AV 30th September 2017

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Vol 46 | Issue 22

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30th September to 6th October 2017

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THE LOOMBA FOUNDATION IS PROUD TO HAVE COMPLETED 20 SUCCESSFUL YEARS 1997-2007 TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE PLIGHT OF WIDOWS IN INDIA AND AROUND THE WORLD

There are 46 million widows in India, the largest number of widows in any country of the world.

In the rural areas, widows suffer the most because they are not educated, cannot find a job and are dependent on family members, who often abuse them physically, psychologically and sexually.

They are victims of modern-day slavery.

The Loomba Foundation continues with its twin track approach of providing skilled training to thousands of impoverished widows and educational scholarships to their children.

For more information, visit www.theloombafoundation.org or Email Smita Sarkar: smita@theloombafoundation.org

DIVIDE AND RULE : NOW SIKHS

THE WINNERS OF THE 17TH ANNUAL ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS, ARE‌

Achievement in Media- Sir Vince Cable, winner Tanika Gupta MBE and Ragu Srinivasan, Edwardian Group of Hotels

STORY ON PAGE 16-17 Rupanjana Dutta The Indian diaspora in the UK have left feeling outraged as the British Sikhs demand for a separate ethnic identity for themselves in Census 2021. This came after in the last Census (2011), 83,362 Sikhs ignored the existing tick box column under ethnicity section, and used the 'write in' option to state themselves as Sikhs. The Census already allows people to identify themselves as Sikhs under their optional religion section. But this action has sparked major controversies, including accusations on Sikhs for instigating and supporting Khalistan movement in the UK. Preet Kaur Gill the Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston and the Chair of

the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs has handed a letter to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), addressed to John Pullinger, the UK National Statistician and Head of the Office for ONS demanding a Sikh ethnic tick box in Census 2021.

The letter was signed by nearly 140 MPs including MPs of Asian origin such as Faisal Rashid, Mohammed Yasin, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Khalid Mahmood, Seema Malhotra, Tulip Sidiq, Virendra Sharma, Keith Vaz and Yasmin Qureshi. The community has been left further distressed, to discover that Asian and non-Sikh MPs have supported the letter to ONS. However the Indian authorities have not issued any official statement so far.

Continued on page 4

Manchester Arena hero imam praised for his exceptional foresightedness Urja Patel

A Muslim surgeon who treated victims of the Manchester Arena bombing said he has forgiven a man who stabbed him in the neck outside a mosque, setting an exceptional display of foresightedness, kindness and maturity.

Continued on page 4

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

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Keith Vaz, MP

Atul Lakhani Atul Lakhani is the founder, Managing Director and CEO of multi-award winning Sanjay Foods. A graduate in BA (Hons) Economics, Atul has held various public posts including: a Director of the Leicester Asian Business Association (LABA), a Director of the Leicester Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Belgrave Business Association (BBA).

After graduating in 1986 from Greenwich University.

He has worked and primarily been involved in the hospitality sector. Initially, within the family business, the internationally renowned Bobby’s Restaurant and then subsequently setting up the Mirch Masala chain of restaurants. Atul’s commitment to chefmanship, and a passion for health and hygiene saw him gain top marks in Leicester in Advance Food Hygiene. Thereafter, Atul worked as a Development Consultant for Best Foods and Thomas Morell Foods. Atul was also a lead Consultant in the development of the multi million pound Peepul Centre in Leicester, championing equality and diversity.

3) What inspires you?

Having employed a number of people over the years it always inspires me to see their development.

The same people who started as waiters and waitresses are today accountants, lawyers, work in theatre and this truly is inspiring.

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

Despite having travelled extensively, home is where your heart is and therefore it has to be the

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

Trying to juggle the development of a business with limited funds at a time when your children

UK and in particular Leicester where I have spent most of my life.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

The Pride of India Award

presented to me at the House of Lords on Friday 15th September 2017 by the NRI board from India in recognition for my creative innovative and forward thinking contribution to the hospitality industry in the UK has to be up there as one of my proudest achievements.

are growing up was a very difficult trade-off.

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

Without a doubt it has to be my late mother Mrs Manglaben Lakhani, her vision, her quest for social justice and fairness, her temperament, integrity, humility, warmth and above all her smile.

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

As the CEO of Sanjay Foods, I have met some amazing people from all walks of life. A lot of these people become life-long friends and that truly is invaluable.

8) What are your long term goals?

To develop the business further and consolidate our place within the hospitality industry.

I would like to be more altruistic in my outlook, so that I can help and perhaps mentor other aspiring individuals in our industry.

7) And the worst?

It’s got to be the long hours and the time away from home, it is always very difficult.

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

I would have a second vote

Tributes paid to the great Indian social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Bristol People from various parts of Great Britain, India and elsewhere gathered in Bristol to pay homage to commemorate the life and legacy of the 19th-century Indian social reformer and scholar Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who visited England and died of meningitis in Bristol on September 27, 1833.

Commemorations started at Roy’s tomb at 12 pm on Sunday 24 September. Hymns and songs composed by Roy were sung by members of the Brahma Samaj at the service. Tributes were paid by many admirers far and near including the civic officials, diplomats, Brahmo Samaj faithful, the Unitarians, and the Arnos Vale trustees. Flowers and wreaths were placed at the tomb by the dignitaries and the congregation.

Lord Mayor of Bristol Cllr Lesley Alexander, who attended the event in civic regalia, welcomed all to the service and recalled Roy’s association with the leading English educator at that time in Bristol, Lant Carpenter and his daughter Mary Carpenter, who later spearheaded anti-slavery movement and women suffrage in Great Britain. Cllr Alexander said the city cherished its links with Roy, whose life-size statue has been installed at the city centre in front of the City Hall. Bristol also has a walk named after Roy as well as a large portrait painted during his visit

Indian High Commission Minister for Coordination Mr AS Rajan, Bristol Bradley Stoke Dy Mayor Tom Aditya and a Brahma Samaj member at Raja Ram Mohan Roy's tomb

here.

After the ceremony, various aspects of Roy’s life and work in India and during his stay in England were presented in the adjoining chapel. Dr Sumit Chanda, the leader of the London Brahmo Samaj spoke on the evolution of Rajah from a curious student to the role of an

ambassador and a social reformer. Historian Carla Contractor presented the connections of Raja Ram Mohan Roy with Bristol and elucidated Rajah’s last days. Ms Contractor spoke about Rajah’s convictions as a moral philosopher, his determination to remain to stay close to Mother Earth even on his deathbed, the

perplexity amongst his friends after his death on how to conduct his burial and the unusual silent interment that happened in 1833 according to Rajah’s will.

Bristol Museum’s former curator Peter Hardy spoke about the sesquicentenary Bristol exhibition on the Rajah.

The Unitarians and Brahma Samaj led the prayer service and blessings.

Bristol Bradley Stoke Deputy Mayor Cllr Tom Aditya proposed the vote of thanks to all those who attended the event and said that he is a proud member of the Indian diaspora community in the UK. He made special thanks to Carla Contractor and her team, who has worked over the years to preserve Roy’s legacy in Bristol as well as to Minister AS Rajan, who represented the Indian High Commission at the commemoration service.

Cllr Aditya, who is also a Trustee of the Multi-Faith Forum, hailed Ram Mohan Roy as the prime radiating example of the multi-faith stream and regarded Raja Ram Mohan Roy as the “Maker of Modern India” and added that his legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.

Roy’s tomb designed and built in his memory by Dwarkanath Tagore between 1842 and 1844 at the Arnos Vale cemetery in Bristol has been a vital centre for many visitors from India over the decades. The canopy is a faithful replica

on the Brexit, as I’m not sure everyone was aware of the implications of their first vote.

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

Nelson Mandela, his sacrifice, his knowledge, his selflessness, his forgiveness, his strength to carry on, his courage would very easily maintain and enhance my understanding of life and sacrifice.

Minicabs rejoice Uber license cancellation

In a huge blow to Uber in the UK London’s transport regulator has rejected its application to renew its license to operate in the city, while the company appeals. In a statement TfL said it has concluded that Uber is “not fit and proper to hold a private hire operator licence”.

Licensed minicab drivers are welcoming the cancellation of Uber license in the UK. Most of the local taxi businesses have been suffering ever since Uber was launched in Britain.

Skyex is a Hounslow based minicab business. It provides app based taxi service to people going or coming back to Hounslow. The business is worth more than £6 million and Chief Executive Gurudev Jassi employs 400 drivers. When he started 28 years back, British cab companies didn’t hire Asian drivers so he hired them and then the majority of nonAsian drivers stopped working in the trade, so he bought the other cab companies out and before long “he had dominated the area.” But now he faces the

of a Bengali “chattri” or a funeral monument. The epitaph reads: “Beneath this stone rest the remains of Raja Rammohun Roy Bahadur, a conscientious and steadfast believer in the unity of Godhead; he consecrated his life with entire devotion to the worship of the Devine Spirit alone. To great natural talents, he united through mastery of many languages and distinguished

disruptive threat of Uber. So to counter that he added minibuses and executive cars to his offering. This news of course comes as a music to his ear and businesses like him.

Abdul Hasan, a minicab driver for 25 years told Asian Voice, “I am not really complaining. We also provide app based service. But our market was definitely affected by Uber users.”

Madan R, a regular Uber user said, “This actually is bad news. I can't afford black cabs on night outs, and minicabs would only want cash. With Uber my late night returns were hassle-free.”

Tanya Singh from Manchester said, “I am a student and uber prices were perfect for my pocket.

But I have had a bad experience once with a driver. So the question of security may be indeed be a valid one.”

Tariq Mohammed said, “This is wrong. Uber helped many youngsters to earn some money, rightfully.

They have their criminal record checks, how can they be termed as not safe?” himself as one of the greatest scholars of his day. His unwearied labour to promote the social, moral and physical condition of the people of India, his earnest endeavours to suppress idolatry and the rite of Sati and his constant zealous advocacy of whatever tended to advance the glory of God and the welfare of man live in the grateful remembrance of his countrymen.”

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Nobel laureate’s home truths from afar Venkatraman Krishnan, born in Tamil Nadu and educated at Baroda University in Gujarat, where he took his first degree, set off for the United States for higher studies.

Along with two other scientists, one Israeli the other American, he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, after moving to the UK and Cambridge University, where he now works. He became a British citizen in the interim and was awarded a knighthood by the Queen. He was elected President of the Royal Society – the unanimous choice of fellow scientists reflecting the esteem in which he is held.

Professor Venkatraman Krishnan has kept in close touch with his Indian roots as a frequent visitor to the country. He was President of the first Indian Science Congress, following the BJP government’s accession to p ower in May 2014. He was disturbed and distressed by the number of outlandish papers accepted by the organizers for public presentation. Such instances of proto-science have always existed in India, and been aired from time to time, but now, apparently, they were centrestage, hence earned his displeasure. He has held fast to the ethos of true science that holds doubt to be sacred, that the right and ability to question intelligently and searchingly has been the perennial road to verifiable truth.

In his latest sally, Professor Krishnan has warned the Indian establishment that education, as the principal source of social uplift, should be the prime concern of government and political leaders, not dietary considerations of meat eating and the like. He himself is a vegetarian.

One must presume that certain manifestations of public disorder such as lynching of suspected beef eaters by cow protection thugs, mostly in the Hindi-speaking Gangetic belt, are matters of deepening concern to him and those given to uphold freedom of choice in the

private domain, and freedom of thought and expression within the rule of law in the public sphere.

The recent assassination of Bangalore-based journalist and satirist Gauri Lankesh has aroused widespread anxiety among the ranks of the hitherto silent majority of Indians long accustomed to perceiving this right as almost a free gift of Nature, like land, forests and water. Such complacency has been rudely broken by rising fanaticism and intolerance in the nation’s public life.

Environmentalists have understood the importance of protecting and not abusing Nature. The Paris accord on global warming and its long and medium-term consequences for humankind have awakened the international community, although not all national leaders, of whom the notable example is US President Donald Trump, whose reaction to every international crisis is to raise military spending, now standing at an obscene, astronomical $620 billion, with 800 military bases across continents. Far from satsfying US security goals, such moves are symptoms of deepening insecurity with no end in sight. Meanwhile a broken society remains untended.

The political and social scars alluded to in India transcend borders in lesser or greater degree.

Continents are littered with the debris of broken societies and suffering humanity desperate to escape their traumatic circumstances, cling to despairing hopes of a more tolerable existence somewhere, anywhere.

Professor Venkatraman Krishnan’s warning to India touches a deeper chord, both within the country and outside it as the template of global order appears to be giving way under the strain of the mounting challenges placed upon it.

Pakistan’s red lines fantasies Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi – Nawaz Sharif’s appointed interim replacement - addressing the Council for Foreign Relations in New York, said that there was ‘no role for India in Afghanistan’ until New Delhi settled the Kashmir dispute to Islamabad’s satisfaction.

He received an appropriate broadside from India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who suggested the Pakistan be renamed ‘Terroristan’. Others more kind will ascribe his outburst to a flight of fancy with a likely hard landing.

Be that as it may, one is tempted to ask by what right Mr Abbasi spoke in this vein, when Afghanistan has an elected government with sovereign powers to judge what was (is) best in the national interest. The Afghan Foreign Minister, who was recently in New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart, during which he identified areas where Indian support would be most appreciated in Kabul.

These happened, for the most part, to be in infrastructure development, finance and police-military training. This was underscored with US Defence Secretary Mattis and senior Afghan Minister Abdullah Abdullah in New Delhi, where they met with Prime Minister Modi, Ms Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Mr Abbasi would most likely respond to questions on India’s hypothetical role by affirming Pakistan’s right to determine Afghan policy by Pakistani need for ‘strategic depth in Afghanistan’(military command and control of Afghanistan’s assets)s. Lunacy is apt to take weird forms, none rooted in contemporary reality or a remotely likely to be a scheme of things, accepting that the paramount reality or possibility. The US military presence in Afghanistan and its infusions of financial support to the Kabul government. Estimates of US economic and military to Pakistan over the past decade vary from $20 – 25

billion, since Pakistan enjoyed the status as Uncle Sam’s most important non-NATO ally.

In a gesture of petulance, Pakistani leaders brandish the threat to turn to their ‘all-weather’ friend, China as an alternative supplier of guns and butter. Whether Beijing can, or will, oblige its Pakistani client to the scale required is moot. Delusion has been Pakistan’s original sin. In an interview with US correspondent of Time magazine, Margaret Bourke, Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, claimed that ‘America needed Pakistan more than Pakistan needed America,’ that Pakistan was the world’s most important country by virtue of its strategic location. That, alas, has been Pakistan’s DNA ever since.

Possibly, the Chinese promise to initiate an international conference on Afghanistan, with participants restricted to the Kabul government, Pakistan and China, is responsible for Prime Minister Abbasi’s liftoff into galactic orbit. Hopefully the gravitational pull of Planet Earth will result in a rational touchdown with no harm to body, mind and Islamic spirit. Having experienced a close-up of distant stars, a spot of quiet reflection on terra firma is what any good doctor is likely to prescribe.

That also holds good for China. The Doklam stand-off with India didn’t end at all well for Beijing. The crescendo of threats, intimidation and racial abuse ended not with the expected bang, but with a less spectacular whimper, and a belated recognition of Churchill’s memorable phrase, ‘jaw-jaw is better than war.’ The outcome of this confrontation is being quietly digested in South East Asia, which abuts the contentious South China Sea. More visible is the closer India-Japan alignment and its farreaching consequences from the Indo-Pacific region to East Africa. Game on!

Sabarmati: From garbage dump to green zone Ahmedabad’s Pirana-Piplaj areas were once concentrations of factories and warehouses and four enormous garbage dumps on the banks of the Sabarmati river. The monsoon-fed Sabarmati was reduced to muddy trickle and its bed a wasteland of flotsam and jetsam.

That was 14 years ago, when then Gujarat chief Minister, Narendra Modi, decided that these Augean Stables had to be cleansed. His path-breaking initiative was to initiate the ambitious Riverfront scheme with the planting of trees as a first step. The ensuing green zone started attracting birds, animals and insects; these have been joined by 40 exotic peacocks. The emerging fauna is pleasing to the eye, and the previous stench has been replaced with a pleasant aroma A 23 km promenade with two levels: one for pedestrians and cyclists, the other reserved for cultural

and leisure activities, have come up. About 70 hectares of reclaimed land are now dotted with parks, gardens and shaded plazas for people to meet socially and chat. There are parking bays and 20 ft wide carriageways and the Ravivari flea market that accommodates almost 1700 vendors, paved walkways, seating areas and food courts.

Finally, the Sabarmati has been transformed into what it once was: an authentic river, thanks to the Sardar Sarovar Namada Dam project, which is doing for Gujarat what the Bhakra Mangal did for Punjab in the first postindependence decades Ahmedabad is now the model for cities such as Pune, Jammu and Nasik. Even Kolkata has a riverfront (work still in progress) on the bank of the Hooghly. Its promenade of cafes and restaurants has added a touch of colour to a city that was once the despair of its citizenry.

Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

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No one is useless in the world who lightens the burdens of another - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY A concept that has many definitions and practices Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a buzz word doing the corporate circles in India for the past few years. A movement that was aimed at encouraging corporate companies to grow conscious of the impact of Lord Raj Loomba their industries on the environment and the civil society, became a necessity for the country, now positioned as one of the fastest growing economies of the world.

The Loomba Foundation had recently participated in India’s largest development and CSR platform, held in Gurugram on the 18thand 19th September. Veena Lady Loomba and I were there to raise awareness about our Foundation. We were truly overwhelmed by the response. Hundreds of corporate houses stopped by to discuss sustainable programmes for improving the lives of widows and their children, imparting skills for impoverished widows, helping us with impact assessment, and the education of widows children through educational scholarships.

These positive responses were encouraging, but we found, through research reports shared at the CSR Summit that nearly onethird of the private limited companies in India fail to meet CSR compliance, that requires 2% of the average net profit of the previous three years to be spent on CSR projects. As unlisted companies are not required to put their annual report in the public domain, the CSR data of these companies is not easily available for review.

Based on the analysis of 305 privately owned unlisted companies, including a few of the biggest brands like Google, IBM, Microsoft, Barclays, HSBC, Sony, LG, Samsung, Visa etc operating in India, and making up nearly 39% of the private unlisted companies; failed to meet the CSR compliance in 2015-2016.

The fields that benefitted were Education & Skilling, Poverty Alleviation, Malnutrition, WASH, and Healthcare. Areas like benefits to armed forces veterans, war widows, urban Slum development were not able to get much attention of CSR committees. The Geographic distribution of CSR funds were erratic and with Gujarat, Maharashtra, unequal, Karnataka, Telengana and Tamil Nadu receiving almost 2/3rd of the total CSR funds, Maharashtra 1/4th of the total CSR fund and Karnataka 11% of the funds.

The Financial Times recently defined CSR as “a very broad concept that addresses many and various topics such as human rights, corporate governance, health and safety, environmental effects, working conditions and contribution to economic development.” Whatever the definition may be, CSR is an integral part of any ethical business approach for maintaining the sustainable development of the country. Delivering communal, financial and ecological advantage to all stakeholders is their responsibility, something that that should not be shirked off at any cost. www.theloombafoundation.org The Loomba Foundation Loomba House 622 Western Avenue London W3 0TF 020 8102 0351

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DIVIDE AND RULE: NOW SIKHS Continued from page 1 The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs and adviser to the Sikh Federation UK also met with Iain Bell, the Deputy National Statistician and his team to discuss the demand. The APPG highlighted that in 2011 the Office of National Statistics (ONS) introduced two new ethnic group categories one for ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ and the other ‘Arab’ although the numbers in these two groups were found to be only around 58,000 and 240,000 respectively.

A number of points were put across to the ONS, including the fact that Sikhs are a legally recognised ethnic group that are protected from discrimination under UK law, following the House of Lords ruling in the Mandla v Dowell Lee case in 1983.

Speaking about the letter, Preet Gill in a statement said: “The number of MPs signing the letter could easily have been doubled or even tripled as there is universal support for Sikhs on this issue. We simply stopped adding additional signatures as we were meeting with ONS. “ONS now know in no uncertain terms that it must recommend to Parliament the inclusion of a separate Sikh ethnic tick box in the Census 2021 or it will be overturned by MPs. “Simple logic and an understanding on the requirements of the Sikh faith should tell ONS that tens of thousands of Sikhs would not have answered the optional religious question alongside the 20 million who did not answer the question or specified no religion. However, they would have been forced to select an existing ethnic group in the absence of a Sikh ethnic tick box.

“I am shocked ONS came along to MPs and admitted they have done very little work to establish how many Sikhs may not have answered the religious

question in 2011. My own personal view is if around 1 in 20 or 1 in 30 of Sikhs who did not specify their religion took the effort to right in Sikh as their ethnic group the number of Sikhs may be underestimated by as much as 200,000.”

ONS confirmed that they have agreed to an urgent meeting and work with the Sikh Federation (UK) and Sikh Network to use alternative methods to establish the extent to which the religious proxy underestimates the total number of Sikhs. The meeting also confirmed stakeholder's consultation in 2016 that showed there was a demand for a Sikh ethnic tick box not only from the Sikh community, but those working in the education, health, local government and business sectors.

ONS has therefore promised to take into account the results of the UK Sikh Survey 2016 that was conducted by the Sikh Network.

This had over 4,500 Sikh respondents from across the UK and 93.5% stated they wanted a Sikh tick box and 19 out of 20 preferred to be identified as Sikh rather that Indian or Asian. ONS has also revealed that it is undertaking their own research on adding Sikhs and Kashmiris as separate ethnic tick boxes in the 2021 Census, although they believe they are at the moment a long way from any conclusion.

The community itself has been left divided on this subject.

Lord Indarjit Singh, the first turbaned Peer in the House of Lords, and Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 17th Asian Achievers Awards. A journalist and broadcaster by profession, who is known for his bold stands, in a statement said, “The Sikh Federation is always looking for a campaigning issue. The latest, is the inclusion of Sikhs as a distinct ethnic group in the next census.

Predictably, Federation supporters, like

Gurmukh Singh (Sewa UK), cite the Law Lords Ruling in the Mandla Case to justify an assertion that Sikhs are a distinct ethnic group. We are not, and to say we are shows a lack of understanding of the Law Lords’ findings, the meaning of ‘ethnicity’, and worse, ignorance of the teachings of the Sikh Gurus...It is dishonest to say the Law Lords stated Sikhs were an ethnic group per se. The Law Lords, who I met at the time, were a clever lot, but it was not in their gift to alter geography and nature, or the social environment in which a community has its roots. Nor can the much-boasted signatures of 100 MPs make any difference…

“Some Sikhs naively believe that calling ourselves an ethnic group (which we are not) will strengthen the case for Khalistan, an emotionally attractive homeland for Sikhs.

Forgetting the political impediments, there are two reasons why talk of Khalistan is nothing more than a campaigning slogan: Absence of a contiguous area, in Punjab where Sikhs will always be in a majority and a religious State, on the lines of Israel or Pakistan, where Sikhs have more rights than those of other faiths, would be totally against the clear teachings of our Gurus.

“Talking of Khalistan is an understandable way of vocalising our anger over the genocide in 1984; it is an excellent rallying call for generating unthinking emotional following and funding by groups like the Sikh Federation, but as a practicable or desirable proposition, it is a complete nonstarter.”

Dr Rami Ranger CBE, Chairman and Founder of Sun Mark Ltd is a well k n o w n entrepreneur from the Sikh commuunity. He is also the Chairman of the British Sikh Association.

Ranger's father Shaheed Nanak Singh was a freedom fighter, who opposed India-Pakistan parti-

tion on the basis of religion and was brutally murdered during the turmoil.

Speaking to Asian Voice Dr Ranger said, “Sikh Gurus gave Sikhs a modern and progressive religion away from manmade barriers which were designed to divide. They promoted the universal brotherhood but to date some of their followers claim that they are greater visionaries and demand not only a separate homeland but also separate ethnicity.

“I am saddened by the demands of my fellow Sikhs who want to be classified as a separate group rather than part of humanity at large. By dividing us yet again, in my opinion it is scoring our own goal. Will they also demand that the teachings of all non Sikhs be removed from our holy scriptures?

“More importantly, everyone in the Indian Sub Continent has a Hindu DNA and by changing religion we cannot change our race. Sikh Gurus and their followers were Hindus and no one can deny this fact. Hindus used to make their elder son Sikh and as a result, many Sikhs have same surnames as that of Hindus. I cannot understand how someone changing religion can automatically change their race!

“Sikh Gurus gave Sikhs a modern philosophy based on interfaith teachings in order to bring mankind closer and this action by a handful of People is shortsighted and designed to draw a wedge. How can we attract others to our faith if we tell them we are of a different race?

“Regarding the support of British MPs, they have always been in favour of dividing people in order to render them weak.

