Asian Voice

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Power cut blacks out more than half of India

Congress leader calls Modi ‘Gujarat’s lion’

For report see page 25

For report see page 24

VOL 41. ISSUE 14

80p

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe 4th August to 10th August 2012

Olympics: London dazzled in a grand opening spectacle

ery to make it seem that Britain's beloved 86-yearold Queen Elizabeth II had parachuted into the stadium with the nation's most famous spy. A short film showed 007 driving up to Buckingham Palace in a black London cab and, pursued by her majesty's royal dogs - Monty, Willow and Holly, playing them-

selves - meeting the Queen, who played herself.

"Good evening, Mr. Bond," she said. They were shown flying in a helicopter over London landmarks and a waving statue of Winston Churchill - the queen in a salmon-colored gown, Bond dashing as ever in a black tuxedo - to the stadium and then leaping

Anna Hazare started his indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar amid impressive public response.

Aggressive as ever, he attacked the government for not establishing a strong institution of Lokpal and vowed to fight till death for his cause. The poor turnout witnessed at Jantar Mantar which marked three days of indefinite fast by his team members, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai gave way to large crowds.

The 75-year-old activist asked people not to worry about his health as people will not let him die. “I am ready to sacrifice my life for the cause. I am confident that people will not let me die.”

He accused the government of betraying him three times. He referred to 15 ministers of the Manmohan Singh govern-

ment who are listed by his team as corrupt and said they were blocking the passage of a strong Lokpal Bill. He asserted that his movement was to awaken the people to the fact that they were the real masters and politicians their servants. He refuted the charge that he had deviated from his path and said: “It is the government which is moving away from its path. Our main demand is to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed.”

Anna Hazare said he was neither joining politics nor launching a political party but would support "honest" and "good candidates" nominated by people in the 2014 general elections. The 75-year-old anti-corruption crusader said several people have been asking him to come out with an "alternative" against corrupt politicians.

Continued on page 26

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The queen and James Bond gave the London Olympics a royal entrance like no other Friday in an opening ceremony that rolled to the rock of the Beatles, the Stones and The Who. The creative genius of Danny Boyle, Oscar-winning director's $42 million show was pure movie magic, using trick-

out into the inky night. At the same moment, real skydivers appeared in the skies over the stadium throbbing to the James Bond soundtrack. And moments after that, the monarch appeared in person, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip.

Organizers said it was thought to be the first time the monarch has acted on film. Boyle sprang a giant surprise and picked seven teenage athletes for the supreme honor of igniting the Olympic cauldron.

Together, they touched flaming torches to trumpetlike tubes that spread into a ring of fire.

Boyle, though, like the true showman he is, saved the best till last. His interpretation of a Saturday night in suburbia which wrapped things up before the athletes arrived was a work of inspired genius. To one side of the stadium, a semi-detached house appeared. Then in the middle a huge inflatable version was erected, on to which were projected images of what was going on inside.

And on this particular night, it was party time, Continued on page 26

Lokpal bill: Anna Hazare begins 'indefinite' fast

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

one to one Keith Vaz MP with

Heidi Alexander MP Heidi Alexander has been the Labour Member of Parliament for Lewisham East since 2010.

She is a member of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee and has recently been appointed as an Opposition Whip.

She was elected to Lewisham Council in 2004 and served as the borough’s Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Regeneration from 2006-10.

As Chair of London’s leading economic development company, Greater London Enterprise, Heidi led work to support small and medium sized businesses in the capital. She also played a key role in the rebuilding of Lewisham’s Secondary Schools as a director on Lewisham’s Local Education Partnership.

She started her career working in Parliament for Joan Ruddock MP. What inspired you to stand for Parliament?

There were lots of different things really. I wanted to make a difference and to tackle the inequalities I could see in the part of London that had become my home. I could see lots of good talkers in Parliament but felt it needed some good listeners too. I also wanted to

What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

In some ways, I think I am my own worst enemy. I can be very critical of myself and am always wanting to do things better. Getting the balance right between having enough self-confidence but not too much is really important in politics.

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

Dame Joan Ruddock (Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford).

Joan gave me my first job in politics and I learnt a huge amount from her.

She’s a forceful campaigner but does it her way, something which I respect enormously.

be part of a more diverse Parliament – I thought there were too many middle-aged men in grey suits!

What are your proudest achievements in politics?

Surviving my first two years in Westminster!

More seriously, I am very proud of the work that I did when I was a

for Lewisham East since 2010. I try to make myself as accessible as possible to my constituents, but juggling the work in the constituency and in Parliament can be hard – there never seem to be enough hours in the day.

Councillor in Lewisham. I was the Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Regeneration for four years and led a programme of huge invest-

Preserve your heritage Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar has been serving the British Asian community for the last 40 years.

Each year we go from strength to strength in terms of quality content and circulation. We give our valued readership a comprehensive news platform as well as other features on health, entertainment, business & finance, politics,sport ex...

On the auspicious event of 40th Anniversary of Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice, we are proud to present once in a life time opportunity to create your very own personal documentary film. In today's world it is necessary to preserve our culture and history.

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ment in our schools and town centres.

Please tell us about your current position?

I’ve been the Labour MP

What is the best thing about your current role?

I think it’s the wide range of people I come into contact with and the

Protests held against Dow Chemical sponsorship during torch relay

On Wednesday 25 July the London Assembly Navin Shah and local protesters took the opportunity during the torch relay in Harrow to take a peaceful and dignified stance against the sponsorship of London Olympics by Dow Chemical Company.

In the bright sunshine and festive atmosphere hundreds of people stood on both sides of the road outside the Siddhashram Shakti International Centre (Hindu Temple) awaiting the torch. The

protesters joined the crowd and celebrated this event. When the torch procession passed the temple, the protesters cheered and displayed the banner reminding the community of the injustice in Bhopal at the hands of Dow Chemical Company. Many amongst the crowd joined the protesters who are not against the London Olympic games but the protest was staged to highlight the plight of the Bhopali victims.

fact that no one day is ever the same. One minute I might be speaking to Lewisham school children, the next I am asking the Home Secretary a question about Olympic security.

And the worst?

Being an opposition MP can be frustrating – if Government Ministers aren’t willing to listen you can feel like you are hitting your head against a brick wall.

What are your long term goals?

I’d like to stay true to who I am, stay fit and healthy and be a hardworking and respected Member of Parliament.

It’s said that every politician is destined to disappoint – I’d like to avoid disappointing too many people if that’s possible.

If you were Secretary General of the United Nations, what one thing would you change?

The fact that there are 925M in the world living in chronic hunger and that 1 in 8 people don’t have access to clean water has to be tackled. I think it’s easy to forget that many people don’t have the things that we all take for granted.

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Qatada's judicial review application dismissed Radical preacher Abu Qatada lost his latest bid for freedom on Tuesday.

Two judges at the High Court in London rejected his challenge against his continuing detention by Home Secretary Theresa May. Lord Justice Hughes, sitting with Mr Justice Silber, said the court was 'quite satisfied' that Qatada’s judicial review application should be dismissed.

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

COMMENT

Rich Asians should emulate Mittal’s philanthropy Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, one of the torch bearers for London Olympics, has contributed 20 million pounds towards the ArcelorMittal Orbit near the Olympics Stadium. India which has won just 18 medals at 21 summer Olympics since 1920 has been struggling to fund the Olympic preparations.

Billionaires Lakshmi Mittal and Mukesh Ambani have stepped in to bankroll training and equipment for athletes and try to put more Indians on the podium in London. Mittal’s philanthropy deserves appreciation.

After witnessing India won only one medal, bronze, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and one medal, silver, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Mittal decided to set up Mittal Champions Trust with US $9 million to support 10 Indian athletes with world-beating potential. In 2008, Mittal awarded Abhinav Bindra with Rs 15 million, for getting India its first individual Olympic gold medal in shooting.

Mittal’s is a case in point, as he has broken the mold of the over ambitious entrepreneur and replaced it with an inspiring combination of business savvy, philanthropy and individualism.

Every time a ‘Rich List' is published, perhaps the one reason we should examine it (especially in these days of global economic hardship) is to check how much the wealthy plough back into charity and philanthropy. Especially wealthy Indians, no matter where they live.

Charities and NGOs which tap the Indian rich for

largesse usually complain that it takes a lot of effort to make the seriously rich spend on anything other than their own personal glorifications or on temples.

Though some industrialists are bucking the trend, one can only hope that the Mittal’s philosophy will be infectious - and indeed the ‘giving' virus will be caught by all of us as well.

But all of this ‘giving', big or small, is very good news indeed, as at last it seems that our Indian entrepreneurs have realised that the true worth of their wealth is only appreciated when they support worthwhile causes.

While Mittal continues to be the richest man in the UK, he is rather a figure to be included on the top 50 philanthropy list, we should be grateful for at least one Indian!

Making money is not a bad proposition. Instead of keeping everything for your personal use, keep a percentage of it for philanthropy so that less fortunate can also have a decent life. Money which you made is not going to remain with you for ever; so give a percentage for charity and your good deeds will be remembered for a long time. Asians who are making a lot of money should ask one question; am I contributing a part of it for charity and well-being of my fellow human beings.

If not it is time to do so. We Asians have to learn from the philanthropic deeds of Jews. The Jews as a whole contribute a part of their earnings for the well-being of others.

Need to prune election expenses in US This is the first election in US history where the two candidates have raised more than $2.4 billion - setting the world record for the most expensive presidential campaign.

In the hunt for campaign money, no distance is too far to travel, especially when the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is tight and likely to stay that way into the fall. The Democratic president and his Republican challenger have been aggressively courting Americans living abroad at fundraisers held far beyond US shores. Such efforts serve the dual purpose of raising money to pay for what may be the most expensive election in US history, and galvanizing a largely untapped group of eligible voters.

Obama has raised nearly $600,000 from Americans abroad while Romney has brought in about $325,000, according to campaign finance records analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. Those figures don't include sums raised overseas by both party committees or Romney's take from a pair of fundraisers in London during his visit there recently. The sums are just a fraction of the more than $300 million Obama has raised overall and the $155 million raised by Romney, but every penny counts in a race.

The cost of the presidential campaign in 2004, considered a peak at that time, was 693 million dollars. As a historical comparison, the campaign two decades ago that saw Republican George H W Bush succeed Ronald Reagan at the White House cost 59 million dollars. Historians believe that the nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, spent 100,000 dollars in his bid to take the executive office in 1860. Since the presidential campaigning began in January 2007, White House candidates from both parties have raised $1.5

billion, double the amount collected in 2004 and triple the figure in 2000.

Data compiled by Obama's campaign show that by Election Day, Obama will have outspent McCain and the RNC, $278 million to $176 million on broadcast and cable TV, including $3 million for 30-minute infomercial on seven national television networks. With the internet being harnessed to amass political donations on a huge scale for the first time, Obama had managed to smash all previous records – raising $639 million to date, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The most expensive residential address in the United States is not in Hollywood - or Manhattan. It's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington - the White House.

Its current occupant, Barack Obama, raised nearly $750 million in 2008 to win the presidency and move in there.

Every election the fund raising effort escalates. The moot question at what cost you are raising funds from corporates. After the election the fund givers will demand for their pound of flesh. The government has to give in to their demands. That means ultimately the public has to bear the brunt. In addition to super PACs, non-profit groups are also spending heavily on the 2012 race, campaign finance experts said, and those groups aren't required to disclose their donors as long as their political activities stay within certain limits. "As long as there is secret money sloshing around in our national elections, the public simply has no way of knowing if illegal foreign money is working its way into influencing our presidential and congressional races," said Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, which advocates for campaign finance reform. The US can learn a lesson or two from the British and Indian election expenses. It is high time for reforms in US election expenses.

Lokpal bill is urgently needed in India Indian constitution has stood the test of time. With the passage of time more stringent laws are need to check corruption and nepotism. Public opinion also demanded stringent laws to rectify this malaise. It is shame that in the Indian legislature, both at the centre and in state a large number of MPs and MLAs have “criminal past”.

Realising the mood of the public, social activist Anna Hazare has come out with the Jan Lokpal bill. His proposed bill has been discussed with the central government time and again. Every time he was assured that the government would come out with a Lokpal bill.

Time passed and nothing happened. The government always tried to test his patience and finally come out with a bill which was not at all effective. Hazare was forced to begin an indefinite fast for the passage of the bill. The sad fact is that none of the political parties was happy with his bill. They know that if Hazare’s bill was passed many of the corrupt politicians would lose their plum posts and will land in jail.

Very few social activists have captured the attention of Indians across the globe as Anna Hazare did during his "fast unto death" over the Lokpal Bill. Hazare, a Gandhian by belief, outlook and practice, has become the face of India's fight against corruption. During his fast, Hazare has managed to inspire and mobilize the support of even the ultra-modern Indians - Indians for whom the word "social" only means having a profile on social networking sites. The "Anna Hazare fast" can be described as the first real "social networking movement"

in India. Hazare, a former Army man, began his social activism from Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, where he successfully led a movement against alcoholism and made Ralegan Siddhi a "model village". Hazare's campaign was instrumental in the implementation of the Right to Information Act in Maharashtra, which is considered one of the best RTI Acts in India. Hazare, like his idol, Mahatma Gandhi, has triggered a debate over the use of fast as a means of protest in India. By sheer commitment and simplicity, he has demonstrated that Gandhian principles are relevant even in the 21st-century India.

Hazare’s battle against corruption isn’t just his battle. It’s every Indian’s battle. If Hazare fails, we fail.

Politicians across party lines stand to lose most if the movement succeeds in getting a strong Lokpal Bill legislated in parliament. So the political parties have joined together to scuttle his bill. During the election money and muscle power are used to win elections.

Clean candidate stood to lose the election. So the only remedy to rectify the malaise is to bring in stringent laws so that people with criminal background were barred from contesting the election. India needs a clean and efficient administration. The ruling Congress should concede to Hazare’s demand and bring the Lokpal bill to clean corruption in the body politics so that every Indian can hold his head high and reap the benefits of democracy. It is time for the political parties to support the bill and save democracy.

www.abplgroup.com

Thought for the Week

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy - Martin Luther King (1963)

Sarah Teather MP Liberal Democrat MP for Brent Central and Minister of State for Children and Families

Making childcare work for parents and children The school summer holidays are now well underway and while it’s a great opportunity for parents to spend more time with their children, I know that for many parents it can be tough to balance work commitments and ensure that their children get the care and attention they need.

Some parents are lucky and are able to call on family members or friends to lend a helping hand, but for others it can be a real struggle to find childcare that is both high quality and affordable. This also isn’t an issue that goes away once children return to school in September. Working parents with children too young for school spend substantial amounts on childcare and many parents with children at school find themselves relying on after-school clubs.

I know that high quality childcare is expensive. This is why this Government is already providing 15 hours a week of free early years education for every three and four year old during term time and, starting in September, this offer will be extended to the least advantaged 20 per cent of two year olds. What is more, by 2014 four in every ten two year olds will be eligible for 15 hours a week of free early years education.

Not only will this extra entitlement allow more children to develop the social and cognitive skills they need to do well at school, it will also help hard working parents meet the cost of childcare. This is a good start, but the Government is determined to do more.

In June, David Cameron and Nick Clegg announced the launch of a new childcare commis-

sion. The commission, which I am leading along with Maria Miller MP the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions, will explore ways of making childcare more affordable for working families and reducing unnecessary burdens on providers.

We want to make sure that the childcare system supports families who are balancing work and family life. This includes encouraging more provision before and after the school day as well as during the school holidays at a price that makes work pay.

To make sure we have all the information we need to improve the childcare system, we want the everyday experts – the parents, childminders and nursery owners – to share their ideas and experiences.

Submissions to the commission can be made via the Department for Education website until the end of August, and I would encourage as many people as possible to get in touch.

High quality early years education, through play and stories, helps young children prepare for school in their crucial early years. Children who have attended a highquality pre-school do better in reading and maths aged six than those who have not, a positive impact that is still visible at eleven.

Improving the provision of childcare and ensuring that it’s affordable will really help hard working families up and down the country, so it’s vital that we get this right. By working together, we can make sure the childcare is available when it’s needed, where it’s needed, and at an affordable price.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Hare Krishna Festival of Chariots is highlight of oldest street festival Thousands of devotees pulled a huge chariot through the city Sunday to celebrate the world's oldest street festival.

Dancers, drummers and flag wavers led the Hare Krishna Festival of Chariots from Cossington Street, in Belgrave, to a huge party at Leicester's Town Hall Square.

The 15th annual Ratha-yatra festival was staged by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

Devotees, who usually start in Humberstone Gate and finish in Belgrave, were forced to reverse their procession, due to waterlogged ground at Cossington

Street Park.

Pradyumna Dasa, president of the group's new temple in Granby Street, Leicester, said: "Though it was never our

plan to move the festival, it seems to us that Krishna's plan is to go towards his new home in the centre of the city."

For the Jethwa family

Jesus the 'mighty prophet' A mosque is to stage a play about the lives of Jesus and Mary.

Worshippers from Leicester's Muslim Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Community are to stage the interfaith production to highlight the similarities between Islam and Christianity.

Jesus is a central figure in the Koran, in which he is known as Isa, and is revered as a major prophet fabled for his miracles, just as he is in the Bible.

The play will be performed at mosque in Duxbury Road, New Humberstone, Leicester.

The religious production is being put on as part of an inter-faith day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

People wanting to attend the event from 7pm on Saturday, August 4, can either give up food and water during daylight hours, as most Muslims do, or just give up a treat.

Secretary of the organising group Ali Abbas Panju said: "Along with being the month of prayer, fasting and other benefits, Ramadan is also the month of unity. We are requesting that all attendees keep a one-day fast for the purpose of attaining closeness to God. The fast may be a fruit fast, a water fast, simply keeping away from something

enjoyable for one day, or giving up a bad habit consciously for just one day."

The 40-minute play, called The Fast of Maryam and Isa, will be shown twice and focus on Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.

Suleman Nagdi, of the Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicestershire, said: "Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all based on the same early texts and the only real difference between Christians and Muslims is that Jesus is not seen as the literal son of God in Islam, but as a mighty prophet who performed miracles. There are 24 mentions of Jesus in the Koran and a whole passage about his mother Mary. A lot of people are unaware of how important they are. The play has been chosen as it highlights these similarities

and a devout Christian would be comfortable with the play. There are parts of the world where there are difficulties but there are also parts where Muslims and Christians work very closely together.

Christians and Jews are all considered 'people of the book' within Islam, following religions with the same message."

Manjula Sood, chair of the Leicester Council of Faiths, will be attending the event. "I think it's very helpful to celebrate the commonalities as well as the differences between the faiths.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam have so many similarities and it's good to get together and remember the goodness of all faiths and the message of peace and harmony they share. Our ability to celebrate one another's faiths is a great strength of our city."

from Syston, it was a perfect opportunity to celebrate their Hindu faith together.

Dad Jit, 41, said: "It is important that our children learn about our festivals.

We are all born and bred in Leicester, a multi-cultural city that allows us to celebrate our culture and beliefs. It's fantastic."

Daughter Devi, eight, said: "My favourite part is the singing and the food."

Sister Bhavani, 11, said: "We have had a really nice day. I like watching it all pass us."

The procession fea-

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tured a 40-foot chariot, which carried representations of Lord Jagannatha (Krishna) and his siblings, Lady Subhadra and Lord Balarama.

Work colleagues Siva Narayanasamy, 27, and Vimal Srinivasan, 30, watched the procession gather in Gallowtree Gate.

Siva, who lives in the city, said: "I'm really impressed by the size of the chariot. It's like being in India."

Vimal, also from the

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city, said: "It really gives you a divine feeling when we share our religion across the city. It sends such a good message."

For Lalita Dasi, from Groby, it was also a chance to catch up with friends and family.

The 53-year-old said: "You end up bumping into people you haven't seen since last year."

The procession ended with a party at the town hall, with dance and yoga displays, singing and vegetarian food.

Temple plan for historic site An historic building in the heart of the St George Conservation Area in Leicester could become a place of worship.

The city council has received a licensing inquiry about the empty Edwardian Guild for the Disabled building, in Colton Street, from the Shri Shirdi Baba Temple Association, an international religious organisation.

Leaders would like to use the Grade II-listed building, which is on English Heritage's "at risk" list, as a temple and meeting place.

Darshan Singh Nagi is chairman of the Shri Shirdi Baba Temple Association, which has a UK base in Wembley, north London. "We are in the process of signing a lease with the owners but want to be sure that it would be okay to use the building for worship. That's why we have applied to the council for a certificate for this purpose."

The temple association takes its name from Indian holy man and deity Sai Baba, of Shirdi, a village near Mumbai, who preached peace, charity and harmony under one god.

Mr Singh said: "He was well known for performing miracles and although his

millions of devotees worldwide observe a loosely Hindu tradition, he is revered by Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Hindus alike. The hall would be used by our followers in Leicester and all people would be welcome."

The city council refused a licensing application last year by Belgrave developer Ashik Madlani – who wanted to use it to stage plays, films, wrestling, live music and dance events – after concerns were raised by residents over noise disturbance.

"Our use would be a very quiet and peaceful one. We would like to breath new life into this truly beautiful and historic building so that the people of Leicester can be proud of it once again," said Mr Singh.

Graham Lees,

spokesman for the Leicester Victorian Society, said: "When a lovely building like this is left empty for too long it is a big concern to us. It is far better for it to cared for and maintained while being used in an appropriate way."

A Leicester City Council spokesperson said: "The application is for a Certificate of Proposed Lawful Use. This process allows the applicant to ask for the council's legal opinion as to whether or not the Guild for the Disabled can be used as a place of worship without the need for planning permission.

Current planning legislation allows for the grouping of similar uses in one category. A training centre and place of worship would fall within the same group."

Brum riots: Families 'let down' at verdict The families of three men killed during last year's riots in Birmingham have instructed lawyers to review a trial after eight men were cleared of murder.

Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, died in August, 2011, after being hit by a car in Winson Green, Birmingham.

The previous week a jury at Birmingham Crown Court found found

eight men not guilty.

Tariq Jahan, father of Haroon, said families had been left in "utter shock and despair".

Mr Jahan, who appealed for calm immediately after the verdict, said: "The community did not let us down. The law however, has. Our sense of disappointment and regret over this verdict cannot be stated in words."

Speaking at a press conference, he said the

families were "no longer able to trust the criminal justice system to provide the answers we so desperately need".

"We have therefore instructed lawyers to review the criminal trial and the events that led to the death of our sons," he added.

Mr Jahan, Mr Ali and Mr Musavir died on 10 August after being hit by a car on Dudley Road in Winson Green, Birmingham. They were

part of a group of about 80 men who had gathered to defend local businesses after riots and looting had started in the Handsworth area. All eight defendants denied they planned to kill the men in a co-ordinated attack using three cars.

During his summing up at the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, the judge, Mr Justice Flaux, said in reaching its verdicts, the jury had decided that it

Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir were run over during last summer's riots

"was not a deliberate killing" and there had been "no plan to kill these three young men".

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is

investigating a senior detective at West Midlands Police after the judge told the court Det Ch Insp Anthony Tagg had "invented" evidence given under oath.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Team India disappoints guests, while Team Anna continues protesting in the UK Rupanjana Dutta Spriha Srivastava

Indian High Commissioner Dr Jaimini Bhagwati with Ajay Maken, Sports Minister of India

(essentially the majority of India) line there are no avenues or doors to knock on – be it for the empowerment of their children via education, access to basic, primary health services, access to hassle free interactions with the executive machinery and so on.”

He further added, “a large part of the ills stem from the fact that our system need to be reformed and refreshed to take into consideration the reality of today e.g. removing the abuse of CBI by making it independent etc. The Lokpal is but one of the steps needed to reach the goal of a fairer and just India.”

However, the IAC-GB team believes at this time, the Indian media should be more supportive of the movement. On an exclusive interview he told Asian Voice, “Instead of speculating the numbers attending or if Anna’s magic has faded they should be asking tough questions to the 15 tainted ministers. All allegations are in the public domain and so far not one media house has dared to ask the ministers about the allegations.

It’s the elected representatives who should have been held up to a greater level of scrutiny and not the messenger e.g. Team Anna,” said Raj.

Glamour girl ‘identity’ in death plunge case revealed The glamour girl who is believed to have enraged a catwalk model who plunged to her death from a luxury apartment an hour after they met has been named as Lauren Penney.

Sahar Daftary, 23, Sahar with husband Rashid pictured, had a furious row with her husband Rashid Jamil after discovering Miss Penney and her friend had been staying in the flat.

An hour after former escort Miss Penney and Helen Marshall, another escort, left the property, Miss Daftary fell 150ft to her death.

Property developer Mr Jamil has always insisted that Miss Daftary, a former Face of Asia winner, committed suicide but was arrested on suspicion of murder but was released without charge.

Miss Daftary’s family accuse Greater Manchester Police of failing to carry out a proper investigation.

Polygamous immigrants to get higher benefits?

Immigrants with more than one wife because of their religion are to get higher benefits in future after Government attempts to reform the welfare system spectacularly backfired.

Under new rules, the extra wives in a polygamous household will for the first time be able to claim a full single person's allowance, while the original married couple will still get a married person's allowance, official papers have warned. These details were revealed in a paper published in the House of Commons library, as reported by a daily. Currently in the UK it is illegal to marry more than once. But if the multiple marriages took place abroad then it is not.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions told Mail Online that 'Polygamy is illegal in this country and it would be wrong for the benefits system to legitimise these arrangements by recognising them in any way.'

UKBA hit with new controversy

Photo courtesy: Spriha Srivastava

The Indian High Commission organised a reception for the 81 qualified Indian Olympians on Thursday 26 July 2012 at the India House. On Monday 23 July, the Mittal Champions Trust had organised a gala reception for the 15 Olympians they funded and Bhupathi, Bopanna, Laishram, Swuro, Sidhu glittered the evening with their presence.

Though the Indian High Commissioner Dr Jaimini Bhagwati kindly threw a party to celebrate the success of the qualifiers, wishing them lucknone of the Indian Olympians barring one qualifier was spotted in the party.

The only Olympian who kindly joined reception, quickly shied away before the media could throw questions at him for the absence of his team mates. The Indian coach also remained silent on this subject.

It was widely 'rumoured' that the athletes were busy preparing for the Olympics which was a day away, and therefore collectively decided not to turn up, though there was no one available to confirm the news or no formal announcement made for those eager guests who waited infinitely to meet Team India.

The evening was attended by British Indian MPs and Lords, such as Virendra Sharma, Lord Swarj Paul, Lord Noon along with a handful of journalists including that from Evening Standard, few sports commentators such as Charu Sharma, Mihir Bose and some renowned professionals from the city.

As the wines and juices flowed, The Indian High Commissioner formally welcomed the guests and Ajay Maken, Sports Minister of India publicly announced that all the Indian sportsmen who had qualified for Olympics would be offered a Grade B job ie of a coach, so that they can forever do 'what's close to their heart'. It was also added that anyone who won a medal in Olympics, would automatically qualify for grade A jobs.

