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Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Hundreds of dentists earn more than £300,000 Hundreds of dentists are earning more than £300,000 under new contracts, official figures have disclosed.

Tax data has shown that 410 dentists in England and Wales earned more than £300,000 in 2008/9, up by eight per cent on the previous year.

In total almost 700 dentists earned more than £250,000 from NHS and private work, according to the figures from the NHS Information Centre.

The findings will reignite the debate over highly paid health professionals, especially at a time when many civil servants and workers in the private sector are losing their jobs.

GP partners earn on average £100,000 but some have been found to earn salaries of more than £250,000.

The government has announced plans to freeze public sector pay for the

highest earners as the NHS struggles to save £20bn over the next four years.

New contracts were introduced in 2006 to make the payment system for patients simpler but it was warned that dentists would be encouraged to carry out more complex treatments in order to earn more money.

The report showed that across all dentists the average earned was £89,600 in 2008/9, up by just £500 on the previous year.

This is because the majority do not run practices and are employed by principals to work shifts and so may work parttime.

For dentists who run the practice, holding contracts with the NHS, while also treating patients, the average salary before tax was £131,000, up by three per cent on the previous year.

However dentists’ representatives said the data also showed that the expenses involved in running a practice had increased faster than income.

Average expenses increased by 7.6 per cent while the practice income only increased by six per cent, the British Dental Association said.

The NHS Information Centre also released data showing the proportion of patients who have used an NHS dentist in the last two years and reveal a wide variation.

It shows that people Great Yarmouth and Waveney are three times more likely to see an NHS dentist than those in Kensington and Chelsea in London.

Overall the areas where the fewest people saw and NHS dentist tended to be affluent suggesting they were treated privately.

Kingsbury man Haroon Zafaryab claims victory A driver is claiming victory over a clamping firm after a 30-hour vigil overturned a fine of almost £4,000.

Haroon Zafaryab, 27, of Kingsbury, returned from prayers at Wembley Central Mosque, in Ealing Road, to find security firm City Watch Parking Enforcement was demanding £365 to release his Toyota Prius, reports a local newspaper.

The nursery boss refused to pay, saying signs in the Copland Mews car park stated the tariff was just £100.

He sat in the car with friend Fazan Munir, 23, from 1.20pm on Wednesday until after 7pm the next day to stop it

being towed, while all four wheels were clamped and 40 separate fines stuck to the windscreen.

The clampers hiked the fine up to an eye-watering £3,865 but the pair refused to budge and the company eventually backed down.

Mr Zafaryab said: “I was very pleased because we stopped this oppression. As a community, we won. I felt like part of a family.”

His mother, Samina Zafaryab, 64, told of her joy at her son’s victory saying: “I think he’s done a wonderful job. I’m so proud.”

Friends rallied round them, bringing kebabs, dates and milk to help

them break fast during Ramadan.

By the time the clampers gave in there were around 40 people on the pavement cheering them on.

Mr Munir said: “When the clamps were removed everyone was cheering.

The clampers couldn’t believe they had had to go through all that for just £100.

“We did this to stop people being robbed of their hard-earned cash. It was such a good feeling when they took the clamps off.”

City Watch did not comment on the incident, when approached by the local paper.

Twenty-four hour booze bid row An off license’s plan to sell alcohol 24 hours a day has been met with fierce opposition by police, residents and councillors. T The application by the shop in Ilford, is due to be heard at Redbridge Town Hall next week.

The council’s licensing sub-committee are due to hear a number of objections, including from Loxford Safer Neighbourhood Police Team. Police believe the number of drunken people in the street will increase.

A spokesman said:

Cllr Virenda Tewari and Filly Maravala

“This can result in noise, assaults and damage to property. The SNT has experienced problems regarding drinking in the

street and prostitution. It is feared that were this application to be approved, both of these activities would be exacerbated.”

Tenants of Fernways Sheltered Housing, Cecil Road, Ilford have lodged a complaint, saying drunks in nearby alleyways defecate in bins.

One complainant said if a 24-hour licence was approved, it would lead to groups of drunkards and drug addicts continuing to drink and use drugs throughout the night.

The three ward Cllrs Filly Maravala, Taifur Rashid and Virenda Tewari, have objected on the grounds of public safety.

Despite a number of requests from the Recorder, manager Liaqat Ali Khan Chouhan was unavailable for comment.

Ilford mum in hospital pregnancy horror A first time mum told Ilford Recorder she was found blood-soaked in a hospital car park just minutes after nurses told her she was not in enough pain to be in labour. Saira Choudhri, of Craigen Gardens, Ilford, allegedly claims she was told to leave Queen’s Hospital, Romford, soon after arriving last month (July 2) by midwives who examined her and believed she was not ready to give birth But the legal worker said she had been experiencing “unbearable” pain for around seven hours and by the time she left she was having contractions just two minutes apart. She told Ilford Recorder: “I begged them to let me stay. But they said this was not labour pains and I would know if I was in labour.” The 31year-old and her husband Amir, 27, made their way back to their car but as they paused at the pay and

Saira with baby Iman

display machine two nurses rushed towards them.

Saira said: “They asked me where I was going and I said I had been told to go home but they said ‘no you can’t, you’re bleeding.’ “I looked down and my trousers were soaked with blood. My heart just sank. When you’ve been carrying a baby for nine months and you see that, you automatically think the worse.” Saira was rushed to A&E where doctors examined her and

declared her ready to give birth. She was told she was past the pain relief stage and said she spent the next two hours in “excruciating pain” as she gave birth to baby Iman.

She told Ilford Recorder: “Having a baby is supposed to be a special experience but it was completely ruined for me and the treatment I received is unforgivable.” A spokesman for Queen’s Hospital told the paper: “We have received a complaint from Mrs Choudhri this week and a thorough investigation will be carried out. Women in labour are advised to remain at home until their labour is advanced to promote normality and reduce the risk of intervention. Once they are at our 24 hour triage area, patients are dealt with on an individual and case-by-case basis to ensure the most appropriate care.

Northwick Park infection control expert helps tackle India’s hospital superbugs A leading infection control expert at The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust is helping lead a project in India to reduce the number of hospital superbugs.

Dr Guduru Gopal Rao OBE, who is head of microbiology and lead clinician for infection control at the Trust, is advising the government in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on how to stop the spread of infections including the new NDM-1 superbug which made headlines in the UK last week.

The project is being launched at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad the largest city in Andhra Pradesh, which has a population of 76 million. Part of the project involves setting up a protocol-based system to monitor and prevent hospital infections. Dr Rao has also advised the authorities

to strengthen the district’s microbiology laboratories and set up infection control committees in every hospital. He has strongly supported the call to run workshops for medical professionals to curb indiscriminate use of antibiotics and prevent the emergence of newer drug resistant bacteria.

Dr Rao developed the first universal screening programme for MRSA in the UK, and his research and innovative approaches to reduce infections have been recognised internationally.

He said: “I am delighted to play a part in developing and strengthening systems in Andhra Pradesh’s hospitals to stop the spread of infections. We have a strong track record here in the Trust and it’s a privilege to be able to share what we have learnt with my eminent colleagues in Hyderabad. It will certainly be very excit-

ing to see improvements as they unfold and I hope the project can be rolled out further across the state.”

A delegation from the Andhra Pradesh government visited the Trust in June this year to learn more about what the Trust has done to combat infections.

Dr Rao says: “The delegation was impressed with what we’ve done to turn around hospital associated infections in our hospitals.

They wanted to learn more about the successful protocols and policies we’ve developed here with a view to adopting them in their own country.”

The Trust’s infection rates have decreased significantly in the past five years.

Rates of MRSA have decreased by 71 per cent over five years, while cases of Clostridium difficile are down 61 per cent over five years.

Grieving husband calls for Post Office review The husband of a postmistress who took her own life after she felt pressure at work has called on the Post Office to review its target system.

Dawn Holt, 50, downed a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol after writing a suicide note mentioning pressure at the Faringdon Post Office, which she ran for four years.

She was found dead in her car outside Carterton Health Centre in Alvescot Road in April last year, with the letter on the passenger seat.

It read: “I am very sorry for putting you all

through this, but no longer can I cope with life. The pressure at the Post Office over the last few months. I know you will all say I took the easy way out, but I could not think of any other options. I am so sorry.”

Her husband of 30 years, Stephen, said he was angry at the Post Office for producing the targets, which he said contributed to her decision to end her life.

He said Mrs Holt’s ‘Branch Visit Agenda’, which stated what was good about the branch, and what needed improving, did not praise her

enough.

It also detailed ongoing issues and said Mrs Holt was £36,000 below the £200,000 target on foreign currency transactions.

An inquest into Mrs Holt’s death in September last year recorded she took her own life.

The Post Office wrote to Mr Holt on July 22 this year and said it was satisfied the local development manager had “acted reasonably and that there was no breach of duty on the part of Post Office Limited.”

The Post Office said it would be inappropriate to comment on the case.

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

COMMENT

Afghanistan still means trouble Not possibly since Alexander the Great or Mahmud Ghaznavi or Ahmed Shah Abdali has Afghanistan been so much in the news. The Greek world conqueror's armies in 326 BC made way into India through the Bolan and Khyber passes, the other two figures were Afghans whose plundering raids into the subcontinent left destructive marks which took centuries to erase. Foolhardy foreign invaders who enter Afganistan for vainglorious ends have never ceased to regret their decision. Yet this grievous error has been made again and again with no hint of any lesson learned.

The Americans (and their Nato allies) are the latest in line to be paying the price of a mistaken Afghan policy. Afghanistan is a pitiless place and, as in previous ages, it is taking heavy toll in lives and treasure.

Consider the recent summit in Russia between host President Dmitry Medvedev, President Karzai of Afghanistan, Pakistan's President Zardari and the Tajikistan's President Imonali Rakhmonov. They convened to discuss the outflow of drugs from Afghanistan into Russia and its adjacent territories.

Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium poppies in the world, and the heroin extracted from the poppy crops are causing huge social devastation in Russia, in particular, through widespread addiction. Until the present conflict in Afghanistan ends, there will be no quick solution to drugs-related problems in the region.

Meanwhile Pakistan, at the southern rim of this arc of crisis, is overwhelmed by the sheer scale of its natural disaster. Raging flood waters have left the country limp. Government is less in evidence than Islamist charities seeking to fill the void by enlisting willing jehadis to their cause. Foreign reporters in the country have viewed this possibility with much trepidation. These inter-linked developments form a seamless robe of violence and mayhem. In far-off New York, the mother of a Muslim police cadet killed in the World Trade Center attack, Talat Hamdani, told a British newspaper that anti-Islamic prejudice was “boiling over” with the row about the planned Islamic centre near ground zero. Ms Hamdani, who emigrated to the US from Pakistan, was in despair at the deepth of what she perceived as anti-Muslim prejudice in the country. “It has changed our experience of the American Dream,” she said.

But the war in Afghanistan goes on regardless.

US generals come and go, without substantive changes to the failed strategies. In desperation, some Americans, like Robert Blackwill, the Bush adminis-

tration's envoy to India, have called for a quick Western exit from Afghanistan, following its partition along ethnic and tribal lines. The Lahore-based Pakistan journalist, Ahmed Rashid, a respected authority on the region and the author of weighty works devoted to it, has warned: “We divide Afghanistan at our peril.” The dream fix would be illstarred, if it were at all implemented, he averred. Mr Blackwill's solution was predicated on a lack of knowledge of Afghan ground realities.

Now comes news of US General David Petraeus's 'surge' in the country. His previous 'surge' in Iraq was introduced with much fanfare and publicity but seems to be unravelling before our eyes. Was it real, or was it a publicity gimmick to fool the American public? Whatever the truth, the projected Afghan 'surge' offers as little prospect of success as the one in Iraq before it.

This is the fear of European governments, writes Ahmed Rashid in his second think-piece in the Financial Times: “For weeks there has been a spectre haunting European corridors of power. That spectre is David Petraeus. Since he stepped in last month as head of the combined US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, many European governments have feared the US general would try to extend the time and scope of the military surge to give US forces a better chance of winning over the Pashtun population in the south and delivering a knock-out blow to the Taliban. This is exactly what he is signalling in his first media interview since taking over – and precisely what most European countries do not believe is possible.”

President Barack Obama, they fear, “will not be able to refuse demands from General Petraeus to extend the surge well beyond July 2011; that he will continue to push for a continuation of military strategy; and that he will decline any suggestion of opening talks with the Taliban – something that many European governments are keen on.”

Whatever the terms of the final settlement, Afghanistan cannot be gifted by the Great Powers to Pakistan because of Islamabad's search for “strategic depth in its struggle with India. This arises from a paranoid perception of the India relationship, says a recent Daily Telegraph editorial: Islamabad needed to be “nudged” by Washington before it accepted New Delhi's offer of financial aid for Pakistani flood relief.

A tortuous road lies ahead. The surest way forward are small, considered steps.

Taking the poison out of Sino-Indian relationship The Economist has written a carefully calibrated editorial – “Contest of the century: China v India”which stresses the defining nature of the SinoIndian relationship; its potential for the peaceful development of both countries, and the pitfalls of an untrammelled rivalry, which could have a destabilising effect on Asia and the wider world. The Economist rightly points to the terrible record of the 20th century, with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan as the principal disturbers of international peace. The World War, history's most destructive conflict, held a lesson for humankind, a point well taken; but it takes two to tango and it is far from clear that Beijing desires an equal relationship with India in spirit, word and deed rather than one that bears an uncomfortable resemblance to China's primordial past, when the the Middle Kingdom expected tribute bearing affiliates to kowtow to the Son of Heaven.

Such an attitude would be unworkable if it were applied to, say, the United States or Russia or Japan, not to speak of the EU and others. India, however, is expected to know its place in the Chinese scheme of things. India, without demur, must accept China's occupation and militarisation of Tibet, although this has serious consequences for Indian security.

China uses Pakistan as a pincer to force India to truckle to its wishes. Way back in 1959 when SinoIndian ties began to sour following the flight of the Dalai Lama from Lhasa into India, Beijing in a diplomatic note warned New Delhi of the strategic perils of

guarding two frontiers instead of one. It subsequently beefed up its military supplies to Pakistan, supporting Islamabad in its genocidal oppression in East Pakistan (Bangladesh today) and in the Indo-Pakistan war that broke out as a consequence. Beijing has gifted sensitive nuclear weapon and missile technology to Pakistan, even testing a nuclear device from its own stockpile, in May 1990, before handing it over to its Pakistani friends. The irresponsibility is mind boggling Beijing has territorial claims on Indian territory, which include the whole of India's north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. It protests when the Indian prime minister visits the state, or when the Dalai Lama, now an Indian guest, goes there. India's claim to a UN Security Council seat has been stymied by Beijing, even as such membership finds favour with Britain, the EU and Russia.

Consider China's regional conduct. In February 1979, it invaded Vietnam, once an ally, on the ground that it was “teaching it a lesson just as it had taught India a lesson in 1962.”

It was a blessing that the 'lesson' turned out to be a disaster, with the Vietnamese repelling the aggressor.

That event bonded Vietnam and India. China's present claim to the seas between Taiwan and Singapore has set the alarm bells ringing in the rest of South East Asia.

The Sino-Indian relationship has a troubling script.

It is in Beijing's gift to change it.

New Labour dream is about cash The Sunday Times front-page report telling of Tony Blair's newly-formed “finance boutique in London to offer investment services to global funds and the super-rich” must be the final nail in New Labour's coffin. The old socialist agenda of wealth redistribution in the interests of social justice has been subsumed by the acquisitive urge for individual profit. Money changers now rule the New Labour roost, as if cravenly following George W. Bush into Iraq wasn't bad enough. There is no democracy in Iraq, no functioning government in Baghdad after

months of horse trading; there is only a desolation, where there was once prosperity. The cost of this misadventure to Britain in lives and treasure has been (and is ) crippling.

It would be wrong to personalise greed. The MPs allowance scam revealed a deep flaw in the nation's public life. A number of MPs, some of ethnic origin, abused their privileges with a cavalier disregard of every ethical imperative. They had much already, but they wanted more. Greed, like cancer, took hold of them; in the end it had no limits.

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Thought for the Week

The humane do not worry; the wise are not perplexed; and the courageous do not feel fear.

-Confucius (551-479 BC)

Disabled man’s pleas ignored for wheelchair ramp

Qamar Khaliq

A disabled train passenger was unable to board a service because guards allegedly refused to provide a ramp for his wheelchair.

Qamar Khaliq, 35, the father-of-one was then told he’d have to catch a later train and he was eventually forced to take a bus home, as reported by Daily Mail.

Mr Khaliq’s problems began when he tried to catch a train from Manchester’s Piccadilly station to nearby Guide Bridge station, which is close to his home in Audenshaw.

He had deliberately arrived ten minutes before the train’s departure on Saturday so he could get help with boarding.

Mr Khalik told the daily: ‘There were no platform staff around and I could not see a train guard. ‘A passenger on the train got up to help me and knocked on the guard’s window to say there was a man in a wheelchair who needed help.

‘When I asked for his assistance he made a no sign at me and said “I can’t take you, you will have to get the next one.”

‘When I asked him why he refused to answer me and then refused to speak at all and just ignored me.’

In the end, he said he left the station and boarded a bus, finally returning home at 10.45pm after initially trying to board the train at 8.36pm.

Mr Khalik told the BBC that his treatment had left him feeling upset and humiliated and one guard had become angry when he realised he was being filmed.

The train company involved, Northern Rail, have apologised to Mr Khaliq and launched an investigation.

Mr Khaliq said he had decided to speak out after hearing about the case of 46-year-old disabled mum Renu Duggal after bus driver in Manchester refused to lower a ramp for her.

Congratulation to Sam and David for the new arrival!

Samantha Cameron, the Prime Minister’s wife, has given birth to a baby girl almost a month early, Downing Street announced on Tuesday.

Both mother and baby, born during a family holiday in Cornwall, were said to be doing well.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and Mrs Cameron are delighted to announce the birth of their fourth child, a baby girl. Both the baby - who was born weighing 6lbs 1oz - and Mrs Cameron are doing very well.

“The PM and Mrs Cameron would like to thank the doctors and

nurses at the hospital for their help and kindness.”

YOUR VOICE

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Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Feeling of equality

Has India progressed?

Standard of living in India

I have been a dedicated reader of the Asian Voice for many years. And I read it because I feel it spreads the true voice of India and the Indians in the UK and abroad.

But lately, I have been reading comments from many who brag all the time about the Hindus and Hindu religion.

Please don’t get me wrong, I have enormous respect for the religion. It is the religion of my forefathers as well as many others who have similar history. If I may dare to say, the majority believers of Islam in India, were converted during the Mogul empire, especially during the tyrant rule of Aurangzeb.

In my view, religion is a faith and belief of a person, and believing in it helps one to be a good and wise citizen, especially in raising family and in dealing with fellow citizens.

India is the product of many faiths and we all are trying our best to contribute for the enhancement of our mother land. If we all started blowing our own trumpets, then India will be a divided nation. And in due course it will divide us.

Hinduism is an ancient and major faith followed by most of the Indians.

Our India is like a big family where the eldest brother (Hindus) should take care of his younger brothers (other religions) giving them a feeling of equality.

Government, and millionaires must care for the poor and starving Indians.

Capitalism is generating greed and insecurity and has nurtured poverty, starvation at home. India is Americanised: is spending towards rockets in space, and buying nuclear reactors from abroad, when it has thorium reactors that use sand from Kerala.

India’s wealth and tonnes of gold in temples is useless to any one. Food is hoarded for the sake of profit - and allowed to rot. The poor and the devotees suffer poverty and many starve and die.

It is evident that poor Indians need free or affordable basic essentials like food, clothing, medicine, etc. Welfare system a la UK can be a blessing.

Inter river irrigation for perennial water supply to farms and desert can increase the produce and can be funded by millionaires.

Silos and tanks must be built to conserve produce, with aim to conserve mountains of food, butter and lakes of milk a la Europe. Craving for money can reduce with abundance of free or affordable and readily available basic commodities.

Indians, especially millionaires, must dust off lethargy and take over such tasks from the government.

I would like to draw the attention of your readers regarding the item published in newspapers concerning slave labour in India.

Indian companies who make clothes for some of the biggest names on the British High street pay starvation wages.

The workers are paid 25p (less than 20 rupees) an hour and they are forced to work overtime at the same rate of pay. If they refuse to work overtime, they are sacked. They are forced to work seven days a week while their children fended for themselves in the slums and they are paid paltry sum of £4.00 for a 16-hour day work.

Even though Indian politicians of all political parties claim India is shining, majority of Indians live below poverty line. China is more prosperous and has a better standard of living when compared to India. It is easy to criticise indian companies for employing slave labour, but there are companies in developing countries who pay far less than what Indian workers are paid.

In third world countries due to uncontrollable population, no social security benefit and high unemployment, the workers have to accept what ever they are paid and they do not have any choice. The only way to improve the standard of living in India is to control the population and provide better opportunities for young people, who form nearly fifty percent of India’s population.

Balwant S Grewal Via Email

Britain and India Britain is increasingly becoming a throw away society. The youth of today buy cheap clothes, wear them twice and then throw them away because they are bored with them- either out of ignorance or peer pressure.

Maybe the word ‘recycle’ should be replaced with ‘get less to throw less’!

That would teach people to respect the value of items.

Also, I would be interested to know how and who Gareth Thomas had in mind, when he said we have a moral responsibility to help those in India who are determined to help the country’s poorest. India does not need monetary aid. It just needs moral and verbal support for those working for the betterment of all Indians.

I can think of Narendra Modi, whom the west has been trying hard to discredit and Swami Ramdev whose herbal medicines along with others are probably being banned from the EU next April.

Miss Shah Via Email

Disclaimer Asian Business Publications Ltd (ABPL) is not in any way responsible for the goods and services rendered by its advertisers. The ABPL management accepts all advertisements in good faith and it is entirely up to readers to verify advertisers’ products and services, should they feel the need to do so.

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Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Indonesia’s Hindu Heritage

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

When India was partitioned in 1947, the Sindhis (Hindus) lost every thing. They did not have even the consolation of divided state, unlike Punjab and Bengal to call its own. But these Sindhis are made of sterner stuffs. Instead of drowning their sorrows and retreating into shells, like Kashmiri Pundits, they found new purpose and through their sheer hard work, have now become the most successful business community in the world.

Recently, a world Sindhi Conference was held in Jakarta, attended by some ten thousand young and dynamic Sindhis, from more than fifty countries. Talking to a friend just returning from Jakarta, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how Indonesians, 88% Muslims, guard and take pride in their Hindu cultural heritage.

Garuda is the National Airlines of Indonesia where most female names end with Devi or Rani. Their currency is Rupees and a 20,000 note has Lord Ganesh imprinted on it. People are well versed in epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The Jakarta city-centre boasts a magnificent statue of Krishna-Arjuna mounted on a white, multiple horse drawn chariots.

The official mascot of Indonesia’s Military Intelligence is Hanuman who is known as a hero who rescued Lady Sita from the clutches of Ravan.

Zoroastrian special

I am a regular subscriber of Asian Voice.

My wife and I read the Zoroastrian special articles in the newspaper and are delighted to mention how much we appreciate it.

Please keep up the good work as our community needs it. Once again thank you for mentioning about Parsis in your newspapers.

It was a delight, joy and pride to read about a wonderful articlke in India Digest dated 1st august 2010, published by the Indian High Commission.

In his speech the Deputy High Commissioner Mr Rajesh N Prasad in last two paragraphs has highlighted the success and contributions of the Gujarati community in various fields.

In the last paragraph, he has rightfully given credit to “Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice” which I am sure, the readers are really proud of! The latest example is the London-Ahmedabad direct flights.

Well done CB and the team of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar.

Vinoo Vadgama Barnet Thank you

India yet to be free

- AV

I read Kapil Dudakia’s Khichadi and I think I agree with his point of view.

Indians are yet to be free. They will only be free when the corrupt politicians are removed. Think of Laloo, Rabri, Mayawati- they are nothing but social criminals.

If politicians continue to be corrupt and selfish, the country will indeed suffer.

It was in the hands of Manmohan Singh that our country has progressed in science and economy. But imagine how many Manmohan Singhs would we need to make India a country ahead of all others?

Currently, there is a break in the system. People are still starving, still jobless, women are still beaten up, child labour still continues. Unless these social issues are tackled, India is yet to be called independent.

Mahesh Rao Via Email

Yoga to fight cancer

For me the date 14th of August is not very auspicious. It represents a cultural violence committed in contrast to the peaceful message of Islam, used by the colonial power of Britain, plundering wealth, with more and more bloodshed, leaving India in an awful mess. It stands for a partition that ripped apart to nations with people who had identical lives, just different religions, by people who only aspired for fulfilment of personal political goals!

By not using the recent donated money for development of women, children and medicine and wasting after military and arms, is that a right worship of Islam?

I read the story in your last issue of Asian Voice called ‘Don’t be afraid of cancer’. I must say Maltiben is a very brave woman.

Cancer is a disease that attacks the mind of a man than anything else. Also there is no end to its reoccurrence. I have lost so many of my family members to cancer.

The other thing I thought about.

There was a time of Susrut in India. We have read about his medical genius.

Today when the whole world is trying to get medicine for cancer, it is only yoga that fetched longevity and life to Maltiben, who otherwise could have lost it.

It surprises me that such remedies have not yet become common. Yes we know that once beaten by cancer, no one can save you, but at least yoga helps to defer death and increase life span for a cancer patient.

The west should learn from it. May be one day we can acknowledge yoga as a formal remedy to fight cancer.

Vithalani ST London

Trisha Bhatnagar Via Email

Mr & Mrs H R Khambatta Ashford Thank you for your appreciation Mr and Mrs Khambatta.

- AV

Cultural violence

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

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

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(Off Coronet Street)

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

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

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

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

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Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

UK

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Kapil’s

Boy, 7, dies after Newbury Park hit and run A boy has died after losing a two-week battle for life following a hit and run.

