phones. "Don't give mobile phones to children, especially girls. I say this at all the places where I make my speeches. And if any of these kids have a mobile, take them away.

What are they missing anyway? What are the girls missing without mobile," Rajya Sabha MP Rajpal Singh Saini said in

Spinach pakoras are delicious as a snack. Spinach pakoras can be served many different ways and they always taste great.

Ingredients; For Batter: ½ cup gram flour (basen),1 tablespoon corn starch (arrow root powder), ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera) 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon asafetida (hing), About 3/4 cup water, 30 fresh spinach leaves Oil to fry.

Method: Mix all the dry ingredients together: besan, corn starch, black pepper, cumin seeds, asafetida, and salt. Corn starch adds to the crispness. Add the water slowly to make a smooth batter (batter should be thin consistency). Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. The frying pan should have at least 1 ½ inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away.

Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

"Our mothers, sisters... did they die if there were no mobiles during their time," he said addressing party workers.

Saini also reportedly

conveyed this view to a man who sought his help after his daughter had eloped. The BSP leader told him that the mobile phone was the main cause behind his daughter's elopement.

The BSP leader's comments come months after a panchayat in Baghpat had banned love marriages and barred women below 40 from going out for shopping and using mobile phones outside their homes.

Spinach Pakoras

Dip the spinach leaf into the batter one at a time, making sure it is covered by the batter completely; wipe it from side of the batter bowl making sure batter is evenly spread over spinach. Then, slowly drop in the slices into the frying pan. Fry the pakoras in small batches. The pakoras will take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook. Turn them occasionally. Fry the pakoras until both sides are golden-brown.The crispy, delicious pakoras are now ready to serve.

They can be stored for several days in air tight container.

Health benefits: The magnesium contained in

spinach helps prevent diabetes; iodine helps treat skin diseases and strengthens the immune system; vitamin K contributes to bone resistance; vitamin B improves cerebral activity, helps in maintaining the firmness of the skin and controls insomnia; potassium stimulates the cardiac muscle; beta-carotene prevents sight problems and sulfur increases hair attractiveness.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Shruthi Haasan gets dehydrated Shruthi Haasan is unable to cope with the scorching heat at a village near Pune, where she is shooting for her upcoming Hindi movie, being directed by Prabhu Deva. "I have been facing dehydration due to the heat.

So I am waiting to complete this schedule soon," says Shruthi, adding that working with Prabhu Deva is a nice experience. The movie in question is the Hindi remake of Telugu hit 'Nuvvostanante Nenodattana', which too was directed by Prabhu Deva. It was later remade in Tamil as 'Unakkum Enakkum'. Meanwhile, Shruthi will soon start shooting for a Telugu movie soon. Titled 'Balupu', the film has Ravi Teja in the lead role. Shruthi is playing a humour filled role.

Raja Rani shooting begins Director Atlee's directorial debut, “Raja Rani,” began shooting with actor Kamal Haasan inaugurating the event. The film features Arya, Nayanthara and Jai in the lead and is expected to be an aggressive triangular love story. Produced by A.R. Murugadosss' and Fox Star Studios, the film began its first schedule at a bungalow in Greams road. It consisted of a song sequence involving Jai and Nayanthara. Arya is expected to join the team after completing his current project 'Settai', for which he is currently shooting in Mumbai. The actor will therefore be joining the team in the second schedule.

Amy Jackson excited about visiting China Amy Jackson, after the success of her film “Thaandavam” has joined the team of 'I', which will be Director Shankar's next in Tamil cinema. The project also features Vikram and the upcoming shooting schedule is planned to take place in China, in the Northern Huan province. Amy, who calls herself an adventure junkie, says she loves to travel to different locations and visit places and is very excited about the prospect of visiting China. She plans on taking a two day break the visiting and Zhangjiajie National Park which happens to be in the vicinity. The team is set to shoot continuously for more than 40 days in the province in a prolonged schedule in order to take the film forward.

Hot Garam masala

Akshay Kumar's daring moves!

Big B invited as guest of honour at Italy film fest

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has reportedly been invited to attend the 12th edition of River to River Florence Indian Film Festival in Italy as the guest of honour. The 70-year-old has been invited as an official guest for the first time at a festival in Italy, and he will be there to present some of his films including "Deewaar", "Sholay", "Black" and a documentary on his life, said a statement adding that Selvaggia Velo, director of the festival, is excited to have Big B in Florence. The River to River Florence Indian Film Festival is the only festival in Italy that is entirely devoted to Indian cinema. The festival will take place at Cinema Odeon, in Florence, Dec 7-13, under the patronage of the Embassy of India and the Italy-India Association.