As the party continued inside without the sports men, outside India house stood a group of men with flags and posters, shouting slogans in support of Anna Hazare, the new Indian hero.

Team Anna members held on to the Indian flag, a picture of Anna and their voices echoed deeper.

These men & women are part of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement and refer themselves as IAC-Great Britain. The group has a total of 2000 members registered from across the UK and in the past few days the movement has become stronger.

On Saturday, a huge number of Indian NRIs gathered in front of the Indian High Commission to show solidarity. IAC-GB aimed to support the movement back in India for as long as Team Anna was on fast and for as long as it took to reach their goal.

But what is their goal? As per Raj Redij-Gill, the coordinator for IAC-GB chapter, “Essentially, all of us believe in a just and fairer India. An India where all of its citizens regardless of caste, creed, religion etc. can share in the fruits of development and not be discriminated against each other. We feel that over the decades, the political class and lawmakers have systematically undermined, compromised and hollowed out our democratic systems to their own benefits – for both financial and reasons of power. Currently the inequality between citizens of India has only been widening in leaps and bounds. For those who can work the system it can reap wonderful rewards, but for citizens who are not well connected, for the rest of citizens

5

Team Anna outside Indian High Commission

While Team Anna in India is on an indefinite fast, Team IAC-GB is continuing to host solidarity vigils outside the Indian High Commission and is hoping to gather more and more support in the days to come. “A larger number of supports come at the weekends. During these events we try and come up with creative expressions of our support e.g. hand printed flag, IAC t-shirts,” Raj said.

The next question is whether the British Asians are concerned with the corruption in India! We asked a young British Asian what he thought of the IAC movement and he said, “I think it’s a great initiative. I have read about the Indian freedom movement and this seems so close to that. I wish them all the best.”

According to Raj, “Whether it’s British Asians or NRIs, they are all concerned directly or indirectly with various social causes back in India either in their generation homes or areas of interest e.g. women’s empowerment, child poverty etc. Corruption has an adverse effect on these social causes and impacts them in a disproportionate manner – hence we feel that anyone concerned with the betterment of India and its citizens should be concerned with the extent of corruption.”

The IAC team also believes that the government hasn’t kept its promises in the past. “We have to expand this movement to the wider political class and not just the Indian government. The Indian government has not kept its word by presenting a version that is deeply ineffective and weak Lokpal bill in Parliament, which it always intended to do. What then, was the need to go through the sham of consulting with Team Anna. The Parliament/ political class has also let down Indian citizens after agreeing to the 3 points in principle – 1) Citizens Charter 2) lower bureaucracy to be under Lokpal through appropriate mechanism and 3) establishment of Lokayukytyas in the states.

Parliament after agreeing a “sense of the house” is now at a stage of splitting hairs (sense of house is not a resolution etc.) and going back on its word given to citizens of India in putting the 3 points in action”, Raj said.

With Team Anna’s indefinite fast this time, will the government accept the legitimate demands of IAC? Will IAC succeed in its endeavours? “Yes – It’s not IAC but the people of India who are confident of eventual success. IAC is nothing else but an instrument that voices their demands and needs,” said a confident Raj.

The UK Border Agency has been hit by new controversy after it emerged it was spending millions of pounds deporting failed asylum seekers on near empty chartered flights.

UKBA has spent £133million in the last five years, or an average of £5,000, sending each person back to their home country, according to information released under a Freedom of Information request.

But the figures released to the Sunday Express show that many of the planes are leaving more than half empty due to lastminute appeals by those trying to stay in UK. MPs on the Commons Home Affairs Committee said the UK had become a ‘Bermuda Triangle’ for migrants, a country where it is ‘easy to get in, but impossible to keep track of anyone, let alone get them out’.

Some 21,000 new asylum cases have built up because officials were able to process only 63 per cent of last year’s applications.

In addition, there are 150,000 legal immigrants who came as students and workers but whose visas have since expired. This figure is rising by 100 every day.

The UK Border Agency does not know if these immigrants are still here, despite the fact they have no right to stay.

Baroness Warsi cleared of cheating charges Baroness Warsi, the Conservative peer, has been cleared of charges that she cheated on her expenses by claiming for overnight accommodation at a house she stayed in for free. However, the co-chairman of the Conservative Party was found to have breached House of Lords rules by failing to register her second home properly.

The Party initially issued a press release on her behalf saying the charges against her had been "dismissed ".

It emerged several hours later that the Lords' Commissioner for Standards had in fact criticised the peer's lack of transparency about her living arrangements.

6

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Shadow Minister visits Multi-Cultural Centre

model' - although the detail of how this would work is not yet known.

Hilary was joined on the visit by Leader of Barnet Labour Group, Cllr Alison Moore, Labour's Spokesperson for Adults Social Care, Cllr Barry Rawlings, Labour's Spokesperson for Community Engagement, Cllr Anne Hutton, and the three West Hendon councillors, Ansuya Sodha, Julie Johnson and Agnes Slocombe.

After much campaigning including letters published in Asian Voice, Labour councillors will be calling for the decision to cut 23 per cent from day services, to be reversed at this week's Business

Student pleads guilty to computer hacking An Indian-origin student of Liverpool John Moores University has been charged with hacking into it's computer system has pleaded guilty.

Manchester-based Charantoor Kultar Singh, 22, was arrested by officers from the North West Hub of the Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) on April 30 over the suspected hacking.

He has now pleaded guilty to the charge of unauthorised access to a

computer system and unauthorised impairment of a computer programme.

Singh, who appeared at the Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Monday, is due to be sentenced on August 20.

Singh admitted an offence under section two of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 - gaining unauthorised access to a computer with intent to commit fraud by false representation.

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

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community campaign against changes to UK immigration laws In the last 2 years the British Government has tried innumerable ways to target the immigrants. It has resulted into endless confusion with hardly much of a difference in the numbers. Asian Voice has run several stories raising issues that affect immigrants directly and indirectly. In the 16th June issue (page 1) we spoke about a 'future' campaign and invited our dear readers to write to us about their feeling regarding the upcoming laws to be enforced on immigrants who want to settle here with their families.

This week we have launched the campaign formally and we want more of you, in fact all of you to support us to make our government realise Britain is a multicultural country, where every tradition and faith should be given its due credit. The upcoming changes are to directly and severely affect our culture, age old traditions and our ways of life. We need the government give us our due 'right to equality and life'. Read on to know more about our campaign and the ways you can support this campaign.

Hilary Benn, MP speaks to the day care centre users

On Thursday 26th July, Barnet Asian Older People's Association (BAOPA) day centre users had a surprise visit at Barnet's Multi-Cultural Centre from Hilary Benn MP, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Hilary heard first hand from day centre users about Barnet council's 'One Barnet programme' proposal to cut 23 per cent from older people's day services, raising concerns about the future of the day centre which has been running for 25 years.

The council propose moving away from traditional Day Centre services to a 'neighbourhood

Asian Voice launches

Management Overview & Scrutiny Committee (BMOSC) meeting.

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hilary Benn MP said: “We know that these are difficult times for council’s up and down the country because of the big cuts in funding that they are facing. But I think it is the responsibility of everybody to make sure that we do everything we can to find a way to keep places like these open.

“What is important in our societies and communities are the relationships we have with one another. It is that sense of community that is built by coming together with your neighbours.”

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020 7749 4085

On the 9th July 2012 the Government will begin to introduce changes to immigration laws which will restrict the number of people who are able to come to this country. There are two main changes; they will begin to abolish the right of appeal for family visitors applying for a visa to visit the United Kingdom; and they will introduce minimum income requirement for persons wishing to sponsor a family immigration application.

These changes will have a profoundly negative impact on many of our readers, on our grandparents our husbands and wives, our aunties and uncles and cousins. We as a newspaper feel it is only right to launch a campaign against the changes that is why we urge you to join our community campaign for families against the proposals.

Main changes at a glance Changes to family migration routes: l Will introduce a new minimum income requirement for persons wishing to sponsor an application for a nonEEA national partner l Will have to demonstrate a minimum gross annual income of £18,600 l The minimum threshold increases if the applicant has children; £22,400 for one child and an additional £2,400 for each child l Previously there was no minimumincome requirement l Allowing adult and elderly to settle in the UK only where they can demonstrate as a result of age, illness or disability, they require a level of long-term

personal care that can only be provided by a relative in the UK l Will extend the minimum probationary period for settlement from two years to five years Right of appeal against visa decisions: l Uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and first cousins will no longer be considered to be family visitors for appeals purposes l They will no longer be able to appeal against family visitor visa refusal decisions l The government intends to eventually completely remove the right to appeal to any visa application What we are doing We are writing to all MPs to urge them to join our campaign against the Government’s proposals We are writing to Ministers at the Home Office to ask them to review the decision

How you can help You can write to your MP to raise awareness about the issue here: http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/takeaction/family-migration Sign up to our petition calling for the Government to urgently review the changes online: www.ipetitions.com/petition/asianvoice or by post to: Petition Against Government’s Immigration Law Changes, Asian Business Publications Ltd, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

Anuj Bidve killer jailed A friend of slain Indian student Anuj Bidve has told a UK court that the Briton who shot him dead was 'hip-hopping' and 'trying to be all cool' when he approached them, an Indian newspaper has reported.

Anuba Gupta, a friend of Bidve, was among the group of students who were walking through Ordsall on December 26 last for Boxing Day sales in the Manchester city centre when Kiaran Stapleton shot Bidve from close range.

Gupta said that Stapleton had approached the group "sort of bouncing".

She said in her statement: "When he (Kiaran Stapleton) came across the road towards us he was like hip-hopping, sort of bouncing, trying to be all cool".

When the gun went off it was like a plastic bag filled with air and burst, then the sound amplified 1,000 times".

She said that after the shooting: "Everyone was scattered. Someone shouted 'Oh my God look at Anuj.

He's been shot'".

Kiaran Stapleton

Anuj Bidve

Earlier, Preetika Singh, another friend of Bidve's and a witness, told the court that she begged him to wake up after he was shot in the head by Stapleton, who was "laughing".

She told the court: "I heard my friend say, 'Don't sleep Anuj, wake

up'".

Subhash Bidve, father of murdered student Anuj Bidve who was visiting the trial said he would never be able to understand why his “perfect boy” had been taken from him, but he just wanted the chance to confront his murderer.

Kiaran Stapleton, 21, who was found guilty of the murder at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday was jailed for life following a five-week trial.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

7

Kalyuga: The age of vice?

My knowledge of religion, mythology and philosophy is scant at best, but the interest surely prevails. I recently watched and read the Indian epic Mahabharata. I thoroughly enjoyed it and as I was absorbing the intricate stories, I found myself wrapped in a web of questions and doubts. The gurus of Hindu mythology may find my arguments utterly frivolous, but for the uninitiated like me these questions could at least supply a topic of conversation for the dinner table.

Mahabharata, set in the Dwapara Yuga (the third out of four eras), revolves around an irreconcilable family dispute which leads to a great war.

To string it in one sentence, it is a tale of two brothers who fight for a piece of land. This sounds like a modern, 21st century problem, implying that such problems existed back then as well and probably in a greater magnitude. Then why do we feel the world has changed drastically from that time?

From a philosophical point of view, there is a general consensus that life used to be simpler and better in days gone by. We complain that today the world is rife with imperfections and call it Kalyuga (the “age of vice�, according to one

translation; and the final of the four eras, upon the end of which the universe ends). But if we journey back we could see the ills that pervaded in that society in Hastinapur.

Episodes from the Mahabharata series make one wonder whether life really was purer back then, when sins of all sorts thrived in the society. Would you rather live in an era when men could have multiple wives, marriage was not institutionalised, gambling was widespread and your last breath would most likely be on a battlefield; or would you rather lead the cosy life you have today?

As I dwelled upon the actions and attributes of the characters, the valour of the heroes, the values of the wise and the virtue of the women, the qualities started to seem almost oxymoronic to me.

Gambling was treated as a royal sport and even men made of high morals such as Yuddhishtra had a weakness for it. Any king worthy of his throne could not decline an invitation to gamble. Of course, today gambling is viewed as a vice and has strict restrictions in terms of age, legality etc. in many countries.

The concept of marriage did not exist like it does today. Monogamy was never in fashion, for

Devika Srimal

instance when Draupadi had five husbands (the Pandavas) and each Pandava had many wives.

Both, polygamy and polyandry existed as a result of which the children were rarely found to be the biological offspring of their so-called parents.

Such practices are certainly frowned upon as a social taboo today.

The most horrible and unthinkable of the sins was disrobing of Draupadi in the king's courtroom. A woman was treated like chattel and humiliated in public.

There has been much outcry on the status of women in every phase of history, but that the act happened at that time, and above all to the daughter-in law of the royal family, is spine-chilling.

Jealousy, rivalry, greed and revenge prevailed,

which finally took the lives of millions. I cannot say that today the world is devoid of all sins and crimes but in comparison it is perhaps a neater and a more transparent place where such activities are illegal, and actionable by law. Does this bring good news that morality is indeed higher today?

There is an old saying that the most effective battle is the one that is never fought. Is this really true for Mahabharata? I wonder if the massacre was an absolute must to restore dharma, peace and tranquillity? On one occasion, Krishna said he will come back to this planet in the Kalyuga each time there is adharma. Does this mean it takes a war as big and as fierce as the Mahabharata to see Krishna? Do we really want to see God at that cost; aren't we instead quite happy with the level of Kalyuga we are in?

Devika Srimal is a member of the CHN. The CHN is a London-based organisation which is rooted in progressive Hindu philosophy and values, and encourages networking amongst its members, who are principally London-based professionals. You can sign up to be a member or find out more about the CHN at www.cityhindusnetwork.org.uk.

Don’t Break Up India, a biography of Shaheed Nanak Singh being presented to Shri Oscar Fernandes, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and his wife Smt. Blossum Fernande by Dr Rami Ranger MBE

British court to assess Shrien's mental health This week British courts are expected to assess the mental health Shrien Dewani, who is accused of arranging his wife Anni Dewani's murder in South Africa. In March, Britain's High Court temporarily halted Dewani's extradition on mental health grounds.

Dewani is being treated in a mental health hospital in his hometown of Bristol, western England.

A decision on whether he'll be ordered to return to Cape Town to stand trial is expected to be announced at a later date.

Anni's uncle, Ashok Hindocha, told a news agency, "Almost two years have gone by now, and the

Shrien Dewani

more we hope, the more we get hurt, so we are just sitting back and watching.

The entire family is under extreme pressure. We just want to know what happened. Suddenly a light comes up, there's a court case, we might get some answers and then we are back to step one. We just want to know what happened to our daughter. Is that too much to ask?"

8

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Kapil’s

Bank of Baroda UK celebrates 105th Anniversary of the Foundation Day Mr K.D. Lamba Chief Executive (European Operations) , in his address thanked the customers for their ardent support over the years and expressed the hope that this bond between Virendra Sharma MP with Mr K D Lamba the customers and the Bank of Ceremony welcomed all will continue from generapresent and led the tion to generation. On tribute to the foundthis happy occasion the ing father Shrimant Bank launched its transacMaharaja Sayajirao tion based inter net bankGaekwad with aduing facility, which was lation and reverence inaugurated by Mr as well as the e Virendra Sharma MP. Mr founding directors Lamba reiterated the and all the executives Bank’s commitment of and staff, past and putting customers first present who all had a With the improvised role to play in transavailability of channels forming Bank of like Net Banking, Chip & Baroda from a small Pin Debit Card with 24/7 regional Bank, into Call Centres, On Line the modern financial Dr Anand Kumar with guest Bonds all nicely blended powerhouse . with human inter face, the Sayagirao Gaekwad III, Dr Anand Kumar, Bank will provide the best on 20 July 1908, to, in the Bank’s Head of Retail of services to its cuswords of its founder, to then gave a brief presentatomers. assist the people of tion charting the progress This was followed by a Vadodara State in their of the Bank and also the sumptuous banquet. All Commercial and Bank’s offering to the present had an enjoyable Industrial pursuits. Mr Corporate and professionevening.

Satish Acharya the Master als in retail business.

Bank of Baroda UK Region celebrated 105th Anniversary of the Foundation Day at The Crowne Plaza Buckingham Gate London on 20 July 2012. The function was well attended by dignitaries, customers and the Staff of the Bank.

Bank of Baroda was founded in the then princely state of Vadodara by its visionary ruler Shrimant Maharaja

Infinity Property Solutions celebrates two year anniversary After a successful second year at Kenton Road, Infinity Property Solutions is proud to celebrate its two year anniversary. As a token of appreciation, Infinity Property Solutions would like to thank all landlords and vendors for their cooperation, loyalty and commitment.

The business has significantly grown over the past two years and clients commend the high level of service received.

The back office estate management software has enabled the standard to be raised and its areas like these where Infinity Property Solutions constantly review to innovate and meticulously improve modes of business. The company has grown with its own accounting department, responsible for rental payments and maintenance department responsible for all small or large jobs that arise from the management side.

The experienced property management team looks after more than 350 properties on behalf of their clients, easing the landlord role from managing to main-

tenance. Due to the high levels of service and affordable rates, most landlords prefer properties to be managed on their behalf.

In the current market, the company’s fees are exceptionally competitive. Starting from as little as 6 per cent plus VAT, and with a choice of monthly promotions, they provide a range of professional services at affordable prices. For your free, no obligation valuation, or for any further information, call 020 8907 4665, email info@infinityps.co.uk or visit www.infinityps. co.uk The trustworthy reputation of Infinity Property Solutions is evident from existing clients referring new clients. As clients are

extremely satisfied with the reliability and outstanding level of service, this has afforded Infinity Property Solutions to expand and be one of the market leaders.

Follow me on Twitter: @kdudakia

KHICHADI

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com

The Miracle of Gujarat There comes a time when even the most extreme critics of Gujarat have to concede that the state and its people have transformed their life chances and future beyond recognition.

Since India’s independence, Gujarat has been led by too many incompetent Chief Ministers (CM). Many of them lacking in any strategic planning, and certainly lacking in any personal competencies to take on the role of CM and lead with vision and a sense of purpose. That was of course until Narendrabhai Modi came to power 2001. In just over a decade he has transformed Gujarat and lives of its citizens beyond the very imagination of the very same people.

Let’s just set some markers down.

Today Gujarat’s population accounts for 5% of India whilst its land mass is some 6%. However, it has almost 10% of all factories, 13% of manufacturing, 18% of output, 16% of fixed capital investment and 22% of all exports.

Now that in anyone’s book has to be considered as astounding.

If that is not enough, how about knowing that it has Asia’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, India’s only LNG import terminals at Hazira and Dahej, it is the world’s largest producer of castor and cumin, world’s largest gas-based single location sponge iron plant, world’s largest producer of processed diamonds and, it is the world’s third largest denim producer. The list is endless.

There are those who still continue to bring forth the events of 27 February 2002 when a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was burnt down by a Muslim mob in the town of Godhra. Modiji continues to be blamed for the riots that took place in the aftermath of this unwarranted crime by cross border extremists supported by Pakistan and some in India. However I say to people of all faiths and sects, this happened in 2002 and Narendrabhai has been re-elected by the people of Gujarat again and again. That should by now surely have sent a message to the extremists, and those corrupt individuals in the media, that they have all lost and the people of Gujarat have won.

Narendrabhai has now become the longest serving CM of Gujarat. That is not by chance or coincidence. The people of Gujarat have learnt from their past mistakes of voting for incompetent sectarian politicians, and thankfully one hopes those error driven days do not come to pass again.

So where does Gujarat go from here?

Let us be clear – what Narendrabhai has done is but just a

start. There is ample more to be done before people can relax, and even then, to remain ahead means constant hard work. There is the issue of the international airport in Ahmedabad, frankly it is under-utilised and offers substandard service compared with other international airports around the world. This should now be one of the highest priorities for the CM. Getting the airport working with proper direct flights in and out of Ahmedabad from all major international cities is a must. Given that some 450000 international visitors go to Gujarat every year, I fail to see why airlines and Gujarat cannot make a powerful business case for direct flights.

And this is just one example of how it can better itself even further.

The history of Gujarat is well connected with its very foundations stemming from the Indus Valley itself. The Dharmic values of our ancestors transcended human values to their highest order. For example, Gujarat gave refuge to the Parsi (Zoroastrian) community arriving from Iran in 775 who have become a flourishing and contributory part of Gujarat.

And let us not forget the martyrs of Bharat Varsh who gave their lives for our freedom during the days of the ‘British Raj’. The people of Gujarat were some of the most enthusiastic participants in India's struggle for freedom.

Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Mahadev Desai, Mohanlal Pandya, Morarji Desai, K.M. Munshi, Narhari Parikh and Ravi Shankar Vyas all from the land of Gujarat. If this was not enough, Gujarat was also the home to some of the most well supported revolts including the Satyagrahas in Bardoli, Borsad, Kheda and also the infamous salt Satyagraha.

So let the message go out to every corner of Gujarat and to every Gujarati.

The blood of your ancestors has been spilt over many hundreds of years so that today you have your freedom and pride. You have been granted the capacity to develop Gujarat into a state that can challenge the world on all fronts. For Gujarati’s the future beckons a people who can rise and face the challenge of its own destiny. Do not let silly minded sectarian squabbles get in the way of life chances for your children, and that of the generations to come.

Dhanya hu..thai gayo ...... ahi janma je maaro thayo; Jai Jai Jai Jai, Garvi Gujarat maara dil maan dhadke Gujarat .

Lord Khalid Hameed receives Freedom of the City of London award Lord Khalid Hameed has been given the Freedom of the City of London award in recognition of his work within the medical profession and in promotion of interfaith relations, an Indian media has reported.

India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was also conferred the honour when he visited London in 1956.

Lord Hameed, who hails from Lucknow, is currently the chairman of

Alpha Hospital Group and chairman and chief executive officer of the London International Hospital.

Prior to this, he was the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Cromwell Hospital in London.

Lord Hameed chairs the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council.

He was the first Asian high sheriff of

Lord Hameed

Greater London for 2006-2007. He was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award by India in 2009.

It is believed that the first Freedom of the City of London was presented in 1237. The award was originally a working title which enabled recipients to carry out their trade.

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Leading Lights

by Rani Singh

Special Assignments Editor Sharon Kaur

Sharon Kaur is the Managing Director of Sahara Homes, a company she built from scratch. She was named “East London Business Person of the year” in 2006, “Entrepreneur of the year” at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in 2007, and “Businesswomen of the Year” at the Asian Women Awards, also in 2007.

Q. Tell me what it was like during your adolescent years, growing up in G.B. A. I left school at 15 and at 16, married into a Portsmouth family through an arranged marriage. Gradually my marriage became intolerable and my mother-inlaw was particularly disagreeable. Being the eldest of six sisters I could not leave because this would have affected the marriage prospects of my younger sisters.

By the time I was 21, the situation had become so bad that my father came to collect me and took me home.

I was not allowed to work and my future did not look particularly bright although I had been removed from an intolerable situation.

Q. What happened next?

A. An aunt asked me to join her for an interview she was having with an upmarket Indian dress store. I sat in on the interview, and much to my surprise, was offered a job along with my aunt.

I sneakily took it without telling my father, and then found that I had a penchant for dress designing. This was fine until another aunt asked me to help in a care home where she worked and within hours I realised that I had found my vocation.

Q. How did you turn your vocation into a business?

A. I arranged a bank loan and bought a house in Forest Gate with four bedrooms. I lived in one room and accepted three service users in the other three bedrooms. Service users in this case means ladies who had been sexually abused during childhood and who were severely affected by that abuse. Later on I moved out and the three ladies became four.

Q. And how did you decide on a name for your business?

A. I lost a baby in

Portsmouth - a girl who was to be called Sahara.

So I named my company Sahara Homes Limited. That was in 1997.

Q. How did your company grow?

A. I bought another three properties in Forest Gate totalling 15 bedrooms, one in Redbridge (19 bedrooms) and recently built a £5m state of the art care home in Barking with 30 bedrooms, described by the leader of Barking & Dagenham Council as “The benchmark for all future care homes”). Our homes are for service users with learning difficulties rather than for the elderly.

We are now the leading spot purchase care home for learning disabilities in east London I have been a very hands-on manager, developing personal relationships with many of the service users of our homes. Whilst expanding Sahara, my focus has always been on quality. I am learning to delegate to our operations director, finance director (two outstanding people) and managers. This does not always come easily to self - made people!

We are now the leading spot purchase care home for learning disabilities in east London.

This means London boroughs purchase beds on an individual basis, as opposed to paying Sahara for a group of beds and then filling them.

As part of our growth I have introduced nonexecutive directors to our board. They are; Lady Stratford (a professionally qualified social worker), Chris Manhire (a chartered surveyor), Chris Wood (the former chief executive of Newham Council) and Christine Bowden (formerly deputy executive mayor of Newham).

Terence Brown, who for

Sharon Kaur

13 years was Chairman of West Ham United, became Chairman of Sahara (and my mentor) in 2008, at the suggestion of Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, after the sale of his football club to an Icelandic consortium.

Q. Tell me about your charity interests.

A. My charitable interests are raising funds and donating to the Richard House Children’s Hospice, and Community Links; a charity working with nearly 400 children and young people in east London.

Recently I became involved in providing funds for an orphanage in the Punjab, which is where my family comes from.

Q. What incidents stand out for you on your journey?

A. I have met the Prime Minister (in April 2012) and, in 2011, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as a representative of the Sikh community. On the other side of the coin I have had service users break my nose, tear my hair out, damage my jaw and I have been dragged around the streets of east London until being rescued by my brother and the police.

I don’t regret one moment of my adventure. I have a great deal of work to do before I can say that I did a good job for the community of east London, my service users and staff, and all the people who believe in me (including my Dad – eventually!!!!)

Oxford introduces new dress code In a move to please its transgender student community, the Oxford University has introduced a new academic dress code which allows men to wear skirts or stockings to exams and formal occasions while women can wear suits

or white bow ties. According to the old rule, the dress code was strictly enforced by the university authorities, which have the power to punish students deemed in breach of the rules.

Punishments range from

fines to rustication the suspension of a student for a period of time or expulsion.

Vice-chancellor Andrew Hamilton, has dropped any distinction between the sexes by deleting all references to men and women now.

9

'Free movement of labour imperative’ says Anand Sharma Indrani Thakurata Issues of great importance were touched upon by the Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles Mr. Anand Sharma during his visit for the Global Investment conference in London last week. The minister spoke about free movement of labour across borders and emphasised upon the evolution of trade from the last century. “If we are viewing the trade paradigm from a perspective of sustainable generating employment, it is imperative to address the issue of free movement of labour across borders,” said Mr Sharma. Stating the difference, “ 21st century trade is based on a strong trade and investment linkage which is anchored in international investment in production facilities and trade in intermediate goods. Today, intermediate goods account for more than half of developed country imports and nearly three quarters of imports of large developing economies,” he adds.

Clearly flummoxed, he

Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles in presence of Deputy Indian High Commissioner Rajesh N Prasad

questions, why in today’s globalised world where capital and technology move with unprecedented speed, in unprecedented volumes across national boundaries, labour cannot move.