India was divided for this same reason. I will urge my fellow Sikhs not to demand something which our Gurus never advocated as it will not bring us closer to the people of our origin and the rest.”

A Sikh community worker, who did not wish to be named, mirrored the same view. e said, “The Jewish community is also

Manchester Arena hero imam praised for his exceptional foresightedness Continued from page 1 Dad-of-three Nasser Kurdy was slashed as he walked into an Islamic Centre for mid-afternoon prayers.

The imam, who treated victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in May, suffered a 3cm wound.

Consultant Nasser, 58, said: “God was merciful to me. It could be a nerve, an artery, a vein, the gullet. He is not representative of what this country stands for. I have absolutely no anger or hate or anything negative towards him. I have declared it, I have totally forgiven him.”

Nasser said it needed highlighting that hate crimes against Muslims had increased after atrocities such as the Ariana Grande concert bombing which killed 22 and injured dozens.

He added: “The climate is very threatening, very worrying.”

A 54-year-old man and 32-year-old are being questioned by police over the attack at Altrincham Islamic Centre in Hale, Cheshire, on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, thousands of Muslims and other faiths will unite in London on October 1 to march against Islamic State.

Officers were called to Altrincham and Hale Muslim Association on Grove Lane at around 5.50pm on Sunday following reports a man had been stabbed.

Video footage from inside the mosque showed Mr Kurdy, a father-of-three and consultant orthopaedic surgeon, stemming the bleeding from his wound before the emergency services arrived.

He was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital where he was treated by colleagues before being allowed home.

Speaking from his home in Hale, Trafford, Mr Kurdy – who treated seriouslyinjured victims of the Manchester Arena bombing immediately after the atrocity – thanked the ‘absolutely brilliant’ emergency services.

“It’s shocking something like this can happen within our community.

“I was just going to the centre on Sunday evening on my own for mid-afternoon prayers. I was a couple of minutes late and only just entered the grounds when it happened.bIt was painful. As a surgeon, I could tell immediately none of the vital structures were affected.

“I just put pressure on my neck. I probably only bled a

little bit. Looking back I was pragmatic about it because of my profession and my age.= “I would say I’m extremely lucky. You have major nerves in your neck that work your arm. None have been affected.

“You have vessels going up to your head. None of those have been affected. It could have gone to my lungs.

It could have involved nerves along my spine and it could have gone into the neck itself.

Married Mr Kurdy – who has two sons, aged 13 and 20, and a daughter aged 22 – is a UK national of Jordanian and Syrian heritage.

He is vice-chair of the Altrincham and Hale Islamic Association which itself is part of the Altrincham Interfaith Group.

considered as a race under British law, they are more than contained by having their faith only being dealt under the religious box (in Census) and not in the ethnic box. The Sikh community to be given special treatment like this is absurd.

Moreover these Indian origin MPs signing the letter by Preet Gill, what exactly is their stake in the matter? Have they measured the pros and cons of their actions? Do they realise the consequenses?”

A statement issued by Gurjeet Singh, National Press Secretary, the Sikh Federation of UK said that the Sikh community has a considerable support on this separate ethnic identity issue from law makers in the UK He explained how as a group they voice and lobby for Sikh rights and denied any connection with any terrorist organisations. He added, “If the Sikh Federation UK was simply the successor of International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) that was proscribed in March 2001, the UK Government would have taken a legal action and imposed a ban.”

Seema Malhotra MP who has signed the letter to the ONS told Asian Voice, “This issue is fundamentally about whether the information collected in the Census provides sufficient data for the allocation of resources for public services. Where there are concerns by any community group it is right that this is reviewed and improvements considered.

“Alongside the data collected, the Government must also do much more to raise awareness in all our communities of the need to fill in the census form accurately and completely. It really matters.

“Parliamentarians will regularly use Census data and evidence to call for new policies and challenge the Government if its decisions are shown to be unfair.

This is an important debate for the effective provision of public services in Britain."

Community fears of losing Indian Peers to new age law The number of House of Lords members may be axed, after a committee meeting next month is believed to bring about compulsory retirement age rules for older members. Under the proposal, peers will be forced to retire at the end of the Parliamentary session when they turn 80.

This may mean losing Indian Peers such as Lord Indarjit Singh, 85, Lord Ranbir Suri, 82, Baroness Shreela Flather, 83, Lord Swraj Paul, 86, Lord Navnit Dholakia, 80 Lord Bhikhu Parekh, 82.

While the community understands the motive behind such restructuring, it fears this may endanger equal representation of the Indian diaspora in the House of Lords.

A community representative told Asian Voice, “These peers bring with them a series of expertise. They represent us, stand for us. Losing them we lose the chance to be heard.”

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Asian Voice |

30th September 2017

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

CIIr Ketan Sheth

Councillor for Tokyngton Wembley Brent Council’s Chair of Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

Transformation of Lord’s Cricket Ground Of all Britain’s long-established institutions, perhaps none is as idiosyncratic as the 230-year-old Marylebone Cricket Club. It is a members’ club, but not just any members’ club - the very initials MCC are evocative of the entire game: languid summer days and, for both better and worse, old-fashioned values.

As recently as the 1990s, MCC still largely retained its historic role of running cricket. Even now, having lost that role, the club still writes the laws of the game and still has enormous influence. Its home, Lord’s, is recognised as the world’s pre-eminent cricket ground. However, despite this, it is not the biggest and not necessarily the best, partly because Lord’s is quite cramped as a major sports venue.

So, to maintain Lord’s position as the finest ground in the world to watch and play cricket and to avoid being relegated to London’s third-biggest cricket venue, behind the ambitious Oval and the Olympic Stadium, MCC has recently put forward a recommendation to its Members on the subject of the redevelopment of Lord’s Cricket Ground.

The debate as to whether or not to pursue an option to build residential flats at the Ground has produced one of the most bizarre and bitter disputes in sport over the last 18 years. Indeed, it has been so vicious that former Tory Prime Minster, Sir John Major – no stranger to dealing with robust differences of opinion – walked off the committee in disgust.

That dispute is now to about to come to a head, and will be voted on by the Club’s 18,000 strong membership at a special meeting to be held next month.

An MCC Committee recommendation to proceed with the next phase of development at Lord’s with the replacement of the Compton and Edrich Stands by adopting the MCC Masterplan and thus effectively ruling out the building of flats at the Home of Cricket, has been made following very clear feedback from MCC Members. This followed a wide consultation exercise and clear advice from the Club’s Principal committees.

After completion of the first stage of the MCC Masterplan earlier this year, which resulted in the opening of a new £25m Warner Stand, the replacement of the Compton and Edrich Stands, if voted in favour by the Club’s members, is projected to start in 2019 and will be completed in June 2021. This would lead to an increase in the Ground’s capacity, improved facilities and better circulation for spectators.

This fractious debate has been a distraction from the good work done by the MCC in the promotion of cricket in the broader community. It has a burgeoning Community Development programme, with initiatives ranging from coaching in over 30 local state schools to hosting monthly dementia awareness sessions for local residents. This means that MCC continues to reach out to people who may never before have visited Lord’s. Ending the ‘residential’ debate at Lord’s will mean that MCC can focus even further on providing such benefits to the London community. It is timely and welcome that this dispute should be resolved as soon as possible.

The Indian Gymkhana Club will be celebrating its Centenary year of its establishment on 25 November. A full report will be published about the celebrations and the Club's history next week

Paid subscribers of Asian Voice will receive a copy of the Asian Achievers Awards 2017 magazine with their newspaper.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian giants must speak out on behalf of independent pharmacy

Ian Strachan – Chairman, NPA I was delighted to attend the 17th Asian Achievers Awards on 22nd September and witness first hand some of the finest women and men being honoured for their

contribution to the nation. The Asian community can hold its head high because its achievements are ubiquitous. British Asians are influential in judiciary, finance, politics, business and academia.

This is true in pharmacy also, where their contribution is immense both on the frontline of the health service and in policy making spheres such as professional and regulatory bodies and other institutions. Pharmacy would have been poorer if not for their invaluable contribution.

Community based pharmacy today is in peril due to misguided and insensitive government policy. Many pharmacies

face closure resulting in job losses and cuts in critical services. There is a real danger that face-toface contact between patient and pharmacist will be a thing of the past.

Patients need the interaction with pharmacists. I am confident that the Amazonisation of pharmacy is not the best way forward – not for the community and not for pharmacy.

Shifting resources away from local independent pharmacies and focusing instead on unproven models of remote centralised provision could have catastrophic and irreversible consequences up and down the country. And yet

there is a better way - the NPA wants to work with government and NHS to develop local pharmacies into neighbourhood health and wellbeing centres in their own. That would that massively improve access to preventative and primary care.

I mentioned earlier the influence that the Asian community wields in the corridors of power. I urge you now to use that influence and speak out for pharmacy because communities across the country are in the brink of losing one of the finest and vital health care services.

Asian giants must speak out now for independent pharmacy. Your voice can make a huge difference.

Oh Lord! Peers claim £1.3 million taxpayer money A recent analysis of parliamentary records has revealed that over 100 peers have claimed almost £1.3 million between them despite having not spoken in the House of Lords for over nine months. A report released by the Electoral Reform Society showed that of the 800 peers in the Lords, 15 per cent (115) have failed to contribute in a singular debate between June 2016 and April 2017. While this is not an issue in itself, the same members went on to claim an average of £11,091 each.

As per British Parliament norms, peers can claim as much as £300 per day for turning up to the upper chamber in one of the debating rooms.

They however, do not have to contribute or vote to get the allowance. The report said it analysed 779 peers' voting, speaking and expenses records between June 2016 and 27 April 2017, concluding that £4,086,000 was claimed by 277 peers who spoke five or fewer times in the last

Baronness Shreela Flather

Lord Swraj Paul

one year. £7,321,000 was claimed by 394 peers who spoke 10 times or fewer this past year, while 131 peers who spoke and voted 10 times or fewer claimed £658,000.

The group warned of a growing culture of “something for nothing” within the Lords. Among the worst offenders, as cited by a media report was Lord Swraj Paul, 86, Indianborn steel magnate with a supposed net worth of £2 billion. He is said to have claimed £38,100 and participated in only seven votes and made two spo-

ken contributions. As despicable as it is to see a respected member of the Asian community verbally shot down to something called “lobby-fodder lords” or “couch potato peers”, we couldn't help but wonder exactly what use is the allowance to someone with a gigantic thriving steel industry to his name?

It is no secret that every time a member of the Asian or other ethnic community is exposed by the British media which makes a field day out of it, and marks us out. This

isn't the first time a representative of our society has brought us more shame than fame, and it most certainly won't be the last. Speaking to The Telegraph, Lord Paul, who is cited to have claimed over £24,000 and voted less than 10 times, said, “The payment that I get is for attending the House...”

Other peers to have taken undue advantage is Conservative Party life peer Baronness Shreela Flather, 83, first Asian woman to receive a peerage, who claimed £37,932, participated in no votes and made 21 spoken contributions.

Baroness Haleh Afshar, 73, who claimed £34,966, participated in three votes and made 19 spoken contributions, and Lord John Laird, 73, a non-affiliated peer who claimed £48,279, voted on two occasions, and made no spoken contributions. The thought ' There is enough on this earth for man's need, but not man's greed' fits aptly in this situation.

Dating show contestant takes own life after losing job In an unfortunate incident, a contestant of UK dating game show Take Me Out hanged himself four months after he lost his job at a chocolate museum job. Charlie Watkins, 22, appeared on the ITV show stating he had been unlucky in love during his three years at university.

York Coroners' Court heard that the criminology graduate took a job at the York Chocolate Story for a “few months” after completing his degree.

Watkins, who was in his probationary period for employment, was sacked

due to the four-day filming commitments for the show in Kent. Harry Watkins, his twin brother said the victim did not tell work about his whereabouts because he could not have his phone with him during the filming.

The coroner was told that he missed calls from work and had his employment terminated.

“He really loved his job at the chocolate factory, he was happy. But when he went to go film for the 'Take Me Out' TV programme, he lost his job- they terminated his contract. He then had

nothing to do apart from stay around the house and play on the Xbox and PlayStation,” Charlie's housemate Swabir Abdulrehman said. The inquest heard that Charlie's family and friends confirm he has a history of self-harming and had taken antidepressants. However, those days were behind him and at the time “he was cheerful and happy”.

Charlie had reportedly suffered after losing his mother when he was aged nine, then his grandmother, grandfather and aunty, all in a

span of five years. His suicide triggers a warning sign. Importance of mental health needs to highlighted as much and as many times as possible. Similar cases can be seen occurring more times than one can care to admit. Statistics show over 800,000 people die by suicide every year.

With proper awareness and timely guidance of the affected, the growing issue can be curbed.

Charlie's family stated they have now set up a foundation in his name to help others battling mental health.

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Lord Dolar Popat of Harrow

Combatting caste-based discrimination in the UK I hope it goes without saying that I stand opposed to all forms of discrimination; having been a victim of violence, prejudice and being forced out of the country of my birth because of my skin colour, I can sadly say that too much of my life has been shaped by discrimination.

Yet, I am strongly opposed to the amendment to the Equalities Act 2010 that was brought in during the last Parliament.

At the time it was passed, I was a Government Whip alongside my Noble Friend the Minister. With that role comes many great privileges, but it also means that there are occasions when you are unable to speak out on some matters that you care about.

Unfortunately this was one such occasion, and I am sorry I was unable to express a much clearer view on behalf of the vast majority of the British Hindu community.

The Government were, at the time, opposed to the Amendment to the Equalities Act for wholly sensible reasons. There are a number of difficulties with the amendment; reaching a consensus on the definition of caste, questions over the actual level of caste discrimination in the UK, and also whether Amending the list of criteria to include caste will actually be a help or a hindrance, given recent advances in case law through the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

The Government’s position was supported by the elected House of Commons; but the coalition of Liberal, Crossbench and Labour peers failed to heed the wishes of our elected representatives, with 181 Peers voting for the amendment, and 168 Conservative Peers voting against.

I feel the Amendment to the Equalities Act should be withdrawn for a different reason. I have spoken in your Lordship’s House before about the successes of the British Indian community, and my pride at how well integrated the community is. It’s a vital part of this nation’s social fabric.

One of the advances the British Indian community has made is to embrace the values of this great nation and to

leave behind the rigid, outdated and divisive notions of caste.

This has been a great advancement, and differentiates us from almost every state in India. My concern is that, however well-intentioned the Noble Lord, Lord Harries is in pushing this particular cause, what he’s actually doing is bringing to the surface social forces that are almost entirely irrelevant to this country.

I do not believe that those communities who come to the UK should be able to bring their own values and rules. They should make every effort to fit into the society around them. By making Caste such a prominent part of our discrimination laws, I fear we are undermining community cohesion, rather than strengthening it.

I believe all Noble Lords will agree this matter is hugely divisive. The British Hindu community has felt somewhat persecuted by this Caste Discrimination Campaign; they cannot understand why, when there is so little evidence of caste discrimination, we are pressing ahead with legislation that our elected representatives did not support.

And I think it points to a worrying trend; we are so often looking for ways to differentiate ourselves from each other; to find sub-categories that we belong to. I fear this is yet another way of trying to make people different, rather than looking to unite people.

I would urge the Government to bring legislation to repeal the amendment to the Equalities Act 2010. It is extremely difficult – if not impossible – to implement, it is unnecessary given there is very little hard evidence of caste discrimination, it supports out of date notions of caste that belong in a different continent, it was not supported by our elected representatives and it is divisive and hugely offensive to many British Hindus.

I hope my Noble Friend the Minister will set out a clear path for its repeal as soon as possible.

(The above is an extract from Lord Popat's speech at the House of Lords on 11 July 2016. It is reproduced here on his request).

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Sunday Times – Shame on You for legitimising “Fake News” through the right class backing!

Vishal Shah, PR, Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh Jon Ungoed-Thomas claimed in the Sunday times this weekend1 that the long suffering “dalit” community in Britain faces alarming discrimination. To back this claim the journalist quotes Sir Anish Kapoor as the beacon of the Indian community and three members of the public who are stated in the article to be from the “dalit” community.

Since the article was published there are just under 50 comments predominantly from nonIndian background people, assuming “caste” is prevalent in UK and must be as the article or Sir Anish describes.

So it is important to examine the veracity of the assertions in this article. The article states “dalit caste” people are “being taunted”, “abused” and “humiliated” by “higher caste” people in UK. If any people are being insulted, it is without a doubt wrong and in no way are we justifying any form of prejudice. But the examples in this article are all anecdotal presented with soundbites rather than researched or with properly referenced evidence.

This in itself highlights that this article cannot be accepted at face value and more dangerously suggests a negative agenda against Hindus only rather than the altruistic purpose that Sir Anish Kapoor/the journalist purports to be advancing.

For example: 1.* “The British Dalit community is estimated at more than 50,000 people” who complain of an alarming array of discriminatory practices” that “have accompanied Indian migration to Britain” – this is a soundbite with no independent data to back up either the numbers or the assertions. It is however emotively loaded because how can anyone agree with even one discriminatory practice?

Even worse, instead of responsible reporting which reflects both sides the outright accusation throughout the article, is that those who question the information, data or concept of caste discrimination in UK, are pursuing

a political “right wing” agenda. What a real shame that the search for facts and a fair approach to the equality legislation by British citizens is being described as a right wing Hindu agenda!

2. Reena Kumari is presented as one example of a “dalit” who has been discriminated against. It is claimed she was discriminated at school because of her surname which denoted her “dalit “ caste.

“Kumari” however, is not a surname which anyone would be able to discern as Dalit and certainly no secondary school BritishAsians would know what background a “Kumari” is (even if it mattered to them!)The article further claims someone from a brahmin caste refused to take money from Reena’s hand which suggests that caste is discernible by surname or even just looks because how did Reena know this other person

nities are not necessarily represented. This does not mean that discrimination against other groups of south Asians is happening. HSS UK has worked with people from the Ravidassia community many of who are doing very well in society. We have also had the privilege of Ram Lakha’s presence at our events where he interacted with our members and no point was “caste” an issue so we are more than surprised at this representation but perhaps it suits the Sunday Times to only refer to some experiences and comment that justify their bias?

5. The journalist makes many more factual mistakes – he states “Gandhi was a Kshatriya” and it is the “Kshatriya’s that are the untouchable class” – this highlights how subjectively people apply classifications – most historians state Gandhi as

was a brahmin and how did the other lady know Reena’s caste? The story is flawed and plainly wrong so is not a reliable anecdote.

3. Sudesh Rani, again someone with a non-identifiable surname to the vast majority of world (let alone British Asians) claims discriminatory abuse by two people in a shop but again it is implausible that just by looking at Sudesh or even knowing the surname anyone would know Sudesh is a “ravidassia” as caste is definitely not discernible by looks.

4. Ram Lakha is also quoted referring to “glass ceilings” as if this a caste issue – Given that those appointing political position or peerages are predominantly not South Asian are the protagonists of this caste discrimination agenda suggesting that the “UK establishment” is also involved in this alarming practice?

Moreover, a simple check against the names of South Asians in prominent positions would show that many commu-

Baniya- which is Vaishya according to the journalist’s classification – so on what basis does the journalist refer to Gandhi as a Kshatriya and even more dubiously state that Kshatriyas are the untouchables? This is at the very best sloppy journalism. Comments made by most people who do not understand this issue show how dangerous this sloppy journalism is.

Moreover the comments highlight how easy it is to create artificial judgements and impressions by using emotionally loaded ( but never correctly defined) phrases like “caste”, “dalit”, “untouchable”, “tribal” and “servant- class”.

6. As parting shot to all Hindus the journalist gives a background of Sir Anish Kapoor as if somehow being a Turner prize winner and born in India to a Hindu father makes Sir Anish a great expert on Indian and Hindu diaspora! Interestingly, at no point does the article refer to “Sir” Anish Kapoor as belonging a privileged wealthy and knighted

class, which no doubt gave his voice more prominence than the voice of ordinary people like those in our organisation who neither recognise nor want an acceptance or reference in legislation to the term “caste”.

Let us be clear our aim is equality. Any discrimination based on criteria other than merit is wrong and should and is challenged by Hindus.

However, people should not be swayed by journalists, lobbyists or even knighted nobleman such as Sir Anish Kapoor who without proper evidence make incorrect statements and are predominantly claiming that discrimination is a Hindu issue!

As for those in the article that claim they were discriminated against, is it preferable to have “caste” an entrenched word with subjective notions of who is higher than the other or would we prefer to have true egalitarian society which means not having classifications which have to be artificially and arbitrarily defined?

The definition is subjective as the article clearly shows because the journalist states “untouchables belonged to the Kshatriyas” and then later talks about the Adivasi as the “servant” class. So, we have in this article alone several different references to what “the dalit caste” is – or rather what the journalists perception of what that includes. It is not a perception which stands any scrutiny except to those who are either ignorant, easily misled or have an agenda against Hindus. This is an astonishing example of irresponsible journalism and we hope politicians and the public will not show the same level of laziness in considering this issue.

The Sunday Times has produced an opinion piece which rests upon false, misleading and the class of a “modern and progressive” who lacks any real authority to speak for the community he talks about.

This is not news, it is a blight on real journalism….an irresponsible acceptance of Fake News! *1. (17 September “Untouchables: Anish Kapoor backs Dalits discriminated against by British Hindus”)

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

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Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Jyoti Patel; The Remarkable Creator of the UK’s Biggest Online Asian Grocer How many readers hold down jobs while wishing to cook tasty authentic Asian food at home and raise children?

Jyoti Patel managed the issue by founding Red Rickshaw, the UK’s number One online Asian grocer.

Search the site for all kinds of Asian foods; readymade dishes, all the Asian ingredients you might ever want, even festival and pooja items, jewellery and halal meat.

Red Rickshaw employs a global staff serving thousands of international customers.

Jyoti Patel says, “My business is disrupting the current market to raise the bar by providing great customer service.

This requires a shift in market place thinking and a need for greater efficiency as the industry has a high level of wastage. There is also a need for tighter process and controls – increasing the general standard and quality of goods through improved supply-chain management.”

How did it start?

Jyoti told us, “I wanted it all. I wanted a high-flying career whilst wanting to be there for my children and watch them grow.

Being a digital-age millennial wasn’t enough.

Though I had enjoyed 10+ years of Technology & Business Strategy in some of the City’s best firms like Deloitte and the London Stock Exchange, I longed to be my own boss.

Having young kids to support and being the bread winner of the family meant I could not leave a well-paying job, especially as entrepreneurs of start-ups get paid very little. My head told me to play it safe, whilst my heart yearned to take me in another direction.

Hence my journey began. I grew the business on the side whilst working fulltime.

As a result, I have become a pioneer and created a company that is disrupting the traditional large Asian retail market. I mixed IT and Business and brought a new business model into an age-old industry to bring about positive change.”

Background Jyoti Patel is an Indianborn British Asian. She only recalls UK memories as she came here at two

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years old. “I spent the early part of my life in the lovely meadows of Northampton, and was only exposed to city living when I moved to London to attend university,” she recalls.

“Cooking was a family affair. Coming from a sociable, large family, eating was the central theme of every day. I spent time with my grandmother, who spent a lot of her time thinking up ideas of what to serve a family of at least 12 on a daily basis (not including any guests and neighbours that would be joining us for dinner every day).

We sort through them, clean them and ensure we only dispatch the best quality of groceries.

The first thing I had learned was to make the dough of the chapatti. I was not allowed near the gas hob, so was only able to watch it being cooked. I was then allowed to spread the Ghee at the end.

During those days, there were no ready-made pastes, pickles or spice mixes. I would marvel at how amazing my grandmother’s cooking was with just a handful of key ingredients. The most memorable dishes or snacks included whole potato and stuffed baby aubergine curry.

Birth of Red Rickshaw Having grown up eating Indian food on a daily basis, Jyoti Patel started

experimenting with a spice kit her mother sent with her when she left home for university. “Due to a lack of time and availability of ingredients, I would find myself spicing up my pasta dishes or making an Indian version of beans on toast, or even making stir-fried noodles with an Indian twist. I realised there were a lot of similarities of ingredients used in other Asian cuisines as well- just used and cooked differently,” Jyoti explains.

Getting the ingredients was always a challenge when you had little time. You would need to make a special trip to the store, worry about finding parking spaces that are close enough so you can easily carry that 10kg bag of rice, and then also to turn up and find the ingredients you wanted had been sold out.

As well as the sourcing and convenience of providing these ingredients online, Red Rickshaw helps the exploration of the many different ways of using these ingredients to cook different Asian dishes.

Red Rickshaw’s Fresh Foods are Really Fresh!

Jyoti says that there is one area that she has overcome old-school thinking.

“Traditionally people like to touch and feel their vegetables and so it is difficult to trust someone else to pick the best of the bunch for them. However, we have found that our customers praise the quality of our fruit and vegetables as it is fresher than what they find on the high street shops. We sort through them, clean them and ensure we only dispatch the best quality of groceries.