Ehsaan Haque, seven, was dragged under the wheels of a van after being hit in Leyswood Drive, Newbury Park. He was crossing the road to get to his uncle’s hose when the accident happened.

Police released a CCTV image of a van and an e-fit of the driver in the days after the collision. Little Ehsaan died this afternoon at

Southampton General Hospital, having been transferred from Great Ormond Street Hospital last week. The van police are trying to find is blue and has three roof bars evenly spaced running down the length of the vehicle.

Police believe the van, a Toyota Hiace Powervan, was manufactured between 1995 and 2001. Speaking of the accident, which happened at 5.15pm on July 28, Det

Insp Simon Sharp, said: “We urgently appeal to the driver of the van to come forward, and ask anyone who recognises either the man in the e-fit or the van to contact us. “Anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant you feel it may be, should call us as soon as possible.”

Anyone with information should call 020 8597 4874, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Double Celebration Congratulations to Hiten Rajeshbhai Shah, 18, pictured, from Luton, who has passed his A’ Levels with flying colours. He gained a double A-star, two grade A’s and a B. In addition, he achieved a Distinction in Advanced Extension Award for Mathematics.

Next

month he heads to Warwick University to study Maths and Philosophy. His brother, Kishan, has just graduated from the same university with a First-Class degree in MORSE and begins work at Deloitte, the accountants, next month.

GP asks patients to be ‘more responsible’ over prescriptions A GP is urging patients with non-essential health needs to think twice before booking an appointment to ask for a prescription. Dr Anil Mehta, a director of one of the borough’s new GP-led “polysystems” and a GP at Fullwell Cross Medical Centre, Barkingside says that prescriptions issued through surgeries are automatically subject to a pharmacy charge which is ultimately paid for by the

polysystems - money that could be spent in more needy areas of healthcare, reports Ilford Recorder.

He told the paper: “If you add up the tens of thousands of prescriptions dispensed in Redbridge every year that is a bill that runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds which is unsustainable in the current economic climate.” He also added: “I’m just asking for people to be more responsible

because the money being levied through these prescription charges is money that could be spent on life saving drugs.” Instead of making a doctor’s appointment, patients can go directly to pharmacists for medications such as pain killers, vitamin supplements and cough medicine. Polysystems have been set up in the borough to decide how and where money is spent to improve health.”

Immigration cap will strangle City law firms, warns Law Society Plans by the Coalition Government to impose a permanent cap on immigration will severely restrict UK law firms’ ability to conduct overseas work and prevent firms from attracting overseas lawyers and moving employees from their international offices to London, damaging the UK legal sector’s hard-earned international reputation.

The Law Society says that the cap may lead to firms and their clients relocating offices and transactional work disappearing to other jurisdictions, damaging London’s competitiveness as a global financial centre.

The Society is currently canvassing the profession over the proposed cap and will feed its findings into two consultations on the matter by the Home Office and the UK Border Agency’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson says: “Just when we are pulling ourselves out of a crippling recession, impos-

ing this cap now will strangle City law firms and in turn hit the businesses they act for.

“City law firms operate in a global marketplace and need to be able to recruit and relocate staff around the world. Having access to quality talent from other jurisdictions ensures the legal sector is better placed to carry out its work in the international marketplace.

“By imposing a cap, there is a mistaken assumption that there will be lawyers of equal expertise in the UK and EU, but it is often the knowledge of a particular overseas jurisdiction which is of particular value to a firm.

“The UK legal sector is a huge employer of domestic legal talent, and restrictions on future international business development will mean fewer opportunities for UK lawyers to gain employment and international experience.

“The cap will effectively sever links to some of the world’s most important and growing economies, such as India and China,

and there is a risk that large amounts of the transactional work that UK law firms engage in will go overseas as a result. It is therefore not surprising that the business community in the City also shares our concerns.

Desmond Hudson adds: “Migrants brought in to work in the legal sector are highly-qualified, wellpaid individuals who make a significant contribution to the UK economy.

Further, any perception that the English legal market is becoming more closed to overseas lawyers and law firms is likely to result in further restrictions on the ability of UK lawyers to do business abroad.

KHICHADI

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com Heaven or Hell?

en.com which allows you to declare to the world those who are doing a grand job.

The serious point being that it suggests that the legal profession might well have to tighten up its own act of monitoring, evaluation and in securing the integrity of everyone involved in the industry.

Failure to recognise this dynamic change in society and the use of modern technology to blow the whistle on the rogues in the industry could well undermine it in years to come.

Of course I do assume that you will all take such websites with a pinch of salt. Whilst for some they might be useful – for me at least, nothing beats getting a personal recommendation from someone you trust.

one feels that the USA is on its back foot, its public debt forecast as a percentage of GDP for 2010 of 65.6% is still significantly lower than for many European countries. This gives us yet another insight as to why America still remains important in the global equation to bring the world out of this destructive recession.

The BRIC nations are seen as the saviour, and frankly they do have the capacity to be that and much more. However, of these the position of India whilst much better than most European countries, does not reflect well when compared with Russia, Brazil and of course China. For India the next few years are a balancing act. To garner a growth of some 8% – 10% per year but also ensuring that at the same time public debt and inflation does not get out of control. If this high wire act can be pulled off, then come

I know a lot of lawyers, solicitors and even some barristers. And yes – it’s because many of them are my friends. Mind you I suppose admitting to having estate agents or politicians as friends might be a step too far – come to think of it, I actually do have friends from those professions as well!

So what is all this about? The legal profession has picked up a poor reputation over recent years for the way in which it has become so commercialised.

For some it has become a tool for printing money whilst for others, thankfully, it still remains a vocation to serve the community in getting justice (at a price of course).

Some of these companies have become robot like with Indebted to debt clients coming in, they half hear the problem, Public Debt (PD) as a give a standard solution Percentage (%) of Gross whether it is fit for purDomestic Product (GDP) pose or not, delay where possible to maximise 2010 2011 income potential and Country Year change PD as % Year Change PD as % then hit the client with of GDP of GDP a hefty bill at the end.

JAPAN 3.1 195.6 5.8 204.4 The reputation of GREECE 9.0 101.7 8.9 106.8 the legal profession has FRANCE 14.8 83.9 15.0 94.1 been dropping for the GERMANY 9.2 81.8 8.1 87.2 past few decades and UK 27.0 77.5 20.1 91.9 one person finally had INDIA 19.1 61.7 17.0 63.2 enough and went about USA 26.1 57.2 20.0 65.6 taking the fight back to BRAZIL 19.2 42.4 13.4 44.3 the lawyers. He creatCHINA 28.5 20.0 22.6 21.9 ed a website called: RUSSIA 56.1 17.6 34.3 22.2 w w w. s o l i c i t o r s Source: The Economist fromhell.co.uk where anyone who has been I was looking at some 2015 India will be in the hard done by the legal economic data and most powerful position it profession can easily, and thought it would be an has been for many a milin private, tell the whole interesting idea to put it lennia. world. Yes you read that in the format that you see The UK, well folks I right, a website that will above. It shows in clear have already stated time allow you under the terms the level of public and again that we do cloak of secrecy to tell debt in each of the counneed to control expendithe world about lawyers, tries for both 2010 and ture, but not at the cost solicitors and barristers 2011. It also gives us an of growth or exponential who have caused you real idea of the yearly change rises in unemployment. grief. The first thing I did in the public debt. An Whilst George Osborne was to check the site and interesting figure to conhas been intent on make sure none of my sider given it allows us an aggressive cuts, I am still friends were listed on it. insight into whether a hopeful that on reflection Fortunately, I have chocountry is likely to recovsome tempering takes sen my friends well and er in the near future, or place to reflect these connone of them appear on continue to have some cerns. the site, they are all good long term problems.

The UK economy is people.

So the giant that was like a distressed patient Conversely what hapJapan is clearly still in in an Intensive Care pens if you like the servtrouble and it does not Unit, Dr Osborne must ice given to you by a look likely that it will make sure that the remelawyer? Well don’t be come out of its difficuldy he prescribes is not so worried since there is ties in the foreseeable severe that it kills or another site called: future. Relatively speakdamages the patient. www.solicitorsfromheaving whilst almost every“The points-based system was introduced to control levels of immigration and has been working well.

It has helped maintain the UK legal sector’s standing and presence throughout the world. Imposing a cap will bring that trend to a halt.”

The Society has already held a consultation meeting with representatives of

the UK Border Agency and the Migration Advisory Committee with 70 representatives of both UK and US law firms attending to discuss the cap proposals.

The Society has also engaged with City groups outside of the legal sector, including City of London Immigration Working Group, the Greater London Authority, the

London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the British Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and London First to gage the potential impact on the City as a whole.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has also announced a full inquiry into the issue of imposing a cap and the Society will be making a submission to it.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Woman attacked by ‘very angry’ man A man who punched and raped a 34-year-old woman in a fit of rage is on the loose in Harrow.

The victim was walking along Lascelles Avenue, in West Harrow, at around 3am when the man, who she did not know, started shouting at her and hit her in the face.

He then allegedly dragged her into a nearby front garden and raped her.

DS Steve Grainger, of the Met’s Sapphire Unit, said: “A number of people

came forward to assist police who were in the area at the time but we have still not identified the offender.

“The victim describes the suspect as appearing very angry. He may have had some sort of argument prior to the assault or even approached other people.

“If you were in the area of Harrow Town Centre at about 3am last Saturday, we are very keen to speak to you, we need to catch this man and we need the help of the public

7

One big happy family

to identify him.”

When the man fled after the attack, his victim woke a nearby resident who called police and an ambulance and she was taken to a specialist rape clinic.

The man is described as 5ft 8inches tall, of medium build, clean shaven and with dark skin, possibly Asian.

Anyone with information can contact officers on 0208 733 5062 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Think twice before getting involved Young people could spend years behind bars for murder without pulling a trigger or using a knife, the Met warned.

The message is simple: if a person’s presence, knowledge or actions lead to a killing, they could be charged with murder under Joint Enterprise. Those who lend encouragement and approval to a crime can be charged with the same offence as the chief perpetrator and could receive similar prison sentences.

Young people who are on the fringes of serious youth violence and carrying or using weapons may be unaware of the risks of being charged under Joint Enterprise.

Commander Simon Foy, head of the MPS Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: “The hope

is that once young people appreciate the way the law operates, they will think twice about their involvement with groups and gangs and walk away before any trouble starts.

“If we can get young people thinking about what they’re doing, we’re well on our way to educating them.

We are tapping into something which young people in particular just haven’t thought about.”

Joint Enterprise has been successfully used by detectives to convict multiple defendants in a number of high-profile murders including the killings of teenager Ben Kinsella in June 2008 and 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga in 2007.

To get the message across, the MPS is carrying out a series of activities to raise awareness and under-

STOP !!!

standing of Joint Enterprise.

This includes engaging with young people via street teams before and during the school holidays to raise awareness and understanding about the risks about getting involved in violence which could lead to a murder.

The MPS is also carrying out activity with commercial radio stations to reinforce the message, as radio has been shown to be one of the most effective ways of communicating with young people.

The activity has been backed by London Mayor, Boris Johnson who agrees that the consequence of Joint Enterprise was something most young people did not consider. It is hoped that highlighting the grave consequences will help in the drive to cut knife and gun crime.

The Lalani family pictured just before doors opened in Bristol last week at the “biggest” store of 134 in their retail group

Meet the newest and biggest member of the Lalani family– a giant 11,000+ sq ft store. It’s being dubbed the elder brother of 99p Stores, the Lalani’s prized “baby”.

Recently the founders of 99p Stores “tested” three Family Bargains stores in England and Wales.

With its multi-price format, it’s “bigger value bargains” proved so irresistible to bargain mad Brits that now it’s full steam ahead in the run-up to Christmas.

Hussein Lalani, cofounder and Commercial Director of 99p Stores and Commercial Director of

LOOK !!!

Family Bargains, explains: “These are very exciting times on the High Street with shoppers no longer prepared to pay over the odds for everyday essentials like washing up liquid, coffee and toothpaste.

“Having sampled smaller priced bargains, as they have at 99p Stores, Britons have now developed a taste for higher value bargains.”

Around 40 new jobs have been created at this new store – in Bristol taking the tally of new jobs created in the group in the last year to 1,500.

In fact, the whole group has doubled in size over the last 12 months

and during that time the Lalanis have moved their business to a brand new state-of-the-art HQ and National Distribution Centre in Pineham, Northampton.

Big brands- where prices range from 49p to £49.99 and beyond - at Family Bargains’ include L’Oreal, Hoover, Morphy Richards and Dulux.

These sit alongside the 99p items with leading brands such as Johnsons, Palmolive, Radox and Walkers Crisps.

There are presently 130 99p Stores across the UK – and four (including Bristol) Family Bargains stores.

THINK !!!

TIME TO CARE FOR SMALL RETAILERS

LABA (Leicestershire Asian Business Association) is currently pursuing an application for judicial review of the point of sale display ban legislation, which was pushed through in the last days of the Labour government. We would like to seek the views of Asian Voice (AV) readers and retailers, as we believe that retailers across the country share our concerns over the point of sale display ban.

Point of Sale Display Ban – the issues Smoking is addictive and harmful but tobacco is a legal product that accounts for approximately 22% of turnover for retailers. This figure can be as high as 40% for some retail stores. There are 33,000 small newsagents and retailers across Britain working, on average, 16 hours a day to serve their communities. Between them they serve

over 5 million customers a day.

There is much evidence to suggest that 33% of other sales are a result of sales of tobacco.

We at LABA believe the legislation contained within the Health Act is not proportionate or consistent with government smoking cessation policies. The previous government itself acknowledged that the evidence for the display ban to reduce the number of those who smoke in the future was “speculative”.[1] It cannot be good governance to have a major piece of legislation based on questionable evidence.

What is not speculative, however, is whilst small independent retailers will struggle to refit their stores to cater for the display ban large retailing organisations have the financial ability to respond to the legislative changes. Unnecessary regulations such as the point of sale display ban are the last thing an

National campaign for Small Retailers by

independent retailer should be concerned with, especially in this period of economic uncertainty.

We believe the government could pursue its health objectives while maintaining the ability for retailers to communicate with adult customers as to the products available in their store.

Sales of illicit cigarettes are another concern for my members and we believe the display ban will allow those involved in such activity to build on their already lucrative illegal tobacco trade. We don’t want to see organized crime grow in any community in the UK and we don’t want to see tobacco products become easily accessible for children.

The sale and use of tobacco products needs to be managed responsibly. The responsibility lies in the role of government, consumers, manufacturers and, most importantly, retailers. We strongly

in association with

believe that responsible retailers can check that those wanting to purchase cigarettes are legally permitted to do so and can also communicate the risks associated with the product to those who choose to smoke.

The National LABA campaign LABA has been campaigning on behalf of its 900 members against the point of sale display ban, in Leicester and the Midlands, but this is a national campaign. We are seeking partners to make this is a reality so retailers up and down the country can join our campaign. AV has the reach, credibility and ability.

Members of the government stated when in opposition that they were against the measures and together we can hold them to their word.

For feedback and further support please email aveditorial@abplgroup.com

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Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Bolton MP Qureshi banned from driving

By Spriha Srivastava

Mumbai’s Irani Cafes in London Last few days I have been reading a lot about the entire culture of “Irani cafes” in Mumbai. The inspiration behind reading up on this was my recent visit to Cafe Dishoom in Upper St. Martin’s Street in Covent Garden. Having been spent most of my life in Delhi, I could never really experience what a typical Bombay cafe is like. It was only when I met Shamil Thakrar, previously a consultant and now one of the founders of Dishoom at his newly opened restaurant that I got a glimpse of what a typical Irani cafe is like.

Mumbai has a special culture of teahouses that are slowly dying now.

Called "Irani cafes" in their local jargon, these corner shops were introduced by the first waves of Zoroastrians, called the Iranis, who migrated to India in the 10th century from Persia to escape religious persecution. In the later centuries, thousands and thousands more Zoroastrians arrived in India. A community of about 70,000 remain today, a majority living in and around Mumbai.

The concept of Irani Cafes arose out of the need for people to gather and exchange news, opinions and sometimes just the usual chit-chat.

Simply furnished with solid wood chairs and masked in the appearance of yesteryear, they remained places where customers could go on and on over endless cups of sweet tea for a couple rupees.

Visiting these seedy, century-old cafés is a chance to glimpse a culture that has all but vanished. The customers would usually be very ordinary Bombaywallahs, more often than not oldtimers who have been An Irani Cafe in Mumbai

Cafe Dishoom, London

having the same chai and buns for the last 40 years in the same spot. Equally eccentric would be the menu, an odd selection of chai,"cutting chai" (a halfcup of tea), bun-maska (a bun and butter), and typical Parsi cutlets, patties, rolls, fruitcakes, and confectionery. Amid the ancient mirrors, upright chairs, marble tables, elaborate balconies, and portraits of the Prophet Zarathustra are sometimes a sign acquainting you with the dos and don'ts of the particular establishment.

But things have slowly changed as fast food multi-national joints like McDonalds and KFC have established themselves all over not only Mumbai but all over India. In this situation, the old, heritage Irani cafes are slowly dying and giving way to the new generation cafes. I will not be wrong to say that there might be only a handful of such cafes in Mumbai now.

However, it’s a very old saying that old is gold. With the way fashion trends come around it is extremely interesting to live the old golden moments again. When I recently visited Cafe

Dishoom in Covent Garden, the first thing that I noticed was a rectangular black board with a list of Do’s and Don’ts.

Styled like the old Irani Cafes, Dishoom (with a whacky name), has brought a fresh breath of air to London’s curry industry. With a striking wall clock, like that of the Victoria Terminal of Mumbai, the cafe has an extremely old-timer menu with the same kind of chairs, the cutting-chai glasses and a chuski machine. The walls were decorated with the family pictures of both the founders and some old adverts.

I came across a similar cafe in Southall which even though wasn’t defined as an “Irani cafe” but looked very similar in its decor. Maybe London is slowly acquiring the taste of the age old cafes that are so famous in Mumbai.

It is extremely sad that an age-old cafe that was extremely popular in Mumbai is slowly dying out of the city because of the new generation fast food culture. But this is not only limited to Mumbai.

Similar things have happened in Delhi where slowly the old system of cafes that were popular among University students has now been taken over by Costa Coffee and Cafe Coffee Day. But in all this when new generation professionals try and bring out the old concept to the world, it is like reliving the past.

For those of us who are not familiar with the concept of an Irani cafe, you must make your visit to Covent Garden, as finding one back in Mumbai will be an extremely tough task.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at spriha@abplgroup.com

Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi, pictured, has been banned from driving for six months after admitting using her mobile phone while behind the wheel.

The Labour MP, who was not present at the hearing at Bolton Magistrates’ Court, was stopped by police in Wigan Road, Bolton on 10 May. She also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance, saying she thought the policy had been renewed. Qureshi, who already had nine points, was fined £1,250 plus costs.

The former barrister and human rights lawyer, from Deane, become only the second Asian woman to be elected to Parliament on 6 May. She apologised to magistrates through her solicitor, who said the MP would now have the “inconvenience” of having to use taxis and public transport.

Howard Sloane, prosecuting, told the court that she was spotted by a police officer while driving her silver Vauxhall Astra.

“He could clearly see

the driver had a mobile telephone in her right hand and was speaking into it,” he said.

Ajmal Hussain, defending, said the MP had not deliberately avoided paying for insurance.

He said Qureshi thought the policy had been rolled over, as in previous years, but it had not been.

Mr Hussain said she had answered a phone call from her sister while driving because her mother was unwell.

He said Qureshi could have argued for “exceptional hardship” to try to avoid the ban, because of her job, but wanted to accept the ban and have matters dealt with.

“She is going to be inconvenienced a great deal, visiting her constituents at unsociable times, she is going to have to now take taxis and public transport. She apologises to the court, she clearly regrets what’s happened,” Mr Hussain said.

Passing sentence, magistrate Elaine Wisedale said: “No insurance is a serious offence but because of the evidence that in previous years

she’s been insured and we accept there may have been an oversight, this, with the relatively early guilty plea, we are prepared to reduce the fine.

Her licence will be endorsed for each offence and she will be disqualified from driving from today under totting up, for six months.”

In a statement issued after the hearing, Qureshi told a national daily: “I very much regret picking up the mobile phone and I apologise. Talking on a phone while driving without a hands-free set is wrong. I respect the decision of the court.

Regarding the insurance issue, a genuine mistake has been made. I believed I was covered and I am continuing to speak to my insurance company about this matter.”

Benefit Fraudster jailed A Winson Green resident who pretended to be a needy citizen when he actually owned his property has been jailed after a benefit fraud investigation by Birmingham City Council.

Chaman Teji, 45, of Perrott Street, fraudulently

obtained Housing Benefit worth £4,396.20 and was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court on last Friday (August 20).

His deception, which related to six offences under the Social Security

Administration Act, was uncovered by Birmingham City Council investigators.

Teji presented himself as needy tenant while disguising the fact that he was the legitimate owner of the property he was living in and claiming benefit from.

NHS Trust spent £270,000 covering suspended surgeon on full pay

Puvaneswary Markandoo was allegedly suspended on full pay for more than two years after 35 women came forward to complain about problems after their breast surgery.

The General Medical Council eventually ruled she could work in the NHS only under supervision. It apparently cost Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £270,000 for a stand-in surgeon while the doctor was allegedly suspended on full pay of £122,000 a year from July 2006 to October 2008 until she left the trust, it emerged in figures just released, as reported by a daily newspaper.

The total compensation bill for 27 female

patients has topped £1million and two cases are still to be settled.

They all had reconstructive operations allegedly carried out by Miss Markandoo after receiving treatment for breast cancer at Barnsley Hospital.

A spokesman for campaign group Patient Concern told the national daily: ‘It is a disgrace that someone can injure numbers of patients then sit at home for two years on an enormous salary meanwhile costing the NHS large amounts in compensation then get a slap on the wrist from the GMC and be allowed to go back

to work. We have to wonder just who is protecting patients.’

In 2008 the GMC found the doctor to be deficient in 11 areas including basic and specialist surgery, arranging treatment, referring patients, relationships with colleagues and working within laws and regulations.

Barnsley Council Tory councillor Paul HandDavis, pictured, said the Government needed to closely monitor money spent by the NHS. ‘We have to look at NHS spending more closely and be aware of any mismanagement.’

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

9

Senior British Indian figures join to honor head of Brahma Kumaris Senior figures in the British Indian community gathered at the Brahma Kumaris in London to honour the head of the organisation Dadi Janki, who was on a short visit to the UK. Organised by Demystifying India, Incredible India, and the Indo European Business Forum the occasion brought together 200 people to celebrate and honour the service of Dadi Janki, who was bestowed with the title ‘Spiritual Personality of the Year’ by Incredible India.

Arjanbhai Vekaria, Chief Director of Hindu Today, introduced the deep significance, rich culture and traditions of India with a visual presentation : ‘Why does everyone love India?’

Vijaybhai Goel

Jagdish Chander, Arjan Vekaria and Vijay Goel joined the stage with Sister Jayanti to award Dadi Janki ‘Spiritual Personality of the Year 2010

explained how the Indo European Business Forum brings together prominent businessmen and politicians from both the West and India. He also noted how ‘if business people follow spiritual life, they will no doubt do better business!’

Jagadishbhai Chander, on behalf of Tourism of India, introduced another

slide show of ‘Incredible India’, noting how spiritual tourism starts from India, concluding that the common principle that binds the great spiritual traditions of India is LOVE, and that the most beautiful monument is an expression of this, the Taj Mahal.

Dadi Janki addressed the gathering reminding

everyone of the greatness of Bharat, with it’s honest and generous heart, and how people of the world are always invited there, the place where everyone has great love for the Mother and the Friend.

Dadi also mentioned the custom of beautiful Bharat, the ‘namaste’ gesture which is a sign of humility, maturity and

Dadi Janki and Jaiminiben with CB Patel, Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar

love.

Dadi reminder everyone of what was God said in the Gita: ‘recognise Me as I am’. She said in order to do this we need a divine intellect and divine insight. Dadi added: “By becoming a Brahma Kumari, I was able to do this. I never wanted to

become a follower of a Guru, nor a guru who creates followers. There isn’t a day that I don’t ask God the question ‘what is the purpose of my life and what must I do?’. The answer is also in the Gita God says “remember Me and all your sins will be dissolved.”

Skylord Travel Plc nominated for one of the most prestigious awards Skylord Travel Plc has been shortlisted for the Travel Company of the Year (retailer under £50m turnover) prize in the TTG Travel Awards, run by the industry’s leading trade newspaper, Travel Trade Gazette.

Daniel Pearce, editor of TTG, said: “Faced with ash cloud, airline strikes and global recession, the UK’s best travel companies have really proven their worth, and we’ve

been overwhelmed by the strength of this year’s entries. Our unique combination of voting by travel agents and judging by industry experts makes a TTG Award the real hallmark of excellence within travel. We congratulate all those who’ve made it onto our hotly-contested shortlist.”

Rajan Sehgal, Chairman of Skylord Travel Plc said: “The TTG Travel Awards are regarded

as a universal benchmark of quality within the travel industry. We’re tremendously proud to have been short-listed alongside such other strong entrants. We have been in the industry for many years and being a finalist in this category is a great recognition of the hard work of everyone at Skylord Travel. We always aim to offer the best options to our clients whether by providing the best price, service or tech-

nology.”

Judges for the awards include experts from leading travel companies and trade bodies such as Thomas Cook, Sandals and the Institute of Travel and Tourism, as well as leading figures from the worlds of commerce and retail. This year’s winners will be announced at a spectacular ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on September 23.

Rajan Sehgal

10

UK / NORTH ENGLAND

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Communities in the UK working for a change All communities in the UK can play an active role in supporting and campaigning in different ways to help alleviate poverty.

Whether it’s giving money to good causes or placing a signature on a petition to lobby governments to make a change, people can get involved and make an impact.

Oxfam is engaging increasingly with Asian communities in the UK who have strong links to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where Oxfam works.

Sheeba Harma is Oxfam’s South Asian community engagement manager.