I am ambitious but I won't kill myself for work: Jacqueline

Three years back, Jacqueline Fernandez took a shot at Bollywood with her film “Aladdin.” On the personal front, the lady learnt to be patient and wiser for her years. “It was my third Hindi film ‘Murder 2’ that gave me my first hit. I am now in my third year in Bollywood, and it's full of promise. I hope that I get my third hit with my film that's releasing early next year. Well, my journey's been a bit of a struggle, lots of ups and downs, but I am learning to take everyday as it comes and make the most out of it. Plus, I have learnt through trial and error that patience is the key to surviving in Bollywood. Sometimes, I feel I have aged 30 years in these last three years. I used to live in a lot of fear of what was to come and of people judging me negatively. But I have learnt to let go and living for myself, family, friends and amazing memories are all that matter to me. Also, I have learnt to voice my opinions and not fear the outcomes of being honest.”

Finally, Salman says yes to Angela Johnson

It's finally happening for Angela Johnson. After a nearly 2-year wait her celluloid debut is happening. Salman Khan has not only given his final nod to Angela as his leading lady in his prestigious home production “Sher Khan,” director Sohail Khan has dropped the second leading lady's part, so that the focus of attention would be completely on the lissome Ms Johnson. A source close to the project said, “There were two leading ladies in the script. But now the second girl's role has been scrapped, so that Angela gets full attention. Angela would also be required to train in some serious martial arts since her part in Sher Khan is being described as a combination of Lara Croft and Fearless Nadia.” Several elaborate action scenes are planned for the leading lady. She would be trained by a slew of international stunt-men.

Akshay 'Khiladi' Kumar took his penchant for daredevil stunts a step further. While shooting a song titled Baawariya for his next “Khiladi 786” at a suburban mall, the actor climbed on to the tiny space in front of a side wall on the second floor and broke into an impromptu jig. Akshay tried taking permission from choreographer Ganesh Acharya before attempting the stunt, but despite everyone present telling him this wasn't part of the sequence, the actor persisted. An eyewitness said "That spot was like no mans land but Akshay wanted to go there. The director and the producer both warned him saying they didn't have a safety harness. However, Akshay didn't listen." It was like walking a tightrope so much so when Akshay stepped down, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Aamir Khan honoured for 'Satyamev Jayate' Bollywood star Aamir Khan, along with Star India CEO Uday Shankar, was honoured for creating awareness against social discrimination through the issue-based reality show "Satyamev Jayate". The actor says the award is special. Aamir and Shankar were conferred the honour by National Commission for Scheduled Castes at a function in New Delhi. "I feel very special today. I am humbled with the kind of love, respect and support that you people have given to me. This honour is not just for me, but also for my team who worked so hard on the show that we were able to understand it and present it to all of you," Aamir said at the ceremony.

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

29

‘Barfi’ wins hearts at Busan film festival

“Barfi!,” India's official entry at the Oscars, won hearts at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea when it was screened recently. An audience of 4,000 gave a standing ovation to Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, the lead actors of the Anarag Basu directed Disney UTV movie.

Amrita Pandey, Executive Director, Syndication, International Distribution and Disney Media Distribution, Studios, Disney UTV, said, “Barfi!'s success proves that audiences all over are embracing Indian cinema. Audiences are encouraging us as an industry to work with new ideas and subjects. The unprecedented response for the film across the globe in both traditional release markets and newer markets is a step in the right direction. We were very encouraged with the response and are looking forward to the theatrical release in South Korea."

Ranbir Kapoor, who essays a deaf and mute character named 'Murphy' in the film said, “We are thrilled by the amazing reception we have received from audiences who came from across the globe to attend the festival. Priyanka Chopra, who plays the autistic 'Jhilmil' in the film said, showcasing the film at the Busan International Film Festival was a special experience for all of us in the team. I am thrilled with the response received for the film and also for my performance. This was the first film festival to showcase Barfi! and I'm looking forward to many more!"