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

General Assembly

Although the General Assembly adopts six resolutions, including texts on global economic governance, multilingualism, wildlife protection, eradicating Malaria. Will it be able to implement them or will they be just on paper as previous resolutions have been .

In fact United Nation general Assembly has become a talking shop and does not take any effect action in implementing its resolutions. Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, delegates and representatives of 193 member States came to the 72nd Assembly to attack each other and did a lot of finger pointing e.g. President Donald Trump attacking North Korea and Iran, India and Pakistan attacking each other, Israel attacking Iran and so on. They have made the General Assembly an arena for critising each other rather than resolving any problem like solving the issues of millions of refugees needing humanitarian aid, fighting terrorism , climate change challenges, dealing with starvation in Africa, protecting human rights, tackling immigration problems, and ending war in Syria.

The whole structure and institutions of United Nations need urgent reforms and revitalisation to meet the challenges of the 21st century problems, otherwise it will go the way United League went down in 1945.

Baldev Sharma Rayners Lane, Harrow

War of the Words

Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean leader, has said in an unprecedented televised statement, that North Korea could test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean in response to US president Donald Trump’s threats of military action over his previous atomic tests.

Trump had threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea in a recent speech to the UN. He had said that Kim was “obviously a mad man who would be tested like never before”. In response, Kim accused Trump of being “mentally deranged and pay dearly for his threats”. If North Korea follows through with the threat of testing a hydrogen bomb, it would be the first nuclear weapon to be tested in decades. At the moment, this is only a war of words between two mad men. Let us hope that it remains just that – a war of words.

If this escalates any more than that, a war of the worlds, history bears witness of another mad man, Adolf Hitler, who could have destroyed the world in his quest for military supremacy. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the second world war, we are all too aware of the power of atomic weapons to totally destroy the world. Another world war could destroy the earth as we know it.

Let the powers that be stem these kind of actions by mad men in the bud or else there would be no world for the posterity, our children’s children, to live in.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Pinnacle of evolution

Rudy Otter’s curiosity whether earth would be destroyed by a comet, is good. But announcement was not absurd as it was based on religious scripture and numerology. The speculator used calculation that earth would end 33 days after solar eclipse. Jesus survived 33 days. Were record breaking, repeated hurricanes, earthquakes, land-slides, rainfall, after solar eclipse, samples of nature’s dance of death- Shiva’s “tandava”?

Hindu scriptures mention upheavals whereby, dry lands would be oceans and vice versa. Bible mentions deluge/ Noah and Hindu Pralaya/ Manu.

Hindus preach knowledge of yuga-(period) whereby after initial phase of virtue (Satyuga), life degenerates towards vice (kaliyuga). After four yugas denoting height of yuga of darkness, evolutionary cycle restarts from age of virtue.

Theosophical literature mentions extension of humans’ birth, death, and reincarnation cycle on astrological levels too. Thereby any planet may bear various levels of lives eg divine, spiritual, mental, astral, terrestrial, physical, and have reverse cycle.

Life retreats back to causal root; to repeat birthdeath-reincarnation cycle on other planet.

If humanity considers itself at the pinnacle of evolution /darkness, prepare for withdrawal from physical levels and other finer levels till all life merges with causal body. We won’t need a comet or natural disasters.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

Am I bionic?

I came to London accidently on impulse. I have never had sick leave but life can't be smooth and smiling all the time. Throughout the years I have suffered from various health issues varying from a broken wrist after my son was born in Jan. 1987, 2 asthma attacks at the end of 90's due to exhaust fumes and was given oxygen at the Edgware General Hospital.

Oct 1994 I was admitted to Edg. General for 3 months as my Heart Mitral Valve was not functioning.

Before repairs they had to do 2 Prostate Ops as water and Blood stopped circulating. Then in Jan. 1995 my Mitral Valve Open Heart Surgery done at Harefield by Mr Khagani under Dr Yakub who did Ist Heart Transplant in London. In 2002 , my left eye Retina detached. Dr Fallen at west Middlesex did 3 Ops, left some oil to stop detaching and saved only 20% Vision! In 2003 I was afflicted with Prostate Cancer, I underwent 3 times Biopsies and Radio Therapy 3 times a week for 6 weeks at Mount Vernon Hospital.

In 2006 I went to India alone. 2 days later, I felt my right eye Retina was detaching, consultant advised to return to London Moorefields Hospital, for an eye operation which failed as consultant made some error and I lost my right eye sight completely!

Last year in July I had a Stroke, admitted to NWP Hospital for 5 days, my left side Brain was affected making my speech and the whole right side body num. I also had 2 Cataract Ops, 3 Hernia Ops and now my teeth have gone so sharp that they made my tongue and both sides of my mouth so sore that dentist has referred me to Guys Hospital!

I don't know how much God wants to test my Physical, Mental and Spiritual Resilience?! Thank God I can walk and have 20% vision in the left eye!

Upendra Kapadia By email

India’s super-star shuttler

India’s lustre, monomaniac supper-star shuttler P. V. Sindhu who just emerged victorious in Seoul, defeating reigning world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in Korea Open Series, deserves as much accolades and recognition as any Indian super-star cricketer, like Virat Kholi and M. S. Dhoni. But winning the third one day international against Australia, India is now at the top, both in Test and limited over cricket, a rare achievement for any nation.

Fortunately badminton is fast gaining popularity and is only second to cricket in popularity chart, as P. V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal’s success on the international stage has encouraged youngsters, especially girls to take up the sport in schools and colleges where such facilities exist. It is PM Modi’s dream to follow into the foot-steps of China and make India a sporting giant, especially in Olympics where India ranks bottom in medal league measured against population.

Sindhu has indeed conquered the world, holding China and Australian open titles at a relatively young age of 22 is unique achievement. She dedicated her latest triumph as 67th birthday present to PM Modi who is always first to congratulate her. She has already received Padma Shri and won sports personality of the year. She will add many more titles in years to come if she keeps fit, injury free, as badminton is a very demanding sport physically, needing sporting brain and determination as well as speed of a gazelle on the court to remain at the top.

Kumudini Valambia By email

India - a united and peaceful country

India is united since its creation and it will go on creating faith preachers 'Yavat Chandra Divakarau' until the moon and sun exist. Foreign religious groups from many parts of the world have ruthlessly attacked the country for centuries, looted its wealth and settled there by force taking the advantage of the indigenous faiths' - Hindus' Jains' Buddhists' and Sikhs' principles of truth, love and nonviolence.

And yet, the indigenous people are generous to allow them to live side by side; and they did not attack any country to spread religion by force or grab wealth and land,because they were self sufficient in agriculture, self satisfied and self contained within the range of the Himalayas and the surrounding sea shore; and they follow their religious preachers with certain faith truthfully,and not with blind faith.

The rare examples of Ram Rahim or Asharam are intended to spoil the profound image of the indigenous Sanatan culture of India. Many other religions also have such problems to solve. The law and order certainly works in India.

R.N.Patel By email

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Welcoming young readers to write in our Diwali issue Dear Readers, Diwali is now just over two months away. The New Year is knocking at the door waiting to bring in colours and light to our lives with fervour of joy and ever lasting happiness. Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will once again be publishing the ‘Diwali Special’ Magazine for our fabulous and supportive readers like yourself. This year we are once again inviting our young readers to send in their articles for the English section.

1. If you are between 5-25 years of age, write an article in English on either of the following topics in no more than 350 words, along with a suitable photo: l how do you celebrate your Diwali every year OR l Your most memorable Diwali with friends and family OR l how do you celebrate Diwali in your school'.

2. If you are 2-25 years of age, you can also draw/paint a picture of what Diwali means to you or your memorable Diwali, with a suitable photo caption, your full name, age; scan and send the picture to the the below address, by the mentioned deadline.

3. If you are within 9-25 years of age, you can also write a short story within 350 words or a poem within 150 words for our Diwali special.

4. If you are a part of an organisation, which has a youth wing or support youth activities, please tell us how your young members or youth wing celebrates Diwali in 300 words with 2 pictures (in no less than 300dpi).

Send your articles/stories/poem with your photo and/or painting/picture to aveditorial@abplgroup.com.

Last date of entry: 30th September 2017.

- Asian Voice

Being economical with the truth

I agree with Jayesh Patel and Ramesh Jhalla’s comments eloquently expressed in last week’s AV regarding one sided, anti-Hindu sentiments expressed time and again by Jubel, sometimes his letters occupying pride of place in Readers’ Voice page. (RVP) Although variety is spice of RVP, his habit of being economical with truth in pursuit of anti-Hindu agenda somewhat devalues his intellectual sincerity.

His latest letter “Gauri Lankesh” is no exception.

Gauri was brutally murdered by unidentified assailants in her own home in Bangalore, Karnataka, State ruled not by BJP but Jubel’s favourite politically dynastic Congress. Gauri’s confrontational, blatant, firebrand style made many enemies right across political and religious divide. She split up with her husband and recently from her long-time college friend Prakash Belawadi after he joined BJP Media Team.

Heterogeneous Gauri used to run family established, Kannada language weekly tabloid “Lankesh Patrike” in association with her brother. They recently split-up under acrimonious circumstances, Gauri, a political huckster, started her own tabloid, “Gauri Lankesh Patrike”. As paper did not accept advertisement, financial mainstay of practically every newspaper, one may wonder how she managed to balance books.

In the latest development SIT has questioned her brother and two Naxal leaders. So Jubel’s assumption of involvement of religious extremists, wanton blame is out of ignorance. If fiduciary Jubel feels India is ruled by goons, then he should try living in ethnically cleansed neighbouring States. It is particularly unpatriotic to criticise one’s motherland in “Foreign Press!”

In November 2016, lustre Gauri was convicted of criminal defamation over an article published in 2008 and attracted six-month jail sentence along with hefty fine. But she does not deserve such brutal end.

Let us hope truth will prevail and guilty appropriately punished.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

UK

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Sadiq Khan opens door for second Brexit referendum on terms of deal

Sadiq Khan has opened the door for a second Brexit referendum in comments made in an interview with the Evening Standard Tuesday.

Khan said that it was ‘possible’ that the Labour manifesto would offer a referendum for voters to choose between a leaving deal – or staying in the EU. Khan said that he thought that no Brexit deal negotiatied by the current government would be good enough.

He said, ‘I so far have not been persuaded how this Government has a plan that works for our country. I’d have my tuppence worth as Mayor of London.’

Kezia Dugdale, Labour’s former Scottish leader said, ‘If the UK Parliament and the other 27 nations of Europe get a final say on the deal, why shouldn’t we?

‘No one voted to be poorer but that’s what we’re all going to be.

Brexit is spiralling out of control and out of the interests of working people. That’s why we the people should take back control with a final vote on the deal.

Shadow Brexit secre-

Sadiq Khan

tary Sir Keir Starmer told the conference that Labour could keep the UK in a form of customs union with the EU and negotiate a new single market relationship after withdrawal.

Labour wants a deal that retains the benefits of the customs union and the single market and will not take any options off the table, he said.

But the NEC statement said only that Labour wants “a tariff and impediment-free relationship with the European Union” and that the precise institutional form of the new trading relationship “needs to be determined by negotiation”.

The statement repeated the leadership’s position that Labour “accepts and respects” the outcome of last year’s referendum.

Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

Chilling video shows moped gang hold women at knifepoint in roadside ambush Shocking footage shows the moment a gang of four thugs held two women at knifepoint before snatching their jewellery and escaping on mopeds.

An elderly man in his 70s was hospitalised during the brutal robbery, which occurred in Thornton Heath, south London last Wednesday, after being thrown to the ground by one of the assailants. The video captured by an onlooker from a nearby house shows the chilling incident unfolding in broad daylight.

Met Police officers were called to the scene just after 3pm, the force said in a statement.

It read: ”During the

incident, the pillion passengers got off the bikes and are understood to have threatened the victims with a knife, before snatching a total four gold chains from the victim's necks. A male witness, aged in his seventies, attempted to intervene and was thrown to the ground by one of the suspects. The suspects then made off on the mopeds towards White Horse Road. The witness who intervened was taken to south London hospital with a minor head injury where he was later discharged."

Viewers were left horrified after the video was posted on Twitter where it has since been seen by

thousands.

“This is so terrible, but sadly not shocking anymore in south London,” said one viewer.

Another wrote: “Absolute scum of the earth, hope they get caught.”

Detectives are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to come forward. The sus-

pects are described as three white male and one black male. All four wore motorcycle helmets.

Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call Croydon CID on 101 or contact via Twitter @MetCC. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

Former Lancashire Police officer guilty of voyeurism An ex-police officer and former athlete has been convicted of secretly filming women and storing the videos in secure "vaults" on mobile phones. Jayson Lobo, 48, formerly of Lancashire Police, covertly filmed seven women he had been in sexual relationships with between 2011 and 2015.

Det Insp Tom Edmondson said he had "ridden roughshod" over

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their dignity. The former Commonwealth Games runner was found guilty of 11 counts of voyeurism at Liverpool Crown Court and was cleared of a further seven counts and will be sentenced in October.

The offences, which Lobo denied, were not committed while he was on duty. But Lobo identified himself as a police officer on the internet dating site where he met most of the

women, police said.

The women "were fully entitled to feel that these intimate encounters should not have been recorded without their consent", he added. The Preston-based response officer was suspended from the force after his arrest in December 2015. Lobo was then sacked for gross misconduct relating to a separate matter in August last year, after a hearing found

Jayson Lobo

he had shared details and images from police incidents.

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

The Gorkhaland strike in the hill directs of West Bengal – now into its fourth month – has taken severe toll of the local economy. The disruption has affected education, with the closure of its public schools. The suffering endured by the ordinary people, mostly Nepali-speaking, and supporters of the Gorkhaland demand, has prompted to ask if mindless violence and confrontation is the best way forward to this goal. Hence, there has been a breaking of ranks in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading the movement. Its erstwhile leader, Bimal Gurung, is on the run, with the police on his trail.

He is charged with violence and arson. relief supplies to camps in Bangladesh. However, offering sanctuary in India would entail demographic and security issues, which were under consideration (Times of India September 18).

Rohingyas, India

Binay Tamang

Meanwhile, the Government of India has lodged its confidential intelligence files with the country’s Supreme Court as it considers the petition of Rohingyas challenging the government’s deportation order.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has claimed that their presence in India constitutes a threat to national security, as there were links between Rohingya groups and international terror organizations such as Islamic State and al Qaeda ( Hindu September 22).

Breakthrough arrest in Delhi Anit Thapa

His one-time associates, Anit Thapa, struck a conciliatory note during an address to supporters at Kurseong. ‘I believe in a peaceful and democratic agitation for Gorkhaland. But with the indefinite strike now entering its fourth month people – including tea gardens and chinchona plantations workers – are fed up.

The strike has taken a massive toll. I know Gorkhaland is the sentiment of the people. So I leave it you, the people of Darjeeling, to take a call on withdrawing the strike,’ said Mr Thapa.

Thapa and Binay Tamang, former Chief Coordinator of the GJJM, have distanced themselves from the absconding Bimal Gurung (Times of India September 18) Unlike Gurung, Binay Tamang is the acceptable face of the Gorkhaland agitation. As a mass movement its goal of Gorkhaland is as good as assured, whatever the time line.

Binay Tamang will be better fitted to be its chief minister.

The Delhi police anti-terrorist cell made one of its biggest catches, when it tracked down and arrested 28 year-old Samium Rahman, a British national of Bangladeshi origin, who had come to the capital to establish links with Rohingyas for terror operations in India The government also maintained that Rohingya deportations were the province of the executive and not the courts (Times of India, Hindu, Mint, Telegraph September 19).

PM’s Narmada Dam dedication to India Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Narmada Dam to the nation, but made a party political speech in doing so. The Dam’s foundation stone was laid

by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, reduced to ‘unperson’ status these days in the BJP lexicon. In similar vein, on his first visit to Bangladesh, Prime Minister Modi spoke of Atal Bihari’s role in the liberation of Bangladesh, when Bangladeshis, overwhelmingly,

credit Indira Gandhi’s contribution as paramount.

Under her leadership India thwarted the machinations of the United States and China to keep Bangladesh in thrall to Pakistan.

of defeat at the hands of China in 1962. Under Arjan Singh’s command, the Indian Air Force achieved total air superiority over the enemy, following a few initial glitches. Through valour,

World Bank opposition Prime Minister Modi referred to the numerous hurdles faced by the project. True enough. But these emanated from the World Bank, which refused it funding for environmental and humanitarian reasons involving displacement of tribal communities. These contentious issues were closely monitored by the Supreme Court of India.

Justice was done, and seen to be done. An engineering marvel has emerged, fit to rank with the Grand Coulee Dam in the US. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are the principal beneficiaries. Their well-being is India’s as well.

Staying relevant, Maruti Suzuki Maruti Suzuki’s success in India has exceeded the expectations of the company and sceptics alike.

Originally, a second tier company behind Japanese giants Toyota, Honda and Nissan, Maruti Suzuki’s entry into India has made it a global brand. Its lead in the market is substantial; never content to rest on its laurels it kept ahead of the game with its niche Nexa model, a great hit with the younger generation of Indians wishing to break the mould of their fathers and grandfathers.

Having understood this with careful market research, Maruti came up with the more expensive Nexa, and ensuing success across India has surprised sceptics (Hindu September 18).

India bids farewell to Arjan Singh Tributes poured in from every corner of India for Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh who passed away on September 16 at the ripe age of 98. He was the IAF’s only five star officer, and by common consent the best loved and respected both for his heroic deeds in the skies and his rock solid deeds on the ground. He joined the air force as an 18 year old in 1938, and became Air Chief Marshal at 44.

As air chief in 1965, he led the IAF against Pakistan after its military regime gambled on a quick victory, believing mistakenly that India was permanently crippled as a result

UN debate on Rohingyas India’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, issued a statement calling on the international community desist making a hasty conclusion on Indian policy on the issue. India was fully aware of its moral and political obligations to fleeing refugees and had given sanctuary to many refugees in the past. In the case of the Rohingyas, India had dispatched

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

PM Modi at Narmada Dam

Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh

Service chiefs salute at Arjan Singh’s funeral

dedication and integrity, he helped build the IAF into the formidable force it is today. He was a mover and shaker, and hence was delighted when the IAF inducted its first three women fighter pilots.

Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh was cremated with full military honours, including a fly past by IAF aircraft, in the presence of all three service chiefs (Hindu, Times of India September 18).

Astra ready for IAF strike force Following extensive trials over the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Air Force has approved the induction of Astra, the beyond-visualrange air-to-air missile, which will be integrated with the Sukhoi-30M KI multi-role aircraft. Astra, which has a range of 110kms, has been designed and developed by the Defence Research & Development Organization. State-owned HAL was responsible for the integration of Astra with the Sukhoi aircraft, and will manufacture the missile, whose sub-systems were contracted out to private sector firms. The Astra is a game-changer (Business Line September 19).

Shabir Shah’s confession Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah has confessed to receiving funds from Pakistan through hawala transactions. He also admitted to a close relationship with Pakistani terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who planned the 26 November 2008 Mumbai jihadi operation in which 167 innocent citizens perished. Shah’s close aide Aslam Wani has also been singing like a canary, revealing to his Indian interrogators details of his extensive Pakistani links.

India’s Enforcement Directorate and the National Investigation Agency had records of mobile telephone conversations between Shah and his hawala contact in Pakistan; Shah frequently conversed with Hafiz Saeed.

Indian intelligence has zeroed in on the mountains of cash stashed away by Hurriyat leaders, most notable of all is Syed Ali Shah Gilani. The arrests of Hurriyat leaders have been a significant boon to India’s

counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley, with more emboldened members of the public coming forward with vital information to the security forces and the police (Times of India Se4ptember 24).

Big Data analytics for military intelligence Analytics is spearheading military intelligence and taking it onto the next level. With the armed forces investing in integrated Command, Control Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C41) capabilities information overload is leading to a deluge of data.

India has a roadmap focused on the applications of Big Data analytics in the armed forces (Business Line September 19).

Naming and shaming In a naming and shaming exercise, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has made public the lists of disqualified directors across India as well as those associated with companies struck off the legitimate list.

Former Kerala chief minister Oomen Chandy, serving Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh P. Khandu, jailed politician V.K. Sasikala, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala legislative Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Gulf-based business tycoon M.A.Yusufally are some of the names that figure in these lists (Hindu Sept 19).

Mahindra, Ford reunite for future Mahindra &Mahindra and US carmaker Ford were partners in the mid 1990s, before going their separate ways. In the face of new challenges – from electric cars, for example – the two companies have decided to move back to a partnership to secure their futures. Their competitors are treading a similar route to intended salvation, with Maruti Suzuki in talks with Toyota on collaboration in Research and Development in new technologies. The list of companies seek partners lengthens in the automobile industry, as it does among motorcycle manufacturers.

(Business Line September 22).

UK

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

Hope: The Leader's Big Weapon Imagine the devastation of a hurricane, yet the US President, rightly, said all he could against the fury of God; 'we will get the money, and you can take it.'

Giving hope at times of tragedy, whether to a colleague or to a nation, is so often overlooked, but the biggest weapon of a leader.

My annual lecture at Oxford University on Leadership Lessons from the Hindu scriptures for the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, draws upon the despondent, desperate Arjun, as he turns to Krishna, who inspires him with hope.

Or take the Bible the New Testament; parable upon parable to lost souls to hold out hope. Give your colleagues hope, and you are leading them.

Back in 2016 the Guardian paper did a list of books to give you hope (in case the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita are not your thing): How to be a Person in the World Thief of Time Landing Light The View from Saturday This is Water A Country Doctor's Notebook The Warmth of Other Suns Z for Zachariah Of course, having mentioned Hinduism and Christianity, it would be remiss not to mention Budhism when it comes to hope - and the Dalai Lama's book 'The Art of Happiness'.

And on Leadership Harvard Business Review did a list that 'every young leader' must read:

Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook.

Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full Michael Lewis, Liar’s Poker Jim Collins, Good to Great Robert Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Richard Tedlow, Giants of Enterprise Bill George, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership As for those popular TED talks on leadership and hope: Simon Sinek: Why good leaders make you feel safe | TED Talk | TED ...

Drew Dudley: Everyday leadership The Puzzle of Motivation, by Dan Pink What Makes us Feel Good About Our Work? By Dan Ariely Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe,

by Simon Sinek What It Takes To Be A Great Leader, by Roselinde Torres A Life of Purpose, by Rick Warren How To Start A Movement, by Derek Sivers Why We Do What We Do, by Tony Robbins Leadership is not an end in itself, it is not to be measured by the number of followers. It is hope to even one person. That is why when I received an email from the editor of this newspaper, who at the Asian Achievers Awards had raised with George and his ABPL team £150,000 – that was hope and leadership to all the children who will benefit. That is leadership.

Bracknell sex attacker who preyed on sleeping women fails to clear his name A twisted sex predator handed a 17-year sentence for attacks on two sleeping women has failed in a bid to clear his name.

Ajay Gorania, 44, pictured, was locked up at Reading Crown Court in January last year after jurors convicted him of a string of sex crimes.

Gorania from Loughborough, preyed on the women in the Bracknell London's Appeal Court heard on Monday, September 25. He was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting his first victim and three sexual assaults against his second.

The first woman told how outwardly charming Gorania stole into her bed and had sex with her while she slept.

The second gave a similar account - detailing how Gorania sneaked into her home through an open patio door. She woke after midnight to find Gorania groping her, Lord Justice Hickinbottom told the court. She recoiled in horror when she realised the man in her bed wasn't her husband.

Gorania's case reached the Appeal Court as he challenged both his convictions and sentence. His legal team argued that defence lawyers should have been allowed to quiz the first victim about previous sex abuse allega-

tions she made against another man.

But Lord Justice Hickinbottom, sitting with Lord Justice Nicol and Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, said there was "no force" in that argument.

Gorania also claimed his 17-year sentence was far too harsh and ought to be cut. His lawyers pointed out that no force or violence was used in the attacks, and that the offences were committed years apart.

But Lord Justice Hickinbottom said both

women felt their lives had been "destroyed" by Gorania.

"It is our firm view that the sentence was not excessive at all," the judge concluded.

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A Warrington fast food takeaway boss, who lied about his shop’s takings as part of a £179,000 tax fraud, has been jailed.

Mehmet Tekagac, 43, from Padgate, claimed he made around £9,000 a year from the Top Grill Kebab and Pizza House on Warrington Road, Penketh, between January 2012 and October 2015.

But HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators found he earned far more after examining bank records, his personal income and records of sales made through a website.

Tekagac hid his takings to evade paying £31,244 in Corporation Tax. He also pocketed more than £98,000 VAT he charged customers and claimed £49,528 in Child Tax Credits as a low income

Pic Courtesy: Google Maps/HMRC.