After emphasising about free labour, visa issues faced by the professionals was the obvious next. “India wants to make sure that business visitors are able to travel to the UK without facing visa-related problems. The IT industry in particular is getting impacted by issues such as delivery of services which is dependant on

the movement of professionals at short notice.”

He urged the UK Government to take notice of its economic gains from contributions by the highly skilled workers from India. “Any unreasonable cap would affect the productivity of around 700 Indian companies, which provide substantial employment in the UK.” Amongst all, he did address students woes regarding Post Study Work Visa, which was an encouraging factor for the Indians to come in large numbers.

Top London lawyer charged over '£600,000 VAT fraud' allegations A leading London barrister has been charged over allegations that he carried out a £600,000 VAT fraud against the taxman, daily newspapers have reported.

Rohan Anthony Pershad QC, of 39 Essex Street chambers, will appear before Highbury Magistrates on Thursday after prosecutors announced last week that they believed there was a “realistic prospect” of securing a conviction.

Mr Pershad became a barrister in 1991 and was

made a QC last year. His areas of expertise include clinical negligence, personal injury, commercial and professional negligence cases.

Mr Pershad issued a statement saying: "The CPS has announced today that it has issued a summons in relation to an allegation stemming from my personal tax affairs.

"The CPS has issued this summons while I am still providing HMRC and the CPS with further information and repre-

BBC bosses attend secret dinner paid for by KPMG? Zarin Patel (pictured), the BBC's chief financial officer is accused of attending an undeclared champagne dinner with executives from KPMG, which allegedly was paid £1 million to help close pension scheme, the Daily Telegraph has reported.

BBC staff were so angry about the closure of their generous final-salary pension scheme that union members went on strike.

The dinner, held at the fashionable Bocca di Lupo in Soho on Jan 13 last year, is understood to have apparently cost more than £1,000 for the 12 guests, who included Lucy Adams, the BBC’s director of business operations and Rachel Currie, the

human resources director.

None of the BBC staff disclosed it on the corporation’s hospitality register. “The meal was not declared in the register because there was absolutely no requirement to do so,” insisted a spokesman, according to the daily. “It was modest hospitality provided by a contractor during a review of some work that had been carried out for the BBC.”

sentations setting out why I am not guilty of any offence.

"I am extremely disappointed that the CPS has seen fit to issue a press release whilst discussions are ongoing.

"For the avoidance of doubt, I deny any dishonest activity in relation to my tax affairs and, if a decision is made to pursue this matter in court, I will defend myself vigorously."

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10

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Olympics in World Financial System

Olympics & The Public Transport

MIBOR [The Mumbai Inter-bank Offer Rate] fixing system appears to be more transparent than the LIBOR [London Inter-bank Offer Rate].

MIBOR was developed by The Indian National Stock Exchange and launched as the NSE Mumbai Inter-bank Bid Rate [MIBID] and the NSE Mumbai InterBank Offer Rate [MIBOR] for overnight markets on 15 June 1998.

These two rates were based on rates pooled by the NSE from a representative panel of 31 banks/institutions/primary dealers. Currently, quotes are pooled and processed daily by the Exchange at 9:40 [IST] for the overnight rate; and at 11:30 [IST] for the 14 day, 1 month, and 24 month rates.

The rates pooled are then processed using the boost trap method to arrive at an efficient estimate of the reference rates. It is used as a benchmark rate for majority of deals struck for floating rate debentures and term deposits. The benchmark is the rate at which money is raised in the financial markets.

Call Rate is different and that is highly volatile.

That is called “Reuters MIBOR” [Mumbai Inter-Bank Overnight Rate].

That is arrived at by obtaining a weighted average of call money transactions of 22 banks and other players overnight.

Whereas “MIBOR” is the official benchmark rate for interest rate swaps [IRS] and forward rate agreements [FRA].

MIBOR is transparent, market-determined, and mutually acceptable to counter-parties as a reference.

In early seventies, as a treasurer in a major oil company, I used to call daily three or four major London banks and “walk over” several million pounds Sterling daily in the money market.

London Transport is quite popular for its reliability and availability especially the London Underground network. The trains are going to run till late nights during the games. Great, however I still think that we could have done bit more to it. I am talking about the cleanliness and the colouring of the trains. Everyone knows that the underground network is very old network and it is very popular as well, however do we still need to carry the same dust and colours from the past.

The trains could have been converted and coloured into the Olympic Themes; if not Olympic theme, it could have been coloured and cleaned neatly. Same applies to the underground stations.

Sometimes when the a train stops due to signal issues, we see so much dust stuck outside the train(on the tunnelwalls). Seems like it has been there since decades. Piles of black dust. Can it not be cleaned; if not cleaned, I am sure some posters can be installed on the surrounding walls in-side the tunnels. This way, TfL can hide those years-&-years of dust and make some money from the sponsoring companies. I am sure someone may argue that it would be impossible to cover up the total tunnels with posters etc. But we can choose particular strip between 2 stations where a train should stay during signal issues.

Nagin Khajuria Via Email

Olympic opening ceremony Team India at the opening ceremony of the Olympic games 2012 had neither style nor elegance. With all the fashion gurus and huge variety of materials to choose from, is this the best that India could do? The turbans for men looked more like bandages made from yellow dusters, hurriedly tied and carelessly put on and worse still, the saries the women wore looked like yellow bed sheets with equally ghastly borders. From past records we know that team India will be lucky to take any medals home and they have already disappointed us as sports ambassadors in an international arena.

As for the ceremony itself, it was too long and could well have done without Paul Macartney’s irrelevant song, the NHS and some of the industrial revolution presentations. The fireworks were sheer magic and lighting of cauldron was a stroke of genius.

Kusoom Vadgama London

Devang Bhatt, Harrow, London

EU needs to be smarter David Cameron and many other European leaders have made it clear that any increase in the EU budget for next year is unacceptable. Yet it seems that bureaucrats in Brussels are not listening.

Governments across Europe are cutting public spending to reduce unsustainable budget deficits, but the European authorities appear to be living in a different world.

The EU s accounts have not been signed off for over decade because so much money has been lost or unaccounted for. The EU does not need more money, it needs to be smarter about how it spends the money it already gets. I will be reiterating the points made by the Londoners I meet on the doorsteps week in, week out, who tell me they would back a freezing of the EU budget.

Syed Kamall Conservative MEP for London

Sign of changing times In the harsh and fast changing economic climate, double dip recession and financial meltdown, accompanied with breakdown of moral ethics and civic duty, it is becoming a nightmare for people claiming benefits.

The misuse of Disabled Parking Blue Badge is one such area where the Council is tightening its rule, as in the past such badges were issued leniently with the result that many undeserving claimants, although a very tiny minority, were

Krishna Avanti School

Some “forgotten” facts

I was disappointed to read and hear many of the reactions to Cllr Susan Hall’s well-meaning concerns about the new Free School in Harrow.

Cllr Hall has explicitly stated her support for the School itself. Let us not forget that it is the Conservative Party who is encouraging the Free Schools initiative and it was the Conservative Council in Harrow who granted planning permission for the Krishna Avanti school in the first place.

We must also remember that Susan also has a duty as a local and democratically-elected representative to give a voice to the concerns of local residents; they may not always be supported by everybody, but democracy should allow all opinions to be heard.

Yet many of the comments about Cllr Hall have implied that she is a racist, or anti-Hindu. This is nothing more than a smear campaign; attempting to use race or religion to discredit her without acknowledging the substance of her arguments. I support the new Free School in Harrow and believe it will give local parents a real choice for their children’s education. However I also support the need for due process and for the concerns of residents to be accounted in the planning process.

I have known Susan for many years; she is a hard-working Councillor and is certainly not a racist or anti-Hindu.

Those who are looking to play the ‘(wo)man rather than the ball’ on this occasion should be ashamed, particularly as we are talking about a School that can transform the lives of our children. Would we tell our children that anybody who objects on any grounds to any Hindurelated building is a racist? I certainly hope not.

Some “forgotten” facts in Theresa May’s “history lesson” are unpleasant blast from the past. Britain has accepted all colonial subjects and kept its promises made when it was prosperous. Loss of colonies, who became strangling competitors and recent economic tsunami were enough excuses to evade promises and commitments. But Britain is justified to curtail migration, polish its image, and expect high calibre, highly qualified migrants. These measures are good for indigenous British and also for incoming migrants, who revel in imagination that Britain’s streets are paved with gold, and cultures and religions of countries of origin has to be imposed on Britain.

Mr Noni must be aware of horrendous consequences of unrestrained migration faced by India, Europe, Australia and Japan. India (Assam) is burning today due to migrants’ vicious belligerence. Japan has successfully preserved its dignity by strict curbs on migrants. Some countries are abandoning multiculturalism, repeatedly warning migrants to confirm to cultures of host country or leave. USA is suffering from rampant un-employment, underemployment, strain on dole, hungry children, national debts and liabilities by unrestricted migration. Restricting immigration can save Britain, who has little agricultural and no industrial resource from being ravaged by migrants with high hopes and non-integrating attitude.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

Lord Popat Via Email awarded such privileges atnd now in their zeal to rectify the situation, the Council is focusing on these badge holders.

Inevitably some innocent people are caught in the melee.

To be fair and we read it all the time in AV/GS as well as in local papers, there is a significant minority who misuse their badges, allowing their friends and relations to use the badge which should only be used if the badge holder is present, either as a passenger or as a driver.

Practically every one has to undergo assessments, even those in receipt of some disability related benefits, I feel it would be appropriate to introduce a cutoff zone for assessments, exempting those over 75 years old and in possession of such badges for at least ten years, perhaps accompanied by a detailed letter from their GPs or hospital consultants.

It will give more time to Council officials to tackle the misuse and spare the anxiety to genuine OAPs in their twilight years. Let us create a compassionate culture where the infirm and the underprivileged will feel appreciated rather than seen as a burden on the society.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email

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

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

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

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

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

away five years from your life.

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

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

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E-mail: support@abplgroup.com

It was reported in the 16 June issue of Gujarat Samachar that when visiting our motherland, we are only allowed to take with us four grams of gold jewellery.

According to the customs and baggage allowance rules of India, a male visitor may only take with him Rs 10,000 worth (3.57 gms) of gold and a woman visitor may take with her Rs 20,000 worth (7.15 gms). If you take more than this amount, it will be liable to tax and if you try to pass through the green channel, legal proceedings for smuggling or avoidance of tax will be taken against you.

These limits seem ridiculously low.

Even a finger ring will weigh more than these amounts. Can anyone, say someone from the Indian High Commission, throw more light on this please? AV and GS have in the past mounted campaigns to right many wrongs eg the issue of direct flight to Ahmedabad. Can they take this up with the Indian authorities? We know that the price of gold has gone sky high and people may be tempted to buy/ sell gold while in India, but many people from here visit India to attend weddings or such functions and they may want to adorn gold ornaments fit for the occasion or give gold ornaments as presents for the bride and groom. It seems that we may need to settle for imitation jewellery, and hence all that will glitter at the weddings will not be gold.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford Continued on page 13

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

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

1 Year 2 Years

All that Glitters

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EDUCATION / COUNCIL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

More than 150,000 welcome Olympic torch in Ealing

Dr Chai Patel carrying the torch during the relay

More than 150,000 are estimated to have turned out to welcome the Olympic torch as it made its way through the borough on day 67 of the torch relay.

Thousands turned out to see tennis star Boris Becker start the Ealing leg at the top of one of the iconic mounds at Northala Fields. He passed the flame to football-loving Brentside High School pupil, Sydney Richards, who was nominated to carry the torch by Ealing Council. It then wended its way from Northolt to Southall, before travelling down Uxbridge Road to Ealing.

Another local resident, charity worker Tom Thacker, carried

the flame on the final leg of its journey. He was cheered by a crowd of 16,000 people attending the free evening event in Walpole Park as he lit the Olympic cauldron.

Council Leader Julian Bell, who addressed the crowd as they waited for the torch to arrive, said: “From Fred Perry to Dame Kelly Holmes, Ealing has a strong sporting tradition and I was so proud to see the thousands of local people who turned out to support our torchbearers. I’m delighted we won the right to host an evening event. The park was packed, the weather was lovely and Ealing really made the most of its chance to shine.”

Southwark welcomes the Olympic Flame at Riverside and across the borough Thousands of people lined the streets of Southwark on 26 July. The Olympic Flame to the borough starting at the riverside with Paralympic Mediallist Ade Adetipan handing over the torch at Millennium Bridge to Southwark's youngest torchbearer, 12 year old Ify Egesi, from the Sacred Heart Roman Catoholic School, Camberwell.

The torch then travelled inside The Globe Theatre and across

Southwark with a number of Southwark torchbears carrying the Flame, including Sharon Coleman and Ahmed Jollah, who are Southwark Council employees.

The torch made its way from North, Central and South of the borough through Old Kent Road and Peckham, where it was carried by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan.

Cllr Peter John, Leader of Southwark Council said:

"Today is a glorious day for Southwark and has really brought a wave of excitement to the borough the day before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. It's a day of celebration and enjoyment and we hope everyone is doing something special today to mark this once in a lifetime occasion. We're lucky enough to also be able to welcome the Paralympic torch relay in August another remarkable event.

Cllr Veronica Ward, lead member for culture, leisure, sport and the Olympics, said: "It's such an exciting time for Southwark and I hope everyone had a great time celebrating the Olympics today. Thank you to everybody who has came out and supported Southwark's torchbearers, they all added to the excitement and helped encourage our torchbearers along the route."

Free school meals makes Newham’s pupils hungrier to learn Giving free school meals to Newham primary school children boosts results and improves behaviour, a study has found.

The research showed that schools where all kids got free meals at lunchtime helped children from poorer backgrounds do better in class.

Newham, the second most deprived borough in England, has provided free school meals for all primary school children since 2009. The borough is continuing to fund the programme despite harsh government cuts.

The pioneering scheme

tackles child poverty. It offers support to 3300 poor households with children who are not eligible for free school meals. On average these families are £750 a year better off (before tax) as a result.

According to the study, offering free school meals saw a marked improvement in learning.

Pupils advanced by two months on average, while truancy rates fell.

Pupils were more likely to eat vegetables and carbohydrates and more drank water than fizzy drinks.

Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales said: "Child

Poverty is a national scandal. But as a local authority we are determined to make a difference. This scheme puts money in families' pockets and helps children get the best possible start at school. In an area where three quarters of households earn at or below the median income it makes a real difference.

Guaranteeing children get a good meal helps them concentrate in lessons and creates a more productive learning environment. It's great to have the evidence that our investment in local children is paying off.

The Government should

respond to the evidence in their own report and fund free school meals for all children in deprived areas."

After the free school meal scheme had been running for two years, the number of children eating a school meal soared by 28%. The programme also increased take-up amongst children who were previously eligible for free school meals but did not claim them.

After two years there had been a 16% increase in take up amongst pupils who were previously eligible for free school meals but did not claim them.

EDUCATION NEWS Academies told they can hire Private college to award its unqualified teachers own degrees A private college in London has been given the power to award its own degrees in a move the government says will increase competition in England's higher education system.

Regent's College, in Regent's Park, hopes to get university status soon, which would make it the UK's second fully-fledged private university. It is one of two private colleges being given degree-awarding powers this week.

They are the first to get

the right since the coalition came to power.

The identity of the second college has not yet been made public, with government officials saying it is up to that institution to make its announcement. Until now, people studying at Regent's College have received degrees through its partnerships with various universities and institutions, including the Open University.

Students study for British and American

degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Most pay fees of about £14,000 a year.

Regent's College is a registered charity, with profits being ploughed back in to the college.

Private universities do not receive public funding, but have degree-awarding powers. From September, students attending them will be eligible for statefunded student loans of £6,000 to cover tuition fees if they are on approved courses.

Tuition fees set to rise again in 2013 University tuition fees in England will increase again next year, the watchdog for fair access is predicting.

The Office for Fair Access (Offa) says fees for 2013 will rise to an average of £8,507 a year, slightly above the current average of £8,414. It says universities will spend £611m of their fee income to support poorer students.

But Offa's director, Sir Martin Harris, says increasing competition might push some universities to lower fees.

However, the fees agreed for this second year in which tuition fees of up to £9,000 per

year can be charged, show that an upward trend is continuing.

About three in four institutions are planning to charge the maximum for some or all of their courses.

Out of the 122 higher-education institutions included in the report covering those receiving funding council income and with full-time undergraduates - every one plans to charge above the "basic fee" level of £6,000 per year.

The average fee for higher-education institutions in 2013 is going to be £8,615 per year and the average for furthereducation colleges which

11

provide degree courses will be £6,429 per year.

The overall average will be £8,507 - with relatively little movement in fees compared with those for the 2012 intake.

When all university and government financial support is taken into account, Offa says the average fee cost is £7,898 per year.

Sir Martin, who is about to step down as head of the access regulator, says that the push for more competition for places could mean that some middle-ranking universities will have to rethink how much they are charging.

England's new academy schools can now hire unqualified teachers, after a change to the rules.

Government officials say this means academies will be free to hire "great linguists, computer scientists and other specialists who have not worked in state schools before".

Unions for head teachers and teachers have attacked the move, describing it as a damaging backward step. The change is immediate.

Until now, most statefunded schools could only employ people with what

is known as "Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)", meaning they have been trained and approved as meeting a range of standards.

Independent schools are exempt.

The change also brings academies in line with the new free schools, which are already free to employ people without QTS. Academies, like free schools, are funded by the state but are semi-independent, outside of local authority control and have greater freedom over the curriculum and teachers'

pay and conditions than other schools.

The government says it still expects "the vast majority" of teachers to have the qualification, but that the change will allow head teachers to bring in professionals with "great knowledge and new skills".

The changes will apply to schools switching to become academies.

Existing academies will have to apply to make the change by altering their contract (funding agreement) with the government.

12

MEDIA WATCH

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Scrutator’s Pranab Mukherjee’s election as India’s 13th President exceeded Congress Party expectations: he received 68.12 per cent of the ballots cast in the electoral college, to his BJP-backed opponent P.A.Sangma’s modest 30.15 per cent (Times of India July 23).

The cross-voting included BJP legislators in the BJP-ruled states of Karnataka and Jharkand who, in defiance of the party line, came out in support of Mr Mukherjee. The decks are now clear for the ruling Congress Party to press ahead with the economic reforms needed for India’s high growth.

tims, mostly dark-skinned Arabs and kindred folk from the Islamic world. He elaborates: “Earlier this month the European Court of Human Rights upheld the extradition of alleged jihadists Babar Ahmed, Syed Talha Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz to the US. The men now face the prospect of life sentences without parole in a so-called supermax prison.” A UN report described such facilities as “inhuman and degrading.”

Defence reforms

Pranab Mukherjee addressing after taking oath of the office of the President of India at a swearing-in ceremony in the central hall of Parliament

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had lost ground, pronounced the Times of India. In a detailed analysis (July 22), it opined that the party hardly looked like a government in waiting. Personal feuds and rivalries, reinforced by the “greed of its leaders” had led to deepening factionalism and damaged the BJP’s credibility. Arun Jaitley, a senior BJP leader, predicted the early demise of Congress and its replacement as the governing party by the BJP. As India’s next general election is due in the summer of 2014, there is all to play for. “A week is a long time in politics,” as Harold Wilson famously remarked in the 1960s. Should the 2014 general election produce a hung parliament, President Mukherjee’s is likely to play a critical role in the formation of a stable coalition administration at the centre. His wealth of political experience will be an asset to the consultative process.

Lesson for India There is something rotten in the state of Denmark, not Hamlet’s ancient kingdom, but its present-day incarnation. Early on the morning of December 18, 1995 residents in the small village of Khatanga in the Purulia district of West Bengal awoke to the sight of boxes strewn across their fields. These had been parachuted to the ground in the night; their contents, revealed by the police, included assault rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, anti-tank shells, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The architect of the air drop was Danish citizen Kim Davy, whose real name happens to be Neils Holck. A synpathiser of the shadowy Bengali ultra-right Ananda Marg sect, Copenhagenbased Holck, in a television interview in 2010, claimed that the arms constituted a legal defence by the Anand Marg against the oppression of the then Communist regime in West Bengal.

Holck was arrested by the Indian authorities but escaped through a daring ruse at the Mumbai airport. All attempts to have him extradited to India have failed. The Hindu newspaper’s Praveen Swami in an editorial-page article (July 24) – “A

lesson of the white man’s justice”- relates the story of the latest failure. The Danish court refused the plea for Holck’s extradition because of India’s “widespread and systematic use of torture.”The court also cited India’s “overcrowded prisons with insufficient food and medical treatment.”

Double speak The court did not of course apply the same principle to jihadi suspects in American custody transported from the US Guantanamo base in Cuba, under rendition, to an array of US satrapies in Europe, where the prisoners were routinely tortured in secret facilities by American and local agents. The conniving states included Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Romania etc. Mr Swami could have told how the canvas of Nazi collaborators from the Second World War honoured in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, while members of the anti-Nazi resistance facing official opprobrium, alas, was missing in the Swami piece.

Mr Swami ascribed the scandal of rendition to the racial origins of the vic-

The Naresh Chandra Task Force set up by the government to review aspects of India’s defence has submitted its report. Among its recommendations is the appointment of a chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and a leaner Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), with a separate body to oversee the research and manufacture of futuristic weapons systems. According to the panel, the DRDO Director General should not double up as Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, whose appointment should be made independently..

The panel also suggested an increase in the permitted level of Foreign Direct Investment in India’s defence sector from the 25 per cent that exists today.

The panel favoured a larger Indian private sector footprint in defence research and production (Times of India, July 26,27, 29).

Naresh Chandra is a former Cabinet secretary.

Defence moves India’s defences along the Pakistan and China borders have been augmented with new radars and command and control systems. New forward bases in Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Halwara (Punjab) are now equipped to handle squadrons of Sukhoi 30MK aircraft. In the eastern sector, similar Sukhoioperated bases exist in Tezpur and Chabua (Times of India July 26).

New warship Inducted Meanwhile, the Indian Navy has added another warship to its fleet with the commissioning of INS Sahyadri, the last of three Shivalik class stealth frigates built under the P-17A project at the Mazgaon Dock Ltd, near Mumbai.

INS Sahyadri, equipped with some of the most advanced surface-to-surface missiles of

INS Sahyadri launch

New Kolkata airport

Russian, European and Israeli origin, was launched by Defence Minister A.K. Antony. The 143metre long, 6000 tonne vessel has a crew of 300. Mr Antony appealed for greater participation by Indian industry in the country’s ambitious shipbuilding programme.

From the Barents Sea, in Russia’s Arctic, where the Russian-built aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is undergoing sea trial before the handover to India in December this year, comes encouraging news: a Russian fighter jet has made extensive landings and take-offs from the ship’s decks. Twenty-nine of these MIG-29KUB two-seater naval aircraft will form part of the Vikramaditya’s offensive capabilities (The Hindu July 29).

Striking a balance The Defence Minister spoke of the need to respect the timehonoured right of freedom of navigation on the high seas, an oblique reference to China’s claims to exclusive control of the South China Sea. While willing to talk softly, India’s big stick is being readied for use should the need arise. India seeks a fine balance between the conflicting interests of the United States and China, but its precautionary postures are conducted with an eye to China.

Mr Antony concluded: “Every year hereafter the Navy is going to get five warships. The need for a strong and vigilant Navy to defend our mainland, offshore assets, Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) along our vast coastline, and to maintain sea-lanes of communication hardly needs any emphasis” (Times of India July 22).

The paper reported: “Towards this end, the Indian Navy already has well-laid plans worth over Rs 3 lakh crore for the next 15 years, which includes 50 warships on order and another 45 in the planning process.” .

control. The central government in Delhi has prioritized steps to apprehend the guilty leaders from both communities (The Hindu July 24,25,26,27).

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on a visit to Assam at the weekend, described the rioting as a “national shame”. The central government has earmarked Rs 300 crore for relief and rehabilitation work in the affected area. The Assam government will be able to call on the services of a special force of 11,000 paramilitaries, if required. (The Hindu, Times of India July 29).

Two cheers for airport Kolkata’s new state-of-the-art airport received its first passenger aircraft in what was a dry run for the full operational opening scheduled to coincide with the Durga Puja festivities in October. Two cheers are in order for now, the third to come at the appropriate time. The Telegraph (July 16) headline - “Finally, something to feel good about”said it all.

India’s eastern metropolis is spreading its wings after decades of Communist blight. Despite a number of errors and misjudgments, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government is setting a brisk pace in social and economic development.

Good news Is the Indian economy slipping into warmer waters? It’s too early to say, but there is cause for hope. “Buoyed by strong growth across verticals, HCL Technologies has posted betterthan-expected 67.3 per cent jump in fourth quarter net profit. The company, which follows the June-July financial year, registered a net profit of Rs854.10 crore in the April-June quarter of 2012 against Rs510.50 crore in the previous year (2011).”

Assam violence The violence in lower Assam between Bodo and Muslim communities have resulted in 50 deaths and the displacement of thousands of victims to relief camps set up by the Assam government, and also in camps in neighbouring West Bengal. The sudden eruption of arson and murder took the Assam government by surprise, and it required the the intervention of Indian Army units and paramilitary forces to bring the situation under

HCL CEO & Vice Chairman Vineet Nayar

HCL CEO and Vice Chairman Vineet Nayar told reporters: “For the first time, we crossed $4 billion in terms of revenue.” (The Hindu July 26).

More power to his elbow.

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Political Sketchbook

www.PoliticalAnimal.me

Alpesh Patel’s

The Politics of Power (Energy) A letter from the nation of India to the peoples of the world: Dear Peoples of the World, As you all congregate in London - don’t cry for me here in India. Save your tears.

Yes half of me is in darkness because of power failures. One in 12 people on the planet are left in darkness thanks to my power failure. I am embarrassed to ask for foreign investment when this happens, how will you trust me?

I am embarrassed that whilst people speak of China and India in the same sentence, of course what the Olympics and this power failure reveals is that in fact, India is closer to Pakistan than to China in so many ways.

I apologise for having raised your hopes throughout history. I gave you trigonometry and navigation and surgery and calculus and astronomy – you must have thought I was on quite a roll. I gave you a million men to fight in your Western wars – to save the world – and give you freedom and Independence from tyranny.

I gave you a man who taught you all there was another way – Mahatma Gandhi – if only you would listen. Of course some of you like Mandela did listen. So you would be forgiven to think I would continue to keep giving.

Actually my people are not in darkness because of the power failure, but they’re in darkness because of the total failure of leadership. That darkness is leading their eyes to open and see the light. So worry not for me.

For years major global power companies have been urging me to open my markets, to allow them to supply, to grow infrastructure. They begged, they explained competition raises all, it leads to know-how coming to India. For years Captains of Indian Industry have visited Britain, coincidentally always around Wimbledon tennis time, and resisted calls for foreign competition entering India.