Bollywood bids tearful adieu to Yash Chopra

‘Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana’ to be released on Nov 2 “Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana” - UTV Spotboy’s presentation of AKFPL Production in association with Jar Pictures - is a family drama. It has humor as its undertone and is a heartwarming tale of love, legacy, discovery, affection and above all – Food! The film releases on November 2nd, 2012 worldwide.

The story is about Omi Khurana, whose London dream has just ended. On the run from a dangerous UK gangster whom he owes money to, Omi returns to his native village in Punjab, pretending to be a well-heeled London lawyer. The old man has since become senile and most importantly, forgotten the secret recipe of “Chicken Khurana” a dish that made the Khurana dhaba (restaurant) famous across Punjab. “Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana” – a delectable comedy served up this 2nd November by the team that gave you “Khosla Ka Ghosla” & “Dev D.” Anurag Kahsyap, the filmmaker, will

celebrate the release of the film with a ‘Chicken Party'. Kashyap and his actress wife Kalki Koechlin are planning to host a chicken party for their close friends, prior to the release of his production venture.

The couple is reported to be hosting friends such as Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Manoj Bajpayee.

Famous for his gritty film direction in the lauded “Gangs of Wasseypur, Kashyap is now exploring the more gentile world of cookery with his latest film venture. As part of the promotions, he is serving up a different platter altogether by releasing a cookery book that will feature chicken recipes sourced from across the globe.

Ever since it was announced that the makers of the film would reward the best recipe for a chicken dish, they have been flooded with requests from dhabas all over Punjab to allow them to participate too in the competition.

Sunny Leone signs three-film deal Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone, who sizzled in her Bollywood debut “Jism 2,” has reportedly signed a three-film deal with Alumbra Entertainment. Sunny will shoot the first film in the second quarter of 2013 and the remaining will be shot later.

As of now, the subjects of the movies are being finalised between Alumbra Entertainment and the actress. "Sunny will do her third, fourth and fifth film after “Jism 2” and “Ragini MMS 2” with us. We will share details at the opportune moment," said a spokesperson for Alumbra Entertainment, associated with the recent release “Bhoot Returns.’ The company is also producing “Ab Tak Chhappan 2,” “Warning” and another film based on the 26/11 attacks.

India’s legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra’s last rites were performed at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Mumbai on Monday afternoon. While his eldest son Aditya performed the rites, younger son Uday and their friends Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar were also present at the funeral.

Like his films, there was dignity in his departure too. A filmmaker said, “The crowds at the spot were not unruly and everybody respected the family’s privacy. Only family members and close friends were allowed to enter the crematorium.”

Earlier in the day, fans, film personalities

and government dignitaries visited Yash Raj Studio to pay their last respect to the king of romance. There was a touch of sentimentality as Chopra’s body, covered with flowers, was kept at the studio’s Stage 3, where his last interview was conducted by Shah Rukh Khan, his favourite leading man for the last 20 years. A large blackand-white photograph of Chopra with candles lit around it formed the backdrop.

His sons Aditya and Uday, along with actress Rani Mukherji, stood in front of the photograph, accepting condolences offered by visitors who

kept streaming to the studio to pay tribute to the filmmaker.

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, actors Vidya Balan, Shahid Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Sridevi, Tanisha, Ranbir Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Kajol, Tabu, lyricist Gulzar, filmmakers Subhash Ghai, Mukesh Bhatt, Kabir Khan and David Dhawan and producer Boney Kapoor were some of the celebrities who dropped in on Monday. Many film personalities like Salman Khan, John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan visited the studio on Sunday night.

Ameesha’s sexiest shoot Ameesha Patel is back in a big way and some critics are shocked. The actress is looking younger and hotter as each day passes and the sexy girl, who recently endorsed a sunglasses brand, had a new photo shoot for the brand that will be revealed soon. According to sources, “This shoot is one of Ameesha's sexiest shoots and also very youthful. The people who are behind this brand are ready to now go out and distribute their products in various stores and expand their business in a big way.” The source further adds, “Their priority was to first get it famous before they actually get it to the market and what better way than having the gorgeous Ameesha Patel.” It is learnt that Ameesha is very excited about her look and is all ready to shock people. As she has been working hard on her body, she is getting ready for her own production Desi Magic as well.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

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LibDem Friends of India presents silver salver to Manibhai Patel

Chuni Chavda, Lord Dholakia, Manibhai T Patel MBE and Dr Jaimini Bhagwati

LibDem Friends of India held its annual dinner in Brighton, Sussex, on 24th September 2012, during the spring conference of the party. His Excellency Dr Jaymini Bhagwati, the High Commissioner for India, was the Chief Guest of honour.