Her work involves developing relationships with South Asian communities around the UK, to make them more aware of Oxfam’s work. She has just returned from India where she saw first hand the scale of poverty and the importance of Oxfam’s work.

“Working in the UK, you have to sometimes be reminded of the desperate need in other countries.

Going to India reinforced to me, why I was doing my role. It has made me want to tell as many people about what needs to be done and how Oxfam can help”, she said.

Sheeba’s job involves working with diverse communities to listen and learn from their experiences and to share Oxfam’s experiences with them. As Oxfam’s motto is working with others to overcome poverty, this is an integral part of the organisation’s work.

Sheeba was born in Kerala, India and has

always been active in helping communities and pushing for change.

During her school days, she would look around to see where things had to be made fairer. Her first campaign was to lobby her school for more seats for children from the poorest low-income families. The campaign was successful and had a lasting impact on the school.

Before working for Oxfam, Sheeba campaigned on many things such as the environment, women’s issues and human rights. She also volunteered during the Gujarat earthquake of 2002 where she worked in community kitchens providing cooked food to survivors.

Her passion and work led her to a PhD in gender and education at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. It was during this time that she helped set up youth groups, focusing on environmental issues. In 2001 during the international year of volunteers, Sheeba researched the degradation of the river Yamuna in Delhi for the UN. In 2002 as she traveled to work, Sheeba noticed small children between five and 10 years old not going to school but ironing clothes. After speaking to some of the children, she felt compelled to set up tutoring in English and Maths for them, which eventually led to her working with others to set up a girls school in rural Uttar Pradesh.

In 2003 Sheeba moved to the UK and worked in the development field.

She joined Oxfam in 2007

Sheeba Harma from Oxfam visits a school in India

Jonaid Jilani

using her experience and skills to build partnerships and engaging with South Asian communities.

One of the ways in which Sheeba has brought Oxfam closer to the Asian community in the UK is by working closely with the British Asian Women’s Association. The association was keen to help people in poverty in the UK and got involved by raising funds within the association for Oxfam.

The partnership continues and now the association is looking at ways for people to donate old sarees and other unwanted items to Oxfam shops. They have also encouraged women in their association to volunteer and a number of members have got involved with Oxfam shops.

Harvinder Baxi, the chair of the British Asian Women’s Association said,” We work with Oxfam because we feel that Oxfam carries out excellent charitable work, and therefore we believe that the funds we donate will be used for deserving causes”.

Harvinder’s husband Ranjit Baxi was Asian of the Year in 2008. Ranjit’s recycling business has been particularly supportive of Oxfam’s work in recycling goods from Oxfam shops that cannot be sold.

Sheeba continues her passion and understands the power of partnerships and sharing.

“Bringing people together is key to my work, making sure that individuals and organisations who share a common value come together and work side by side is so crucial to help us in alleviating poverty”, she said.

For more information about Oxfam and its India project or to donate please call 0300 200 1242

Egg and sperm donors could get up to £800 in payments Egg and sperm donors could receive payments of £800 under proposals to tackle shortages in supply, it has been revealed.

Currently the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) imposes a £250 cap on payments so as to avoid commercialising the procedure.

But the low payment is thought to be behind a shortage in egg and sperm

donation which is driving infertile women and men to overseas – often unregulated – clinics, according to research.

Now the HFEA is considering adopting the Spanish system which would see the payment cap lifted to £800.

“We want to review egg donation,” Professor Lisa Jardine, the chair of the HFEA told the Sunday

Times.

“We are suggesting moving closer to the Spanish system. But there is no suggestion of adopting the US model where a good-looking girl with a degree can get $30,000 (£19,000) for her eggs.”

A report will go to the HFEA’s executive next month, setting out the proposed higher payments.

Alpesh Patel’s Political Sketchbook: How politicians commit genocide and all our actions have interconnected consequences and the US might save the world Genocide, Naomi Campbell, Blood Diamonds, Nelson Mandela, Bhutto, Pakistan relief. Not words you expect in the same sentence. On the BBC you may have seen the genocide trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague in which Naomi Campbell appeared. It is the trial of the former Liberian leader accused of funding genocide through the sale of ‘blood diamonds’. It is an important reminder that even what might be considered the ‘air head’ profession of fashion and modelling has consequences and we live in an interconnected world of humanity.

Why does it matter?

Ms Campbell is a key witness to proving whether or not as a supermodel she received blood diamonds from the Liberian leader. If she did it would prove he had access to them. If he did then it’s a short step to proving he funded arms dealing and the use of arms thereby acquired for mass murder. Why did Ms Campbell get diamonds?

Because she was a fashion icon and model. Even fashion models have responsibilities it would appear.

Genocide and the responsibilities of super-

models in the chain of events is not why the Liberian story is important. As thousands die in Pakistan, the United Nations questions why more people are not donating to the humanitarian relief operation. One of the reasons offered is the potential donor fear that the money will be stolen by corrupt Pakistani politicians and bureaucrats.

Why? Although Pakistan is not alone in regional countries troubled by a history of political and bureaucratic corruption, the consequences of the past and present corrupt actions of its leaders and civil servants have caught up with it to the detriment of its people.

At this time of need, each and every Pakistani politician and bureaucrat who ever took a bribe is responsible for the deaths of all those poor people dying and destitute in the floods. It is because the country, indeed the region, is renowned for corruption that the aid is not being donated. This is not Jinnah’s Pakistan.

Those politicians are as morally culpable of genocide in Pakistan as the Liberian leader in his own country. The sins of their

fathers can befall not just the children, but the children of others, just as a Supermodel can be in the chain of events of genocide.

But in the tragedy there comes hope. Not hope because the generous people of India are one of the largest donors, not because the generous people of Britain are one of the largest donors.

But because the US military has been out visibly saving lives and through that action shown the people on the ground that they are not the real enemy.

Moreover, where is the help from Saudi Arabia?

Iran? No matter India, Britain and the US will take responsibility for the consequence of the actions of others.

If the US pours its armed forces into relief work in Pakistan, it can win the war on terror and save the world without killing but through saving lives. The US needs to move quick, this disaster is not just an act of God, but a godsend. (Or as one Pakistani friend of mine put it, ‘if this is how God treats those who profess to be his most ardent supporters, what hope for the rest of us?’)

More parents rely on grandparents Grandparents are playing a vital role in helping parents return to work, by looking after their children, often for free, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 working parents, mainly women, showed that almost half depended on their own mothers and fathers to help out with childcare so they could work, with two out of five using childminders, friends or other members of their family.

Just 4% of those surveyed by online jobs website Workingmums.co.uk employed a nanny or au pair, with almost half of grandparents looking after children for free.

Two out of five mothers

said the cost of childcare was preventing them from returning to work, with one in 10 of those polled paying more than £750 a month.

One in four said childcare cost them £250 a month and a similar number paid between £250 and £750.

Family-friendly companies were said to be those offering flexible hours, working from home and part-time jobs, according to the report.

Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk, said: “The survey shows just how important grandparents are in helping parents get back into the workplace. Working mums are able to contribute sig-

nificantly to the British economy as a result of their parents looking after their children. Without their help, it would be impossible for many mums to go back to work - grandparents not only help with the childcare but also keep childcare costs to a minimum.”

Sam Smethers, chief executive of Grandparents Plus, said: “This survey confirms that working mums are increasingly relying on grandparents for childcare. Families are under increasing financial pressure and grandparents are helping to bridge the childcare gap. It is time we start recognising the growing contribution of grandparents.”

Burglar admits damaging house A burglar admitted causing damage at a house he raided.

Abdul Gaffar Dossani (35) pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to breaking into a property

in Spinney Hills, from where a radiator and a gas meter were taken, reported Leicester Mercury.

Dossani also admitted damaging window

frames, door frames, carpet and internal fixtures, on May 16. The case was adjourned until September 14 for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

EDUCATION/COUNCIL

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Afghan refugee misses uni place despite five A grades and one A* A girl who fled war-torn Afghanistan three years ago has failed to win a university place – despite gaining five A grades and one A* at A-level.

Rohilla Maarji, 18, was rejected by four medical schools and fears she may now be forced to give up her dream of becoming a doctor.

The teenager – described as ‘outstanding’ by staff at her sixth form – had only been learning English for two years when her family left Kabul and claimed asylum in Britain. But she achieved her GCSEs in just one year, winning a full set of A* and A grades at Manchester Academy.

Rohilla, of Fallowfield, moved on to William Hulme Grammar School, in Whalley Range, where she learned yesterday she had gained an A* in maths and As in biology, chemistry, physics, further maths and Persian. But her applications to study medicine at Manchester, Cambridge, University

College London (UCL) and Queen Mary’s had already been turned down.

Rohilla – who lives with her parents and three sisters – said: ‘I am really pleased with my results but very disappointed not to get into any universities. My parents have seen how upset I am and have said I should think about doing something else. But I really want to be a doctor – so I think I will take a gap year and re-apply next year.’

Rohilla, who is fluent in four languages, had already been predicted top grades when she was rejected.

Queen Mary’s said Rohilla’s score in the UK Clinical Aptitude Test – the entry exam for all medical students – had not been high enough, despite her scoring above the national average.

Nigel Veevers, head of sixth form at William Hulme, said he was baffled by the rejections. ‘We are so proud of Rohilla.

She’s had total dedication

being funded under a government school expansion scheme, called the Primary Capital Programme (PCP).

As well as offering topclass learning facilities for its pupils, the re-modelled school will also have a range of services and resources on offer for the wider community to enjoy, including: * study support, performing arts and sport and music clubs, combined with childcare * parenting support, including family learning * community education * provision of an ICT suite located within the children's centre * drop-in activity and crèche.

Sustainable features of the new building will include grass roofing, photovoltaic panels, a sun catcher which converts

Rohilla Maarji

ever since she arrived here. We were very surprised when we were told she hadn’t got into medical school and I think they should have taken her background into account.’

Rohilla’s plight comes after a record 27 per cent of A level papers were given an A* or A grade.

That – combined with an all time-high 379,411 successful university and college applications – has led to scores of high-flying students missing out.

A second Greater Manchester teenager – Meera Mistry, 18, from Ashton Under Lyne – was also rejected from four medical schools after gaining three A*s and two As.

solar thermal energy into electricity and a wind catcher to provide a natural ventilation system.

Existing temporary classrooms will be removed to make way for the new two-storey extension.

The first floor will accommodate learning spaces for drama, ICT, science and a staff room. A striking circular building will house four classrooms with an open learning area in the centre.

Councillor, Mary Arnold, Lead Member for Children and Families, said: "The revamp will mean the school can give pupils even better learning opportunities in modern facilities. It will also enable us to offer more school places to primary age children in the borough to help meet the increasing demand."

Illegal back garden building lands South Ealing couple in court A couple in South Ealing have been fined after ignoring an enforcement notice to remove a detached rear garden building from a property they own on Olive Road.

Mr and Mrs Gor of Sycamore Avenue, Ealing, appeared before Ealing Magistrates Court on Thursday, 12 August 2010, where they pleaded guilty to failing to act on an enforcement notice by the compliance date.

Council planning officers served an enforcement notice in April 2009 giving the owners three months

to tear down the building, after they failed to remove the single storey detached outbuilding as initially requested.

The owners appealed to the Secretary of State in November 2009, but the appeal was dismissed and the enforcement notice upheld.

They were fined £3000 (£1500 each) and ordered to pay the council's £1821.77 prosecution costs.

The detached outbuilding was eventually removed after the council initiated prosecution pro-

National Hindu Students Forum (UK)

By Miten Kana, NHSF Learning Team

Happily – Never After

£7 million facelift for Sudbury Primary School A £7.1 million scheme to refurbish and expand a Wembley primary school is now underway.

Work has started at Sudbury Primary School in Watford Road to create a brand new hall, classroom block, library, music room, group learning area and, by February 2011, a children's centre. The school's reception, administrative and nursery areas will also be radically refurbished by construction company, Morgan Sindall.

The project, which is expected to be completed

by September 2011, is in response to the increasing demand for primary school places and will increase pupils at the school by an extra class in each year.

The school is contributing £1.5m of its own money towards the refurbishments, with the remainder

11

ceedings.

Deputy Leader, Councillor Ranjit Dheer, said: “The council takes these matters seriously, and when necessary we will take action against residents who try to flout the law. I hope this case serves as a lesson to others who think that they can ignore notices from the council in the hope of getting away with building developments without proper planning permissions.”

The enforcement notice was issued under Section 172 Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Summer time brings about much that is positive in life – sunshine, holidays, the melody of an ice cream van as it makes its way down your road and of course the definitive Indian Wedding Season. The Hindu wedding is a beautiful occasion. Celebrated with much pomp and joy, it symbolises the joining of not just two souls, but the unification of two families.

Well, it should do.

However we must remember that there are two sides to every story.

Although everyone appears to be happy during the wedding procession, a growing number of marriages are ending prematurely. Why? From a small sample of people asked that have been subject to failed marriages, the underlying commonality is the pressure from parents to get married young. Tradition, not religion, dictates that children should be married at a young age. In our grandparent’s time, it wasn’t uncommon for

families to arrange the marriages of children from a young age. In fact, Gandhiji’s marriage to Kasturba was arranged when he was 6 years old!

But as time has moved on, so have trends and traditions. The arranged marriage is now more of an introductory service and the age to get married has substantially increased. However, a percentage of families still insist on adhering to tradition, not religion, and constantly reinforce the notion that ‘nobody will want to marry you after a certain age’.

Seldom is this the case for the son, but it is prevalent in the case of daughters.

Nowhere in Hindu scriptures does it declare that a daughter must be married by a certain age.

True, certain scriptures allow for daughters to be married at a young age, but there is no set law stating she MUST be married by that age. In fact, Dharma encourages us to adjust and adapt with modern day living,

and in this case we have to understand that certain old village traditions are not feasible for life in the modern, western world. Long gone are the days of women being in the kitchen whilst men go out to work. Now both men and women are career-minded and wish to succeed in the working world before settling down. More often than not, girls are forced into marriage younger than their male counterparts, as they feel duty-bound by their parents to do so.

Of course, obeying one’s parents is paramount in fulfilling our Dharma, but so too should parents support and understand our need for succeeding in our respective fields.

So this summer, when you come home from a wedding, and ‘marriage fever’ manifests, ask your children first; are you ready for marriage? If they say no, then respect their decision – after all, the future is in our hands.

Kampala Kololo School alumnus get together held in North London

By Ghansyam Amin The seventh annual get together of Kololo School students, teachers and friends took place on 28th July, 2010 at Sapphire lounge in North London.

The event was attended by nearly 100 people who came from many parts of the world.

Friends from Australia, the USA, Germany, Spain, Scotland, Wales and many parts of England including Leicester and of course from the south of the River Thames were present.

Many friends had not met each other since they left Uganda and needless to say that they all enjoyed the evening.

Also many Kololo School teachers were present. They were delighted to meet their ex. students and of course students were happy to meet them and remembered the past and exchanged humours stories of their time at the school.

The school which is government sponsored started in 1954 and the first headmaster appointed was Mr Ravel.

He devoted most of his life in building this school and created an educational establishment of the

highest standard. Mr Ravel was fondly remembered by both students and teachers.

It is interesting to note that the school over the years has produced hundreds of professionals at the highest level. Some of these include doctors,

lawyers, engineers, politicians, teachers and in many other professions.

These people are now living not only in Uganda but also in many countries of the world.

The next event will take place in July/August 2011.

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12

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

A thousand little Krishnas at Hare Krishna Temple Tens of thousands of pilgrims and guests will visit Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna Temple on Thursday 2nd and Sunday 5th September to celebrate Janmashtami. The festival will include lively plays, traditional Indian dances, melodious singing, food stalls, multimedia shows, elaborate worship, meditation and chanting, youth tents, games, children's areas, bullock-wagon rides and much more.

On Janmashtami Day itself, Thursday 2nd, the festival will continue until everyone has taken darshan of Lord Krishna in the Temple room.

In the Children’s area, a thousand children will have their faces painted blue, many carrying flutes and wearing peacock feathers in their hair, dressing like Lord Krishna as part of the festive spirit!

Another highlight of the festival celebrations here will include a flowered walkway through the spiritual gardens and woodland. Visitors will experience a virtual jour-

ney through the life and pastimes of Lord Krishna.

As you approach the shrine the excitement will build, climaxing with a glimpse of the spectacular deity of Krishna decorated with thousands of flowers.

The festival will launch the first literacy program in the world to incorporate both language and phonics systems. It is the first and only Learning to Read program in the world where

Lord Krishna is one of the most loved and revered Gods in the Hindu religion. He is regarded as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, born as human in ‘Dwapur Yug’ (Iron Age).

He was a “Yaduvanshi” and is said to have been born between 3200 and 3100 BC according to Indian and Western researchers. Lord Krishna was born as the eighth child of Devki and Vasudev but was brought up by Mata Yashoda and Baba Nand.

The word, “Krishna” means, “one who is always in a journey of joy”. It also means “Black”. Lord Krishna was named so because of his dark complexion.

Krishna is known by many other names according to the characteristics he had and the feats he accomplished.

He is known as “Makhan Chor” as he was fond of makhan

(butter) and used to steal it with his friends. The incident of lifting Govardhan Mountain to save the people from rain made him famous as Girdhari. Also known as Banwari - the one staying in the groves of Vrindavan.

Leelas of Bal Krishna Krishna also known as Bal Gopal, was a very famous and fearless child.

His childhood has a number of stories that prove him to be very brave and also reveal his spiritual and divine powers. Most important among them are killing of the demoness Putana, sent by Kansa to kill infant Krishna by feeding him poisoned milk; Slaying of Kaliya Nag, the dreaded snake etc.

Friend, philosopher and guide for Arjun Blessed with a number of skills, Lord Krishna is regarded as “Solah Kala Sampoorna”. He acted as

the books can be heard in 25 different languages.

The children’s books depict many adventures of Lord Krishna and other stories from the Hindu scriptures.

“We use a system called MagicPEN, which is used by only a handful of publishers,” said Dr. Edith E. Best, an educator with more than thirty years of experience in both primary and secondary edu-

cation and teacher training.

“You touch each page with a computerized pen that has a speaker built into it, and it picks up an invisible bar code and reads the page out to you.”

The entire festival is managed and run by 1300 volunteers from the community who gather every evening after work for a month prior to the event

and put in countless hours of hard work for the occasion.

Janmashtami at Bhaktivedanta Manor attracts people of all backgrounds, including politicians, business leaders,

faith representatives and people who would like to learn more about devotion to Lord Krishna.

Srutidharma das, Temple President said, “I am looking forward to see the happy faces of so many children at the festival.

The event is the show piece of our devotion to Lord Krishna and that of 1500 volunteers who have helped to make this festival such a success every year. With creativity and devotion, our volunteers have strived to produce yet again something different and spectacular. I am sure all our pilgrims and visitors who come will be uplifted spiritually.”

till date. His flute playing ability made all the cows that had wandered off gather at one place.

A Saviour Lord Krishna is said to have resided in the city of Dwarka made by Vishkarma with as many as 16,000 wives. Legend has it that Bhagwan Krishna killed a demon, married all the single girls (gopis) of the entire village to save their honour. The head of the house was however Rukmini.

Role in Bhagawad Gita and Mahabharata Lord Krishna played a very important role in Mahabharata (The epic battles fought in Kurukshetra between Pandavas and Kauravas)

and Gita (Literally meaning 'Song of God', it contains teachings of Sri Krishna to his disciple Arjuna during Mahabharata).

Lord Krishna's famous words “karm kar phal ki chinta mat kar” have been the basis of modern society.

Teachings of Lord Krishna Krishna was the divine messenger who stressed on the importance of love and peace. Following the path of Dharma (Righteousness) and good Karma (Deeds) as a way to attain Moksha (salvation), he emphasised on the glory of satsanga (Being in the company of sadhus). He also taught the path of “Bhakti Yoga” which means attachment to God instead of attachment of one's self to materialistic things.

Lord Krishna taught about the nature and method of meditation. Feelings of joy, sorrow, grief, happiness are all ‘Maya’ (illusion); only the love between God and the devotee is real.

Janmashtami: The birthday of Lord Krishna

a teacher, protector, friend, philosopher and guide of Arjuna. He was an accomplished charioteer, a master flute player, giver of pleasure to cows, a romantic lover for Gopis besides possessing several other qualities.

Source of Inspiration for Artists, Painters and Philosophers For centuries now, Lord Krishna has been the source of knowledge for humanity. His achievements are not restricted to followers of Hindu religion only. He has acted as an inspiration for all mankind and the same is evident from the paintings of him that we see till date, spiritual talks taking place not only in India but all

around the world. The Sri Krishna movement was started in the late 60s by ISKCON in the western countries. His reference can be found in literature, dance and music, sculptures, plays.

God of Romance One of the most striking things that differentiates Lord Krishna from other incarnations of Vishnu and make him seem more human is the fact that Krishna was a great lover. His love for Radha is immortal and very pious. Even though he married Rukmini, till date his name is always taken with his childhood love Radha. Also his love for Gopis is the basis for ‘Raslilas’ that take place

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Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Famous Krishna Temples in India There are a number of temples dedicated to Lord Shri Krishna, spread across India. The number of temples in North India is far more than those in South India. The city of Vrindavan (Northern India) alone, hosts close to 5000 temples. There are a chosen few temples which are quite famous and significant.

Millions of devotees visit these temples every year for darshans of their beloved Bal Gopal. These temples are highly regarded by Hindus and also considered very powerful in helping to promote and flourish the richness of the Hindu religion, culture, and philosophy.

While Vrindavan and Mathura (in North India) are the places of his birth and his childhood as well as his early rule, Dwarka in Gujarat is the place where he shifted in his later days.

Dwarkadhish Temple, Gujarat The city of Dwarka, meaning gateway to moksha or salvation hosts one of the most significant temples of Shri Krishna. It is said that lord spent close to hundred years of his life in this holy city.

The city is believed to have been immersed in the sea after lord left for heavenly abode. Dwarka is also popularly known as city of gold.

The famed Dwarkadhish temple was just a small umbrella type monument in the year 400 BC; which was renovated time and again in different periods to finally in the year 1960, when Government of India took it over and renovates its from time to time.

Devotees from all over India, visit the holy place during Janmashtami. The festival is celebrated in a special way; the entire place is very well decorated with rows of lighting everywhere. Special pooja is performed on the day by aboti brahmins; a special caste of brahmins who have been performing pooja there for centuries.

The pooja is based on a daily routine. Arti is performed at different times during the day, abhishek of lord's idol is done, followed by shringar wherein the idol is adorned with new clothes, jewels and flowers; distribution of sweet meat or prasad to devotees happens in the end. It is said devotees visiting the temple during janmashtami are freed from all sufferings.

Dakor According to old scrip-

Dwarkadhish Temple

tures, Lord Krishna in his incarnation of Buddhavatar, lived for 4225 years as Chatrbhuj in Dwarka in Kaliyug time.

According to one legend, Lord Krishna, while living in Dwarka came to Dakor (also in Gujarat) after being pleased with his devotee Bhakta Bodana who offered him Tulsi leaves.

According to various Samhitas, this Vaishnav temple of Lord Krishna was constructed by Gopalrao Jaggnath Tambvekar of Tambve village of Satara district of Maharashtra in Vikram Samvat 1781 (as per Hindu calendar).

The stone carving of this, in fact is today lying with Shri Bhalchandra Tambvekar of Tambvekar fimily.

According to historical facts, in 1769 when Shri Gopalrao Jaggnath Tambvekar, a Sharaf of Peshva Government, while going to Dwarka on foot, got an intuitive feeling of having a vision of the real incarnation of Lord Ranchhodrai of Dwarka at Dakor during his stay at Vadodara. He came at Dakor and offered darshan. He later build the temple after purchasing land in Dakor.

For maintenance and daily expense of the temple, the Peshva Government gave him Dakor and Gaikwad Government gave him Kanajari village as gift.

The Temple of Shri Ranchhodraiji, situated on the bank of the Gomti river, is 168 feet long on east-west side and 151 feet long on north-south side.

There are 8 domes and 24 peaks. The tallest peak is 90 feet high.

All these peaks have kalas (pots) of gold. The Nij Mandir has four doors with silver shutters on four sides. The shikharbandhi part is on southern side of the temple where the Lord is in sound sleep and have beds of silver, Jhula, chains, bed sheets of silk and marbles. The

structure of the temple is very peculiar and there is unique combination of Hindu and Muslim Style of structure.

There is 3.5 feet high and 1.5 feet broad black idol of Shri Ranchhodrai on the seat made up of gold and silver in this Nij Mandir. It is believed that this idol was made in 11th century. Dakor is famous in India due to Ranchhodraji. According to historical scripts, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Meera visited Dakor.

Krishna Janma Bhoomi Mandir, Mathura Mathura, the city where Lord Krishna was born, is situated on the banks of river Yamuna and is approximately 145 kms from New Delhi. The town is renowned for being host to the most revered temple of Shri Krishna - the famous Krishna Janma Bhoomi Mandir. The temple is the place where lord is said to have been born thousands of years ago.

Along with neighboring towns Govardhan, Nandgaon and Vrindavan, the area is a major pilgrimage site for Hindus.

According to historians, the prison cell, popularly known as ‘Garbha Griha’, in the temple premise is the exact place where lord Krishna was born. The stone walled cell is reminiscent of the cruelty of King Kansa. Many statues and sculptures of the bygone era were found on excavating the site. The prison cell was gradually turned into the present beautiful temple. Millions of devotees throng the temple during Janmashtami. The festivities and celebrations during the festival here is famous all over India.

Celebrations reach a crescendo at mid night with the birth of Bhagwan.

Banke Bihari Mandir, Vrindavan The twin city of Mathura and Vrindavan are brimming with the stories of Lord Krishna. 15

Mathura Temple

kms from Mathura, Vrindavan has more than 5000 temples dedicated to him. The place got its name from sacred plant of ‘Tulsi’ also known as Vrinda. It is said that the place was a vine of ‘Tulsi’ groves hence the name Vrindavan. God spent quite a few years in Vrindavan also known as Braj bhoomi. The city has both - centuries old ancient as well as modern temples.