What did my people fear, that evil Western corporations would rape and pillage me? That small tiny Indian companies like Reliance will be gobbled up by foreigners? That a flood of money may equally quickly leave the country? That a flood of foreign money will lead to inflationary food prices? How’s that all working out for me - the Rupee is at a record low against the Dollar as floods of money still leaves India, and food prices sky rocket.

I used to blame the Mughals, then they left. I then blamed the British. Then they left. I am sure my leaders will not let me down as they leave for Switzerland.

Fools talk of China and India in the same sentence. Blind patriots will tell you, ‘never mind, India will do it all by itself; it is other’s fault, India will call on its vault of history.’

"The very essence of leadership is its purpose. And the purpose of leadership is to accomplish a task." Said a colonel. Time is running out for me. But fear not world. The world’s largest democracy will not see a revolution. Fortunately we are used to hardship. You in the West are more likely to have riots than we in India – with your soft-living. We’ve got used to poor living, so we’ll just work in the dark.

So you see, it is a clever plan we had all along not to be too advanced, because then what when it all goes? Best placed are we for austerity, because we know nothing else.

I know, someone soon will point out, that at the end of the Second World War, a nuclear devastated Japan, became four decades later the world’s second largest economy – through a singular mission and pride. One day, something will happen to cause my people to have that singular mission and pride. Until then, don’t cry for me world.

Blair insists on a ‘no political comeback’

Keith Vaz

Cherie is in India working on a legal case, as explained to the Standard paid tribute to Vaz’s “extraordinary” abilities as a networker and a politician.

Tony Blair

Speculation has been mounting that Tony Blair after the three-term winning ex-premier was planning a surprise return to frontline politics as an MP the Evening Standard reported. But at a private party in Soho to mark the 25–year parliamentary career of Keith Vaz, the MP for Leicester East, Blair who served as an MP for 24 years reportedly insisted that, no, there never would be a fourth term, as reported .

The event at the Red Fort Indian restaurant in Dean Street was attended by David Miliband, Yvette Cooper, Harriet Harman and Ken Livingstone.

In a five-minute speech, Blair whose wife

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YOUR VOICE

UK

Motherland and belief sIn the democracy it is the people that makes the nation and not the politicians.

Looking at the present political situation, I think it is a joke and tragedy. It is a joke for the politicians and tragedy for the nation and for the people of India. We are in 21st century now, so people should vote for the person who has an administration ability and qualification.

Politicians who see their interest first then the interest of the nation should be thrown out of politics. Yes we do need younger generation in politics, but not youngsters who have acquired a seat through inheritance instead of capability.

The politicians have been taking about “garibi hatao” (eradicate poverty) for last 60 years. I do not think it would take this long if over the years we have not elected incompetent and selfish politicians. The intellectual and academically qualified of India are coward and

irresponsible. There are two type of traitor in our country, one who does not go to vote and those who vote for financial benefit. Both are equally responsible for our present situation. Call it a “people’s power”- there should be no division in people on the bases of their cast. This is creating division within the citizen of India. There should be no provision of reservation on the bases of caste in education / job. This is creating inefficiency in every office and administration of India. Everyone should be selected on their ability and not by caste. There are poor in all the castes. So the government should make a provision for the financial benefit on the bases of their ability and not on the basis of their caste.

We want to create a society which believes in our mother land from the heart and not just theoretically.

Harshad Patel Via Email

John Cummings Ross, winners, and The Prideview Group, runners up, of the Prideview Cricketers’ Cup at Merchant Taylors’ School, which raised over £4,000 on Saturday, 21st July for The Big Hug Foundation, a charity supporting destitute children in India”

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ART & CULTURE

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Great honour to carry the Olympic torch: Amitabh Bachchan Indrani Thakurata It was a moment of immense joy for the mega star Amitabh Bachchan, the Indians he was representing, and the fans who got a glimpse of the star with the Olympic torch in London, early this thursday morning. The 69-year-old legend was brimming with excitement, “ I am honoured to be asked to carry the Olympic torch in London at Southwark. It’s a proud moment for me and the country.”

Wearing the torchbearers white track suit, the star coined the moment as indescribable. The star revealed that he did his routine exercise in the gym for the event. “ At my age, it’s difficult to run and take preparations as such. But I did my routine exercise as usual, nothing else. When quizzed about the significance of the torch relay, he said, “ The beauty of Olympics is that it rises above caste, creed, race and other discriminatory factors. It is an event that brings communities together. And it is great to be a part

Olympic torch relay at Harrow by International Siddhashram Shakti Centre -UK members. They specially thanked the Harrow Council, Met Police, British Army, UKBA and all supporters for this wonderful opportunity.

Journalists meet former Press and Information Minister, India House of this.” Like any other Indian, this indian is also hoping to cheer for our sportsmen. “ I will be watching the games. India has the largest participation this year. I am happy to see boxers, archers, shooters participate apart from the usual favourites. I hope they bring as many medals as possible.”

Apart from Amitabh Bachchan,

AR Rahman is also participating in the Olympics. He has teamed up with Danny Boyle of the Slumdog millionaire fame, artistic director of the opening ceremony, to compose a track for the pageant. "It's a part of a medley in the Olympic opening ceremony, according to Danny Boyle's creative wishes", he wrote.

KJo’s London, a must visit!

Indrani Thakurata His movies are larger than life - with elaborate star cast, sets and locations.

His urbane, aspirational movies often touch a chord with the cosmopolitan Indians and the NRIs. And it is no surprise that Visit Britain has chosen Karan Johar to be the goodwill tourism ambassador of Britain, and to be the lucky one to watch the opening ceremony of Summer Olympic 2012. “I am extremely overwhelmed with the opportunity Visit Britain provided me. It was the chance of a lifetime and was undoubtedly the most spectacular and breathtaking live show I have ever seen! I feel lucky to have

Karan Johar

been part of this prestigious ceremony.”

Talking about London, the film maker assures that the country, Britain, has a certain soul celluloid cannot capture. One has to be there to experience it. “Unlike New York

which is a horizontal city and tough to capture on celluloid, Britain has always been a favourite with the directors. We have all captured London’s favourite tourist places in our movies, but now I would love to frame alleys in my movies.”

Karan’s connection with London dates back to his childhood. “I have an emotional connect with the city since i have been coming here since childhood. I have shot most of my films in Britain, starting from Kuch kuch Hota Hai. London has always been amongst my favourite cities in the world, be it for shooting my films, taking in the historic sites and architecture or simply relaxing.” A self

Milapfest presents Indika Each year, Milapfest hosts a range of performance, education and artist development activity around the UK, and internationally. Indika is a culmination of these elements, offering Milapfest the opportunity to present musicians and dancers at the peak of their careers, alongside the freshest up-coming talent from the UK. The festival is the biggest of its kind in the UK, featuring a fantastic range of genres and styles which will surprise and delight. From North Indian Hindustani music and Kathak dance, to South Indian Carnatic Music and Mohiniattam dance from Kerala, the festival offers a diverse snapshot of an ancient culture that is alive with colour, style and creative depth.

Indika features many of the biggest names in Indian arts – including Leela Samson, a highly acclaimed choreographer and performer, and the

Chair of Sangeet Natak Academy, the Indian equivalent of Arts Council England.

Rakesh Chaurasia, a leading Hindustani Bansuri (bamboo flute) player from India will perform a thrilling duet with Shashank Subramaniam his Carnatic music counterpart for the very first time.

In addition to the performance programme, a series of lecture-demonstrations led by star performers, offers a fascinating glimpse into how Indian classical music works Another exciting addition to this year’s festival is a traditional early morning raga concert. Morning Raga performances are rooted in Hindustani (North Indian) traditions, where ragas are prescribed for particular times of a day or a season. Rakesh Chaurasia will welcome the day with a traditional morning concert taking place in the beautiful Angel Fields Garden of Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus.

confessed shopaholic, Karan cites shopping as one of the reasons why people should visit this country. “I love to shop, be it a trip to Selfridges, Harrods or the designer shops of Savile Row. I enjoy the street fashion in London too.”

Explaining their obvious choice for the work, Sandie Dawe, Chief Executive at VisitBritain said, “Karan is an ideal global ambassador for our country, particularly as film tourism is such a heavy influencer in travel.

He also recently produced a short film for us where he invites the people of India to visit Britain so we simply couldn’t have asked for a better seal of approval.”

Fun Day at St John’s Nursery School

The first fun day was celebrated at St John’s Nursery school recently. The school was established in Wembley early this year with a motive of providing excellent childcare facility and enable children enhance their creativity and individuality as per the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.

Kids, parents, volunteers, teaching staff, friends & family got together at the nursery to celebrate the day cheerfully as older kids “graduated” to soon join schools. Different varieties of food and drink, music, dance, football made it enjoyable for young and old alike.

Children were given certificates for passing out and for participating in different events. Stalls were put up for dental health of children and colourful and customised bead-making. Face-painting and football sessions were thoroughly enjoyed by the kids.

C Rajasekhar and Gareth Roberts with Smt Padmaja

The former Press and Information Minister, Indian High Commissioner, C Rajasekhar met the Indian Journalist Association members for a lunch on Thursday 26th July at Courthouse Doubletree Hotel. As the members enjoyed a sumptuous and delightful lunch spread, Mr Rajasekhar shared his stories of life in Cuba as an Ambassador of India.

He spoke about the foreign relations between

India and Cuba and the fantastic opportunities available to medical students, scholarships and excellent medicinal discoveries.

He was joined by Padmaja, First Secretary, Press and Information and Mrs Jasminder Kasturia, Counsellor (P&I and Commonwealth Matters) along with Gareth Roberts from the Foreign and Commonwealth office along with the member journalists.

Navin to release new single solo Navin Kundra is releasing his next solo single, ‘Shudaayi’, on the 20th August 2012.

Having achieved a consistent string of top ten hits including five number one singles, Navin’s latest offering sees him delivering vocals in a mixture of English and Punjabi over a strong Dutch house beat.

“This is a high energy dance fusion track made to make you move”, says Navin speaking about ‘Shudaayi’. “This record has been my obsession for the last year and a half, and I have been working very closely with my talented producer, Mushtaq, to ensure that every element of this song is right”.

Having delivered hits such as ‘Tere Liye’, ‘Mehbooba’ and ‘Nach Le’ amongst others, Navin explains that he wants to give his audience something new with each release and continue to develop as an artist.

Known for his versatility, Navin also reveals that he has changed his look and vocal style for the new release and viewers will see pop singer Tina Barrett from the former pop group SClub7 in the music video. As she embarks on her new solo career, Navin will also be featuring on a remix for her debut solo release, ‘Fire’.

‘Shudaayi’ will be released worldwide on all digital platforms, including iTunes, on the 20th August 2012, aptly timed to coincide with Eid. For more information seewww.Navin-Online.com

UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

f ashionista

by Debasree Ghosh

Be a Fashionista, Be You! If you have any questions or a story or a new style to share with us, please write to Shree at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow I’ve given myself a haircut. And I don’t mean made an appointment at posh salon, ripped pictured of Jen Aniston off magazines, sat through forced conversation as the stylist took scissors to my head and came out looking all bouncy and shiny. No sir. I mean I have given myself a haircut; as in cut my own hair. Standing in my loo, with a pair of scissors I use to cut open Bachelor instant noodles. Why did I not do the sensible thing? The problem with me, you see, is that I am impatient. I got bored of my blessed by Indian genes, almost waist length, mass of curls that virtually needs no styling to look all arty-chick. So I grabbed the scissors and went snippity snip.

Now I have shoulder length hair with side swept bangs. Luckily, I have always been impatient and therefore have cut my own hair many times over the years, so I ended up with a semidecent haircut that when fussed over a bit, manages look like something it isn’t, smooth straight and corporate. The only reason people are not laughing at me on the bus is because, I know what suits my face and there is only the one haircut I’ve ever given myself….shoulder length with side swept bangs.

And practice makes even madness perfect you see.

Anyway, while I absolutely do not recommend that anybody does what I did (please don’t), I will try and give you a few pointers about what hairstyle may suit the shape of your face.

If Your Face Is Square like Katie Holmes: For square shapes, it's all about softening the edges. Avoid

"sharp" cuts, like angled bobs or styles with bluntcut bangs, which can emphasize an alreadybroad forehead and chin.

Long or short? It's up to you. Pretty much any length will work, as long as you add shorter pieces to frame the face. If your

hair is naturally curly, play up your waves à la Salma Hayek. The loose ringlets help to balance out your face's boxiness.

Your best bet is to experiment with your part to find its most flattering location. A center part looks great paired with angle-softening curls. Or, try one that's slightly offcenter to blur the bold edges of a square face.

If your face is Oval like Charlize Theron: You lucky thing, almost anything will look fantastic on you. If you have long, thick, curly hair, ask your hairdresser to cut it so the curls are looser, to take the thickness out.

For straight-ish hair, from a cropped cut to a blunt bob to longer, layered styles, virtually anything goes. Cheek-length layers will also help balance a longer oval shape.Just like the cuts, when it comes to parts, most will work well. Worthington recommends a sharp center part for a chic look.

Or, you can break up a long oval face by parting your hair to one side. The longer your face, the more off-center the part should be. Avoid covering up your "perfect" features with heavy bangs, or too forward-directed styles.

If your face Is Round like Renee Zellweger or (me!): Since full cheeks can conceal even the best bone structure, a round face can lack definition.

But contrary to popular belief, a lot of haircuts, done right, can look wonderful on this face shape.

Styles with face-framing layers and choppy bangs can slim a full face and create the illusion of cheekbones. If you like short hair, try a bob with razored ends , which breaks up the roundness and adds angles where they don't naturally exist.

If short is not your thing, aim for looks that fall longer than the chin. The extra length will help elongate a full face, making it appear more oval. A slightly off-center part works best, as it offsets

roundness, but a center part can draw the eye up, giving your face the appearance of a longer shape.

If your face is HearShaped like Jennifer Love Hewitt: Avoid topheavy cuts, and no one will be able to resist your sweetheart sex appeal.

Choose a style that will create volume around the bottom of your face. But whatever your hair type, don't have your hair too long. Long, curly locks will look fantastic on a heart-shaped face if you keep them soft and loose.

A short bob shape is a safe and sexy style. This works best on curly or wavy hair, just don't let it

grow any longer than your jaw line. Insist on a choppy cut around your chin - not a thick, blunt, bush of locks. A shorter, wispy fringe is low-key but will look gorgeous, especially if your hair is quite thick. A blunt fringe is really dramatic and will work well on all hair. Highlight hair above the ears to widen your face and low light above.

Avoid very short, full styles that emphasize upper face or severe, slicked back looks. Don't miss the boat by getting a cut which is to top heavy.

For Everyone: Remember, not everyone can pull off long hair or a bob or something that you’ve seen on Miley Cyrus. Work with your face, not against it. And always always thing about how much time you can or are willing to give to your hair on a daily basis. Don’t go for a high maintenance supercut if you have three kids under five!

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UK Goan Festival attracts thousands of visitors The UK Goan Festival in Cranford, felicitated Reita Faria Powell, the first Indian to wear the Miss World crown in 1966 and Longinus Fernandes, the famous choreographer for the song 'Jai Ho' from

Reita Faria Powell

Slumdog Millionaire.

The festival, which is a major event in the annual cultural calendar attracted nearly 9,000 visitors this year.

Reita Faria Powell, who is a qualified medical practitioner, is married to Dr Colin Powell.

Wearing her Goan heritage proudly, she is

seen as a role model for the community that is spread across the UK and elsewhere.

First organised by the Goan Association in 1985, the festival over the last weekend also felicitated senior Labour leader Keith Vaz, of Goa origin, who recently completed 25 years as a member of parliament.

The event was attended by other MPs such as Virendra Sharma and John McDonnell.

One of the highlights of the event was choreography by Fernandes, who trained a troupe for performance during the festival. This year, the event attracted visitors from all over the UK as well as from Australia, Canada and the Middle East. Several people travelled in six coaches from the south-west town of Swindon, which has a large minority of Goa origin.

The UK Goan community has recently secured funding from the UK Heritage Lottery

Longinus Fernandes

Fund for a project to record the oral histories of British Goans who arrived in this country from East Africa.

A video presentation on the project was made during the festival.

Festival events included an open air mass partly conducted in Konkani by a visiting priest from Goa and two local priests; several cultural performances, and Goan food. In the past, the festival has provided a forum for organisations such as the Save Goa Campaign and other charitable organisations with a focus on Goa.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Wanted, well divorced, handsome gentle man Sona Heiden all these days was found saying that she hate living with a man and also she hates anything that binds her including a marriage. Now, she declares that she wants to get married and is whole heartedly searching for a man who can live with her life style. First ever qualification to get eligible to be her man is, the guy should have divorcing experience!!! Second comes handsome looking! Third qualification is brilliance! If you come across any such man with broad mind set shall apply to her immediately for the post still kept vacant...

Rajini and his idly addiction Rajinikant eats idly from a road side shop Kaiyenthi Bawan... that too sitting near the shop in his car... is the news that is now discussed every where in Kollywood and internet! Rajini lives in Poes Garden - a very very posh area of Chennai. In that area, there is an idly shop on the road side.

Though Rajini has billions of fan following, Rajini himself is a fan for this idly shop. It is said that he used to regularly visit this idly shop and eats idly sitting inside the car. While he was sick, he was not visiting this shop. Recently he was found again near the idly shop eating idlys.

Kollywood director Barathiraja was making his “Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum” for more than a year and was searching for artists for his movie.

The veteran director has decided on the second heroine of his film and she has already begun work. Sources say, new comer Subiksha, has been roped in. She said, “This is my debut film in Tamil.

Apart from Bharathiraaja’s project, I am working on ‘Friendship,’ a Malayalam film directed and produced by Khader Hassan.”

Subiksha, who is from Bellary of Karnataka, knows four languages and she is also a Bharatanatyam dancer just look at the way she is keeping her top already kept open even before the start of career!

Hot Garam masala No heroine yet for Farah Khan's 'Happy New Year' Farah Khan's re-union with Shah Rukh Khan has put the long impending project “Happy New Year” on track but the choreographer-turned-director insists that they have not yet decided on the leading lady.

Farah had planned 'Happy New Year' even before her directorial debut “Main Hoon Naa” and was preparing to film 'HNY' immediately after “Om Shanti Om.” But then cracks began to appear between good friends Farah and Shah Rukh, when SRK refused to feature in “Tees Maar Khan,” which was directed by Shirish Kunder, Farah's husband. Now that the film is back on track, gossip mills are abuzz that Sonakshi Sinha and Parineeti Chopra are the two latest names that have popped up for the role of the leading lady.

Imran Khan all set for an image makeover Call it a curse or a blessing, Imran Khan is often thought of as a chocolate boy! Thanks to the kind of movies Imran Khan has worked in “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na” and “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu.” Imran carries a boy-next-door tag with him! However, it now looks like the actor is all set for an image makeover! The projects currently under his belt are far different from the ones he has worked in, in the past! He realises the fact that he is at a critical stage of his Bollywood career and perhaps that is why, he is putting in extra efforts to not let his fans down!

Manisha Koirala ends her marriage Ever since Manisha Koirala tied the knot with businessman Samrat Dalal in 2010, her marriage has been under the scanner. In fact, ever since the actress had posted on a social networking site about her unhappy state of mind, reports of her turbulent relationship started making their way to the media. And now, it has learnt that the two-year-long marriage is finally over. "Manisha is in Mumbai and happy," revealed a friend of the actress. In fact, the couple took a decision to separate a couple of weeks back.

"But Manisha still goes to Nepal. After all, her family lives there," said the friend and added, "Certain marriages work out, some don't. Manisha and Samrat have taken it in their stride."

Barathiraja finally discovered!

Ajay Devgn launches trailer of ‘Son of Sardar’ Taking time out from a holiday following extensive promotions and the phenomenal international success of his current film, “Bol Bachchan,” Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn launched the theatrical trailer of his eagerly anticipated Diwali release, “Son of Sardaar.”

From his vacation in London, the allrounder launched the teaser online and interacted with his fans across social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. The trailer of his upcoming home production has already received a phenomenal response from cinemagoers and critics alike, who are already gearing up for one of 2012’s most hotly awaited Indian film releases.

Co-produced by his home banner, Ajay Devgn Films, “Son of Sardaar” will feature the superstar in a never-before seen screen avatar that will combine two of his most beloved genres – action and comedy – with state-of-the-art, gravity-defying stunt sequences performed by the actor himself and a hearty dose of screen tomfoolery seamlessly uniting in what promises to be this year’s must-see Hindi entertainer. The trailer continues to stir the hype around the Lion King of India’s forthcoming screen offering, sure to become another international Box Office superhit for the movie star with the Midas touch.

Son of Sardaar releases in the UK and worldwide for Diwali 2012.

Salman keeps Katrina away from Dhoom 3 With “Ek Tha Tiger” inching close to its release on August 15, promotions are about to begin in full swing. At the same time, the “Dhoom 3” team including Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra will be leaving for their Chicago shoot on August 4. But with Salman Khan insisting on Katrina being alongside him in all of “Ek Tha Tiger's” promotions, Yash Raj Films, makers of both “Ek Tha Tiger” and “Dhoom 3,” have had no option but relent to the star's demands and allow Katrina to join the Chicago schedule of “Dhoom 3” only after August 15.

17

Rajesh Khanna’s last recorded message!

Actress Kareena Kapoor says only her beau, actor Saif Ali Khan, will put to rest the incessant rumours about their wedding date.

Speculation about their wedding date has been doing the rounds for a while. Saif's mother, veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, had even been quoted as saying that the marriage will take place on Oct 16, but nobody else confirmed it. Latest reports suggest Kareena had developed cold feet about the October wedding as she wants to concentrate on her film projects. But when asked about her marriage plans at the launch of the trailer of her film "Heroine", she said: "Let's wait for Saif to make the official announcement."

Not 'getting into anyone's shoes'

Currently, Kareena is busy spreading the buzz about her film, Madhur Bhandarkar's "Heroine." It is a special film for her. She is thrilled to be playing the lead and says the film marks an important part of her journey as an actress. "It has always been my dream to become a heroine. My journey has been fantastic but it would not be complete without Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Heroine'," she said.

Her character in the film is named Mahi.

Kareena says she is very different from the 'heroine' in the film. "My character of Mahi is eccentric, edgy and over emotional. I am also a bit over emotional at times but other than that, I am not like her at all. I deal with situations differently than how she deals with them," she said.

Bebo says she is not trying to copy anyone in "Heroine", the first trailer of which has raised inevitable comparisons with Vidya Balan's look in "The Dirty Picture."

The first superstar of Indian cinema Rajesh Khanna, who left for the heavenly abode on July 18, 2012, had recorded a farewell message for his fans just like his ‘Anand’ character who left a last note for Babumoshai before passing away onscreen.

In an emotional outpour, Rajesh Khanna in this last and final address to his fans recounts his journey in Bollywood. Here’s what Kaka had to say in his last recorded message for his fans: "Mere pyaare dosto, bhaiyo aur beheno nostalgia mein rehene ki aadat nahi hai mujhe.

Hamesha bhavishya ke baare mein hi sochna padtaa hain jo din guzar gaya hai, beet gaya hai ,uska kya sochna lekin jab jaane pehchane chehre anjaan se ek mehfil mein milte hai toh yaadein wapas tazaa ho jati hai. (I don`t have a habit of dwelling in the past and living with nostalgia...but looking forward for a bright future as what is gone is gone and there is no point thinking of it). “When we meet known faces in an unknown place

then we recollect old memories”, said Khanna in the message.

Adding further Khanna said, “My journey began with theater, I owe my success to the stage. This theater where it all began when I joined the film industry, I had no God Father, no relatives or family that I could turn too. I came into the movies through the United Producers Filmfare Talent contest.” Rajesh Khanna also spoke about the dialogue which made his life. He revealed it was `Mujhko yaaron maaf karna... Haan main kalakaar hun, haan main kalaakar hun, kya karoge meri kahaani sunkar...`Ending his message on a heartrending note, Khanna said, “The ladder to my success goes to my fans, don`t have words to thank you....I got love but was unable to return it back.”

Is Prachi Desai dating director Rohit Shetty?

The rumour linking Prachi Desai and director Rohit Shetty doesn’t seem to die out anytime soon. The two came close to each other while filming for “Bol Bachchan,” and are reportedly going strong.

Now, one hears that the director has started living in with the actress, leaving behind his wife and kids. No wonder, a tag of ‘home-breaker’ is already stuck onto her for causing cracks between the filmmaker and his wife.

Prachi Desai, who is looking glamorous nowadays and has been making bold style statements lately; she has chosen to be mum regarding the matter. How did the two get close? It all started on the sets of ‘Bol Bachchan.’ It is said that the couple has been fairly open about their perpetually increasing mutual fondness. Reportedly, the duo used to spend hours getting to know each other. The director was even spotted taking out his pretty actress for dinners in the pink city, Jaipur. The unit members were shocked to see the proximity between the two; also it’s believed that Rohit Shetty is in an unhappy marriage for years.

It can be recalled that Prachi Desai was not the original choice for “Bol Bachchan;” she came into the picture only when Genelia D’Souza walked out.

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Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Six jailed over insider trading scam Dear Financial Voice Reader, Where is the best place to invest? Facebook has dropped nearly 70% since it floated. Indian property companies are accused of scamming investors in the UK. Indeed, the Rupee is at an all time low against the dollar, so even your Indian investments are dropping.

The mattress isn’t safe, inflation if not bed mites, eat your money.

So what is left? At the trough of the credit crunch, the companies I looked for and the ones I still suggest are the biggest giants with the longest track records with the most cash piles. Too safe you may say. Can you be too safe when it comes to investing in this era?

All the old rules seem to have broken down.

Preservation is the goal. You can’t even trust property.

When you can trust nothing or no one, trust your eyes.

Trust only what you see people buying and selling.

So it was I re-examined the holdings of one of the world’s richest men. He owns of course Berkshire Hathaway. Why not just shove your money in that? Most people don’t like doing the obvious and having a rich man manage their money. They’d rather the guy who gets to work on the tube manage their money for them.

What of Barclays. Its big and got money. Yes but most of it is the depositor’s money, not the bank’s. Sure – Barclays could double on volatility and hype and hope in the next 5 years. But if you think hype and hope is a way to invest then do it, just buy some indigestion tablets too.

What of Europe? Since we the people are not going to accept austerity and the French and the Spanish and the Italians will just riot and lynch (the British are too polite to do most of that) so the financial gurus will come up with some innovative clever and cunning plan to outsmart themselves to get us out of this hole, just as they did to get us into it.

So don’t worry. We’ll get some clever borrowing mechanism. It won’t feel painful. What you once owned, you’ll now rent. You won’t notice the difference.

It’s just your unborn grandchildren will find it better to live in a richer continent than this one in a few decades – so plan ahead!

What of Britain. The longer term is assured – all the things the Olympics have thrown up has reminded us that the wealth creation abilities of Britain have a solid long term footing – not like the short term hit and run opportunities in some (power shortage) countries I could mention.

Whilst an index of the 100 largest UK companies is not up this year, the best performers in it since the start of the year are up over 30%; like Whitbread, Hargreaves Lansdown, Croda, Admiral.