Dr Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, represented the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Over 110 people attended the event, amongst them were many ministers, members of house of commons and

lords; members of the European parliament; members of the Scottish parliament; members of the Welsh assembly; members of the London Assembly and senior councillors.

During the event a silver salver was presented to Mr Manibhai T Patel MBE, a stalwart of the Liberal Democrats. The presentation of behalf of the LibDem Friends of India was made by the Chief Guest His Excellency Dr Jaymini Bhagwati, the High Commissioner for India.

COMPETITION If you want to win tickets to Diwali Festival 2012 hosted by Pankaj Sodha at Harrow Leisure Centre and meet your favourite stars Krystal and Karan on 3rd and 4th November, please answer the following question. The first 3 right entries (chosen on lottery basis) will receive a pair of tickets free.

Coming Events Navaratri Mahotstsav programme

l Saurashtra Leuva Patel samaj UK presents Sharad Purnima, 27 October 2012, 6:30pm-11pm, Kingsbury High School, London NW9 9AT. l Surrey Gujarati Hindu Society presents Coach trip for Diwali shopping to Leicester, 27 October 2012, 7am-7pm. Contact: Manjulaben: 020 8684 8158 l Hindu Council (Brent) presents Raas garba and Best dressed competition, 7:45pm, Sat 3 Nov, Copland Community HA9 7DU. Contact: 07976364515 l Oasis Banquet wedding hall, Barking, IGII OHZ, Lohana Community, East London. Sharad Poonam Garba on the 26th October l Navnat Vanik association UK Sharad Purnima garba on 27th Oct. Contact: Kirit Bataviya 020 8445 6890 l Sharad Poonam garba at LEI 2AA by Sidhashram Shakti Centre on 30th Oct. Raas Contact: 07947 915 334 l Sharad Poonam garba on Saturday, 27th Oct by Oshwal Mahajanwadi, 1, Campbell Road Croydon, CRO2SQ by Pig union UK trust.

Contact J.R Patel 01689 821 922 l Sharad Poonam garba on the 30th October, Byron hall, Harrow Leisure centre, Christ Church Avenue, Harrow HA3 5BD by International Siddhashram Shakti Centre. Contact: 020 8426 0678. l Sharad Poonam Garba on 26th October raas garba with Anand group at Oakington Manor school Oakington Manor Drive Wembley HA96NF. Contact: 020 8952 2371. l Sharad Poona on Monday 29th October 2012.

Also, Durgastami Havan, Monday 22nd October 2012- 11am to 4pm. For more details contact Jalaram Mandir, Greenford on 020 8578 8088. l Karamsad Samaj Navratri Festival. Sharad Poonam on Sunday 27th October 2012 at Barnhill Community High School, Middlesex. UB4 9LE. l Sardar Patel Memorial Society To Celebrate 136th Birth Anniversary of Bharat ratna Sardar Patel, 7.00pm, on Wednesday 31st October 2012 at The Archbishop Lanfranc School, Mitcham Rd. Croydon, Surrey CR9 3AS (Bus No 264). The Indian High Commissioner, Members of Parliament, councillors, dignitaries and all those who look upto Sardar are invited to grace the occasion A vegetarian buffet dinner will be served at 7.00pm.

Contact: Pravinbhai Amin: 020 8337 2873 l Soulful Sounds with Mehboob Nadeem & Hanif Khan Recital 31st October, Museum of Asian Music, 1 Bradford Road, London W3 7SP, 0208 742 9911

tion and regeneration. On a more practical level, you may be dealing with joint finances and shared resources now more than usual. You should also make sure that your tax affairs are in order. You are more willing than usual to explore and delve deeper into life's secrets and arrive at meaningful conclusions.