Though there are quite a few popular temples like Radha Raman temple, Rangaji temple, Radha Vallabh temple, ISKCON temple but the most revered among them is the Banke Bihari temple.

The temple was built

by Swami Haridas in the year 1864. According to folklore, Swami Haridas discovered Banke Bihari in Nidhivan and it was later moved to the present temple premise. The temple is a special attraction during the month of Sravana when it adorns a special look. The entire premise is covered with flowers and other decorations. Special pooja is performed during Janmashtami, the idol of Shri Krishna is adorned with pitamber (yellow cloth) and jewellery. It is quite popular with Hindus.

Guruvayur Temple, Kerala Situated approximately 33 kms from Thrissur, Guruvayur temple is one of the most famous temples of Lord Krishna in South India. It is also considered to be the Dwarka of South. It is said that Lord Brahma worshipped Lord Krishna's idol and gifted it to Lord Vishnu during Krishnavtaram.

After Bhagwan Krishna left for heavenly abode, and the city of Dwarka was submerged, Vayu lord of winds and Guru were entrusted with the work of finding a suitable place to install the holy idol. After a long search, it is said that both Guru and

Vayu installed the idol at the temple at the insistence of guru Parshuram.

The place got its name Guruvayur because both Guru and Vayu installed the idol. It was initially called Guruvayurappa which was later changed to what is today famously known as Guruvayur.

Guruvayur temple is linked with Melpattur Narayana Bhattathiri, the author of 'Narayaneeyam' (16th century) a Sanskrit work comprising 1000 slokas (couplets) of inimitable beauty which is believed to have been composed in front of the deity here.

The beautiful idol of Lord Vishnu, with four arms carrying the conch, the discus, the mace and the lotus, and adorned with a tulsi garland and pearl necklaces, is made of a distinct stone, uniquely called 'Patala Anjanam'.

Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple.

Maximum number of weddings and first feeding ceremony of children takes place in this most sacred temple of Kerala. This is done to seek the blessings of Lord Krishna for a happy future ahead. The temple is also famous for its healing powers.

Udupi Sri Krishna Temple, Karnataka Approximately 60 kms from Mangalore, the Udupi Sri Krishna temple, also known as Krishna Mutt, is one of the most popular shrines dedicated to Lord Krishna in the southern region of India.

Built in 13the century, Sri Krishna temple has an alluring idol of god adorned with beautiful jewels. The idol was installed by great saint Madhavacharya.

The temple has an interesting history; it is said the idol of lord Krishna got covered with sandalwood in the city of Dwarka. The idol was carried by a mariner who took it for a sandalwood lump. In the middle of the journey, the ship was

caught in a storm on the western coast of Malpe.

Sri Madhvacharya pulled the ship out of storm with his saffron robe and calmed the sea storm with his divine powers.

Saint Mahdhvacharya asked for the sandalwood lump and as a gesture of gratitude, the mariner gifted him. Saint bathed the idol with water, purified it and installed it in the temple.

Kanakadas, a staunch follower of lord Krishna visited the temple in the late 16th century but was forbidden to enter the temple as he belonged to a lower caste. It is said, pleased with the devotion of Kanakadas, lord Krishna created a hole in the back wall of the temple so that he could see the idol. The hole is now famously known as the Kanakanakindi.

Special poojas are performed on Janmashtami.

The temple is beautifully decorated and hymns are sung in the praise of Lord.

Srinathji Temple, Rajasthan The temple of Srinathji in Nathdwara, 48 kms north of beautiful city of Udaipur in Rajasthan is one of the wealthiest temples in India. Built in the early 18th century, the temple is thronged by staunch Vishnu and Krishna devotees every year on special occasions, especially Janmashtami.

According to a popular folklore, the idol was initially installed at Mount Govardhan near Mathura city, birth place of Lord Krishna; while escaping the wrath and demolition by Muslim king Aurangzeb at a later date, the chariot carrying the idol of Srinathji got stuck in Nathdwara. This was taken as a divine signal to install the idol.

Shrinathji is believed to be a form of Krishna, in which he lifted the Govardhan hill to save the people of Brajbhoomi from the wrath of Varun Lord of Rain.

The temple's inner sanctum, where the idol of Srinathji is placed, is opened only eight times a day when devotees throng to catch a glimpse of the sacred form of the Lord .

Everything in the inner temple, right from china to silver/ gold-ware, paintings, wall hangings, clothes and furniture, are reminiscent of the old times and its heritage.

An interesting fact relating to the famous temple is that the temple servants still wear the clothes and costumes of the bygone era.

14

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Scrutator’s The Delhi-based Pioneer (August19) published an arresting report on an Indian achievement in science. The paper's Mumbai correspondent, T.N.Raghunatha, told of “a major breakthrough in cancer research involving a non-evasive medical procedure, (with) scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) developing a therapeutic radionuclides – also known as radio pharmaceuticals – for curing neuro-endocrine, skin and liver tumours. Having successfully conducted clinical trials at hospitals across the country, the scientists have concluded that Lutetium-177 and Phosphorus-32 are extremely effective radio pharmaceutical in the treatment of these conditions.”

Confirming the development Meera Venkatesh, head of BARC's Radio Pharmaceutical Division, said: “We have made effective use of Lutetium-177 in five leading hospitals in the country – including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai and the Bangalore Institute of Oncology – to treat neuro-endocrine tumour patients. Similarly, AIIMS – with whom we have collaborated in the research – successfully experimented Phosphorus-32 while treating patients with facial cancers....We are preparing to undertake clinical trials of Yittrium-90 on liver cancer patients in some of the leading hospitals in the country.

Going by the encouraging results we have got when we used the therapeutic radionuclids on animals, we are confident that Yittrium90 will prove to be as efficacious on human beings”, said Ms Venkatesh, who has been engaged in the research and development of radio-pharmaceuticals and radiometric assays since she joined BARC in 1976.

Libelling India The British medical journal, Lancer, published a report which claimed that a drug-resistant superbug – NDM-1 - had originated in India. Co-author of the report, Timothy Walsh, has been quoted in the British media as advising people to “think long and hard” before deciding to undergo treatment in Indian hospitals. The Lancet report comes close on the heels of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery's evaluation of India as one of the top five destinations for plastic surgery.

Chennai-based lead author of the Lancet report, Karthikeyan Kumaraswamy, said: “|I do not agree with the last paragraph which advises people to avoid elective surgeries in India.” He said he had not written many of the interpretations in the report; they were added later without his permission or knowledge. “While I did the scientific work, Correspondence author Timothy Walsh of Cardiff University was assigned to edit the report.

Bacterial infection can originate anywhere,”he said. India's Health Ministry issued a strong rebuttal of the Lancet document: “The study was funded by the EU, the Wellcome Trust and Wreth, which produce antibiotics for treatment of such cases.

It also needs to be highlighted that several of the authors have declared conflict of interest in the publication.”

Doctors in India have criticised the report, saying it appeared to be aimed at India's booming medical tourism that is taking away business from the West's healthcare industry. (The Indian Post, August 19).

Corruption charges Amy Kazmin's brief Financial Times report (August 20) told how “Indian public sector companies are freezing financial support worth Rs2.6 billion for New Delhi's Commonwealth Games, amid allegations of corruption and fears that event will be a deba-

cle. Three Indian Games officials have been suspended for financial improprieties, and the Central Vigilance Commission reported building companies had jacked up prices and cut corners. Manmohan Singh, prime minister, has ordered bureaucrats to take control of preparations.”

Too little, too late? We shall see soon enough.

Corus ahead Corus, the steel group owned

by Tata, is ahead of the game, having decided to invest £185 million in its Port Talbot plant in Wales. This will give a 20-year lease of life to an old furnace, said a Daily Telegraph report (August 17).

The company plans to rebuild completely the No 4 blast furnace at the steelworks, with construction starting in July 2012. The refit will equip the furnace to improve its safety, environmental performance and reliability. The company praised the commitment and capability of its workforce in the faces of challenges posed by the economic downturn.

Corus also praised the Welsh authorities. “The constant support we have received from the Welsh Assembly Government and the local community and unions, are important factors that have led to this decision.”

Kirby Adam, chief executive of Tata Steel Europe, added: “This investment is a major step in achieving Tata Steel's ambition to position Port Talbott as a producer of high-quality strip products on a global scale and an internationally competitive cost-base. Our capital expenditure decisions aim to invest in those who invest in themselves.”

Corus has announced that it would recruit 60 workers at its Scottish steel plant.

rine triad....Technological advancements in nuclear delivery platforms can also place new nuclear strategy options in the hands of India's rulers.”

Sam Pitroda to head council Website Domain.com (August 17) reported that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the setting up of a National Innovation Council to prepare a roadmap for the Decade of Innovation-2010-20.

Sam Pitroda, adviser to the prime minister on public information infrastructure and innovations, will head the council.

Its other members will include K.Kasturirangan, India's former

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay

sible consequences by the Financial Times, The Times and The Sunday Telegraph and its stablemate, The Daily Telegraph (August 17). The concerns focused on the alleged wheelerdealing by the Vedanta group and its head, Anil Aggarwal.

The Daily Telegraph's Rowena Mason profiled the rags-to-riches rise of Mr Aggarwal, whose Vedanta “became the first Indian company to list on the London Stock Exchange in 2003, soon more than doubling its revenue to $7.9 billion last year.”

The adjoining profile of Sir Bill Gammill, CEO of Cairn

in missile technology. Written by Frank O'Donnell, currently for his Msc in Strategic Studies at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), it says: “India is entering a new stage of technical sophistication in its nuclear force development beyond its reliance on air-delivered nuclear gravity bombs to make the shortrange Prithvi missile model the core of its operational nuclear arsenal. Indian government statements postulate the future Indian nuclear force as resting on its long-range Agni missile suite and emerging submarine nuclear-armed submarine force.

The first missiles of the Agni

Cairn Energy oil well in Rajasthan

Energy, penned by Louise Armitstead, described the rise of Scottish rugby international and Edinburgh University graduate and long-time friend of George W. Bush, a Texan oilman years before he entered the White House as US president. It was Cairn Energy's discovery of oil in India's Rajasthan state that transformed his company into a global player.

Ms Armitstead writes: “It's been just under a year since Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India, pressed the start button on Cairn India's production wells. The fields now produce 90,000 barrels oil a day, with plans to increase to more than 125,000 barrels.” The sale to Vedanta Resources had netted Cairn Energy $9.6 billion, she wrote.

Cairn oil sell-off

Refining missiles

Cairn Energy India has sold its majority stake in its oil business to Vedanta, the mining group, raising anxieties among investors. Generous space was provided on the deal and its pos-

ISN Security Watch (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, August 13) published an absorbing analysis of India's growing technological prowess

suite, the 700-kilometre-range Agni-1 and 2,000km-range Agni II, [also Agni III, See Asian Voice, August 21, page 12] are presently being inducted into the Indian Army. This demonstrates Indian intentions to ensure a credibile nuclear threat is retained....while signalling its technological military capability.....This is is illustrated by the announcement last week of a new Agni-II model missile in development with a projected range of 2,750-3,000km. The reach of this missile sits between the present Agni-II model and Agni-III, with a range of 3,500km. The new Agni-II missile programme has been revealed not long after the announcement of the development of an Agni V model, the first Indian ICBM, with a projected range of 5,000-6,000km.

The new Agni -II missile designed to fit a perceived gap in missile ranges This elaborates the level of Indian political and economic investment devoted to the fielding of its long-range and land-based nuclear missile force, as only one pillar of its subma-

Sam Pitroda

space chief, former director general Ramesh Mashelkar, former president NASSCOM Kiran Karnik, Narayana Hrudyalaya Dr Devi Shetty, Tata Sons executive director Gopalkrishnan, Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, IIM professor Anil Gupta, TIFR professor Sujatha Ramadorai, CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee, FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra, CSIR director general Samir Brahrmachari and IIT Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande.

Good luck, all.

Solar corona An Aviation Week online report (August 12) says, “the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for a unique satellite mission to study the solar corona – the outermost region of the sun – in visible and near-visible infrared bands. The satellite called Aditya, will be launched in 2012 during the solar maximum, a high solar activity period, which occurs every 11 years.”

The solar corona region has temperatures of more than 1 million degrees centigrade, with solar winds of up to 1,000 kilometres per second. Aditya, which will between 100-200 kilogrammes, will be placed in a near Earth orbit of 600 kilometres (370 miles).

In addition to ISRO, other participants in the project include the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, the Radio Astronomy Centre, the Udaipur Solar Observatory, and the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics etc.

India reaches for the stars.

LIFE STYLE

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

15

The tale of

Chanderi: Artistry, sheer, majesty Chanderi The drape, the delicacy, the artistry and the sheer majesty of the Chanderi Saree is a secret passed down from generation to generation.

Echoing the marvel of a bygone era. It comes from the protected in the town of Chanderi with its fortress like base of a hill sarees craftsmanship defies the wrinkled hands and deep set eyes of the craftsman working with single minded dedication. Weaving sarees through the proverbial 'hole in the finger nail'.

The magic is in thread, warp and weft.

History, Process and Varieties - Facination Facets In Chanderi, locally grown cotton was spun as fine as 300s counts.

The fame of Chanderi cottons competed with the famed muslins of Dhaka. After the industrial revolution, the import of mill spun 120s to 200s count Manchester yarn via Calcutta wiped out this local strain of Chanderi cottons. Around the 1930s Japanese silk came to Chaderi via Calcutta and was introduced in the wrap while cotton was retained in the weft of the Chanderi.

This combination continues till date with the entirely silk by silk varieties.

Problems in brush sizing fine cotton, higher preference for silk (silk by silk 60%, silk by cotton 30% to 40% of the production) and higher profits with silk have contributed to the end of cotton by cotton sarees in the course of the 20th century.

T o d a y , though modern fly shuttle looms are being used, still the magic of the master weaver is not lost.

The fame and elegance of the soft Chanderi colours lie in their constant reference to nature. Motifs drawn from earth and sky.

Hunting scenes, the tree of life.

Man, woman, birds, fruits, flowers, heavenly bodies. All exquisite detail far surpassing

their role models.

The Chanderi colours always show a preference for harmony between the borders and the body of

the sarees. However, there are some typical contrasting combinations like black against red and red or Kumkum on the other with a natural offwhite body.

Patterns, Design and Varieties in Chanderi Portary Eternal Spring Chanderi is also famous for weaving and extremely fine zari band (patti) right up to the selvedge edge, known as Piping kinar. Great attention is paid to the Buti or Motif in the body which enriches the design vocabulary.

Meenakari or inlay in the Motif and the Addedar Patela in which the band is woven to jewelled cut-work effect are latest additions.

Kalgi is another typical Chanderi Motif that runs along the edge of the border. The use of the fine echoing lines called Baccha is also a Chanderi characteristic.

By Rupanjana Dutta

Le Cercle- Restaurant Review Le circle, operated by the award-winning team the Michelinfrom starred Club Gascon is offering a splendid halal menu, comprising of tapas, tasting-style dishes and petit plateaus, encompassing all areas of regional France. The chic and elegant restaurant is located opposite The Cadogan Hall, off Sloane Street, SW1.

The menu has been created by Head Chef Thierry Beyris and is divided into six sections: Vegetal (vegetarian), Marin (fish), Fermier (meat), Plaisirs (luxury dishes), Fromagerie (cheese) and Gourmandises (desserts).

Prices range from £5 to £16 per small tasting dish.

Wines play a very important role, and one can enjoy a five-course food and wine tasting dinner on the third Tuesday of every month.

The 80-seat lower ground floor restaurant has subtle lighting, flowing white muslin curtains and a light stone floor offsetting the dark wood furniture with chocolate leather seating. There are several large booths, in addition to banquette

seating along one wall beneath a beautiful handpainted floral mural. A raised area to the rear of the restaurant displays the wine stock.

A glass-fronted area on the mezzanine level overlooks the dining room. Seating up to 12 people on chaise longuestyle seating, it is perfect for lounging or for a private party. This flexible space can cater for formal dining or a Champagne and canapé reception.

The leather-fronted, wooden-topped bar has a dramatic river of ice flowing through its core for the presentation of wines and Champagne.

There is also a snug with a striking antique stone fireplace for those cold winter nights.

The food tastes authentic. The marin dishes are essentially

strong in their texture and taste. It is palatable for only those who can deal with the strong essence of marine food.

There is no doubt about the quality, though quantitatively the dishes may not be substantial, but obviously 1 tapas in not meant for filling up.

The restaurant staff are hospitable though for an Indian it may be a little difficult to understand the way the tapas menu is or the dishes, as they are. More because the food is not very conventional.

Taste: *** Quality: **** Hospitality: *** Quantity: *** Decor: **** Le Cercle, 1 Wilbraham Place, London SW1X 9AE, Contact: 020 7901 9999 or www.lecercle.co.uk

Support Suraj to become Mr England!

Suraj Unalkat is a 24 year old British Indian from North West London and a professional Banker at RBS. He thinks his career is a mentally stimulating challenge. However, this has never been enough for him. Keen to push boundaries and break out of conventional norms, he has also been working as a professional model for the past 2 years, walking on ramps up and down the country and appeared on high profile television, internet and magazine features and adverts.

His ambition has led him to fighting off hundreds of men from all over the country to become an official finalist in the Mr England 2010 competi-

tion (due to be held at Hilton Metropole, Birmingham on the 1st September). In recognition of this achievement, he has been granted the title of the official Mr North London 2010. He is the only Indian in this mainstream national competition to make it into the finals this year.

Now he needs your support!!

All 12 Finalists have been entered into a public vote which will continue until 1st September. The winner of this will be fasttracked into the Final 5, and the public vote also counts as a ‘judge’ in determining the winner with an additional panel of 3 making the decision.

Let’s help get him there!!

All you have to do is text 06MrNorthLondon to 81118, each text is £1 with 15p of this going to charity, and you can vote as many times as you like.

You can track his progress and view the other finalists at http://www.missengland.info/mr-england.

Arjun getting ready to win hearts Arjun, has been hard at work recently; the London based singer, songwriter and producer is getting ready to set the UK Asian music scene on fire with his debut single ‘Remember Tonight’.

Scheduled for release later this month, the tune is the perfect club track with lyrics that will get you moving instantly!

After performing at various London gigs for the last couple of years,

Arjun has built a following with a series of promo tracks and now he is finally ready to unleash his debut single which has been co-produced by the talented Charles Bosco.

Arjun is a naturally gifted musician, a multiinstrumentalist - playing the guitar, piano, bass, drums and flute, on top of singing and beat boxing - and this variety truly shows in his

work.Showing true quality and versatility, he has recently produced a Hindi album for Sony India for the emerging sensation Shivali, which is coming out soon.

Bollywood

16 Asian Voice Saturday 28th August 2010

Karthi is professional, says Kajal Kajal Agarwal is all praise for her ‘Nan Mahan Alla’ co-star Karthi Sivakumar even as the film directed by Suseendiran is hitting the screens in a big way. “He is a thorough professional,” she says.

“Karthi is full of energy. Working with him is nothing short of a delight.

He would spread his positive vibes to every member of the unit and made every day of shooting an interesting thing,” the actress says.

Throwing light on her character in the film, she says, “I play Priya, a girl next door. She is not the usual heroine, but silent, calm and reserved. I am satisfied with the way my character is shaped up in the movie.”

Expressing gratitude to Suseendiran, she says, “But for him, I wouldn’t have landed up as the heroine of Nan Mahan Alla. It is a very interesting script which will bring on screen a different side of Chennai.”

Mankatha: Action unlimited!

“The title is Mankatha, no doubts about it. The reason is we picked this title is because it’s a game of probability. The story is like that too. It’s an ordinary guy in a situation where anything can happen! It’s going to be a racy action adventure, full of fun and excitement,” director Venkat Prabhu revealed in an exclusive chat.

There are also reports that the film is a multi-starrer and Telugu superstar Nagarjuna will play a prominent role in the film. “Yes, this is going to be a multi-starrer film. There has been quite a bit of speculation about who the other stars are. All I can say is that it’s a definite ensemble cast, as for the names… I think it will be better and more professional if I revealed that once the stars have actually signed on for the film,” he added.

Venkat Prabhu’s movies are known for their humour. Will Mankatha follow this tradition? “Humour has always been an integral part of my movies and that applies to Mankatha as well. Ajith sir himself is a very fun guy. He has a very spontaneous sense of humour — great timing, actually! He is also a very sensible guy, very passionate about his movies. I hope to bring out all these facets of his in Mankatha,” the director said.

He further added, “Music for the movie is Yuvanshankar Raja. I think it’s safe to say that he has always given his best music for my movies! I dont really have to bribe him, he’s my bro, I’ll beat him up if he doesn’t! Jokes aside, I must say that his contribution to my films has been amazing and I can vouch for the fact that the music for Mankatha will be Yuvan’s best yet!”

Rajinikanth to start spiritual tour

Now that everything related to ‘Endhiran’ is over except the release, Superstar Rajinikanth is getting ready for his favourite act- a spiritual trip to Himalayas where he would spend time meditating and meeting Yogis. If sources are to be believed, the top actor, along with his friends, will leave for the holy mountain a week after the release of his magnum opus, directed

by Shankar and produced by Sun Pictures.

“Apart from Endhiran’s release, September has also in cards one more important thing. The wedding of the Superstar’s younger daughter Soundarya. And Rajini is preparing himself for both,” sources say.

Soon, Rajini will personally meet VVIPs of tinsel town and politics to invite them for the marriage of Soundarya. He is planning a grand bash this time too, similar to the one he hosted during the wedding of his elder daughter Aishwarya with Dhanush.

Now, Katrina is Aditya Chopra’s favourite girl Rani Mukherjee, who used to be the muse for filmmaker Aditya Chopra, is no longer the director's lucky charm.

Adi, as the filmmaker is fondly called in the industry, held Rani of “Black” fame in high esteem as his lucky mascot until recently, when it seems the spell of another Bollywood belle has been cast on him. The new arrival in the filmy world of Adi is none other than the charming Katrina Kaif.

A source close to the filmmaker reveals that Adi has developed a liking for Katrina after “New York,” starring Kat along with Neil Nitin Mukesh and John Abraham, became a blockbuster last year.

The words emanating from the grapevine are that being bitten by the bug that is Katrina's beguiling beauty, Aditya has been spending quality time with her. In addition, the Bollywood beauty has been taking career tips from him as per the reports.

No marriage now: Deepika It wasn't the perfect setting for a romantic proposal, but a young boy dared to pop the question to actress Deepika Padukone when she came to a mall in Delhi last week to promote her film "Lafangey Parindey".

The youth went down on his knees, looked at the Bollywood beauty and asked: "Will you marry me?"

Deepika, who was accompanied by her co-star Neil Nitin Mukesh, seemed baffled by the sudden, unexpected proposal.

But she was quick to respond.

"I am not ready for marriage yet," replied Deepika, who looked lovely in a sari. But the youth wasn't willing to give up so easily. "But I am ready for you," he said.

Deepika, who is rumoured to be dating liquor baron Vijay Mallya's son Siddharth, brushed the whole incident with a laugh.

Both the actors were in a fun mood and mingled with the huge crowd that had gathered in

The buzz in the air also reveals that Katrina has walked out of Abbas Mustan's “The Italian Job” because Adi thought that this is the high noon of her career and she should not do insignificant roles.

The source also informs that Kat is going to do three films under the banner of the Chopras.

Katrina herself confirms that she is doing a Yash Raj film with Imran Khan and she is supposed to be cast in the female lead in “Dhoom 3” under the same banner.

NDTV Imagine brings a new, Reality show ‘Meethi Chhoorii No. 1’ NDTV Imagine presents “Meethi Chhoorii No.1,” the most sizzling new reality show on TV full of fun, gossip and controversy…where there are no holds barred and no points for being diplomatic! Just one word of caution – don’t tell your mother that you are watching this show!

In this unique and oh-so entertaining new show, a revolving panel of eight celebrity women will have to face up to the reality of how their peers actually perceive them. In every episode, the panel is presented with a juicy, gossipy question and they are then asked to rank each other in a descending order, i.e. from the least preferred candidate present amongst them to the most preferred.

You have seen them as demure Bahus on Television’s daily soaps.

Now get to know the real side of the leading ladies of Indian Television, as they gossip about each other in

front of each other!

The celebrity panel will include the most popular ladies from Indian television like Ragini Khanna, Urvashi Dholakia, Rakshanda Khan, Mona Singh, Neha Marda, Karishma Tanna, amongst others.

And in the middle of all this action, inciting the girls will be two very dashing and handsome hosts Shabbir Ahluwalia and Jay Bhanushali. These young heartthrobs will have a bagful of secrets and tricks up their sleeves to ensure that every moment of Meethi Chhoorii No.1 is spicy and eventful.

Commenting on the launch of the show, Harsh Rohatgi, Head Content and Communication at Imagine, says “Meethi Chhoorii No.1” has all the ingredients to deliver a complete entertainer that will resonate very well, especially with our younger audiences. This is our first adaptation of a very popular international TV format from

Turner and we are equally excited to be working with SOL Productions to deliver yet another reality path breaker from Imagine.”

Fazila Allana, Producer SOL Productions says, “Imagine has always dared and gone beyond conventional programming concepts presenting them in the most creative manner. Meethi Chhoorii No.1

Twitter is not for me, says Imran After months of being on micro-blogging site Twitter, actor Imran Khan now feels it isn't a right platform for him.

"I signed up on Twitter because I saw it as a way to interact on a personal level with my audience. I love interacting with fans and I've always looked for ways to do that - whether it's through online chats or live events, but I have started to feel that this is not the best medium for me to do so, " said Imran. The actor was quite regular with his tweets before the release of his film "I Hate Luv Storys". But he now wants to move away. "I don't want to give the impression that I'm upset or angry about anything… far from it. As I said, I have truly enjoyed having the chance to reach out to so many people and I truly appreciate all the love and support I've received. What it boils down to, I think, is that I just don't feel twitter is right for me.

Thank you all for the good times. It's been a lot of fun, " he concluded.

