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4 - 10 AUGUST 2018 - VOL 47 ISSUE 14

IMRAN BATS FOR PAKISTAN

Imran may invite Modi to oath ceremony

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that he would take oath as Prime Minister on August 11. Although PTI has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly in the July 25 polls, it is short of numbers to form its government independently. To meet the required number of votes, the PTI leadership has reportedly approached the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), PML-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Balochistan Awami Party

(BAP), as well as Independents.

Now, not only India, but the rest of the world will have to deal with the cricketer-turned-politician, who was called a “director's actor” by his former wife. PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said after getting the backing of other political parties, and seats reserved for minorities and women, Khan's party was in a position to “comfortably” form the federal government. “We currently have the backing of 168 members, including coalition parties and the reserved seats for minorities and

Modi's visit cements relations with African nations

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) is considering inviting leaders of SAARC countries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to his oath taking ceremony as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Though PTI is short of majority, Imran said that he would take oath as Pakistan's prime minister on August 11. A PTI leader said that they would take the final decision on inviting SAARC heads shortly.

He also termed PM Modi's telephone call to Imran Khan on his victory in the 2018 elections as a welcoming sign to begin a "new chapter" in relations between the two countries. On Monday, Modi called Imran Khan to congratulate him on his party's victory and hoped that "Pakistan and India will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties". Imran thanked Modi for his wishes and emphasised that disputes should be resolved through dialogue. "If India's leadership is ready, we are ready to improve ties with India. If you take one step forward, we will take two steps forward," Imran had said in his victory speech.

women and we are in talks with more independent candidates who will join us in the coming days,” he said.

Full Report page 23

inside: British-Indian grandfather’s heroic act in the Greek inferno applauded Rupanjana Dutta UK’s Indian community is saluting the heroic act of a Gujarati-origin grandfather, who put his own life in danger to save his 95 year old relative in the Greek inferno, that killed 85 with 100 missing and hundreds homeless. Continued on page 7

Sajid Javid to be Britain’s future Prime Minister?

SEE PAGE 7

40,00,000 people excluded from Citizen's Register in Assam SEE PAGE 26

Continued on page 26

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4 - 10 August 2018

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What advice would you give to young, aspiring Asian dentists?

Dentistry is a popular career and places to study are highly sought after. It’s important to do well in school, but also to show that you have got well rounded interests and experience and, crucially, an enthusiasm for helping others.

Michael Escudier Professor Michael Escudier is Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. The Faculty represents around 5,500 specialist dentists, who provide patient care in dental practices, hospitals and the community. It has been campaigning about the need to tackle child tooth decay for several years, and also published a report last summer highlighting the need to improve older people’s oral health.

Professor Escudier became Dean of the Faculty in June 2017. He is Head of Oral Medicine at King’s College London Dental Institute, having originally qualified in dentistry from Guy’s Hospital in 1985.

He also subsequently studied medicine, qualifying from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1992.

1

What is the biggest health concern for dental surgeons today?

Tooth decay is a really big concern, particularly when it affects children. 45,000 children were admitted to hospital because of tooth decay last year, despite the fact it is 90% preventable. If a child has a high level of disease in their baby teeth it is more likely that they will go on to have disease in their permanent teeth too.

food and drinks you consume, brush your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and lastly make sure you visit the dentist regularly.

3

Have you noticed any trends in dental care amongst the Asian community?

People aren’t visiting the dentist as often as they should. 42% of children didn’t go to the dentist last year, despite the fact that NHS dental treatment for under-18s is free.

It is really important that parents know they should be taking their children to the dentist at least once every 12 months so that any problems can be spotted early.

2

What can people do to best improve their oral health?

There are three crucial things you should do. Reduce the amount of sugary

Girl, 6, killed after being hit by a car while walking with dad to mosque collision, or who may have CCTV or dash-cam footage, to get in touch.

“The family are receiving support from family liaison officers and, our thoughts are them at this very sad time."

Jannatul Bakya was with West Midlands her father heading to Police arrested a prayers at a local mosque man (27) and a 26when she was struck by a year-old woman – vehicle living in Smethwick and Bearwood respectively – shortly after the collision.

They have been questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and have been released under investigation while enquiries continue.

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A schoolgirl who was tragically killed after being hit by a car in Smethwick has been named by police. Jannatul Bakya was with her father heading to prayers at a local mosque when she was struck by a vehicle at around 10.50pm while crossing Oldbury Road.

Tragically the six-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. Jannatul’s family have released a photo of her and a moving tribute. The tribute, issued on behalf of her father reads: “Jannatul, my youngest daughter, was always happy and cheerful. She always bought a smile to everybody's face.

“She will be greatly missed. I would ask that my family be given space to be able to grieve in private.”

DC Damian Gibson from West Midlands Police’s Collision Investigation Unit said: “We are investigating the circumstances leading to this tragic event.

"I’m appealing for anyone who saw the

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What foods should be avoided or reduced in order to prevent issues to oral health?

Cutting back on sugary food and drinks is essential. Try to only eat sweet foods, including dried fruit, at meal times and avoid snacking throughout the day as this is bad for teeth. Sugary and fizzy drinks should also be avoided – one portion (150ml) of fruit juice a day is OK as part of your “5 A Day”, as long as it is consumed with a meal, but otherwise drink water and lower-fat milks.

There is lots of useful advice about healthy eating on the “Change4Life” website (www.nhs.uk/change4life) so take a look at that for more information.

5

Name your three must-have dental hygiene products?

Three must-have products would be a toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste, and interdental brushes or floss which you can use to clean between your teeth.

If you are buying for a child, choose a toothbrush with a small head and medium-textured bristles. Under-3s should brush with a smear of toothpaste containing no less than 1000 ppm (part per million) of fluoride, while children aged between 3 and 6 should use a pea sized amount of tooth paste containing more than 1000 ppm.

9

Are there any conditions that can affect oral hygiene?

Any conditions that make it more difficult for you to brush your teeth regularly can have an impact on oral hygiene – for example, this can be an issue for older people with reduced manual dexterity, so family members should be aware that older relatives may need help to maintain good oral health.

6

How often would you recommend seeing your dentist?

Children should be taken to see a dentist as soon as their first teeth appear, and certainly by the time they turn one, and have a dental check-up every year after that.

Adults should have a dental check-up at least once every two years, but may need to go more often and should be guided by their dentist.

10

What are the key signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

Some of the key symptoms of mouth cancer include mouth ulcers that don’t heal, unexplained and persistent lumps in the mouth or neck, red or white patches on the lining of the mouth and tongue, and changes in speech.

The NHS Choices website has a lot more information about mouth cancer (www.nhs.uk/conditions/mouth-cancer) including a detailed list of symptoms and steps you can take to prevent it. If you are concerned about symptoms then visit a doctor or a dentist to get these checked out.

7

Are there certain age groups which are more at risk of tooth decay or dental problems?

Tooth decay is a particular problem for children and a leading cause of hospital admissions. It remains relevant for adults, although they are affected by gum disease as well. Dental problems are an issue for older people too – we have estimated that at least 1.8 million people aged 65 and over could

Sixth man in court over 'acid attack' on boy boy's father, on 28 August.

Five other men appeared before magistrates in Kidderminster on Wednesday in connection with the attack, also charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

All six men remain in custody. The other five men currently in custody are Norbert Pulko, 22, Jan Dudi, 25, Adam Cech, 27, and Jabar Paktia, 41. The father cannot be identified for legal reasons.

A sixth man has appeared in court in connection with a suspected acid attack on a boy in Worcester. The three-year-old suffered serious burns at the Home Bargains store in the Tallow Hill area on 21 July. Saied Hussini, from London, appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

He will next appear at Worcester Crown Court with five other men, including the

Huge support for Smethwick Sikh soldier statue plan A monument to the sacrifice of Indian soldiers who fought for Britain in two world wars has won the overwhelming support from Smethwick residents. Local people have taken to Facebook to back the plan to erect a 10 ft high statue of a Sikh soldier on the town's High Street in November.

The statue, named the ‘The Lions of the Great War’ and costing £30,000, will be sited between the High Street and Tollhouse Way. It will be based outside the Sikh Guru Nanak Gurdwara and commemorates the millions of Indian soldiers of all faiths who fought with Britain. Within hours of the story appearing on the Smethwick and Black Country Facebook page people were saying it was ‘brilliant’.

Black Country sculptor Luke Perry is creating the memorial which will be unveiled in time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. He said: "I first became aware of the story of Indian soliders' contribution to Britain when my wife was researching a book on the First World War. Without their help in 1914 we might well have lost the war and I wondered why we had never heard of this sacrifice and I wanted it to be marked and remembered."

More than 150 people have now commented on the story, showing their overwhelming support for the forgotten soldiers.

Image: Sandwell MBC

WITH KEITH VAZ, MP

have an urgent dental condition, so it is important to be aware of the oral health of older generations.

Sculptor Luke Perry creating The Lions of the Great War statue

The project is being supported by Sandwell Council which has already started work on the paved area where the statue will stand.

Council leader Cllr Steve Eling said: “There has been a very positive response since plans for the statue were first announced in June and I think people in Smethwick and right across Sandwell are very proud and excited about it.

"It’s important to remember the contributions and sacrifices made by South Asian service personnel and people from across the Commonwealth for our country.”

The statue has been paid for by the Sikh community and will be unveiled on November 4 and is set to be the centrepiece of a £140,000 refurbishment of Smethwicks’ High Street.

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4 - 10 August 2018

The Great Khan back at the helm Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf, has won Pakistan’s General Election with the largest number of seats in Parliament. Mr Khan founded his party around two decades ago; his success is proof that his message to the electorate that the country’s cancerous corruption had eaten into the vitals of society and fatally weakened the Pakistani state to the point of economic and social collapse. His message clearly struck a chord across the nation, grown cynical and despondent with inflated promises, stark incompetence and crumbling institutions.

Imran Khan has broken the mould. The old ways, the grand boasts has reduced Pakistani to ignoble penury.

Funding and exporting jihadis across the border into India and Afghanistan has been backfiring on all cylinders as the bomb blasts across the country shows only too well. Nawaz Sharif, now incarcerated in jail with a ten year sentence by the courts for massive corruption during his tenure as prime minister.

In his address to the nation, Imran Khan was brutally robust in pointing to the country’s ills and its causes. He has sworn that he and his party will make a difference by tackling the country’s endemic corruption at its roots, that his party would package a new deal for the country’s long defrauded masses, The proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Too much has been made of Mr Khan’s alleged links with Pakistan’s all powerful military. Even if true, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he is the military’s pawn doing its bidding as ordered. The military well understands that it may be the guarantor of the new regime’s reforms that can put Pakistan back on its feet with some hope for the future. The relationship between the military and the

future civilian regime is thus far from one-sided.

The next points to consider are Imran Khan’s credentials. He was in his sporting pomp Pakistan’s charismatic cricket captain, a great player himself; with the ball fast and deadly with pace and swing bracketed with the elect in the game’s history, with the bat he was solid and dependable, with a safe pair of hands on the field.

As captain, Imran Khan has no peer in the annals of Pakistani cricket. He instilled in his players a sense of selfbelief, inspiring them to face triumph and disaster just the same. Beginning with two defeats in the World Cup of 1992, Pakistan, under his leadership, won the coveted trophy. Imran’s perception of talent was truly exceptional.

A cursory look at debutants, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, convinced him of their extraordinary class.

Without further ado they were drafted into his Test team and attained glory as a fast bowling pair on par with the best in cricket history. When Imran detected that his cousin, Majid Khan, a former Pakistan captain and star batsman in his time, was over the hill, he had no hesitation dropping him. That took some courage and character.

When Imran Khan retired, Pakistan cricket fell from grace.

Cast an eye at the Indian crick establishment’s embrace of mediocrity, with declining ‘oldies’ decide the most propitious moment to leave cetre-stage, while budding talent waits in the wings.

Leading a country is leagues more onerous than captaining a cricket team. But cricket is often a test of character. The game being a form of social activity brings out the best in the best. The Pakistani people have instinctively opted for a man who once brought them glory, hoping desperately that he can do so again.

BRICS confident going forward The BRICS Summit in Johannesburg of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ended in a confident declaration extolling freer trade, reducing protectionism, furthering closer trade ties with partners, condemning terrorism (specifics mentioned in the communiqué of the previous summit required no repetition).

BRICS leaders referring to the BRICS Bank with its capital of $100 billion reminded countries saddled by burgeoning debt that the Bank was ready to service their debts and offer loans on easier conditions than those available at international lending agencies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other such bodies.

The combined population of BRICS account for half or more than the global total. China has the secondlargest global economy after the United States, India has the sixth-largest and is poised to overtake Britain at the end of the current financial year ending March 31, 2019, and occupy fifth position. India is already the world’s fastest growing large economy; Brazil is the most populous country and biggest economy in South America,; and South Africa is Africa’s most industrialized state. Finally, the Russian Federation happens to be the world’s largest country by some distance, and is a military superpower alongside the United States. Russia is also the most richly endowed country on earth in natural resources including oil and natural gas.

The western media never lacks time or space covering

G7, G20, and other such meets, but rarely devotes a line or a minute to BRICS. The supercilious mindset carries its special coda. No matter, this in no way alters the ground realities. The emergent economies are here to stay and grow and public recognition in the west is destined to follow in the fullness of time.

That said, BRICS Summits are accompanied by separate bilateral meetings between the Russian, Indian Chinese leaderships. Prime Minister Modi tweeted: ‘Wide-ranging and productive talks with President Putin.

India’s friendship with Russia is deep-rooted and our countries will continue working together in multiple sectors.’ Firm, clear and brooking no denial.

The PM’s talks with China’s President Xi produced the accustomed platitudes of good intent from both sides. Chinese obfuscations puts one in instant recall of a remark by Lord Crewe, Secretary of State for India prior to the First World War, who complained that the gruelling experience of negotiating with Chinese ministers might consign him to a lunatic asylum.

President Xi, all smiles and assurances of good intent was made aware of rising Indian concerns at the huge trade deficit in China’s favour. India sought greater access to the Chinese market, while cheap Chinese goods were flooding the Indian market. The trust deficit is selfevident. The purpose on both sides is to prevent it getting out of hand, undermining the fragile peace, inviting chaos.

India’s crony capitalism’ A curious article by James Crabtree in ‘One World,’ and now a book, Billionaire Raj’ has found its way into the Indian print media. It irks the author that should today have 119 dollar billionaires, one whom – Vijay Mallya, no less - appears to fixate him, since he spends valuable time in his company for an extensive interview with this opulent refugee from Indian justice. Mallya, no doubt, is a crony capitalist as is the absconding Nirav Modi, ergo, the Indian economy is crony capitalism – simplistic assessment, one would have thought. Does the Tata Group faal into this category? Does Mahindra & Mahindra or Larsen & Toubro? Crabtree draws a comparison with America’s gilded age in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Crony capitalism is parasitic, and hence the vision and entrepreneurial energy of the authentic system is missing.

Curiously, Crabtree’s piece in India commences with a blazing broadside at Russia, which he avers, is under crony capitalist oligarchic rule - a devious subtext, surely, targeting the India-Russia relationship.

Damning India with faint praise, Crabtree opines that the Indian situation was not as bad as the Russian, that life for India’s poor had improved, but not as much as it had in the countries of East Asia. e.g. South Korea and Taiwan. All credit to them, although the latter’s have a miniscule demographic base compared to that of India. Capitalism comes with inequality, just as sin does with Christianity.

The Boston Consulting Group’s Global Wealth Report 2018 is a countertual narrative that says Indians with personal wealth of $1 billion account for 16 per cent of its population. The report estimates that personal wealth in India grew at 12 per cent from 2017 to 2018, compared with 15 per cent in the previous period and much faster than the estimated personal 7 per cent wealth for the entire world.

Further, the report declares that most growth going forward will be in equities and investment funds. While this category consisted 17 per cent of personal wealth in 2012, it increased to 22 per cent in 2017, and is expected to reach 32 per cent by 2022.

Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense.

- Amelia Earhart

Alpesh Patel

UK, EU, US or India?

UK, EU, US or India – where should you put your money. Brexit and Trump mean the question is more important than ever.

How about some evidence from the World’s richest man and also China’s richest man – they say things you would not expect!

A couple of years ago India’s GDP growth overtake China’s. I tweeted China’s richest man who said that the UK is best place to invest, regardless of Brexit. (His name is Wang Jianlin) – and he is richer than the owner of Alibaba. He is looking to increase his UK investments.