As the Sun transits your seventh house, you have a greater need than usual to be in a relationship. The emphasis is on "us" rather than "me". Social interactions of a personal nature are highlighted. This is likely to be an extremely busy time for most of you. Use tact and diplomacy in your dealing, otherwise you are likely to come across as over confident and egotistical.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

The Sun transits your solar sixth house and highlights your health and also makes you take pride in your day to day work. Hence, you should enhance your skills, get organized and take up a health regime for your well-being. This transit highlights the need for efficiency and as such you should bring in the new and get rid of the old ideas that do not work.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

After a period of relative inactivity, you are coming out of your shell, ready to perform and to express yourself creatively. This is a very progressive period of the year, when you are inspired emotionally. You take more pride in your your love affairs, your children, and your hobbies and are generally very sociable and make friends easily.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 With the Sun transiting your solar fourth house of family and home, these areas are highlighted during this period. Buying or selling of property or even renovating it will be uppermost in your mind as you will be trying to put your roots down permanently. It is also a time when family life will be charged with emotions so be diplomatic and respect other people's views.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 You are exploring and searching now, making connections, and paying attention to your immediate environment. Socially you are very popular and your communications strengthen your connections. You will be busy with errands, paperwork, phone calls, and light socializing.

Siblings, close relatives and friends may play an important role in your life during this period.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 The Sun highlights your second house of finance, and your focus is on material affairs and comfort issues. This is a good time to plan your future investments carefully to maximise your profits. If travelling make sure you keep your documents safe as there is a possibility of misplacing them. Some of you might change your travel itinerary.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 The Sun transits your first house and this affects your personal identity, appearance, outward behaviour, and self-expression. This marks the peak of your physical solar cycle, and you are in the position to make an impression on others, and to assert your personal influence.

Increased energy and a renewed feeling of confidence is with you now, so take advantage of your charisma to achieve your goals.

WHAT IS THE NEXT SHOW OF PANKAJ SODHA CALLED? Please email the right answer to aveditorial@abplgroup.com by 29th October 2012.

Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Freelance Correspondent: Rudy Otter Chief Operating Officer: Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 Email: george@abplgroup.com Chief Financial Officer: Surendra Patel Tel: 020 7749 4093 Mobile: 07875 229 220 Email: surendra.patel@abplgroup.com Accounts Executive: Akshay Desai Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email:accounts@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Alka Shah Tel: 020 7749 4002 - Mobile: 07944 151 893 Email: alka.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Business Development Managers: Rovin J George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Nihir Shah - Email: nihir.shah@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4089 - Mobile: 07875 229 111 Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Design and Layout: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Ragini Nayak Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd.

The Sun energizes your ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 sector of change, transforma-

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 The Sun travels through your twelfth house now, marking a time of retreat and regeneration. This also heralds a time for research and unfinished behind-the-scene activities. Matters which have dragged on for a while should now be re-assessed and put to rest. Some of you will be looking to spiritual enlightenment and take up yoga and meditation.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 The Sun illuminates your sector of friends, social gatherings and group activities.

You will be in constant demand and will be in a position to network with new-found friends who will promote your cause.

Personal relationships are also to the fore and some of you might even find true love. This is a time to follow your dreams and ideals.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

More than any other time of the year, your focus is drawn to your career and standing in the society. This is the time when you are more interested in, and focused on, accomplishing something important. Contact with authority figures is more likely during this period. Recognition will come your way whether you ask for it or not, and the responsibility that goes with it.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 You are feeling most adventurous and willing to achieve higher knowledge and spiritual growth. This is a good time to broaden your horizons through travel and higher learning. This may take you to far off lands in pursuit of your new-found goals. You must distance yourself from the mundane grind of life and take on something which is more meaningful for your inner growth.

SKIN, HAIR, NAILS

TABLETS

How to follow a stomach friendly diet Your stomach's strong lining and acidic atmosphere are designed to digest almost any food and substance. However, some foods seem to contribute to gas, bloating, burning or stomach discomfort after you eat them. In order to soothe your stomach and reduce painful symptoms, eat a stomach-friendly diet that avoids foods and drinks known to cause pain. We give you tips for a stomach- friendly diet.

How eating habits affect your stomach: If you experience stomach upset after eating, it's important to change both what you eat and how you eat, according to MedlinePlus. For example, eating smaller meals puts less strain on your lower esophageal sphincter, the tube that pushes food into the stomach.

When this sphincter becomes overloaded, food can reflux, or return, up the tube, causing pain and irritation. You also should refrain from eating two to three hours before going to bed. Reclining or lying down on a full stomach can press on your lower esophageal sphincter.