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

is an enticing and engaging show. It is undoubtedly one of the most interesting reality formats on the market. After the success of Swayamvar Season 1 & 2, we hope to recreate magic together once again.”

Catch Meethi Chhoorii No.1 from August 21 on every Saturday at 7 pm only on NDTV Imagine!

Preity rings NASDAQ bell Bollywood beauty Preity Zinta who rang the famed NASDAQ bell last week, now dreams of listing her own company at the world's biggest stock exchange.

The “Kal Ho Naa Ho” star is only the third Indian actor to ring the bell, with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol being the first.

"Am invited 4 d opening bell ceremony at NASDAQ tue morning! Hope i can list 1 of my companies there sumday! Now i'm excited (sic)," tweeted Zinta who is the co-owner of the IPL team 'Kings XI Punjab'.

The 35-year-old actress had earlier played the Grand Marshal at New York City's 30th India Day Parade.

Hello Darling

the south Delhi mall to catch a glimpse of the stars at the event organised by DT Cinemas.

Neil's father, singer Nitin Mukesh, was present at the event and he sang his father Mukesh's evergreen song "Kisiki muskurahaton pe..." for the crowd.

Even Neil and Deepika gave in to the requests of their fans by doing a casual dance to "Dhatad tatad", a popular song from "Lafangey Parindey", which was released on last Friday.

In the film Neil plays a boxer who fights blindfolded, and Deepika is also seen as a visually challenged girl who can dance on skates.

No dancing for Rockstar Ranbir Though Ranbir shakes a leg real smooth, Imtiaz Ali doesn’t want him to groove as he believes the character, inspired by Jim Morrison, would look sissy.

One will see Ranbir Kapoor doing the head bangs and playing the guitar but don’t expect the Kapoor boy dancing in Imtiaz Ali’s “Rockstar.”

The director strictly feels that Ranbir shouldn’t be dancing in the film as it is contrary to the image of a rockstar.

In the film Ranbir plays a huge Jim Morrison fan.

While songs in the film will evoke the vibe of

the swinging rock genre, Ranbir will not be doing any Bollywood jhatkas, the staple of choreography in tinsel town.

A source reveals, “Director Imtiaz feels that no rockstar has ever danced and it will look very weird and not in character. He has strictly said no to dance

17

moves.

Imtiaz wants Ranbir to get under the skin of the character and not merely behave like one by only playing the guitar.”

The source continues, “There is a song with his co-star Nargis Fakhri, but whether he will dance remains a mystery. Imtiaz is yet to figure out the ‘dancing’ aspect of his film. At the moment they have shot for a gypsy song with montages of Ranbir coming in.”

Imtiaz had given Ranbir a few videos of rockstars from the past, so that Ranbir could cultivate their style and habits. Ranbir had been learning guitar to play the part of a crooner.

Both Ranbir and Imtiaz remained unavailable for comment.

Amisha Patel to act in Telugu film Bollywood actress Amisha Patel has been signed to be a part of the Telugu patriotic movie “Parama Veera Chakra.” She will be acting opposite Telugu star Balakrishna.

The movie is being directed by veteran director Dasari Narayana Rao. It is learnt that Amisha was finalized following a lot of discussion. Earlier, it was reported that Anushka had been selected to play the female lead role. However, her date problems cleared the way for Amisha Patel. Young actress Sheela would be playing the other female lead in the film.

Balakrishna, who is popularly known as Balayya and NBK, will be playing a double role in the movie.

The movie is now shooting at 'Ramoji Film City' in Hyderabad.

Some of the war scenes will be shot in Kashmir and other areas. The shooting for the outdoors will start in the coming November.

A sexy comedy produced by Ashok Ghai for Mukta Arts, the banner owned by a Bollywood biggie of yester years – Subhash Ghai.

Three beautiful women teamed up together to take on their lustful womanizing boss in a hilarious series of events. In the end though, it proves that Women Will Rule!

This is the central theme of the film.

The script of the film is written by Pankaj Trivedi and Sachin Yardi, who have to their credit huge successes like Apna Sapna Money Money and Kya Kool Hain Hum. The film is presented by Malpix Films for Mukta Arts and directed by Manoj Tiwari.

The cast consists of Gul Panag, Eesha Koppikhar, Celina Jaitley, Jaaved Jaaferi, Chunkey Pandey, Divya Dutta, Sanjay Mishra, Rajpal Yadav, Asawari Joshi, Vrajesh Hirjee and Mukesh Tiwari, while Sunny Deol has a special appearance.

Pritam Chakraborty has composed the music, while the lyrics are penned by Shabbir Ahmed, Kumaar and Ashish Pandit.

New Hindi movies releasing this week 1. Aashayein 3. Geng 5. Hello Darling

2. Antardwand 4. Gumshuda 6. Madholal – Keep walking

Top 5 Bollywood movies for the week No. 1 2 3 4 5

Film Peepli (Live) Help Aisha Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Tere Bin Laden

Last Week Total Weeks New 1 New 1 1 2 2 4

3 5

WatchIndia.TV Announces Wireless The latest technology of IPTV is now available on Wa t c h I n d i a T V, you can now watch all your favourite channels LIVE from India, directly on your TV. No longer any need for a PC, just connect the box, pick up the remote & watch!

The TV-Box connects to the internet, wireless option is available, to stream the content directly to your television set. This eliminates the need for a PC and makes the viewing all the more enjoyable.

The wireless TV-box is a plugand-watch device that will allow viewers from any Indian TV and Bollywood enthusiasts from every

country in the world to watch their favourite shows, movies and channels on their own TV, as if they were TV subscribers in India.

With the WatchIndia TV-Box you can finally watch your favourite channels directly on a TV without a PC. In 4 simple steps, you will be watching Internet TV on your TV within minutes: 1. Open box and take out TV-Box 2. Connect the TV-Box to Internet Router or wireless Internet network 3. Connect TV-BOX to the TV 4. Pick up Remote control and enjoy http://www.watchindia.tv/ AffiliateWiz/aw.aspx?A=329

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Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Alpesh Patel Consultant Editor Financial Voice Dear Financial Voice Reader, Trying to gauge the mood of the markets the following factors I consider to be the most relevant and insightful. First, the housing market let the US out of seven of the last eight recessions. However, home sales have fallen sharply in the US recently. Jobless claims remain around 10% of the US population is one reason. You see people who spend on home construction and household furniture represent about 15% of the gross domestic product of the US. And then they use the equity in their home to buy cars and holidays.

Indeed in the US, one in seven mortgages are delinquent or in the process of repossession. US home prices dropped 33% from their July 2006 peak to April 2009 low. One key indicator in the US and UK is to examine new home builds. For new homes people will find the borrowing. But sadly in both countries new home builds are at lows. The governments need to ‘pump prime’ new home builds to get this important sector moving.

Second, low interest rates are creating in the US ‘zombie businesses’ as they have done in Japan – companies with no prospect of paying off loans but keep rolling them over.

Third US unemployment is at its highest since 1983 – you can’t spend if you can’t earn.

As for the UK, the pound is predicted to fall against the dollar as the Government’s cost cutting takes effect. You see the pound rallied because prices move on expectations. When the new British Government took office in May, the expectation of cost cuts revived the market’s confidence in the UK. That Britain would not need to go to the IMF, would cut its debt burden and would slowly recover.

However, in economics, the ideal situation is usually to create the expectation, but not follow through.

Now the Government is following through and actually cutting spending and creating unemployment in the short term to cut debt, albeit better for the long term, it is losing the confidence of the financial markets. Not because they think the Government is doing something wrong, but because they know the short-term will be painful for the economy and stifle growth and so are selling pounds. So how much will the pound in your pocket be worth by year end? According to Bloomberg, probably about $1.32 and 1 euro will buy 81p. Although bewarned some pound optimists claim by year end it could be worth $1.70 because of the positive news out of the UK. What worries me is that whilst corporate profits are up, they are up because of cost-cutting. This is fine since profits are profits, but that is not sustainable.

The other fear, not a concern for the stock market at present, is a jump in inflation given the low interest rates. So what does all this mean for your portfolio.

There is more downward pressure than upward pressure. There is a lot of confusion because there is so much positive and negative data. There is a real fight out there are to who will win the battle of good and bad news.

India’s 2nd largest private sector employer is IBM With a headcount of more than 100,000; the US giant comes after TCS Indian IT giants are growing big, yet a recent study has suggested that the second largest employer in the country is none of them, not even Reliance Industries. It is IBM, the American IT company.

Tata Consultancy Services stands at no. 1 with an employee strength of 1,63,700. IBM at no. has a headcount of more than 100,000.

And it was perhaps the best kept secret till recently. IBM may be fearing a huge backlash back home in the USA and that is one

of the reasons that the company would not confirm the fact.

Sources within the company even said in a few more years, the no. of employees at IBM in India may overtake that in the USA. That is due to the reason of slow progress of new recruitments in USA as compared to that in other countries.

In USA, the company has about 155,000 people working while the total global headcount of IBM is just above 400,000.

Fixed-rate mortgage deals are costlier for UK home owners Banks enjoy record profit margins; owners pay £1,700 a year extra In UK, about half of the home loan market customers have a fixed rate mortgages and these borrowers are paying about £1,700 more every year, figures show.

Even after the banks and other high street lenders received billions of pounds worth support from the taxpayers’ money from the government; they have not passed on the full benefit of historically low interest rates. They have, instead used the cheap cost of funds to increase their profit margins.

According to Moneyfacts, a personal finance website even as the Bank of England rate has remained unchanged at 0.5 per cent since January 2009, the difference of rates at which the banks themselves borrowed and the rates at which they offered loans to the fixed rate mortgages

has gone up by 2.01 per cent – the difference two years ago was 1.28 and today it is 3.29 – the highest gap since atleast 21 years.

This is equivalent to an additional profit of £1,778 in a year and £3,576 over the two-year term.

Publication of the figures led to accusations that the banks have been “hoarding cash” to boost their balance sheets as many families struggle to meet repayments.

Even Grant Shapps, housing minister has said, “Banks have enjoyed

unprecedented support from the taxpayer and so it is important that they step in for the aspiring home owner with reasonable rates as the economy recovers.”

Michelle Slade, a spokesman for Moneyfacts.co.uk, said: “Mortgage rates are falling, but only a fraction of the reduced funding cost is being passed on as lenders hoard cash and continue to repair their balance sheets.

“Borrowers will be angered that they continue to pay the price for mistakes made by lenders, particularly those who have accepted government funding.” The research by Moneyfacts also found that, three years ago, the

Huge tax savings for Tony Blair on British Legion donation Former PM to gain from reforms introduced by his own govt.

More than a decade ago, it was the Labour government headed by Tony Blair that introduced a tax reform measure, making donors eligible to full tax relief. Chancellor Gordon Brown had announced that £1,200 upper limit in “Pay-roll giving” relief was being abolished. This was in the pre-budget report in November 1999.

Now, Tony Blair, the former prime minister, giving an estimated donation

Tony Blair

of £4.6 mn to the Royal British Legion from the proceed of his memoirs will be saving about £2.3 mn in taxes.

The scheme was introduced to encourage charitable giving, and tax experts said accountants of Mr. Blair would certainly advise him to use the perk. The former PM would turn out to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a measure introduced by his government.

margin on a three-year fixed deal stood at 0.41 per cent compared with 3.57 per cent today.

Five years ago the margin on a five-year deal stood at 0.16 per cent compared with 3.35 per cent today. It is a fresh blow to home buyers who were warned yesterday not to expect an end to the drought in mortgage finance. Gross mortgage lending was down three per cent in July compared with the previous year to £13.6 billion, despite repeated calls for banks to start lending again.

George Osborne has warned of a “choppy” and painful journey out of recession.

Mervyn King, the Bank of England governor, had last week cut his forecast for economic growth and predicted that “destructive” inflation would remain high.

Public ideas for spending cuts flowing, says Osborne Chancellor of exchequer George Osborne has said some of Whitehall budgets are to be slashed by more than 30 per cent and voters will be invited to have their say on which of the ideas they feel should be implemented. The Coalition Government was determined to involve the people as it is to undertake one of the most painful programme of budget cuts for a long time, Mr. Osborne had said in a recent speech in London.

SBI gives UK savers more options Five-year Stepped-rate Bond launched State Bank of India, the largest and oldest bank in India launched a unique Five-year Stepped-rate Bond in UK last week. It offers savers an unprecedented level of flexibility as part of SBI’s commitment to bring fair, simple and transparent accounts to British shores.

The new Five-year Stepped-rate Bond offers some of the best rates in the fixed-rate market tiered over five years, but – uniquely among UK savings bonds – savers can access their cash early and in full at any point after two years without any penalties or loss of interest.

Rachel Thrussell, savings expert from Moneyfacts.co.uk said: ‘This is an interesting account that gives savers flexibility at a time when

many people are confused about what to do with their savings. Should they tie-up their money for five years for a high rate or leave their cash in a relatively low-paying easy access account in the hope that savings rates will rise in the coming years? With this account, that isn’t a concern and, as an added plus, it also offers a great rate.’

Anil Arora, Head of Customer Services of SBI UK, said: ‘This Bond was developed following feedback from our customers, who said they would like the higher rates associated with fixed-rate bonds, but wanted to access their money after a relatively short time frame should they need it.

The bond allows savers to get a top rate but, if the Bank of England base rate

rises in future and savings rates improve generally, savers are free to withdraw their cash after two, three or four years.

The account offers some of the best rates in the market: 3.25% in first year, 4% in second year, 4.5% in third year, 5% in fourth year and 5.75% in fifth year. This equates to a high overall average rate of 4.5% if funds are left on deposit for the full fiveyear term.

The Five-year Stepped Rate Bond has also a monthly interest option and is available to businesses, charities and associations as well as individual savers. As it is an international account, it is available to those currently non-resident in the UK, such as expatriates keen to keep a portion of their savings in a high-paying

UK account. It has a minimum deposit of £1,000 and can be opened by post after downloading an application form at www.sbiuk.com or in a branch.

State Bank of India is committed to UK savers and will continue to bring them a number of innovative, flexible and simple savings products. It has branches in the heart of the City and Golders Green in London, as well as Birmingham, Harrow, Leicester, Manchester and Southall.

State Bank of India is one of the most profitable and well-capitalised banks in the world.

It is fully signed up to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the UK and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

19

Property Focus Suresh Vagjiani Managing Director of Sow & Reap, a Property Investment & Financing company.

A Well Packaged Investment Dholera to model China This week we have a small deal which will appeal to most of our readers. It is a studio flat on Edgware Rd W2 minutes from Edgware Rd Station and Hilton Metropole. It is a self contained studio with a separate kitchen. The property is in a popular purpose built block called Cambridge Court. The property is off market and available exclusively through us.

This deal has been packaged as an investment only.

The property comes with the benefit of a tenant paying £300pw. The block has a lift and is well maintained.

This may seem a lot of money to rent a studio property for those not familiar with the area. We assure you this is not an enhanced rental designed to encourage a sale. It is the market rental for this area. In fact in the summer the property can be rented for well over £500pw as a short let. A short let is a period less than 6 months, typically 1 or 2 months. Many use this as a cheaper alternative to hotels in the area.

There are two ways to purchase this property.

One the plain vanilla way: you buy the property, it is transferred over to you and you take a fresh mortgage.

The other is a tutti fruiti way.

The current owner has a mortgage of £167,000 on the property with the Bank of Scotland. He is paying 1.94% on this amount. This comes to £270pm. In order not to lose this we have created a stratergy whereby you can benefit from the same terms. The mortgage terms would be passed on to the buyer via a document mirroring those same terms. This agreement will come with an option to purchase within a fixed period of time.

Though this way is a little out of the ordinary, it will be completely water tight and will come with full legal gauarntee.

Looking at the property this way you would need to put £70,000 into the property and will be postponing the actual purchase of the property.

We however appreciate many will not want to go down this route especially with it being a relatively low cost property and may prefer to do things in the conventional fashion.

Under this way you will Purchase Price Deposit Loan Amount Annual Mortgage Payment Service Charge Management Fee Annual Rental Income Net Income Net Return On Deposit need to put in 25% of the property value which comes to £60,000. And the rest will be borrowed. The table above illustrates both methods more clearly.

A note worthy point is even the more modest return of 5.9% will easily beat the best return offered currently by banks. According to the recent survey by the Money Supermarket the return

offered for a 5 year bond is 4.9%. The yearly yield from our property beats this marginally.

This is not where you make your money in a property however. The bulk of the return is made on capital growth. If we assume a modest rise of 5% per annum the property at the end of the year will be £306,000. This means the property has increased buy £66,000, a 100% increase over Plain Vanilla £240,000 £60,000 £180,000 £9,000 £1,500 £1,560 £15,600 £3,540 5.90%

Tutti Fruiti £240,000 £70,000 £170,000 £3,298 £1,500 £1,560 £15,600 £9,242 13.20%

the 5 year period. A 5% increase for this location is a very cautious estimate, this location was pretty much immune to the effects of the recent credit crunch, especially properties less than £500,000.

To confirm this property you will need to call our offices and place a deposit of £5000 down on this property.

What is the main contrast between India and china? In India everybody is an entrepreneur and wants to progress and the government is the reason why things don’t progress. In china it is the government who is the entrepreneur.

This is why the infrastructure in china is extremely well organised and in India it is poorly organised.

The key to India progress is that the infrastructure must be implemented and well managed on a large scale.

If we look at the first model project in china which started in 1980 in Shenzhen we can discover the reasons why this country has progress has become a model for the world to follow. Shenzhen was the first SEZ- a SEZ is a special economic zone - to be set up in China. It developed from being a small shipping village into a global industrial and financial centre. The reason for its progress was replicated all over China. The speed of growth in Shenzhen has been phenomenal from its first opening in 1980 the GDP growth has been an average 44% every year for its first 6 years.

Why are we concerned about what happened in China in 1980? The reason is to show parallels between Shenzhen with what is currently happening in Gujarat.

The Indian government has passed an act known as the special investment region (SIR) Act 2009. This act came into effect on the 6th January 2009. The aim of this act is to set up a world class hub along the lines of the fastest growing country’s of the world.

This Act has the power to designate regions to be SIR. These sections will then be earmarked for high rates of economic growth based on policies and joint partnership.

Dholera has been designated a SIR zone, the region will be 2360 Sq Km, 360 Sq Km bigger then shenzen.

The development of Dholera is part of the ambitious DelhiMumbai corridor. The bigger aim of this project is to develop a industrial infrastructure over 6 states of India including industri-

al clusters and rail, road, port, air connectivity in the states along the route of the corridor. It has been conceived to be a global manufacturing and trading hub.

The project is expected to double employment potential, triple industrial output and quadruple exports form the region within a 5 year period.

The project will be funded through a private-public partnerships and foreign investment.

This legislation recognises the need for the Indian government to link with both private and foreign firms to ensure the development of India’s infrastructure is holistic. It shows it recognises its weakness and in doing so this becomes a strength. It makes much more sense to follow the polices and already proven concepts by countries who have been through these stages.

This is the reason we have chosen to bring this exciting and grossly under estimated project to your attention.

The plots we are offering lie within the SIR region of Dholera and will experience tremendous uplift in price of the back of the development . The plots in Dholera are ideal investments, Firstly purchasing plots dispense with maintenance and service charges secondly the entry levels start from £5,000 thirdly rise in property prices are actually rises in land prices not property fourthly you willbe entering in the earliest stages of this project.

Dholera will be developed beyond the imagination of the guajaratis mind. Indeed it is Human nature to react to change once it has happened rather then prepare and benifit from it in advance. The maximum growth is made in the earliest stages of the development. We have already done full due diligence in this project so you do not need to worry. If the area in china went up by 44% per annum what will this region go up by?

Call now to invest in Dholera We have investments all over India, particularly in Mumbai and Ahmadabad we have a local office in both these places. If you want to buy anything here call us first for a hassle free purchase 02033845323.

n Mortgages n Commercial Finance n Property Sourcing n Gujarat Properties - Sale & Resale T: 0207 706 0187 F: 0203 014 8484

E: info@sowandreap.co.uk W: www.sowandreap.co.uk

31 Southwick Street, Paddington, W2 1JQ Registered in England No. 05083823

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financial voice

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Vedanta’s mining project in Orissa struck down Environment minister Jairam Ramesh says the group faces panel action Vedanta group’s bauxite mining project in Orissa has been denied clearance by the Environment ministry of the Government of India on Tuesday. Jairam Ramesh, the environment minister has even said the group has violated forest and environment laws and faces panel action for that.

Vedanta has also been served a notice for illegally setting up an alumina refinery at Lanjigarh with a 6 mn tonnes capacity against the sanctioned capacity of just 1 mn tonnes.

Share prices of

Vedanta group witnessed sharp fall at the LSE, going down by more than 5.50%, while prices of group companies in India – Sterlite and Sesa Goa also declined. The Forest clearance for the mining project in the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa has been cancelled as the company was found to be violating laws. The place is home to Dongria Kondh tribal community in Kalahandi district of Western Orissa.

NC Saxena Committee set up by the government had said that the project

should not be allowed.

The committee also said that the Vedanta project endangers nearly 7500 square km of forest land, and that it violates tribal forest rights. Committee report stated that government officials colluded with Vedanta to allow blatant and widespread violations of forest and environmental laws.

The company, according to NC Saxena committee has also illegally occupied at least 26 hectares of village forest land in the refinery.

Malik Law Chambers opens an associated office in Wembley Malik Law Chambers Solicitors, the leading law firm based in London, specialising in immigration, nationality, human rights and administrative law delighted to announce the opening of our new associated office in Wembley.

The opening ceremony was held on Wednesday 11th August 2010, at 10.00 am, at 6

The Broadway, Forty Lane, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 8JT. Her Highness Dadi Janki, Head of the Brahma Kumaris graced the inauguration as The chief guest of honour.

The new office will provide dedicated legal services to our clients based in the Wembley and surrounding areas.

Malik Law Chambers enjoys an excellent reputation nationally and internationally for the quality of services provided to its established client base. The firm combines its formidable strengths in administrative law with state of the art facilities and a friendly and open approach to client service.

Leadership Matters

The Cricket Test In 1990, Norman Tebbit made the infamous comment, "A large proportion of Britain's Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for?

Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?"

While the suggestion that in return for being allowed to settle in the UK, immigrants should support the English Cricket team may seem somewhat surreal, the principle he was trying to highlight - call it displaying commitment or loyalty or even gratitude – is indeed a valid one.

One of the most important tasks for leaders is to motivate those working for them so they are more committed and loyal to the business.

Hence, the most common statements made by leaders are those telling employees how much the company values its staff and how committed it is to their progress and development. This is in fact based on the same premise that Tebbit believed in, that making a commitment should

Equal pay for women still a far cry A CMI study says even today, the gap is around 25% In UK, women managers may have to wait for another half a century before they could be getting equal pay with men, a research conducted by the Chartered Management Institute has suggested.

A survey of annual survey showed that the average earning of men in British management was £41,337 while that of average women is £31,306. The difference is 24% or more than £10,000. At the current rate of progress in reducing the gap, it would take another about 50 years before both get equal.

The pay gap also existed at junior management level, with men being paid £1,000-plus more than

women executives, according to a survey of more than 43,000 managers in 200 organisations.

The institute said: “Four decades have passed since the Equal Pay Act became law, when the pay gap stood at 34 per cent across the board.

“In many ways things have progressed but the fact that such a significant gap still exists means the UK still has some way to go.” Theresa May, equalities minister, has expressed concern about the gender pay gap. The Equality Act comes into force in October and will make pay “gagging” clauses unenforceable.

Companies will no longer

be able to stop employees comparing their salaries.

The Government Equalities Office said this would bring “an end to the culture of pay secrecy which will make it easier for women to find out if they are being paid less than men”.

New measures that would require companies with more than 250 employees to reveal average pay for male and female staff are also being considered as part of the second stage of the Equalities Act in 2011.

The government this month appointed Lord Davies, the former Labour trade minister, to look at the lack of female repre-

sentation on the boards of top companies. Only 12 per cent of FTSE 100 company directors are women and the proportion falls to just 7 per cent for midsized companies in the FTSE 250, according to Cranfield School of Management. A report on the financial services industry revealed that women were paid 55 per cent less than male colleagues and that men in some of the biggest employers receive five times the performance pay of women. The CMI survey of more than 43,000 managers at all grades from trainee to director found that more women resigned in the past year.

Indian officials to question De La Rue over paper quality The UK company supplies paper for printing currency to Reserve Bank of India Even as De La Rue, the UK company that manufactures paper used in printing banknotes or currencies is grappling over the error in quality of paper made at their units, officials from India will be here this week and seek answers from the company about the errors in the watermarked papers received by then.

Indian officials are to visit De La Rue’s plant in Overton, Hampshire, this week to investigate production errors.

The problems concern De La Rue’s largest contract, to supply water-

marked banknote paper to the Reserve Bank of India.

At times, supplies to RBI account for 25% of group profit.

The Indians are expected to discuss compensation with chairman Nicholas Brookes but are not expected to end the contract.

De La Rue produces 150 world currencies, is still weeks from completing its own inquiry into faults that include quality control lapses, blamed by staff on a round of redundancies. Investors of De La Rue say they are being left in the dark.

James Hussey quits over quality problems Headhunters have been appointed to find a new chief executive after James Hussey quit this month after 27 years with the company.

As a result of the problems, James Hussey, chief executive resigned earlier this month. De La Rue has though not said what the irregularities are. It is though believed that errors were in printing of banknotes.

The group manufactures paper for more than 150 world currencies and the printing problems

could have a major impact on De La Rue’s future reputation and prospects.

The company did not disclose the details of the irregularities, any clients involved or the potential effect on profits or dividends. De La Rue said the irregularities were of a "serious nature" but that it was "confident that neither the physical security nor the security features incorporated in the paper have been compromised for any customer and that the irregularities referred to relate only to testing of paper specifications at the relevant facility".

engender a similar commitment in return.

It was recently reported that President Obama has already spent more days playing golf than George Bush did in his entire presidency.