What of the world’s richest man – Warren Buffett? These are the best quotes from his letters to Shareholders in the last couple of years: “For 240 years it’s been a terrible mistake to bet against America, and now is no time to start.

America’s golden goose of commerce and innovation will continue to lay more and larger eggs.

America’s social security promises will be honored and perhaps made more generous. And, yes, America’s kids will live far better than their parents did.

Promises will be honored and perhaps made more generous. And, yes, America’s kids will live far better than their parents did. American GDP per capita is now about $56,000. As I mentioned last year that – in real terms – is a staggering six times the amount in 1930, the year I was born, a leap far beyond the wildest dreams of my parents or their contemporaries. U.S. citizens are not intrinsically more intelligent today, nor do they work harder than did Americans in 1930. Rather, they work far more efficiently and thereby produce far more.

This all-powerful trend is certain to continue: America’s economic magic remains alive and well.

Some commentators bemoan our current 2% per year growth in real GDP – and, yes, we would all like to see a higher rate. But let’s do some simple math using the much-lamented 2% figure. That rate, we will see, delivers astounding gains.

America’s population is growing about .8% per year (.5% from births minus deaths and .3% from net migration). Thus 2% of overall growth produces about 1.2% of per capita growth. That may not sound impressive.

But in a single generation of, say, 25 years, that rate of growth leads to a gain of 34.4% in real GDP per capita.

In turn, that 34.4% gain will produce a staggering $19,000 increase in real GDP per capita for the next generation.

Were that to be distributed equally, the gain would be $76,000 annually for a family of four.

Today’s politicians need not shed tears for tomorrow’s children.”

So what do you think – sentiment aside. Europe, UK, US or India for the next 25 years?

Editor: CB Patel Asian Voice is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com INDIA OFFICE Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380 015.

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Parents who tried to force daughter to marry cousin in Bangladesh are jailed for 8 years The parents of a teenager from Leeds who was dramatically rescued from a forced marriage plot in Bangladesh as part of a West Yorkshire Police investigation were sentenced to a total of eight years on Monday.

The man and woman were sentenced to four-and-a-half and three-and-a-half respectively after being found guilty on 29 May at Leeds Crown Court of forced marriage offences under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.

In the first successful case of its kind, officers from Leeds District Safeguarding Unit worked closely with consular staff at the British High Commission in Bangladesh and the Foreign & Commonwealth office to secure the 18-year-old’s rescue and subsequent jailing of the two.

The victim who was already in a relationship, was enjoying a normal school life and had sat her A Levels with plans to go to university. In July 2016, now in her 20s was taken to a remote village in Bangladesh after her parents deceived her into thinking the trip was for a family holiday Once there they told her she was to be married to a cousin, whether she agreed or not . When she refused they threatened her with violence

and her phone was taken from her for a time.

Once marriage plans became clear the victim enlisted the help of her sister and managed to contact her boyfriend in the UK He contacted West Yorkshire police who began investigating and linked in with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure her safety.

The Consular team managed

to rescue her and took her to a place of safety and flown back to the UK She then told officers at the Leeds District Safeguarding Unit of her ordeal and her parents were arrested days later when they flew back to the UK. As part of the subsequent investigation officers went to Bangladesh twice to speak to witnesses and consular staff to gather evidence.

Detective Superintendent Pat Twiggs from West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team led the investigation. He said: “A parent’s love for

their child should be unequivocal and unconditional but they subjected their daughter to terrifying and harrowing ordeal.

“They threatened their own daughter with violence if she didn’t do as she was told, making reference to the fact that they had brought her up for 18 years with love, but that the dad would chop her up in 18 seconds if she disrespected him by not going through with the marriage. I don’t know how any parent can say that to their own child.

“I have previously paid tribute to the victim in this ordeal – she is a remarkable young woman who has had her life turned upside down at a relatively young age. Her family have turned their back on her and alienated her siblings from her, which I know has been devastating.

“It would have been easy for her at any point to have found this all too much, but she has remained resolute throughout.

“I think she has clearly recognised how important it is for her to stand up, not just for herself but for other victims who will follow. I know she wants her case to show other victims that they can come forward to the authorities with confidence that they will be listened to and safe-

guarded.

“Arranged marriages between consenting parties are entirely legal, but the law does not allow anyone to force someone to marry against their will and we hope this case will send a suitable deterrent message to those who seek to control and exploit others in this way.”

Extracts from the victim’s own victim impact statement have been released to illustrate the ordeal she was subjected to: “It is hard to explain the effect that this has had on me, I have had to learn to become a different person. I try not to remember what happened and don’t like to relive those moments, for me, it brings back so many emotions and I am trying not to be labelled as a victim.

I don’t want what happened to me to define my life but at the same time, it already has done, it is only me who can now make that something positive.”

“I doubt that it will ever leave me but I have to be able to process it and not let it take over me. I have had no contact with my father and only one phone call with my mother, she proved to me during that call that she had no intention of ever loving me or being sorry for what they had done. My thought was “you’re evil.”

Report claims Muslims in Greater Manchester have a 'genuine fear of persecution' A ‘perpetual lack of information’ about the government’s counter-terrorism strategy has led to ‘genuine fears’ of persecution among Muslims in Greater Manchester, a report has found.

Although Prevent was said to be ‘working well’ in the region, the report said it was not getting its message across to communities where ‘high levels of distrust and suspicion of statutory agencies continue to exist’.

The independent Preventing Hateful Extremism and Promoting Social Cohesion report was commissioned by the region’s mayor Andy Burnham following the Arena bombing, which left 22 people dead and left dozens more seriously injured.

It concluded there should be

an effort to move Prevent which aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism - away from the police and law enforcement to wider safeguarding.

“Most people agreed that the safeguarding principles that underpin Prevent are correct,” the report added.

“However, there is a perpetuating cycle of lack of information available to communities regarding Prevent and circulation of inaccurate information.

This leads to fear developing within communities.

“It was strongly felt that the positive work going on across Greater Manchester was not being appropriately disseminated into communities, where high levels of distrust and suspi-

cion of statutory agencies continues to exist.

“It was felt that the lack of information was exploited by those with an anti-Prevent or anti-Islam agenda who maliciously miscommunicated the aims of Prevent or true nature of the issue without evidence to support their claims.

“Organisations and individuals found it difficult to challenge this narrative without statistics to refute the claims.

This has perpetuated the problem, leading to the creation of suspect communities and fear of persecution amongst Muslim communities.”

The report added: “From the people that were involved in the commission’s engagement, there was a strong feeling from

the members of the Muslim community that Prevent targets Muslim communities and that this was a genuine fear felt by Greater Manchester Muslims.”

Prevent is one of the four strands of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy. It is designed to support people at risk of joining extremist groups and carrying out terrorist activity.

It has been criticised in the past by MPs and the Muslim Council of Britain, who have said it can make Muslims feel isolated and even more open to turning to radicalisation.

Terrorist who encouraged attacks on Trafford Centre has 'his face slashed' in Strangeways Prison bosses are investigating after a terrorist was reportedly slashed in the face in HMP Manchester. Husnain Rashid was jailed in July after admitting to a string of terror offences – including encouraging attacks on the Trafford Centre and Prince George.

The 34-year-old, from Lancashire, was attacked in Strangeways prison last Wednesday, reports suggest.

A spokesman for the Prison Service confirmed that a prisoner was taken to hospital following an incident and that an investigation was underway.

They said in a statement: “A prisoner received hospital treatment for minor injuries following an incident at HMP Manchester on Wednesday, July 25. An investigation is taking place.”

Rasnid, who also used the highly encrypted communication app Telegram to post instructions on how to poison fruit in supermarkets with cyanide, was arrested following a raid on his home in November last year.

The Islamic State fanatic tried to flee police. He ran out of the back door and threw his mobile phone high into the air to avoid being found with it in his possession.

But it landed right at the feet

of an officer who had surrounded the house and contained ‘a treasure trove’ of evidence, the court heard.

Mobile phones owned by Rashid were found to have text messages on them between him and the ISIS news agency, Amaq.

Speaking after the sentencing, Chief Sup Will Chatterton from Counter Terrorism Policing North West said: “Rashid was a prolific poster on Telegram, a messaging and media platform which prides itself on never having provided law enforcement agencies with any user data.”

in brief POLICE INVESTIGATE REPORTS OF VEHICLE BEING DRIVEN AT MAN AFTER BRAWL A man suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a vehicle during an early hours incident in Moss Side. Detectives are investigating following reports of a disturbance on Great Western Street, near the junction of Princess Road, last Thursday morning.

Officers were scrambled to the scene just before 5.30am. Police say witnesses described seeing a group of men fighting before a vehicle was driven at a man. The victim later turned up at hospital and required treatment for a serious hip injury. Two men, aged 21 and 31, were arrested on suspicion of affray in connection with the incident. They have since been released under investigation.

Photographs showing the aftermath of the incident show a flattened street sign. Enquiries are ongoing and police are urging assistance from the public.

TRIBUTES LEFT TO VICTIMS OF ARENA ATTACK TO BE PRESERVED Tributes left to those killed or injured in the Manchester Arena attack will be preserved in an archive thanks to a National Lottery grant. The Manchester Together archive, located at Manchester Art Gallery , is made up of more than 10,000 items left in several locations across the city including St Ann’s Square following the attack on May 22, 2017.

Notes, poems, cards, t-shirts, soft toys with personal messages, Manchester bee drawings and balloons are among some of the items making up the archive. A £99,700 grant has been awarded from the National Lottery which will pay for two staff members to document all of the items and turn them into searchable online archive.

However, all of the tributes will still also remain at the gallery.

The project partners, in collaboration with the Manchester Resilience Hub, will also explore the possible use of the archive for therapy to help families with the grieving process. The archive has already been visited by a number of those who lost loved ones in the Arena attack, said the city council.

'IMPOSTER' TWIST IN ARABIAN NITES SHISHA BAR CLOSURE ROW AFTER SHOOTING A man said to have been paid handsomely to stitch up nightspot bosses by saying he had been shot at Birmingham’s Arabian Nites was an imposter, police believe.

In a 120-page document submitted as part of a licensing hearing, West Midlands Police stated they did not believe the man who came to court was the victim. The hearing followed a harrowing incident at the club, a shisha lounge haunt for stars of sport and showbiz.

At Birmingham Magistrates' Court, the man who alleged he had been paid was, according to court staff, described as Asian. But the individual actually wounded during the May 26 reggae night at the luxury venue was described as Afro-Caribbean, police say.

A note provided by the man who turned up at the hearing to back the club’s successful bid to stave off closure played a vital part in the establishment’s victory.

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The Royal British Legion will launch a movement on 3 August to say ‘Thank You’ to all who served, sacrificed, and changed our world during the First World War. The charity is calling on mass involvement from the public and encouraging 100 days of activity to mark the final year of the Centenary.

All communities are being encouraged to join the movement by expressing their thanks this year, with a number of high profile organisations already supporting the movement.

The movement will honour not only the 1.3 million British and Commonwealth Armed Forces who lost their lives, but also those who played their part on the home front, and those who returned to build a better life for the benefit of generations to come.

‘Thank You’ letters, will be open to the public in London before touring to other cities in the UK. Partners supporting the initiative include English National Ballet, Diwali in the Square, Highclere Castle, GCHQ, Cadbury, the RFU and many others. The movement will also be represented at several major Pride parades this summer.

To launch the movement, the Legion has created a giant installation 8ft high and 52ft wide, of illustrated ‘Thank You’ letters, which will be open to the public in London before touring to other cities in the UK. The letters showcase a unique design by acclaimed artist, Sarah Arnett, which brings the war’s legacies to life.

From the “Munitionettes” who served in weapons factories to Sikh infantrymen who served on the Western Front, from schoolgirls farming the fields to renowned war artists such as Paul Nash, a collage of images honours the diverse contribution of the First World War generation.

The installation will be on the iconic London South Bank (on 3rd/4th August) before heading to Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland later in the month.

The back and sides of each 3D letter is a blank canvas where the public will be invited to write their own personal messages of thanks directly onto the installa-

Photo courtesy: Ernest Brooks

Royal British Legion calls on the nation to say 'Thank You' to the WW1 generation

tion.

The Legion is asking the nation to plan their Thank You activity to take place from the 8th of August to the 11th of November, to coincide with the anniversary of the so-called ‘Hundred Days Offensive’ that led to the end of fighting. The weekend of 27th28th October will see a focus on activities which mark the end of British Summer Time, itself a legacy of the First World War. Around 1.3million men – equivalent to the presentday population of Merseyside – would fight for Britain throughout the war.

Around 800,000 Hindus, 400,000 Muslims and 100,000 Sikhs served in France, Belgium, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Gallipoli, Palestine and Africa. More than 74,000 died and a similar number were wounded.

The government sent loans worth £2bn today. So many Maharajas volunteered for front line service that their numbers had to be restricted. Indians at British universities clamoured to be officers and pilots, despite being barred for not being “of pure European descent”.

On the Western Front, more than 140,000 Indians – 90,000 troops and 50,000 non-combatants – served between October 1914 and December 1915. Some were boys as young as 10. They helped stop the German advances at Ypres and in several bloody battles, prevented crushing reverses while Britain trained volunteers for its New Armies.

More than 8,550 were killed and 50,000 wounded.

For years, people were largely unaware of this history. When the world marked the 50th anniversary of the war in 1964, India’s contribution barely received a mention. Only with the 2014 centenary has interest

been reawakened. The Indian government is researching the stories of the 1.3million and planning a new national memorial.

What supporters have to say

Lord Jitesh Gadhia, a supporter of the campaign told Asian Voice, “The World War One centenary, which is being marked in 2018, is the perfect time to recognise the significant contribution and sacrifice of so many from across the Commonwealth, and especially from India, in changing the course of world history.

“Over 1.3 million Indian soldiers served in World War One and a staggering 2.5 million soldiers were mobilised from the subcontinent during World War Two - the largest volunteer army ever. Over 160,000 lost their lives in the two conflicts and 39 individuals received the Victoria Cross medal for their bravery.

“It has been an honour to work closely with the Royal British Legion, which runs the annual poppy appeal, on a special programme of activity for the 2018 Centenary Year marking the end of World War One. British Indians, should be proud of the role which their forbears played in shaping the destiny of the world.

“It is important that descendant communities in the UK are aware of this history and contribution, which has all too often been forgotten. So the “Thank You” movement, which I am proud to be part of, encourages everyone in the UK including British Indians to find their golden thread back to that First World War generation.

“I look forward to the Indian community joining

the rest of the nation in saying “Thank You” to the First World War generation in 2018 and expressing our eternal gratitude for all they did for us.”

Sir Michael Morpurgo, a Thank You Ambassador, will this year release Poppy Field, a new book looking at the effect of the war on a civilian family. Sir Michael said: “The First World War is, in a strange sort of way, the most iconic of all wars. From the depths of its horror, it brought out an extraordinary collective effort and contributed to some of the most meaningful cultural shifts in human history.

“To the farmers who gave up their horses to the war effort; to the women who kept our home fires burning; to the Sassoons and the Macraes whose work has shaped our understanding of conflict; we should indeed say ‘Thank You’.”

Charles Byrne, Director General of The Royal British Legion, said: “We all have a connection to the First World War, for me it is Private Ross Ryan, my grandfather, and we all have a reason to say ‘Thank You’ to this special generation.

“Whether your personal Thank You is an event dedicated to those who made a difference in your community, a visit to a place of significance, or a simple Tweet, there’s no limit to the ways people can take part. We are making a plea to every single person across the UK, with 100 days until 11th November, to get involved and take a moment in this very significant year to say ‘Thank You’.”

Sarah Arnett said: “It’s been an honour to work on such a meaningful project during the Centenary year.

Having recently researched my own family history during the war, I’m amazed by how much of the world around me is still so connected to that time.

“It was deeply moving to think about what each member of that generation went through as I worked with their photos during the design. It’s absolutely fitting that we should say ‘Thank You’ and remember their legacies.”

For further information please visit rbl.org.uk/thankyou.

Departure of Chandubhai Mattani leaves void The sad demise of Chandubhai Mattani on Saturday 28th July 2018 leaves a void that will be difficult to fill. He leaves behind a rich and inspirational legacy that spanned a business and musical career of over 60 years.

Chandubhai embodied culture and tradition with a meticulous flair for detail in the smallest of endeavours.