Warrington kebab man takes away jail term

Top Grill Kebab and Pizza House owner Mehmet Tekagac has been jailed for two-and-a-half years

family of six during the fraud.

Sandra Smith, Assistant Director, HMRC Fraud Investigation Service said: “Tekagac is paying the price for thinking it was acceptable to steal from the public purse. He took his fraudulent income at the expense of honest taxpayers and businesses who play by the rules.

“If you know of anyone

who is committing tax fraud you can report them by calling the HMRC Fraud Hotline on Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

On 20 September 2017, Tekagac was sentenced to 30 months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to three counts of tax fraud totalling £179,154.

Confiscation proceedings have begun to recover the stolen tax.

Only give antibiotics for child’s ear infection as last resort As part of a campaign to tackle drug-resistant superbug health chiefs recommend children suffering common ear infections should be treated at home with pain killers rather than given antibiotics.

Paracetamol or ibuprofen should be the

first resort, as most infections start to clear up within 24 hours, according to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The organisation said routine prescribing of antibiotics was inappropriate for middle ear

infections and the drugs should only be used if the condition worsened or failed to improve.

The guidance comes a year after a government report which warned that medicine could return to the Dark Ages if bugs became resistant to antibiotics.

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

Inter-faith

Insights

Zaki Cooper is on the Advisory Council of the Indian Jewish Association.

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Magazine to celebrate life and work of HH Mahant Swami Maharaj launched on his 84th birthday celebrations

The Value of Diaspora I have decided to write my second column about Diaspora, drawing on the lessons of Jewish history. Diaspora is something that will be familiar to the Indian community. Indeed today India has the largest Diaspora in the world.

Figures released last year showed that 15.6 million people who were born in India now live outside that country. The last census, in 2011, showed that the Indian community, numbering 1.4 million, is the largest ethnic community in the UK, and what a spectacular contribution it makes to different facets of life here. Indians and Jews both understand what Diaspora is.

The Jewish people lived outside Israel for 2000 years. The Bible tells of the Jewish people’s struggles to reach the promised land of Israel. Eventually they get there but it is conquered, latterly by the Romans in the year 70 CE. The Jews are dispersed from the country at that point. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans and the only remaining part was the Western Wall (to this day the holiest religious site in the world for Jews).

Jews were exiled from Israel, and settled and moved around many countries, mostly in Europe, the Middle East and America. They came to England in the eleventh century but following persecution, they were expelled by the King in 1290 (they were to return in the midseventeenth century). There was also a small flourishing community in Spain, which lived alongside Muslim and Christian communities in the so-called "Golden Age" but this again had a sad ending, with expulsion in 1492. Similar evictions of Jewish communities occurred from France in 1306, Austria in 1421, Portugal in 1497 and many parts of Germany between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Jews were expelled from almost every European society where they lived.

They also had challenging lives in other parts of the world, with some notable exceptions such as India (although the numbers there were always relatively tiny).

Against this background of a beleaguered community, how did the Jewish spirit survive intact? How did a people without their land keep going in the Diaspora? Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi, refers to this remarkable achievement in a rhetorical question: "How probable is it that this tiny people, the Jewish people, numbering less than one-fifth of one percent of the population of the world, should have outlived the world's greatest empires -the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans?"

I think the answer to these questions have resonance today, for the Indian

communities in the UK, and beyond. I would like to point to four key factors.

First, Jews relied on education. In different societies, they appreciated the importance of religious and secular learning. They built schools (which can be traced to the time of Ezra, fifth century BCE) and teachers were respected and celebrated. However difficult the host society made life for them, knowledge was portable and could open up new opportunities. It was a way of standing out from the crowd.

Secondly, the Jews of the Diaspora believed in the importance of family across the generations. The family was the building bloc of communities, investing in the young and caring for the elderly. This is something that Jews still hold dear and of course Indian communities also excel at.

Third, the customs and rituals of the Jewish religion brought them together.

It was once famously said that "rather than the Jews keeping the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept the Jews." Judaism provided a heritage and tradition which enabled a strong identity to be passed down from generation to generation.

Fourth, Jewish culture and language helped to sustain communities.

Whether through music, theatre, food or other areas, Jews maintained a distinct cultural life. In European societies, they often spoke "Yiddish" (a mixture of Hebrew and German) and in some oriental societies, they spoke "Ladino."

So for a variety of reasons the Jewish people survived in the Diaspora. It was not until 1948, with the establishment of the State of Israel, that Jews had their own homeland. Many Jews went there in the twentieth century for idealistic reasons or to build a new life, though some were settled in Diaspora countries and stayed put.

Nowadays, there are slightly more Jews in the Diaspora (around 8 million) than Israel (around 6 million).

Famously, someone once quipped that the entire Jewish population of the world is less than the statistical error in the Chinese census. Israel is fast catching up. In 2013, it became the country with the largest Jewish population, overtaking the USA. Some Jews in the Diaspora, feeling an idealistic pull as well as push factors such as rising antiSemitism, have migrated there.

But as a proud British Jew, I think it’s important that the Diaspora stays strong. Britain – and many countries – have been enriched by their Jewish populations – as they have been by their Indian communities. Indians and Jews in the UK, and elsewhere, have shown how to integrate without assimilating.

Long may this continue.

London's historic India club fights for survival The India Club in London and Strand Continental Hotel at 143 to 145 Strand, a hub for Indian nationalists in the UK during the independence movement, is fighting for its survival after plans emerged for the building to be demolished internally to make a modern hotel establishment.

The Club has its roots in the India League founded by Annie Besant, which campaigned for Indian indepen-

dence in Britain. It has been used a hang out spot for Indian journalists and intellectuals since 1946, including the Indian Journalists Association UK. Yadgar Marker who runs the establishment with his wife Freny since 1997, is now campaigning it to receive a listed status from English Heritage as a historically important landmark to save it from extinction as well as running a petition to

Westminster Council to reject the planning application. The petition has reached 900 signartures, and need another 1100 to make an impact. The campaign has already received a high profile backing including Indian MP Shashi Tharoor, whose father journalist Chandan Tharoor was a Co-Founder alomg with V K Krishna Menon, independent India's first high commissioner to UK.

Atmaswaroop Swami showing the magazine to the audience, while Yogvivek Swami and Nitin Palan present it to HH Mahant Swami Maharaj

A special 24-page souvenir publication introducing the life and work of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj was launched during his 84th birthday celebrations on Saturday 23 September 2017 at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London.

Mahant Swami Maharaj is the spiritual successor of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the creator of the Mandir, and presides as the spiritual guide for countless devotees and helm of BAPS Swaminarayan

Sanstha’s worldwide socio-spiritual activities.

He is in UK till 21st October, attending a month of devotional events.

The brochure is published by the Asian Business Publications Group (ABPL) to commemorate Mahant Swami Maharaj’s inaugural tour of the UK and Europe as the spiritual leader of BAPS, and will be distributed free of charge to all the subscribers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar – two of APBL’s flagship publications.

It charts the life and work of His Holiness, and provides an enlightening insight into his values and teachings as well as an overview of the multifarious community and outreach activities that he inspires.

Nitin Palan, a trustee of BAPS Charities, presented the souvenir to His Holiness during the morning assembly at the Mandir.

Following the official launch, worshippers at the Temple were also given a copy for their families.

HCI hosts young Indian designers showcasing Indian fashion legacy at LFW 2018 Charusmita The High Commission of India on Monday, September 18th, hosted over 30 Indian fashion designers, both established and emerging, who were to participate in the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2018. The reception also had Mr. Adrian Mott, Course Director LST (London School of Trends), Mr. Martyn Roberts, Fashion Scout London and Mr. Anil Khosla, CEO, INIFD as guests. Prominent Indian entrepreneur Shahnaz Husain, the CEO of Shahnaz Herbals Inc., who is best known for her herbal cosmetics, also attended the reception to encourage the young designers.

The Deputy High Commissioner Mr. Dinesh K. Patnaik welcomed the guests and urged them to collaborate and cater to the High Street fashion market globally, as there is an enormous potential market beyond manufacturing solely for big fashion houses or fashion weeks. Furthermore, he linked this with this year’s celebration of India-UK Year of Culture, and said that India’s participation at a large scale event like the London Fashion Week assumes significance in this regard.

Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’s 5-F formula - 'Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Fabric, Fabric to Fashion and Fashion to Foreign', also featured in his address to the guests.

On 19th of September, these designers participated in Innovation X: A Portrait of India event organised by London School of Trends, and INIFD and Fashion Scout.

Portrait of India was an experiential event celebrating India’s growing fashion industry and the 70th year of the country’s independence. This event was unique as this was the first time in history of international fashion weeks that a day was allocated for celebration of Indian designs and designers, exclusively showcasing the emerging Indian fashion talent.

InnovationX: A Portrait of India celebrated traditional Indian cul-

ture with modern design through activities and fashion shows. The core idea was to develop a promotional forum to illuminate the ever-growing Indian fashion talent and to foster links with the UK fashion market. Apart from the ones present at the High Commission at the reception, more Indian designers presented their capsule collections at the Freemasons Hall in collaboration with Fashion Scout and its founder, Martyn Roberts. Fashion Scout is the only platform supported by Mayor of London that gives an opportunity to Non-UK resident designers to showcase during the London Fashion Week.

There was a dance performance by Atisha Pratap Singh, a young Kuchipudi classical dancer from Delhi who marked the start of the India Day at the LFW.

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

UK

Haberdashers' Aske's celebrates outstanding academic results

Single-sex, independent day school, the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys school offers an enthusiastic, positive and challenging learning environment for their students. The school's A Level results for this year have known to be outstanding, with 46 per cent of achieved grades being A, 85 per cent A* and 96.3 per cent A*-B. STEM subjects demonstrate highest levels of excellence with the A* successes.

Pupil Obaydh Khan, who achieved 10 A*s, said, “I'm thrilled with my results and relieved that the hard work has paid off this year. I'd like to thank my teachers, who have helped me immensely. There's a real sense of community spirit at Habs and this has undoubtedly been a positive influence on all of our results as a year group.” Vivek Gudi, who received nine A*s and one A, said, “Once I opened the envelope I felt extremely happy. The teachers have been so helpful and my parents have supported me a lot. I'm now looking forward to starting Sixth Form at Habs.”

Peter Hamilton, Headmaster, said, “We are about an allround, holistic education. The boys have relished every challenge that the school can offer them, both academic and cocurricular. They should be rightly proud of their achievements this year and I look forward to welcoming them back in September to start their Sixth Form studies.”

Britain to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti Like every year, this year as well, the Indian High Commission and India League will be celebrating the annual Gandhi Jayanti and International Day of Non-violence at the Tavistock Square, London on Monday 2 October 2017 at 10AM. The event, that is open to public will be attended by HE Yash Kumar Sinha, the High Commissioner of India to UK, Mayor of Camden, local Councillors, Asian MPs and Peers, community leaders and organisational heads. The High Commissioner and the Chairman of the India League will address the gathered audience along with the Mayor of Camden.

Mahatma Gandhi, known as the Father of the Nation for India, was born on 2nd October 1869 in Porbandar and was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India.

The statue at the Tavistock Square in London was the first Gandhi statue in the UK. Besides these many other community organisations will be organising inde- pendent events to mark Mahatma's birthday.

Gandhi statue installation in Wales Hindu Council of Wales (HCW) will be installing a Statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Lloyd George Avenue, in Cardiff on 2 October, to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti.

The event will commence at 2 pm at Glanfa Area of The Wales Millennium Centre. The memorial will be a tribute to a unique man who epitomizes peace, non-violence and tolerance. The iconic figurine will act as focal point of peace and will help ensure that the legacy of Gandhi lives on for future generations in Wales. The statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Cardiff will not only attract the Indian Diaspora living in the UK but also international visitors to Britain.

In a statement Hindu Council of Wales said, “More than 70 countries have erected Mahatma Gandhi statues around the world and this will the first in Wales. Cardiff will have the privilege of honouring the greatest apostle and crusader of peace. “The Hindu Council of Wales would like to acknowledge all the contributions made by the people from all walks of life, to make the dream of a statue for Gandhi, a reality. We thank all who made this possible.”

The statue has been designed and created by sculptors Messrs Ram Sutar and his son Anil Sutar, who are based in India. Mr Ram Sutar was honoured with the Padmashree and Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India.

DIMPLE LALWANI: SP

AsianVoiceNewsweekly Sunetra Senior

L

alwani latently emphasises the importance of soft skills through her caring yet highly efficient enterprise – Talking Circles. This modern, interconnective business model: “allows employees working internally to connect to each other via critical knowledge sharing,” she told Asian Voice. “For example, if an individual within a particular company is looking to improve a specific skill - whether it be graphic design or customer care- we can make it possible to locate another expert in the immediate workplace who can sufficiently advise them. The two candidates can mutually work out a time, go for a coffee, or arrange a phone chat to learn more and develop their talents. Additionally, there is a feedback process which allows both the employer and employees to see how this exchange has benefitted them, also demonstrating the general productivity increase of the company.” Thus in a world of intimate technological development, arguably at odds with human connections, Lalwani and her team counterbalance the alienating issue!

Named after the cultural practice of native Americans, “who would form circles to converse and solve their collective problems,” Talking Circles “not only boosts the operative power of their clients such as Hilton and Carglass, but empowers the employee. Feeling as if they are more held and valued, they are naturally more engaged creating a reverberating positive energy.”

15

TLIGHT

TALKING CIRCLES

where their job can take them emotionally. Market conditions and business models are also changing very quickly. From an employer’s perspective then, we can help you find out what kind of talent you need to stay alive. For employees we can help better their work life and chances for the next soughtafter position. From the feedback stage, there can also be succession planning and leadership training.

Give and take is evenly distributed.

What’s the origin story behind Talking Circles?

When I was working with Marriott Hotels, I set up my first business, which was an Airbnb for food. I brought a group of random people with similar talking points together over a meal. I noticed then that the conversation was not so much fuelled by the food as the topic areas people found themselves wandering into; they were motivated by what they had in common.

Lalwani herself bonded a lot with her former colleagues when she was working in the hospitality sector before arriving at her current status of TC's CEO and Co-founder: “as conscientious workers, there was a mutual consensus that we all wanted particular professional guidance, but didn’t know who to approach.

There’s a great We do live in a very dependency on individualistic society. your line Do you think cross-silo You can really manager, but breakdown merges the use tech to reach that can be idea of collaboration and out to those very limitcommunity with this ing.” Thus, ethos? around you, and aiming to I do! We are replicatyou need not feel enhance the ing the shared consumer so uncertain sense of perexperience people are sonal “ownerexperiencing in the outside ship” for the corworld – cabs, booking hotels porate commuter, etc. - and bringing it into the Lalwani and Talking workplace. It helps people think and Circles perform a vital social revolucollaborate outside of work in a tion; both in the mathematical and more holistic way. We recognise and metaphorical sense. “You wouldn’t reward people for sharing their think it,” the young boss aptly knowledge. You can earn badges for added, “but there is also an unabatmore activity, for example, and ed feeling of anonymity due to the managers and employers can see modern environment at the top. It you standing out. can be very lonely, cut off from friendly interaction. Thus, employAnd it also sounds fun? ers and more senior figures are also Yes, it makes light work of very excited to use our idea. It’s tackling professional blind spots. invigorating to know you can really Talking Circles has discovered that use tech to reach out to those you can spend about 120 man- hours around you, and you need not feel painstakingly trying to get the right so uncertain.” access to the right people per year.

We eliminate this.

Please tell us a bit more about your company, Talking Do you see Talking Circles Circles? It seems to be very pertibecoming a bigger enterprise? nent, solving the unaddressed For example: a wider career matchworkplace disconnect? ing tool that can pair people across Yes, these days the earning curve different industries altogether? has become the learning curve We do actually have customers whereby one is just as interested in who want to match people in other

companies in a way that is non-competitive. As long as it’s under control and there is a certain degree of internal trust. But our vision is primarily to make a habit about caring for employees. We do a lot of data retention and analysis for employee journeys in the same way businesses might do for consumers. We are interested in the problems people may come across at different points in their careers; we want to be able to advise customers with innovative solutions so they can identify the issue before they become disengaged from work. This will allow both employees and employers to understand what’s best for them early on.

We want to make people’s careers and lives easier!

What business advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs?

I have a few words of wisdom: it can be very easy to get caught up in proving the necessity of your business, but it’s much smarter and more accurate to try and test where your business is failing. That prompts you to think more critically, and good problem solving is the key to sound business. Getting backers and financial endorsement is also very important; be ready to experiment and go against the grain. Everyone has different experiences and ideas and the journey is not a one-size-fits-all.

There’s a myth, for example, that if you don’t dedicate full time to a start-up, investors are never going to believe in you. Also, perhaps you need a different sort of co-founder and investing in the technical and tech-heavy side might not always be right for you. Finally, it can be a frustrating journey so treat yourself well privately- do gratitude journalism, practice mindfulness - but always challenge your work at the same time. At the end of the day, it’s your gut feeling twinned with consequent analysis that’ll get you there.

Finally, do you have a favourite project?

I run a not-for-profit organisation called Lean In which helps women achieve their ambitions and I love our one-action updates. We decide goals and philosophies amongst each other, such as starting a creative writing course or asking ‘is there a myth of being able to do it all?’. https://talkingcircles.co/

16 Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

THE WINNERS OF T ASIAN ACHIEVERS www.asian-voice.com

Rupanjana Dutta

Lifetime Achieverent Award-Lord Popat, GP Hinduja and winner Lord Indarjit Singh

Uniform & Civil services-Cressida Dick, Commissioner, Met Police, winner Kulbir Pasricha and Dr Merul Patel, Director, ABPL Group

The Great Room at Grosvenor House Hotel on Friday night looked straight out of a classic movie set, decorated in vintage ivory and golden. Glittering celebrities and high profile dignitaries attending the glamorous 17th annual Asian Achievers Awards in Park Lane queued up on the red carpet, as they posed for the paparazzi. This included Bollywood superstar Farhan Akhtar, who won the International Personality of the Year Award on the historic night.

Hosted by Bollywood singer, actress and model, Raageshwari and former Eastenders star actor Nitin Ganatra, the awards saw over £170,000 raised for charity partner, Akshaya Patra, which works to eradicate classroom hunger and facilitate childhood education by serving freshly cooked, nourishing lunches to 1.6 million school children across India every day. The event also highlighted the great strides made in the fields of Media, Art and Culture. included Winners Playwright Tanika Gupta MBE for Achievement in Media; Surinder Arora for Business Person of the Year; with the Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Lord Indarjit Singh CBE, for his immense achievements and contribution to harmonising race relations in Britain.

CB Patel,

Publisher/Editor, ABPL Group, addressing the audience said, "It brings me great pleasure to congratulate all the winners, and of course the nominees, of the Asian Achievers Awards, in another outstanding year of celebrating excellence in our community. In the past 17 years that we have been holding our awards, South Asian achievement in Britain has evolved tremendously and we now have role models in every arena, who are inspirations for the generations who are to follow.”

Bhawani Singh, CEO Akshaya Patra said: “‘Akshaya’ is unlimited and ‘Patra’ is path, the path that never runs out and that’s what we intend to do every day as we serve millions of meals a day” Farhan Akhtar, winner of the International Personality of the Year Award, said:

“Thank you very, very much for this award, it’s very kind.”

Tanika Gupta MBE, winner of the Achievement in Media Award said: “I just want to say thank you very much. What’s really important about this award and this evening, is that within the mainstream, people like myself – writers - don’t usually get recognized. So it’s fantastic to get this recognition from my community – finally.”

Zishan Nurmohamed, from EY- the headline sponsor for the Asian Achievers Awards said, “When you are in a gathering like this and are surrounded by so many wonderful characters it is easy to take for granted just how successful a community we are in an entrepreneurial sense. In case anyone needed a reminder: Indian businesses in the UK are turning over more than £40bn, an Indian

tops the Sunday Times R list, with two Indians in t top 10 having a combin wealth of nearly £30bn, surprises here to see t Hinduja’s and the Mittals the helm and over one-th of UK SME’s are now Musl run businesses, makes y think how much the full B sector contributes “The statistics continue

Editor's Choice- Excellence in Legal Service- Sir Vince Cable, Maria Fernandez, CB Patel, Chairman, Asian Achievers Awards and Nitin Ganatra

Comperes Raageshwari and Nitin Ganatra

Business Person of the Year- Jo Santinon, EY, winner Surinder Arora, Founder & Chairperson Arora Group of Hotels and Zishan Nurmohamed, EY

Achievement in Community Services- Sir Stephen Hillier KCB, CBE, Chief of Air Staff, winner Saba Nasim BEM and Paresh Davdra, Founder & CEO Rational FX

Performance by LP Dance Academy Achievement in Arts & Culture-Andrew Prithwi, Galliard Homes, winner Amrit Kaur Lohia and Bianca Miller, BE Group

International Personality of the Year- Vivek Chadha, MD, Nine Group, Farhan Akhtar with Mr and Mrs Rajan Sehgal, Skylord travel

THE 17TH ANNUAL S AWARDS, ARE…

Rich the ned no the s at hird lim you ME

e to

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

17 Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

OUR SPONSORS

ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2017

WINNERS

Professional of the Year Fayyaz Afzal OBE Sports Personality of the Year Sivakumar Ramasamy Achievement in Arts & Culture Amrit Kaur Lohia Achievement in Community Service Saba Nasim BEM Uniformed & Civil services Kulbir Pasricha Entrepreneur of the Year Gi Fernando MBE Woman of the Year

tell a story and are a clear testament to the rapid growth of Asian business in the UK and their mantra of grabbing an opportunity when they see it.”

Other sponsors included Shanti Hospitality and Edwardian Hotels, and Colors TV as the Media Partner.

Since launching, The Asian Achievers Awards has

helped to raise millions of pounds for various charities and this year, the chosen charity partner is the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which works to eradicate classroom hunger and facilitate childhood education by serving freshly cooked, nourishing lunches to 1.6 million school children across India every day.

Jagdeep Rai Achievement in Media Tanika Gupta MBE Business Person of the Year

Sports Personality of the Year- Suresh Vagjiani, Director, Sow & Reap, winner Sivakumar Ramasamy and DJ Neev

Surinder Arora Lifetime Achievement Award Lord Indarjit Singh CBE International Businessperson of the Year Biren Sasmal International Personality of the Year Farhan Akhtar

Editor’s Choice- Excellence in Legal Service Maria Fernandez

Entrepreneur of the Year- Selva Pankaj CEO Regent Group, winner Gi Fernando MBE and Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor Business

£170,000 was raised for the charity partner Akshaya Patra International Business of the Year- Major General Duncan Capps OBE, Biren Sasmal, MD Subah Infosolutions Ghana and Dr Rami Ranger CBE, Sun Mark Ltd

Charity Auctioneer of the evening- Lord Jeffery Archer

Acrobatic performance on a glittering crystal ball

Professional of the Year- Sanjiv Chadha, Regional Head, State Bank of India UK, winner Fayyaz Afzal OBE, Ian Strachan, NPA and Ifraz Afzal

www.asianachieversawards.com Twitter:@ABPL_GROUP Instagram: @AsianAchieversAwards Facebook: Asian Achievers Awards Woman of the Year- Pragnesh Modhwadia, MD Axiom Stone, winner Jagdeep Rai and Helen Gordon, Chief Executive, Royal Society of Medicine

Linkedin: AsianAchieversAwards

Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, PrMediapix & Team

18

FINANCIAL VOICE

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

State Bank of India and FTSE Russell launch Indian bond index series Rupanjana Dutta State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday launched India’s first bond index series for overseas investors at the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series, launched by India’s largest commercial bank along with global index and data provider FTSE Russell, is believed to be a first-of-itskind transparent benchmark for investors, giving market participants from India, the UK and internationally the tools they need to analyse India’s government bond market.

To celebrate the launch Mrs. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman of State Bank of India, along with Mark Makepeace, CEO of FTSE Russell and Nikhil Rathi, CEO of London Stock Exchange opened trading in London on last Friday. The launch of this innovative index series demonstrates significant progress in the development of India’s bond market, a priority of the India UK Financial Partnership (IUKFP), launched by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Indian Finance Minister, earlier this year.

Arundhati Bhattacharya Chairman of State Bank of India said: "State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest Commercial Bank,

Mallya diverted most of £602.7 mn loan to shell cos

The CBI and Enforcement Directorate are preparing to chargesheet against controversial tycoon Vijay Mallya for allegedly diverting a large portion of funds from the £602.7 million loan he took for his nowdefunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Sources said the money was diverted to shell companies in seven countries, including the US, UK, France and Ireland.

People in the know claimed the evidence would strengthen their case for Mallya's extradition from the UK. An official who refused to reveal the exact amount, said “it's huge”.