While there is nothing wrong with playing golf, this is the ‘Commander in Chief’ out on the fairway while thousands of his soldiers are fighting on the front line. Now imagine what he will be saying to the troops when he next visits them? Will it be a stirring address to motivate them to fight hard for victory, or will it be a few tips on how to improve their swing? While we can be sure he will be reminding them how much their efforts are appreciated, one wonders what the soldiers will be thinking.

I am not suggesting that Obama should reach for his gun, but understanding the effect of your actions on those who work for you is essential.

In 1920, Gandhiji first burned his clothes made from British textiles, donned a single homespun dhoti

By Amit Patel

and then asked his countrymen to do the same.

In an instant he inspired the masses without having to say a word. It is one thing to ask others for commitment, loyalty or gratitude, but before asking them, ask yourself – have you given what you are asking for?

Eventually, Bush gave up golf stating it was inappropriate for a President to be playing a game during a war. President Obama, it’s your turn.

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 him at amitpatelmail@gmail.com

Indian exporters get more govt. incentives Global recovery still fragile, concedes Anand Sharma With the aim of boosting exports in labour intensive sectors of textiles, handicrafts and leather products, the Government of India on Monday this week announced more incentives worth Rs. 10.52 billion. The sops include reimbursement of taxes, subsidy in interests and concessions in import of capital goods.

Commerce minister of India, Anand Sharma, announcing the incentives, said that these sops are being given under the popular Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DPEB) scheme. It is in vogue for more than 10 years and this is the last extention.

He agreed that “We are not yet out of the woods”.

Releasing the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14, he

said “Recognising the fragile recovery and the prevailing uncertainties (in the global markets), I have been able to obtain extension of DEPB one last time for a further period of six months till June 30, 2011”. He also expressed confidence that India would achieve the target of exports worth US$ 200 billion for the current financial year, ending March 2011.

The government also extended the zero-duty Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme by one year to March 31, 2012. The scheme was announced in August last year, was to expire on March 31, 2011.

Steps to reduce transaction cost of exports too were announced in the policy.

Compass Group acquires THS of India A UK company specialising in serving clients for food, vending and related services, the Compass Group Plc recently acquired an Indian firm engaged in the same field, Tirumala Hospitality Services Private Ltd (THS).

Ramkrishna Mankari and family, the owners of the Indian firm sealed the deal with the British company, though the financial

details have not been disclosed.

THS, considered a strong regional player in Western India has prestigious names like Wipro, LG Electronics, Infosys, General Motors on their client list. It provides catering services to the business sector. Compass Group had annual revenues of over 13 billion pounds for the year ended September 30, 2009.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

21

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

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

Is Inflation Under Control?

If the UK economic figures are to go by then it is believed the UK is slowly coming out of recession. Although the inflation figures have shown above the 3% top target level for inflation, the BOE and government seem confident that there is little cause for concern and fully expect it to be between the target levels of 2% on the low side and 3% on the top side by end of year. Whenever the inflation rate moves outside the parameters set the head of the BOE Mervyn King has to send a letter of explanation to the chancellor. If the inflation rate continues above the 3 % level, the best weapon that the BOE would have to combat this would be to raise interest rates.

With the recent vote of the committee showing an 8-1 to keep rates unchanged it would appear a rise in rates was well off. The problem that the BOE committee has is that if they raised interest rates at the moment it could have a detrimental effect on the economy.

With interest rates being at historically low levels but the banks not passing this onto the con-

sumer in the way of home loans and secured loans, then it would only really increase the amount of consumer card debts which is something that they are pro actively trying to lessen.

Inflation in the UK really sets in when the housing market is experiencing a boom as in decades gone by the UK have become a home owning nation.

Many consumers, once they have got positive equity in their property, will be confident of taking out a personal loan for other big purchases such as a new car or holiday. This is the way the UK has progressed over the last few decades until the recent world recession. Many

will be more cautious next time around if the housing market does pick up though as tough lessons have been learnt by so many during the financial slump. With banks being so reluctant to issue mortgages or help finance companies it is doubtful that we are going to experience a boom in the near term so the BOE are relatively comfortable with their predictions. However the government is doing their utmost for banks loosen their belts a bit as to regards passing on loans and get the system returning to how it was pre slump.

If unemployment rate remains stable and banks start to

become freer with their lending the UK could see a pickup in housing market. If this is the case then inflation will be unlikely to fall back to the 2% level and the UK maybe one of the first of the major economies to start raising interest rates if the BOE has underestimated the growth rate in the UK. The problem that they have is that various areas of the financial data to be released this year have come with conflicting readings so they are adopting a wait and see approach. This is unlike the BOE to sit and wait as it has a reputation to uphold of acting quicker than most other countries on policy to steady the ship.

The BOE took heavy criticism of not seeing the financial disaster coming of the recent recession which was obviously worldwide and not just in UK. It will want to avoid getting grilled again if inflation is not shown to be under control soon and will be monitoring everything even more closely than before. Only time will tell if they have made the correct calls as to regards rates.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 24th August 2010 @ 1pm GBP - INR = 72.1761 USD - INR = 46.9245 EUR - INR = 59.097 GBP - USD = 1.5393 GBP - EUR = 1.2195 EUR - USD = 1.2590 GBP - AED = 5.651 GBP - CAD = 1.6292 GBP - NZD = 2.1908 GBP - AUD = 1.7405 GBP - ZAR = 11.3993 GBP - HUF = 349.16

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 areâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;the commercial foreign exchange rates provided by RationalFX. For a live quote or to find out more about how RationalFXâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;can help you, call us on 0207 220 8181.

INDIA

22

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Now, Sikhs in Kashmir valley threatened Anonymous letters ask them to embrace Islam or leave the place Sikhs in the Kashmir Valley have received anonymous letters from Islamic militants asking them to either embrace Islam and join the protests against civilian killings or pack up and leave the Valley. The 60,000-strong Sikh community is the single largest minority group in the Valley.

An organisation of Kashmiri Sikhs has said that several community members have received these letters. "Community members have received unsigned letters at various places," said All Party Sikh Coordination Committee (ASCC) coordinator Jagmohan Singh Raina.

He said the community has decided to stay put and fight these "evil designs" at a meeting in Srinagar last week.

Raina quoted a letter as saying: "When you are enjoying the joys here, why can't you share the grief and sorrow of Kashmiris as well? We know you are afraid of bullets... Hold protests inside gurdwaras or leave Kashmir." He added, "Some letters have asked Sikhs to embrace Islam."

Raina urged both fac-

Chidambaram said he had spoken to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has assured him that every effort would be made to provide adequate protection to Sikhs in the valley.

"We are aware of the so-called threat. There is nothing to fear or nothing to worry," he said in the Rajya Sabha after NDA members vociferously demanded a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the reported threat after forcing two brief adjournments of the House on the issue.

Chidambaram said "nobody will be allowed to harm the Sikh community." The Chief Minister had assured him that "rights of Sikhs will be fully protected and no harm would be allowed to come to them," he said.

Earlier, Akali Dal member Rattan Singh Ajnala raised the issue of threats to Sikhs in the Lok Sabha before the Question Hour asserting that his community members may choose to die than convert to Islam.

After Ajnala's emotional statement in the

tions of the Hurriyat, JKLF and PoK-based United Jihad Council to take serious note of the threats to maintain amity and brotherhood in the Valley.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has reassured the Sikhs saying they shouldn't feel threatened and should ignore the "fake letters". He assured the community that nobody would force them to join the protests.

The state unit of Akali Dal (Badal) president Ajeet Singh Mastana described the threats as acts by anti-social elements. "The threats can't break us and reduce our love for our motherland," he said.

Government assures protection to Sikhs Opposition NDA on Friday expressed concern in Parliament over reported threats to Sikhs from militants to convert to Islam or vacate Kashmir, prompting government to give an assurance that nobody would be allowed to harm the minority community. Responding to concerns over the reported threat, Home Minister P

House, Mirza Mehboob Beg (NC) termed the threat by militants as against the ethos of Kashmir.

"This is against Kashmiriyat. This cannot be allowed to happen in Kashmir. Every Kashmiri Muslim will stand by the Sikhs," Beg said.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee assured the House that government will take all necessary steps to ensure that no harm would come to Sikhs.

"Not only Muslims of Kashmir but the whole of India would rise as one to stand by the Sikh community," he said.

In the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna assured the members that the government would strive to protect the minorities but members appeared dissatisfied with the statement and insisted on a response from the Prime Minister.

S S Ahluwalia (BJP) said the Indian civilian face in Kashmir is a Sikh face and even that was now under threat from Islamist militants.

Ahluwalia said the government's assurance is

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regarding protection to Sikh community whereas the need of the hour is to create a congenial atmosphere.

Balbir Punj (BJP) said it was a matter of serious concern that 5 lakh Hindus were forced to leave the valley and were living like refugees in their own country. Unity and integrity of the country is at stake, he said.

Naresh Gujral (Akali Dal) said that the Sikh community's strength has been reduced to 50,000 from the earlier 100,000.

"Now they are living by the day," he said.

He said a delegation of Sikh community wanted

to meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh twice earlier but was not given time. This prompted the opposition to shout "shame, shame."

Raising the issue during zero hour, Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP) said Sikhs were given three options -change the religion, become members of Stone Pelters' Association or leave the valley.

He said the country was proud to have a Sikh as the Prime Minister but "enough is enough...if this is going to be the approach of the government, entire country will be forced to go and shed blood to protect each and every Sikh."

Manmohan tops Newsweek’s list of 10 world leaders Newsweek magazine has lauded Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh for playing a “key role in India’s emergence as one of the rising powers of the 21st century.”

The 77-year-old Dr Singh, who is into his seventh year in office, has played a “key role in India’s emergence as one of the rising powers of the 21st century.”

In an article titled “The Leader Other Leaders Love”, the magazine said the economistturned-politician Dr Singh, engineered the transition “from stagnant socialism to a spectacular takeoff in the global economy.”

“But it’s Singh’s unassuming personal style that really inspires awe among his fellow global luminaries, who praise him for being mod-

est, humble, and incorruptible,” the magazine said in the article.

It also quotes former International Atomic Energy Agency directorgeneral and Egyptian Presidential challenger Mohamed ElBaradei as saying that “the soft-spoken Singh is the model of what a political leader should be.”

Besides Dr Singh, British Premier David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Brazilian President Luiz Ino Lula da Silva and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz al-Saud also figure in the list.

However, India is at 78th in the list of 100 best countries in the world with a score of 55.70 out of 100.

Lotus shaped temple to come up in Godhra A grand temple in the shape of a lotus - the only one of its kind in the state and the only second major lotus-shaped temple in the country after the Bahai Temple in Delhi - will come up in Godhra. The temple complex - a brainchild of the spiritual head of the Vaishnav sect Dwarkeshlalji Maharaj will come up on an area of 3.5 lakh square feet.

The grand campus coming up on the Bamroli Road in Godhra includes a garden, inside which an artificial pond will be created. The majestic temple will come up in the middle of this pond and is in the shape of three lotuses joined together. The entire project is coming up on land owned by a devotee Uday Desai who will also bear the cost of the project.

Trustee of the Jayantilal Chand Charitable Trust that has

been formed for the temple project, KT Parikh said that Desai belonged to Godhra and had settled in Mumbai where he became a successful businessman.

“He had purchased the land and planned to use it for a cause in the memory of his parents. After discussions with Dwarkeshlalji Maharaj, he decided to make the temple here,” Parikh said.

Parikh said that another factor that contributed in the selection of Godhra for building the temple was that all the Vaishnav sub-sects found representation in the town.

Besides the temple with idol of Lord Shrinathji with Kalyanray Prabhu in his lap, the complex will have a cowshed, a display on the history of the Vaishnav sect, a library, a clinic, an old age home and other facilities like space for devotees to stay.

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

23

Voting rights for Indian expats to become a reality Government introduces a bill in Rajya Sabha A bill to provide voting rights to Indians living abroad was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Saturday, with the government saying it would enable expats to participate in their home country’s democratic process, which was their “legitimate” wish.

Moving the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill 2010, Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily explained the details regarding the manner of enrolment of expats, the mode of voting and conditionalities for contesting elections.

He earlier withdrew the 2006 draft of the same proposed legislation say-

ing he was doing so as it did not have details regarding modalities on conferring voting rights to expats.

“The fresh bill is more comprehensive,” Mr Moily said. Pointing out that people of Indian origin have been persistently demanding conferring of voting rights, he said though the issue had been receiving attention of the government for quite some time, the demand could not be met because of practical difficulties in enrolling them in the electoral rolls and allowing them to cast votes from outside India.

He said the right to vote, as demanded by these citizens of India liv-

ing abroad, is a legitimate one and conferring such rights will enable them to participate in the democratic process.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice examined the 2006 bill and recommended bringing a comprehensive one on the subject containing details regarding the manner of their enrolment, mode of voting and conditionalities for contesting elections.

“In pursuance of the committee’s recommendations, it has been decided to withdraw the 2006 bill and introduce a fresh one in the current session of Parliament,” Mr Moily said.

Shashi Tharoor weds Sunanda Pushkar They tie the knot in a traditional Kerala-style ceremony

The former Union Minister, Shashi Tharoor, and Sunanda Pushkar tied the knot in a traditional Kerala-style wedding ceremony at Mr Tharoor's ancestral house at Elavanchery in Palakkad district on Sunday morning.

The ceremony was attended only by close relatives of the bride and bridegroom. Mr. Tharoor and Ms. Pushkar were dressed in traditional Kerala attire and the ceremony was over in 10 minutes.

The newlyweds were blessed by Mr Tharoor's

grandmother Jayasankari, mother Lilly Chandran Tharoor, uncles Narayanan Unni and Mukundan Unni, and Ms. Pushkar's father Colonel Pushkarnath Das. The marriage was also

attended by Siva, Ms. Pushkar's son from her earlier marriage, and Mr Tharoor's sons from his first marriage, Ishaan and Kanishk.

This is the third marriage for both Mr. Tharoor and Ms. Pushkar.

Though the ceremony was strictly a family affair, it was attended by close associates of Mr Tharoor, including former Union Minister Mani Sankar Iyer, former Indian Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, and film actor T P Madhavan.

Gegong Apang, former Arunachal Pradesh CM arrested Apang alleged to be involved in a multi million PDS scam Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang was on Tuesday arrested by the special investigation cell

for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore public distribution system scam. " Apang was arrested

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Apang, who was summoned to the cell on Tuesday morning, was arrested under non-bailable sections.

He was booked under (criminal conspiracy), (cheating), (forgery), (criminal breach of trust) of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. "We provided Apang with a set of questionnaires and despite three earlier summons he appeared before the SIC only on Tuesday.

He denied knowledge of facts or persons involved in the scam," Chauhan said.

The scam relates to loss suffered by the public exchequer because of false and fraudulent hill transport subsidy bills, which were cleared without financial concurrence. Apang had been at the helm of affairs at the time.

In divine light

By Rajen Vakil

Sanjay, the beginning of awakening In the Mahabharata war, Bhishma was on the side of the Kauravas and this had given Dhritarashtra an illusion that his son Duryodhana would definitely win the war. The sage Vyasa had offered to give Dhritarashtra divine sight so he could see what was happening in the war, which he refused but instead asked for this divine vision to be given to Sanjay. Even though Sanjay had this divine vision, Dhritarashtra had not asked him of the happenings on the battlefield. On the tenth day, a messenger brought news that Bhishma had fallen.

Dhritarashtra was shocked and could not believe that Bhishma, who had the boon of voluntary death, had fallen.

It is then that he asked Sanjay to tell him what had happened on the battlefield. Sanjay then tells him everything from the beginning, and because it was ten days old, whatever he said has been mentioned in the past tense. This is the reason why the Srimad Bhagwad Gita is in the past tense.

Sanjay is the king’s charioteer, friend, and minister. Even though he is the king’s servant, he never minces words in telling him the truth. He is a real friend who never unnecessarily praises Dhritarashtra. Many a times, Dhritarashtra feels Sanjay is biased and scorns him for not seeing good things but only the loss and suffering of his army. On the day his ten sons died, Sanjay told him that it was his greed that had brought about their death.

Sanjay was aware that because Sri Krishna was on the side of Pandavas, victory would always be theirs and keeps reminding Dhritarashtra of this.

The first step in our inner journey is to give birth to the Sanjay within us. Gurdjieff once said that for man to awaken from sleep, he must first realise and accept that he lives in a kind of psychological sleep. The initial awareness that we spend our whole life in a kind of hypnosis from one event to the other and identified with desire that tomorrow will be better, the initial noticing of ourselves and how we are carried away by every thought and emotion, and the inner thirst

to be free of this hypnosis is what gives birth to the Sanjay within us.

The Srimad Bhagwad Gita has only four characters. The first is the blind king Dhritarashtra, symbolic of the sleep we live in. The second is Sanjay, the one who keeps trying to awaken us and see the truth – the basic awareness that we are asleep and the intention to make efforts to awaken from it. When we make real efforts to awaken, this brings out the Arjuna in us, and finally when we wake up to our own sleep, we can see the Sri Krishna within us.

Sanjay is a kind of retrospect awareness we slowly develop. Just as Dhritarashtra, on the tenth day, asks Sanjay to tell him everything from the beginning, so do we become aware of our sleep but only after the event has occurred. For example we blow up in a fit of anger but later on we realise how the anger had hypnotised and enslaved us, and then we solemnly resolve to be free of this slavery; this is Sanjay, a new way of seeing life. Usually most people justify their anger, saying how necessary it was to get angry; they are just too lazy to awaken from the slavery of their emotions and sleep.

The process of awakening starts with the practice of observing the workings of our lower psychic nature and authentically accepting what we see. Suddenly, we start seeing ourselves in a completely different light. Till now we had a rosy picture of ourselves as a kind person, a good human being, considerate for others, and generous. As we observe ourselves, all this changes.

We start making mental notes and pictures of ourselves such as: 1. The feeling of superiority we have when we criticise others.

2. How we keep complaining about the same things, even though people or situations change.

3. We see that how when we are in a gloomy mood, depressed, or irritated, we take life in a completely negative way. We may be on a holiday at a beautiful beachside resort, but

if our mood is bad, we see even the most beautiful things in a negative light.

4. Observation of our behaviour makes us aware how we behave so well and politely in the outer world, just out of fear of losing our reputation; now, we see what we really are inside. Maybe, if we were to meet ourselves on the road, we would never become friends with ourselves.

We have a dark internal and a white external side to us.

5. How our presence is never present in the present moment, but we are always daydreaming and brooding and how this leads to a continuous leakage of energy.

6. All our reactions to situations in life are so fixed and mechanical, but now we want to be free of this mechanical existence.

This is a new way of seeing which gives us a different perception to life. We start seeing things in scale. For example, if someone had hurt or criticised me, I would have flared up but now I start putting things in scale. I can now contemplate that “he is a good father to his children, he looks after his old parents well, he is clever at his work – then in all these good qualities, what does this one small insult of me mean” and I suddenly see how insignificant it is.

Slowly, we stop loosing energy and don’t react in the same set ways; this creates a kind of magnetic point within us. Because we stop reacting out of habit, we attract completely different situations (or events) in life, which leads us to greater wisdom and maturity. Initially, we became aware of situations after they were over.

Now, instead becoming aware of our anger or irritation after it has happened, we wake up when it starts manifesting. This is the beginning of Arjuna in us; our consciousness has risen from the level of Sanjay to that of Arjuna, and one day we will get a glimpse of Sri Krishna sitting in all of us.

(Edited by Chintu Gandhi).

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

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World

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Top young US entrepreneurs have 4 American Indians All have developed a kind of software for mobiles, computers Boston: Four IndianAmericans have been named among 30 of America's "coolest young entrepreneurs" by monthly business magazine 'Inc' that describes its young achievers as people who are "building unique brands, making money along the way and changing the way we do business".

Naveen Selvadurai, 28, co-founder of social networking application 'Foursquare', 26-year old Vikas Reddy who cofounded technology startup 'Occipital', Sachin Agarwal, 30 of San Francisco-based start up

'Posterous' and 22-year old Stanford graduate Ooshma Garg have been named in the '30 under 30' 2010 list of 'America's Coolest Young Entrepreneurs' by the New York based magazine.

"They are bringing innovation to market, building unique brands, nurturing trends, giving back and making money along the way," Inc says of the young men and women on its list.

Selvadurai, a former software architect, cofounded Foursquare in 2009. Foursquare is a mobile application that is a "friend-finder, a social

city guide as well as a game". With more than two million users, the business is currently valued at nearly $ 100 mn.

Reddy co-founded Occipital, a technology start-up in Colorado in 2008. The business has developed RedLaser, a best-selling iPhone application that lets users scan barcodes. Since debuting in May 2009, RedLaser has been downloaded more than two million times, making it one of the most popular paid-iPhone applications in the market.

Agarwal co-founded Posterous in 2008 with an aim to "make blogging as

simple as sending an email". The San Franciscobased start-up has raised more than $ 5 million and is backed by American start-up funding firm Y Combinator.

A recent Stanford graduate, Garg 22, founded 'Anapata', an online recruitment site for "law firms that want to reach a diverse population of law school graduates". "The company's analytics package for employers has proven to be as much of a draw as its recruiting services," Inc says. Garg now hopes to expand by reaching out to business school recruiters.

Sydney: Australia's political leaders on Monday began horse-trading with a handful of independent MPs in a bid to form government after a cliffhanger poll that delivered the first hung parliament in 70 years.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who suffered a fierce voter backlash, and opposition leader Tony Abbott both launched talks on a coalition administration with three key independent lawmakers who will likely hold the balance of power.

With both leaders claiming to have the mandate to lead a minority government, experts

warned the nation's future could hang in the balance for weeks or months, leaving stock and currency markets flat but cautious.

"The results on the market show the market understands that stable government is continuing," Gillard said, adding her Labor Party was best placed to form an effective and lasting coalition because it had won the popular vote. "What that means is that the majority of Australians wanted a Labor government," she told reporters in Canberra ahead of face-to-face talks with the independents and the Greens party.

Voters on Saturday

turned on Gillard, who came to power in a party coup just two months ago, after a trouble-strewn campaign, stripping her of her strong majority.

Abbott, who says Gillard's government has lost its legitimacy, also arrived in Canberra to meet the three "kingmakers" Bob Katter, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott - who are likely to decide who runs the nation.

Labor and the opposition Liberal/National coalition were each projected to take 73 seats in the 150seat parliament, short of the 76 needed to rule in their own right, state broadcaster ABC said.

The independents who all have past ties with Abbott's party - vowed to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" to produce a stable government but kept their alliance options open as vote counting from Saturday's poll continued.

"I don't have to pick a red team or a blue team, I don't have to pick Julia or Tony," said independent Rob Oakeshott, adding that he had spoken to both Gillard and Abbott by phone on Monday.

OZ leaders haggle to form govt after polls

Zerbanoo Gifford honoured in American Suffrage exhibition

Nebraska (USA): Zerbanoo Gifford, the founding director of the ASHA Centre in the Royal Forest of Dean, is being honoured with her third major award in America.

In 1986, Zerbanoo was given the Freedom of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, for being at the forefront of the campaign against modern slavery. Her second came in 2007 in Hollywood, when she received the Splendor Award for her outstanding global achievements in the field of human rights.

Now Zerbanoo is being honoured in an exhibition commemorating the 90th anniversary of women being given the vote in the United States.

“The 90th Anniversary of Suffrage”, a gallery and online exhibition of photos of those who have advanced women’s rights, is being staged by the SewallBelmont House and Museum in Washington DC. It opens on Equality Day, August 26th, 2010.

The inscription a c c o m p a n y i n g

Zerbanoo’s photo reads, ‘To a woman who has dedicated her life to women's rights internationally and who is fearless in standing up for freedom and justice.’

The Sewall-Belmont House and Museum keeps alive the stories of the women who fought

Zerbanoo Gifford

for the right to vote and houses the largest collection of suffrage artefacts in the United States.

When asked how she felt about such an accolade for her work championing the cause of women internationally, Zerbanoo said, “Women’s equality is the final frontier for those who fight

for a fairer and more just world. If man can land on the moon, and spend billions on armaments of war, then surely we can ensure than every girl is cherished at birth. She should be given a rounded education, her health and nutrition cared for, and she should be allowed to express herself with her own unique gifts and encouraged to take her rightful place in her community. Degrading and suppressing women must be a thing of the past. It is totally unacceptable to crush the lives of half of the world’s population for no other reason than their sex.

August 26th also marks the centenary of the birth of Mother Teresa, whom Zerbanoo has a loving connection with. When Mother Teresa died in 1997, Zerbanoo paid tribute to the saint on television and read one of Mother Teresa’s last prayers, which was especially written for the ASHA Centre and its work with young people. The prayer is highly treasured.

25

Narendra Pathak reappointed to board of library trustees in Sunnyvale Sunnyvale (USA): Narendra Pathak of Sunnyvale, California was re-appointed to the board of library trustees by the city of Sunnyvale’s, USA. He was sworn in on 15th June for a term that expires on June 30.

2014. A native of Karamsad, Gujarat, India, Mr Pathak Narendra Pathak has been a US resident since 1979. He holds a B.A. in economics and law degrees in labor laws and criminal laws.

Mr Pathak has been active in the Santa Clara County’s as Commissioner, Council on Equal Employment Opportunities and City Of Sunnyvale as Board of Library Trustees, Board Member on General Plan Consolidation Advisory Committee, State Of California, Board Member on California Association of Library Trustees and Commissioners. His community activities include as Board of Trustees, Devotional Association of Sitaram, Co-Coordinator of California Gujarat Sister State Association, India Heritage Research Foundation, Bay Area Gujarati Samaj, India Cultural Association of Bay Area and Brahamin Samaj of USA. Narendra Pathak has served as Treasurer, Charitable Care Foundation.

Mr Pathak has served on the City of Sunnyvale’s as Commissioner, Housing and Human Services Commission. The five member Board of Trustees acts as an advisory body to the Sunnyvale’s City Council.

Narendra Pathak will advise on exiting and potential programs and polices and will advise outside groups about community development and other issues.