Together with his backbone in life, his late wife Kumudben, they created their saree outlet and music label Sona Rupa, on Leicester’s Belgrave Road, which quickly became a household name. Amidst their busy lives, they lovingly raised three children, six grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Chandubhai’s passion for music of all genres and Gujarati literature in particular, endeared him to people from all walks of life and of all ages. Himself an accomplished singer, he gave expression to his art through 1000’s of public performances and recordings and his long-time association and friendship with musical legends, current and past, that came to share music and enjoy his hospitality. Chandubhai was equally at ease on the stage of a major musical event or eclectic poets he met or at a community event singing devotional songs.

The creation of “Jai Jai Shrinathji”, a collection of Gujrati poetry, was the start of numerous album releases which graced many people’s lives. His final album “Jeevan Utsav”, released last year, is a celebration of life.

In 1983, with a group of friends, he founded Shruti Arts. He steered Shruti Arts and pioneered classical events in Leicester, which then extended from Ghazal evenings, Sugam Sangeet, dance and drama, to the iconic Shruti Arts Navratri, the keynote event where he took his rightful place on stage with friends and musical partners Ashit and Hema Desai and latterly Alap Desai.

An inspirational selfless individual, he devoted

much of his time and energy helping others. He was generous and caring and had a unique quality of making everyone feel valued; touching the lives of many people around the world.

Loved by many, respected by many more and held in awe by some, Chandubhai was indeed a rare phenomenon.

Heartfelt condolences and tributes have been coming in from far and wide. The best tribute that one can pay to him is to imbibe his humility and values in our everyday lives.

A singing bird migrates (A tribute to Chandu Mattani) Yogesh Patel You can take the tapes out But he was a tall man in many a measure so it will not do The mortals try but fail as they look only at the selfies and screens and check likes, followers He was the time; right won the hearts, never out of focus on music notes He sang as the freed bird applying new skies to the stale dull skies The skin never stopped him for he knew always you’re Gujju to the end Tomorrow, the flowers will still, well, flower and smile He knew that, so sang to defy the time, the feat only a humble man can achieve as a tall........

Kamal Ahmed appointed editorial director of BBC News

Kamal Ahmed

BBC economics editor Kamal Ahmed has joined the BBC News management team as editorial director.

Daily news programmes controller Gavin Allen has also stepped up as head of news output.

The two new roles have been created by BBC director of news Fran Unsworth as she makes maintaining

trust through impartiality a clear priority for safeguarding BBC News’ future.

A former newspaper journalist, Ahmed (pictured) joined the BBC in 2014 as business editor, becoming economics editor two years later.

In his new role he will be responsible for shaping future editorial strategy,

focusing on “storytelling and explanatory journalism” and match output to audience research.

Unsworth said: “Kamal will bring verve, ambition and fresh editorial insight to the role and I’m thrilled he’s joining my top team.”

Allen has led the BBC’s daily news programmes since 2014 and has previous-

ly held senior editorial roles including on the Today programme, The Politics Show and Question Time.

He will lead the BBC newsroom’s output across TV, digital, online and radio and head up the newly merged multimedia daily news output and programmes team.

A BBC spokesperson

said: “The role will ensure the BBC’s editorial decision making is joined up and the best journalism reaches all of our audiences on both linear and digital platforms.”

Unsworth added: “I’m delighted to have Gavin’s extensive experience across many BBC programmes and strong editorial judgement leading this department.”

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Sajid Javid to be Britain's HoC Select Committee launching inquiry to assess UK’s relationship with India future Prime Minister?

Sajid Javid

UK may get its first Prime Minister of Asian heritage, as Sajid Javid is rumoured to be Theresa May's successor.

As British politics appears to have hit a shocking dead end over Brexit, some believe that Mrs May has now chosen him to be her successor, probably more by 'accident than design'.

On Saturday the Home Sajid Javid Secretary announced that he is doubling the cash to stop young people turning to crime. He reversed decades of government policy on the medicinal use of cannabis, and even ordered a research into why men convicted of grooming-gang sex crimes were disproportionately of Pakistani origin. He went a step further to support Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham,

who faced severe backlash from the community and local politicians.

One Remain-supporting Conservative told The Times newspaper: “My view is that Sajid is a canny operator who is able to say some brave things, such as his comments on Sarah Champion, but I have no idea what he actually believes.”

Mr Javid was born in Lancashire in 1969 to a father who was a bus driver of Punjabi origin, arriving in Britain from Pakistan in 1964 with £1 in his pocket, and his mother, a seamstress, opened her own shop. He has four siblings.

He grew up in Bristol, attended a comprehensive school, and studied economics and politics at Exeter University, where he met his now wife, Laura. He is a follower of Mrs Thatcher and believed to be 'hard to nail down political-

ly and a man for all seasons'.

At different points in the last 8 year, as the MP of Bromsgrove, he has successfully displayed many faces.

However though presumably a successor, he is not really a 'puppet' in the hands of the Prime Minister, that people allege he is. David Laws, the former Lib Dem cabinet minister, reportedly wrote in his book that Mr Javid would challenge Mrs May in such bruising encounters that he felt sorry for her. The Times further said that one senior government figure said: “He is clearly on top of his brief. He reads everything.

He works hard and I know the number of times he has properly argued with the PM, and he keeps going back until he wins on issues like Tier 2 immigration and cannabis, where she said ‘no’ and he pushes and pushes. So, good on him.”

British-Indian grandfather’s heroic act in the Greek inferno applauded Continued from page 1

76 years old Chhaganlal Jagatia from Egham in Surrey was in Greece with his family. Speaking exclusively to Asian Voice from his hospital bed in Athens, he said, “My daughter-inlaw Maria is Greek. I was in Mytro hotel, which is a mile away from the sea, with my wife and family ie daughterin-law, her mum, her grandmother, my one and half year old grand daughter and around 5pm the fire started approaching. We could see it in the distance. All the houses as far as we could see were on fire. “My daughter-inlaw’s grandmother Smaragpi Kandalepa (mother’s mother) is disabled.

I train people from my community in fire safety for free and also have a certificate. So I rushed and told the boarders to leave the hotel immediately, just with their passports, as the floor, doors and room started becoming unbearably hot. I put my family in the car and asked them to leave too,” and he ran back to rescue Mrs Kandalepa (or yaya as they called her, that means grandmother in Greek).

“She is 95 and disabled, so the family was trying to bring her on from the room on a wheelchair, but there were stairs,” he said. “I tried to help them go around and we could not. The hotel was smouldering hot and she was already burnt more than me. I tried to give her cold water to drink and pour over her burns. But she refused, because she was in a lot of pain. So I put her on her bed in the room, with much difficulty, and applied wet towels around her as

the building began heating up further and smoke started to choke us. I had lost my phone, so I had to run to my room and called my daughter-in-law from my wife’s phone that was lying there. I told her to call for an ambulance as yaya was badly burnt and hurting.

“But nothing was available as the blaze was catastrophic. 2 hours later two people arrived to take us away, but in ordinary vans, as there were no ambulances available. They took us to a point 1.5 miles away from the hotel in Mati, from there we were collected and taken to the hospital in Athens at around 10:45pm.

“My wife with my younger grandchild, daughter-in-law and her mother spent three hours in the sea as they waited to be evacuated to safety. Two cars behind theirs were burnt to ashes with people in them.

Mr Jagatia added, “I am thankful to God. It was his blessing that we survived. In fact when we were taken to the car, it rained a few drops. It was like Ramayana.

When Hanuman put Lanka on fire, only Vibishana’s house stood unharmed, our situation was quite like that.”

He has burns on the back of his legs and hand, and on recovery in Athens government hospital. He has not yet been able to return home, though the hospital is believed to be happy to let him go when he is ready. The country’s President and the Archbishop also came to meet him and thank him for his selflessness actions and boundless heroism.

Originally from

Porbandar in Gujarat, India, Mr Jagatia came to the UK from Kenya on 27 February 1968, when he was just 26 years old. He moved to Kenya from India when he was 5 years old and married his wife Maniben (Manjula), who is from Nairobi, at Nakuru, Kenya, and have now lived in the UK for 30 years.

They have three sons and the youngest, Jay, looks after his business with wife Maria, who is Greek. They are teaching Gujarati to their half-Greek granddaughters, as well as Greek, and as grandparents they feel proud of these children’s mixed heritage.

Mr Jagatia continues to recover as Mrs Kandalepa is reportedly in an induced coma. Mr Jagatia's son Jay told Daily Mail, “What my dad did was heroic.”

The blaze that broke out on last Monday in Greece had hit the coastal villages popular with tourists. Some 60 people are still being treated in hospital, 11 in intensive care. Rescue workers who are searching a cliffside in Mati found more human remains on Thursday, the BBC reported. More than 500 homes were destroyed, and some are yet to be examined.

Identifying the victims is proving difficult as the bodies are so badly burnt.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told the BBC that illegal construction allegedly had contributed to the disaster. He had further added that building by residents between wooded areas was a "crime" that had actually resulted in blocked escape routes.

Rupanjana Dutta The House of Commons Select Committee is looking to gather public opinion about UK’s relationship with India as the next chapter in its Global Britain inquiry. The purpose of this inquiry, which forms the next chapter of the Committee’s work on Global Britain, is to take stock of the UK’s relationship with India, and to examine the relationship as an important test case of the Global Britain strategy. The inquiry will also be an opportunity to consider a number of cross-cutting issues, such as the relationship between trade and broader strategic relationships, and the implications of the UK’s visa policy in a foreign policy context.

While much of the discussion of relations with India in the context of Global Britain has tended to emphasise trade, the Committee is interested in exploring the full range of issues affecting the relationship between the UK and India, including regional security and counter-terrorism, technology and innovation, and the role of multilateral institutions.

The issues that the

Committee is welcoming to have comment on includes the following topics with a deadline of 3 September 2018. They are asking an individual or organisation's comment UK-India relationship on basis of foreign policy, soft-power, balance between political, strategic and trade issues, how the values differ between two

countries, visa regime etc.

Other issues include which areas can the UK and India work effectively towards shared objectives within multilateral settings, such as in the UN and the G20? And where do their objectives, values and interests differ significantly?

They are also asking how should relations between the UK and India be managed in the run-up to and after Brexit and are the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) and other parts of Government preparing effectively?

The Chair of the Committee, Tom

Tugendhat MP, said, "India is half of the Commonwealth and a fifth of the world. Its importance as an economic power is growing. As a democratic partner it has never been more important. How we work with India will be key to our place in the world in coming decades.

The Committee will be looking at our relationship and considering the opportunities for greater cooperation."

In evidence to the earlier part of the inquiry, the FCO said, “the UK’s enduring relationship with India is… central to our aspirations. India is an economic powerhouse, with a growing role in Asian and international geopolitics. A shared past and strong people-to-people links give us influence and access, helping us to tackle security threats, encourage stability, and exploit prosperity opportunities.”

To submit your opinion follow this link: https://www.parliament.uk/ business/committees/committees-a-z/commonsselect/foreign-affairs-committee/inquiries1/parliament-2017/inquiry12/commons-written-submissionform/

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Elderly mother wins right to settle in Britain with son's family Rupanjana Dutta 85 year old Ratna Garg from India, has finally won the right to live with her son and family in the UK, legally and permanently, after 2 years of struggle. After winning the judicial review last year, the family awaited an appeal to be heard on 21 May 2018 at the Court of Appeal. The final decision was communicated on 28th June with a permission of a further appeal from the Home Office. While the family waited with bated breath, the Home Office did not further take the case to higher courts, but issued her the 'Residence Permit' as her Oxford based, British son, Shashi Garg's dependent.

Speaking to Asian Voice, a jubilant Shashi told us, “The news was a sigh of relief that the fight against unjust decision making of Home Office was over. I was never in doubt that I will win the case and keep my mother here with me.

“My mother had a sigh of relief when the news was communicated to her, even though she does not concern herself with the details or procedures of legal matters. The family as a whole was really happy to learn that she will now be safe with me. When the news was announced on our family group on WhatsApp, the day was filled with messages and calls for congratulations from India and other countries where extended family members live. They were really happy for her that she would now be able to possibly visit India and see her near and dear ones.

“This also means that she can now proceed to get her treatment (she requires a hip replacement). It was put on hold as she could not travel out of UK until the outcome of this case and nor she would get treatment

Ratna with son Shashi Garg

under NHS as she was a visitor. Hip replacement will help make her physical life better as she is likely to be more mobile.

“As a whole the decision has upheld trust in logic and that humanity and family life is above all laws.”

In the final judgement that the Asian Voice saw, the judge said, “I have found that the Appellant (Ratna) is wholly dependent upon her son. I have found that there is no realistic or feasible alternative.”

Agreeing that she should continue to live in the UK, the judge further added, “I find there would be a breach of family life on part of the Appellant and on the part of her son, Mr Shashi Garg, if the Appellant were to leave.”

Garg family's journey to today's success

Shashi's father Dr Pyare Lal Garg, an eye surgeon in India, passed away in June 2015. That left Shashi's mother alone in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, India, with a weak heart, partial disability, a need for hip replacement and onset of dementia.

After a brief discussion with his wife Manvi, Shashi decided not to leave his mother alone in India any longer, but bring her to live

with them in the UK, at least for a short period. She arrived in the UK on a tourist visa, that was meant to expire in 6 months. While in the UK, she suddenly suffered a heart attack and this made Shashi more confident about having his frail mother living with them permanently, especially under their personal and physical care.

Shashi spoke to Solicitor Usha Sood from the Trent Chambers, a renowned firm dealing with Human Rights cases. They made an application for Ratna's leave to remain, which was first rejected by the Home Office, also denying them a right to in-country appeal.

Speaking to Asian Voice, in an exclusive interview last year, Shashi said, “I live and work in Oxford. I have a Masters and PhD from this country. My children, my wife and I- all are British. All parents have the right to enjoy support from their children when they are retired and finding it difficult and lonely to cope with ageing issues. Not allowing our parents to come to UK is to take away their rights to live with their children in their old age.

“Though we had expected this rejection, it was heart breaking to think my helpless mother would have to go back to India and stay all by herself. Of course the

care level in the UK and India are not the same. We are not comparing the systems. The issue is more on human grounds.

“My mother is old, frail, lonely and unwell. More than medical assistance, she needs physical and personal care from her immediate family- and we are all settled here. So we went ahead with a Judicial Review in the Upper Tribunal, on the basis of Article 3 and 8 of the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). And we demanded for an oral hearing, which was held on 20 March. I tried raising funds to cope with the high costs of litigation and I have spent so much money for this case from my own pocket and savings.”

The review fortunately turned out to be in the family's favour. The Judge allowed the grounds in full, as she was convinced that the Home Office had not responded to the application fully and some of the main arguments in the initial application, went unanswered.

“The Judge has also made it clear that if refusal is maintained, the applicant must be given the right to in-country appeal and payment of reasonable costs, which we are keeping reserved for the time being.

We just hope her leave to remain is granted,” added Shashi.

In 2016 an organisation called BritCits, a forum campaigning for the rights of elderly parents of British citizens in India, challenged the government's virtual prohibition on the entry of adult dependant relatives (introduced in 2012), but it was dismissed. BritCits was formed in 2012 as a direct response to the attack on British citizens and residents with non-EEA family members.

Indian-origin woman awarded honorary doctorate by De Montfort University The prestigious De Montfort University in Leicester has awarded an honorary doctorate last week to Bijna K. Dasani, the Head of Architecture and Innovation at the UK’s largest Banking Group, Lloyds. 33 years old Bijna, is the youngest woman to be felicitated by the same University which has also honoured renowned personalities such as actor Amitabh Bachchan, director Gurinder Chadha as well as political leader Nelson Mandela.

Bijna’s contribution to the business world through her lenses on strategy and innovation, together with her relentless contribution

Bijna K. Dasani

to social responsibility since she joined DMU as an undergraduate in 2002, has earned her a meteoric rise

professionally, and this felicitation. She has been honoured by her industry globally, academic institutions nationally, and the media as catalyst for change and her thought-leadership.

Overwhelmed to receive the honorary from her alma mater through a spectacular ceremony in Leicester, UK, she spoke of her strong connection to DMU’s alumni family. She said, "The family that is a global network across 177 countries; it is the invisible thread of connectivity that binds us together to the incredible DMU family – past, present and future" and offered this advice to graduates: “Education ultimately

makes you the master of your own destiny and the change-maker of the future for humanity – Know and respect that you have the power to influence and shape the planet.