Just think, 10% higher and the FTSE 100 representing the 100 largest UK companies would only be 15% off its all time high. Ummm…not so good after all.

Alpesh Patel www.investingbetterblog.com

Japan's biggest investment bank chief resigns over insider trading

K e n i c h i Wa t a n a b e , chief executive officer of Japan's biggest brokerage, N o m u r a Holdings Inc, has announced his resignation, taking responsibility for a Kenichi Watanabe series of insider information leaks. The were found to have leaked company's chief operating insider information to cusofficer, Takumi Shibata, is tomers about public share also expected to resign folofferings planned by Inpex lowing the scandal, Kyodo Corp., Mizuho Financial News Agency reported.

Group Inc and Tokyo Watanabe, 59, is Electric Power Co, the expected to be succeeded report said.

by Koji Nagai, a 53-yearNomura also confirmed old president of Nomura the involvement of its offiSecurities, which is part of cials in leaking inside information to its customers folthe Nomura banking lowing an ongoing investiempire.

Earlier, several officials gation by country's finanat the Nomura Securities cial regulators.

Six members of an insider trading ring have been jailed for their roles in a sophisticated scam which sparked London watchdog’s longest and most complex prosecution to date.

The gang used sensitive information leaked from the print rooms of two of London’s biggest investment banks - JP Morgan and UBS- to place trades before takeover bids became public, netting them hundreds of thousands of pounds as share prices moved.

After a £5m prosecution by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the six men involved in the ring were sentenced at London’s Southwark Crown Court to prison terms ranging from 18 months to three and a half years. The men, Ali Mustafa, Pardip Saini, Paresh Shah, Neten Shah,

Bijal Shah and Truptesh Patel, were convicted earlier in the week of disclosing inside information and dealing while in possession of the data. The offences related to trading around six companies’ shares, including Biffa Group and Premier Oil, between 2006 and 2008, which brought the ring more than £700,000.

However, the court heard that to keep the complex trial becoming too unwieldy, the FSA was asked not to pursue charges around other companies’ shares which took the total potential gains to £2.25m.

Jurors sitting on the four-and-a-half month trial heard that the mammoth FSA investigation into the ring began in 2006, when its staff noticed suspicious trades but could not link them to bank insiders.

The breakthrough

came months later, when staff examined a spread bet on information company Reuters placed by Pardip Saini on May 4, 2007, three minutes after he received a text from a contact, Ersin Mustafa. Within a fortnight, Thomson agreed to buy Reuters.

Investigators discovered that Mustafa and his brother Ali worked in the printing rooms of investment banks JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS respectively.

Saini, it would emerge, was the “link man” between the insiders in the print rooms and the rest of the ring, who were not City professionals.

Through their access to the information flowing through the print rooms, which handle confidential documents on mergers and deals, those outside the banks were able to antici-

pate moves in companies’ share prices. They would use various accounts to place spread bets before deals were announced.

Such was the speed with which data was sent out, using a system of memory sticks and email accounts as a “drop box” for the copied documents, that the FSA said it was possible the ring was using the information contained in the documents to place trades before the printed versions had even reached the banks’ intended recipients.

The FSA said the ring posed a serious threat to “ordinary and honest” investors.

Tracey McDermott, acting director of the enforcement and financial crime division, said: “They thought that by attempting to cover their tracks they would get away with their criminal conduct.”

No plan to invest in After SP and Left, Nitish India: Lakshmi Mittal too rejects FDI in retail

Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has no immediate plans to invest in India, where his recent attempts to build steel plants in Jharkhand and Odisha reportedly face local opposition and wrangles over land acquisition, says a media report.

Mittal, who is Britain's richest individual, said that India remained a priority for him but not for investment. He said: "India remains a priority but not for investment. I'm not locating capital to India or China as I don't see things progressing there. We can't remain stuck, so we move on.

Now our priority is to reduce debt, we sell noncore assets. But we contin-

ue to invest in mining and become self-dependent."

Asked about his strategy to target India and China for growth, he said: "We've not succeeded in both countries." Mittal's wealth has reportedly halved since 2008 to 12.7 billion pounds. Recession and lower demand for steel may force his company ArcelorMittal to close some of its Europe operations, leading to more job losses.

Admitting the likelihood of job losses, he said in an interview: "I have all the sympathies with the people who will be affected by this action. But the positive side is that we will be saving jobs for many times more people."

Politicians in Europe, he said, need to sort out the economy, and added that the second half of the year would be very challenging.

On the lower demand for steel, he said: "If we don't have the orders, what can we do? We produce what we can sell, and we have to build a sustainable business model."

Bihar chief minister and JD (United) leader Nitish Kumar has opposed foreign direct investment in retail. Coming after the rejection by the Samajwadi Party and the Left, this has dealt a body blow to the Manmohan Singh government’s hopes of cobbling together a consensus on allowing global giants to set up multibrand stores in India.

"It is our considered view that as domestic retailing is underdeveloped and in a nascent stage, it is important that this sector is allowed to grow and consolidate first before any liberalization.

We have to be very cautious...because at stake is the stability of vital pillars

of our economy - retailing, agriculture and manufacturing," Kumar said in a rebuttal of commerce minister Anand Sharma's claims that FDI would benefit farmers and that it had safeguards to protect small kirana shops.

Govt to walk lonely road on FDI Nitish's opposition to FDI brings out the Congress's isolation on the issue and will test its willingness to be seen as the sole mover of a reforms measure opposed by traders, a very organized pressure group with outsized say, besides political parties.

After last week's disapproval by the Left-SP combine and the outright rejection by Trinamool, the Congress's hopes hinged critically on the JD(U).

The Cabinet had approved FDI in multibrand retail in November and the government was hoping that it would be able to notify the decision after the presidential elections.

Barclays faces new probe, more US Libor lawsuits

Barclays Plc faces a new regulatory probe and more US lawsuits, events that could make it harder for the British lender to repair the damage to its reputation caused by its role in the interest-rate rigging scandal rocking banks.

Barclays said that Britain's financial regulator has started an investigation involving the bank and four current and former senior employees, including finance director Chris Lucas. The Financial Services Authority is investigating whether the bank made sufficient disclosures about the fees it paid under commercial

agreements related to its capital raisings in June and November 2008. The bank said it was satisfied with its disclosures, but refused further comment.

It also faces more US lawsuits after a record 290 million pound fine last month for rigging the Libor interest rate benchmark, sparking fierce criticism about its culture and risk-taking.

More than a dozen other banks are expected to be drawn into the global Libor investigation and

could also be fined.

"We are sorry for the issues that have emerged over recent weeks and recognise that we have disappointed our customers and shareholders," Chairman M a r c u s Agius said.

"I am confident we can, and will, repair the reputational damage done to our business in their eyes and those of all our stakeholders," Agius said, reaffirming a commitment to deliver a return on equity of 13 per cent.

The bank beat forecasts with a profit of more than 4 billion pounds and said there has been no exodus of clients and its performance during July has been ahead of last year.

Barclays is searching for a new chief executive and chairman after they quit following the Libor scandal.

Agius said the board was focused on filling those positions, but gave no update on likely timing.

Investors are keen for one or both of the CEO or chairman to come from outside, to be able to implement a far-reaching overhaul.

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

19

Remember Jim’ll Fix It? He fixed it for me!

Suresh Vagjiani Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

When I was young I used to watch the Jim’ll Fix It TV show on Saturday nights. The show was about turning dreams into reality for children all around the UK. I remember his funky red armchair with gadgets inside. As a child I always fancied the idea of having Jim ‘fix’ something for me (and also always fancied the idea of meeting Superman!)

Decades later I have changed. I no longer have any desire to meet superman, I’m now obsessed with property, and property deals. So you’ll understand my surprise when after all this time, so many years after I had forgotten about the Jim’ll Fix It show, perhaps in a way Jim did ‘fix it’ for me, as, we ended up purchasing his pad in London. And for a good price.

look of a 5 star hotel, this is an ideal pied a terre. Many properties for sale are described in this way, but actually few are. Most are just dingy studios with strong locations. This one is in Park Crescent, facing Regent’s Park, and it has the wow factor.

It took a ridiculous amount of time to close this sale, as the managing agents required guarantees regarding the service charges. It would have been easier to provide the funds and hold them considering the time it took to get the guarantees. But this is the way they work and so we had to dance to their tune.

It is often difficult purchasing probate properties as there is always the risk of someone coming in and offering a few thousand

purchase a couple of Lots in Maida Vale, they went way above what they should have. We went in hoping to secure a one bedroom in Maida Vale which was guided at £250,000, it ended up going for £330,000. Another property we were after was a two bedroom with potential to convert into a three bedroom. This property was guided at £300,000 and ended up going for £410,000. This is what happens when you allow too many end users into the auction room.

Decent property folk are robbed of the opportunity of making money from the auction room! It should remain the sanctuary of investors, with a strict entrance policy which disallows first time buyers and end users entering the room!

The game has changed, and

Bought at auction, Jimmy’s brightly coloured platform shoes for £200

Bought at auction, Jimmy’s favourite box of cigars at £500

Bought at auction, Jimmy’s famous rose tinted glasses for £100

Bought at auction, Jimmy’s 18ct gold Rolex for £12,000

Bought at auction, Jimmy’s 9ct gold bracelet for £8000

Jim died last year in October 2011 at the ripe age of 84 years.

He had a rich life including running 200 marathons, raising money for various causes and all sorts of other things.

He had a gold casket which was placed at a 45 degree angle facing the sea along with some of his cigars and medals placed inside it.

The casket was concreted to prevent it being raided by thieves.

His property came on the market as a probate sale. We came across it and managed to secure the property for our client at £325,000.

The property is worth between £390,000 and £425,000. We are planning on selling it on, due to the cheap price of the property in relation to its location it will sell quickly on the open market.

The entrance has the grand

pounds more and thus scarpering the deal and months of hard work.

Luckily we managed to hold things together. We were ready to exchange about three months ago, the delay was simply as mentioned, giving the management company guarantees regarding the service charges. From one angle the property was rising in value due to the time taken to exchange, from another angle the danger is never far as the door is open for someone to come in and snatch the deal.

Looking at the recent auction at Savills it seems prime London Lots are going for top money. The auctioneer commented “that London Lots in general were steamy”, for example a flat in Fulham sold for £705,000, well above its guide of £495,000.

Last week we were looking to

auctions by nature are a very hit and miss game.

Consider for example the last Allsops auction. The room was half empty, and three Lots we had put in didn’t sell. One sold after the auction, another sold for higher than the reserve a month later, and the other we now have people biting our fingers off for it.

They were prime auction Lots in Shepards Bush, Kensal Rise and W2, so why did they not sell at the auction? I’ve put the reason down to bad timing: a combination of the jubilee celebrations, the coming of Olympics and the summer holidays.

Given the interest in prime stock this Park Crescent property may be a good one to stick into the auction - of course at the right time.

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

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

Bought at auction, Jimmy’s famous string vest for £150

Tips of the Week l Purchasing property is not a get rich quick scheme, it is a solid investment which will rise steadily into the future. If it was a get rich quick scheme it could just as easily go the other way. l An investment property should be bought with hard numbers and due diligence, not the same criteria you would use when buying your own home, this would be an emotional and lifestyle purchase.

20

fInancIal vOIce

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

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

maria@abplgroup.com

Maria Fernandes

Law to be created by parliament not by the executive

recent case at the Supreme Court (our A highest court) finally laid

to rest an issue that the lawyers had repeatedly warned was unlawful since the introduction of the points based system in 2008. The strategy of the Government was to introduce the bare bones of the regulation within the Immigration Rules (which governs the procedure) and provide the detail in the form of guidance, which was then treated as if it was the law and could and was changed (or manipulated) at will. The judges roundly rejected this methodology. Cases in the past had warned that introducing legislation in this was unconstitutional as it was not subject to scrutiny by Parliament.

However the UKBA pressed on with this as it provided an easy way to change policy.

This untrammelled power is an anathema in a democracy and the judges have finally ruled that this was unlawful. The UKBA’s response was to bring the guidance within the law for future cases. However they may be looking at a floodlight

I

freedom to change their employer .

This Government have prohibited any change of employer for those now coming in. Their solution to any abuse that they will arrange to repatriate the worker to their country.

But this misses the point.

Domestic workers do not choose this profession for the love of it. They need the job and the money to support their families and prevent them from following them into this profession. If they are abused and cannot change employer, they will stick it out and endure the insults, violence and even death. In all other working categories a change of employment is not only allowed but any attempt to restrict this would not be legal and sanctioned by an industrial tribunal.

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

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

of challenges for those who are already in the UK. A class war?

The main aim of the restrictions to the immigration regulations have not only been designed to reduce numbers but have a much wider remit of a less than subtle attempt at social engineering. The working classes are being rapidly phased out and replaced by the more educated and the monied classes.

Take for example the Life in the UK test. It is designed not to test a person’s English but their intelligence.

Domestic workers who may be able to learn to understand English and even to speak and write it, will be unable to pass this test because it requires understanding and memorising a number of facts and the use of a computer to answer them.

Many domestic workers did not go to school and passing this test will be an impossibility.

The last Government, in recognition of the exploitation that was taking place against domestic workers allowed them the

Manmohan Singh orders fresh look at IT, FII tax issues In a fresh move to placate global investors, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday ordered a relook at three tax issues - information technology development centres, portfolio or FII flows and safe harbour schemes for transfer pricing - announced by Pranab Mukherjee during his stint in the finance ministry.

Global technology giants such as Microsoft and IBM that rely heavily on off-shoring from development centres in India are expected to benefit from clarity on the issue, while the move on FIIs may have an impact on the Vodafone case as well.

“While this committee would address concerns on GAAR provisions and would reassure investors

multiple levels. In addition, Microsoft has challenged the government’s move to tax it in India based on the contribution that the local centre has made to the development of products globally. “The mandate is more broad-based than Microsoft as it will cover several companies that have huge India centres for outsourcing. These are captive centres with little risk and they are seeking clarity,” said Dinesh Kanabar, chairman of KPMG’s tax practice.

On portfolio flows, the expert committee on GAAR, headed by Parthasarthi Shome, has been asked to look at the issues including taxation of non-resident transfer of assets, where the underlying asset is in India.

about the predictability and fairness of our tax regime, it was felt that there is still a need to address some other issues relating to the taxation of the IT sector such as the approach to taxation of development centres, tax

treatment of ‘onsite services’ of domestic software firms, and also the issue of finalizing the safe harbour provisions announced in Budget 2010,” the PMO said in a statement.

IT companies have been protesting the tax department’s move to tax them at

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Words Speak Just as Loudly as Actions

read somewhere that Amitabh Bhachan was recently asked about his views on some social ills plaguing India.

He declined to comment stating that he was not knowledgeable enough to speak about such issues. This is a fair comment and it is right that one should only make statements or pass judgement on matters they know something about. In a country where some Indian Film stars are worshipped as larger than life icons, it is perhaps unreasonable to expect them to know about everything such as political issues, social problems or why the Indian cricket team is not more consistent. However, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed by his response.

It was the same feeling that I got when I watched Satyamev Jayate for the first time. The issues Aamir Khan discussed are not really new; anyone who takes a genuine interest in what happens in our motherland will be all too aware of these problems. What I did wonder is why did it

take so long for someone to use their celebrity status, which guarantees a national audience, to bring these issues to the forefront of public discussion and challenge people to actually do something about it? Oprah Winfrey has been doing such shows for years. So it’s not even as if there wasn’t a precedent to follow.

When actors speak about their willingness to kiss on-screen, they speak as with such conviction, yet where is this courage when it comes to addressing the evil of honour killings? Many in the industry say they try to portray the challenges facing society through their film and there have been such films such as Aarakshan and Tare Zammeen Par. But what happens when the lights are switched on?

The message often suffers the same fate as the credits at the end of the film.

Actors will travels all over the world to promote their films, it’s a contractual obligation. Producers know that when actors ask people to go and watch a film,

By Amit Patel

people take heed. I recently read that a couple who worked as cleaners on the railway had their five year child kidnapped while they were all sleeping on the platform. Who will promote their plight? Does anyone notice the moral contract that comes with fame?

Many actors do contribute a lot of time and money to worthy causes, but they also need to speak up and encourage people to hold politicians to account.

Indian actors have the power to get peoples attention, to shy away from that power and say that they are not the right people is akin to turning a blind eye.

For them, it is certainly a case of words speaking just as loudly as actions.

Amit Patel has over 20 years experience in the field of Personal Development and Human Resource Management. He provides consultancy services and ideas on issues such as Leadership, People Management and Development. To contact Amit, email amitpatelmail @gmail.com

RBI leaves rates unchanged as inflation persists The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left interest rates unchanged for the second time since June, in line with expectations, while cutting its growth forecast and lifting its inflation outlook as economic conditions deteriorate.

The RBI kept its policy repo rate at 8 per cent and left the cash reserve ratio for banks at 4.75 per cent.

CRR is the share of deposits banks must keep with the RBI. "In the current circumstances, lowering policy rates will only aggravate inflationary impulses without necessarily stimulating growth," RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao wrote in the monetary policy review, adding the central bank's primary focus remains inflation control.

The RBI's hard line on inflation maintains pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government to rein-in pop-

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ulist subsidy spending and take steps to improve the investment climate by implementing long-pending reforms, such as allowing foreign direct investment in the supermarket and airline industries.

A Reuters poll of 20 economists last week

of 5.3 per cent in the March quarter.

On Tuesday, the central bank cut its economic growth outlook for the fiscal year that ends in March to 6.5 per cent, from the 7.3 per cent assumption made in April, putting its outlook closer to that of many private economists.

It also raised its headline inflation projection for March 2013 to 7 per cent, from 6.5 per cent in its April review.

The RBI unexpectedly reduced the minimum requirement for banks' government bond holdings to 23 per cent of deposits, from 24 per cent previously, in a move to free up liquidity.

"The RBI struck a hawkish stance in its monetary policy statement," said Anubhuti Sahay, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai. "Overall it affirms our view that any rate cut from the RBI is unlikely in rest of 2012."

showed all but one expected the RBI to hold rates steady.

Headline wholesale price index inflation remained above 7 per cent in June, while India's consumer price index was 10 per cent. Growth in Asia's third-largest economy slowed to a nine year low

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financial VOICE

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

21

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

Will the European Central Bank be able to save the Eurozone?

As the problems deepen in Europe and in particular with the Euro economies questions are being raised as to whether the European Central Bank’s (ECB) bond plan work? Last week concerns were expressed as Spain's cost of borrowing over 10 years rose to a euro-era high of nearly 7.6%. Greece, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland all had to seek international bailouts when their own borrowing costs reached similar exorbitant levels.

A short sentence from Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank on Thursday last week seemed to succeed where every other single Eurozone finance minister had failed saying "The ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.� This confident speech had a positive impact a couple of days later as the yield on ten-year Spanish bonds plunged to 6.55% in a couple of days. This definitely gives the impression that the ECB are Key to saving the Euro and in particular Mr Draghi.

Credit agency Standard and Poor (S&P) forecasted yesterday, that the entire Eurozone’s

economy is set to contract by 0.6% in 2012. This means it will be cutting its previous estimate of zero growth as the region’s debt crisis takes its toll on activity. S&P also cut its estimate for the Eurozone as they predict the economy would grow only 0.4%, down from 1% previously.

Europe's public, household and banking sectors will see the deleveraging process underway is seriously dragging Europe deeper into recession and this means it will take many more years to complete the cycle. Also there is a 40% chance of a Eurozone double-dip recession in 2013 as S&P highlight.

Germany Unemployment rose for the fourth consecutive month in July. The main contributor to this seems to be the sovereign debt crisis, which prompted companies to delay hiring.

The number of people out of work rose a seasonally adjusted 7,000 to 2.89 million, the Federal Labor Agency in Nuremberg said today. Along with the decline in unemployment German retail sales fell for a third month in row in June having a negative outlook for the country based on uncertainties

in the Eurozone. This impact saw German government bonds advance for a second day adding evidence to a slowdown in the Eurozone.

In the US the dollar fell against most of its major counterparts yesterday amid speculation Federal Reserve policy makers will signal additional stimulus when they conclude a twoday meeting that starts today.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said this month policy makers are “looking for ways to address the weakness in the economy should more action be needed to promote a sustained recovery in

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the labour market.� The central bank did not like the idea of introducing a third round of asset purchases at its June meeting, but a third round of QE is a more likely option this time around, Bernanke indicated.

UK saw mortgage approvals and lending slump in June, raising concerns of broader economic weakness in June due to extra public holidays and very wet weather the Bank of England data showed yesterday.

Consumer lending, such as credit card borrowing, held up well, but house purchase activity declined to its lowest in one and a half years and money supply figures showed their biggest annual drop since records began in 1983.

In conclusion with negative figures in Germany and massive debt concerns in Spain will the ECB be able to save the Euro? It will definitely be a great talking point as ECB policy makers meet on August the 2nd with focus surely expected to be on easing borrowing costs in Spain.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 31st July 2012 @ 5pm GBP - INR = 86.96 USD - INR = 55.50 EUR - INR = 68.33 GBP - USD = 1.57 GBP - EUR = 1.27 EUR - USD = 1.23 GBP - AED = 5.76 GBP - CAD = 1.57 GBP - NZD = 1.93 GBP - AUD = 1.49 GBP - ZAR = 12.88 GBP - HUF = 357.68

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

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PAkISTAn-BAnglAdeSH-SrI lAnkA

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

British ambassador says Pakistan is 'world leader' in visa application fraud Islamabad: The British high commissioner to Islamabad has risked sparking a diplomatic storm after accusing Pakistanis of being "world leaders" in visa fraud. Adam Thomson said UK visa officials had sifted out thousands of forged documents submitted by Pakistanis trying to obtain travel documents for Britain during the past year.

His strong words have angered Pakistanis who were sensitive to allegations that they were visa cheats.

“You are world leaders in the visa fraud business which is why we have to check very scrupulously every single application, every single passport, every single document,” said Mr Thomson, who is usually known for a more mild mannered approach to diplomacy. “Last year we weeded out, I think,

4,000 forged documents or false passports.”

The issue has already threatened relations this week after revelations in The Sun that passport officials and travel agents in Lahore were selling bogus documents. The government of Pakistan hit back saying it will sue for defamation and accusing the newspaper of being part of an international conspiracy against the country. With more than one million people

of Pakistani origin living in Britain, questions about visa processing, restrictions and delays are a constant feature of news conferences involving British officials.

Mr Thomson was peppered with questions about visas even as he kept trying to steer questioners back to the Olympics. In the end he offered the brutal truth that fraud and forgery were “very strong” industries in Pakistan, before recovering to add that fraudulent documents made for a fraction of the 150,000 applications submitted each year and that Britain was satisfied with local visa controls.

That was not enough to keep his negative comments from the front pages or from Geo News, the country’s most influential TV station.

Javed Siddiq, Islamabad

Islamabad: A Pakistani television show broadcast live a Hindu boy converting to Islam, prompting a leading daily to say that it sent "a clear signal that other religions don't enjoy the same status in Pakistan as Islam does". An editorial in a newspaper said that it's been apparent for a while now that the country's electronic media will go to extreme lengths to spice things up and "religion is now fair game too".

"In yet another example of how the industry's commercial goals trump ethics, open-mindedness and common sense, a television show broadcast an imam leading a Hindu boy through a live conversion to Islam carried out in the studio as part of the show, complete with the audience joining in to suggest Muslim names for the new convert. "There is no reason to think the boy was not converting of his own free will, but the whole event had the distinct air of being carried out to give viewers something new and different to watch,

even if that meant dragging an intensely personal and spiritual experience into public view," the daily said.

The editorial said that "more disturbingly, what the channel obviously didn't stop to consider is the message this broadcast would send to the country's minorities".

"The joy with which the conversion was greeted, and the congratulations that followed, sent a clear signal that other religions don't enjoy the same status in Pakistan as Islam does. In a country where minorities are already treated as second-class citizens in many ways, this served to marginalise them even further," it rued.

The daily observed that the problem with Pakistani media is that "it is missing a responsibility chip, hurtling ahead with what seems like exciting content without stopping to consider the ethical implications or appropriateness of its programming, or the message it will send to all Pakistanis, not just those it considers the mainstream".

New York: Tensions flared between the US and Pakistan as two top officials from both nations were involved in a war of words and accused each other of not doing enough to combat Taliban terror sanctuaries in the AfPak region.

President Barack Obama's top adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan Douglas Lute and Pakistan's ambassador in Washington Sherry Rehman traded strong words in Colorado, the New York Times said.

Rehman, said Pakistani Taliban fighters, who have taken refuge in two remote provinces in eastern Afghanistan, were increasingly carrying out attacks against Pakistan. On 52 occasions, in the last eight months, she said that Pakistan had provided the US and Nato commanders the locations from which the militants were attacking, to no avail.

Lute immediately retorted, saying, "There's no comparison of the Pakistani Taliban's recent, small-in-scale presence

Adam Thomson

editor of the Nawa-e-Waqt newspaper, said Pakistan was used to being criticised by America but not by such a close ally. “I think this will upset many people, particularly when UK-Pakistan relations are so strong,” he said.

“The visa issue has been bubbling all week and the government and business people will be frustrated and disappointed that he could say something like this.” One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “This puts the government on a bit of a sticky wicket. It is one thing to threaten to sue The Sun for defaming Pakistan, quite another to act against the British High Commissioner.”

A spokeswoman for the British High Commission said the two countries were working closely to tackle the problem of fiddled applications.

Hindu boy converts to US, Pak in war of words over terror havens Islam on TV in Pakistan

US Senate clears bill on terror tag for Haqqanis Washington: The US senate has unanimously passed a resolution urging the Obama administration to designate the dreaded Haqqani network as a foreign terrorist organization. The resolution comes after the US House of Representatives passed Haqqani Network Terrorist Designation Act of 2012 early this month.

The bill, which was passed last year, had to be passed by the senate again because of the changes made in it by the House. After senate’s latest decision to pass the amended House version by unanimous consent, the bill now heads to the White House for President Barack Obama’s consent to make it a law.

Sherry Rehman

Douglas Lute

inside Afghanistan to the decades-long experience and relationship between elements of Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban," he said.

"To compare these is simply unfair."

Rehman added that Pakistan was "feeling a little bit of blow back from ISAF redeployments along the border," referring to the Nato command in Afghanistan.

Zardari case: Pakistan SC extends by 2 weeks deadline for PM Ashraf Islamabad: Pakistan premier Raja Pervez Ashraf got a temporary reprieve as the Supreme Court extended till August 8 the deadline for him to approach Swiss authorities to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, a case that had cost his predecessor his job.

The court had earlier directed the premier to comply with its directive to reopen the corruption cases against the President. During the hearing, attorney general Irfan Qadir requested that the case be put off till after Eid-ul-Fitr but a five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa rejected his plea and adjourned the matter for two weeks. Qadir also objected to Khosa's pres-

ence in the bench, claiming that he was prejudiced. He asked Khosa to recuse himself from the case but the bench rejected this request too.