It's a good idea to try and eat more fibre, a diet rich in fibre can help digestion and prevent constipation. For a healthy bowel, you need a variety of fibre such as wholemeal bread, brown rice, fruit and veg, beans and oats.

Some people find that cereals and grains bring on bloating and irritable bowel syndrome. If that's the case, get your fibre from fruit and vegetables instead.

Drink plenty of fluids: It's important to keep drinking, especially water.

It encourages the passage of waste through your digestive system and helps soften stools. Fibre acts like a sponge, absorbing water, and without fluid the fibre can't do its job

and you'll get constipation.

A good way to make sure you are getting enough fluids is to drink a glass of water with every meal.

Avoid caffeine drinks as they can cause heartburn.

Cut down on fat: Fatty foods, such as chips, burgers and fried foods, are harder to digest and can cause stomach pain and heartburn. Cutting back on greasy, fried foods eases your stomach's workload.

Try to eat more lean meat and fish, drink skimmed or semi-skimmed milk and grill rather than fry foods.

Go easy on the spice: Many people love spicy food and it doesn't bother their digestive system.

Others find their tummy is upset when they have spicy food. It's not just scorching hot foods like chillies that trigger heartburn. Milder but flavourful foods like garlic and onion can also bring it on.

If spicy foods give you heartburn, stomach pain or diarrhoea, go easy on them in future. If you already have a problem like heartburn or an irritable bowel, avoid them completely.

Beware gut triggers.

Some people find that particular foods cause problems. Acidic foods such as tomatoes, citrus fruits, salad dressings and fizzy drinks can trigger heartburn; wheat and

To Our Readers We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement it. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

Learning new languages is a good way to keep the brain in shape and could encourage your brain to grow, shows a study. A group of researchers had an almost unique opportunity to observe what happens to the brain when we learn a new language in a short period of time.

Young recruits at the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy pick up a new language very fast, 13 months to be exact. Those with a flair for languages learn to speak fluently in Arabic, Russian or Dari within 13 months. From morning to evening, weekdays and weekends, the recruits study at a pace unlike on any other language course.

While the brain structure of the control group (not learning a new language) remained unchanged, specific parts of the brain of the language students grew. The parts

Children addicted to using electronic devices may suffer from "internet-use disorder", a newly discovered and serious mental illness, according to a new study.

Psychologists argue video game and internet addictions share the characteristics of other addicts, including emotional shutdown, lack of concentration and withdrawal symptoms if the gadgets are removed.

The formal inclusion of this new addiction in a worldwide psychiatric manual has been welcomed by Australian psychology professionals in response to a wave of "always-on" technology engulfing kids. Other fall-

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"We were surprised that different parts of the brain developed to different degrees depending on how well the students performed and how much effort they had had to put in to keep up with the course," said Johan Martensson, researcher in psychology at Lund University, Sweden.

Students with greater growth in the hippocampus and areas of the cere-

bral cortex related to language learning (superior temporal gyrus) had better language skills than the other students.In students who had to put more effort into their learning, greater growth was seen in an area of the motor region of the cerebral cortex (middle frontal gyrus).

The areas of the brain in which the changes take place are thus linked to how easy one finds it to learn a language and development varies according to performance.

Previous research from other groups has indicated that Alzheimer's disease has a later onset in bilingual or multilingual groups.

"Even if we cannot compare three months of intensive language study with a lifetime of being bilingual, there is a lot to suggest that learning languages is a good way to keep the brain in shape," said Martensson.

out can include devastating impacts for children and families as social interaction and even food are neglected in favour of the virtual worlds the children inhabit. Australian experts contributed to the Australian Psychological Society's submission to the international manual, supporting the inclusion of an addiction focused on internet gaming.

The inclusion acknowl-

edges risks posed by overuse of seemingly benign technologies, classifying internet-use disorder alongside other mental disorders that need further research before becoming a recognised mental illness that can be formally diagnosed.

Kyrios said once more research is invested in the disorder, it would allow health professionals to diagnose children with addictive behaviours from technology overuse and treat them appropriately, including strategies to change their obsessive over-reliance on being connected. He said children with underlying obsessive compulsive disorders could be at risk from technology overuse.

that developed in size were the hippocampus, a deeplying brain structure that is involved in learning new material and spatial navigation, and three areas in the cerebral cortex.