“As you graduates move into the world to make your mark - as one shining star on this planet of seven billion people - you too will appreciate the wonderful staff who helped you to become you – without you even realising. I cannot quantify with simple words what this institution has done for me, but I can share a heartfelt sentiment; the people that make this the centre of excellence it rightly is, are simply amazing!”

UK-India Science Ministers reinforce strong research partnership as future collaboration UK Science Minister Sam Gyimah who is visiting Delhi and Indian Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan last week celebrated their joint ambition to tackle global challenges, through announcing UK Science Minister Sam Gyimah another wave of UK-India with Indian Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan research projects.

They signalled their Gyimah said, “The UK commitment to a deeper believes in the power of relationship by jointly research and development announcing four new to tackle global challenges awards worth £4.8 million and improve people’s lives under the Civil Nuclear for the better. India is the Energy programme and fastest rising research and seven new awards worth innovation power in the £10.8 million under Phase 2 world, so I’m excited by the of the Global research prohuge potential for enhanced gramme on health. They collaboration as we support also renewed a high-quality, high-impact of Memorandum research that changes lives.”

Understanding focusing on “Today’s Science and environmental challenges Innovation Council meeting and another on arts and has reinforced our strong humanities. This happened relationship, and the during a biennial Science announcements we have and Innovation Council jointly made today will meeting in New Delhi, ensure that cooperation which the Ministers cocontinues to go from chaired on Thursday 26 July. strength to strength.”

During the Council Indian Minister for meeting, the ministers celeScience and Technology, Dr brated the human impact Harsh Vardhan said, that existing cooperation “Technology Cooperation is through the 600 projects the key to the future. India supported by the Newtonand the UK should work on Bhabha Partnership had sustainable, affordable, and brought, such as using techlow energy consumption nology to monitor maternal technologies." health and make water safe.

During his visit to India, They reinforced their desire Sam Gyimah also gave the to use science and innovawelcome address at an tion to address some of the Education Technology biggest challenges facing event in Delhi and visited society. research projects in Chennai Speaking from Delhi, funded under the NewtonUK Science Minister Sam Bhabha partnership.

Security increased for MP over criticism of Brit-Pakistani 'grooming gangs' Sarah Champion MP who has received death threats after condemning sexual abuse of girls by groups of British Pakistani men have been given increased security amid fears that people are allegedly trying to force her from the office.

Friends of Ms Champion have alleged that critics who are mainly from the town’s Pakistani community seem to be trying to 'destroy’ her reputation.

The Times reported that tension increased last August when Ms Champion reportedly told The Sun newspaper that Britain “has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”. She later apologised to the Rotherham Pakistani community “for any hurt or adverse reaction I inadvertently caused.”

In 2014, in an independent inquiry in Rotherham found that over 16 years at least 1,400 local girls were targeted for sexual exploitation by organised groups of

Sarah Champion MP

men. Most victims were white. Their abusers were said to be “almost all” of Pakistani origin.

The newspaper further said that Sarah Champion was accused by activists in her Rotherham constituency of 'industrial-scale racism' for highlighting the “common ethnic heritage” of most of those implicated in the town’s sex-grooming scandal.

Taiba Yasseen, a Momentum supporter and until recently a member of the Labour-run local authority’s cabinet, is viewed as a potential successor of her position. She has publicly condemned Ms Champion for “betraying an entire ethnic group”.

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4 - 10 August 2018

Expansion of Heathrow Airport gaining support Local communities surrounding Heathrow Airport appear to be more receptive to the idea of expanding the site after Parliament’s approval of a third runway was passed two weeks ago. A survey conducted by Asian Voice has found that many living in and around the West London area believe the project will bring both national and local benefits that outweigh the potential negatives of such a large project.

Of those surveyed, 65% of our readers “are in favour of the third runway” being constructed at the UK’s largest commercial hub. The positive sentiments stem primarily from the potential economic benefits that such a project would bring to both London and Britain as a Boris Johnson whole. 76.3% of respondents believe the West London economy. There that the expansion will bring “subare local families in which two generations stantial economic benefits to the UK”, with have already worked in Heathrow, expan35% stating that their primary reason for sion guarantees well paying, high quality supporting the project is “the maintenance jobs for a third generation”. of London as an economic powerhouse postMr. Sharma, and 415 of his Parliamentary Brexit”. colleagues, have chosen to back the plan laid This reflects a trend seen in polls conout by Heathrow Airport Limited. This is a ducted by other news outlets prior to the sentiment reflected in our own poll, in vote on June 26th of this year, with many livwhich 70.5% of respondents stated they ing in the borough of Hounslow suggesting thought that this plan was “the best for that they were shifting to a more positive Heathrow”. This is in spite of the fact that perspective on the matter. In a survey conthe alternative Arora Project will cost and ducted by Hounslow council in 2017, “44% estimated £17bn less. said they support a third runway, which Asian Voice spoke includes 18% who strongly support it, and exclusively to Kaushal 29% oppose it”. This number of 29% opposiNiraula, the Group tion is a 4% decrease from a survey conductDirector of the Arora ed two years prior by yourHeathrow, which Project, about why stated that “33% opposed” proposed expanthey believe their prosion plans at that time. posal is better for An increase in Heathrow. local support is likely Mr. Niraula told us down to Heathrow that by employing “the Airport Limited (the world’s leading airport company chosen to designers and infras- Kaushal Niraula, Group carry out the expantructure planners DIrector of Arora Project sion) altering their (Bechtel and Corgan), proposal after extenorganisations which have substantial experisive consultation ence and expertise in airport development with community projects around the world”, the Arora Group leaders and activists. have been able to put forward a proposal H e a t h r o w that will be “efficient and cost effective”.

Consultation 1, which Virenda Sharma MP This is down to the fact that the Arora was carried out plan “concentrates all new terminal capacity between January and March 2018, “sought in a single location to the west of T5” and views on [the] emerging proposals in terms that the group require “significantly reduced of what the expanded airport could look land requirements compared to HAL”. Asian like…including proposals for compensation Voice contacted the leaders of HAL for a and noise insulation”. It is this recognition of response to these claims by Arora, but has local concerns that appears to have led to an yet to receive a response. uptick in support.

However, many communities and Virenda Sharma MP, whose borough of Members of Parliament are still opposed to Ealing Southall borders Heathrow, believes the principle of expanthat “the new plans for a third runway have sion in the first place, been developed in response to concerns that creating bitter divithe community and I raised”. Speaking sions among some livexclusively to Asian Voice on all matters ing in close proximity Heathrow, Mr. Sharma stated that “since to the site. Zac 2008 when I resigned from the front bench Goldsmith, the over Heathrow expansion the proposals Conservative MP for have changed significantly.

Richmond Park, stated “The new plans now feature significant to Asian Voice that safeguards and commitments to local com“Heathrow’s third munities. Under the newest proposals there runway is the wrong will be a ban on scheduled night flights, answer for the com- Zac Goldsmith, more money for soundproofing of schools munity I represent Conservative MP for and homes and longer guaranteed respite and for the whole Richmond Park periods. Furthermore, the proximity of country”.

Ealing Southall to Heathrow means that Speaking to us following the with a third runway more flights will be take Parliamentary vote, Mr Goldsmith went on a course that doesn’t go over the constituento say that “It would be an environmental cy.” blight on the local area, it would see taxpayMr. Sharma’s change of position over the ers faced with an excessive bill, and it would growth of Heathrow is also based around the see growth sucked out of the rest of the potential economic benefits that more country. I would much rather see regional flights could bring to the airport: “Heathrow airports like Manchester, Birmingham and Airport is the most significant employer in Gatwick allowed to compete on an even our local area, and support from the governplaying field. ment for expansion is a vote of confidence in “Thousands of people have made the the airport’s continued role as the heart of

Heathrow expansion

area surrounding Heathrow their home, and they have been repeatedly promised that there would be no third runway and that their homes would be safe. Sadly, some people are always going to be impacted by major infrastructure decisions, but the people around Heathrow would suffer the double injustice of seeing their community destroyed for a project that isn’t worth it for them or for the

rest of the country”.

Mr. Goldsmith, who famously resigned his seat in 2016 over the issue, does not believe that Boris Johnson, another local MP who previously claimed that he would “lie down in front of the bulldozers”, should follow Cllr Ravi Govindia him in resigning: “Boris has been a long term critic of the third runway, and I suspect that without him, it would have been green-lighted many years ago. So I am grateful to him for all he has done. Had he resigned this week, we would still have lost the vote by a big margin, as well

as losing the most powerful advocate against expansion from the Cabinet, where key decisions on this are still to be made”.

Mr Goldsmith is not alone in his defiance of the proposed expansion. A group of local counMayor Sadiq Khan cils are planning to bring legal action in an attempt to block the expansion despite overwhelming support from MPs. Rather embarrassingly for the Prime Minister, the local council in her constituency of Windsor and Maidenhead have declared serious interest in joining the action brought about by the conglomerate of Richmond-upon-Thames, Wandsworth and Hammersmith & Fulham.

The Conservative council leader from Wandsworth, Ravi Govindia, said that he believes the proposals put forward by Heathrow Airport Limited and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling would not withstand ““independent, lawful and rational” scrutiny in the courts. In a statement made to Asian Voice, Mr. Govindia said “We are very convinced of our cause and having previously succeeded in the courts we are confident we would do so again”.

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan and the environmental activist organisation Greenpeace have also publicly declared their support for the judicial review. While it appears highly likely that the third runway at Heathrow will be built as planned, and with a majority of public support, local dissenters are not going down without a fight.

10 READERS VOICE

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4 - 10 August 2018

Shreemad Bhagwat Katha by Pujya Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza I would like to congratulate Mr Vajubhai Pankhania and his family for hosting the auspicious Bhagwat Katha from 12th to 18th August 2018 at the Wembley SSE Arena.

It is to be recited by Pujya Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza, the world renowned exponent of Shreemad Bhagwat.

Pujya Bhai's poetry and skilful narration of the Holy Scripture with accompanying music is bound to create a magical spiritual atmosphere in the arena.

His narrations on the life of Lord Shree Krishna combined with dhuns, kirtans and bhajans will create ripples of emotion in the crowd leaving them enthralled and energised It is bound to like a vacation for our souls.

It is only nine years ago, the family successfully hosted on a mega scale Shree Ram Katha by Pujya Moraribapu.

The spiritual message for world peace through truth, love, and compassion ended up being completely unexpected blessings for all those thousands of devotees who were fortunate to partake.

Vajubhai seems to have discovered again that his spiritual journey's quest is continuing. However, depth of his thirst seems to have no boundaries because once again in his generosity he has invited the general public to join him on this unique pilgrimage.

The noble and mega philanthropic efforts of both Pankhania and Sachdev families of promoting the universal values of love, truth and compassion espoused by our holy scriptures of Hinduism, deserve huge appreciation.

Furthermore, the potential positive impact on the community cohesion in their everyday life in the future will be immeasurable. Such is the amazing gift the Pankhania family have prepared to give to all the devotees during the holy month of Sharavan.

My best wishes to the family to be rewarded with good grace, wisdom, health and spiritual fulfilment so that the society continues to benefit from their generous and huge philanthropic efforts.

Jayantilal K Pitrola, JP Gants Hill, Ilford, Essex

Questions about Democracy I have 3 questions: 1. If a Member of the UK Parliament was elected with a majority of less than 3.8% (the Brexit margin), would his/her election as an MP be questioned and declared invalid?

Kensington was won by only 20 votes, St Ives was won by 0.6% margin, Dudley North & Richmond Park both won by only 0.1% margin. These are just examples but there are many other such marginal wins from the last election.

2. If the Referendum result had gone the other way and the Remain camp had won by a same margin, would the Brexit camp be calling for a second referendum?

3. If there is ever a second referendum and the winning side (Remain or Brexit) wins by the same margin (or even a smaller margin), should the result be declared invalid? Or would the losing side gracefully accept the peoples mandate?

Dinesh Rai By email

‘Dead or alive’ My comments on Rudy Otter’s letter entitled “Dead or alive” in Asian Voice dated 28-7-2018. Subject of life after death and reincarnation has been discussed in my letters in Asian Voice’s “Readers’ Voice” during 2012, 2013 and 2017. My letters were entitled “Life after life”, “Life after death”, and three on “Reincarnation” totalling to about 1250 words. If “Readers’ Voice” Editorial team wishes to serialise these letters, I will be happy to email the five letters one by one.

Refer to following works: Garuda Puran of India, Book of Thoth by Egypt, Book of Dzyan and Lobsang Rampa of Tibet, Textbook of Theosophy

by Theosophcal Society-Adyar-Chennai, India, (Portland Road, London). Data about meeting relatives etc were published in “Illustrated Weekly of India”, 1976 (Refer to Mr. Mankad, or his successor, of Times of India Publications, Fort, Mumbai, India). Reincarnation is aptly handled by Acharya Rajneesh alias Bhagwan Rajneesh alias Osho, Ph.D. in parapsychology and reincarnation.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

MAKE YOURSELF HEARD

Write to our ‘Reader’s Voice’ section about what you think regarding the various ongoing issues all around the world.

Please send your letters to aveditorial@abplgroup.com Make sure they are NOT more than 450 words.

Any letter longer than the limit may not be published.

Note that all your letters are subject to being edited by our team for valid reasons.

- Asian Voice

NHS under pressure in summer

Going up in the world

While it was normal for our NHS to struggle during winter months with influenza, cold and associated heart and lung problems, it seems now our summer months are as busy as winter months for our under-pressure NHS, with soaring temperatures that affect old and the young alike, mainly due to dehydration, sun stroke and weakness, fainting due heat and loss of appetite, especially in elderly who are living on their own.

The sun-stroke affects mainly young people who want to take advantage of our unusual weather and spend too much time in the hot, midday sun, their lunch hour, to top up their sun-tan without realizing how hot the weather is. While some end up in A & E, others may develop skin cancer later on in life. Although sun lotion may give some protection, it is not fool-proof, should not be taken for granted that it is safe to bake the body in the sun without having adverse effect.

Tropical diseases like tuberculosis and malaria are also on the rise, mainly due to attractions of the far away mystic holiday hotspots like Thailand, India, Kenya, Nepal and Bali, a few among many such destinations.

Britain was declared free of measles, mainly due to very low cases for three consecutive years leading to the belief that it is now possible to eradicate it completely. In fact we had some 440 cases last year. But in reality no disease can be eradicated completely unless it is universally eradicated; exist only in laboratories for scientific research.

One reason for the re-emergence of measles in this country is low intake of MMR vaccine for one year old children, due to misconception that it may do more harm than good.

It is time for the medical profession, especially GPs to educate and inform parents if we really want to eradicate measles and other such diseases for good. Ignorance should not be allowed to jeopardise the health of our children.

Kumudini Valambia By email

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing a great job for India, steering the country to becoming the world's fifth largest economy. What more can this remarkable politician do to take India even further up the league table?

Rudy Otter By email

Caste Discrimination: The Right Decision May I congratulate Rupanjana Dutta and the Editorial Board for the excellent front page article “UK Decides Against Separate Law” It is the right decision, as caste discrimination which is prevalent in India, in spite of numerous laws on the statute, has no roots in our community, thanks to our highly qualified, extremely law abiding youngsters who are the envy of other ethnic minorities.

Nine out of ten marriages we attend are inter-caste marriages, mostly amongst Hindus but also between Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and even ethnic white people who are mostly Christians. Parents would not dare to ask these intellectually well versed younger generation what is the caste of their partners, as in most cases they do not even know their own caste. No one has ever asked us when visiting our popular Hindu temples, like Swaminarayan in Neasden and Hare Krishna in Watford, what our caste is, as there are so many non-Hindus, white, black, Eastern European enjoying the delicious vegetarian meals they serve every Sunday, especially during summer months, in their Vrindavan like garden, the gospel of Hinduism.

When caste discrimination was hitting headlines, I wrote to twenty MPs, mostly Labour. Those who replied admitted that they have never received a single letter of complaint based on caste discrimination, so such as act is unnecessary, waste of time. It is time for all politicians, irrespective of their party affiliation to come out of this colonial mentality where divide and rule was the mantra they religiously followed.

I listened with interest discussion in HOC where not a single MP was able to put forward convincing argument in favour of such legislation, as none had received any such complain. I would like to request MPs who are disappointed with government’s decision to publish on what ground they want such a law which is opposed by 90% of Hindus.