“We received information that Mallya, using his company and associates, laundered a major chunk of this £602.7 million to several countries. Now, we have established links with shell companies and bank accounts in at least seven countries. Letters rogatory have already been sent to the US, the UK, France, and Ireland and we will get complete details soon.”

has been at the forefront of development of financial markets in India. We have teamed up with FTSE Russell to launch the FTSE SBI Bond Index Series. This index will act as a key benchmark for Indian debt for foreign investors looking to invest in the Indian debt market and will significantly contribute to the development and broadening of the Indian Bond Market."

Waqas Samad, CEO of Fixed Income and Multi Asset, FTSE Russell said: "FTSE Russell has a strong track record of forging partnerships to create fixed income solutions for fast growing domestic markets. India has a significant domestic bond market that continues to see strong demand from foreign investors. This partnership with SBI, a leading Indian bank, enables us to be at the forefront of fixed income index innovations in India and we look forward to further developing index products that can create greater awareness and foster liquidity across

the India domestic fixed income spectrum".

Sherry Madera, City of London Corporation, special advisor for Asia said: "City of London welcomes Mrs Bhattacharya and congratulates her warmly on her tenure as Chairman of State Bank of India. SBI has been a longstanding partner in the City since 1921, establishing its first International office and successfully expanding its business to now within 35 countries across the globe.

The City of London is delighted to welcome the FTSE Russell State Bank of Indian Bond Index Series and considers it an excellent example of London’s commitment to the Indian financial markets and to offering tools and products for international investors seeking exposure in India."

FTSE Russell index expertise and products are used extensively by institutional and retail investors globally, with approximately $15 trillion currently benchmarked to FTSE Russell indexes. FTSE Russell ranks in the top 3

fixed income index providers globally. With around 40% of institutional fund AuM currently allocated to fixed income, this is a rapidly expanding area for FTSE Russell offering both global indexes and analytical systems.

London Stock Exchange Group has a long history of working with partners in India and enjoys close collaboration with a number of Indian organisations including National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE). There are currently 36 Indian companies listed in London, with a combined market capitalisation of £164 billion. London has also established itself as the leading centre for offshore Rupee debt issuance, with 21 Masala bonds listed on London Stock Exchange, raising equivalent to approximately $4 billion.

State Bank of India is the largest Bank in India with leading presence across all market segments. SBI is currently ranked among the top 50 Banks in the world. It has a 211-year-old history in the Indian Banking Industry with an overseas network of 206 foreign offices spread across 35 countries, with the objective of serving the growth aspirations of Indian corporates and individuals, globally as well as domestically.

Voting rights to preference shareholders of Tata Sons

As majority shareholders of Tata Sons approved a resolution to give voting rights to its preference shareholders in case of a default in dividend payment for two years, Ratan Tata might just emerge as the largest shareholder of the company. Chairman emeritus of Tata Sons and chairman of Tata Trusts, Ratan Tata currently holds 3,368 equity shares and 10,50,000 preference shares of Tata Sons, giving him a direct stake of 31.43 per cent.

Currently, preference shareholders don't have any voting rights. They get a fixed dividend, payment of which is on priority, over that of ordinary shareholders. The recent development gives them voting rights on a par with equity shareholders in the event of a two-year non-payment of dividend. In case it happens, Cyrus Mistry family's hold over the company will fall from 18.4 per cent to 2.82 per cent. Mistrys currently hold 74,352 equity shares and 20,000 preference shares.

Ratan Tata

Tata Sons have come close to becoming a private limited company, as a majority of its shareholders approved the proposals.

The Mistrys, however, voted against both the proposals, as it will restrict the sale of Tata Sons shares to external parties and dilute their voting rights. Mistry's Cyrus Investments wrote a letter to the boards of six listed Tata companies- Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Power, Indian Hotels, and Tata Chemicals, saying the curbs will be “contrary to the interests of public shareholders.”

It also said the move would lead to “dilution” of governance standards. “The provisions of AoA which are voluntarily included by Tata Sons despite its change of status to a private limited company cannot be equated with the same levels of accountability and governance norms to ensure minority protection as those which have statutorily been prescribed in the case of public limited companies,” it said.

The company urged the board to act in the best interests of all stakeholders and be mindful that the investments involved are “material in nature and size”. Most of the Tata companies acquired Tata Sons' shares in a rights issue in 1995 when its main shareholders Tata Trusts were restricted from participation due to government rules. Cyrus Investments said that the directors of these listed companies had additional responsibilities owed to public shareholders and investors in their stocks.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

B&B shareholders to move treasury select committee over bank’s nationalization Roger Aitken The Bradford & Bingley Action Group (BBAG), which represents the interests of around a million ‘dispossessed’ shareholders in Bradford & Bingley, is to make an approach to the Treasury Select Committee in an effort to have a public inquiry into the reasons why the bank was nationalized a decade ago.

David Blundell, BBAG chairman, confirmed to 'Asian Voice' that several members of the Treasury Select have been contacted and a meeting is expected to be held soon to discuss the matter. The move comes in the wake of the tenth anniversary of the run on Northern Rock (September 14, 2007. And, over the past nine years, BBAG has been vigorously campaigned to discover the truth and reasons behind why Bradford & Bingley was nationalized.

According to Blundell the decision to nationalize B&B in September 2008 and “destroy it as an ongoing business” was “made in haste and was inconsistent with the treatment of Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland.”

The Treasury sold the B&B

savings book and branch network to Santander at a “fire sale price” and the Bank of England provided it with £22 billion of direct support.

Despite B&B shareholders and bond holders having made numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Cabinet Office over many years, the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (and before it the FSA), little has yielded.

Blundell said these departments have resorted to “subterfuge and obfuscation on an industrial scale”, failing to reply to recorded delivery letters, making public statements, which he asserted “were untrue, destroying records…to avoid telling the truth and made a mockery of the FOIA.” It is also understood that two MPs in Yorkshire, Alec Shelbrooke and Philip Davies, will ask Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, to consider establishing an inquiry into B&B’s nationalization. John Proctor, MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside, has assured Blundell that he will actively pursue the matter both nationally and with the European Union.

Anil Agarwal to become Anglo American’s biggest shareholder

In a move set to make him the biggest shareholder in the London-listed miner, Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal has announced his plans to increase stake in Anglo American to about 20 per cent. In a statement issued by his family trust, Volcan, he said it would acquire an additional £1.25bn to £1.5bn of Anglo shares from investors funded by exchangeable bonds.

Agarwal said he had no intention of taking a takeover offer for Anglo, comments that, in effect, prevent him from launching a bid for six months under UK takeover rules.

He said, “We are encouraged by the performance of Anglo American since our original investment earlier this year. The company has made good progress in its operational and financial performance and remains an attractive investment for our family trust.”

His company Vedanta said “the company is not participating in this investment.” With

Anil Agarwal

mining operations across the world, Vedanta's most important assets are located in India where it is the largest producer of industrial metals and a significant power generator.

Since Agarwal made his initial purchase in March, Anglo shares have by risen about 8 per cent, roughly tracking the performance of its peer group. His latest raid will come as an early test for Stuart Chambers, Anglo's chairman-designate who has been involved in several big takeovers, including the sale of UK chip designer Arm Holdings.

REAL ESTATE VOICE

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THE INDIANS ARE COMING AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

I have been noticing a lot of interest in UK property from Indians in India.

We have had serious interest from numerous parties, on a site we sourced for our client, and three of these are big players from the Homeland. They have made their money in India and are looking to spend it on UK property.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

One of the parties we had agreed the deal with, had placed the matter in their lawyers hands. The lawyers were going through the conveyancing process and then suddenly the buyers decided to renegotiate mid-way through the deal. You analyse the commercials of the deal first and agree the deal, prior to placing it in lawyers hands, otherwise you will end up with some very high legal bills and no deal; and a very annoyed counter party. Of course, we promptly withdrew papers.

Another group from

Bangalore, decided to set up a company here and appoint a CEO. The CEO had plenty of construction experience, but very little in the art of deal making and negotiation. I would imagine he spent £10,000’s on due diligence on the site, in order to come to the position of making a low ball offer, which of course was rejected at the outset.

Clearly, he was the wrong man for the job. Several months later we approached the company again to see if they were still interested, at which point I heard he had been relieved of his position. If you’re bleeding expenses in analysing deals but cannot close one, at some point you will be subject to the wrath of the owners.

In regards to prime central London property, research shows 22% of all purchases are done by Indians with an average spend of £1.7m. The

AGONY AGENT IS HERE TO HELP! Following on from last week’s article, here are more tips on getting your property ready for winter:

an effective additional security measure.

1. Secure your property

Most good tenancy agreements have a clause requiring tenants to unblock gutters, and to pay the costs of removing any obstruction or the damage caused by any overflow.

If the tenant will be away for a period of time over the winter months, they must ensure that the property is fully secure.

Simple measures such as ensuring all windows and doors are locked will deter opportunist thieves, while setting a light on a timer within the property can be

2. Check the gutters

3. Check your insurance policy Most insurance policies

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY

St. Edmunds Terrace, NW8 Purchase Price: £1,050,000

Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

and tenancy agreements state that the insurers and agent must be informed if the property is to be left empty for more than a specified number of days (normally 30 days). We as agents offer an “empty property check” for a small fee. If the property is vacant pending reletting, the insurance policy will require the landlord or agent to maintain minimum temperatures or drain the water system, and inspect the property regularly. Each insurer

19

Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

increased interest from Indian property investors has not only come from private individuals but has also from institutions and developers from the subcontinent who have been buying up large tracts of land in the UK. Despite two years of slower price growth due to tax changes, and the UK’s Brexit vote, the UK has remained attractive to international buyers as a safe haven, with the rule of law and proper title to property. A clean title is something we take for granted, however, this is not something you can assume when purchasing in the subcontinent.

So why the interest? For the private buyer, relaxed laws mean each individual is entitled to remit $250,000 per annum. If you are living in a family unit of four, this entitles you to bring in $1m per annum. And, one cannot underestimate the emotional connection and his-

has different conditions – please check the policy carefully.

4. Check smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors On 1st October 2015, a new law came into place requiring private landlords to install smoke alarms in all rented properties, on every floor of their property. Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarms are also required in any room which is used as living accommodation, and which contains a solid

tory Indians have with the UK.

Middle East who have fallen to third place.

India has become a more challenging place to invest in, with high loan interest rates and rising prices in the main urban centres, together with increasing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

The increase in Indian buyers, however, has been set against a significantly decreasing number of European investors following the decision of the UK to leave the European Union. Buyers from Europe have been adopting a ‘wait and see’ stance.

Also, the weakened sterling represents a 20% discount for foreign investors, compared with two years ago. Indian buyers have now become a dominant force in the market place. They have overtaken buyers from the

appliance e.g. wood burning stove or an open log or coal fire. A test is required on them at the start of every tenancy.

The landlord is required to check that smoke alarms or carbon monoxide alarms are in proper working order on the day a tenancy begins where there is a new tenancy. If the tenants were in occupation prior to 1st October 2015, the landlord must still install the alarms. After the landlord’s test on the first day of the tenancy, tenants should take responsibility

It seems Indian institutions are coming with a view of placing their roots here, and will in time become a force to be reckoned with. Watch this space.

for their own safety and test all alarms regularly to make sure they are in working order.

For any further help or advice on this matter please feel free to contact our office.

Don’t forget if you have a burning question that needs answering then email me, and you may even get published in next week’s Agony Agent.

Richard Bond Lettings Manager Sow & Reap

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FINANCIAL VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 30th Septmeber 2017

ThyssenKrupp, Tata Steel to merge EU biz

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel Dear Financial Voice Reader, I write to you from the financial powerhouse of Singapore having just landed from Kuala Lumpur.

Both cities have Uber. Both are financial centres. I have just heard that Samsung and Apple phones with photo filters will be banned too. Photo filters have for years been a menace to professional photographers.

“Now any Tom Dick and Harry can just grab a phone and start taking professional looking photos.

This has to stop. It takes years of practice, training and very expensive gear to manually do what these dangerous amateurs are doing for themselves.” Said a London professional photographer, ironically on condition of anonymity.

The Union of Professional (and Wedding) Photographers issued a statement: “We at the UPP have for years warned anyone who would listen that these phones with filters are dangerous. We have all heard stories of selfies gone wrong, and it is because of filters that selfies are worth taking. We think today’s action by the Mayor of London will help in stamping out danger to society.

If you need professional looking photos, you should be using a professional photographer, who has the ‘knowledge’ of the F-stop, apertures and lighting. You can’t just rely on hedge fund backed big none tax paying multi-nationals like Apple and Samsung.

This is a cry for the working man, the photographer. And as we team up with drone videographers, we know we have a huge group of unionised workers on our side. It’s a happy day for the working class.”

The Mayor of London’s office commented: “London is open. London is open. London is open. Look I grew up in Tooting. I am a local boy and gotta tell you, we were so poor we didn’t have all of this, we had to rely on our memories. And if you did have cause for a photo, like at a wedding, you got an uncle, who was professional to do it for you. Now what about all those uncles because companies like Apple and Samsung think they can just because they are popular run rough-shod over the safety of Londoners. I am doing this for London.”

A petition has already garnered nearly one million signatures, calling for a debate in Parliament.

Tory Central Office issued this statement: “Sign our online petition. Don’t forget to tick the little box which then allows us to email you about becoming a Tory. If you believe in filters, especially the blue filter, you’re a Tory. Labour clearly does not care. If we reach 1m signatories, we will call for a Referendum on the issue. That always helps settle issues.”

Donald Trump tweeted “#prayforlondon. Clearly Muslims are to blame.”

We interviewed many members of the public and this was the most poignant.

“First they came for the offshore tax haven, but I said nothing, because I am not a tax dodger. Then they came for the Europeans, again I said nothing because I am not a spik or kraut. Then they came for Uber. I said nothing, because I’m too cheap. Then they came for the phones with filters. And no one was there to speak for my phone, except Siri.”

Alpesh.patel@tradermind.com

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Tata Steel and German industrial group ThyssenKrupp have signed an agreement to combine their steel businesses in Europe. The new company, to be named ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel, will have an estimated turnover of 15 billion euros and will employ 48,000 people.

The merger will help Tata Steel to lower its debt burden as it will knock off 2.5 billion euros from its balance sheet. Tata Steel has a debt of £7.5 billion. Both Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp will hold equal stakes in the new company, which will have a capacity of 21million tonnes.

The agreement comes more than a year after Tata Steel decided to explore a joint venture for its lossmaking European business with the $46 billion ThyssenKrupp. Last week Tata Steel hived off its British pension scheme, which was an obstacle in

talks with ThyssenKrupp.

Tata group chairman N Chandrasekaran said that the deal would allow the steel company to focus on the domestic market and grow the business, through various channels, including acquisitions of stressed assets.

Tata Steel, under Ratan Tata's leadership, had entered the European market through the $13-billion acqusition of Corus in 2007. The buyout of Corus, rechristened as Tata Steel Europe, was the biggest

M&A by an Indian corporate. However, the acquisition did not turn out to be profitable for Tata Steel. In March 2016, the company, then led by Cyrus Mistry, announced to exit the British market because of continuous losses that forced it to write down over £2 billion. The merger agreement will mark a major reduction in exposure for Tata Steel from the European market.

To be headquartered in A m s t e r d a m , ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel

will house both the companies' assets and liabilities. Tata Steel has plants in Ijmuiden (Netherlands) and Port Talbot (UK), while ThyssenKrupp has a unit in Duisburg (Germany). Tata Steel will shift 2.5 billion euros of debt to the proposed JV while ThyssenKrupp will transfer pension liabilities of 3.6 billion euros.

Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp, which see cost savings of up to 600 million euros per annum from combining their businesses, hope to complete the deal by March 2019.

Heinrich Hiesinger, chairman of ThyssenKrupp, said that the merged entity would be in a better position to cope with the structural challenges in the European steel industry. The industry is affected due to overcapacity and dumping by Chinese companies.

Air India to get £600 mn loan to meet expenses Air India will get a loan of £600 million to meet its expenses before it is being sold off. The airline was supposed to get £250 million this fiscal as per the equity infusion plan and is facing a shortfall of £70 million.

“We have obtained government guarantee to enable AI to borrow up to £600 million for meeting cash deficit in run-up to the disinvestment. Our expectation is that AI management will improve fleet utilisation and on time performance to improve its valuation prior to the disinvestment,” aviation secretary R N Choubey said.

The airline has so far got about £2.60 billion as equity infusion out of the total £3.12 billion promised by UPA as part

of its financial restructuring and turnaround plan.

“We were facing a shortfall of £70 million in equity infusion this fiscal.

However, now we have arranged for loan and are okay for the next few months,” said a senior AI official.

The government has started the process of appointing transaction advisors and valuators for

AI. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will manage this process. Meanwhile, the group of ministers headed

by Arun Jaitley will also work out a Plan B for AI in case the airline and its subsidiaries are not able to get the right price from parties that have formally shown interest in its divestment process.

Ground handling arm gets bidders Air India's ground handling subsidiary, Air India Air Transport Services (AIATSL), is getting a lot of interest from prospective bidders. Aviation secretary R N Choubey said Menzies Aviation and Livewel Aviation have given formal expression of interest for the ground handling unit.

Earlier, Turkey's Celebi Aviation Holding and Bird Group have also expressed interest in acquiring AIATSL. Budget carrier IndiGo has shown interest in the “international airline operations” of AI and AI Express. Alternatively, it is equally interested in acquiring all of the airline operations of AI and AI Express.

How reliable is our ‘boyfriend’?

Abhishek Sachdev

Watch out for the squeeze - the consumer price index jumped from 2.6% in July to 2.9% in August, the highest level since April 2012, as Mark Carney warned that a sharp fall in migrant workers coming to

Britain as a consequence of Brexit could push wages up and cause a spike in inflation in the short term. That’s likely to lead to another fall in real wages on the back of June’s 0.5% decrease, as nominal salaries lag prices, hitting Britons where it hurts most their pockets. Remember though, Mark Carney was described by MPs in 2014 as an ‘unreliable boyfriend’ for promising and then failing to act on interest rates.

Homebuyers are set to suffer the most as the Bank of England has raised the prospect of an interest rate hike as early as November to ease inflationary pressures, which would result in higher monthly repayments on mortgages and for businesses which have variable rate loans.

The promise of higher interest rates has propelled the Sterling more than 5% against both the Dollar and the Euro over the past month, with the

currency reaching twomonth highs against the Euro and appreciating 9.64% against the Dollar since the start of the year. Although exporters have used the Pound’s strength to their advantage, we have also been importing more so still have a large trade deficit.

The cost of a five-year fixed rate loan has risen 31 bps in one month to 1.01%, while the cost of a ten-year fixed rate loan increased by 27 bps to 1.33%. The latest moves

leave the five and tenyear rates up 27 and 19 bps respectively since the start of the year.

So, what does this mean for borrowers?

Securing a £5m loan over a five-year period is now £75k more expensive than it was a month ago.

Similarly, the cost of securing the same amount for a ten-year period has gone up by £126k in one month. In other words, these swap / fixed rates do have a real impact on all of us.

You can keep track of key market rates by subscribing to our FREE market rate sheet.

Updated daily, this concise summary covers swap rates (i.e. fixed rates for loans), FX rates and more. Visit our website for more details.

Tel: 020 7183 2277 www.vedantahedging.com

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Pakistan has short-range N-weapons to counter India: Abbasi

NEW YORK: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said his country has developed short-range nuclear weapons to counter the 'Cold Start' doctrine adopted by the Indian Army. He has also been assertive of the country's nuclear arsenals being safe and secure. In response to a question at top American think-tank the Council on Foreign Relations, he said, “We have a very robust and secure commandand-control system over our strategic nuclear assets. Time has proved that it's a process that is very secure. It's a pro-

cess that has complete civilian oversight through the NCA.” “As far as tactical nuclear weapons (are concerned), we do not have any fielded tactical nuclear weapons. We have developed short-range nuclear weapons as a counter to the 'Cold Start' doctrine that India has developed. Again, those are in the same commandand-control authority that controls the other strategic weapons,” Abbasi said.

Moderator David Sanger said Pak has the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal in the world.

“There is no nuclear arsenal

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

in the world that is growing faster, and there's no nuclear arsenal in the world, other than North Korea's, that tends

to worry American more, because they worry about the safety of the arsenal. They worry about the command and control of the arsenal.”

Abbasi said the command-and-control systems they have in place are as secure as anybody else's in the world. “The last 20 years are testament to that. So let there be no doubt that any extremist element or somebody like that can gain control of fissile material or a nuclear weapon.

There is just no possibility of that and it's time-tested. It's a very secure system that has been put in place.”

Zardari behind Benazir, Murtaza assassinations: Musharraf

KARACHI: Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has alleged Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman and his successor in Presidency Asif Ali Zardari of complicity in the assassination former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In a video posted on the Facebook page of his political party All Pakistan Muslim League, Musharraf said Asif Zardari has named him recently as the main accused in the assassination.

“Therefore I am responding to his allegation. I want to tell this to the children of Benazir Bhutto- Bilawal Bhutto, Bakhtawar Bhutto, and Asifa Bhutto and the people of Sindh that Asif Ali Zardari is responsible for the Bhutto and her brother Murtaza's assassination because he had everything to gain from the assassination.

This is my analysis that he gained the most out of it,” he

Pervez Musharraf

said. Bhutto was killed in a terrorist attack in Rawalpindi, on December 27, 2007. Her brother Murtaza had faced a similar fate during Bhutto's second government, on September 20, 1996. Zardari rose to power, becoming the president from 2008 to 2013, and taking over the reigns of PPP. The video comes after a

United Nations-mandated investigation by Scotland Yard remained inconclusive on Benazir Bhutto's murder.

An anti-terrorism court had exonerated five alleged terrorists involved in her murder, but the authorities are yet to release them and the PPP has filed an appeal against the verdict. Two senior police officials have been convicted and sentenced to 17 years each for destroying evidence by ordering a hasty washing of the crime scene.

In the video, Musharraf questioned why Bhutto's phone wasn't found for over two years after the assassination attempt. “Who forced her to come out of the sun roof of the vehicle? Naheed Khan (Benazir Bhutto's political secretary), PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Faheem and security in-charge Khalid Shehenshah were all

in the car but the court never even summoned these people to record these statements,” he said. He said the security in-charge was murdered. “Who is capable of eliminating him?

The answer is Asif Ali Zardari.”

The PPP has dismissed all the allegations, saying Musharraf was trying to cover his own involvement.

A party press release stated, “This video statement is admission by the Dictator that he was involved not in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto but also was one of the planners of murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. General Musharraf had threatened Benazir Bhutto not to return to Pakistan before the general elections. Time has come that General Musharraf be arrested in Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's murder case and tried accordingly.”

Hurricane Maria wrecks havoc in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico): Hurricane Maria lashed across Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands as winds and rain destroyed homes. The second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month, Maria is also the strongest to hit the region in 90 years. At least 14 people were reported dead on the island nation of Dominica, two were killed in the French territory of Guadeloupe and one on the US Virgin Islands.

Over 4,000 people were rescued from flooded areas of Toa Baja.

Governor Ricardo Rosselló said the nation faces a humanitarian crisis and urged Congress to approve a commensurate aid package as the US commonwealth that grapples with an economic crisis, tries to stabilise itself. “We need something tangible, a bill that actually answers to our need

right now. Otherwise, there will be... a massive exodus to the United States,” the Governor said.

Democrats in the US government has called for swift action to help the island.

Hillary Clinton has urged the Defence Department to send a Navy medical ship, while Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for Republicans to join with Democrats to pass a robust

21

relief package.

Pelosi released a statement saying, “The Trump Administration must act immediately to make available additional Department of Defence resources for search-andrescue operations, law enforcement and transportation needs. Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands deserve to know that their government will be there for

them, without question or hesitation.”

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump pledged federal help for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert and FEMA Administrator Brock Long were travelling to Puerto Rico, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. She said, “The federal response has been anything but slow. There's been an unprecedented push through of billions of dollars in federal assistance.”

Planes and ships loaded with meals, water and generators have been sent to the affected areas, as said by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FEMA tweeted that over 10,000 federal employees are in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands helping with research and rescue efforts and moving goods.

Indian American student in Minnesota killed in car crash

MINNESOTA: An Indian American student of Minnesota was killed when the car she was riding was hit by another car in northeast Minneapolis.

Ria Patel, 20, a business major student, was pronounced dead at the scene of accident.

According to police they were able to free Patel from the car and provide medical aid until paramedics arrived. The youngster nevertheless died from massive head injuries. The driver of the car – Michael Laurence Campbell – fled from the scene after the accident. Police arrested Campbell and charged him for the accident. Campbell had left his identification near Patel before he fled the scene. Campbell, 21, was allegedly intoxicated while driving the car that killed Patel.