Khosa said he would immediately quit the bench if he had any prejudice. The judges will not do anything that can harm the country or

derail the democratic system, he said.

The judges stand for democracy and want it to be strengthened, he said. "How can you level charges of prejudice against me?" Khosa asked. Khosa further said the judges respected the President as much as anyone else. But the attorney general said he was concerned at the apex court's order of July 12 to the prime minister to revive the graft cases and to file a compliance report to the court. The attorney general further said the government intends to file petition seeking a review of the court's order of July 12.

Khosa said the government could file an appeal by August 8.

In Focus Case registered against top ISI officials

Islamabad: Pakistani police have registered a case against the Directors General and Deputy Directors of the ISI and Military Intelligence on the charge of kidnapping a member of a banned group, according to a media report on Tuesday. This is first case in the country's history to be registered against senior military officers serving in intelligence agencies, The News daily reported. The case regarding the kidnapping of Hizb-ut-Tahrir spokesman Naveed Butt was registered by his wife Saadia Rahat at Liaquatabad police station in Lahore on June 26. Though the FIR was sealed, a copy was obtained by Geo News channel. In the FIR, the Directors General and Deputy Directors of the ISI and Military Intelligence, based in Rawalpindi and Lahore, were named as the accused.

Kayani's aide appointed Pak's new defence secretary

Islamabad: Lt Gen (retired) Asif Yasin Malik, a close aide of army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, has been appointed as Pakistan's new defence secretary. Malik is a former commander of the Peshawarbased XI Corps and did a stint in the InterServices Intelligence when the spy agency was headed by Kayani. He replaces top bureaucrat Nargis Sethi, who was given additional charge as defence secretary in January after former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani sacked the previous incumbent, Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Naeem Lodhi, during a standoff with the army. At the height of the tensions between the government and the army over a mysterious memo sent to the US about averting a possible coup in Pakistan, Gilani had sacked Lodhi for "gross misconduct and illegal action".

Truck bomb kills 11 in northwest Pakistan

Islamabad: A truck packed with explosives exploded in a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan close to the Afghan border that killed 11 people. The blast in Salarzai town in the Bajur tribal area also wounded nearly two dozen people. A shop owner who was injured in the attack, Sher Mohammed, was sitting in his store when he saw a pickup truck enter the bazaar. Minutes later he heard a large explosion. The Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in Bajur, but the group’s spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, denied they were behind the bombing. The Army has carried out several offensives against militants in Bajur, but they continue to stage attacks. Pakistan temporarily closed one of the two crossings used by NATO to ship troop supplies into Afghanistan because of security concerns, said Bakhtiar Khan.

23 TN fishermen released by Sri Lanka

Colombo: Twenty-three Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by Sri Lankan Navy on July 22 when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, have been released. The Indian High Commission was making all arrangements for their return. Their release came a day after India appealed to Sri Lanka to immediately set free the fishermen, who were also accused of ramming their boats into Lankan naval ships, on humanitarian grounds. In Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, President of Innocent Fishermen’s Association, Arulanandam said that the fishermen, arrested on charges of entering the island nation’s waters, were brought to the court from Anurathapuram where the judge ordered their release.

Pakistan cops assault 2 for drinking in Ramzan

Islamabad: Two men were detained and assaulted by policemen in the Pakistani capital for having a soft drink at a popular tourist spot during the period of fasting in the Islamic holy month of Ramzan. Anwar Abbas and Malik Saeed were detained while they were having a soft drink inside a car at Daman-e-Koh. The incident was reported to Islamabad police. "I was not fasting and knowing that it would be ethically incorrect to have a drink in front of people, I chose a place where no one was present."

WORLD 23

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Fatwa issued against TV series Book on Gandhi's leadership qualities on Prophet’s companion to hit stands in China

Indian-American woman jailed for sex with minor

New York: A 46-year-old Indian-American ex-headmistress of a Manhattan prep school, sentenced to two-to-seven years in prison for bedding one of her students in 2007, has surrendered after all her appeals exhausted. Lina Sinha, a teacher in 1996 at the Montessori School, had oral sex with a 13-year-old boy and was found guilty five years ago, but has evaded the sentence with a wide variety of appeals.

With all her appeals exhausted, her lawyer Jerry Shargel pleaded with judge Carol Berkman to reconsider her sentence because the charges were “exaggerated”.

Beijing: A book written by veteran Indian diplomat Pascal Alan Nazareth on Mahatma Gandhi's outstanding leadership qualities, which have great relevance in today's world plagued by violence and terrorism, has been translated into Mandarin and will soon hit the stands in China.

The Mandarin edition of Nazareth's book entitled "Gandhi's Outstanding Leadership" will be published in China at a time when the new generation of Chinese intellectuals is showing interest in the Gandhian principles despite being influenced by Chairman Mao Zedong's revolutionary ideals.

An MoU in this regard was signed by Indian Ambassador S Jaishankar and Yu Dianli, CEO of the Commercial Press China, at a function at the Indian embassy here. Nazareth has written extensively on Mahatma Gandhi. His book on Gandhi's leadership published in 2006 was translated into Spanish and Portuguese, besides several Indian languages.

Incidentally, this is the second book on Gandhi in Mandarin to be released in

Tulsi Gabbard: First Hindu in race for US House

Washington: Tulsi Gabbard, who trailed behind her nearest rival by over 40 points a few months ago in the race for the Congressional seat from Honolulu, has now taken a narrow but crucial lead of five points in the latest polls, brightening prospects for the first Hindu to be elected to the US House of Representatives. In a dramatic turnaround, 31-yearold Tulsi has eclipsed Mufi Hannemann.

China. It will come out in markets next year. 'The Gandhi Memories', written by American journalist William L Shirer, recently hit the stands in China.

Speaking on Nazareth's book, Jaishankar said the publication of the Chinese edition is timely as it would highlight the importance of soft power and the limitations of hard power. The book also highlights the distinction between progress, modernisation and westernisation, dwells on the role of ethics in leadership and how national leaders acquire universal relevance, he said.

Shang Quanyu, the history professor of the South China Normal University who translated the book, said it was a trail blazer because it was a rare book that highlighted Gandhi's leadership qualities and Mahatma's ideas on leadership, which have great relevance today.

Cairo: The most ambitious Arabic television series to date, which depicts the life of a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, has run into flak and fatwas from hardline critics who consider it sinful to depict even those close to the founder of Islam.

Omar, a 31-part series with 30,000 actors that took 300 days to shoot, tells the story of Omar Ibn al-Khattab, one of the ten close companions of the Prophet, and the man who succeeded him as Caliph

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Even today, I still vividly remember visiting Makindye Prison with two of my friends, Hasu Masrani and Moti Bali. We found many Ugandan Asians cramped like animals in tiny cells. We were able to release one of the prisoners, but I later learned that many had been tortured and killed. A friend of mine, Harshad Patel, was hanged on a tree and shot repeatedly.

None of these events made any sense.

I am not alone in these experiences and so I urge my fellow Ugandan Asians not to forget 4th August, a very sad day for us all, and to remember and sympathise with the families of those who lost their loved ones.

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many years and immeasurable effort to build and form the backbone of the Ugandan economy.

The ethnic cleansing of Asians in Uganda was conducted in an Indophobic climate.

During these turbulent times many Ugandan Asians were violently murdered. Those who survived found expropriation of their properties and businesses, assets confiscated, their possessions looted and their extremely hard earned bank balances stolen. Amin’s soldiers during this period were engaged in theft and physical and sexual violence against the Asians with impunity. Their treatment was brutal.

4th August 1972 – a date that is indelibly etched on the minds of Ugandan Asians all over the world.

It was on this day, exactly 40 years ago, that the contribution that Asians had made to the development of Uganda over the last 150 years was wiped out in one fell swoop. It was the day President Idi Amin Dada decreed the expulsion of UK passport-holder Asians and those who were not Ugandan citizens - about 60,000 people from Uganda within 90 days. 90 days to say goodbye to the country of birth, friendships and relationships, indeed to the homes and lives that it had taken

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Conservatives have denounced the Saudi-produced series on social media sites and called for it to be pulled. “The symbols of the Ummah (nation) are a red line,” one wrote on Facebook. Another said the actors “will tarnish the image (of the Prophet and companions) through their roles in other films.” One website showed the actors’ faces with the text “Shame on Muslims!” underneath.

40 years ago - 4th August – A sad day for Ugandan Asians

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after his death. It will be aired during Ramadan on the privately owned Saudi satellite channel MBC. Al-Azhar University in Cairo, one of the most revered seats of the Sunni strain of Islam, has issued a fatwa against the series, while Dar al-Ifta, a legal research institution in Saudi Arabia, has also threatened edicts condemning the series. Sunni conservatives condemn any depiction of the Prophet as idolatry. A 1977 movie about the life of Muhammad featuring

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INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Three Gujarati tourists killed in Kashmir grenade attack

Three Gujarati tourists from Mumbai were killed and eight others were injured in a separatist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Saturday.

"Militants tossed a hand grenade at a Tavera taxi carrying tourists in Bijbehara town.

The grenade exploded inside the vehicle resulting in the death of three tourists and injuries to eight others," a senior police official said.

Jaswanti Thakkar, who survived the blast, said it was a grenade attack. The bodies of Vile Parle residents Nirmala Rathod, Bharati Purohit and Nisha Jethwa were brought to Mumbai by the latter’s husband Bharat Jethwa.

Among the injured were Jaswanti Thakkar and Nisha’s cousin Nita Jethwa, who also arrived in Mumbai. “Even though the officials are saying that it was an LPG cylinder blast, I saw a person throwing something at the van,” said Jaswanti.

The vehicle was ferrying the passengers from Gulmarg to Budgam at the time. “It all happened so suddenly that it took me some time to comprehend what had actually

By Rajen Vakil

Arjuna returns from the Heavens

he Pandavas had been roaming in the forests T for five years. During that

Jaswanti Thakkar, who was injured in the accident, said everything happened so suddenly that it took her some time to comprehend what had actually occurred.

occurred. As soon as the blast took place, the driver jumped out of the van and he later helped us get to a hospital,” Jaswanti added.

The other survivor, Nita Jethwa, was severely injured and was on a wheelchair when she arrived at Mumbai airport.

Nita, her mother Nirmala Rathod, and three cousin sisters - Pratima Jethwa, Bharati Purohit and Nisha Jethwa -were inside the Tempo Traveller when the explosion took place. Only Nita and Pratima survived.

“She (Nirmala) was a very sweet lady and it was always her wish to travel to Kashmir. She could not visit Amarnath as she was not keeping well and decided to go to Vaishnodevi. I even talked to them on Thursday; everything was fine then,” said her son Hemant Rathod.

A family member said Pratima Jethwa is critically injured and is admitted at Sher-i-Kashmir hospital in Srinagar. She would be brought back once declared fit to travel.

Congress leader calls Modi ‘Gujarat’s lion’

By AV Correspondent A Congress MP from Maharashtra showered praises on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi calling him ''Gujarat’s lion” and a ''nationalist saint.'' Vijay Darda, a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra, who was in Ahmedabad to attend a book release programme of Jain saint Tarunsagar, commented that Modi had assumed a significant role in Indian politics and became “Gujarat’s lion”.

While referring to Swami Vivekananda, Darda said Modi was following his path and thereby making him “nationalist saint.” Modi was quick to lap up the opportunity to embarrass the party further. “Let me assure Vijay that tomorrow it will be the breaking news and you will be given a notice by the Congress high com-

mand for praising me.’’

And within minutes after the event Darda gave a clarification to the media claiming that he had been quoted out of context.

“This is a totally non-political platform and we should respect the integrity of this platform,’’ he clarified. But notwithstanding his clarification, the damage has been done.

The Gujarat Congress was quick to distance itself from Darda’s statement.

“Whatever he has said is his own personal statement and the Congress party does not relate with this statement of Darda.

Modi is not forest’s lion but he is a man eater lion.

He has killed many people. Vijay Darda does not know about this because he lives in Maharashtra,’’ said party leader Narhari Amin.

Modi, meanwhile, used the platform to target Congress.

Gujarat CM lauds people of Bihar Modi might have been at loggerheads with his Bihar counterpart Nitih Kumar, but on Sunday, the chief minister went all out to shower praises on the Bihari community.

Attending an event to commemorate 100 years of Bihar in Ahmedabad, Modi said people from Bihar had equal share in the state’s development.

16 Amarnath devotees killed as truck falls into gorge At least 16 people were killed and 20 injured on their way back from Amarnath pilgrimage, three of them critically, when the truck in which they were travelling rolled into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district.

The truck skidded off the road and fell into the gorge near Pappad Morh in Samba district, police said.

Most of those travelling in the truck were

In divine light

cooks of a langar (free kitchen) at Baltal, a police official said.

They belonged to Delhi, Ghaziabad and Hapur.

"The driver lost control of the truck while negotiating a deep curve during the darkness of night," Raju, one of those injured in the accident and admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital here, told reporters.

According to Deputy

Medical Superintendent Bharat Bhushan, the condition of three of the injured is critical. He said most of the deaths were caused due to head injuries as the terrain was hard and rocky.

This is second major accident involving Amarnath pilgrims. On July 15, at least 15 pilgrims were killed in a similar accident in Digdol on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

time Arjuna had gone to the heavens to acquire divine weapons. It was now time for Arjuna to return to the earth.

Yudhishthira and his three brothers, together with Draupadi and the rishis were now on the mountain called Gandhamadana waiting for Arjuna. Here they stayed for many days and their time went happily. Many great rishis came to meet them and they also were able to meet the lord of the Yakshas Kubera.

One day they saw a chariot coming from the skies. It was moving like lightning and they were able to see Indra’s charioteer Matali driving it with ease. The whole skies lit up with the light of the chariot, as if a comet had entered the heavens. In the chariot they could see Arjuna was sitting wearing a crown and a divine necklace resplendent with armour and jewellery. The chariot landed on the mountain and Arjuna stepped out of it. He first touched the feet of the rishi Dhaumya who was their guide and then

bowed down to his elder brother Yudhishthira. He met his brothers and then said kind words of patience to Draupadi.

Arjuna had been away for five years and indeed it was a meeting full of emotion and happiness.

The five brothers together with Draupadi then went to Indra’s chariot and did a circle or pradakshina of it. This was the chariot in which Arjuna had gone to fight all the demons and had returned victorious. They then welcomed Indra’s charioteer Matali and asked him how well all the gods in the heavens were. Matali sat

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

Don’t create Mahabharatalike situation, Gujarat BJP tells Keshubhai Patel

By AV Correspondent The war of words between rebel BJP veteran Keshubhai Patel and Gujarat BJP is all set to escalate further as the assembly election draws near. The party for the first time officially reacted to Keshubhai’s anti-Modi moves in the editorial of party’s mouthpiece Manogat.

In an open letter, veteran BJP leader and editor of Manogat Surendra Patel, appealed to Keshubhai to refrain from creating a situation like that in the Mahabharata where Arjun had to fight against his preceptor Dronacharya and Bhishma Pitamaha.

Far from being accusatory, the letter assumed a respectful tone and admitted Keshubhai’s contribution in building up the party in Gujarat. While Keshubhai has been largely targeting Narendra Modi in his public addresses, the letter maintained that his dislikes for a person has now assumed “anti-party” proportion.

“Your recent statements have been making it clear your disliking towards an individual’s style of working which has become antiparty now,” the letter read.

The letter went on to say

with the Pandavas for some time and just as a father gives advice to his sons spoke words of great wisdom. He then sat in the splendid chariot and returned to the heavens.

Arjuna then took of the wonderful ornaments which his father Indra had given him and gave them to Draupadi. Then all the Brahmins, the Pandavas and Draupadi sat around Arjuna and asked him to tell them in detail of his five years in the court of Indra and how he had vanquished all of Indra’s enemies in battle.

Arjuna said, “I have been able to bring back divine weapons from Indra, the lord of the wind Vayu, the other gods and from the lord Shiva himself.

Indra was very happy with my efforts and the way I learnt to use the divine weapons.” Arjuna then told all of them in short of the five years he had spent at the court of Indra.

It was late and dark and so they decided to sit again the next day and hear of Arjuna’s exploits.

that anti-BJP forces are firing from Keshubhai’s shoulder and he should part his ways with them to save himself of a guilt trip in future.

However, the letter in its concluding paragraph cautions him politely saying that he is elderly and honourable and requested him not to create a Mahabharata like situation. Interestingly, in one of his blog posting last week, Keshubhai has claimed that he would bring about change in Gujarat and would not remain a mute spectator like Bhishma Pitamaha. In that posting he reminded the readers of his contribution in formation of BJP and the way he had supported Modi between 1987 to 1995, when everyone in Gujarat BJP was opposing him and how Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat by forcing BJP leader LK Advani consistently between 1998 to 2001. He has also appealed to the people to free Gujarat from the clutches of modern “Dhanananda.”

21 convicted in Gujarat riots case, 61 acquitted

A special court held 21 guilty of rioting and attempt to murder in the Dipda Darwaza case in which 11 Muslims were killed during the postGodhra riots in 2002. No murder and criminal conspiracy charges were proved in the case. All the accused were absolved of destruction of evidence charges.

Designated judge SC Srivastava acquitted 61 persons of all the charges.

Of these, 51 were given benefit of doubt. Two politicians - the then BJP MLA Prahlad Gosa and Visnagar municipality president Dahyabhai Patel were also acquitted by the court after giving them benefit of doubt.

The police inspector and first investigator, M K Patel has been convicted for dereliction of duty. He is the first police officer to be convicted in the 2002 riot cases. All the convicts except one- Ashok Parmar belong to the Patel community of Gujarat. This is the fifth such case, out of total nine cases, wherein further probe has been conducted by the SIT. The convictions were recorded in four cases earlier. Eighty five persons were charged for the February 28, 2002 killings in Chudiwas of Dipda Darwaza area of Visnagar town in north Gujarat.

INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Fight against terrorism is 4th world war: Pranab Mukherjee

Fight against terrorism is the fourth world war and India has been on the frontlines of this, President Pranab Mukherjee said while hailing the valour and conviction of the Indian armed forces.

Taking oath as the President, he said few minutes of peace will achieve far more than many years of war. "...But the visible rewards of

peace have also obscured the fact that the age of war is not over. We are in the midst of a fourth world war; the third was the Cold War, but it was very warm in Asia, Africa and Latin America till it ended in the 1990s," said the President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

"The war against terrorism is the fourth; and it

is a world war because it can raise its evil head anywhere in the world," the President said in his acceptance speech in the Central Hall of Parliament.

India has been on the frontlines of this war long before many other recognised its vicious depth or poisonous consequences, he said.

"I am proud of the val-

our, conviction and steely determination of our armed forces as they have fought this menace on our borders; of our brave police forces as they have met the enemy within; and of our people, who have defeated the terrorist trap by remaining calm in the face of extraordinary provocation," Mukherjee said.

Noting that the people of India have been "a beacon of maturity through the trauma of whiplash wounds", he reminded those who instigate violence and perpetuate hatred that "few minutes of peace will achieve far more than many years of war".

"India is content with itself, and driven by the will to sit on the high table of prosperity. It will not be deflected in its mission by noxious practitioners of terror," the President said.

Hang me if I am guilty, Narendra Modi tells Urdu weekly

"Hang me if I am guilty (Main gunehgaar hoon toh mujhe phaansi par latkaa do)." This is what Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has said in his first ever interview to a leading Urdu weekly.

The cover-page interview was conducted by Shahid Siddiqui, a former Rajya Sabha MP from odd quarters - the Samajwadi Party. It runs into six pages and covers postGodhra riots, the state of Muslims in Gujarat and other sensitive issues.

In a sign of changing perception on Modi, Siddiqui writes candidly that his decision to interview Modi came after a lunch meeting in Mumbai with two Bollywood biggies filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who is one of Modi's most vocal critics, and celebrated script writer Salim Khan.

"We were discussing Gujarat at a common friend's place when both Salim saab and Bhatt saab suggested that a dialogue is a must to resolve any issue. I never thought

Modi would agree to an interview that focused on post-Godhra riots," Siddiqui, editor of Nai Duniya, said.

It is significant that Modi chose to talk about post-Godhra violence to an Urdu weekly after having walked out of television talkshows when prodded on the riots.

The interview has also led to talks about a possible softening of stance of SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav towards Modi. But, Siddiqui quickly rebuts the

theory. "This has nothing to do with SP or Netaji. I am a journalist first then a member of a political party," said Siddiqui, who has had stints with the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party in the past.

When contacted, Bhatt confirmed he had a discussion with Siddiqui at the residence of Gujarati businessman Zafar Sareshwala. "Shahid did his job as a journalist. It will be unfortunate if the write up is used as a PR exercise ," said Bhatt.

Power cut blacks out more than half of India

A massive power failure hit India for the second day running on Tuesday as three regional power grids collapsed, blacking out more than half the country in a crisis affecting over 600 million people.

Monday's abrupt power failure becomes urban India’s worst nightmare.

Indian passengers wait at a railway station following an overnight region wide power outage in New Delhi on Monday. India's northern grid, which covers an area home to more than 300 million people, failed for the second day in a row on Tuesday, an official said, with the outage also reportedly spreading to the eastern grid. Hundreds of miners were trapped underground in the eastern state of West Bengal when the lifts failed, metro services were stopped temporarily in the capital and hundreds of trains were held up nationwide.

"The north, northeastern and the eastern grids are down but we are working and we will have them restored shortly," Naresh Kumar, a spokesman at the Powergrid Corporation of India Ltd had said.. Federal Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters that the monster outage, which struck

around 1 pm in the middle of the working day, was caused by states drawing power "beyond their permissible limits." There appeared to have been a domino effect, with the northern grid drawing too heavily on the eastern grid which in turn led the northeastern grid to collapse.

"Half the country is without power. It's a situation totally without precedent," said Vivek Pandit, an energy

expert at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Power was gradually flickering back in some areas several hours after the crisis struck, but was not expected to be fully restored until later in the day. Drivers of all the metro trains have been asked to stop at the stations. No passengers will be allowed in the metro station until power is restored. The city's

hospitals and airports, accustomed to the regular outages caused by loadshedding, said they had switched to generators and back-up systems to keep their operations running normally. About 400 trains on the extensive national railway network were affected by the outage, a spokesman for the railways said, with all operations stopped in Uttar Pradesh.

With nearly 200 million people, this one state alone has a population bigger than Brazil's.

In the east, the massive city of Kolkata went without power as did the surrounding state of West Bengal as the eastern grid, which supplies five states, failed under the stress of over-demand. "This is the worst power crisis in the region. We were supplying power to the northern grid and this power sharing has led to the collapse," West Bengal Power Minister, Manish Gupta had said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters that "hundreds" of miners had been trapped in mines operated by the government-owned Eastern Coalfields Ltd in Burdwan, about 180 kilometres (110 miles) northwest of Kolkata. All efforts are on to resume power supplies.

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3 Ambedkar statues damaged in UP

Statues of dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar were vandalized by unidentified people at three places in Azamgarh district on Saturday, triggering protests from BSP workers who blocked roads and took out demonstrations.

The incident comes just days after the statue of former UP CM Mayawati was damaged in Gomtinagar in Lucknow. An alert had been issued in the state after the July 26 damaging of Mayawati’s statue. Inspector general of police Brij Bhushan said: “The damaged statues of Ambedkar were spotted by the natives of Jutpalia, Karat and Jiyasar villages falling under Mehnagar police. We are also trying to assess whether there was any laxity on the part of local police.”

72 militants surrender in Manipur

Seventy-two militants across various rebel organisations surrendered at Mantriphukri in Imphal recently to return to the social mainstream. Indoctrinated and misled by various militant groups on the pretext of a better life, the 'militants' instead got a life on the run. Over the years, the security forces have been persuading their families to help them give up violence and lay down their arms. Major General U.K. Gurung of Assam Rifles South welcomed the move. "The surrendered cadres have taken the right direction to join the mainstream and come to the peace process that is going on in the Manipur at this point of time," he said.

BJP dissociates itself from Sangma's petition plan

The BJP dissociated itself from the petition Purno A. Sangma is planning to file in the Supreme Court against Pranab Mukherjee's election as the president.

"Any decision by Mr Sangma to approach the Supreme Court will be his personal initiative," said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

"BJP has respectfully welcomed Mukherjee as the President of India and the party and the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) will not be associated with any such step," Rudy said. Sangma, who lost the presidential election to Mukherjee, has been contemplating filing an election petition challenging Mukherjee's nomination. Sangma's team had alleged that Mukherjee was holding an office of profit as chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute when he filed his nomination. They have also alleged that a copy of resignation letter submitted by Mukherjee carried a forged signature.

33 killed in two road mishaps near Delhi

On a day of tragic mishaps, 33 people were killed in two accidents in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab, four of them schoolgirls. In the first accident, pilgrims, including 10 women and three children, were killed when the pick-up truck they were in collided head-on with a truck on Rajgarh-Hisar road near Sainiwas village, around 60 km from Bhiwani, on Monday. Around 60 pilgrims from Kalayat village in Haryana’s Kaithal district were returning from a pilgrimage called Amarpura Dham in Rajasthan when their vehicle was hit by the speeding truck.

Krishna may pip Hillary’s globe-trotter record

India’s foreign minister S M Krishna justifiably logs frequent flyer miles travelling to countries all over the world. From old friends to neighbours to new lands, Krishna is a man on the move. For instance, he has met the Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi so many times this year that they've taken to greeting each other with a resigned, "Hi Friend". But he still has one more peak to conquer. The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has travelled to 102 countries. Krishna, in only three years, has travelled to 87 nations. But his staff believes he will overtake her record. Clinton has another few months on the job, so her record could go up to 120, if she is ambitious. Krishna will be visiting Iran, Pakistan and the US this year itself, not to speak of a bunch of other nations.

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INDIA

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Punjab to launch card for expats The Punjab government announced that it will soon launch an NRI card for Punjabis living abroad to identify them for official purposes and facilitate various services for them.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, accompanied by NRI Affairs Minister Bikram Singh Majithia and former union minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, asked the NRI affairs department to immediately work out the details for the NRI card and implement it at the earliest.

Badal said that Punjab

has to involve NRIs in the process of development by assuring them total support of the state government and offering them legal support in their cases.

He said that all NRIs will be able to apply for this card on the website of the NRI department.

ND Tiwari is Rohit Shekhar's biological father: DNA report DNA test results have revealed that senior Congress leader ND Tiwari is the biological father of 32-year-old Rohit Shekhar. The Delhi High Court gave the details of Tiwari's DNA test, which was carried out after Shekhar moved the court claiming that the Congress leader was his father. While revealing the details of the DNA test, the court said, "ND Tiwari and Ujjwala Sharma are the biological father and mother of Rohit Shekhar." Tiwari can now challenge the findings of the report in the Supreme Court.