I also watched the programme on BBC and with their vast and well financed research, even they failed to give us a single such incident, two incident they quoted had nothing to do with caste discrimination.

We all feel that caste discrimination, like any discrimination is unacceptable in our modern, multicultural society and those who are found guilty should be punished within the prevailing laws, Equality Act 2010 that is more than adequate for the purpose.

I would also like to urge our hard working, dedicated community leaders like Shri Satish Sharma, Nitin Palan MBE, Lakshmi Kaul and many more who work hard, to invite and open dialogue with Dalit leaders, address their concern, as without assimilating them in the wider Hindu society, the caste issue will always linger under the surface, a tool for those who envy us!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email What do you think?

We want to know your views on any issue. Write to: Asian Voice, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW or e-mail: aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Life after death In last week’s Asian Voice, Rudy Otter has very briefly touched on the eternally intriguing phenomenon of what happens to us after we depart from this mortal world. Many people have been perplexed by the mysterious and yet pertinent question of what happens to us (our soul) after we die?

Our body is merely a container for the essential part of us, our soul. After death, it passes into another container and thus the cycle of birth, death and re-birth goes on. The ultimate aim of Jain path in life is to liberate the soul (jiva) from the eternal cycle of birth, misery, death and re-birth. Deeply rooted in India is the belief in reincarnation, the belief that the essential part of the individual, the soul, passes after birth into a new body which is reborn as another living being, perhaps human, perhaps not.

The nature of our rebirth (including whether it is favourable or unfavourable) is determined by the accumulated effects of our actions - our attitudes, mode of life in this and previous lifetimes. This is called karma (the result of our deeds in the present and previous lives). The fundamental objective of Jain teaching is how to purify the soul of its karma and manifest its natural virtues, like complete bliss and happiness: how one can attain total liberation (moksha/ nirvana) from the eternal cycle of birth, pain, misery, death and re-birth – and achieve a state of permanent bliss and peace.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Politicians are politicians Politicians are politicians and one should never believe them or trust them and should not be optimistic to think that they will do something good for the country or its people. After coming into power all the politicians are only up to their own personal gains. They are the same and they sail in the same boat, irrespective of their party or ideology or alliance or association.

Imran Khan as a person may not be bad for India and his message may be true as far as he is concerned. But what about the messages he will get from the Pakistani military and the ISIS terror groups? He will be bound to follow those messages. Hence, he is a threat not only for India but to the whole world. Imran Khan knows only cricket and politics is a different topic for him. First, he should set things right in his own country. As in Pakistan’s Constitution, amendments has to be made for three heads of the military rather than one and powers of military heads has to be restricted to matters related to security only.

Also on the Kashmir’s issue, it has to change his perception as not to interfere in the internal matters of Kashmir.

Unless these changes are made, Pakistan will remain the same irrespective of numerous new Prime Ministers. And with Pakistan’s military and ISIS expected to be always riding over him, he will be an utter failure at the helm of an alreadyfailed-Pakistan-nation.

Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai, India

Recent experiences visiting UK On July 17 me and my wife Bhavna landed at Heathrow Airport terminal 2 from Toronto. We requested wheelchair assistance as my wife had knee replacement surgery. At immigration there was special fast track counter and our wheelchair operator showed our passport to immigration officer who came to ask us questions. He told us not to get up as he did his checks and within few minutes we were through. Our operator came with us to collect our bags and helped us all the way out where my nephew was waiting for us. These kinds of services are lacking at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

The other experience took place on the night of July 27 at the wedding reception of my nephew’s daughter Ria Patel we seniors were at home and enjoying spending some quality time with family. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut in South Road, Southall and after eating we were chatting about the good time we all had at the wedding events. We were all about to go to bed when the door bell rang and my brother in law opened the door and man from Pizza Hut came told that by mistake my brother in law gave £10:00 more which he came to return. These two memorable experience we will cherish forever.

Suresh and Bhavna Patel (Canada)

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EDUCATION

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4 - 10 August 2018

Huge rise in unconditional university offers for students There has been a huge rise in the number of unconditional offers being made to students for university places, admissions service Ucas says.

The total made to 18year-olds from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales has risen by 65,930 over the past five years - from 2,985 in 2013 to 67,915 in 2018.

This means nearly a quarter (23%) of applicants received such an offer.

The government said the figures pointed to a "bums on seats" mentality.

And unions said the situation risked encouraging teenagers not to strive for the best A-level results possible. By the end of June this year, Ucas figures show there were 254,700 18-yearolds from England, Northern Ireland and Wales applying to university.

Some of these students will have received offers from all five universities they applied to, while others may have had fewer.

Of all the offers received, 7.1% were unconditional, meaning a degree

course place is secured regardless of the grades they achieve.

This is the first time that Ucas has analysed offermaking patterns during an application cycle, While the admissions service does not give any reason for the rise in unconditional offers, it says its analysis is part of its ongoing commitments to "ensure transparency throughout the admissions process".

The data comes as the cap on the number of students a university can admit has been lifted and the population of 18-year-olds is falling. Students now pay as much as £9,250 a year in tuition fees.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said: "While there has been a steady growth in the number of unconditional offers made, they still account for a small proportion (7.1%) of all offers made by universities.

"Unconditional offers, when used appropriately, can help students and ensure that universities are

able to respond flexibly to the range of applicants seeking places.

"Universities UK will continue to work with Ucas to monitor trends and any impact unconditional offermaking might have on student attainment. It is simply not in the interests of universities to take students without the potential to succeed."

Universities Minister Sam Gyimah is not impressed by the figures.

"The rise in unconditional offers is completely irresponsible to students, and universities must start taking a lead, by limiting the number they offer," he said.

"Places at universities should only be offered to those who will benefit from them, and giving out unconditional offers just to put 'bums on seats' undermines the credibility of the university system.

"Along with the Office for Students, I am closely monitoring the number being issued and fully expect the regulator to take appropriate action.

"Unconditional offers risk distracting students from the final year of their schooling, and swaying their decisions does them a disservice - universities must act in the interest of students, not in filling spaces."

Charity Of The Year 2018

Using robots to treat cancer Oracle Cancer Trust is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to research into head and neck cancer, now the most common type of cancer in India. (www.oraclecancertrust.org) In recognition of Oracle’s important work in developing new treatments, Asian Business Publications is delighted to be supporting the charity at the Asian Achievers Awards 2018.

One of the exciting areas of Prof Vinidh Paleri research currently being funded

by Oracle is transoral robotic surgery in which a robot is used to remove a tumour from the mouth or throat. This state-of-the-art technique is being pioneered at the renowned Royal Marsden Hospital in London under the leadership of Oracle funded researcher Professor Vinidh Paleri.

Says Professor Paleri In the hospital, we sometimes encounter patients presenting with a cancerous lump in their neck but with no evidence of where that cancer may have originated from conventional imaging and endoscopy. These patients usually receive treatment to all possible cancer sites in the throat to ensure the cancer is eliminated but this broadbrush approach inevitably increases side-effects for

Government 'complicit in school's illegal exclusion policy' The government has been "complicit" in an illegal policy that saw a school force out pupils unlikely to achieve high grades, campaigners have claimed. They said the Department for Education did not take punitive steps against the head at St Olave's school in south-east London because it was partly to blame.

The DfE's increasingly stringent league table criteria forces schools into "dubious" policies, campaigners said.

The DfE said it wrote to

schools to say such expulsions were illegal last year.

The practice, found to be illegal in an independent inquiry commissioned by Bromley Council, was introduced and overseen at the school in Orpington over a seven year-period by former headmaster Aydin Önaç. It was reversed in September when a group of parents threatened a judicial review and Mr Önaç resigned at the end of 2017.

According to the BBC Mr Önaç has been referred to regulatory body the

Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), but Andrew Gebbett, who has two sons at St Olave's, said he believed the DfE should have "taken the lead".

The DfE said it wrote to secondary schools reminding them the policy was unlawful.

Education law specialist Anita Chopra said it was usual for such referrals to be made by an employer or a parent. She said if the TRA decided Mr Önaç's case was worth investigating, he could be banned from teach-

ing.

Nuala Burgess, spokeswoman for campaign group Comprehensive Future, said she believed the DfE was complicit by "indirectly forcing schools to do these things".

DfE policies placing increasing importance on league tables drove schools into "all sorts of dubious practices, including the 'weeding out' of year 12s," said Ms Burgess, who recently completed a doctorate into sixth form selective practices.

Exam boards to police social media in cheating crackdown UK exam boards have set up dedicated teams to monitor social media as part of moves to clamp down on cheating.

A "huge amount" of time and effort is spent looking for signs and indications of malpractice in exams online, the heads of exam boards have said.

The comments came as the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) - which represents the boards announced an independent inquiry into exam cheating.

The exam boards insisted that malpractice was "extremely rare".

Official figures released in January showed that last year, 2,715 penalties were issued to candidates (0.01%), along with 895 to school staff and 120 to schools and colleges.

Sanctions issued to can-

didates were overwhelmingly for possession of a mobile phone in an exam, the JCQ said.

The new inquiry into cheating, which will be led

by Sir John Dunford, chairman of schools partnership Whole Education and former general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, will begin in September and report back in the spring of next year.

"The integrity of the exam system is of vital importance to everyone involved, but especially to the young people taking exams on whose grades their futures depend," said Sir John.

"We will seek evidence from a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that all views are represented and I hope that the recommenda-

patients.

Multi-centre work in the UK, led by the Marsden team, has identified that by using robotic surgery, over 50% of patients will have the origin of their cancer defined. This allows us to tailor treatment accordingly and reduce side-effects.

However, there is work still to be done to clearly quantify the benefits to patients. Oracle Cancer Trust is currently supporting a study which will allow us to generate valuable pilot data in our efforts to provide a definitive answer to this important question.

Such research cannot be performed without large sums of money. The seed money from Oracle Cancer Trust is invaluable in laying the foundations for largerscale clinical trials. Only through research will we make the discoveries to treat and beat cancer. info@oraclecancertrust.org www.oraclecancertrust.org 020 7922 7924

Boys more likely to be 'cliquey' than girls tions of the commission will play a significant part in reducing malpractice at all levels."

Exam chiefs insisted that the inquiry is not a response to any particular issue, but is part of ongoing work to prevent malpractice.

Mark Bedlow, of the OCR exam board, said: "Malpractice that is deliberate is still extremely rare.

"But we are seeing the occasional story pop up and it is getting profile and we are also seeing students increasingly use technology in different ways."

He added that a lot of work is already done to combat cheating, but more can be done to look at issues such as the role of social media, and to understand the reasons for it.

"There's all this technology change that's going on.

We spend a huge amount of effort and time monitoring social media, to look for signs and indicators of malpractice."

Alex Scharaschkin, of the AQA exam board, said awarding bodies are conscious of the fact that there are different ways in which information can be shared.

Whether it's due to popular teen films such as Mean Girls or gender stereotypes most people imagine girls form more cliques than boys.

Yet a new study contradicts this, suggesting that boys are more likely to form tight-knit friendship groups.

Researchers say analysing social mixing patterns is important for infectious diseases and vaccination planning. They found that boys were more likely to mix with the same six friends over a period of six months. Girls' friendships, however, were more variable.

The study, published on Wednesday in scientific journal Plos One, was led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in partnership with the University of Cambridge.

Another of the study's authors, Dr Clare Wenham, aid: "Kids are a very important part of looking at how diseases spread. Previous studies have only looked at how children mix over one day, so with this study we wanted to see how it changed over time. It would also be good to extend the study over a longer period to see how friendship groups changed over the years."

12 MEDIA WATCH

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SCRUTATOR’S Lynching is now the foremost concern in the public space. The case by a mob lynching a Muslim farmer in Alwar, Rajasthan, on suspicion that he was taking his two cows for slaughter, was especially gruesome. His injuries led to his death. The police ineptitude compounded the tragedy and has galvanized decent sections of society across the country. Parliament was in uproar, the Supreme Court of India fired a broadside at the government, the media were abuzz with questions, and the broad public demanded answers.

Yashwant Sinha,

years, as the largest US banks boosted spending on technology and hence augmented the TCS revenue flow. The US is the source of 51 per cent of TCS revenue.

Digital performance

Murli Manohar Joshi.

The government in first gear, it would seem, promised action after an official inquiry into the circumstances of the Alwar tragedy. Laws have been promised and suitable sentences for those found guilty under due process.

Truth is that the Sangh parivar (BJP-RSS family) has thuggish numbers consisting the Bajrang Dal and groups of similar ilk.

Senior BJP, now sidelined – Murali Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, to go no further – have distanced themselves from the present dispensation at the Centre. The rag-tag Opposition, hungry for power, with no visible awareness of public service or the national interest is scarcely a credible force going forward. One recalls the nullity of the Janata coalition of 1977-79, more circus than government. Whither India?

(Hindu, Times of India, Indian Express, Mint, TV channels (July 23-25).

GST cut lauded The cut in 88 consumer items in the Goods and Services (GST) tax, including cosmetics, refrigerators, washing machines, small screen television sets lithium batteries for mobile phones handloom saris, and sanitary napkins, was widely welcomed, particularly by the middle classes. Many GST items were negatively affected by demonetization, and hence this rationalization sought by States should be beneficial to a large swath of people across India (Indian Express, Times of India, Hindu (July 22).

In constant terms, TCS’s June quarter revenue rose 4.1 per cent from the three preceding three months. It grew 9.3 per cent from a year earlier, with dollar revenue rose 1.6 per cent to $5.05 billion in the quarter ending June 30. Net profit rose 1.1 per cent to $1.08 in the June quarter from $1.07 per cent in the preceding three months, while operating costs narrowed 25 base points to 25 points from 25.4 points from the last quarter of the previous fiscal ending March 31. For the first time in two years India’s largest software services provider is poised to exceed Nasscom’s industry growth projection of 7.9 per cent in constant currency terms. A strong growth in the company’s strategy of building both talent and technologies is beginning to pay yield results. A strong performance is digital, which grew 45 per cent, the best in seven quarters (Mint July 11).

Sensex in new high The benchmark BSE Sensex breached the 37,000 mark in its fifth straight session on expectations that earnings growth of Indian companies will accelerate. Nifty in tandem achieved new record highs as their benchmark indices rose on the back of of a widespread stock rally spurred by investor confidence following strong corporate results.

(Business Line July 27) Growth story returns: Birla

said Harendra Kumar, Managing Director, Elara Capital. Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki and Coal India each advanced 1.3 per cent (Business Line, Hindu July 24,25).

Bengal’s Silicon Valley The Mamata Banerjee’s concept of a Silicon Valley in the environs of Kolkata appears to be bearing encouraging results as hiring by IT companies is on the rise.. A survey conducted by Genius Consultants, pegged hiring growth in the state at around 13 per cent, second only to that of manufacturing and engineering. That said, the overall recruitment scenario by companies in the southern states stil stand at the top of the hiring chart with 32.5 per cent new arrivals to the workforce, with western India close at 31.1 per cent However, the Bengal government’s rising investment in infrastructure has boosted economic growth. (Times of India July 4).

L&T net surge in first quarter Mumbai-based engineering and construction giant Larsen &Toubro (L&T) posted a net profit growth of 36 per cent in the first CEO R.Shankar quarter of the Menon current financial year ending April 1-June 30, cvompared to Rs 893 crore achieved onver the same period last year. The company won new orders worth Rs 36,142 crore across the board. Its infrastructure business rose 16 per cent. The growth was mainly driven by government projects for rural water supply and lift irrigation schemes, while international orders were around 23 per cent.

Contrary to expectations, international increased 19 per cent, said L&T CEO R.Shankar Menon at a press conference in Mumbai. The company’s Managing Director S.N. Subramanyan attributed the domestic projects to the looming May/June 2019 election (Business Line July 26).

PM in landmark African tour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark African tour began in

It was a great day for the Aditya Birla Group, whose metals arm Hindalco announced the acquisition of US-based Aleris for $2.58 billion. Birla’s telecom business, Idea Cellular, received government approval for its merger with Vodofone India.

India’s growth was based on strong fundamentals, said Aditya Birla (Business Line July 27).

TCS surge in first quarter

GST fillip

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) beat market expectations , raising the bar for the first quarter of the current fiscal (April-June) with its fastest sequential growth in four

‘Results have been strong and the markets got a fillip from the government’s announcement of across-the-board Goods and Services Tax (GST) reductions,’

PM Modi in Rwanda with President Kagane

BRICS Summit: China's President Xi Jinping, PM Narendra Modi, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazil's President Michel Temer and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Johannesburg

the Rwandan capital Kigali.