PIO bodybuilder dies after kick-boxing bout

SINGAPORE: A32-year-old Indian-origin bodybuilder in Singapore died of cardiac arrest, an hour after he stepped into the ring for a “celebrity” bout of Thai kick-boxing. Pradip Subramanian took on YouTube personality Steven Lim, 42, in his first-ever Muay Thai match for the inaugural event of the Asian Fighting Championship. Subramanian, president of the World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation (WBPF) Singapore, had replaced singer Sylvester Sim, who pulled out of the match citing insurance issues. Both Lim and Sim were contestants in the first “Singapore Idol” series in 2004. According to reports, Subramanian “suffered a cardiac arrest which led to his passing.”

World's 'heaviest' woman Eman Ahmed dies in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: Eman Ahmed, the 'heaviest' woman in the world not long ago, passed away on Monday due to several related medical conditions, including heart disease and kidney dysfunction, said medical experts at the Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi. The Egyptian national, who earlier weighed 500 kg and suffered from a rare thyroid condition since childhood, had been transferred to Burjeel Hospital from India in May to continue rehabilitation from bariatric surgery. Eman Ahmed, who lost about 330 kilograms after undergoing weight-loss surgery in Mumbai's Saifee hospital, had left for the United Arab Emirates for long-term treatment on May 4. Eman Ahmed, who weighed more than 500 kg when she was flown to Mumbai for treatment in February, was reportedly the world's heaviest woman.

Sharif appears before anti-corruption court, set to be indicted

ISLAMABAD: Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appeared before an anti-corruption court, kicking off trial proceedings that he says are biased and which threaten to dent his party's chances at the next general election due in mid2018. Sharif briefly appeared before a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court in Islamabad on three corruption charges. He did not enter a plea. Local TV channels reported that Sharif is scheduled to be formally indicted on Oct. 2, about two months after his disqualification by the Supreme Court for not declaring a small source of income that he denied receiving. A Supreme Court panel has also alleged Sharif family's wealth far exceeds their legal income. Sharif, who returned from London after about a month in Britain, told the court his wife was being treated for cancer in London and needs his care.

Pakistan conducts anti-ship missile test fire

LAHORE: Pakistan Navy successfully launched air-to-surface anti-ship missile in the Arabian Sea, according to a statement by a Navy spokesperson. Pakistan Navy Helicopter Sea King conducted live weapon firing by test firing air-tosurface anti-ship missile, which successfully hit the intended target with pinpoint accuracy, reaffirming the weapon's lethality and offensive punch of the Pakistan Navy fleet, the statement said. Attending the event, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah praised the combat readiness of the fleet. "The successful firing by Pakistan Navy Helicopter Sea King is reflective of high state of readiness and professionalism of Pakistan Navy fleet," he said..

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INTERNATIONAL

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

Bodies of 28 Hindu villagers found in Rakhine State YANGON: Myanmar government forces found bodies of 28 Hindu villagers who authorities suspect were killed by Muslim insurgents.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army has denied killing the Hindus, saying it refrained from attacking civilians. The latest bout of violence in western Myanmar's Rakhine state began on August 25 when ARSA militants attacked about 30 police posts and an army camp, killing 12 people.

Myanmar government said over 400 people have been killed, most of them insurgents. It continues to reject accusations of ethnic cleansing, saying it is fighting terrorists. Members of the small Hindu minority appear to have been caught in between the whole charade, suffering from both sides. While some of them

have fled to Bangladesh, complaining of violence against them by soldiers or Buddhist vigilantes, others complain of being attacked by the insurgents on suspicion of being government spies.

Aung San Suu Kyi's government said a search was mounted near Ye Baw Kya village in the north of

Rakhine state, after refugees in Bangladesh contacted a Hindu community leader in the country. They said about 300 ARSA militants had marched about 100 people out of the village and killed them, on August 25. Of those who died, 20 were female and eight were male children.

“They forced eight female villagers to convert to the

Islamic religion and took them to Bangladesh,” the government said.

Meanwhile, an ARSA spokesman said he believed Buddhist nationalists trying to separate Hindus and Muslims were behind the “lies” that ARSA militants had killed the villagers. He said, “ARSA has internationally pledged not to target civilians and that remains unchanged no matter what.”

The United States and the United Nations have called for an end to the violence, unfettered humanitarian access to the conflict zone and for the right of those who have fled to go home safely.

Suu Kyi currently faces international criticism for not speaking out more forcefully against the violence or doing more to rein in security forces over which she has minimal power.

Indian American couple donates $250,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief fund

TEXAS: A month after Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast of USA on August 25, it has left South Texas with a massive burden of devastation worth over $180 billion. Damage caused to public and private properties in and around the region includes complete devastation of about 200,000 homes.

The Governor of Texas said it may take about five years to rebuild.

An Indian American couple donated $250,000 to Houston Mayor's Hurricane Relief Fund. Amit Bhandari and wife Arpita Brahmbhatt Bhandari contributed the donation to the fund set up

by Mayor Sylvester Turner, on behalf of the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Bhandari, a H o u s t o n - b a s e d entrepreneur, is the CEO

Amit Bhandari with his wife Arpita Brahmbhatt

and Chairman of BioUrja Group which trades in energy and agricultural commodities across the globe.

Arpita is the vice-president of Human Resources in the company.

They were thanked for their contributions by Sylvester and prominent members of the Houston Indian community.

The Mayor said, “Indian

Americans have golden hearts. They always come up with voluntary aid during hard times like Hurricane Harvey. Their contributions are not limited to the Harvey relief and rehabilitation fund. They have been making great efforts for the welfare of Houston for a long time. The Indian community is vital to Houston

and will help make the city what it was before prior to Hurricane Harvey 2017.”

Bhandari said volunteers of the Greater Houston Community Foundation helped rescue 700 victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. The community has also donated $1.5 million to several charitable organisations involved in Hurricane Harvey relief and rehabilitation.

Consul General of India in Houston, Dr Anupam Ray lauded the Indian American community for their humanitarian efforts and generous contributions.

Thanking Bhandari and Arpita, he said, “Your generosity makes India proud. A community is great if it rises above its suffering. You have demonstrated that by contributing toward Hurricane Harvey relief.”

Indian MIT student develops rape preventive device NEW YORK: Indian grad student and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Manisha Mohan has invented a wearable adhesive that can help prevent rape and sexual assault.

Intrepid, an adhesive made up of a couple of conductive layers and hydrogel that can be stuck on to a woman's underwear or bra will detect if it is being moved forcibly.

It works in both, passive and active modes. In the former, where the user and conscious and alert, the device which can be tapped to set off a Bluetooth signal which is sent to the user's phone, will trigger a loud noise to alert people nearby and send out distress signals to predefined family members or emergency services in the

Manisha Mohan has invented a wearable adhesive that can help prevent rape and sexual assault

form of an alarm and a text message and a recorded phone call if the user does not respond within 30 seconds.

Actively, when a woman is unconscious and not in a position to fight, is bed-ridden, elderly, disabled, a

minor, or intoxicated, if somebody is trying to remove clothing forcibly, a message is sent to their phone to confirm if the act was done with or without consent and an alert will be sent out to someone.

Mohan and her team conducted a survey 338 sexual assault survivors on various factors like design, functionality, and cultural sensitivity.

“Our work examines methods to prevent sexual assault, from pre-historic times to latest technologies, to inform contemporary designs.

Intrepid investigates multiple methods to detect initial signs of assault and develop methods for communication and prevention of assault. We also explore olfactory stimuli as a potential means to prevent sexual assault in realtime,” Mohan said.

She said she hopes this will help women in India so that they feel safe when walking at night and don't have to reach home before dark.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

German WWI sub found off Belgiam with 23 bodies

BRUSSELS: Authorities said an intact German World War I submarine had been found off the coast of Belgium and contained the bodies of 23 people. Western Flanders governor Carl Decaluwe said the “damage was at the front but the submarine remains closed, and there are 23 people still onboard.”

Cannibal refuses to stop eating woman, gets shot

CAPE TOWN: A man who was accused of beheading a woman died after being shot by police in South Africa. Aphiwe Mapekula, 23, was shot in the arm, leg and stomach outside his home in Mount Frere after officers arrived to find him eating the corpse of a woman.

6 killed in Bangladesh textile factory fire

DHAKA: At least six people were killed when a fire that broke out at Ideal Textile Mills factory near the Bangladeshi capital. More than 300 workers were present in the factory at the time of the incident. "We found six bodies in two floors of the factory. We don't have information of anyone missing," Deputy Director of Munshiganj Fire Service Farid Uddin said. The fire service said the blaze may have been caused by sparks from welding work with flammable chemicals stored in a warehouse. Bangladesh's textile sector has been under scrutiny for years owing to poor working conditions, especially after the collapse of the Rana Plaza complex in 2013, which killed 1,100 workers and injured 2,500.

Self-exiled Baloch leader arrested on return to Pakistan

NEW DELHI: A self-exiled Baloch nationalist leader was arrested as soon as he landed in Pakistan.

Nawabzada Ghazeen Marri, the son of Baloch nationalist politician Nawab Khair Bukhsh Marri, was arrested "upon his arrival" at Quetta airport, sources said. Ghazeen had been living in exile in the United Arab Emirates for the past 18 years, but decided to return "to live rest of my life with my people." His lawyer claimed that Ghazeen has been moved to an undisclosed location.

50,000 evacuated from Bali amid fears of volcanic eruption

KARANGASEM (INDONESIA): Nearly 50,000 people have been evacuated from their homes for fear of an imminent volcanic eruption on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, disaster officials said. Mount Agung has been shaking since August and threatening to erupt for the first time in more than 50 years. The disaster mitigation agency said 48,540 people had fled and the number was expected to rise because more than 60,000 people lived in the danger zone. "There are still people who don't want to be evacuated," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, an agency spokesman, said.

Bill Clinton's first novel gets TV adaptation

LOS ANGELES: "The President Is Missing", an upcoming first novel by former US President Bill Clinton and his collaborator-author James Patterson, will be adapted into a TV series. The television rights of the novel has been acquired by cable network Showtime. "I'm really enjoying writing this book and working with Jim. And I can't wait to see Showtime bring the characters to life," Clinton said. Set to be published in 2018, the book tells the story of an incumbent US president's disappearance with a level of detail that only someone who has held the office can know. Clinton and Patterson's collaboration on the novel marks the first time an American President has ever co-authored a thriller.

NZ ruling party wins most votes in election

WELLINGTON: New Zealand's ruling National Party won the largest number of votes in the country's general election, securing a comfortable margin over the Labour Party after what had promised to be the most hotly contested race in recent history. National and Labour had been almost neck and neck in opinion polls, with charismatic 37year old Jacinda Ardern almost singlehandedly dragging Labour back into the race after taking over the party's leadership in August. National took 46% of the vote, the Electoral Commission said, while support for Labour was 35.8%. A final tally including overseas votes will be released on October 7. The results set up the nationalist New Zealand First Party to hold the balance of power and form the next government with 7.5% of the ballot.

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Massive quake jolts Mexico, 248 dead MEXICO CITY: Police, firefighters and ordinary Mexicans dug frantically through the rubble of collapsed schools, homes and apartment buildings, looking for survivors of Mexico's deadliest earthquake in decades as the number of confirmed fatalities stood at 248. Last week's magnitude-7.1 quake struck on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake that killed thousands. Just hours earlier, people around Mexico had held earthquake drills to mark the date.

One of the most desperate rescue efforts was at a primary and secondary school in southern Mexico City, where a wing of the three-story building collapsed. Journalists saw rescuers pull at least two small bodies from the rubble.

Volunteer rescue worker Dr Pedro Serrano managed to crawl into the crevices of the tottering pile of rubble that had been Escuela Enrique Rebsamen. He made it into a classroom, but found all of its occupants dead.“We saw some chairs and wooden tables. The next thing we saw was a leg, and then we started to move rubble

and we found a girl and two adults,” he said.

“We can hear small noises, but we don't know if they're coming from above or below, from the walls above (crumbling), or someone below calling for help.” A mix of neighbourhood volunteers, police and firefighters used trained dogs and bare hands to search through the school's rubble. The crowd of anxious parents outside the gates shared reports that two families had received WhatsApp messages from girls trapped inside, but that could not be confirmed.

The federal education department reported that 25 bodies, including that of four adults, had been recovered from the school's wreckage. It was not clear whether those deaths were included in the overall death toll of 217 reported by the federal civil defense agency. Pena Nieto had earlier reported 22 bodies found and said 30 children and eight adults were reported missing.

In a video message, Pesident Pena Nieto urged people to be calm and said authorities were moving to provide help as 40% of

23

Mexico City and 60% of nearby Morelos state were without power. But, he said, “the priority at this moment is to keep rescuing people who are still trapped and to give medical attention to the injured people.”

Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said buildings fell at 44 sites in the capital alone as highrises swayed and hundreds of thousands of panicked people ran into the streets.

Long lines of volunteers passed chunks of debris from hand to hand at a collapsed clothing factory where several people died. When a person was hauled out alive, they broke into shouts of “Yes, we can!” Carlos Mendoza, 30, said two people were pulled alive from the ruins of a collapsed apartment building in the Roma Sur neighbourhood during a three-hour period.

Blocks away, Alma Gonzalez was in her fourth-floor apartment when the quake collapsed the ground floor of her building, leaving no way out. She was terrified until her neighbors mounted a ladder on their roof and helped her slide out a side window.

Satsang UK celebrates 130th birth anniversary of Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra

Satsang UK joyously celebrated the 130th birth anniversary of its Sree Sree Thakur founder Anukulchandra on Saturday the 16th of September.

The event was held at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Temple, Ilford. Over 400 people including followers from across the United Kingdom Europe and India attended this event.

The programme started at 2.30 pm, with a Sangeetanjali, in which melodious bhajans were sung by Mrs.Seema Paul and Mrs.Sanchita Sarkar. This was followed by the Stage decoration at the Utsav celebration matrisammelan, in which Mrs.Tapati (inset) Mr. Mike Gapes addressing the gathering Samantara sang the guru vandana, environment.

Mrs Pooja Mishra spoke about Sree Sree The last segment of the evening consisted Thakur’s wife Boroma and Mrs Kalpana Prushty of a cultural programme. The highlight of this sang a bhajan. segment was the performance by tabla maestro Then followed the children’s programme, in and guinness world record holder Pandit which sisters Tapasi and Tapaswini Samantara Sudarshan Das and his associates from the sang a bhajan and Shruti Prushty spoke about Tabla and Dhol academy London. Mr. Salim, a Sree See Thakur.

Pakistani British and Mr. Amalyen a Srilankan The second half of the celebrations started British rendered beautiful bhajans and Miss at 4.30 pm. Honorable Mr. Mike Gapes, Sanchali Sahoo delivered a Bharatnatyam Member of Parliament, Ilford South, and Mr. S. dance sequence. Mr. S. Mahapatra, Senior Visa Mahapatra from the Indian High Commission officer from the Indian High Commission in were the chief guests of the evening. Mr. Mike London awarded prizes to the participants of the Gapes performed the ritual of lighting a lamp at cultural programme. the start of this session. This was followed by Mr. Naba Kumar Paul from the High the traditional prayers, meditation and readings Commission of India, formally ended the from Satyanusaran and Chalar Saathi, books programme with a vote of thanks. This was written by Sree Sree Thakur. followed by the community dinner. 8 people took Mr. Mike Gapes released this year’s edition initiation or ‘diksha’ with Sree Sree Thakur’s of Satsang UK’s journal Quest. In his address holy name. to the gathering, he expressed his pleasure in Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra was a attending the event and extended his best leading spiritual leader, philosopher and thinker wishes to Satsang UK for all its future ventures. in pre-independence India. He established the Mr. Yogesh Joshi, SPR Satsang, Mr. Nihar organisation called Satsang as part of His Mishra, SPR Satsang, Dr. Alka Thakur, Mr. P.D. mission of man making.

Joshi, SPR Satsang and Mr. Deepak Rai spoke Today Satsang has millions of members on various aspects of Sree Sree Thakur’s spread across the globe. philosophy. Mr. Alok Upadhyay, secretary of the In the UK, monthly Satsang congregations Vishwa Hindu Parishad Temple addressed the are being held at Reading Hindu Temple in gathering and congratulated Satsang UK for Reading, Brent Indian Association Hall in organising an event which had such a positive Wembley and Vishwa Hindu Parishad Temple social impact. in Ilford.

Mr.Piyush Kanti Saha, Mr. Rajanikant Details about Sree Sree Thakur and Samantara, SPR Satsang and Mr. Ramkinkar Satsang can be found on Thakur, SPR Satsang sang kirtans which www.satsan.org.uk contributed to the elevating and electrifying

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Australian school's turban ban on Sikh Donald Trump trade charges SEOUL/NEW YORK: North Korea said it might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean after Donald Trump vowed to destroy the reclusive country, even as leader Kim Jong-un promised to make the US president pay dearly for his threats.

In a statement by a North Korean leader, Kim called a “mentally deranged US dotard.”

Japan described the North's recent threat as “totally unacceptable.”

Trump retorted with another message on Twitter. “Kim Jong-un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before,” Trump said, a day after announcing additional sanctions on Pyongyang, including on its shipping and trade networks.

Trump said in the UN he would “totally destroy” North Korea if it threatened the US and its allies, and called Kim a “rocket man on a suicide mission.”

Kim said the North would consider the “highest-level of hard-line

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump

countermeasure in history” against the US and that Trump's comments had confirmed his nuclear programme was “the correct path. I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”

Asked about the North's threat, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said diplomatic efforts would continue but military options were on the table. “We are quite challenged,” he said, but hoped increased sanctions and “voices from every corner of the world” would help lead Kim to talks. A US official said Washington was taking Kim's threat seriously.

Such a test would be a “game-changer” if North Korea actually did it, he said. “There's a certain amount of bluster that's taken for granted when you're dealing with North Korea.” Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have agreed to Seoul's “acquisition and development of advanced military assets” and to increased deployment of US assets in and around South Korea on a rotational basis, White House said.

The KCNA also made a rare criticism of Chinese media, saying their comments on the North's nuclear project had damaged ties and suggested Beijing, its

only major ally, had sided with Washington. KCNA said Chinese media was “openly resorting to interference in the internal affairs of another country.” UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called for statesmanship to avoid “sleepwalking” into a war, and South Korea, Russia and China all urged calm. “All relevant sides should exercise restraint and dedicate themselves to easing the situation rather than irritating each other,” said Lu Kang, China's foreign ministry spokesman.

However, the rhetoric has started to rattle foreign countries. French sports minister Laura Flessel said France's team would not travel to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea if its security could not be guaranteed. Asian stocks fell, and the Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained, on the possibility of a hydrogen bomb test. US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said banks doing business in North Korea would not be allowed to operate in US.

boy held wrong

MELBOURNE: A Sikh family in Australia has won a legal battle against a Christian school that refused to enrol their f i ve -ye a r- o l d son because of his turban.

Sidhak Singh Arora was on his way to start preparatory at Melton Christian College in Melbourne, until his 'patka' (turban) clashed with the school's uniform policy that prohibits students from wearing any type of religious head covering.

Parents Sagardeep Singh Arora and Anureet claimed that the institution breached the Equal Opportunity Act by not allowing their son to wear his patka when they tried to enrol him in 2016. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) ruled that the school had discriminated against the kind. Member Julie Grainger said, “Whilst MCC is a

Christian school, it has an open enrolment policy which means that it accepts enrolments of students from other faiths. A little over 50 per cent of the school community does not identify explicitly as Christian and many families at the school have no religious beliefs.”

“It is not reasonable to accept enrolment applications from students from non-Christian faiths only on the condition that they do not look like they practice a non-Christian religion,” it said. The VCAT finding added that the school could have amended its uniform policy to allow Sidhak to wear a turban in school colours.

24

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Retired judge appointed to probe Jaya's death Forest minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan says that some AIADMK ministers lied about the health of Jayalalithaa when she was in hospital CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has appointed retired Madras high court judge Justice A Arumughaswamy to probe the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The order came a month after chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced that his government would set up an inquiry panel to probe into the circumstances leading to the demise of Jayalalithaa.

Meanwhile, forest minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan while addressing a meeting said that some AIADMK ministers lied about the health of Jayalalithaa when she was in

J Jayalalithaa

hospital. He said that no minister was allowed to meet her in the hospital, and hence no one knew the reality. “We told lies that she (Jayalalithaa) had idlis and chutney. But friends, the truth is that nobody was allowed to meet her. I apologise before you for telling such

I'm joining politics: Kamal Haasan CHENNAI: Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan has confirmed his entry into politics after several months of political deliberations and insinuations.

“Entering politics would be like donning a crown of thorns,” he said in an Kejriwal meeting Kamal Haasan exclusive interview with plunge. I am meeting people media. “People concerned are and will give them roadmap not interested in left or right soon,” he said. The announceor any isms. I think if you look ment came after he met Aam at people and their concerns, Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief the isms will find its way.”

Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Haasan said his political Kejri has urged him to join colour was black because it politics and strengthen the contained all colours, includcountry's fight against corruping saffron. He said there was tion. “We had an excellent a need for someone to clear meeting, we exchanged our the political quagmire and ideas. He should enter into make it habitable. Haasan said politics to fight communalism he wanted to be the chief minand corruption,” he said. He ister for people of Tamil Nadu, said both, him and Haasan and while he won't promise shared views on various subany swift remedies, he vowed jects and would meet again to start the process of change. soon.

“I must prepare before I take

Gurdaspur LS by-poll: Jakhar, Salaria file nominations

Sunil Jakhar

Swaran Salaria

CHANDIGARH: Congress leader Sunil Jakhar and his BJP rival Swaran Salaria have filed their nomination papers for the upcoming Gurdaspur Lok Sabha by-election which will be held on October 11. Senior Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa has remained noticeably absent among those supporting Jakhar. Top leaders of Punjab Congress, including Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu accompanied Jakhar when he submitted his nomination papers for the seat.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of sitting MP Vinod Khanna of Bharatiya Janata

Party. Bajwa, presently a Rajya Sabha MP and a former Punjab Congress chief, belongs to Gurdaspur district. Bajwa wanted the Congress ticket for his wife and opposed the selection of Jakhar, currently the Punjab Congress president and son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar.

Meanwhile Salaria, a Mumbaibased millionaire businessman involved in controversies in the past, also filed his nomination papers. He was accompanied by Punjab BJP president and union minister Vijay Sampla and alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal. The by-poll will see a tough fight between both the national parties.

lies in the past. In fact, we all told lies about Amma.”

“Dignitaries who visited the hospital were at best offered chairs to sit on the first floor. Nobody was permitted to go beyond that.

(Jayalalithaa's room was in the second floor.) After a brief chat, all of them left. Nobody saw Amma,” said Sreenivasan.

Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and many others, including DMK working president M K Stalin, were stopped much before Jayalalithaa's room in Apollo Hospital, Sreenivasan said. A week ago, he had accused Jaya aide Sasikala and her family of maintaining

“intriguing secrecy” about Jayalalithaa's treatment in hospital.

Incidentally, in March this year, the same minister had given a clean chit to Sasikala and her family members saying there was nothing suspicious about Jayalalithaa's treatment or death. The minister said they indulged in disinformation about Jayalalithaa as they did not want the party's secrets to leak. “Even if there are differences within family, we speak in hushed tones so that nobody get to know about our problems. We didn't want the party's secrets to leak,” Sreenivasan said.

Tamil Nadu assembly floor test stayed

CHENNAI: Madras High Court has extended its stay on conduct of a floor test in Tamil Nadu assembly till further orders. It has also restrained the Election Commission of India from issuing election notification to the 18 constituencies declared vacant pursuant to the disqualification of the rebel MLAs. Justice M Duraiswamy passed an interim order on the pleas moved by 18 disqualified MLAs assailing the order of Speaker P Dhanapal.

The order was passed after consent was given by both parties, the speaker's and the MLA's sides, to not conduct the floor test. Senior counsel Dushyant Dave, defending the case of MLAs, said, “No MLA had defected to any other party and so the penalty action against them under anti-

defection law is untenable. The speaker had failed to keep in mind the Supreme Court ruling in the BS Yeddyurappa case.” He said they had been unlawfully stripped of their posts only to enable the Edappadi K Palaniswani government to sail through the confidence motion.

Dave said the MLAs had merely given a representation to the Tamil Nadu governor expressing lack of confidence in the chief minister. “Speaker is not above law, and he too is bound to act within the Constitution. People sitting in Delhi are deciding the affairs of Tamil Nadu,” he said. He said the MLAs neither voluntarily gave up their posts nor denied whip, and were still disqualified because the Speaker failed to try and ascertain the truth.

Mass grave at Ram Rahim's Sirsa headquarters SIRSA: Jailed godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim seems to have a closet full of skeletons and they just came to light. As many as 600 skeletons have been found buried inside the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

The revelation was made by a trusted aide of the 'Love Charger' during interrogation by Special Investigation Team. Former Dera vice-president PR Nain who was being questioned along with Dera chairperson Vipassana Insan, also submitted relevant documents in support his claim about a mass grave inside the premises.