Library Trustees have also served as advocates for Library Service in California by participating in the Annual Library Legislative Day, emphasizing the important role of Libraries to local and state legislators in Sacramento. Participation and recommendations on Federal and State Library Grants. Review of budget measures, budget system and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Input for the development of the Federal and State General Plan.

He is married to Gita Pathak and they have a son, Sagar Pathak and one daughter, Shruti Pathak.

26

Pakistan

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

ISI sees Islamist militants, not India, as main threat Washington: Shedding its India-centric phobia, Pakistan's main spy agency ISI has in its new threat assessment determined that Islamist militants, and not India pose the main threat to Pakistan.

In a recent internal assessment of security, the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's most powerful military spy service has determined for the first time in 63 years that it expects a majority of threats to come from Islamist militants, Wall Street Journal reported quoting a senior ISI officer.

The assessment, WSJ said, a regular review of

national security allocated a two-thirds likelihood of a major threat to Pakistan coming from militants rather from India or elsewhere. "It's earth shattering. That's a remarkable change," Bruce Hoffman, a counter terrorism specialist and professor at Georgetown University was quoted as saying.

"It's yet another ratcheting up of the Pakistanis' recognition of not only their own internal problems but cooperation in the war on terrorism," he said. The paper said it was unclear whether the assessment of the ISI, largely staffed by active military officers, was

fully endorsed by Pakistan's military and civilian government. "The report's impact on troop positioning and Pakistan's war against militants remains to be seen," the daily said.

The assessment reflects the thinking in the mainstream of the ISI, The Wall Street Journal said.

"But US officials worry that elements of Pakistan's military establishment, which they say includes retired ISI officers, continue to lend support to militants that shelter in Pakistan's tribal regions, an effort these people say is aimed at building influence in Afghanistan once the US

pulls out," it said.

The paper quoted Major Gen Athar Abbas, the chief Pakistan military spokesman, as saying he hadn't seen the ISI report.

He said India remained a threat but confirmed that it is the ISI's role to draw up security assessments, the daily said.

While the jostling for influence in Afghanistan between India and Pakistan isn't likely to diminish, WSJ said, the ISI assessment could push Islamabad into taking stronger action against Pakistani and Afghani militants operating from its porous mountainous travel region.

Second wave of floods hit the country Islamabad/Karachi: A second wave of floods have inundated several areas in Balochistan even as the worst deluge in Pakistan’s history led to mass evacuation in Sindh regions where around 3.6 million people have been affected and over 600,000 displaced.

Flood waters on Friday inundated new areas in Sindh where 1,447 relief camps have been set up and 610,614 affected are taking refuge there, according to officials.

The UN said “significantly more donor support” is needed to provide relief to the millions of people affected by the worst deluge in Pakistan’s history.

The cities of Shahdadkot, Qabu Saeed Khan, Mero Khan and

Villagers cross a flooded area of Bssera village near Muzaffargarh on August 11.

Sajawal in Sindh were evacuated in the face of a flood torrent emanating from Garhi Kheru. The flood waters have already devastated hundreds of villages in the region.

The Flood Forecasting Division warned that the Indus river was in “very high flood” at Kotri Barrage in Sindh and that the situation could take a turn for the worse in com-

ing days.

Flows of over 700,000 cusecs were recorded at Kotri on Saturday and officials said the river could flood nearby lowlying areas in the next few days. In Balochistan, hundreds of thousands of people took shelter on rooftops and high ground after a high flood tide entered Gandhaka area of Jaffarabad district. The

Flood-hit Pak accepts Indian aid offer Washington: Pakistan has finally accepted the USD 5 million aid offered by India for flood relief victims and said such a gesture was appreciated.

"I can share with you that the Government of Pakistan has agreed to accept the Indian offer (of USD 5 million aid)," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on the sidelines of the special session of the General Assembly on Pakistan at the United Nations headquarters.

The US had earlier asked Pakistan to accept USD 5 million in flood aid from India as politics should

have no role in disaster response.

The foreign minister asserted that Pakistan was not playing any politics on aid offer from India.

"We are not playing politics. Let me acknowledge the fact that India’s minister for external affairs, Mr (SM) Krishna, called me in Islamabad and he expressed sympathy, he condoled with me on the loss of life, and offered assistance to Pakistan," he told a television interview. Qureshi was at the United Nations headquarters in New York to attend the special session of the General Assembly on Pakistan.

Manmohan calls Gilani, offers more help Meanwhile, Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh has called up his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani to condole the death of thousands in the huge floods that have devastated parts of his country. Mr Manmohan Singh said the government of India had already made an offer of assistance and was ready to do more to assist in the relief effort.

He said in such times of natural disasters, all of South Asia should rise to the occasion and extend every possible help to the people affected by the tragedy.

high flood in Mola river posed a threat to Jhal Magsi and Gandahwa areas.Despite rescue missions mounted by army helicopters and boats, a large number of people were stranded in flooded areas. The flood waters destroyed hundreds of houses and washed away cattle and crops on thousands of acres.The Gandhaka grid station, government installations and roads were submerged. There were also reports of flood victims suffering from cholera and gastro-enteritis.Hospitals and medical camps were facing an acute shortage of medicines, officials said.

There were also reports of deaths from various areas.

In Nowsheran Virkan, two boys drowned while bathing in flood waters.

UK doubles flood aid London: Britain has announced that its aid contribution to the flood relief efforts in Pakistan would be doubled to more than £64 mn, but made it clear it would only release the funds to partners who were able to show they could deliver the right results for people in that country.

International development secretary Andrew Mitchell flew to New York straight from a visit to Pakistan, where he saw how the UK aid was helping those affected by the floods. Doubling of the aid money was expected to help millions more affected by the floods.

Mob lynches teen brothers as cops watch Islamabad: The Pakistani men took turns savagely beating the two teenage brothers with sticks, drawing blood before dragging and hanging their dead bodies from a nearby pole.

None of the dozens of people watching tried to stop the attack, not even several police. The boys may have been mistaken for robbers.

The scene, caught on video and broadcast on news channels, has outraged and anguished Pakistanis, some of whom are asking if years of state neglect have brutalized society. It also is a blow to the already-shoddy image of the government as it appeals for international aid to cope with disastrous floods. "Is this what we

are? Savages?" asked an editorial in the News, an English-language daily. "So utterly bereft of a speck of humanity that a crowd of ordinary men are passive spectators to public murder?"

The killings occurred on August 15 in Sialkot, a town in eastern Punjab province. As details have

emerged, authorities appear increasingly confident that the two boys Moiz Butt, 17, and his brother Muneeb, 15 - were innocent. The two went to play cricket after praying, carrying a bag with them containing game equipment, said Mujahid Sherdil, a top government official in the district.

In focuS 24 killed in mosque bombing Islamabad: At least 24 people have been killed and 25 injured in a bombing at a mosque in the Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan on Monday, officials say. The blast occurred in the bazaar area of the region's main town of Wana.Among those killed was a former member of Pakistan's National Assembly, Maulvi Noor Mohammad, officials say. South Waziristan is at the centre of fighting between Pakistani forces and the Taliban, though Wana falls outside the area of the army's campaign.

Mr Mohammad was greeting members of the congregation outside the mosque when the attack happened. Officials in Wana said that the bombing was carried out by a suicide bomber who walked up to Mr Mohammad and detonated his explosives as they shook hands. The former parliamentarian was a strong pro-Taliban voice and had written several books on jihad which are popular with the region's militants. He also ran several bookstores and hospitals in the region. It is unclear why Mr Mohammad would have been the target of a suicide bomber, but recently Pakistan's security forces killed three alQaeda militants in a raid on one of his hospitals.

Crack down on banned charities Islamabad: Pakistan said it would clamp down on charities linked to Islamist militants amid fears their involvement in flood relief, exploiting anger against the government, would undermine the fight against groups like the Taliban. Islamist charities have moved in swiftly to fill the vacuum left by a government overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster and struggling to reach millions of people in dire need of shelter, food and clean water. It would not be the first time the government has announced restrictions against charities tied to militant groups. Critics say any banned organizations often re-emerge under new names, with authorities uninterested in stopping their operations. “The banned organizations are not allowed to visit flood-hit areas,” interior minister Rehman Malik said. “We will arrest members of banned organizations collecting funds and will try them under the Anti-Terrorism Act.”

Karachi erupts over leader's killing, 13 dead Karachi: At least 14 people have died in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi last week following the target-killing of an Awami National Party (ANP) leader outside a cargo terminal. Obaidullah Yousafzai, a cargo operator employed with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), and his friend Saleem Akhtar were coming out of the PIA cargo terminal when two unidentified people riding a motorbike sprayed their vehicle with bullets. Both of them died on the spot.

The shooting triggered widespread violence that left another 12 people dead. Mobs forcibly closed markets and pelted stones at vehicles. They also set on fire an office of Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the city.

Minorities denied flood relief Karachi: Earlier this week, members of Pakistan's Ahmadiyya community, who were caught up in the raging floods around the Central Punjab town of Muzaffargarh, were not rescued from their homes because rescuers felt that Muslims must be given priority. Ahmadiyyas are ostracized by Pakistan's mainstream Muslim community who consider them to be non-believers. 1973, this community was officially declared a minority. Since then the discrimination against them has been severe. The Ahmadiyyas complained to the government that not only were their community members not rescued but in some instances ejected from relief camps when their identity was disclosed. Members of the Sikh community, who arrived in Gurdwaras in Lahore also complained of government apathy. They said members of their community were abandoned in KhyberPakhtoonkhwa and had to arrange rescue for themselves.

Villager adopts 200 flood victims Islamabad: A generous Pakistani villager has adopted around 200 flood victims as the calamity continue to upset the lives of millions in the country.

Mohammad Ibrahim, a middle class man, has taken the responsibility of several families, which are now homeless by the worst floods in the country's history.

Ibrahim has also urged the government to provide shelters to the affected. Floods that began three weeks ago with torrential monsoon rain over the upper Indus river basin have forced more than 4 million people to live in wretched conditions beside roads, sleep in the open with little food and no clean water.

East Africa

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

In focuS 3 Indian peacekeepers killed in Congo

Brazzaville: Three Indian soldiers, who were part of the UN peacekeeping force in Congo, were killed and seven others injured when rebel forces attacked their base in Kirumba province of the central African nation last week. The soldiers were from the 19 Kumaon Regiment of the Army and were deployed in Congo as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force, Army officials said. “The incident happened when around 5060 suspected rebels of militia group ‘MAYI-MAYI’ attacked the unit base in Kirumba province in Congo,” they added. While a small group of four to five members distracted the guard on duty by striking a conversation with him, the remaining members of the rebel group attacked the periphery of the post from the surrounding jungle, officials said. After five minutes of attack, the rebels fled into the forest, taking advantage of darkness, they said. The 19 Kumaon Regiment has been deployed in Congo since February this year.

Somali gunmen storm hotel, MPs among 32 killed Mogadishu: Somali gunmen have stormed a hotel close to the presidential palace and killed 32 people, including six MPs, on the second day of an Islamist offensive. The deputy prime minister said that at least 32 people had been killed in the attack. The gunmen were disguised as government soldiers. They approached the Muna hotel, opened fire on a guard, then one of them blew himself up inside the building.

Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, a spokesman for the alShabab Islamist militia, said that members of the group's "special forces" had carried out the attack. The hotel raid comes on the second day of heavy fighting between al-Shabab and troops of the transitional government, who are backed by the African Union (AU).

Muna hotel is popular with government officials, because it is in a government-controlled area and the security is tight. Five government officials were among those killed. Al-Shabab began its offensive on Monday soon after its spokesman said the group was declaring a "massive war" on the AU force, describing its 6,000 peacekeepers as "invaders".

More than 150 women raped in Congolese village Nairobi/Goma: More than 150 women have been raped by rebels in a remote area of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid agency and the UN said. A Rwandan rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), occupied the town of Luvungi on July 30 and embarked on a four-day raping spree in the town and the surrounding area, the International Medical Corps said. 'Nearly all reported rapes were described as having been perpetrated by two to six armed men, often taking place in front of the women's children and husbands,' the IMC said in a statement. 'Large number of women reported being physically beaten before the sexual assaults, and some reported abuse of babies who were forcibly removed from their arms.' Stefania Trassari, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said rape was common in DR Congo.

Mandela charity trustee resigns over Campbell diamonds Pretoria: The former head of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Jeremy Ractliffe, has resigned from the charity's board after admitting he secretly kept diamonds received from the model Naomi Campbell.

Mr. Ractliffe admitted he had the gems only when Ms Campbell mentioned him at the war crimes trial of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor two weeks ago.

Prosecutors say she received the diamonds from Mr Taylor in 1997. Mr Ractliffe had apologised for his secrecy, the charity's board said. The former chief executive handed the diamonds over to South African police after Campbell testified that she had given three stones to Ractliffe because she wanted them to go to charity.

Kenyan jailed for trying to sell albino Dar es Salam: A court in Tanzania has sentenced a Kenyan accused of trying to sell an albino to 17 years in jail and a fine of more than $50,000 (£41,200). The court sentenced Nathan Mutei after he pleaded guilty to human trafficking. Police said they arrested Mutei in a sting operation as he tried to sell an albino fellow Kenyan for the equivalent of more than $250,000.

Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers.

Mutei, 28, was arrested just outside the town of Mwanza. In the sting operation, which was announced last week, police pretended to be businessmen buying albino body parts. The regional police commander, Simon Siro, said that Mr Mutei had tricked Mr Mkwama, 20, into believing he would secure a job in Tanzania as a lorry driver's assistant.

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Kenya accused of illegally transferring weapons to southern Sudan Nairobi: Kenya has been named in a report by a Swiss research institute as the conduit for many of the weapons transferred to Southern Sudan government forces in violation of a peace agreement strongly backed by the United States. The Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, which is a multi-year research project administered by the Small Arms Survey - an independent research project of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies reported that satellite imagery has confirmed the presence at Southern Sudan military headquarters of tanks that arrived at the port of Mombasa in 2008.

These T-72 tanks were part of three weapons shipments from Ukraine “ostensibly consigned to the Kenyan Ministry of Defence” but that were in fact under contract to the Government of Southern Sudan, according to the Small Arms Survey. In addition to tanks, the three shipments in 2007 and 2008 are said to include 122 mm vehiclemounted rocket launchers, 14.5 mm machine guns, 23 mm anti-aircraft cannon, RPG-7 rocket launchers and AKM assault rifles. Some of these arms transfers to South Sudan forces were facilitated by a Mombasabased shipping agency run by a British national, the survey says. It does not name the agency.

The researchers warn that an “arms race” is underway in Sudan, with the national government in Khartoum and the SPLM-led government in the South both acquiring large quantities of weapons.

Insecurity The United States is, meanwhile, warning that shipments of arms into Southern Sudan are heightening insecurity there in the run-up to a referendum that could result in the region’s secession. US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice did not directly answer a reporter’s question last week about Kenya’s reported involvement in this illicit arms trade. “In a region where you have porous bor-

ders,” Ms Rice said in response, “there are undoubtedly weapons coming from all directions.” The US envoy added that the task now is to identify the principal source of the shipments and to answer the question, “Is this simply small arms trafficking of the sort that we see throughout the continent or is it actually a deliberate effort to sow instability?”

Violence is escalating in Southern Sudan, which had been at war with Khartoum for 20 years. The UN reports that more than 2,000 people were killed in clashes among tribal militias last year. Some of the incidents involved thousands of heavily armed attackers, the UN says.

Uganda army in torture abuses Cattle raids are common in Karamoja and the use of guns makes the problem far worse Kampala: An Uganda MP has accused soldiers of carrying out torture and killings in a campaign to disarm the arid north-eastern Karamoja region, where cattle-rustling is common.

Francis Adamson Kiyonga said an elite unit of troops was targeting civilians and at least 15 people have been killed since April.

He said some victims had had their teeth pulled or been nearly castrated.

Army spokesman Felix

Kulaigye said the allegations were absurd.

Mr Kiyonga said local leaders were aware of the alleged abuses and there needed to be an independent inquiry.

"The tortures are in the form of removing people's teeth, attempted castrations of men using hot metal like pangas [broadblade knives] and severe beatings to people," Mr Kiyonga said.

The MP said of the 15 people killed in his constituency, three had had

their necks broken and the others had been shot.

But Lieutenant Colonel Kulaigye denied there was any systematic targeting of the local population as part of the disarmament programme.

He said that similar accusations have been investigated in the past and found to be untrue.

However, he confirmed that three army officers are facing charges of extorting money from civilians.

Correspondents say

Karamoja is the most underdeveloped and volatile region in Uganda.

Successive governments have tried to pacify the Karamojong people, who are known to carry out violent cattle raids, made worse by the influx of guns into the region.

Over the last 10 years, President Yoweri Museveni has put considerable emphasis on bringing stability to the area through a combination of development projects and military operations.

Mine deals tarnish S African prez Zuma’s image Johannesburg: Two questionable mining deals and two proposed measures to curb the media have posed a question mark about how South African President Jacob Zuma's government has been running the country.

The deals and proposed media curbs in and of themselves may not be hugely significant, but they have triggered a volley of criticism directed at Zuma's government, suggesting it may suffer from a leadership vacuum where cronyism can thrive.

The risk for investors is that with few safeguards in place, a constrained media and a weak administration, sweetheart deals could increase in the

Jacob Zuma

remaining four years of Zuma's term.

"This is all nauseating enough in a moral sense.

It is also the kind of conduct that destroys economies, decimates employment and isolates countries," the leading Mail and Guardian newspaper wrote in an editorial.

Most prominent in the headlines is a mining squabble involving the local unit of global giant AcerlorMittal, major player Kumba Iron Ore and the obscure Imperial Crown Trading that resulted in one of Zuma's sons and the Gupta family that backs him walking away with bigger bank accounts.

When Zuma took office a year ago investors worried that the left-wing supporters who helped him ascend to the country's top post would derail pro-business measures in favour of massive welfare spending and policies that

benefit organised labour.

But little happened on the economic front due to what analysts saw as dithering, with a muddlethrough approach coming as a relief to the mining companies, financial service firms and manufacturers which power Africa's largest economy.

The main worry now is the pace of controversial deals could accelerate, if safeguards and checks are not applied.

"If I ran a display indicating threat levels to the South African democracy, the readings would be higher now than at any time since the successful establishment of majority rule in 1994," Nic Borain, an independent political analyst, wrote on his blog.

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

This week in CB live, Sheeb Harma the UK South Asian Community Engagement Manager and Jonaid Jilani the BME Press officer for Oxfam will be speaking about their project in India that are providing education and support to many children and helping to change their lives. CB will also be joined by Dr Thakorbhai Patel from the US and Gunwant Delawala from Sargam Club, Rajkot.

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500 ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 This week you will make

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For more information e-mail: cblive_matv@yahoo.co.uk Only on CB Live - MATV Sky 793 - Thursday 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Coming Events Janmashtami 1.

Janmashtami at Bhaktivedanta Manor, Off Hilfield Lane, Aldenham, Watford, WD25 8EZ (sat nav WD25 8DT), Thursday 2nd September 2010, from 12 noon until midnight, Sunday 5th September 2010, from 12 noon until 10pm.

2. Coach trip to ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor Watford temple on Sunday 5th of September from Thornton road Thornton Heath at 10.00am.

2 Coach trip to Southendon-Sea for Shree Ganesh Visarjan on Sunday 19th September from Thronton Road Thornton Heath at 9.00am. Contact: Bhavnaben on 0208 684 4645 3. Sunday 29th August 2010, Mela 12.00pm to 9.00pm, Janmasthmi, 6.30pm onwards, Navnat Centre, contact: Kiran

Bhuva : 07956 436 574 4. Krishna Janmashtami, Thurs Sept 2, 2010, 9am noon, Sattavis Patidar Centre (formerly Advait), Forty Avenue, Wembley, Contact: Lal 07855 891 040, Email : cvs@chinmayauk.org ore. By registration only.

5. Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Stanmore, Janmashtami, 2nd September, 6:30pm onwards, Saturday 4th September, 5:30pm onwards, Stanmore HA7 4LF, Contact: 020 8954 0205 6.

Shri Krishna Janmashtami, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden, London, Thursday 2 September9am-10pm, London NW10 8LD 7. Janmashtami, 11am11:55pm, Shree Jalaram Mandir, Greenford, Middlesex UB6 9LB 8. Janmashtami, Wednesday 1Sept, 6-10pm, Shree

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Bharatiya Mandal, Lancashire OL6 8JN. Contact: 01613302085 9. Janmashtami, 2nd Sep, Gujarat Hindu Society, 9:30-9:30pm, South Meadow Lane, Preston, Lancashire PR1 8JN. Contact: 01772253901 10. Colours of Krishna, Musical drama, Chinmaya Mission UK, 2nd September, 7:30-9pm, Sattavis Patidar Centre, Wembley, HA9 9PE, Contact: 07950602794 11. Federation of Hindu Priests (UK) and Vaidik Religion Astrological Society presents Janmashtami on Wednesday, 1st September

2010. Please contact: Yogeshbhai Shukla at 01162201749 Others 1. Walk for Heart and Stroke, Sunday 26th September 2010, Hyde Park. Northwick Park Institute for Medical Research, Register now.

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Web: http://npimr.org/funraising/heartstrokecampaign 2. Chinmaya Mission UK presents: The Joy of Parenting A2-evening seminar by Swami Tejomayananda, Tuesday 31st Aug-wed 1st Sep, 7pm9pm, Sattavis Patidar Centre, Middlesex HA9 9PE

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“Who plays the lead role in The Infidel?” a. Omid Djalili b. Brad Pitt c. Tom Cruise Send your correct answer to Editorial at aveditorial@abplgroup.com by 31st August 9am.

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your best progress by focusing your mental and physical energies on what you want to achieve. Intense focus is what is needed now so do not let yourself be distracted by non-essentials. The underlying trend seems to be pulling you into a much wider social circle now.

Try to take things in your TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 stride rather than anticipating what might happen. Keep calm as conflict and disagreement could be sparked off by your short-sightedness. Think carefully about the implications of your actions. Intense focus is what is needed now so do not let yourself be distracted by non-essentials.

The prevailing pattern of GEMINI May 22 - June 22 planets gives you a marvellous opportunity. Take time out to strengthen close ties of affection, sort out emotional differences and proffer the olive branch to anyone who may have caused you pain in recent months. Venus throws an easy light on affairs of the heart - prime time for engagements and weddings.

The pattern of signifiCANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 cant relationships in your life will continue to favour you. It seems that a great deal of mutual benefit will accrue because of various interactions. The underlying trend indicates that deep creative energies are stirring within you and that seemingly insignificant events will play a vital role in the future.

There seems to be some presLEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 sure on financial affairs and maybe a problem to contend with in regard to a joint venture. If you feel that something has been hanging in the balance, whatever happens you will get a clearer picture of the situation eventually - therfore, allow matters to ride.

If lately you have had all VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 sorts of demands being placed on you from all sides, don't despair. Try and work out where you want to make changes in your busy life. Once you know, don't hesitate to implement it. The planetary activity in your chart signals a time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to be dealt with.

The pace of your life may LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 be a bit hectic now, and if you're not used to it, this could also be a time of mental restlessness. You are more inclined to seek a broad understanding of people and of your immediate environment. Concentrating on listening, connecting, communicating, and learning is your best bet now.

You may find yourself SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 hard at work behind the scenes, although that may not be apparent to others.

You may find yourself caught up in a whirlwind of activity, with opportunities to advance on both the inner and outer level. There is likely to be a powerful incentive to do what remains to be done and tie up loose ends.

Social commitments SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 are liable to increase considerably. At times this could lead to a conflict of loyalties and perhaps a degree of resentment that others are taking advantage of you. Make a very conscious attempt to stick to main priorities. Organise your time so that it is not taken up entirely by the demands of other people.

It is essential that you CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 adopt a very open attitude now for this is a time of lucky opportunity and a chance to greatly enrich your working life and at home.

New windows on the world are about to open and this is bound to have a maturing effect on you from now into the future.

It is a favourable time for AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 dealing with financial interests with a long-term basis and all jointly held resources. There may be a certain amount of unfinished business to be dealt with. Therefore you will need to adopt a fairly flexible policy in order to accommodate the odd twists and turns of everyday life.

Either you or your partner PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 have been going through a phase of inner doubts and uncertainties, and perhaps the main source of tension has simply been the need for breathing space in your relationship and a need to look at things more objectively. Wait before going full steam ahead with grand actions and gestures.

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ER staffers VW Model Dinger or drum starter Tranquilzes Peterson and Wilde Part of SALT DeGeners or Barkin Wheel Alignment Ill-gotten profit

SCRAMBLE - 62 Rearrange the letters in the four word jumbles, one letter to each square/circle, to make four ordinary words LOTES

How to play

Now arrange the letters in the circles to form the answer to the riddle or to fill in the missing word as indicated

ILVAO BDLSIN DEILOP

If____drives, let reason hold the reins.

-Benjamin Franklin (7)

Solution of Scramble - 61

Words: Algae, ordr, unclog, coming Answer: Moral courage and character go hand in hand. A man of real character is consistently courageous, being imbued with a basic integrity and a firm sense of princeiple.

WHATZIT? - 102 Find the familiar phrase, saying or name in this arrangement of letters.

Sollution-101: Cut out the middle man

14 21 23 24 26 27 28

52 Keats piece 53 Goddess of the moon 55 Rose of Guns N’ Roses 58 Lilliputian 60 “Wayne’s World” costar 63 Ballet Skirt 64 Plotters 65 City on the Irtysih River 66 Type of pliers Down 1 Plagiarize 2 Pilgrimage to mecca 3 Is not well 4 Compass dir.

5 Neurological test letters 6 Shopper’s stop 7 Offhand 8 Former philly pro, so to speak 9 Nuremberg negative 10 rtificial international language 11 Adjective forming suffix 12 Airline-safety figure 13 Art of words

29 31 33 37 40 42 43 45 46 47 51 54 55 56 57 59 61 62

Backdoor One in hate mode Daughter of Cadmus Mild chelating agents Kingston Trio hit Mix of oaters Former Redskins home Burials Excavated Joined, redundantly Pc. Netzero rival Smidge Quiet finish of fame or forture French key Singer Renata Steamship line founder Beany’s pal Travel channel?