Bilateral ties took off into the next level with President Paul Kagame’s visit to India in January 2017. India recognized Rwanda’s remarkable economic progress and its political stability achieved under the leadership of President Paul Kagame following a period of internal unrest. Rwanda, a small landlocked country of 26,000 square kilometres is rich in mineral resources, and hence the Strategic Partnership with India should lead to a two-way traffic in industrial and agricultural collaboration, with the special strength of each partner plainly visible.(Indian Express July 23).

Uganda next stop From Rwanda, Prime Minister Modi next moved to Kampala, capital of neighbouring Uganda, with whom India has had a long and fruitful relationship spanning a century and more when Indian traders and entrepreneurs entered the country, then under British rule, as was India itself. Ugandan stability and economic ruin was the handiwork of the infamous Idi Amin dictatorship. That dark period ended with the overthrow of Amin and the accession of President Yoweri Musaveni, who facilitated the return to his country of the expelled Indian community. Under his leadership, political stability was restored and economic revival commenced.

Indian objectives Addressing the Ugandan Parliament, Prime Minister Modi said: ‘Today, India and Africa stand on the threshold of a future of great promise,’ with Uganda was an example of Africa on the move. He added: ‘We will strengthen our cooperation and

mutual capabilities in combating terrorism and extremism, keeping our cyberspace safe and secure, and supporting the UN in advancing and keeping the peace.’

The Indian Prime Minister referred to India-Africa cooperation in maintaining security in the Indian Ocean between their respective shorelines. ‘We will support Indian investment in Africa,’ particularly in African digitization, public health and services (Hindu July 26).

Bangladeshi terror suspects arrested Two Bangladesh terror suspects have been arrested in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi by a joint operation of the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorist police squad and the West Bengal police. A statement issued by the former stated that the two arrested men were members of the Jamaat-ulMujahideen Bangladesh. They two men, identified as Rubel Ahmed and Musharaf Hussain, had been active since March. The intelligence inputs by the West Bengal police had led to their capture The suspects are to be transferred to West Bengal for trial. Meanwhile, the arrested men will be subjected to further questioning by detectives of the UP anti-terrorist squad (Hindu July 25).

Russian offer of joint designed submarines In a proposal that could result in huge cost savings, Russia has proposed the joint production of submarines with India based on the technological transfer acquired by Russia in building its own nuclear fleet which promises drastically to reduce the cost of India’s next generation naval production plan.

The proposal, believed to have been discussed at the Sochi summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Putin last month. ‘The Russians side has offered a transfer of technology of all intellectual property rights for the design and prototype construction. This will will mean that there are also no limits to the number of submarines that can be built under the project,’ said an Indian official familiar the details of the proposed venture. India’s tender for an international $10 billion for naval acquisitions and modernization (Economic Times July 6).

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The Grenfell Tower ruins will remain standing for "years" until all legal issues have been dealt with, survivors of the fire have been told.

Even after all legal processes are complete, it will take another two years to demolish the remains of the building.

The North Kensington community surrounding the tower could also get answers to fears from neighbours the soil around the area could have been contaminated by debris from the tower's burnt cladding.

The council's Grenfell issues lead, Cllr Kim TaylorSmith told the Grenfell Scrutiny Committee, and dozens of residents who packed out the meeting on Tuesday, that the latest advice to the council was that the tower would remain standing for "some years" while the legal processes were worked through.

The demolition was estimated to take another two years, he added.

The tower's remains were finally fully wrapped in June ahead of the first anniversary of the tragedy, following medical experts'

Pic courtesy: Rick Findler/PA

Grenfell Tower will remain standing 'for years' while legal investigations continue

The tower

First anniversary, tributes to those lost in Grenfell tower

advice that the sight of the wreck was worsening trauma.

Speaking about the issue of when residents would be asked to move back into accommodation they fled surrounding the tower, Cllr Taylor-Smith acknowledged the council needed to rebuild trust in the community.

"This issue with the tower is going to be years.

It's going to be years. We’ve got to start building that back as a community. And that is what this is all about.”

Justice4Grenfell campaigner Moyra Samuels told the Grenfell Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday

households living close to Grenfell, which had been showered in ash and debris during the fire, were concerned about the long-term effects of the material, including on their gardens.

Committee Chair Cllr Robert Thomson said the committee was eager to follow up on that suggestion, and they agreed to add investigation of the soil to their programme of work.

They also planned to place an added focus on the community's mental health to their work ahead of the next meeting of the committee in September.

The committee's papers show the council's leader-

ship team was being asked on Wednesday, July 25, to approve the award of a contract for health and safety advice about the Grenfell tower site.

The site is currently under the control of the Metropolitan Police for forensic investigations. Its day-to-day management overseen by an independent group from the London Borough of Bromley.

The paper asks that the status quo remain, but the council award a contract worth up to £160,000 over two years to add health and safety advice and support services to the site's management.

Harefield incident wasn't an acid attack Harefield residents have been reassured that an incident in Merle Avenue last night (Thursday, July 26) wasn't an acid attack.

The Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) confirmed they were called to an incident at a bus stop at 11pm.

It was reported to the fire brigade as a potential

acid attack but is now being treated as a common assault and not a corrosive substances attack.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed: "We were called to Merle Avenue at 11pm to reports of an assault.

"A substance was thrown in the attack but it was not a corrosive sub-

stance.

It is not clear at this stage whether there have been any arrests or what injuries, if any, were suffered by the victim.

An LFB spokeswoman has confirmed firefighters left the scene after less than half an hour.

Harefield residents reported seeing fire engines

and police at the top of Harefield Village at the time of the incident.

One eye-witness told getwestlondon : "Police where stopping cars from coming in to the village at the top of Merle Avenue.

They were turning around outside the Harefield pub and going back down the hill."

Southall nurse found to have put Beacon House Nursing Home residents at 'risk of harm' A nurse who worked at a care home in Southall has been given a caution order after putting care home residents "at risk of harm" by turning up unfit to work.

Jaswinder Kaur, who worked at Beacon House Nursing Home, was given the 18-month caution after a misconduct panel found her fitness to practise "impaired".

The panel heard that on February 23 last year, Ms Kaur arrived "unfit to work" at the care home, which takes care of frail elderly patients and young people with disabilities. Ms Kaur, who has been an adult nurse since 1994, admitted before the hearing began that she had turned up to work while unfit, according to a report by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Alcohol was allegedly smelt on the nurse's breath by both a registered nurse and a patient care co-ordinator at the home, who both

gave evidence during the hearing.

The misconduct panel later concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, Ms Kaur had consumed alcohol before attending work on February 23. During the hearing, it was alleged she was sent home from her shift after being found "slumped over" a desk while smelling of alcohol.

Giving evidence, the patient care co-ordinator at Beacon House said Ms Kaur started to talk about personal matters and became "very emotional and upset".

Although the senior staff member said Ms Kaur's "speech became slurred", she conceded that this could have been down to her increasing levels of distress.

She also suggested that Ms Kaur was "not talking in complete sentences and kept repeatedly talking about [her] personal life in response to the handover information."

In a meeting on February 24, the NMC report suggests the nurse admitted she had "been out with friends" and had had a drink before work the previous day. Although the hearing concluded that Ms Kaur had drunk alcohol before her shift, it did not find suf-

ficient evidence to prove that the consumption was of a degree which left her “unfit for work”.

According to the panel, the nurse's actions fell "significantly short of the standards expected of a nurse" and they said her actions were a breach of the Code.

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Homeowners look out for Japanese Knotweed

Homeowners can now sue neighbours if the plant, Japanese knotweed, spreads onto their land following a recent Court of Appeal ruling.

Japanese knotweed is described by the Environment Agency (EA) as the most invasive plant in the UK, which can spread rapidly and damage property.

A survey by the EA found that less than 20% of people could identify the plant, leaving some homeowners at risk.

These results come alongside the ruling which saw two homeowners in Maesteg, Bridgend County, successfully claim against Network Rail after Japanese knotweed encroached on their property. Both were awarded £15,000 in damages, with the court deciding that Japanese knotweed should be considered a ‘nuisance’ and a ‘natural hazard’ that landowners must keep under control.

Network Rail refuted the claim but the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the homeowners because the plant’s rhizomes extended beneath both properties.

Duncan Lewis’ Housing/ Litigation Director, Chinedu Orogbu, lays out the existing legislation: Section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provides that; “If any person plants or otherwise causes to grow in the wild any plant which is included in Part 2 of Schedule 9, he shall be guilty of an offence.”

Japanese knotweed comes under this category.

An offence under this Act can result in a criminal prosecution.

Under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990, Japanese knotweed is defined as controlled waste which must be disposed of at a licensed landfill site. Failure to do so can result in enforcement action and an unlimited fine.

Japanese knotweed claims between parties for the spread of/ damage caused is covered by Private Nuisance Law

(PNL). PNL protects an occupier’s rights in respect to interference with the enjoyment/use of their land.

Chinedu comments: “The Court of Appeal in the case of Network Rail Infrastructure Limited v Stephen Williams and Robin Waistell [2018] EWCA Civ 1514 held that encroachment of Japanese knotweed onto the Claimants’ land from property owned by Network Rail constituted a nuisance and that Claimants were entitled to damages. This was because the presence and encroachment of the Japanese knotweed onto the Claimants properties had diminished their ability to enjoy the amenity and utility of their properties.”

Under the Statute of Limitations, claims in tort (except personal injury) and contract can usually be made within six years of a dispute starting. In all property cases, we recommend seeking legal advice as soon as possible, and since Japanese knotweed grows at such an alarming rate, action needs to be taken with haste to protect your home.

For expert advice, contact Chinedu Orogbu on 020 7923 8410 or email him at chineduo@duncanlewis.com.

Chinedu Orogbu

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors Our Housing /Litigation Solicitors can advise clients on claims concerning the Environment Act, the Wildlife Countryside Act and Private Nuisance Law, as well as tenants/landlord disputes, issues arising with local housing authorities, housing applications, ownership and repairs.

If you have a housing related query contact our team of expert solicitors on 0333 772 0409.

14 COMMUNITY

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IndiaCast UK claims success with their first live event in UK with the popular Indian comedy group AIB IndiaCast UK tied up with the popular Indian comedy group, All India Bakchod and organised its first ever LIVE event in the UK. COLORS and MTV Beats co-presents ‘AIB LIVE in United Kingdom’, a tour that kickstarted on the 20th July in Birmingham, followed by 21st July at Central London and 22nd July at Watford.

A ticketed stand-up comedy event which promised to tickle your funny bones with master comedians - Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya and delivered exactly that with sold out shows in Central London and Watford.

This exciting laughterthon marked IndiaCast UK’s foray into Live Events. This was also AIB’s first outing in the UK. AIB is India’s foremost comedy sketch group founded in 2012.

Its YouTube channel, as well as other social media handles, are extremely

popular and has a fan following of 3 million plus fans. They have earlier had successful sold-out shows in Australia, Singapore and Dubai.

With this event, IndiaCast broke the clutter and reached out to the second and third-generation people of Indian origin in the UK – an audience that is digitally savvy and is usually on the go.

Govind Shahi, Business Head – Europe, America, APAC & Outbound Sales, IndiaCast, said, “The AIB performers are extremely popular with the millennials and we at IndiaCast leveraged that connect to create an entertaining getaway for our viewers here in the UK. Live events are an exciting, highly-engaging format which establishes a direct connection with the viewers. AIB is arguably one of the foremost stand-up comedy group not only in India but worldwide and we are sure they have left a

Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Rohan Joshi, Ashish Shakya and Mehar Chumble from AIB with the audience in the background

lasting impression amongst the viewers in their very first show in the UK.” Rohan Joshi, AIB, added, “This was a wonderful opportunity for AIB to enthrall and connect with the Indian viewers residing in London.

Stand-up comedy is big in the UK and have amassed we tremendous audience base here. We were delighted to

perform in the UK and loved the response we received over all three shows.

IndiaCast UK was the right partner for this effort, given its legacy and market access and we are humbled by this prospect.”

The event was hosted by Tommy Sandhu, former Weekend Breakfast and Drivetime presenter with the BBC Asian Network.

Saving the Rhinos - A Campaign for Conservation With the shocking news of the death of the last Northern white male rhino, the saving the species from extinction has become an urgent and serious issue.

In North-East India the situation has become critical as large-scale poaching and killings are going on along with the destruction of the animals' habitats resulting in man-animal conflicts.

Saving the Rhinos world over and especially in Assam has become an urgent issue and can no longer be

ignored or undermined.

A panel discussion is being held on Friday 10th August by FASS (Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters) on the poaching of rhinos,

elephants and other wild life in Assam. Chief guest will be HE Mr. Y K Sinha, High Commissioner of lndia with Guest of honours Lord Sheikh, Rt Hon Virendra

Sharma MP and Akbar Khan, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Secretary-General Speakers include Vijay Mehta, Co-Founder and Chair of Uniting for Peace and Syed Zarir Hussain, Chief Managing Editor, News Live, the largest satellite TV News Channel in India’s Northeast The event will take place at The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London, W1K 1HF from 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Shiv’s return to Earth 'from Heaven’ - Dhiren Katwa Actor Shivinder Grewal who was brought back to life by medics seven minutes after suffering a massive cardiac arrest now paints pictures of what he saw before being resuscitated. An exhibition telling his story is to take place in London next month.

The 60-year-old, pictured, had just finished starring as Don Pedro in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Much Ado About Nothing when he suffered the heart attack at his home in Peckham, South East London, after a meal out with his wife Alison, 50.

Shiv, who was put in an induced coma for a month after being revived by emergency service workers, said of the moment he collapsed: “I was aware my brain was dying and crying out for help. But, at the same time, I felt things completely separate from my body. It was like I was in a void but could feel emotions and sensations.”

He described the whole experience ‘like a walking dream’. Previously fit and healthy, Shiv suffered the heart attack in February 2013.

Five years on the actor turned artist, who insists he is a ‘natural cynic’ – describes seeing ‘meteorites and space’, all of which now inspires his work. He has been unable to return to stage due to ongoing problems with his speech

Shivinder Grewal

and mobility. It has also left him with epilepsy.

Shivinder’s extraordinary experience, he says, has cemented his belief in an afterlife. “I’m less fearful of death because of it, but at the same time I’m also more fearful, because I’ve realised how precious everything I have in life is.” He added: “Producing the work featured in my exhibition has been part of my recovery, but it also goes beyond that. I have tried to capture what a person experiences when they cross the threshold of non-living and to, hopefully, convey that to others.”

Shivinder’s exhibition called Reboot at The Sanctum Hotel in Soho will run from August 15 until September 24.

Event held to celebrate centenary of women’s vote

Author of Best Selling Meditation Book on UK Tour' As we maneuver the many demands of relationships, career, property and health, we often sense a void, a feeling of alienation from our true selves. Is it possible for one planet to orbit so many Sun's? We have many centres in our lives, yet where is the true centre, the deepest centre that lies at the core of every heart?

The Heartfulness Way describes the core principles and practice of Heartfulness meditation, a simplified form of Raja Yoga that has taken off in the west in recent years. The book is written as a series of illuminating conversations between the fourth spritual guide of the Heartfulness lineage Kamlesh D Patel widely known as Daaji and American meditation trainer Joshua Pollock.

Daaji reveals the core principles of Heartfulness practice and philosophy, reflecting on the essence of Prayer and yogic transmission to demystifying the act of meditation through

practical tips.

The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind unveiled the book in Delhi and it was an immediate Number One best-seller on Amazon.

Following a four -month media and book signing tour in India Joshua Pollock an accomplished Western classical violinist, with two Master’s degrees from the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama, who has collaborated with Oscar winning composer and musician A.R. Rahman is now on a whirlwind, fifty five city tour of the USA and Canada.

Joshua arrives in the UK for a 16 day book tour.

His Excellency The High Commissioner of India for the UK Shri Y.K Sinha will release the book on 6th of August at Nehru Centre in Mayfair, London .

With over a million practitioners in over 130 countries, Heartfulness is a set of practice for self development that help us find inner calm and stillness

Mr Vipool Kalyani, Mrs Kunj Kalyani and Mrs Bhadraben Vadgama

in this frenetic, fast paced modern world. Heartfulness is offered at no cost taught by certified volunteer trainers across the UK who are part of the registered Charity, Heartfulness UK. Joshua’s tour continues in Harrow Arts Centre on 7th of August and on Wednesday 8th August Mr Navin Shah, a member of London Assembly, will host an event to celebrate the UK Launch of 'The Heartfulness Way 'at London iconic City Hall.