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Learning a language pushes brain growth

onions may cause irritable bowel syndrome and if you cannot digest lactose (the sugar in milk) you'll develop wind and diarrhoea after drinking milk or eating dairy products, including cream, cheese, yoghurt and chocolate.

Try to stay away from foods and drinks that trigger your digestive symptoms.

One way to figure out which foods cause your symptoms is to keep a food diary.

Choose the right drinks: Drinks with caffeine, such as coffee, colas, tea and some fizzy drinks, boost acid in the stomach leading to heartburn in some people. Fizzy drinks in general tend to bloat the tummy, which can also lead to heartburn.

To make digestive problems less likely, choose drinks that aren't fizzy and don't contain caffeine, such as herbal teas, milk and plain water. If you can't do without your coffee or builder's tea, limit your intake to one or two cups a day. Try tummy-friendly yoghurt Probiotics are so-called 'friendly bacteria' that also occur naturally in the gut and which have been linked to all sorts of health benefits, including helping irritable bowel syndrome and traveller's diarrhoea.

You can take probiotics as supplements (available from health food shops) or as live yoghurt, which is a good, natural source.

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Action at a Glance Lance Armstrong stripped of all titles

Stating that “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and deserves to be forgotten”, the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Monday stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles and banned him for life.

Endorsing the US Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to erase the rider’s entire career

record after August 1998, UCI president Pat McQuaid called the scandal “the biggest crisis” the sport has ever faced. Erasing all of Armstrong’s record post1998 would mean his best Tour de France finish will now go down as the 36th place he secured in 1995, a year before he was diagnosed with cancer.

McQuaid said cycling would have to leave the murky past behind and start all over again. “The UCI wishes to begin the journey on that path forward today by confirming that it will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and that it will recognize the sanction that USADA has imposed,” McQuaid added.

Tony Greig suffering from lung cancer

Former England cricket captain Tony Greig has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

The 66-year-old, who is now an accomplished commentator, is slated to undergo tests to determine what stage the disease is in and decide on the course of his treatment. “I have had a few scrapes in my life and this is another one. Vivian (Tony’s wife) and I are going to put the boxing gloves on and fight this like we have never fought anything before,” Greig is quoted as saying.

Former Pak batsman Ijaz Ahmed charged in forgery case

Asian Voice - Saturday 27th October 2012

Saina wins prestigious Denmark Open title

India’s Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal breezed past Germany’s Juliane Schenk 2117, 21-8 to clinch the prestigious Denmark Open title, a Super Series Premier event, on Sunday.

It promptly lifted the third seed into a higher stratosphere, making her the top seed for the French Open starting in week. This is Saina’s 18th international triumph, adding to her wins in Thailand and Indonesia earlier in June to already make 2012 a remarkable year for her.

After scaling the Chinese Wall, in the form of past nemesis world No. 1 Wang Yihan, there was only way she could lose this final: by becoming complacent or making too many unforced errors. She was in no mood for that, stamping her authority on the match comfortably.

The 35-minute victory fetched her a purse of $30,000, and her second Super Series Premier trophy.

“I never thought I could win this title in my present situation,” said Saina after the win, pointing to her knee.

“But it’s a fantastic feeling, just too good to describe. I did not think about winning because my knee was not good and I had so many other obligations after the Olympic medal. May be that is the rea-

son I was fresh and I feel wonderful. I thank the fans here and at home for keeping me focused throughout,” she said.

The Indian star needed the first two rounds to find her rhythm; but after that she was in a different zone. She blew past two-time AllEngland champion Tine Baun in the quarters, overwhelmed world champion Yihan in the semifinals before toying with Juliane in the final.

With a 5-3 career win record against the world No. 7, Saina began confidently jumping into a 4-0 lead. But Juliane prolonged the rallies and took control of the bird, forcing unforced errors from her. Soon they were level at 9-9. Moving swiftly and tossing the shuttle high, Juliane tried her best to confine Saina to the back court.

But the game plan back-

fired as Juliane ended up running around a lot and she started looking tired. Saina seemed to be comfortably calling the shots from the middle. From 10-10, Saina moved ahead with a smash.

Juliane pushed hard after the break, seeking longer to even level at 17-17.

A net chord in favour of Saina, however, rattled Juliane as she fired the next two beyond the lines. At 2017, Saina dragged Juliane to her forehand side and produced a power-packed smash which landed on the left. It was all Saina in the second game. As the world No. 4 won point after point without much effort a dazzled Juliane looked lost. After Saina broke free from 5-5, the German girl hardly gave a fight and did not even bother to return the last serve.