Chevy model Generation afterboomers Disappear, as symptoms Laugh Loudly Mature Take off

Solution of Crossword-101 F

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Solution of Spellathon - 101: mown, snow, SNOWMAN, sown, swam, swan, women

LOOP THE LOOP - 62

MINDBENDER - 102 Between noon and midnight, but not counting these times, how often will the minute hand and hour hand of a clock overlap?

Solution of 101 : UNIONS, UNISON.

Sudoku-102 1

4 6

12

Example

2

7

5 9

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2 6

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5

1

1

The numbers in the pink squares refer to the sums of the digits that you must fill into the empty spaces directly below or to the right of the pink square containing the number. For instance, in the given example, the 2 boxes below 12 must contain 2 digits that add upto 12, whereas for 20, the 3 boxes places horizontally next to it must add upto 20.

No zeroes are used here, only the digits one through nine.

Solution of KAKURO - 101

9

3

KAKURO - 102

20

29

Rules Connect adjacent dots with vertical or horizontal lines, creating a single loop.

(Fig A).

Crossovers or branches are not allowed 2 3 (As shown by dotted lines in Fig B).

3 1 2 2 Numbers in the puzzle indicate the 2 2 number of lines that should 2 0 3 2 1 surround it, while empty cells may 2 2 be surrounded by any number of 2 2 2 lines.

You can’t draw lines arround 2 2 zeroes.

Each puzzle has just one unique solution.

How to begin: Example (Fig A) - Begin with the zero next to 3. Since no lines can be drawn around zero, mark crosses around it, as shown. Now there is a cross in one space around 3. So we know the three lines of 3 can only be drawn in the remaining three spaces. Next these lines can only be extended in one direction each. Continue, using the same Solution of LTL No. 61 logic. x x x Hints: Keep elimi3 2 3 3 2 x 3 x nating possibilix x x x ties by marking 2 2 x crosses in spaces x 2 x 2 x x x x x between dots 3 x 0 x x x where a line isn’t x x x x possible, i.e., if x 2 x x 1 x2 you have already x x x x c o m p l e t e d x 3 x 2 2 required lines or x x x where a line x x 1 x 2 x 2 x 3 x extension may x x create a branch x 2 x 2 x 3 3 2 x or cause a deadx x end (Fig B)

SPELLATHON -102 Today’s Ratings: 13-average | 15-good | 18-outstanding How many words of four or more letters can you make from the letters shown in S today’s puzzle? In making a word, each E H letter may be used once only. Each word must contain the central letter. There F A L should be at least one seven-letter word.

Plurals, foreign words and proper R names are not allowed. British English Dictionary is used as reference.

pass

9

9 3

2 1

6

8

6 7

2

Solution of sudoku-101 HOW TO PLAY Each row, column and square 3x3 box is a subgrid of 9 cells. Fill in the grid so that each sub-grid contains the digits 1 to 9.

Every puzzle has one solution.

Note:

A digit cannot appear more than once in any particular digit combination. For instance in the example, we cannot have the combination of 8+4+8 for 20.

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HEALTH WATCH

Eating berries may activate the brain's natural housekeeper for healthy aging Scientists have reported the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Their study, presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), concluded that berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline.

Shibu Poulose, Ph.D., who presented the report, said previous research suggested that one factor involved in aging is a steady decline in the body's ability to protect itself against inflammation and oxidative damage.

This leaves people vulnerable to degenerative brain diseases, heart disease, cancer, and other age-related disorders.

"The good news is that natural compounds called polyphenolics found in fruits, vegetables and nuts have an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect that may protect against age-associated decline," said Poulose, who is with the U. S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-

ARS) Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston. Poulose did the research with James Joseph, Ph.D., who died June 1. Joseph, who headed the laboratory, pioneered research on the role of antioxidants in fruits and nuts in preventing age-related cognitive decline.

Their past studies, for instance, showed that old laboratory rats fed for two months on diets containing 2 percent high-antioxidant strawberry, blueberry, or blackberry extract showed a reversal of agerelated deficits in nerve function and behavior that involves learning and remembering.

In the new research, Poulose and Joseph focused on another reason why nerve function declines with aging. It involves a reduction in the brain's natural housecleaning process. Cells called microglia are the housekeepers. In a process called autophagy, they remove and recycle biochemical debris that otherwise would interfere with brain function.

"But in aging, microglia fail to do their work, and debris builds up," Poulose explained. "In addition, the microglia become overactivated and actually

begin to damage healthy cells in the brain. Our research suggests that the polyphenolics in berries have a rescuing effect.

They seem to restore the normal housekeeping function. These findings are the first to show these effects of berries."

The findings emerged from research in which Joseph and Poulose have tried to detail factors involved in the aging brain's loss of normal housekeeping activity.

Using cultures of mouse brain cells, they found that extracts of berries inhibited the action of a protein that shuts down the autophagy process.

Poulose said the study provides further evidence to eat foods rich in polyphenolics. Although berries and walnuts are rich sources, many other fruits and vegetables contain these chemicals especially those with deep red, orange, or blue colors.

Those colors come from pigments termed anthocyanins that are good antioxidants. He emphasized the importance of consuming the whole fruit, which contains the full range of hundreds of healthful chemicals.

Frozen berries, which are available year round, also are excellent sources of polyphenolics, he added.

Two cups of water can help you fight the bulge There’s an elixir that needs no prescription, has no side-effects and almost comes for free. Just two cups of water taken before meals can help you win the battle of the bulge, a new clinical trial has confirmed.

Researchers at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) presented these results.

“We are presenting results of the first randomised controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy,” said Brenda Davy, senior study author, Virginia Tech

Institute, US. “We found that over a course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals three times a day, lost about five pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake,” she said.

“People should drink more water and less sugary, high-calorie drinks.

It’s a simple way to facilitate weight management,” Davy added, according to a Virginia Tech statement.

Davy pointed out that experiment and everyday experience has long suggested that water can help promote weight loss.

But surprisingly, there has been little scientific

information on the topic.

Previous studies hinted that drinking water before meals reduces intake of calories.

The study included 48 adults aged 55-75 years, divided into two groups.

One group drank two cups of water prior to their meals and the other did not.

All of the subjects ate a low-calorie diet during the study. Over 12 weeks, water drinkers lost about 15.5 pounds while the non-water drinkers lost about 11 pounds.

Davy said water may be effective simply because it fills up the stomach with a substance that has zero

calories. People feel fuller as a result and eat less calorie-containing food during the meal.

“Increased water consumption may also help people lose weight if they drink it in place of sweetened calorie-containing beverages,” Davy said.

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Asparagus, garlic could help keep obesity at bay Eating vegetables like asparagus, garlic and artichokes could help keep obesity and diabetes at bay.

Scientists are trying to figure out whether a fibrerich diet can suppress hunger and improve one’s ability to control blood sugar levels.

Foods like garlic, chicory, asparagus and artichokes are known as fermentable carbohydrates, believed to activate the release of gut hormones that reduce appetite, reports the Telegraph. They also enhance sensitivity to insulin - the hormone produced by the pancreas that allows glucose to enter the body’s cells, thereby leading to better glucose control.

Charity Diabetes UK is now funding research into the health benefits of such foods. If proved to be effective, the findings could revolutionise treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Nicola Guess, dietitian at Imperial College, London, who is leading the three-year study, said: “By investigating how

appetite and blood glucose levels are regulated in people at high risk of Type 2 diabetes, it is hoped that we can find a way to prevent its onset.

There are 2.35 million people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in Britain alone, and a further half a million sufferers who are unaware that they have the condition.

If left untreated, type 2 diabetes can lead to complications such as kidney failure, heart disease, stroke and amputation.

Research by the University of Leicester, published last week, suggests that eating green leafy vegetables could help cut the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The vegetables are rich in antioxidants and magnesium, which has been linked to lower levels of diabetes.

Watercress may help fight cancer Daily intake of a small portion of watercress could help protect against cancer, a new study says.

S o u t h a m p t o n University scientists found that volunteers who took 80 grams of watercress a day had elevated levels of cancer-fighting molecules in their blood within hours of eating.

Watercress is the latest in a long line of so-called 'superfoods' found to have beneficial and protective health effects.

Extracts from crushed watercress were also shown to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells, reports the Telegraph.

The pilot study suggests that eating watercress could help prevent

the development of breast cancer while helping recovering breast cancer victims avoid a recurrence of the disease, according to the British Journal of Nutrition.

The research was led

by Professor Graham Packham from the Cancer Research UK Centre at Southampton University.

The study authors said chemicals in watercress, isothiocyanates, appeared to interfere with the growth of cancer cells.

One daily glass of wine 'can double risk of breast cancer' Middle-aged women who drink just one glass of wine a day could double their risk of a common type of breast cancer, scientists warn.

According to the U.S. research, even those who drink just seven units a week - half the recommended safe level - have a much greater chance of developing lobular cancer than those who don't drink at all.

Experts have already warned that excessive drinking is causing a global rise in breast cancer.

In Britain alone the number of cases has risen by 80 per cent in the past

30 years. Over the same period, alcohol consumption has almost doubled.

Lobular cancer is the second most common form of breast cancer. It affects 20,000 British women every year and accounts for a fifth of all tumours.

Women aged 45 to 55 are most at risk.

For their study, scientists looked at the recent drinking habits of almost 90,000 women who had gone through the menopause.

Those who drank seven or more units a week were 1.82 times as likely to develop the cancer once they reached the

menopause.

The researchers, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, in Seattle, are not sure why alcohol appears to cause tumours to develop. But they believe it raises the levels of the hormone oestrogen, which has previously been linked to increased risk of breast cancer.

However, alcohol did not appear to increase the risk of ductal breast cancer - the most common type of the illness, concluded the study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The authors, led by Dr

Christopher Li, said: 'We found that women who drank one or more drinks per day had about double the risk of lobular type breast cancer, but no increase in their risk of ductal type breast cancer.

It is important to note that ductal cancer is much more common than lobular cancer, accounting for about 70 per cent of all breast cancers, whereas lobular cancer accounts for only about 10 to 15 per cent of cases.'

Official guidelines say that women should drink no more than 14 units a week.

A small 125ml glass of

wine contains about a unit of alcohol, depending on its strength.

Two years ago, research found that two large 250ml glasses of wine a day can raise the risk of breast cancer by more than half.

Dr Rachel Thompson, of the World Cancer Research Fund, said: 'Looking at all the evidence, there is convincing evidence that alcohol increases risk of breast cancer. We estimate that about one in five cases of breast cancer in the UK could be prevented through people cutting down the amount they drink.'

Sport worLd

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Golfer Arjun Atwal adds to India’s pride Indian American wins his first PGA tour title at Wyndham

Arjun Atwal has brought first honours for India in gold, as he won the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro in the USA on Sunday. He won by just one stroke and also became the first qualifier to win a PGA Tour in title in 24 years. Arjun is based in Orlando, USA. In the first three rounds, Atwal was either in lead or shared the lead and in the final round, shot a 67 to earn a prize money of US$ 918,000 for a score of 20-under 260.

Arjun Atwal holds the championship trophy after winning the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 22 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

For a few dizzying moments late in a low-

scoring day, seven players shared the lead at 18

under.

Atwal has won on the European, Asian and Nationwide tours, certainly has been through plenty during the past few years.

Top golfer and Arjun’s fellow American Tiger Woods, India’s sports minister M S Gill, Asian Tour’s Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han were among many who congratulated Atwal for his maiden PGA triumph.

With the title win, Atwal has got a two-year berth on the PGA Tour.

Sibal apologises to Anand over citizenship row Indian chess wizard to accept Hyderabad Uni. honour at a later date Indian minister for HRD, Kapil Sibal apologised to World Chess champion Viswanathan Anand over the controversy about his Indian citizenship and the honorary doctorate degree that is to be conferred on him by Hyderabad University.

Anand was to he honoured on Monday during the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians, but officials in the HRD ministry, not sure about whether Anand is an Indian citizen, didn’t clear the proposal.

Later, clearing the mess, Kapil Sibal, the minister called upon Anand on Tuesday to personally invite him to accept the honour, as Hyderabad University had planned the function on Tuesday. There were reports to the effect that perturbed over question about his status as an Indian citizen, the chess maestro decided not to

Viswanathan Anand

accept the honour. The latest report on the issue says Kapil Sibal has announced that after his personal apologies, Anand has agreed to accept the honour, but since it is not convenient for him to attend a function on Tuesday, he would accept it at a later date.

“We are sorry for what had transpired, we wish to award him the honorary degree on Tuesday itself but since Anand showed his inability to

attend the event on Tuesday so it won't be possible to give him the degree,” Sibal said on Tuesday.

He also said, "there is no issue on the matter as Anand has agreed to accept the degree at a convenient time depending on his availability".

Anand has readily agreed to accept the degree at a time which is convenient for him, he added.

"There were some

delays in the procedure but we have taken action on the spot and have not let the matter be delayed even for a minute," Sibal said.

Anand’s wife Aruna, enraged over the delay, did shoot off furious emails to the organisers of the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad who have been lobbying hard so that the chess grandmaster gets this coveted award.

Anand holds an Indian passport but lives in Spain. “We are ready to award the honorary doctorate to Anand. The doctorate has only been delayed and not denied as the HRD Ministry has raised doubts over the chess champion's nationality,” Head of Mathematics Department in the University Rajat Tandon had earlier said.

He too had apologised to Anand over the row.

Deliberate no ball: Randiv, Dilshan penalised Bowler slapped with one match ban, both fined 100% of match fees Sri Lankan spinner Suraj Randiv and his ‘no ball’ mentor Tillakaratne Dilshan both were penalised for their deliberate, unsporting action. In an attempt to deny Indian opener Virender Sehwag a century, Dilshan prompted Randiv to bowl a ‘no bowl’ as the scores had leveled and India needed just the winning run, while Sehwag, on 99 needed just that one run to score his 13th ODI ton.

This had caused a lot of furore in cricketing world and Sri Lanka Cricket, after an inquiry slapped a one match ban on Randiv, while he and Dilshan both were fined 100 per cent of their match fees.

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain has also been advised to ensure that in future, such incidents are not repeated.

Welcoming the swift and decisive action by Sri Lanka Cricket, ICC appreciated them for upholding

the spirit of cricket. ICC chief Haroon Lorgat said, “This is a clear sign that the notion of fair play is

still very those who of cricket mend SLC

important to love the game and we comon its commit-

ment to that. As far as the ICC is concerned it was an unfortunate incident and the matter is now closed”.

Champions Trophy Cricket Schedule in South Africa Date and Time Sep 10 (D/N) Sep 11 Sep 11 (D/N) Sep 12 Sep 12 (D/N) Sep 13 (D/N) Sep 14 (D/N) Sep 15 Sep 15 (D/N) Sep 16 (D/N) Sep 17 (D/N)

Match no./Group 01 / Group B 02 / Group A 03 / Group A 04 / Group B 05 / Group B 06 / Group A 07 / Group A 08 / Group A 09 / Group A 10 / Group B 11 / Group B

Sep Sep Sep Sep

18 18 (D/N) 19 19 (D/N)

12 13 14 15

Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep

20 21 21 22 22 24 25 26

(D/N)

/ / / /

Group Group Group Group

A A B B

16 / Group A 17 / Group B (D/N) 18 / Group B 19 / Group A (D/N) 20 / Group A (D/N) 1st semi-final (D/N) 2nd semi-final (D/N) Final

Teams and Venue Mumbai Indians v/s Lions, Johannesburg Warriors v/s Wayamba, Port Elizabeth Central Districts v/s Chennai Super Kings, Durban Lions v/s South Australia, Centurion Royal Challengers Bangalore v/s Guyana, Centurion Victoria v/s Warriors, Port Elizabeth Mumbai Indians v/s South Australia, Durban Central Districts v/s Victoria, Centurion Chennai Super Kings v/s Wayamba,Centurion Guyana v/s Mumbai Indians, Durban Royal Challengers Bangalore v/s South Australia, Durban Central Districts v/s Warriors, Port Elizabeth Chennai Super Kings v/s Victoria, Port Elizabeth Lions v/s Guyana, Johannesburg Mumbai Indians v/s Royal Challengers Bangalore, Durban Victoria v/s Wayamba, Centurion South Australia v/s (undecided), Johannesburg Lions v/s Royal Challengers Bangalore, Johannesburg Central Districts v/s Wayamba, Port Elizabeth Chennai Super Kings v/s Warriors, Port Elizabeth Kingsmead, Durban SuperSport Park, Centurion New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

31

Mike Russell trounces Pankaj to regain World Billiards crown Last year, Pankaj had defeated the Englishman at Leeds Pankaj Advani, India’s ace cueist last year had defeated Mike Russell in his home country, England to take the IBSF Billiards title. This year, Russell settled scores on his opponent’s home turf at Pune on Monday to regain his ninth crown. The latest title clash though was a very clear one-sided affair with Advani going down 0-6.

Russell beat the seven time world champion opponent 151-129, 151-00, 151-29, 150-20, 151-09, 151-125 with an impeccable display of cue control and dipping.

Advani set up the final encounter after an interesting battle with Peter Gilchrist of Singapore in the semi finals earlier on Monday, while Russell marched ahead with a win over another Indian champ Geet Sethi in the last four stage.

Russell kept Advani under pressure right from the start with some lovely positional play and with touch of softness dipped the balls in different pockets much to the enjoyment of the audience.

Flood relief benefit matches: NZ denies, Zimbabwe offers to play in Pakistan Even as New Zealand Cricket denied that they had expressed willingness to play some matches in Pakistan to help raise funds for flood relief, Zimbabwe Cricket has said they have the consent of players and are prepared to play and help victims in the flood ravaged Pakistan.

Peter Chingoka, chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket said his players and ready and willing to play in Pakistan. No country has played in the troubled country after the March, 2009 terror attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

“We sent the offer following approval from all the players who also want to play a role in helping millions of people in Pakistan,” he added.

However, due to the packed schedule of Pakistani team, working dates for the purpose is difficult. Pakistan will complete the England tour only next month. Soon after, they are to play a series of test matches and ODIs against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in October – November. Later, they travel to New Zealand for a tour that extends to February.

Tiger Woods officially divorced with wife Elin It’s official now. Tiger Woods, the former top golfer and his wife Elin Nordegren are divorced. Lawyers for the couple posted a statement on Tiger Wood’s website on Monday, announcing the parting of ways.

While financial terms of the divorce have not been disclosed, it has been stated that they will share the parenting of their two children.

Tiger Woods The couple’s marriage hit the rocks late last year when Woods, who previously had enjoyed a squeaky-clean image, crashed his car outside their house, setting off a cascade of revelations about his repeated infidelities.

The scandal cost Woods millions of dollars in sponsorship deals and he has yet to regain the form that made him the world’s best golfer for much of his career.

EPL games this week Saturday, 28 August Blackburn v/s Arsenal Ewood Park Blackpool v/s Fulham Bloomfield Road Chelsea v/s Stoke Stamford Bridge Tottenham v/s Wigan White Hart Lane Wolverhampton v/s Newcastle Molineux Man Utd v/s West Ham Old Trafford Sunday, 29 August Bolton v/s Birmingham Reebok Stadium Liverpool v/s West Brom Anfield Sunderland v/s Man City Stadium of Light Aston Villa v/s Everton Villa Park

12:45 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 17:30 13:30 15:00 15:00 16:00

32

Asian Voice - Saturday 28th August 2010

Pakistan bowlers demolish England

By Dr. Premen Addy

Pakistan's 4-wicket victory over England at the Oval has brought the 4-match series alive. Such was the scale of the defeat inflicted on the visitors in the first two Tests, that fears of a whitewash and a further fall in gate receipts loomed large. Cricket, like other sports, thrives on the cut and thrust of a true contest. The Oval came up with a Test match to savour. The recall of Mohammed Yousef stiffened the Pakistani batting.

Drawing on his immense reserves of experience, and his proven prowess at the highest level, Yousef's example in the middle – a calm authority, patience, superlative technique allied to impeccable judgement - proved a master class for his youthful compatriots. Yousef's 56 in the first innings encouraged Azhar Ali to put his head down for an exemplary 92 not out in a Pakistani total of 308, which gave the tourists a critical 75-run lead on a bowler-friendly wicket.

The Pakistani fielding

Umar Akmal and Mohammad Amir hauled Pakistan over the winning line at The Oval on August 21

was an immeasurable improvement on what had gone on before. In the previous Test at Edgbaston, no fewer that 14 catches were grassed, putting one in mind of a famous Yorkshire pro, many moons ago, who, having been witness to a similar spectacle, sniffed dismissively: “It was an epidemic, which wasn't catching.”

Here, at the Oval, Pakistan caught and fielded in the manner expected of a Test side.

Their greatest consistency throughout has been the pedigree of their bowl-

ing. The left-arm swing and seam of Mohammed Amir. He has been a revelation; his right-arm new ball partner Mohammed Asif complemented him with telling skill; the first change, Wahab Riaz, another left-armer, with a strong, fluent action, had a dream international debut, with his first innings haul 5 for 63 in 18 searching overs.

England reached 233 all out, thanks largely to a sterling, century partnership between Matt Prior (84 not out) and Stuart Broad (48) who came

together when the score was a frail 94 for 7 and disaster beckoning.

Pakistan's reply put them in the box seat, although the roles appeared to be changing, with England on 194 for 3. Alistair Cook broke his jinx with a robust 110, and Jonathan Trott, a sturdy and reliable partner, 36. A spell of truly inspired bowling from Amir (5 for 52) and Saeed Ajmal (4 for 71) broke the English resistance. Seven wickets tumbled for a paltry 28 runs.

England's total of 222 left Pakistan with a victory target of 147 runs. They reached it for the loss of six wickets, with a few wobbles towards the end.

There is much work to do in the English camp.

England's batsmanship, such as it was, suffered indecent exposure. The final match at Lord's will show whether this was simply a blip or a true indication of a lack of class. {Brief scores: Pak 308 and 148 for 6 (Butt 48, Yousuf 33, Swann 3-50) beat Eng 233 and 222 (Cook 110, Amir 5-52, Ajmal 4-71) by 4 wickets}.

Olympic Mayor backs England’s World Cup bid Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Lewis Hamilton too support the 2018 hosting Olympic Mayor Sir Robin Wales has urged visiting football chiefs to make the 2012 Stadium the centrepiece of England’s 2018 World Cup bid.

His comments come as FIFA inspectors begin a four-day tour of cities across the UK, starting with the Olympic Stadium in Newham, where two-thirds of the Games are taking place.

Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales welcomed the FIFA inspectors’ trip and reiterated his support for England’s World Cup hopes. He also emphasised the importance of Newham

*

Council’s joint bid with West Ham United Football Club to use the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.

Sir Robin said: “Allowing the club to move into this iconic setting would ensure a fitting legacy for the stadium. It would boost England’s bid to hold the 2018 football World Cup as the stadium would have to be adapted for football.

Having hosted one of the greatest sporting shows on earth why not help hold the other too?

“Newham’s diversity means that any team travelling here for the FIFA

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World Cup will feel welcome.

“We’ve already got state-of-the-art facilities under construction, which means our borough is well-placed to host matches at every stage of the contest.

“Should London’s bid be successful, I would like to see a legacy similar to what Newham is striving to achieve for its future generations following the 2012 Games.

“That means more young people taking up sport and leaving them with memories they will cherish forever.”

Alongside Sir Robin

are a number of other high profile backers, including former England football captains David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand, as well as 2008 Formula One Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Soccer bosses will be visiting facilities in Newcastle, Manchester, Sunderland as well as London.

The hosts for the 2018 World Cup will be unveiled on 2 December.

England faces strong competition from Russia, which also recently received a FIFA delegation.

Lankans trample India, reach finals They needed the win to stay afloat after a washout against NZ

Thisara Perera celebrates the dismissal of MS Dhoni with his team-mates at Dambulla on August 22

After their second encounter against New Zealand remained a washout even on the second day last week, Sri Lankans needed a win desperately to stay afloat in the tri-series. They could do it on Sunday, with a bit of help by dodgy umpiring as well. India did no good to their confidence, as they were allout for just 103 runs, unable to even complete 34 overs.

This is perhaps India’s worst ever defeat, as Sri Lanka reached their target in just 15.1 overs, the least no. of overs played by any opponent against them for a victory.

India succumbed so meekly that Sri Lanka waltzed through to the triseries final without having almost any trouble. India now have to beat New Zealand on Wednesday for a title clash against the home team.

Led by Thisara Perera, Sri Lankan speedsters completely dominated the first half of the game as India were shot out for 103. Sri Lanka's discipline in executing their plan to perfection was an outstanding feature of their bowling and fielding. The chase by the home team was over in a blink.

Sri Lanka had a plan for each batsman, simple in its thought and perfect in its execution.

Even Dhoni fell after a scratchy innings. Only Yuvraj Singh looked in

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any sort of control. He unfurled a couple of gorgeous drives, hit a stunning six over wide long-off but fell, given out lbw when a Lasith Malinga delivery not only hit him outside the off stump but was also missing it.

The lower order didn't last long as Perera completed his maiden five wicket haul when he bowled Ishant Sharma.

India's troubles had started early once their best batsman Virender Sehwag fell, trapped lbw by a trademark incutter from Kulasekara; the replays showed it would have clipped the leg stump. And Sri Lanka closed in.

Sri Lanka – New Zealand tie ended in no result Earlier last week, the 2nd match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand ended in a no result game even after two days. On Thursday, the game was almost a complete washout, barring a couple of deliveries. The teams again tried to play on Friday, but could not complete one innings. Sri Lanka batted for 43.4 overs, scoring a good looking 203 runs for three wickets. But thereafter, no further play was possible due to rains. {Brief scores: 5th ODI - SL 104 for 2 (Dilshan 35, Jayawardene 33) beat India 103 (Yuvraj 38, Perera 5-28) by 8 wickets}.

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