From there Joshua will visit Abingdon, near Oxford, Cirencester and Milton Keynes as well as Scotland, Ireland and Wales. On 19th of August in the Heartfulness Centre at Stratford and 21st August in the Braithwaite Hall at Croydon.

To book a place at one of the events email info @heartfulness.uk. For more information, reviews, endorsement etc please visit www.theheartfulnessway. com)

Navjivan Vadil Kendra (NVK) is a well known and prestigious organisation which received an award for community services from her Majesty the Queen in 2015. They meet every Thursday and serve elderly people by way of providing yoga and cultural items on stage and have a membership of some 410 people and a waiting list of 350.

To promote EqualiTeas, they organised a special programme on 21st June 2018 to celebrate the centenary of women of this country were given the right to vote and have a say in the Government. There were three speakers Mr. Vipool Kalyani, Mrs. Kunj Kalyani & Mrs. Bhadraben Vadgama who spoke on the subject

with a slide show who spoke about Jayaben Desai – the first Indian lady to come out in the open and join the Labour movement and who fought for the rights of our ladies’ working conditions in factories.

Thanks were given to Jasuben Sheth who organised the interesting programme. NVK also organised a follow up programme a week later on 28th June 2018 in which two prominent councillors from the Harrow Council attended the function.

Mr Sachin Shah explained the council’s policy whilst Mr Nitin Parekh talked about some of the works being done by the council.

Both took questions and answers from the audience.

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UK

MP FIONA ONASANYA 'STRONGLY' DENIES LYING ABOUT SPEEDING

Vikas Trivedi

A Labour MP has said she "will be defending" herself robustly against allegations she lied about who was behind the wheel of a speeding car.

Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya was charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 12 July. Her brother Festus Onasanya, 33, faces three counts of the same offence. The 34-year-old tweeted she "strongly refutes any suggestions that I have broken the law". They are due to appear at the Old Bailey on 13 August.

Ms Onasanya, who won her seat in 2017 with a majority of 607 votes, tweeted: "I will be robustly defending all these allegations, and strongly refute any suggestions that I have broken the law. As these proceedings are now ongoing, I will be making no further comment on the matter".

On Thursday she tweeted her thanks to those who had sent her "messages of support, love and prayers on my behalf".

Mr Onasanya, of Cambridge, is jointly charged with his sister on the two counts she faces relating to incidents on 24 July 2017 and 23 August 2017. The charges allege they intended to pervert the course of justice by driving a vehicle in excess of the speed limit, falsely informing the investigating authorities that a third party had been the driver and enabling them, as a consequence, to avoid such prosecution and punishment.

On Modern Stem Cell Research

MILLIONS MISS OUT ON 7-DAY GP ACCESS More than five million people across England are unable to book an appointment with a GP outside of working hours.

BBC analysis of official data shows 10% of registered patients live in areas where there is no access to GPs in evenings and at weekends. Labour has accused the government of "breaking its promises".

NHS England said it was still on target to provide access to extended care for all patients by 1 October.

The analysis shows: - More than 22 million people - or 40% of patients registered with GPs - now have "seven-day 8am to 8pm" access to GPs - defined as full provision by NHS England - Just over half the population have access to partial provision. This is when a GP practice can offer the minimum of ninety minutes of bookable appointments once a week - Only two areas offer full provision to GPs for all patients - Some 5.4 million people - or 10% of patients - had no access to GPs outside of normal working hours

'DIFFICULTY' ENTERING UK FOR FOREIGN WOMAD PERFORMERS

Entering a post-EU referendum UK is "difficult and humiliating" for performers at the Womad world music festival, according to an organiser.

Chris Smith told Radio Times that due to the visa process, it had become hard to attract foreign musicians to the festival, held annually in Wiltshire.

He also blamed politicians and said the situation "genuinely broke his heart".

Womad (World of Music Arts and Dance) was founded by the musician Peter Gabriel and first took place in 1982.

But people who have been invited to the UK as an "expert" in their profession can get a Permitted Paid Engagement visa, at a cost of £93.

According to the government, this allows the applicant to take part in "arts, entertainment or sporting activities including broadcasting", along with various other professional activities.

The visa does not permit the holder to carry out paid work that is unrelated to his or her main job, or for the applicant to live or study in the UK for extended periods.

Sunetra Senior stablished academic, Vikas, spoke to Asian Voice as he prepares to embark on a very novel journey into the current issue of genetics and stem cell research.

Currently a Post-Doctoral Researcher and a Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the Deputy editor for the Royal Microscopy Society’s magazine, infocus, he will soon commence a prestigious leadership role at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Barcelona to begin new work into embryonic stem cell research.

The lab is one of several exclusive institutions belonging to national member states, including nonEuropean countries such as Australia few surprising examples, as well human and Argentina. Under an expert team beings. We will also probe into this of PhD students and post-doctorate aspect in addition to scrutinising mamresearchers, Vikas’ international invesmalian development.” This obviously tigations will help tackle developmenhas vast implications for what can be tal disorders via intervention in the done with adaptive biological “early patterning processes.” application beyond simple More specifically, Vikas’ human disability prevenprobing into stem cell tion. As well as high'Understanding research will involve lighting similarities, “understanding how human comparison the embryos get patdevelopment is still a points would also terned to form the shed a thorough body axis that lays mystery, and if we can light on the manuthe foundation for facturing of internal make extensive future placement structure in human of organs.” Stem breakthroughs, this embryonic formacells, found in could unlock tion. “There is someembryos, can later thing really fundaincredible develop into any type mental about the way of cell and consequentprospects' early embryonic cells can ly form tissues and organs talk to each other and form a and so are incredibly biologifunctional baby. Ultimately, the cally precious. They have the hope is that perhaps we can understand potential to propagate the growth of enough about how cells work to be able brain cells to treat those with to instruct them to do what we want Parkinson’s disease, repair damaged them to do.” Finally, but significantly, immune systems and for heart transVikas’ group is also a unique, interdisciplants. By defining where a particular plinary lab “who plan to borrow tools organ will be placed in the developing from engineering and physics to pin body, the findings of our resident scidown what the cells can do.” The entist and his team could further contribute by helping in battling major birth defects that are related to this.

“About 3 in every 100 live born infants exhibit an obvious congenital anomaly.” Vikas went on to tell us: “coming from an engineering background, my approach is to tinker with parts to build units. We are trying to use stem cells to mimic early events of embryo development where we can also perturb the process to understand ways in which it can go wrong and then see if we can understand the underlying principle behind axis formation.” The axis progression might be interrupted by adding chemicals or introducing mutaA mouse embryonic stem cell aggregate tions, after which solutions in rescuing with fluorescent signal from the it are explored. “Head-to-tail axis forgenetically modified cells mation is one of the first decision processes in a developing organism, which approach to their far ranging embryonbefore this moment, is a homogenous ic stem cell research is then also innomass of cells resulting from the fusion vative: “we will be developing imaging of the egg and sperm”. systems and mathematical models”. *** Vikas finished by emphasising a wonThough his lab will be on a similar derful symbolic nuance: “currently, we exploratory pulse with other research have the Darwinian concept that unifacilities who are also experimenting fied the biological world. But we still with stem cells in this context worlddon’t understand how, while the evoluwide, Vikas’ work with the EMBL also tionary mechanism of development is possesses an extra original dimension. conserved, we can still have so much “The concept of embryonic axis formadiversity within the species: if you take tion is a universal one, evident in all cells and remove them from their animal species, and we will be focusing embryonic context and organic envion this too. Axis formation that deterronment in the lab, these unrealised mines placement of organs is common aggregates from different species to worms and insects, to name but a

E

appear similar but a fully formed fish embryo looks very different to a mouse embryo. We want to investigate the differentiating strategies that these different organisms adopt.” Natural Science then beautifully demonstrates collaborating and the collective element as important as assertion and individualism. Thus, like the best scholars, Vikas lays out tradition while encouraging the careful challenges that will affect true cultural progress.

Can you tell us a bit more about current organoid research?

Yes, it’s an exciting time where we are creating organoids: mini organs, including brains, guts and livers, which are grown in petri dishes in labs. The labs all over world are investigating into translational potential of such in vitro systems. Understanding human development is still somewhat a mystery and if we can make the extensive breakthroughs, this could unlock incredible prospects for the future.

What is your favourite part of the job?

Interacting with other researchers and brainstorming ideas. I’m also really looking forward to being able to contribute to the development of EMBL Barcelona as a new institution.

Currently, we understand a lot about individual cells, but I’m also interested in collective cell communication. It’s a direction I definitely want to go in with regard to tissue modelling.

What grabs you most about the world of engineering and science?

I love the way you can make simple assumptions and predictions and then test them quantitively. That curiosity is also fuelled by the promise of finding concrete solutions. It does require patience but the excitement of knowing what you can achieve is as big.

You fail to improve and that is pleasingly constructive.

What have been some past projects that have brought you to this impressive pioneering position?

I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on a range of problems with incredibly talented and generous colleagues. At Caltech, for example, I worked on early heart development: we came up with a novel microscope design and processing algorithm that allowed us to observe every single cell in the beating embryonic heart as it underwent contraction and expansion.

You have been commissioned by a high European scientific body. Do you feel that there is adequate inclusion for different ethnicities in the Scientific Community?

Science is doing very well when it comes to attracting international talent but of course more can be done to represent countries worldwide. More urgent perhaps, is the need to be more conducive towards families, especially for female researchers, who want to have both a family life and career. It is unfair to make them choose.

Finally, what’s one misconception about being researcher or scientist that people have that simply isn’t true?

Perhaps that they’re boring, and not as interested in other facets of life.

But this is simply not true. Believe it or not, we are humans too!

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4 - 10 August 2018

4 - 10 August 2018

JALARAM COMMUNITY AWARDS CEREMONY AND RELAUNCHING OF JALARAM BALVIKAS GUJARATI SCHOOL LEICESTER – JULY 2018 n a bid to recognise all the exalted people who contowards the tribute Jalaram Temple and Jalaram Community Centre Leicester through many different platforms, a first-ever Jalaram Community Awards ceremony was held on 7th July 2018.

During the inaugural func-

I

in Gujarati. All teachers of the Jalaram Bal Vikas, who have for the past 35 years endlessly worked towards teaching Gujarati A/AS level, were presented with awards by the Trust.

JALARAM COMMUNITY AWARDS In the second half; Pramodbhai Thakkar welcomed the dignitaries and

munity work for Leicester City.

tion, the Board of Trustees decided that moving forward, each year; individuals contributing in acts of seva and charity in different sectors will be honoured with awards following a nomination process. Pramodbhai Thakkar, Chairman; said that the nominations could be from any community member in Leicester, not being restricted to Hindus only.

Jalaram Balvikas The event also marked the relocation of Jalaram Balvikas; a Gujrati School dedicated to Children, to the Jalaram Community Centre.

The trust through its donors has invested in upgrading the facilities; which meet the requirements of facilitating many such initiatives; especially Education.

Sajanben Odedra, Head Teacher of Jalaram Bal Vikas (JBV), began the programme by welcoming all guests, after

emphasised that we should now be donating and supporting local research projects and needy charities in the UK, and should invest in education. This is what Jalaram Charitable Trust, Leicester will be promoting moving forward.

He added that a conscious effort will be made to promote Pujya Bapa ethos 'Seva Parmodharm' (Service to Man is service to God). It was then announced by the Mc (Kamlesh Purohit) the list of the following Awards: Prof Sir Nilesh Samani For outstanding patient care and raising of community awareness and world leading research in heart and circulatory disease. Nileshbhai is a Professor of Cardiology, and founding Trustee of Heart Search.

Steve White MBE For unconditional dedicated community & sports

which the Children started their excellent Cultural Program.

Children were awarded trophies for their excellent achievements with an impressive 95% gaining A/AS levels

work for Leicester City and supporters to Jalaram Mandir over the years.

Councillor Rashmikant Joshi Former Lord Mayor of Leicester & dedicated com-

Councillor Mo (Mansukhlal) Chohan For support to the community of Leicester.

Maganbhai Patel OBE & Shri Ramanbhai Barber MBE were also honoured for their selfless services to the community.

A special award was given

to Narandasbhai Aadtiya who was honoured for 40 years of services to the society, religion, temple and supporting bereaved families by comforting them, and carry-

ing out final funeral rites and conducting prayer meetings.

Dhirubhai Shah A special award was given for his selfless work towards promoting and raising funds for Anthony Nolan bone marrow charity &

Alex’s wish charity.

ALEX’S WISH CHARITY The Jalaram Trust presented a cheque of £1001 to Emma Hallam of the Alex’s Research Charity. Her son Alex a boy of ten suffers from muscle Dystrophy which means he will end up in a wheelchair and have a shorter life span due to wasting Muscle.

Ajay Jobanputra was also presented with an award for assisting the Trust over the years for website designing, IT services and setting up the new mobile app.

Final awards were presented to Sureshbhai Patel, Bhikhubhai Patel and Amratlalbhai Tanna, for their selfless service to the temple.

Jalaram Temple Leicester's

mobile app launch Ajay Jobanputra demonstrated the use of the new Jalaram Mobile App and website of the Jalaram Temple and Jalaram Balvikas.

This is the first Mobile App launched for any Jalaram Temple in the UK.

Director Kamleshbhai Purohit. The award ceremony that ran till 1.00 pm was conducted gracefully and informally in a cheerful environment. Later, present guests and the audience enjoyed a special children’s lunch of pizza and chips.

The App can be downloaded and used free on any Mobile Phone, PC, iPad, Laptop, etc using the link https://app.appinstitute.co m/k72b8 from the browser on your mobile phone, iPad or PC to download the Mobile App, and then follow the instructions to activate it.

The Shree Jalaram Temple Leicester mobile app provides details of the venue location and also connects to the Temple website to provide details of events planned at the Temple. Please register with us on the Mobile App to receive regular updates.

The event was jointly showcased professionally by Sajanben Odedra, Ajaybhai Jobanputra and BBC radio presenter and Deputy

Nav Chandi Path A Nav Chandi paath event was hosted by Mahendrabhai and Rajubhai Pandya with their family in July when over 51 Brahmin Priests recited the Chandhipaath and did puja for over 5 hours.

Other Events and Charitable works of Jalaram Temple Leicester Seva for homeless people Jalaram Temple, Leicester is the only Hindu Temple in Leicester which has participated in the 'One Roof Project' for the last two years.

From November to February each year, homeless people are provided with food and facilities to sleep in the Jalaram community centre.

Around 30 to 35 volunteers constantly stand on their feet

and attend to the needs and demands of the homeless, and help them live with dignity and honour during the cold winter months.

Richard Attenborough’s Blue Planet Project Jalaram Mandir has proved to be the perfect

example in participating in the Richard Attenborough’s Blue Planet's projected. He has made an appeal to reduce pollution, the amount of plastics that are dumped in rivers and the oceans, and the damage done to the sea world.

Sunilbhai Budheo, assisted by

Ash Lodha headed the project and managed to replace the usage of plastic dishes in the distribution of prasad with special washable melamine dinner set dishes. BBC world services has visited the Temple and Community Centre and through the medium of news, informed the world about the organisation's services.

Langar every Saturday: Food donation to the poor The volunteers of Jalaram Temple contribute food for Midland Langar Seva Society on a monthly basis, which is distributed to the homeless of Leicester.

Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies The Jalaram Trust has been a support of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS) for many years. The benefit of the OCHS is that they run a centre of excellence in research and study of Hinduism in Oxford. The centre have 700 online courses which are available to everyone. The Leicester Friends of OCHS conducts lectures and conferences in the temple on a regular bases.

Visitors Being the first Jalaram Temple in the UK, the temple has become a place of pilgrimage for visitors from all over the world.

Around 5000 students of different schools, colleges and universities visit the temple annually to learn about Hinduism and the rich heritage it has to offer. The temple provides a guide book to Hinduism in English and depicts the religious pictures on the ceiling of the temple.

Hanuman Chalisa The Temple organises Hanuman Chalisa every Saturday after Arti 10am - 12 pm Yoga Classes with Essence of the Shreemad Bhagwat Gita.