Ujjwala Sharma, who is Shekhar's mother, called it a victory of the truth. "It is the victory of the truth. It is not my personal victory. "We don't expect anything from him (ND Tiwari). We are in the shelter of the court. Whatever the court decides, we will abide by it." "I am neither happy nor sad. I will take every lawful right I have been given under law. I am not an illegitimate child. I have the right to use his (Tiwari) surname," said Shekhar. Tiwari issued a statement which was read by his lawyer outside the court in which he called the case his personal matter. "Please do not try to look into my private life.

I have been a freedom fighter. I have the right to live according to my own wishes. No one has the right to look into my private life," Tiwari said in his statement.

The Delhi High Court had

He said the card, besides giving an identity to the NRIs for official purposes, would assure quality medicare to them besides offering them attractive discounts on shopping in Punjab.

Badal also asked the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) to explore the possibilities of offering preference to NRIs in house allotment.

Majithia said that a comprehensive website and portal of the NRI affairs department has been finalised and would become operational next month. He said that the

website would be multidimensional and NRIs would be able to register themselves on it. He said that even the NRI card would be issued on the website itself.

Badal said that a 24-hour NRI helpline should also be functional next month where NRIs would be able to register their complaints and get a time-bound response on action taken.

He said that these steps would inculcate confidence amongst NRIs who feel insecure sitting in a foreign land about their land, property and investments in Punjab.

32 charred to death on board Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu express

dismissed Tiwari's plea seeking fresh trial and in-camera proceedings in the paternity case.

Shekhar had filed a case against Tiwari in the Delhi High Court in 2008. Tiwari approached the High Court and them the Supreme Court pleading for quashing the petition.

However, on May 24, 2012 the Supreme Court directed Tiwari to give his blood sample for the DNA test. Tiwari gave the blood sample for DNA test on May 29.

On July 20 the High Court decided to unseal the DNA report and make its contents public. Tiwari, three-time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, also served as Uttarakhand Chief Minister between 2002 and 2007. He held the External Affairs portfolio between 1986-87 and was also the Governor of Andhra Pradesh between 2007 and 2009.

Shekhar's mother, Ujjwala Sharma is the daughter of former MP and Minister of State Defence Sher Singh. She reportedly come in contact with Tiwari while working for the Mahila Morcha of the Congress. Ujjwala was married to DP Sharma, but the two now live separately.

Thirty-two people were on Monday charred to death and 25 others injured when a fire broke out in a coach of New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore with railway minister Mukul Roy indicating that there could have been a blast. Additional DG railways VSK Kaumudi said that 32 bodies have been recovered so far from the charred S-11 bogie of the train.

South Central Railway officials in Hyderabad said 25 people have been injured in the disaster and have been admitted to different hospitals.

The Nellore station manager noticed the fire in one of the bogies of the train at 4.15am and alerted officials.

Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot immediately to put out the fire and they managed to restrict the blaze to the S-11 bogie, they said.

In Kolkata, the railway minister said, "Some of the injured passengers admitted to hospitals and a gateman at one of the level crossings near Nellore station heard a loud sound when the fire occurred in the coach".

Roy said that the divisional railway manager had also said that there was a report of a blast even as the minister maintained that nothing can be "excluded" as to what caused the fire.

Asked if he suspected any

act of sabotage, Roy said, "I will not say anything at this stage." He said that there was a talk about short circuit as also some inflammable substance being carried by a passenger.

"Nothing can be excluded and nothing can be said without an investigation. It will be investigated if inflammable substances were in the compartment or it was caused by a short circuit," the minister said.

Ishan Shah, who was travelling in the ill-fated coach and had woken up due to the disturbances, said that he had not heard any blast.

Condoling the loss of lives in the fire accident, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the railway ministry to render all assistance to the affected. Earlier, Nellore district collector B Sridhar said, "There was a short circuit near the toilet and the train was moving at a speed of 110 km per hour. It was going to Chennai from Delhi. All the passengers were asleep when the fire broke out. People were not able to come out immediately".

"The fire spread fast and the passengers could not come out through one of the doors because of the fire. So the other edge of the coach was to be used. Some people could come out while others succumbed to death," he said.

tles. As a show, though, it was all the better for its refusal to compromise.

Outside the stadium, the Olympics corporate message is set on ironing out local niceties, determined to homogenise us all in the supranational state of MacCokeland.

But inside, for one night only, we were given an image that was resolutely Britain. Not the Britain of Coldstream Guards and Downton Abbey, perhaps.

Nor the Britain of Austin Powers and Benny Hill. But the Britain of suburbia and the escapism of pop culture. The place most of us live. This is our world, it said, welcome to the isle of wonder. Boyle’s bravery was to say, never mind if outsiders didn’t get half the show’s many allusions, enough

of us will have done. Which was fair enough. Because after all, we paid for it.

The parade of nations featured most of the roughly 10,500 athletes - marching behind the flags of the 204 nations taking part. A helicopter showered the athletes and stadium with 7 billion tiny pieces of paper - one for each person on Earth.

The queen declared the games open. Last month, the nation put on a festive Diamond Jubilee - a small test run for the games - to mark her 60 years on the throne, a reign that began shortly after London's last Olympics, in 1948.

The London Games organizers on Monday apologised to the Indian contin-

gent over the issue of an unidentified woman gatecrashing into the team's march past at the Opening Ceremony. Angry at the "mystery" woman's presence among them during the opening gala, the Indian contingent had shot off a letter to the Games organizers LOCOG who have now apologised over the incident.

Shooter Gagan Narang provided the spark to India's Olympic campaign by clinching the bronze medal in the men's 10 m air rifle event.

Giving India its first medal in the current Olympics, 29year-old Narang lived up to expectations to claim the bronze, the third shooting medal in India's Olympic history.

Olympics: London dazzled in a grand opening spectacle

Continued from page 1 a juke box rave through of British pop’s finest moments, a heady stream of twangling instruments. This was the Britain we all could allude to, the one in which the means to escape lies in our collective cultural heritage, the wonders of our isle. It ended, bang up to date, with a party advertised on Facebook, everyone back to ours for a good time. Which in this case meant some thousand overenthusiastic dancers filling the driveway of the house.

And with that the athletes appeared in serried ranks and the Games began. But what a start it was. Sure, for viewers in Milwaukee, much of this may well have required subti-

In Focus Chidambaram is new finance minister, Shinde gets home

Indina Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday appointed Palaniappan Chidambaram as the new finance minister, while Sushilkumar Shinde has been named the new home minister in a minor reshuffle in the union cabinet. The limited reshuffle of portfolios left open an opportunity for bigger changes after the monsoon session that would also decide if Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi assumes a role in the government. A reshuffle of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) is also being contemplated, party leaders said.

‘Nude’ protest in Assam to get jawan punished

Over a thousand male activists from 22 organizations took-off their shirts and staged a protest in Sivasagar town against the state government's failure to punish an army jawan involved in the molestation of an Assamese girl at Dolpa area in the district.

On July 13, a Mishing girl was molested by Anil Kumar Upadhaya, an army jawan, at the Dolpa area under Nitaipukhuri police station in Sivasagar district when the Naujanbased 287 army field regiment was patrolling the flood-affected area. The jawan was later arrested by the police and produced before the chief judicial magistrate's court in Sivasagar.

Raging bull gores man to death

A bull bided its time and gored an old man to death when an opportunity came a day after the latter had thrown hot water on it. The bull followed the man when he was being taken to a hospital and later reached the crematorium during his funeral in the little known Deori township in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. The bull apparently kept a watch on Bhoop Narayan Prajapati and attacked him four days ago when he was having his morning tea - a day after the old man threw hot water on the bull for sitting in front of his hut at the main road of the township. The 65year-old ran inside his thatched hut to escape, but the bull followed him, pushed him to the ground twice and gored him.

Lokpal bill: Anna Hazare begins 'indefinite' fast Continued from page 1 Three of his key aides have been fasting since Wednesday. Hazare sits at the venue eight-to-nine hours every day. "Our protest is not (for) gathering crowds but (to attract) people who are passionate to work for the society and country," he said.

But he added that thousands were simultaneously protesting and fasting in 500 districts across India. Last year, the Jan Lokpal Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha but could not get through the Rajya Sabha.

While Anna has undertaken the fast again, there is little sign of movement from the government. The Congress, however, hinted it was difficult to accept the campaign’s demand for SIT probe against 14 ministers it has accused of corruption and passage of Lokpal bill at the earliest. “There are court rulings in some cases cited by Team Anna while in other cases, the individuals against whom allegations have been leveled, have replied,” AICC spokesman Manish Tewari said, when asked about demand for SIT. Team Anna protests outside Pawar house The Congress warned that police may intervene if protests by Team Anna breached the law, indicating ruling camp’s unwillingness to engage with the anti-graft campaigner. Team Anna raised the government’s hackles by sending members to the PM’s residence to write graffiti on walls and then on Monday demonstrating at the residence of Union minister Sharad Pawar. Meanwhile more than 70 supporters of Team Anna were on Sunday detained when they staged a demonstration outside the residence of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Team Anna members also organized a protest when the Indian High Commission in London organised a reception for the 81 qualified Indian Olympians on 26 July at the India House.

festival

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Ajmer dargah to get Zardari’s donation: Pakistan Days after media reports quoted the authorities of the Moinuddin Chishti dargah in Ajmer saying that they were yet to receive the Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari's donation, the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi on Monday said that arrangements were in place to make the contribution as announced by him to the shrine in April.

In a brief statement, Pakistani high commission termed media reports as "speculative" and said the "arrangements are in hand" to make the donation as announced. "The high commission thanks the Government of India, the state authorities, and the dargah committees for their cooperation in this regard," it said.

Zardari, during his day-long visit on April 8, had offered prayers at the historic 13th century dargah of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti after which a donation of $1 million for the shrine was also announced by him.

Recent reports said that three months after the announcement, the amount was still to be transferred to the dargah.

They said former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf had followed up on his donation within a month.

From November, dress code a must at Palitana The trust managing Jain temples of Palitana have decided to implement a strict dress code for visitors. Starting November, people visiting the main Adishwar Bhagwan temple atop the Shetrunjay hill, will not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum wearing jeans, shorts, skirts or any other outfit that the trust managers deem “indecent.”

Anandji Kalyanji Trust, which manages close to 850 temples, say that the decision has been taken in wake of large influx of tourists, besides the regular devotees who throng Palitana for eight months in a year. Close to 1000,000 people visit Palitana every year, besides roughly 10,000 foreign tourists.

“We want to maintain the religious decorum and purity in our temples. For past many years, we have been noticing that the dresses of many people do not go well with the religious faith,” said Manish Shah of the trust, reason-

ing the move.

The trust will provide dresses to the tourists and pilgrims, who are seen wearing objectionable clothes. Men will be given lahenga and kafni, while women will be provided with salwar-kameez.

Shah said that the trust has started the construction of separate cloak rooms and changing rooms for men and women at Sagalpoint on mount Shetrunjay. The trust will also ban the use of mobiles in the temple and the phones will have to be deposited at the cloak room.

“Dresses will be provided free of cost to everyone and they will have to return them once they return from the temple,” Shah said.

A team of trust’s volunteers will ensure the implementation of the dress code.

“We are making a list of volunteers who will provide their time for this purpose. If they find anyone dressed inappropriately, they will ask them to wear dresses that we are providing,” he said.

Manmohan Tamboli, member of the trust’s advisory committee, said, “We will convince people about the dress code and we are hopeful that devotees and tourists will not mind it.”

a special occasion for Hindus

The birthday of Lord Krishna is a special occasion for Hindus, who consider him their leader, hero, protector, philosopher, teacher and friend all rolled into one.

Krishna took birth at midnight on the ashtami or the 8th day of the Krishnapaksha or dark fortnight in the Hindu month of Shravan (AugustSeptember). This year Janmashtami is celebrated on 10th August.

How do devotees celebrate Janmashtami?

The devotees of Lord Krishna observe fast for the whole day and night, worshipping him and keeping vigil through the night while listening to his tales and exploits, recite hymns from the Gita, sing devotional songs, and chant the mantra Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

Krishna's birthplace Mathura and Vrindavan celebrate this occasion with great pomp and show. Raslilas or religious plays are performed to recreate incidents from the life of Krishna and to commemorate his love for Radha. Song and dance mark the celebration of this festive occasion all over northern India.

At midnight, the statue of infant Krishna is bathed and placed in a cradle, which is rocked, amidst the blowing of conch shells and the ringing of bells.

Janmaashtami, popularly known in Mumbai and Pune as Dahi Handi, is celebrated with enormous zeal and enthusiasm. The handi is a clay pot filled with buttermilk that is positioned at a convenient height prior to the event. The topmost person on the human pyramid tries to break the handi by hitting it with a

Even before my father’s body was cremated, my grandmother ordered my mother to remove her jewellery and bindi from her forehead and not to wear coloured clothes ever again. At that time, I was ten, too young to comprehend the sufferings of my mother. However, years later when I was getting married, the priest who was conducting my wedding ceremony asked my mother to move away from the Vediyan because she was a widow and could bring back luck to the newlywed couple.

This has been my inspiration for setting up a charity named after my mother, The Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba Memorial Foundation, which aims to alleviate the plight of widows around the world.

A comprehensive research study, commissioned by the Loomba Foundation in 2009, has revealed astonishing findings about widows and their children. It discovered that there are 245 million widows and over 500 million children who suffer in silence worldwide and 100 million of these widows live in poverty struggling to survive.

Many of these women and their children are malnourished, exposed to disease, and subjected to slavery.

HIV/AIDS, ethnic cleansing, armed conflict and poverty are among the most prolific causes of widowhood.

Widowed women experience targeted murder, rape, prostitution, forced marriage, property theft, eviction, social isolation, and physical and psychological abuse.

blunt object.

When that happens the buttermilk is spilled over the entire group, symbolizing their achievement through unity. Handis are set up around the city, and groups of youngsters, called Govinda Pathaks, travel around in trucks trying to break as many handis as possible during the day.

Many such Govinda Pathaks compete with each other, especially for the handis that dole out hefty rewards.

The town of Dwarka in Gujarat, Krishna's own land, comes alive with major celebrations as hordes of visitors flock to the town.

Janmastami vow: Sri Krishna taught us Karma Yoga. He strongly dictated in Gita that a man is bound to get the fruits of his actions. If he has done good actions/deeds throughout his life, he will get good results. The real meaning of Janamashtami vow is to become Karamyogi like Krishna. One should always follow the right path and never tolerate injustice. Karma yoga is action (karma) performed without expectations or thought of reward.

3,000 children in 16 states in India. The beneficiaries are selected without regard to race, religion or gender and receive a scholarship of Rs. 500 which are guaranteed for a period of five years initially. Today many Loomba Foundation scholars have completed their education and have moved on to skilled employment or further education.

My mother became a widow at the young age of 37 years in Punjab in India in 1954. My father died of tuberculosis not a fault of my mother, yet it was my mother who suffered for the rest of her life due to the traditions and stigma of widowhood.

The incident has always haunted me to this day. A mother who gave me birth, a mother who brought me up, a mother who educated me, a mother who always wished me well… how could she have brought me bad luck!

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As part of our global work the Foundation delivers aid to widows, either directly or through its strong network of partners including the Prince of Wales’ international charity Youth Business International and Oxfam (GB).

Persecution and abuse against widows and their children is not a crisis limited to the developing world and large groups of widows can also be found in Europe, including Russia and Central Asia. Western Widows often face social isolation and commonly live with severe insecurity and poverty due to lack of affordable health care and employment.

Children of widows are also affected and may face horrors such as child marriage, illiteracy, loss of schooling, forced labor, human trafficking, homelessness and rape. Sadly 1.5 million widows' children will die before their fifth birthday.

The Loomba Foundation is young but has gone from strength to strength and currently works in fourteen countries, in South Asia and across Africa. To date, the Foundation has educated over 6500 children of poor widows in all 29 states in India, who received scholarships for five years or more and supported over 27,000 family members. The Foundation is currently educating over

In March 2012 the United Nations Economic and Social Council recommended the Loomba Foundation for Special Consultative Status. The Citation Reads - “The Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba Memorial Foundation — a United Kingdom-based group that aims to promote the fundamental freedoms and human rights of widows and their children around the world by raising awareness of the gross injustices women face when losing a husband and removing the stigma associated with being a widow.”

Special Consultative Status granted by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is based on criteria including the applicant’s mandate, governance and financial regime. Organisations with special status can attend the Council’s meetings and circulate statements.

Education and empowerment is at the heart of our work.

Through education you can break the vicious cycle of poverty and through empowerment you can give widows the opportunity to be self reliant, educate their children and lead a life of dignity.

For further information please visit our website www.theloombafoundation.org or contact Priti Patel at priti@theloombafoundation.org

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travel & women

asian voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Purvi’S TravEl bag

By Purvi Apurva Shah

Dhanaulti, the picture perfect hill station

Hill stations like Simla, protected forest of mighty Manali, Mussoorie and Deodar trees, developed Nainital have been the and maintained by the favourite destinations of Forest Department of Indian families during the Uttarakhand, has been done summer months. But if up with beautiful wild you are searching for a flower hedges and swings quiet hideout away from for children. The park is a the maddening crowd, favourite picnic spot for the then Dhanaulti in localities of Mussoorie and Uttarakhand is the best Dehradun and an entry fee place. Tucked away from of Rs 15 per person is what swarms of tourists, Surkanda Dhanaulti will Devi Temple prove to be a pleasant and idyllic retreat. It is not only virgin but easily affordable.

Quiet, calm and serene: There are times when you want to do nothing.

No meetings, no deadlines and no to-do you have to pay to enter it. lists to follow. Mornings in Dotted along the periphery Dhanaulti are apt for those are many eateries selling who want to remain pleas- roasted corn cobs, spicy antly idle. The quietness of peanuts, and tea. Cotton the hills, the stillness in candy like clouds in the the air and the fresh breeze pristine blue sky playing that caresses your face and peeking from between with hair, is sometimes unbe- the towering trees was a picturesque sight to remember. lievably haunting.

After breakfast at Crystal Palace you climb up the stairs to move to the terrace. The view that greets you from above the rooftop in one word will be breathtaking! The winding paths peeking from ECO Park inside the hills, After spending the spectacular landscapes, lush green forests of Oak, night in one of the hotels Deodar and visit Surkanda Devi temple Rhododendron, all of it in the next day. It is about was more than enough to 8 km from Dhanaulti, and make you believe that you the temple is associated had managed to escape the with the myth of Sati and madness. You can spend a Shiva's tandava nritya couple of hours gazing (dance of cosmic destruconly into the expanse of tion). It is believed that the picture perfect hills. when Shiva passed Treks, worships and more through this place carrying Don't go looking for a Sati's dead body, he acciMall road in Dhanaulti. It's dentally dropped her head a small town devoid of any at this spot. That is how fanciful shopping arcades or the temple of Surkanda joy rides on horses and yaks. After lunch you can set out to explore the nearby ECO Park.

A patch of

Devi came into being and devotees visit this temple throughout the year.

Disconnect from the world, quite literally Dhanaulti gives you the option to remain disconnected from the chaotic world of social networking sites, constant nagging, and demanding obligations, quite literally at that. For some reason, mobile and internet connectivity is terribly weak up there. Also, there are hardly any tourists around.

The only people you could spot were the Garhwali folks roaming about with their herd of cows. Since they're not used to having tourists amidst them so don't mind the tentative glances they throw at you.

How to get there By air: The closest airport is Jolly Grant, 80 km from Dehradun.

By rail: The nearest railway station is also Dehradun.

The taxi stand is right next to the railway station and prepaid cabs to Dhanaulti are easily available. The uphill drive is a picturesque one and usually takes less than 2 hours.

By road: One can alternatively drive up to Dhanaulti. The distance is approximately 350 km from New Delhi and takes about 8 hours with traffic.

Best time to visit Dhanaulti is pleasant and agreeable in the summer months, (May, June, July and August) and a light sweat shirt is more than enough to keep you warm. In winters, however, the mercury plummets and occasionally there is a snowfall that caps the tree tops and mountain peaks beautifully.

women achievers Manjula Pooja Shroff an agent for change in the education system

By AV Correspondent Described by many as the agent for change in the education system in Gujarat, Manjula Pooja Shroff is a renowned educationist and social entrepreneur. Mrs Shroff who is the Chairperson of Calorx, has been instrumental in establishing and managing several premier schools.

She is the founder of the Delhi Public School (Ahmedabad), Prerna, Visamo Kids, and The Calorx School. She holds a post-graduate degree in Political Science from Utkal University and is a Graduate of Management Education Programme from IIM, Ahmedabad.

Besides being known as a visionary and an educationist, Mrs Shroff also successfully runs a business of hospitality & corporate

services - Calorx India Ltd. She is the recipient of several awards, including the prestigious Secular India Award, from former President of India, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, and the Woman of the Year award from the American Bibliography Society, North Carolina.

She is affiliated to several organisations and is a board member of several organisations associated with education. Shroff, contributor and opinion maker in several national dailies, said that the new generation of learners is not information hungry.

Data and facts that constituted a large part of basic education are now available online free. Students don't have to look towards schools or libraries to obtain information. All the data is now available with

the click of a mouse. In her columns she described these new generation of student who are native users of technology as the 'Z' generation or sometimes called the 'I' generation. This generation has an inclination to learn more from technology than from brick and mortar.

Some attributes of these learners are that they watch TV on an average 16 hours a week; spend 5 hours a day on social network; book reading has reduced to two hours a month and they build a virtual social world through Facebook and Twitter.

That is the reason why the educational institutes managed by her give more stress on technology and knowledge based education rather than a total focus on text books and blackboard.

Bikini-saris cause swirl in modest India passengers.

Since then the idea has taken off, with Indian women prepared to pay up to £450 for an exclusive design.

“It got a good response from women who are going to nice fancy cocktails, on honeymoon or to beach weddings, which are the new rage in India,” Kukreja said.

In India, beachwear is often seen as culturally

taboo. When Bipasha Basu, a Bollywood actress, wore a bikini-sari to a recent film awards ceremony in Singapore, it provoked debate about whether the garment was “culturally correct”.

The designers admitted that swimsuits were still not wholly acceptable in India’s conservative society but hoped their outfits would have a liberating influence.

Rajgira Sheera Indian women too shy to wear western swimsuits are turning to the bikinisari, a new garment produced by Delhi’s first swimwear designers and based on traditional flowing robes.

Shrivan Batthia and Narresh Kukreja said they were meeting the needs of Indian women who wanted to look elegant yet modest while relaxing by the pool or beach.

“Indian women have the best bodies in the world and are also the most shy about them. Our swimsuits aim at bringing them out of their shell,” said Kukreja.

As increasingly affluent Indians take exotic holidays and buy swimming pools and yachts, the need for a larger holiday wardrobe has never been greater, he said.

The first bikini-sari, a conventional bikini draped in a block-print traditional dress, was made in 2010 for a wealthy woman who was going on a Mediterranean cruise and did not want to look like a “misfit” alongside the other fashionable

Enjoy the fast with sweet delicacy like Rajgira Sheera prepared from Rajgira flour.

Serves 2 people15 minutes Ingredients: 1/2 cup rajgira flour, 1/4 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup warm water 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoon ghee, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder.

To garnish: 1 tablespoon pistachio (pista), sliced.

Method: Heat a non stick pan on medium low heat, add ghee. Add rajgira flour and sauté on a medium low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.

A d d milk, water a n d s u g a r, mix well, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, while stirring continuously. Cook until all the liquid evaporates and the sheera leaves sides of pan, stirring occasionally. Tun off the heat and add cardamom powder mix well.

Garnish with sliced pistachio, Enjoy!

Nutrients: Wonder what is it in rajgira that makes it such a favourite

on days of fasting although being a grain?

Well, it is botanically a ‘non-cereal’. Secondly, it has enormous nutrition such as lysine, the one essential amino acid that is hard to find in vegetable protein sources. Rajgira is a very good source of protein containing 15 to 17 per cent protein by weight. It has more than 20 per cent of the recommended daily amount of calcium, iron and magnesium.

It is rich in tocotrienols and phytosterols, the two phytochemicals known to help reduce cholesterol.

HealtH WatCh

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012 earls rich in essential minerals can help treat P killer diseases like cancer, a

leading scientist has claimed. In a series of experiments by Ajai Kumar Sonkar at the Pearl Aquaculture Research Foundation in Port Blair, pearls produced through special culture technique have been found to contain traces of several metals and minerals which are known to have major health benefits. “We have produced the pearls in a controlled environment in the lab in most aseptic conditions. They are found to contain traces of metal and minerals such as zinc, copper, magnesium, iron, calcium, sodium and potassium,” Sonkar said. “These micro-nutrients are essential for various body functions such as metabolism, growth and immunity. Of them, zinc has been found to be playing a major role in preventing fatal diseases like cancer,” he told. A study, published recently in the British Journal of Cancer, has also established zinc’s anti-tumour role that pre-

vents the growth of cancer cells. Other studies have also found that zinc deficiency in the body causes delayed healing of wounds.

It is also found to play a leading role in weight loss, help decrease the severity and duration of cold and several other illnesses.

The bio availability of zinc in the pearls can be exploited to help treat several diseases.”

Now, Sonkar wanted to carry out a comprehensive clinical test to find out

health benefits of the specially cultured pearls. “I have already been approached by some prestigious laboratories from abroad and a workout process is going on,” he said and hoped that “some miraculous result to counter the notorious deceases could be found, if a comprehensive clinical analysis is conducted“. In the pearl culturing operation, one to three-years-old oysters undergo surgical implantation, known as seeding, in

Candy keeps obesity at bay among kids Sweetener keeps obesity at bay among kids.

Children and adolescents who eat candy tend to weigh less than their nonconsuming peers.

"The study illustrates that children and adolescents who consume candy are less likely to be overweight or obese," said lead researcher Carol O'Neil.

"However, the results of this study should not be construed as a hall-pass to overindulge... and (candy) should be enjoyed (only) in moderation," added O'Neil, from Louisiana State University Agricultural Centre.

11,182 US children participated in the 19992004 National Health and

Nutrition Examination Survey. They were aged between 2-13 years.

Adolescents who participated were from 14-18 years of age.

Similar to a sister study that focused on adults, this study examined the association of candy consumption on intakes of total energy, fat, and added sugars for cardiovascular disease in these children.

While children and adolescent candy consumers in the study did have slightly higher intakes of total energy and added sugars, they were 22

Alcohol can triple original dose of medicine Always avoid alcohol while taking certain medicines because it actually triples the original dose, warn researchers. Lab experiments have demonstrated how alcohol made several drugs up to three times more available to the body, effectively tripling the original dose, said Christel Bergstrom, associate professor of pharmacology at Monash University, who led the study. Bergstrom and colleagues explain that beverage alcohol, or ethanol, can cause an increase in the amount of non-prescription and prescription drugs that are "available" to the body after taking a specific dose, the journal Molecular

Pharmaceutics reports.

Alcohol can change how enzymes and other substances in the body interact with many of the 5,000 such medications on the market. Some of these medications don't dissolve well in the gastrointestinal tract, especially in the stomach and intestines. The researchers sought to test whether ethanol made these drugs dissolve more easily.

If so, this would make the drugs more "available" in the body, possibly intensifying their effects when combined with alcohol.