He told the SIT that Dera began planting saplings on the land where they were buried. Another revelation that came to light is of potential child trafficking. A woman follower of Ram Rahim has claimed that her child is missing from the headquarters since last 12 years. She alleged that she donated her 2 month old kid after Ram Rahim requested his supporters to donate children for seva at the

headquarters.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government has frozen over 90 Dera bank accounts.

Even his “daughter” Honeypreet Insaan, who is currently wanted and absconding, was not spared.

Her OBC account has been sealed by the government, while another with HDFC is yet to be sealed. The exact balance of all 90 accounts is currently unknown, however, as much as £6.8 million was found cumulatively in three Dera bank accounts.

Ram Rahim, 50, who boasted of millions of followers, is currently serving 20-year term in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for raping his two disciples. He has reportedly begun labour in the jail by planting trees and plants around his barracks.

Haryana DGP (Prisons) KP Singh said Gurmeet falls under the category of unskilled labour. Hence he will get a wage of Rs 20 per day. He sleeps like other convicts of his category. He may use coupons to buy eatables from the jail canteen.

Child bride racket busted, 8 sheikhs arrested

HYDERABAD: An international child bride racket has been busted in Hyderabad with the arrest of 20 people. The crackdown on a group involving five Omani sheikhs, three Qataris and three qazis, who brokered illegal contracts with forged nikahnamas. A tip-off from a 16 year old girl led police authorities to four lodges in the city, which were later found to be major dens of human trafficking. An Omani sheikh who was about to wed a teenage girl was caught redhanded. Police said Mumbai-based qazi Farid Ahmed Khan was the kingpin of the operation and played an important role.

Kerala, TN CMs discusses ways to resolve water disputes

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu and Kerala have decided to hold official-level talks to resolve water-sharing disputes between the two states.

Kerala Chief Minister met with his Tamil Nadu counterpart Edappadi K Palaniswami at the secretariat in Chennai. Speaking at a press meet, Pinarayi said, “You see, Tamils and Keralites are brothers and sisters. If there is any problem, we can solve it by holding mutual discussions. Such discussions will take place at the official level. If necessary, ministerial-level and chief-ministerial level discussions can be held.” A statement said both chief ministers also discussed Nirmal chit fund scam. “It's a big fraud. I spoke to him (Palaniswami) about the Nirmal chit fund. The company's operations are in Kerala and Kanyakumari (TN),” Pinarayi said.

Kidnappers kill I-T officer's son

BENGALURU: The teenaged son of an income tax officer who was kidnapped on September 12, from near his house in Bengaluru, was found dead. Six people have been arrested, including the victim's friend Vishal. Body of Niranjan Kumar's son Sharath N, 19, son was found near Ramohalli lake on the outskirts of the city. He was reportedly strangled and dumped in a tank on the same night he was kidnapped. The abductors had sent a WhatsApp video to the victim's parents, getting the boy to convey their demand for a ransom of Rs 50,00,000.

Punjab mechanic who saved 400 lives to be felicitated

NABHA (PUNJAB): A scooter mechanic from Punjab has been chosen to be honoured with the Bhagat Puran Singh Award for his service to humanity. The award was given to Paramjit Singh Pammi for helping hundreds of road accident victims to reach hospital, and saving their lives. Pammi, who runs a scooter repair workshop helps out accident victims ever since he lost his brother Darshan Singh in a road accident in 1999. He died after being unattended on the road for the entire night.

Pammi arranges vehicles for victims whenever he receives a call for help even if the site of the accident is a few km from his shop.

Student murder: HC refuses to stay arrest of Ryan trustees

CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to stay the arrest of trustees of Ryan International School in connection with the murder of seven year old Pradyuman Thakur in its Gurgaon branch. It has also issued a notice to the Haryana Government asking for a reply. School founder Augustine Francis Pinto, MD Grace Pinto, and CEO Ryan Pinto, are based in Mumbai and had earlier approached the Bombay High Court seeking pre-arrest bail till they could move the court in Haryana.

Sr journalist, mother found murdered in Mohali home

MOHALI: K J Singh, a senior journalist, and his 92-year-old mother, Gurcharan Kaur, were found murdered in their home in Mohali.

Unidentified men are believed to have entered the house and attacked the duo who lived by themselves in the house. While Singh, who had worked with most of the leading newspapers, was found lying on a bed on blood-soaked sheets, Kaur had been strangulated by the intruders. Police officials said the attackers had stabbed Singh five times in the stomach and also slit his throat. Singh had had left the journalistic profession about eight years ago to look after his mother.

HERITAGE HISTORY

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

Dr. Hari Desai

Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha in Coalitions

Like Jinnah, Savarkar too believed the Muslims as a separate nation Both ML and HM opposed the Quit India movement in August 1942

Jammu and Kashmir leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was heard saying when his People’s Democratic Party(PDP) was engaged with the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) in alliance to form a coalition government in February 2015

cally opposite political humiliated by forces i.e. ML and HM! Of Jawaharlal Nehru. In course, the Hindu mem1937, when his Muslim bers walked out and the League was denied even three Hindu Ministers two seats in the United voted against the resoluProvinces(UP) ministry tion but the resolution by the Congress, Jinnah was passed with 24 verrefused any comprosus 3 in the Sindh mise. The Lahore conAssembly on 3 March vention of ML in March 1943. Even after passing 1940 under the chairthe Pakistan resolution, manship of the lifetime none of the three Hindu President of the ML, ministers resigned from Barrister Jinnah, passed the ministry headed by the Pakistan Resolution moved by A.K. Fazlul The Muslim League Executive with Jinnah at Lahore in March 1940 Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidaytullah. They were Rao Bengal as the Finance admits that the Muslims Haq, the Premier of Bengal.

Saheb Gokaldas Mewaldas, Minister in 1941 and are a separate nation..He It called for a separate Dr. Hemandas R.Wadhwan remained in the ministry allows them to have a Nation for Muslims without and Lolumal R. Motwani. of the mover of the national flag. Yet he opposusing the word Pakistan.

In the provincial elecPakistan Resolution for es the demand of the For Jinnah, Hindus and tions held in 1937 in the nearly 11 months. Even Muslim nation for a sepaMuslims were two separate North West Frontier earlier, Syamababu was rate national home. If he Nations who could not be Province(NWFP, now elected to Bengal claims a national home for together.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-KP Legislative Council in 1929 the Hindu nation, how can Not many people would of Pakistan) of Khan for the first time on the he refuse the claim of the know that the HM Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Congress ticket. He was Muslim nation for a nationPresident for more than six Congress won the majorialso the Union Minister for al home?” terms, Barrister V. D. ty of the seats in the Industries in Nehru cabiBoth Savarkar and Savarkar, too used the same Provincial Assembly. In net before resigning on 6 Jinnah were critical of each terminology while deliver1939, in protest against April 1950 to launch the other since they catered ing the presidential address the Viceroy when the Jan Sangh in October 1951 two separate vote banks. at Karnavati (Ahmedabad) Both were critical of convention of the HM in Gandhi’s Congress too.

1937, three years before the Jinnah had the Muslim Pakistan Resolution. support base where as Shamsul Islam, an authoriSavarkar had the Hindu ty on the Partition history support base. Publically of India, states in his book they were thirsty of each “Muslim against Partition other’s blood but the of India”: “So there is no “opportunist politics” or doubt that the Two-Nation “pragmatic politics” made theory was neither the the odd bed-fellows to fill innovation nor monopoly up the vacuum created by of the Muslim separatists. the Congress following Chronologically, Hindu “Do or Die” cry of August variant appeared first and 1942 mass movement.

Muslim variant followed it Both the Barristers : Savarkar and Jinnah Both ML and HM opposed aggressively.” Savarkar who Congress ministry headed with the blessings of the Quit India movement was for the Hindu Nation

by Khan Abdul Jabbar Madhav Sadashiv following the call given by believed “the Muslim Khan resigned, Sardar Golwalkar (Guruji), the Mahatma Gandhi and preNation made to live in a Aurangzeb Khan of second Sarsanghchalak ferred to join hands with position of subordinate coMuslim League with sup(Chief ) of Rashtriya the British under the garb operation with the Hindu port of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). of the ‘pragmatic politics’.

Nation.”

Dr. B. R. Mahasabha and Akalis Sindh Province, being Even when most of the Ambedkar, in his book formed the coalition govthe birth place of Jinnah, Congress leaders including “Pakistan or the Partition ernment. Mehr Chand was special to him in his Gandhi, Sardar Patel, of India”, felt it strange Khanna of the HM was the movement for Pakistan.

Nehru and Maulan Azad that “Mr. Savarkar and Mr. Finance Minister. Later, The Sindh Assembly was were in jail, Barrister Dr. Jinnah instead of being Khanna migrated to India first to pass the Pakistan Syama Prasad Mookerjee, opposed to each other on and served Nehru Cabinet Resolution moved by G M the second in command of the one nation versus two as Minister for Sayed in 1943 when the HM, with the blessings of nations issue are in comRehabilitation and Province had a coalition Savarkar, had joined the plete agreement about it”.

Housing, respectively, government with diametriFazlul Haq ministry in He stressed: “Mr. Savarkar

“T

he coalition is like bringing North Pole and South Pole together.”

Jammu and Kashmir leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was heard saying when his People’s Democratic Party(PDP) was engaged with the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) in alliance to form a coalition government in February 2015.

Though both were ideologically pole apart, they decided to form the government on the basis of an Agenda of Alliance with Common Minimum Programme(CMP). Even in British India, the coalition government of the Congress and the Muslim League(ML) could not run smoothly and lead to the Partition, but odd bed-fellows like the ML and the Hindu Mahasabha(HM) were able to rule over at least three Provinces despite being pole apart ideologically ! Normally it is believed that Mohammad Ali Jinnah was responsible for the Two-Nation theory and was blamed for Partition of the British India. Once a die-hard Congressman and opponent of the ML, Jinnah felt pushed to the wall by Mahatma Gandhi and felt

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between 1954 and 1962.

Even in Punjab, there were serious efforts to have the ML and the HM coalition government installed.

Both Savarkar and Dr. B. S. Moonje were very much active for the same. Jinnah had declared in one of his public speeches in Sialkot(now in Pakistan) that the HM was to have a coalition government with the ML as Savarkar and Dr. B.S. Moonje had directed to form a coalition government with Muslim League “ if it was inevitable” !

The historical facts which remained hidden so far are needed to be made public however bitter they may be. If one goes through the speeches of Savarkar at Bhagalpur and Kanpur conventions of the HM, his efforts to justify his actions of joining hands with the British rulers are crystal clear. Savarkar expected more and more Hindu youth to join the British Army and Air force when the British were engaged in the World War II. The Hindutva icon even condemned the efforts of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army(INA) to align with Japan against the British. The facts of the history and the events which took place cannot be denied.

Next Column: Dr. N.B. Khare and his craving for Power (The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com)

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Pak left red-faced at UN as envoy goofs up on picture In its evident desperation to respond to India's scathing charges of Islamabad's terror policy, Pakistan yet again managed to embarrass itself at the UN as it displayed a faulty photo of a “Kashmiri woman”. Pak's permanent representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi proudly flashed a picture of a pellet gun victim, she called to be a local Kashmiri. “This is the face of Indian democracy,” she said.

Lodhi was, however, to be left red-faced as the woman in the photo was later identified as a 17 year old Palestinian girl, Rawya Abu Joma, who was injured in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, in 2014.

The picture was taken by Jerusalem-based American freelance photojournalist Heidi Levine, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Rawya was reportedly injured in an airstrike on her apartment, an attack that claimed the lives of her sister and three cousins. Lodhi dramatically waved the photo in the UN, attacking India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who recently slammed Pak for producing jihadis. She called India the “Mother of Terrorism” in South Asia, unknown to the factual truth behind her “evidence”. Lodhi even quoted celebrity Indian author Arundhati Roy, saying, “Much of what is in the air in India now is pure terror, in Kashmir, in other places.”

It is widely known that India has never used heavy military against its citizens in Jammu & Kashmir, or elsewhere.

Pak envoy to UN, Maleeha Lodhi displays a faulty photo of a ‘Kashmiri woman’

However, given Pakistan's abhorrence towards the country, it is expected of them to make false arguments as they have in the past. Not one to leave a juicy opportunity to castigate Pak when necessary, India came up with a stunning rebuttal on Monday, as a young Indian diplomat accused the neighbour of using fakes to embellish its false narrative on Kashmir and waving the photo of a slain Kashmiri Indian Army officer to drive home India's point on cross-border terrorism perpetrated by Pakistan.

First secretary with India's permanent mission to the UN, Paulomi Tripathi held up two photographs and declared “True face of Pakistan is not hidden from anyone.”

One picture was of the Army officer, Lieutenant Umar Faiyaz, who was abducted and killed by terrorists in J&K's Shopian district, and the other was of Rawya.

Tripathi, the junior-most Indian diplomat at India's permanent mission to the UN in New York, schooled Lodhi, Pak's most experienced diplomat in a delib-

erate and crisp answer.

Tripathi said India had been constrained to show the Assembly a photograph that reflected the real picture of pain inflicted by the nefarious designs of Pakistan on India. “This is a real and not a fake picture of Lt Umar Faiyaz. A young officer from the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir. Umar Faiyaz was kidnapped at a wedding celebration. He was brutally tortured and killed

by Pakistan supported terrorists in May 2017. This is a true picture. It portrays a harsh and tragic reality. A picture of terrorism emanating from across our borders that the people of India, especially in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have to struggle with, every day. This is the reality which the Permanent Representative of Pakistan sought to obfuscate,” she said holding up his photo.

She accused Lodhi of yet again seeking to divert attention from Pakistan's role as the hub of global terrorism. “She did so by callously holding up a picture of an injured girl,”

she said. “The Permanent Representative of Pakistan misled this Assembly by displaying this picture to spread falsehoods about India. A fake picture to push a completely false narrative.”

In a thorough back and forth of accusations and verbal attacks, Lodhi's attack came after Sushma Swaraj responded to Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's charge of “atrocities” in Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Swaraj said if Pakistan used its resources to stamp out terrorists in its territory, the world would be rid of terrorism. “Whereas we produce IITs and IIMs, you (Pak) have produced LeT and Jaish-eMuhammed. We have produced doctors and scientists, you have churned out terrorists and jihadis.

While a doctor saves lives, jihadis kill,” she said. She said while the neighbour continues to plumb new depths of barbarism, it has the gumption to preach humanity to India. Her address came a day after India called Pakistan “Terroristan” in response to Abbasi's claims.

She took a dig at the international community too for first failing to recognise terrorism as a global threat and dismissing it as a “law and order” problem and also for continuing to quibble over the definition of terrorism. The minister also exhorted China to drop its opposition to Pakistanbased JeM chief Masood Azhar being designated as a global terrorist.

China refuses visa to elderly India runner China has refused to grant visa to a 101year-old Indian runner to participate in the Asian Masters Athletics Championships, robbing her of a potential medal. Man Kaur, dubbed the "miracle from Chandigarh" after winning the 100metres gold at the World Masters Games in Auckland in April, had been training hard for the competition at home in Punjab state.

"I felt very bad when my visa was rejected," she said. "Wherever we used to go we would come back winners and even this time around I was confident of victory. But it's not the end of the road. I will continue training and look forward to competing in future events," she

Man Kaur

added.

Kaur, who took up athletics eight years ago at the age of 93, was looking to compete in the 100m, 200m, shot put and javelin categories in the China Masters in Rugao. She had no prior running experience before her 79-yearold son Gurdev Singh, who said his Chinese visa was also refused, suggested she join him in competing on the internation-

al masters games circuit.

"We have travelled all over the world, from England to America to New Zealand but never has our visa been rejected," Singh, a permanent resident of Canada, said.

"The Chinese Embassy said we don't have a personal invite but we carried a letter from the Indian Masters Athletics Association which should have been enough. Don't people go to China as tourists, do they need some invite? What problem can a 101-year-old and a 79-year-old create in China apart from competing in the event," he added.

Singh and his mother will be travelling to Toronto next month where Kaur will be bestowed with the 'Lifetime achievement award' during a function.

Kaur is one of the nominees for the coveted Laureus World Sports Awards 2017 in the new category - 'Best Sporting Moment of the Year'.

Singh said "a healthy diet and strict training regimen" kept the mother-son duo in good shape as they eye more medals in next year's World Masters Athletics Championships in Spain.

"Our body is God's gift and if we don't preserve this, our next generation will be weak," he said. The Chinese embassy in New Delhi refused to comment on the issue.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

SAD DEMISE

Maganbhai Patel

Maganbhai Hathibhai Patel passed away on September 25, at the age of 92. After settling in UK, he helped son Jitubhai Patel, trustee of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, UK, in his first retail

newsagent business Magsons in Burnt Oak. Maganbhai was initiated into Satsang by Brahmaswarup Pramukh Swami Maharaj himself, in October 1988.

He soon became a strong devotee dedicated the satsang with full paksh towards it and the Satpurush. Ever since the opening of the London Mandir in 1995, he did seva daily at the exhibition desk.

Maganbhai is survived by four children, nine grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.

Manji Halai

A kind-hearted person who unknowingly touched so many lives, Manji Shivji Devraj Halai passed away on September 22, at the age of 83. The former resident of Willesden

Swaminarayan Mandir, he is survived by two daughters, a son, 11 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

After moving to the UK in June 1968, he started the congregation of Swaminarayan sampraday with the blessing of Mhant Swami S h a s t r i Dharamjeevan dasi. He played an active role in SKLPC, the mandir being an important part of his life. He was a good father, husband, and grandfather and will continue to live in our memories.

Mani Kaka Born in Akhdol, Nadiad, Kheda district, Gujarat, on April 3, 1921, Manibhai Talashibhai Patel was raised by relatives in Vaso. After matriculating in 1940, he migrated to Uganda with his aunt, where he worked in a bank in Jinja and ran a cinema in the evenings and the weekends. Manibhai left the country in 1972, settling in London and initially working in an industry for a short period of time.

He soon began his own printing business with son Girish, at 52, a venture that grew to become highly respected in the country today.

Manikaka, as he was fondly called, was very active in the Liberal Democrats back when Lord Ashdown was the party leader. An overachiever, he always however, maintained time to

indulge in social and charitable work. He believed strongly in education for all. A member of the Executive Committee of the Kelavani Mandal Akhdol, he was selected president in 1996 when the school had only 250 students a staff of 12. The institution today has taken upon the responsibility of over 1000 students, and the staff has grown to 34.

Kaka was awarded Member of British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen, for his charitable work. He retired after 70. Manibhai is survived by wife Shantaben, daughters Rashmi and Sangeeta, sons Girish and Aswin, and grandchildren. He left the world at the age of 96, leaving behind memories filled with love and respect.

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

health lifestyle

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement any advice. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

Vitamins for Good Eyesight:

Foods That Can Help Nourish Your Eyes

Natural foods pack a lot of nutrients that nourish our body and help maintain optimal health of all our tissues. Eyes are also affected by the goodness of the foods that we eat.

Vision boosting and eye protecting vitamins are a well-researched topic.

There are many vitamins that when made a part of the regular diet can help in keeping your eyes healthy and functioning well. And the best part is that these vitamins are freely available in the foods that we eat daily.Here are seven best vitamins to keep your eyes healthy:

1. The most important vitamin for the eyes is Vitamin A. This is actually a group of antioxidants that positively affect our vision, bones and our immune system. Non vegetarian sources of the vitamin are beef, liver, milk and cheese. The orange, yellow and green fruits and vegetables give us

6. Folic acid, helps the body make new cells by

carotene that is converted to retinol in our body quite efficiently.

Spinach, coriander leaves, mint, amaranth, methi, pumpkin, carrots, ripe mango and papaya are all rich sources of carotene.

Vitamin A protects our cornea, the surface of the eye and is essential for good vision. It also plays a role in preventing age related macular degeneration of the eyes.

2. Vitamin C, abundantly found in food, is one of the most powerful antioxidants for our body. It maintains the integrity of our connective tissues, and the collagen in the cornea. It is essential for maintaining the health of our blood vessels, which also include the delicate blood vessels in the retina.

The teenager lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a brief, fruitless search, he gave up. His mother took up the cause and within minutes found the lens.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"We weren’t looking for the same thing," she explained. "You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150." **************************************** A guy in a Kia pulls up next to a Rolls-Royce at a red light and asks, "Hey, is your car Bluetooth enabled?"

The Rolls owner nods.

"So is mine. Got Wi-Fi?" The Rolls owner nods again.

"Me too. What about a double bed?"

"No. Do you?" asks the Rolls guy.

"Yep." The Kia owner peers out. "You got me out of the shower to tell me that?!" **************************************** A devastated-looking man knocks on the door of a woman known for her charity.

"Please, ma’am," he says when she opens up, "can you help this poor, tragic family down the block? The father just lost his job, and his wife is too ill to work.

They’re about to be turned out into the cold streets unless someone can pay their rent."

"That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard in my life!" says the woman. "May I ask who you are?"

"Their landlord." **************************************** During a visit to our friend’s home in Canada, we were feted with a wonderful breakfast. But my sixyear-old daughter was not impressed.

"Your pancakes are smaller than my mom’s," she told him.

He replied, "That’s because of the exchange rate."

Studies have shown a positive correlation between Vitamin C and a reduced risk of cataract and vision loss due to macular degeneration. Good food sources

include, cabbage, coriander leaves, capsicum, green chillies, guava, and amla.

3.

Vitamin B2 or riboflavin is essential for the skin health as it effects the collagen formation and is also known to prevent cataracts. It is essential for the oxidation and

reduction chemical reactions in our body. Sources rich in this vitamin include beef, salmon, eggs and lamb in non-vegetarian food and milk, mushrooms, spinach, almonds, and sundried tomatoes in vegetarian.

4. Vitamin B3 or Niacin is a co-enzyme for metabolism of carbs, fats and amino acids. It acts as an anti-oxidant to prevent cataracts. Diets rich in processed foods can lead to a deficiency of this vital nutrient. Peanuts, green peas, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, tuna, chicken breast and turkey breast are good sources.

5. Vitamin B6 and B12 are very essential for nervous system function and metabolism and keep your eyes, hair, liver and skin healthy. B12 deficiency can cause damage to the optic nerve. Meats are the best source for both these vitamins. B6 is also found in chickpeas, Brussel sprouts, cooked spinach and raw red pepper are also good sources.

playing a role in copying and synthesizing DNA. Deficiency of folic acid causes anaemia and increases the risk of birth defects in pregnant women. A deficiency of this vitamin may lead to optic nerve degeneration.

Green leafy vegetables like amaranth, mint, spinach, legumes, nuts and liver are good sources of this essential nutrient.

7. Vitamin E is one of the most powerful antioxidant system of our body. It is found in the lens of our eye and the retina.

Deficiency of this vitamin has been linked to the for-

mation of cataracts and macular degeneration of the eye. Vitamin E deficiency is rare. It is found in vegetable oils, wheat germ, almonds, sunflower seeds, and hazel nuts.

Our eye health depends on the quality of food we eat, just like any other organ of the body.

Supplementation of vitamins should only be done

under the guidance of a health practitioner.

Prevention is any ways better than cure, so eating a nourishing diet and including a lot of fresh foods in your diet will benefit your eyes too.

27

People who regularly eat nuts are less likely to be overweight or obese

n Nuts are so good at satisfying hunger they could even replace meat and dairy

People who regularly eat nuts are less likely to be overweight or obese, according to a new study. Those who consume the healthy snack were found to have a five per cent lower risk of carrying extra pounds compared to those who didn't.

Researchers discovered that participants in their study gained an average of almost five pounds by the end of five years, but those who eat nuts routinely gained less weight. The study's senior investigator even suggested nuts should replace animal fats.

Researchers from the university and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) examined the diets and weight of 373,000 adults aged between 25 and 70 from 10 European countries.

Many people often believe that nuts might lead to greater weight gain because of their

high fat content, but Dr Sabaté noted that the fat levels are almost entirely comprised of 'good fats.'

He says they also provide a healthy dose of protein, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that can help boost energy.

Nuts have also been linked to producing healthy aging benefits in seniors in a previous study by Dr Sabaté. Nuts that were included in this study were peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, and walnuts.

The recent study was published in the European Journal of Nutrition. Interest in a plant-based diet – championed by celebrities including Jared Leto, Gwyneth Paltrow and Mike Tyson – has grown recently as research suggests it is beneficial for heart health and even lowers the risk of certain cancers.

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28

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Use of title 'Mersal' on Thalapathy Vijay film objected

M

adras High Court has restrained Thenandal Studios from using title 'Mersal' for its upcoming Tamil movie featuring Thalapathy Vijay.