Kevin Pietersen included in Australia’s decision to honour England squad for India tour Sachin upsets Matthew Hayden The ECB last week announced that Kevin Pietersen has been added to the England's Test squad for the forthcoming India tour in November. ECB national elector Geoff Miller added: "We are pleased to welcome a player of Kevin's proven international caliber back into the Test squad for such an important series. Kevin will join up with the squad as soon as his Champions League commitments are complete."

The decision was made after Pietersen met with Andy Flower, Alastair Cook and a number of other senior players and members of England team management earlier ECB Managing Director - England Cricket, Hugh Morris said: "We were keen that Kevin should hold a series of face-to-face meet-

ings with team management and senior players before the Test squad departs for the UAE and India.

"The meetings were constructive and cordial and all outstanding issues have been resolved. All the England players and management are now keen to draw a line under this matter and fully focus on the cricketing challenge that lies ahead in India."

Upset at Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar getting the Order of Australia, former batsman Matthew Hayden said the honour should be "exclusive" to his countrymen. "Now, if Sachin was living in Australia give him the Prime Minister's gong I reckon - but the reality of it is he's living in India," Hayden told a radio show.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the honour for Sachin during a recent visit to India. Hayden,

who is also a former recipient of the title, said only Australians should be conferred with such awards as they are about national honour. "I think it should be exclusive to Australians...I'm not so sure. There are things that are sacred amongst our country," Hayden said.

"I kind of understand the point of the fact that he has been such an iconic figure here in Australia and there's an enormous population of Indians that are working here and living here very happily and in harmony with Australia that have naturalised and I think that's a great part of our country, how multi-cultural that we are," he explained.

Sachin is only the second Indian after former attorney general Soli Sorabjee to get the honour.

Bombay HC upholds BCCI's decision to terminate Deccan Chargers

A Pakistan court has charged former Test batsman Ijaz Ahmad in a forgery case, which has its origins in 2009. Ijaz, while serving as Pakistan's national fielding coach in 2009, was arrested following a police complaint by a businessman for forging a cheque. Ijaz spent six weeks in jail before being released on bail. The court hasn't issued an arrest warrant and adjourned the hearing until November 10, ordering the prosecution witnesses to appear in court.

Magistrate Imtiaz Ahmed said Ijaz was on bail and was facing a trial with respect to issuing false cheques worth Rs 10 million.

Ijaz, 44, played 60 Tests and 250 ODIs and was a member of the Pakistan team that won the 1992 World Cup.

The cash-strapped Deccan Chargers will remain terminated from the IPL after the Bombay high court last week set aside a status quo order passed by an arbitrator on cessation of its membership in the league.

Hearing a petition filed by the Cricket Board, Justice RD Dhanuka quashed the status quo order passed by the arbitrator appointed by the high court to resolve the dispute between BCCI and Deccan Chronicles Holdings Limited (DCHL).

On another petition filed

by DCHL against termination of the contract of its IPL franchise, the court refused to grant any interim relief,

but said the legality of the termination would be decided by the arbitrator.

The court's orders on the two petitions effectively means that the termination of Deccan Chargers' IPL membership would stand, according to legal circles.

The arbitrator, retired supreme court judge C K Thakker, had last week passed an order for status quo to be maintained following which BCCI had moved the high court in appeal.

"Arbitrator had no jurisdiction to grant status quo.

On the same day (October 12), the high court had denied extension of time to DCHL to furnish Rs 1 billion bank guarantee as directed by the court on October 1," Justice Dhanuka said.

He further said the arbitrator is not "superior" to the high court and hence cannot pass an order which overrides the high court's direction.

Criticising the plea made by DCHL before the arbitrator for status quo, the court said, "Once the high court has rejected relief, the plea made before the arbitra-

tor is not maintainable."

Deccan Chargers moves SC: The Deccan Chargers on Friday moved the Supreme Court against the team's termination from the Indian Premier League (IPL) by the BCCI. The Chargers have challenged the Bombay High Court order refusing to set aside a status quo order passed by an arbitrator on cessation of its membership in the league. The appeal against the high court order was mentioned by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi before a bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, which said it would hear the matter later.