They used a simulated environment of the small intestine to test how rapidly medications dissolved

which mantle issue is taken from the donor oyster and grafted in the recipient oyster along with the nucleus.

Then these oysters are kept in laboratory condition for healing, after which they are transferred to the sea placed in the cages where they remain six months to two year for pearl formation. The oyster can produce more than one pearl in its life time by taking good care of it, including regular cleaning of the outer shell to remove seaweed.

29

Loneliness can be one of the most depressing and heart-wrenching feelings for anyone.

While women have the luxury of tears and mood swings, men often resort to internal dilemma and battling the situation alone. Here is a list of reasons why being lonely can be really bad for you: Lack of Companionship With nobody to share your joys, sorrows, and other emotions with, you will tend to keep it all bottled up inside you. You might see friends, colleagues and others around you sharing their precious moments with their wives or loved ones. This could create a very intense state of depression, leading to dark moods and lack of enjoyment in anything you do.

your family. Your parents, wife or children can be your support systems if you choose to make them so. Do not push them away when trouble brews in your head. Share concerns with whosoever you feel close to.

Don’t Shun Your Friends While you can always set the fair-weather kinds apart, your genuine friends are most likely to offer companionship and perhaps an ear, when you need it the most. Even if you do not feel like talking, hanging out with the boys can give you a feeling of companionship.

Do Social Work There is no better remedy to inner turmoil than serving others. Try and spend some time after or before work, or on week-

Lack of Activities Since you tend to keep to yourself, there will be a lot of activities you would refrain from – activities that you are likely to indulge in along with friends, family or a partner. Watching a movie, hanging out at a bar, or simply a weekend out with the kids can create many joyous moments for you to consider life truly worth living. An absence of these can result in a low level of activity for your mind and body.

Lack of Will to Live Burdened by the feeling of loneliness, and the consequent want of support, a person is often likely to contemplate suicide.

The heart and mind stop to consider life worth going ahead with. Suicidal tendencies creeping into your thoughts can be very dangerous to you as well as to those around you.

Having understood the repercussions of being lonely, you must wonder how you can drive it out of your life, or at least reduce it by a considerable measure. Some of these steps will help you in this regard: Spend Time with Family There is nothing in this world like the support of

ends, with special children, underprivileged children or physically handicapped children. If you are an animal lover, you can do voluntary work at a shelter. Giving without expectations can do wonders for your mind and soul. The sensibility of the suffering of the rest of the world also helps lessen one’s own dilemma to a certain extent.

Exercise Hit the gym. Go for an early morning jog. Make swimming every evening, or at least thrice a week, a habit. Once your body feels energised, so will your mind, helping throw feelings of loneliness out of the window.

The above remedies can help curb the situation of being lonely to a great extent, if practiced diligently. However, if you still feel incapable of handling the matter yourself, consult a professional and get your life back on track.

Cigarette smoking weakens bones

per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, less likely to be overweight or obese than non-candy consumers, according to Louisiana statement.

"Candy is a fun part of children's lives - as a treat, in celebrations and for holidays," said Alison Bodor, senior vice president of public policy and advocacy, National Confectioners Association.

"It's not intended to replace nutrient-dense foods in the diet, but it certainly can provide moments of happiness within the context of a healthy lifestyle," Bodor added. when alcohol was and was not present. Almost 60 percent of the 22 medications in their tests dissolved much faster in the presence of alcohol. In addition, they found that certain types of substances, such as those that were acidic, were more affected. Some common acidic drugs include warfarin, the anticoagulant; tamoxifen, used to treat certain forms of cancer; and naproxen, which relieves pain and inflammation.

Cigarette smoke makes people produce excessive amounts of two proteins that trigger a natural body process that breaks down bone, a new study has concluded. Gary Guishan Xiao and colleagues point out that previous studies suggested toxins in cigarette smoke weakened bones by affecting the activity of osteoblasts, cells which build new bone, and osteoclasts, which resorb, or break down, old bone.

Weakening of the bones, known as osteoporosis,

can increase the risk of fractures and is a major cause of disability among older people. To shed light on how cigarette smoking weakens bones, the scientists analyzed differences in genetic activity in bone marrow cells of smokers and non-smokers. They discovered that human smokers produce unusually large amounts of two proteins that foster production of bone-resorbing osteoclasts compared to non-smokers. Experiments with laboratory mice confirmed the finding.

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

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UK

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

CB Live is the only Gujarati live programme in UK on Television This week in CB Live, to celebrate Rakshabandhan famous singer Maya Deepak will perform some melodious numbers.

Shri Tushar Joshi, a well known broadcaster, compere and promoter of cultural activities based in Ahmedabad will discuss the need of a well researched, edited documentary for individuals, organisations or businesses, to record our unique personal stories, traditions and heritage.

If you do not have a SKY, go to www.tvunetworks.com and watch CB Live on TVU Player Channel 75203

You could work with someone on a project that calls for clear communication and a high degree of cooperation. You may also find yourself thinking deeply about what it is you really want to do, and who you really want to be with. The decisions you make now will be important for the path you take.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

7pm to 8pm Every Thursday

CB LIVE Every Thursday on MATV (SKY 793) 7pm to 8pm For more information email: cblive_matv@yahoo.co.uk or call Alka Shah on 07944 151 893

Krishna Temple to celebrate Janmashtami festival As London marks the end of the 2012 Olympics with an anticipated memorable closing ceremony on Sunday 12th August, on the same day at Bhaktivedanta Manor Krishna Temple will hold the famous Janmashtami Festival from Friday 10th and concluding on Sunday 12th August. The festival which is the largest Hindu gathering outside India will provide a colourful taste of mystic India with live stage shows, vibrant costumes, enchanting music, meditation and exotic food set in a picturesque setting with a lake and an ancient woodland. The entire festival is managed and run by 1500 volunteers from the community who gather every evening after work for a month prior to the event and put in countless hours of hard work for the occasion.

The Temple kitchens will be working 24 hours a day to prepare free vegetarian meals of everyone who comes the festival.

Coming Events l Universal brotherhood organises Universal oneness community games in Harlington, 5 August, Imperial College Sports Ground.

Contact:www.nirankari.org/nis. l Oxford Hindu Temple & CommunityProject' celebrating Janmashtmi on the 10th August 2012 - 7:30 pm till midnight. Sandhills, Oxford OX3 8FN. www.oxfordhindutemple.org l Janmashtami, Fri 10 Aug, Campion School, 7:30-10:30pm. Hindu Cultural Society of Havering l Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London W1K - Fri 3rd August’12, 06:30 pm Music: Karnatic Vocal, Sun 5th August, 11:00 am to 06:00 pm: Open Day to play regional language Sports movies, Mon 6th August, 6.30 pm Dance: Bharatanatyam:Thiruneera Thirumanna Kalaimamani Sangeetha Kabilan & Kayalvizhi Kabilan, Tue 7th August, 06:30 pm Hindustani Slide Guitar : Prakash Sontakke, Dhruv Arts l Cricket Tournament & Family Fun Day Barbeque by Bal Gopal Foundation Sunday 26th August 2012 Crickets Match Time: 09.00 am Barbeque & Entertainment: 13.00 pm. Tickets available.

Contact us on 020 8863 6775 to get your band. l Shree Jalaram Seva Trust - Jalaram Jupadi, Virpur Dham, Hounslow organises Shree Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration.19th September, 11.00amSaturday 22nd September 2012. Ganesh Visarjan - 23/9/2012 at: Southend-on-Sea, 11.00am.

Lunch will be served between 12.00 to 4.00pm.

Contact: 020 8569 5710 l Akademi's upcoming performances of Bells as part of the Mayor of London's SHOWTIME festival of free, outdoor arts events.

- Turnham Green Park, Chiswick, W4 4JF 9pm 4th August FREE l Ananda Utsav in London, 17-19 August, 9am6pm, SKLPC, Northolt, UN5 6RE, contact: A K Basra 07977201226

Letter Writers' Seminar Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar have always valued and cherished the contributions made by our letter writers. To help in further interactions amongst each other and with our team, we are planning a Letter Writers' Seminar in August 2012. To avoid clashes with major events, it will be held on a Saturday between 3-6pm, on Saturday 18th August.

We would also extend this invitation to our regular columnists and sincerely hope their participation.

If you are interested in attending the seminar, please register your name at aveditorial@abplgroup.com or via post to our offices.

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To advertise in Asian Voice call 020 7749 4085

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 From a financial point of view take stock of where you’re at this moment.

Opportunities abound, professionally and socially, so make the right choices. There may be something to sort out with a partner, particularly of a financial nature. Please make sure that it won’t be all work and no play.

It is an excellent time for exercising your mental energies and getting involved in a discussion. Exercise caution when it comes to making financial decisions as being hasty will cost you ! Wait before going full steam ahead with grand actions and gestures. Focus on essentials and establish a solid foundation, so that you feel secure.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22

You’re likely to find yourself doing a lot of thinking about both new and existing partnerships, and maybe toing and froing in one relationship in particular.

Home and family duties and responsibilities may weigh heavy on you. In effect, you’re building a new foundation, so the work you put in now will pay off in the future.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

You have a reputation for being one of the zodiac’s big spenders, but Saturn currently transiting your desire sector may be curbing your style somewhat. You’re going to be preoccupied with relationships, as there may be something to sort out. You’ll fare best if you feel your way rather than take anything for granted.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 You’re likely to receive insights into where everything is going and these may shape your life for months to come. You can look forward to advancing both personal and professional ambitions from now onwards. There are opportunities to expand your sphere of operations and you and a partner could really go places.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 Saturn continues its journey through your sign, lending its support for you to redefine your sense of self, in a way that will give you a greater understanding of yourself. You’re being prodded to live your life in a more fluid way. It may be disconcerting to you at this moment, but ease up and go with the flow.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 You may find yourself hard at work behind the scenes, although that may not be apparent to others. You may find yourself caught up in a whirlwind of activity, with opportunities to advance on both the inner and outer level. There’s a sparkle to your social life and much enjoyment from being in touch with other people.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 This week should see you at the peak of your creative powers and at the height of a romance. It’s an exciting, expansive time, when you should find it easier to be who you are and do what you want : you may be surprised by just how far you can go.

This is a good time to embrace changes you might not even consider at other times.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 You’re likely to find yourself weighing practical considerations with long–term goals. Certainly you’re entering a very important period of your life where, by working hard and being focused, you can go a long way towards realising your ideals. Currently your ruler Saturn is helping you to define who you really are.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 If lately you have had all sorts of demands being placed on you from all sides, don't despair; take some time out to reflect. Try and work out where you want to make changes in your busy life.

Although the very practical affairs of life continue to be highlighted, this does not mean that there will be all work and no play.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 Your ruling planet, Jupiter transits the sign of Gemini, giving you an opportunity to consolidate the progress you have made so far and advance to the next stage of your personal journey. There is likely to be a powerful incentive to do what remains to be done and tie up loose ends and think about going in a new direction.

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

31

Olympic seats fiasco; while mystery woman 'leads' Indian team

More than 12,000 seats reportedly remained empty at London 2012 venues on Sunday as angry sports fans and athletes demanded Olympics organisers sort out the “fiasco” which is rapidly becoming a national embarrassment.

Lord Coe, the chairman of London 2012, was accused of breaking a promise that unsold and unused corporate tickets would be given to the public, while Sir Menzies Campbell, an observer on the board of Games organisers Locog, described the situation as depressing.

Athletes who had been unable to get tickets for their families to watch them com-

pete said it was “absurd” and “ridiculous” that whole blocks of seats remained empty at some venues.

On the other hand, a mystery women who gatecrashed the opening ceremony and "led" the Indian team was a student who has claimed that she was just following orders.

Madhura Nagendra, 26, an Indian student studying in Britain, has upset her native country after she was seen walking alongside their flag bearer during the parade of nations.

The Indian authorities have demanded an explanation from the Olympic organisers and described the move as a security breach and an

affront to their athletes. But on Sunday Miss Nagendra's father defended her actions and said it was all a misunderstanding as she was told by the organisers to lead out the team, as reported by The Daily Telegraph.

Speaking from his home in Bangalore, south India, KL Nagendra, a local businessman said his daughter, a keen amateur dancer, had been picked for the performance by the show creator Danny Boyle.

"One of the organisers asked her to walk along with the team," said Mr Nagendra who had travelled to London to watch his daughter. "From whatever I learnt that she being an Indian, the London

Olympics Organising Committee might have selected her to 'take' the team inside the stadium. "This might have hurt our team's feelings. I feel very sorry for that."

Miss Nagendra is studying management at the London School of Business and Finance after a passing a degree in communications from Christ College in Bangalore.

Her identity emerged after a classmate at the Deccan Chronicle newspaper noticed her leading out the 50-strong team at the spectacular stadium. While they were resplendent in blazers and yellow turbans, she was just wearing a casual red jacket and jeans.

She also posted pictures on her Facebook page before she realised her mistake.

On a networking website she described herself as a "very bouncy, lively, cheerful, confident, talented and an amiable juvinile (sic) lass".

But Sebastian Coe, the London 2012 chairman, played down the incident and said she would have had to have gone through strict security checks to get into the stadium.

"She should not have been in the opening ceremony but don't run away with the idea that she sort of walk in off the street to be able to do that, she hadn't," he said.

Indian contingent greeted with huge cheers

Huge cheers welcomed the colourful Indian delegation into the Olympic Park on Friday during the opening ceremony of the London Games.

The 81-strong Indian contingent, the biggest ever, was led by wrestler Sushil Kumar, a bronze medallist in the 2008 Beijing Games. It was a smartly dressed Indian contingent. The men wore yellow safas, navy blue blazers, cream-coloured trousers, offwhite shirts and ties, and the women were dressed in elegant sarees. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretarygeneral Randhir Singh waved at the contingent from the VIP box.

Gold medal winning fencer Mariel Zagunis led the United States team into the Olympic Stadium. Two-time sabre goldmedallist Zagunis, 27, was chosen in a vote by the 529strong American team.

Four-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy led the Great Britain team. Hoy, 36, also carried the Union Jack at the closing ceremony in Beijing four years ago. The British team was the last of the 205 nations to enter the arena.

Basketball star Yi Jianlian led the China team. The Dallas Mavericks centre succeeds fellow basketball hero Yao Ming who carried the flag on home soil at the Beijing Games in 2008. China has brought a 396-strong team to London.

Australia's Lauren Jackson led her country's team, the first Australian woman in 20 years to carry

Action at a Glance Gagan Narang wins first medal for India

Shooter Gagan Narang provided the spark to India's Olympic campaign by clinching the bronze medal in the men's 10 m air rifle event while his compatriot Abhinav Bindra surprisingly failed to qualify for the finals at the Royal Artillery Barracks on Monday.

Giving the country its first medal in the current Olympics, 29-year-old Narang lived upto expectations to claim the bronze, the third shooting medal in India's Olympic history, but his overall performance was below his personal best. While Narang managed to be consistent enough to win the medal in his third Olympic appearance, Beijing Games gold medallist Bindra, who was also touted as a serious medal contender, finished a disappointing 16th in the qualification round. But the day clearly belonged to Narang who shot 598 in the qualification and held his nerve in the tense tie-breaker to claim the bronze medal in a virtual neckand-neck contest. Narang, who had taken part in the Athens and Beijing Games, and missed final berths by a whisker, was understandably relieved to have fulfilled his dream of winning an Olympic medal.

Narang finished third in the qualifications with 598 and started the finals well by shooting 10.7 in the first round. He then had a poor shot of 9.7 in the second round, though he made amends by reeling off scores of 10.7 10.4 and 10.6 in the subsequent rounds. With pressure mounting on him to be consistent, Narang produced a 10.7 in the very last round to ensure that he remained in the medal bracket.

MEDAL TABLE

the flag at a Summer Games.

The 31-year-old Jackson was appearing at her fourth Olympic Games after leading the women's basketball team to silver in Beijing four years ago. Chef de Mission Nick Green said Jackson had been chosen for her leadership qualities on and off the court, but her appointment to carry the flag also followed a row over gender equality in Australia in recent weeks.

Five time Olympic beach volleyballer Natalia Cook said last week, apparently in jest, that she would stage a sit-down protest if she had to walk behind another male flag bearer, while there were also complaints about travel arrangements.

The women's basketball team, who have been run-

ners-up to the United States at the last three Games, flew to London in economy class while the country's men, who have never won a medal, went in business class. The arrangements were slammed

by Australian media and politicians, forcing the country's basketball governing body to say it would review its policy. The last Australian woman to lead out the team was diver Jenny Donnet in Barcelona in 1992.

Saudi Arabia's first female Olympic athletes made their appearance at the opening ceremony, dressed in traditional hijabs, or Islamic headscarfs. Saudi Arabia was one of three countries, alongside Brunei and Qatar, never to have sent female athletes to the Olympics but the latter

two confirmed earlier this year that their delegations would include women.

Greece's Olympic team entered the stadium at the head of a parade of athletes from the 204 nations participating in the 2012 London Games.

The Greeks were led by flag bearer Alexandros Nikolaidis, a two-time taekwondo silver medallist. The beleaguered country's athletes always come out first in honour of Greece's place as the birthplace of the Olympic Games. After that, countries parade in alphabetical order, with host Britain last.

Roughly 10,500 athletes participated, although some have skipped the three-hour ceremony in order to be wellrested for competition.

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total China 10 6 3 19 United States 6 7 5 18 France 4 1 4 9 South Korea 3 2 2 7 North Korea 3 0 1 4 Italy 2 4 2 8 Germany 2 3 1 6 Russia 2 0 4 6 Kazakhstan 2 0 0 2 Japan 1 4 7 12 Australia 1 2 1 4 Romania 1 2 0 3 Brazil 1 1 1 3 Hungary 1 1 1 3 Holland 1 1 0 2 Ukraine 1 0 2 3 Georgia 1 0 0 1 Lithuania 1 0 0 1 South Africa 1 0 0 1 Slovenia 1 0 0 1 Great Britain 0 2 2 4 Colombia 0 2 0 2 Mexico 0 2 0 2 Cuba 0 1 0 1 Denmark 0 1 0 1 Poland 0 1 0 1 Sweden 0 1 0 1 Thailand 0 1 0 1 Chinese Taipei 0 1 0 1 Canada 0 0 3 3 Slovakia 0 0 2 2 Azerbaijan 0 0 1 1 Belgium 0 0 1 1 Indonesia 0 0 1 1 India 0 0 1 1 Moldova 0 0 1 1 Mongolia 0 0 1 1 Norway 0 0 1 1 New Zealand 0 0 1 1 Qatar 0 0 1 1 Serbia 0 0 1 1 Uzbekistan 0 0 1 1

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Action at a Glance Lizzie Armitstead claims Great Britain's first medal

A silver medal by Lizzie Armitstead lifted the spirits on a miserable rain sodden afternoon on The Mall and gave the first real taste of how rapturously any British success will be received in the coming days.

In a wonderfully aggressive and animated women’s race staged in monsoon conditions which left the road flooded in the more rural parts of Surrey, Armitstead and her Great Britain colleagues did everything in their power to topple the greatest female rider of their generation. Ultimately they did not quite succeed but make no mistake this was a silver medal won and not a gold medal lost. “I’m just so happy that I committed to the breakaway,” Armitstead said.

“Anybody who knows cycling will know that Marianne is the best rider in the world on most kinds of courses. My only regret is that I didn’t try to jump her earlier in the sprint but generally she is faster than most girls on the circuit so I am chuffed with silver. I’m proud of Team GB. We stuck together, raced the race and ultimately it worked out.”

Dave Brailsford, British Cycling’s performance director, said: “What a ride by Lizzie.

She was doing a rain dance this morning.

She was praying for rain. She got more than she probably bargained for, but it was a brilliant, brilliant performance. “Team GB’s got its first medal on the board, which gets the media off our backs, and let’s concentrate and get on a roll. That's what we need to do.”

Now the soundtrack leads the field too

Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony is now officially a hit, with the soundtrack to Friday’s event racing to the top of the download charts across the world. The compilation, named Isles of Wonder, is No 1 in the iTunes store album chart in Britain, France, Belgium and Spain, and is No 5 in the US. The release, which was also No 2 on Amazon’s bestselling downloads list, includes tracks from David Bowie and the finale soloist Emeli Sandé. There are 36 individual tracks on the album. Some of them are even racing up the singles charts.

After being on sale for just 24 hours the album reached No 5 of the Official Charts Company’s list of top-selling compilation albums of 2012. It went on sale digitally shortly after the show came to an end in the early hours of Saturday, with more than 10,000 copies being sold immediately.

Spain eliminated after second straight defeat

Spain's hopes of becoming the first country to hold the World Cup, European championship and Olympic titles at the same time ended after they lost 1-0 to Honduras on Sunday. Spain, beaten 1-0 by Japan in their opening Group D match, could not respond to Jerry Bengston's first half goal at St James' Park, Newcastle, and with no points from two matches cannot finish in either of the top two qualifying positions from their group. Bengston stunned Spain with a thundering header in the seventh minute but the Hondurans, who qualified for the Olympics ahead of the United States, rode their luck with the Spanish hitting the woodwork three times. Spain protested strongly after an appeal for a penalty in the final minutes and at the final whistle they surrounded the referee in an animated protest.

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th August 2012

Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina lead India to series win

Virat Kohli was once again the architect of a successful Indian chase, one that clinched the ODI series for India, who took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the fivematch series. Kohli anchored India's response to 251, and was helped along by Suresh Raina, who struck his third half-century of the series, each of them in an Indian win. Both had their moments of fortune, just when Sri Lanka had fought their way back, but once set, they approached the target confidently, never allowing the require-rate to go above six and often being imperious in their shot-making. A game that promised to be close at one point eventually produced a dominant winner.

India were dealt an early blow when Lasith Malinga bowled Gautam Gambhir with an inswinging yorker in the first over. Gambhir probably misjudged the length, going hard at the ball.

Virender Sehwag, at the other

end, was fluent and attacking when the ball was there to be hit, but not rash. At 60 for 3, India were under pressure but Kohli batted determinedly. He began with an audacious pull off Malinga but played a supporting role to Sehwag. He survived a run-out chance after Rohit fell, but settled in to rebuild the innings. He ran well with Tiwary, pressing for twos when the field spread, flayed Pradeep through extra cover, was the beneficiary of

an overthrow that cost four and took India past 100.

Tiwary glanced Pradeep past fine leg, then flicked Perera over square leg but was lbw when trying to sweep a straighter one from Jeevan Mendis. A loud caughtbehind appeal gave Suresh Raina some early jitters, and much was left to him and Kohli to see India through.

When it was known that Manoj Tiwary would replace Rahul Sharma, not Rohit

Bopara puts his international career at risk

Ravi Bopara, 27, has put his international career at risk after pulling out from the England squad for the second Test against South Africa at the 11th hour. He sited personal reasons for ding so. His place has been taken by James Taylor, who is set to make his Test debut unless England take the unlikely step of playing five bowlers.

It is not the first time Bopara’s chaotic private life has impinged on his cricket and he missed England’s trip to Flanders to honour the War dead in 2009 after forgetting his passport. His latest problem could not have been more poorly timed, coming just days before a Test match.

Andrew Strauss’s side must either win or draw if they are to maintain their position as the world’s No 1 Test team.

The decision also comes at a pivotal moment for Bopara, who has yet to cement his Test place following two soft dismissals at the Oval where South Africa hammered the home side by an innings and 12 runs. In an England career so far shaped by mishaps, misfortune and bad timing, this looks like another terrible miscue.

Andy Flower, who has championed him ever since the two played together at Essex, will also feel badly let down. It certainly puts England in a pickle after including Steven Finn and Graham Onions as extra bowling options. Flower and

Strauss wanted to select Finn in place of Tim Bresnan at Headingley, they would probably be reluctant to do so now they have a debutant to blood at number six. Of course, they could still bring Finn in for Stuart Broad, the most misfiring of England’s bowlers in the first Test, but that is unlikely given Broad is a proven match-winner when on song.

Under normal circumstances Bopara’s decision would be career suicide, at least as far as Test cricket goes, but Strauss’s team could look very different by the end of the year unless the winning habit returns.

Assuming reports in the Australian media about Kevin Pietersen being ready to sign for the Big Bash League are correct, Pietersen will almost certainly have turned down a central contract with England, due in September, in order to play a full Indian Premier League season. Pietersen recently said he had no intention of playing in the Big Bash, his decision to reduce his

England workload made so he could spend more time with his family. Since then, the commercial imperatives on offer from T20 leagues spawning like pond life appear to have brought about a convenient amnesia.

For different reasons it is conceivable that Strauss could have retired by Christmas too, especially if England lose heavily to South Africa and then again to India later in the year. If both men depart there will be vacancies which, given the travails of Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan, could still offer an opening for the talented Bopara providing he can get his personal life sorted.

At the moment Taylor, 22, is the latest to fill the No 6 spot, the fifth man to have occupied it in the past six months after Morgan, Bairstow, Bopara and Matt Prior all took up tenure there.

Of that quintet, Taylor, who scored a hundred against the West Indies for the England Lions earlier this season, is certainly the shortest, the Nottinghamshire batsman being just 5ft 4 in tall.

Size is no impediment to success, as Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath, have all proved, but Taylor’s diminutive stature is bound to be tested by the pace and bounce of tall bowlers like Morne Morkel, especially if Headingley is going to be quick and bouncy as rumoured.

Sharma, in India's XI, a depleted bowling attack on a batting-friendly track would have prompted many to question the move. As it turned out, Tiwary had an impact even before he got a chance to bat as he picked up four wickets and helped, along with the other India parttime bowlers, to slow down Sri Lanka's innings and restrict them to 251. Sri Lanka's depth in batting and India's death-overs woes with the ball were two factors the hosts would have aimed to capitalise on. But batsman after batsman struggled to get a move-on. Chandimal and Thirimanne ran well between the wickets and their 50-run association included just two boundaries. Tiwary was unthreatening but steady, his bowling devoid of variations but he found some turn. And, occasionally, he was fortunate. Jeevan Mendis showed some urgency, sweeping and reverse-sweeping Ashwin for boundaries.

Olympics medals worth just 3 pounds in value!

London Olympic medals are the largest ever in both size and weight, but are actually worth less than three pounds.

According to reports, the bronze medals are made up of 97 per cent copper, 2.5 per cent zinc and 0.5 per cent tin, and is therefore only worth about three pounds.

The gold medal consists of just over one per cent real gold, the rest is made up of 92.5 per cent silver and 6.16 per cent copper.

For a silver medal the gold is replaced with more copper, meaning the final product is worth around 210 pounds.

Rules laid down by the International Olympics Committee specify that the medals must contain 550 grams of high-quality silver and six grams of gold.

The 2012 gold medallion is therefore only worth about 410 pounds as raw metal, although the real value would, of course, be much higher if the medals were ever sold.

The medals will be awarded in 805 victory ceremonies over the next two weeks.

The medals weigh 375400g and are 85mm across and 7mm thick.

Even though Olympic gold medals are not made of 100 per cent gold, a medal can still fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds at auction.