The interim injunction was granted till October 3 following a civil suit filed by A Rajendran of Film Factori. Justice Anita Sumanth passed the interim order after the petitioner claimed to have registered a similar title with the Tamil Film Producers Council in 2015.

In his affidavit, Rajendran said he had selected title 'Merrasalaitan' two years back to launch his son as a hero. He also claimed to have been renewing

‘Judwaa 2’

Twin brothers Raja and Prem are separated at birth after their father exposes a kingpin and his racket.

They eventually come together to battle a smuggling ring and save their family from certain doom.

the registration every year after the payment of necessary charges.

Just last week, 'Mersal' makers unleashed a social media storm after launching as muchawaited teaser. The film features Vijay in three different characters set in three time periods.

The teaser launch is on its way to create a record. It has clocked in a phenomenal 9 million views and managed to beat Ajith Kumar's 'Vivegam' that clocked in a record-breaking 10 million views in 3 days.

'Mersal' stars three leading ladies, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kajal Aggarwal, and Nithya Menen. Music for the film has been rendered

by AR Rahman.

Simbu to join Mani Ratnam in January 2018? Venkat Prabhu’s ‘Party’ creates a record!

F

ans are ecstatic as their favourite actor Simbu announced he would join Mani Ratnam for his next project. It has been reported that he will begin shooting for the film next year, after he wraps up a project. In the current movie Santosh Shivam will play cinematographer and Gautham Menon will pen dialogues.

While it was supposed to go on floors in September, it hasn't taken off due to the crew's prior commitments. The film will be shot in English, and have no songs.

After the completion of this project, he will join Ratnam. If the partnership of the two aces isn't enough, the movie will also star Jyothika, Fahad Fasil, Nani, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Aravind Swamy. Simbu was last seen in a triple role in 'Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan'.

Dulquer asks fans not to shoot videos of film

A

ce actor Dulquer Salmaan will play an extended cameo in Malayalam movie 'Parava'.

Requesting his fans to refrain from resorting to piracy, Dulquer wrote on his social media, “I have a sincere request to all the viewers going into watch #Parava tomorrow. Especially ardent film fans. Please don't shoot videos or clips from the movie. Even if it's an artist intro or special scenes or fights or songs. I know it's out of love and excitement. But it's still as good as piracy when it's spread all over the internet and social media.

Once it's out on DVD/Blu Ray then its a different matter.

No offence to anyone but kindly refrain from it.”

Dulquer said the film is extremely interesting and he only agreed to do it for its content. Directed by Soubin Shahir, 'Parava' features Dulquer Salmaan, Shane Nigam, Jacob Gregory, Indrans, and Srinda Ashab.

S

hooting for filmmaker Venkat Prabhu's upcoming film 'Party' has wrapped up in Fiji Islands and now only 10 days of shoot remains to be completed before the project goes into post production. Producer T

Siva of Amma Creations said, “We have been shooting for 57 continuous days in Fiji Islands. It is a big multi-starrer and we decided to finish the major schedule without any break and it has now been successfully com-

pleted. 'Party' has been shot in both, Tamil and Telugu. It is the first south-Indian film to be shot abroad for such a lengthy schedule. For a south Indian film to have such an ensemble cast and to shoot for 57 con-

tinuous days abroad is a record.”

Cast for 'Party' includes Jai, Shiva, Kayal Chandran, Nivetha Pethuraj, Sanchita Shetty, Regina Cassandra, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj, Sampath, and Jayaram.

A rare honour for Tamil cinema

D

(R to L): Anupama Kumar, Lokesh, Nakshatra Bagwe, Sharath

irector Lokesh's debut venture 'My Son Is Gay' has been officially selected at

the 29th Annual New York LGBT Film Festival. “It is our second selection after Melbourne Film Festival.

For the first time in 100 years of Tamil Cinema, a film based on gay concept starring known faces has

been selected into this New York Film Festival,” Lokesh said.

“There have been short films and concept videos but 'MSIG' is the first full length feature film. It is very exciting and the screening is on October 23. We are looking to send few more festivals and I am simultaneously working on the script of my second project which will be a movie with commercial elements.”

The film stars Anupama Kumar and Jayaprakash in pivotal roles. It is set to hit theatres soon.

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Priyanka

29 Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

bats for girl empowerment at UN B

Jacqueline, Sidharth in a relationship?

T

he newest on-screen couple in town, Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez is painting the town red by going all out to promote their upcoming film 'A Gentleman'. For Sid, who is reported to be having issues with rumoured girlfriend Alia, Jackie's companionship seems to have come at the right time.

In a recent interview, the two were asked about their “link up”, to which they coyly asked, “What, what? You wish! Whatever.” When asked how Sid never even tried to hit on Jacky, the actress replied, “Never! He wouldn't dare try.” To which Sid asked, “Oh, so you think I am not that risky?”. To this, Jacqueline said, “No, no, you know what the funny thing is, me and Sid met ages back.” She added, “We have discovered more and more about each other over the course of time. I mean, I have discovered quite a lot of things about Sid. He is quite a quiet person. He is very low key. There were lot of things that I didn't know about him but today more than a co-star, he's become a friend.”

Rishi Kapoor slams Anurag Basu and Anurag Kashyap

ollywood star, 'Quantico's Alex Parrish, and UN Goodwill Ambassador, Priyanka Chopra spoke up for girl empowerment as she felicitated an Indian woman working towards supporting acid attack survivors. Presenting the Leadership Award to Ria Sharma, she said she felt proud. “Ria founded Make Love Not Scars (MLNS), which is an organisation that actively supports survivors of acid attacks physically and mentally, and campaigns to raise awareness of the issue. Ria's efforts are contributing to change the lives of many women who have survived acid attacks,” Priyanka wrote.

PeeCee shared a photograph of herself from the event, highlighting roles played by a girl to progress towards achieving Sustainable

Katrina shows off her riffle shooting skills

'B

ang Bang' actress Katrina Kaif seems to have a lot of tricks up her sleeve as she continues to shoot for the second

V

instalment of Salman Khan's 'Ek Tha Tiger' franchise. Raising the level of excitement for the movie, Kat has been posting several photos online, keeping the buzz around the film alive. While we all have been drooling at her intense looks from the sets, it is a video shared by actor Angad Bedi of him and the actress that we love the most.

The video is captioned, “Last day of shoot on @tigerzindahai putting up my most favourite and memo-

rable moment. You gotta up your game if next door is @katrinakaif getting every shot on point!!!” The video shows both of them enjoying a round of shooting, and while Bedi seems to be struggling, Kat outshines him, like she does everybody else!

Real Haseena is different from reel Haseena: Shraddha

D

irtual loud-mouth and actor Rishi Kapoor who evidently doesn't care what the world thinks and insists on voicing his opinions from time to time, has yet again fanned flames by slamming directors Anurag Kashyap and Anurag Basu. When asked to speak impromptu on a topic given to him, during a recent interview, the actor immediately lashed out at both the filmmakers when asked to speak on topic 'Anurag'.

He allegedly stated that both of them “got indulged in their films.” He also reportedly added that they were given budgets they could not handle and that's what went wrong with their big budget films 'Bombay Velvet' by Kashyap, and 'Jagga Jasoos'

by Basu. Rishi's son Ranbir was part of both the movies that miserably bombed at the box-office after massive hype.

Development Goals (SDGs).

She wrote a caption saying, “Honoured to have participated in the Global Goals Awards night (Tuesday) at the UN General Assembly.

These awards highlight the role girls play in changing their lives and in making progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

“We all need to come together and work to empower, educate, create opportunities and impart skill sets so that we can be their catalysts for change and to help them build their brave new world. If possible, a safe one where they can live their dreams and laugh together as one,” she wrote.

irector Apoorva Lakhia who just released his Shraddha Kapoor-starrer 'Haseena Parkar' said the film is not a gangster drama, but an interesting story that gives an insight into the life of India's most-wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's sister.

“I was approached to make a film on Dawood and I felt that the subject was done to death! I don't know that anyone can play the role better than Ajay Devgn in 'Company'. I was told that I don't know Dawood's story, like when he was young, and that's how I met his family. That is also when Haseenaji

started talking about her life, from the time she was young to her old age, the tragedies in her life and what she has been through, I thought that was really interesting and I decided to make this movie. These characters that we are talking about in the film are connected to Mumbai's history.

Everything that happened in Mumbai in 40 years, the prominent gangsters who came out of gang wars from areas like Dongri and Nagpada, then the '80s which was the encounter time. This was all very interesting to me, and that's why I decided to make a film on it.”

The film features

actress Shraddha Kapoor, who plays the titular role, along with her real life brother Siddhanth who plays Dawood. Both the actors had to put on a lot of weight while preparing for the film. “I gained around 8 kg, and Siddhanth around 10 kg, as our characters in the film transform over a period of time. Both of us are still trying to lose that weight,” Shraddha laughed.

She is now gearing up for yet another biopic on badminton ace Saina Nehwal.

Shraddha has already begun taking some badminton lesson in preparations for her role.

“I have to prepare a lot for Nehwal's biopic. I have done at least 33 badminston sessions, it is the second toughest sport if I am not mistaken. I still have a long way to go and have to also work on my physique,” Shraddha said.

30

UK

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

Small GP practices pose worst risk to patients’ health, says watchdog NHS inspectors have found that one in three GP surgeries has been found to be putting patients patients at risk, with traditional small practices among the worst offenders.

Visits to all 7,365 practices across the country found out-of-date and contaminated medicines and mounting backlogs of test results, including cancer referrals, left for weeks.

At some practices there were no permanent staff at all, whilst in one case a man doing the work of a GP had no medical qualifications.

The report which was carried out by the Care

Quality Commission (CQC) found that lartger practices were more likely to get good ratings.

The report comes amid a drive by health officials to push surgeries into 1,500 ‘super-hubs’ instead of allowing individual practices to work separately.

The findings are the first full set of results from a new system of checks on GP surgeries which began being introduced across the NHS three years ago.

In total, 33 per cent of practices visited were found to be ‘inadequate’, or ‘requiring improvement.

King’s College researchers have found that tap water could be making your child’s eczema worse.

The painful condition, which causes dry and itchy skin, can be exacerbated by having a bath or shower

London Bridge attacker's friend Taha Hussain jailed over IS videos outside Windsor Castle

A close friend of the ringleader of the London Bridge terror attack has been jailed after making Islamic State propaganda videos outside Windsor Castle.

Taha Hussain and another radical extremist filmed themselves making threats and yelling IS slogans in a car outside the castle and at the nearby Coldstream Guards barracks, on the day after the Paris terror attacks in November 2015.

The 21-year-old, who was sentenced to fourand-a-half years in prison, was close friends with Khuram Butt, the man who led two other terrorists to run over and then stab innocent members of

Hard water may trigger child eczema Coming Events

l The Bhavan presents A Smorgasbord of Musings, Art on wood by Anjana Bhardwaj, from October 3 to 4, 11.00 am to 7.00 pm, at The Bhavan, The Home of Indian Arts, 4A Castletown Road, West Kensington, London W14 9HE l Chinmaya ,Mission UK: Dussehra celebrations on September 30, 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm, at Chinmaya Vidya Nagari, Bramble Grange, Hanney Road, Steventon, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX13.

l New Bhagavad Geeta class with resident Acharya, Every Sunday from October 1, 11.00 am to 12.30 pm, at Chinmaya Kirti, 2 Egerton Gardens, Hendon NW4 4BA. l New Sanskrit Classes, Every Saturday, from September 30, 11.30 am to 12.45 pm, at Chinmaya Kirti, 2 Egerton Gardens, Hendon NW4 4BA.

Sneh Joshi

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Jupiter, the planet of abun-

dance and Sun are transiting your partnership sector. You have plenty of romantic options. At work you will experience a relaxed atmosphere and this will help you to get on with everyone around you. The focus is on finances this week, find new and improved ways to boost your earning potential.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Jupiter and Sun transits

your solar 6th house, you will find it easy to do well at work and rise to great heights. During this transit you will enjoy robust health and find physical activities very enjoyable. Expect this to be a romantic period in your life with lots of opportunities arising for you to spend time with someone special.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 With Jupiter and Sun in

your 5th house of romance and creativity, you should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties.

You will meet people of your own calibre and pursue any romantic liaisons. Your communications are extremely high making it easy to close those lucrative deals.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 Your social graces will serve you well career-wise. Mixing business with pleasure will bring you benefits. You will achieve a lot by being responsible and diplomatic. Ego confrontations with family members are possible now, to handle this do your best to strengthen your relationship with your family and your home base.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

in areas of hard water, which covers more than half of England.

The hard water damages the skin barrier and increases its sensitivity to soap or washing powder.

More than half of the one in five children who suffer from the condition have a genetic predisposition to a skin barrier defect, caused by a mutation in a gene that produces filaggrin, which helps form the skin’s protection against sunburn and bacteria but reacts badly with the chemicals found in hard water and thereby breaching the skin’s barrier.

The King’s College research was funded by a water softening company and has been published in the Journal of I n v e s t i g a t i v e Dermatology.

the public on London Bridge and in Borough Market in June. Security sources have told Sky News that had he not been arrested 10 months before London Bridge, it is "perfectly conceivable he'd have gone on to play a part in that attack".

Hussain was also part of prolific terrorist recruiter Anjem Choudary's circle of radicals, and was regularly pictured with other members of the group at protests and rallies.

Choudary is also now in jail, serving five-and-ahalf years for encouraging support for IS. Hussain had been sending radical material to Mohammed Sufiyan Choudry, 23, another preacher from Maidenhead, who was jailed earlier this year after

talking about trucks full of explosives driving down Oxford Street.

Another recipient, Mohamed Abdulkadir Osman Mayow, 23, a former Asda worker from Hayes, west London, who called himself Abu Zubayr, was jailed for five years and two months in February for spreading terrorist propaganda. His

contacts also included Omar Hussain, a Morrison's security guard from High Wycombe, who went on to join IS using the name Abu Saeed al Britanni.

Taha Hussain, from Slough, was found guilty of seven counts of disseminating terrorist publications after a trial at the Old Bailey in July.

Amanda Spielman, chief inspector of England’s schools, slammed schools which shy away from promoting British values in favour of “superficial displays”, citing one educator which got its pupils to craft a picture of the Queen out of sequins.

Ms Spielman highlighted that the education system has a vital role in upholding the principles “that make us a beacon of liberalism, tolerance and fairness to the rest of the world”.

In a speech to the Birmingham Education Partnership conference, she argued British values should be at “the very heat of the curriculum”.

She said: "We know, that

even in the UK some children are being brought up in an environment that is actively hostile to some of these values.

"So the education system has a vital role in inculcating and upholding them.

Most children spend less than a fifth of their childhood hours in schools and most of the rest with their family.

"And so if children aren't being taught these values at home, or worse are being encouraged to resist them, then schools are our main opportunity to fill that gap."

She added that schools should enrich their students with a “real civic education”, including a “rich and deep curriculum in subjects such as history, English and

geography”.

Some parents may either not teach them or even encourage children to “resist” them, Ms Spielman said, adding that education had to be a “values anchor in a stormy sea”.

She also linked the failure to promote British values to schools caught up in the Birmingham Trojan Horse scandal, which saw teachers accused of secretly brainwashing young pupils with Islamic doctrine in 2014. She said 10 unregistered schools had been found in Birmingham in the past two years, with eight now registered or closed while the other two are operating legally. She described the issue as a dangerous problem.

Taha Hussain (left) was close friends with London Bridge attacker Khuram Shazad Butt (right)

Teach British values! Ofsted chief warns schools to take 'key principles' seriously

020 8518 5500

The UK’s leading Vedic writer and TV personality

Jupiter, the planet of growth and expansion with Sun is transiting your solar third house. During this period educational and communication opportunities present themselves and your ideas will be well received. The ability to express and communicate your ideas is extremely important to you at this time.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

Jupiter and Sun are transiting your solar second house. During this cycle, you are likely to see and enjoy benefits to your earning power and this will boost your own sense of security and wealth. Money problems from the past may clear up, if you manage your resources properly.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

Jupiter and Sun is transiting your sign. Your charisma, appearance and self-expression are to the forefront. This transit heightens your optimism and generosity, and the entire cycle has the potential for being a relaxed, fortunate, and hopeful time in your life. Furthering your personal ambitions comes more easily.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Jupiter and Sun is transiting your solar twelfth house. This transit brings benefits to activities that take place "behind the scenes".

Meditation and retreats may be particularly helpful to you now, as they regenerate and invigorate your spirit.

With Jupiter and Sun riding high in your 11th house, you should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people of your own calibre and pursue any romantic liaisons that might present themselves.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Whatever you are aiming to achieve, either in the near or distant future, everything is now swinging into your favour.

Do not be afraid to aim high if you are working towards promotion or wish to begin a new venture. It is definitely a time of high potential in regard to worldly achievement.

Expansive Jupiter and Sun in your Solar 9th house of travel and spirituality is good for widening your horizons. Business dealings, particularly long-distance ones and those involving publicity and promotion, are likely to be profitable now.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

Jupiter and Sun are transiting your solar eighth house of joint finances, loans, taxes, sexuality, and psychological matters. This is a time of increased accumulation of wealth and in some cases, a significant tax refund or inheritance, or other such benefits.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

SPORT

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MOEEN- MAYHEM HELPS ENGLAND TROUNCE WINDIES AsianVoiceNews

Moeen Ali scored 102 off 57 balls and helped England to take an unassailable lead in the five-match One-Day International series as they trounced Windies by 124 runs at the County Ground in Bristol. After the second game was rained out, England managed to take a 2-0 lead by winning the third ODI thanks to Moeen, who smashed the second fasted ODI ton by an English batsman and to help the home team post a mammoth 369 for 9. Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid then picked up eight wickets between them to bowl the visitors out for 245.

Soon after England posted the highest total at the venue, all eyes were on Chris Gayle. If Windies had to even challenge England, Gayle had to fire. He did smashing 94 off 78 - but was run out in the 27th over. Even when they had lost three early wickets, Gayle kept the team afloat for the first part of the chase before it fell apart for them rather quickly.

The biggest worry, even when the opener kept England on their toes with nine fours and six sixes, was finding partners for Gayle.

The Gayle-Shai Hope stand and the Gayle-Jason Mohammed partnership promised a lot but failed to produce the desired result.

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Asian Voice | 30th Septmeber 2017

Dhoni, Sindhu nominated for Padma Bhushan awards

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Gayle's wicket inflicted a body blow to Windies and they failed to recover from that blow. Evin Lewis threatened early on with two sixes but couldn't carry on. Hope could only contribute 20 while Marlon Samuels, who was at the receiving end of a debatable decision, registered his third low score of the series.

England managed to tie down Gayle but the lefthander reached his halfcentury in just 39 balls before opening up. Moeen was tonked for three consecutive sixes, which helped Gayle into the 90s

before all the hopes crashed. Plunkett picked up 5 for 52 while Rashid finished with 3 for 34 to add to the misery to the visitors.

Earlier, Windies did well in patches to put England under pressure but failed to drive home the advantage.

After England were reduced to 74 for 3, Joe Root (84) and Ben Stokes (73) were able to rebuild with ease.

Their 132-run association came in 20.4 overs before Stokes was dismissed by Rovman Powell. England then lost Jos Buttler for just 2 to slip to 210 for 5. The onus was back on Root but he failed and fell to

Cummins and the hosts found themselves in a tricky position at 217 for 6.

Then came the Moeenmayhem. He scored a 41ball 50 and then effortlessly scored ton in just 53 balls.

He scored 61 runs off 14 balls to shoot from 39 to 100. After taking Cummins for 24 in the 45th over, he followed it up with 24 off Holder's over.

Brief scores: England 369/9 in 50 overs (Moeen Ali 102, Joe Root 84, Ben Stokes 73; Miguel Cummins 3-82) beat Windies 245 in 39.1 overs (Chris Gayle 94; Liam Plunkett 5-52) by 124 runs.

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PV Sindhu

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni and shuttler PV Sindhu were nominated for Padma Bhushan awards by the Indian cricket board and the sports ministry respectively. A BCCI official said they had sent only one name for the Padma awards this year and it was a unanimous decision to nominate India's most successful captain. Dhoni's credentials are impeccable and as the only Indian captain with two World titles (2011 50-over World Cup and 2007 World T20), the BCCI did not have to ponder over likely names. The 36-year-old has scored 9,737 runs in 302 ODIs besides 4,876 runs in 90 Test matches. He has also played 78 T20 Internationals, notching up 1,212 runs. He has 16 international hundreds (6 in Tests and 10 in ODIs) along with 100 international half-centuries.

As a wicketkeeper, Dhoni has held 584 catches across formats (256 in Tests, 285 in ODIs and 43 in T20 Internationals). He has also effected 163 stumpings. Dhoni is already a recipient of the prestigious Arjuna, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Padma Shri award. World No. 2 Sindhu has been in stellar form since winning a silver medal at Rio Olympics last year.

"Yes, we have recommended Sindhu for Padma Bhushan," a Sports Ministry official. Sindhu, who was also a silver medallist at the World Badminton Championships last month, recently beat Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 22-20, 11-21, 21-18 to become the first Indian shuttler to clinch the Korea Open Super Series title. Last week, she had jumped two places to second spot in the Badminton World Federation women's singles rankings. Sindhu, 22, was awarded Padma Shri in March 2015.

INDIA CLINCH ODI SERIES AGAINST AUSTRALIA India captain Virat Kohli said Hardik Pandya is a "great asset" to Indian cricket after the allrounder steered the hosts to a series-clinching fivewicket win over Australia in Indore. Pandya's 72ball 78 and his crucial fifth-wicket stand with Manish Pandey, who remained unbeaten on 36, helped India chase down 294-run target with 13 balls to spare.

Openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane put together a 139-run partnership to lay a solid foundation for the team to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. But it was Pandya who showed maturity after being promoted to No 4 in the batting order as he put on 78 runs with Pandey, who scored the winning runs. "Rohit and Rahane were very good and then Hardik Pandya, only he can do what he does when he bats like that. He [Pandya] is a star," a delighted Kohli said after the win.

"He possess ability with the bat, ball and in the field as well. We have been wanting a guy like

that for the past five, six years. "A really explosive all-rounder is what we were missing and he's giving us that balance. A great asset for Indian cricket and I wish him all the best for the future," he added.

It was also the Indian bowlers who set up the comfortable victory after opener Aaron Finch's blazing century, restricting the visitors to 293-6 at the batting-friendly Holkar Stadium. In reply, Rohit, who hit 71, and Rahane, who made 70, combined the right dose

of caution and aggression to give the Australian bowlers a hard time. Rohit hit a huge six off Kane Richardson early in the innings that sailed out of the ground to signal his intent. He registered his 33rd ODI fifty with another six off Ashton Agar.

But the departure of the two openers created some opportunity for the Australian bowlers, who sometimes were left hard done by their fielders.

Kohli tried to take charge during his 56-run stand with Pandya but lost his wicket to left-arm spinner

Agar. Richardson got Kedar Jadhav caught behind for two as India suddenly found themselves in trouble at 206-4.

Pandya, 23, who survived a dropped chance by captain Steve Smith off Agar on 41, once again made it count for India after his 83 in the opening game in Chennai. Earlier Finch's 125-ball 124 helped Australia post 2926 in 50 overs after electing to bat first. Finch, who returned to the side after a calf injury, forged a 154run second wicket stand with Smith, who made 63 -

giving the visitors hope of a 300-plus score.

But fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav claimed two wickets each to help India fightback a strong start from the Aussies. Pandya got the first breakthrough with the all-important wicket of opener David Warner, who was bowled for 42.

India have jumped to the top of the ODI rankings for now, overtaking Australia and South Africa, but can still slip to the number-two spot if the visitors win the next two games. The fourth ODI is scheduled for Thursday in Bangalore.

Wrist spinners help India beat Aussies In the second ODI India's wrist spinners helped India beat Australia by 50 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Indians were bowled out for for 252 after electing to bat first. But Kuldeep Yadav (3-54) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2-34) ran through the Aussie middle-order to wrap them up for 202.

It was Bhuvneshwar

Kumar who provided India the right start by removing both the Oz openers Hilton Cartwright and David Warner - to reduce them to nine for two inside five overs. But a 76run third-wicket stand between Travis Head and skipper Steve Smith steadied the innings before the former fell softly, hitting a Chahal full toss straight to Manish Pandey .

Skipper Smith, who looked determined to make his 100th ODI memorable, played a lone hand before being caught beautifully by a diving Ravindra Jadeja, substituting for Kedar Jadhav, at deep mid-wicket while pulling a short one off Hardik Pandya. Smith perished for a well-made 76ball 59 that had eight hits to the boundary.

It was Yadav who then hit the final nail in the Australian coffin. Wade got an inside edge onto his stump and Agar missed the drift of the delivery to be trapped in front. Cummins was foxed by a googly which he edged to wicketkeeper Dhoni.

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Asian Voice | 30th September 2017

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