The community centre also runs Gita ji and yoga classes every Thursday between 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

Hosted the Hemangbhai Bhatt.

Thursday Walking Club A monthly walk takes place every Thursday where between 100-150 members of the walking club take part and hold a mahaprasad at the Jalaram Temple.

Pujya Bapa's Khichdi and Rotla Prasad The centre serves Pujya Bapa's khichdi and rotla prasad every Sunday.

Kenya – Jamhuri Day Celebrations & Embassy Consulate Service The Kenya community celebrated Jamhuri Day with H.E. Lazarus Amayo. The Kenya High Commission uses the centre for Consulate services.

Multi Cultural The centre is used by various multi cultural communities of Leicester and is used by Police recruits and members of the various faith communities of Leicester.

Lions Club Medical Camp The Charnwood Lions Club holds annual medical Camps at the Temple Library on an Annual basis.

Jalaram Katha and Jalaram Jayanti Celebrations 2018 We are delighted to announce the upcoming Jalaram Katha dedicated at Pujya Bapa's Lotus feet to be recited by Shastri Piyush Bhai

Mehta From Sunday 11th November to Wednesday 13th November 2018 to be held at the Jalaram Temple, Leicester between 3-6pm

followed by Prashadi. As usual, Jalaram Jayanti will be celebrated at the Temple on Thursday 15th November 2018.

85 Narborough Road, Leicester LE3 0LF - Tel: (0116) 254 0117 - Email: info@jalarambapa.com - www.jalarambapa.com

18 FINANCE

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4 - 10 August 2018

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel Dear Financial Voice Reader, History repeats itself often in the markets. Some 8 years ago I wrote the column below at the end of July, when again people were wondering what would happen with the markets and would they collapse and there be a crash. If you bought into the market 8 years ago and went to sleep – you would have literally made money in your sleep. So listen up!

See my comments updated in italics.

As I write July was the best performing month for the US markets in a year. First, 65% of all companies reporting earnings in the ‘MISCI World Index’ have exceeded expectations. This has come as a welcome surprise to an overly pessimistic market. In 2018, we still see similar results. It shows that expectations as a barometer matter.

Second, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is not overvalued as calculated by the price the shares that make up the index are trading at relative to the good profits they are generating. For the technically minded it is trading at a price earnings multiple of 14. In 2018 it is now a little higher than this, but still not overly worrying.

Third, banks are making profits – big profits. Take HSBC which has more than doubled it’s pre-tax profit to $11billion in the first half of the year. So much for credit crunch and bank collapses. Again – still true.

Fourth, as confidence builds, gold, copper and oil are also therefore rallying too – reinforcing the positive global message. Repeat in 2018.

But, but but. There is a case for saying we are getting overoptimistic. First, Europe is suffering – and it is as large as the US in terms of economic size. Spanish consumer confidence for instance is falling, and the austerity measures which initially boosted confidence such as tax hikes and spending cuts, will as they are implemented actually hurt confidence as they hit the real economy and the pocket. Hahaha…in 2018 even Europe is doing better, albeit Brexit looms.

Second, the US is running a budget deficit of 10%, and the UK at 11.5%. Even India is borrowing money and running a deficit. Third, growth. Eurozone growth is around 0.6%. That’s a big drag on the world economy.

Fourth, Chinese manufacturing faces a slowdown. Their July figures were the weakest in a year. Still in debt, but growth better. Debt is not bad for countries as I have often said. Just depends if it is affordable.

So where does that leave the world on balance? After recent sharp rallies I prefer to hedge my bets more than simply be an out and out bull on the markets. When I look at the technical charts I see the possibility of a slight dip too which depending on what happens thereafter will dictate sharper falls or sharp rally. I think we are as likely by the end of the year to go up a further 1000 points on the Dow as we are to be down 1000 points. Indeed – both things may happen one after the other.

One thing is for sure. This is not end of the world scenario with collapsing banks as we feared two years ago, but also it is not an easy market either when you consider massive public sector spending cuts. Now, those have the advantage of increasing the size of the private sector and that is no bad thing. Indeed the rebalancing of the economy from more private sector from public sector is one reason for increased earnings growth. I could cut and paste the same words in 2018.

See markets are easy. Happy sleeping!

For a free online trading course visit www.alpeshpatel.com

ECB forecasters' survey sees quicker rise in inflation European Central Bank's (ECB) Survey of Professional Forecasters has shown that the Euro zone inflation could accelerate faster than earlier thought, underpinning the bank's decision to slowly remove stimulus. The bank decided to stay on course to end asset purchases this year and hike rates by late 2019. It is satisfied that a five-year growth run will push price growth higher but also has concerns that a global trade war could unravel the expansion. Headline inflation is pegged at 1.7 per cent this year, above a previous projection for 1.5 per cent, while next year's rate is also seen at 1.7 per cent, above the 1.6 per cent projected three months ago, according to the survey of 56 forecasters. The figures match the bank's own staff projections, which see inflation holding at 1.7 per cent through 2020, a rate that is close to the bank's target but still seen by ECB chief Mario Draghi as a miss.

UK

Vijay Mallya can’t appeal against London HC verdict In a major setback to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, the Court of Appeal in England, the country's second-highest court, has denied him permission to appeal against a high court judgment in favour of 13 Indian banks, saying his grounds for the plea “were totally without merit”. The former 'King of Good Times' had sought permission to appeal against the May 8 judgment of the London High Court which had paved way for the recovery of £999 million he owes to the banks. The judge had also dismissed his application to have the worldwide freeze order on his assets discharged.

The verdict had set a legal precedent, marking the first recorded case of a judgment of a Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the HC. Mallya's counsel had argued that the DRT Bengaluru judgment was “not permitted to be enforced in England”, saying only verdicts from courts whose “civil jurisdiction is subject to no pecuniary limit, and those sealed with a seal showing off” could be registered in England.

However, in its order dated July 24,

Vijay Mallya

Lord Justice Flaux of the Court of Appeal refused Mallya permission for appeal.

He gave the verdict on grounds for the same had “no real prospect of success”. Justice Flaux observed that “there is no requirement for an 'express statement on the judgment or the seal that the jurisdiction is subject to no pecuniary limit'.” He said his decision was

final and could not be appealed. “There is ample material from which the judge was entitled to conclude that the risk of dissipation was made out.”

Paul Gair, who represents the Indian government and banks, said the new order was not only positive news for the banks, but also for “other foreign banks that bring claims against parties who have defaulted on loans and taken up residence in England and Wales or have assets within this jurisdiction.” He added, “This means that our clients can continue with enforcing the judgment without further challenge to the registration under English law. Our clients continue to consider all of the enforcement options available to us in order to recover the full amount owing to them, and will pursue these actions as and when appropriate.”

Meanwhile, Mallya approached India's Enforcement Directorate and presented his “willingness to return” the money. The sudden change of heart comes after the ED confiscated his assets in India and abroad under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.

Reckitt's revenue target gets a boost as Mead Johnson deal pays off British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser has boosted revenue targets for the year, as the Dettol-maker benefited from its £13 billion deal to buy Mead Johnson, sending its shares up over 8 per cent. It raised its annual net revenue growth expectations to between 14 to 15 per cent, higher than its previous target of 13 to 14 per cent.

The maker of Durex condoms and Lysol disinfectant said its infant and child nutrition division, the acquired Mead Johnson business was experiencing strong growth above medium-term expectations, led by China, the world's largest market for

the products.

Full year like-for-like sales growth is also expected to come in at the higher end of its 2 to 3 per cent range, Reckitt said, also signalling a recovery at its Scholl footcare brand. Once a pacesetter for the industry's sales growth, the company has been through hard times lately with Scholl dragging on sales for two years after the failure of electronic foot file that cost upwards of $40 to smooth dry heels. However, Reckitt said that it did not expect a material drag on its second-half results

Wikramanayake appointed as first female CEO of Macquarie Group The Macquarie Group big drop in profits folhas stated that Shemara lowing the 008 financial Wikramanayake, head of crisis to become one of the bank's asset managethe best performing ment arm, would take investment banks over over as the group's first recent years. “I don't feel female chief executive any urgency to change, following the retirement not like when I stepped of Nicholas Moore in into the asset manager November. The appointafter the financial crisis. ment is a significant Nicholas leaves an moment for women in amazing legacy. the global investment The position we banking industry, where have got genuinely does the most senior execu- Shemara Wikramanayake leave me in an enviable tive roles at the biggest position,” she said. banks continue to be dominated by David Ellis, analyst at Morningstar, men. The 30 year old veteran at the said investors were likely reacting to investment bank was considered by the change of leadership, given analysts as the frontrunner for the Moore's stellar performance as chief top job at the Australian investment executive. bank, which has transformed its “We like the appointment and see operations over the past decade to no risk to Macquarie's very successful expand its annuity-style businesses, long-term strategy. Wikramanayake which generate recurring income. is the first female CEO of a major Wikramanayake said she was in investment bank and asset manager, no rush to make major changes at demonstrating Macquarie is leading Macquarie, which under Moore's the charge in executive diversity,” he decade-long tenure recovered from a said.

from Scholl. It posted a total net revenue growth of 4 per cent on a like-forlike basis, while pro-forma revenue rose 5 per cent to £3.02 billion for the three months ended June 30.

Reckitt said the pro-forma growth was helped by 3 per cent volume growth and a 1 per cent boost from pricing mix in the second quarter. Morgan Stanley analysts said, “Still plenty to do to get back to the Reckitt Benckiser of old but after 8 disappointing quarters in a row, this is an important step in the right direction.”

Europe poised for bumper Chinese tourists Thanks to a rather cold and unwelcoming America courtesy President Donald Trump, Europe seems to be gearing up for a fantastic year of Chinese tourism. In a brand new trend, Chinese tourists are increasingly buying package tours to Europe, surveys said.

According to data tracked by consultancy ForwardKeys, leisure travel bookings for July and August in Europe are up more than 4 per cent from the same period of last year after an even stronger June, which coincides with a Chinese holiday.

“This year will certainly be the year with the highest number of arrivals from China ever,” said Wolfgang Georg Arlt, director of China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, a consultancy based in Germany. He said, “Trump has been helping to push Chinese tourists to go to other countries... They see this as a crazy guy and who knows what could happen.” While Chinese bookings for Europe are going up, that for the US has gone down more than nine per cent for the year to July 22 compared with the same period of 2017.

Chinese tourists are collectively the world's biggest spenders on international tourism, putting in a whopping $258 million international tourists trips last year. They spent an average $1,800, however, Arlt said the average was probably distorted by lavish spending by a wealthy minority.

REAL ESTATE VOICE

SHELTER NOT SPECULATION

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Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

AsianVoiceNews

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4 - 10 August 2018

We have been researching an area in South East London, for which we have compiled an 18 page report. In short, we think property in this area will grow massively over the next five years. Crossrail is coming into the area in December this year, which will put Canary Wharf within 11 minutes and Bond Street within 25 minutes.

affordability. This is the last of 33 boroughs in London, where the property prices are at this level. All other areas which were below this threshold have experienced tremendous growth.

When we look at this sector, we are not dealing with investor speculation. We are dealing with a fundamental need for shelter.

The town we are looking at is a sleepy place. Having visited there several times, it seems that the place is completely oblivious to the impact the Crossrail will have on property prices.

If we examine the supply of housing, in 2007 the Labour government set a target for 240,000 homes to be built a year by 2016.

We are nowhere near this target.

Sure they know Crossrail is coming, and prices are set to increase, but it seems completely out of their radar as to the actual impact this will have; as they have never experienced it.

There is another big point to take note of. The area we are looking at is the last borough in London where the average property price is below £300,000. This is an important criteria for signalling growth, as this price point puts properties within reach of first time buyers.

The average income of the first time buyer is said to be £25k.

Therefore, a couple can qualify for a mortgage of £250k. Combined with a deposit, this means properties below £300k are within the range of

INSIDE OUT

DETACHMENT AND SUCCESS When my talents are deployed with a complete sense of purpose towards a goal, then the chances of success are high. I remember once needing to raise over £40m and I had days left to complete the transaction. The consequences of failing were financially, and reputationally, ruinous. Somehow, I was able to be entirely focussed and goal

oriented, but not emotionally attached to the result. This enabled me to manage my stress levels well and operate at a higher level of effectiveness. The funds were raised.

Attachment occurs when the person invests emotion into a particular outcome that s/he will greatly lament if failure ensues. It

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY

19

AGONY AGENT IS HERE TO HELP!

It is bizarre to note, that for decades after World War Two, the UK used to build more than 300,000 new homes a year.

due to a more fundamental reason.

The issuance of fiat currency, where money has been printed without restriction or any backing, and released into the economy either through debt based instruments or equity. This is the real reason why house prices have been rising on average at unreasonable levels.

Over a decade ago, the Barker Review of Housing Supply noted that about 250,000 homes needed to be built every year to prevent spiralling house prices and a shortage of affordable homes.

It’s clear the supply is severely constrained, and even if it wasn’t, it’s highly doubtful and dubious that property prices would be in the realm of affordability for the average buyer.

This target has been consistently missed, the closest the UK got was in 2006-07 when 219,000 homes were built.

The consequences are said to have been rocketing prices in London, the South East and some other parts of the country.

This is why areas like the one we have been researching are going to be very lucrative in the coming years. They deal with a need at the bottom of the pyramid. This area just happens to be a recipient of one of the largest infrastructure investments the government has ever made.

This assumption, however, is highly questionable. Prices have gone up

Get in touch if you would like to find out more.

engenders fear for an outcome that has not yet occurred.

Attachment skews our vision. It impairs our judgement. It undermines our ability to communicate and to connect with those with whom we are working. It hampers our objectivity. It is also the cause of our suffering. It is the enemy of success.

minimum stress when my goal and direction are clear but I am not attached. When I remain detached, but determined, I have the ability to see all the choices available, and my ability to discriminate and decide is more refined, less constrained and more powerful.

Detachment is a competitive advantage.

I experience the sweet spot of maximum performance and

Abraham Goldberg

Q: My tenant has only been paying half the rent of what is due, for the last three months.

What should I do?

A: First, I would need to know if there is a reason behind the change in payments. More common than not, this type of situation falls into two categories, personal circumstances and property issues.

If this falls into property issues, you need to ask yourself if there is something broken or not working in the property that might be affecting their day to day living. This could be the reason, but even if this is the case then they are not allowed to not pay the rent.

They can only withhold this until the issue if fixed, and once fixed they will have to make the payments up to date.

There are a set of rules that a tenant must follow, if they decide to do this. They rarely get this procedure correct.

If this rental payment issue is down to personal reasons, for example, loss of job, then it is best to act fast and serve your tenant notice to leave the property, either by a Section 21, or a Section 8 if they then roll on two months arrears.

I would suggest that you give me a call at the office to discuss this further, and see how we can offer you some free independent help.

Richard Bond

l A beautifully presented freehold house l Reception room, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen l Featuring gas central heating l Measuring approximately 980 sq. ft. l Expected resale value is £550,000

Northumberland Park, London N17 Purchase Price: £405,000 Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

Call us now for more information!

0207 993 0103

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

Sowandreapuk

Turning land into cash Get in touch about our land opportunities

20 FINANCE

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Stop Mehul Choksi's movement, India asks Antigua As reports of fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi's presence do the rounds, India has requested authorities in Antigua and Barbuda that he not be allowed to travel by air, land or sea. A government source said, “As soon as the Ministry of External Affairs received information of the likely presence of Mehul Choksi in Antigua, the High Commission in Georgetown alerted the Antigua and Barbuda government, in writing and verbally, to confirm his presence in their territory and detain him and prevent his movement by land, air or sea.”

Choksi had fled India in the first week of January and taken an oath of allegiance as a citizen of Antigua on January 15. On January 29, the CBI filed a case and started investigating Choksi and his nephew and celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi over a £1.35 billion fraud. India has already cancelled both of their passports, and Choksi has refused to return to India claiming fears of

Mehul Choksi

“mob lynching”. Choksi had claimed last week that he had taken Antiguan citizenship to expand his business as the passport of the Caribbean nation provides visa-free travel to 132 countries. The citizenship came at a cost of £130,000, not

such a big amount for some accused of fraud running into millions. Antiguan authorities, however ,said that Choksi's request for citizenship would have been rejected if they had known about the charges against him in the PNB scam. In a statement issued by Choksi's lawyer, he said that reports doing the rounds in Indian media about him applying for citizenship of that country “illegally” and about him being extradited are wrong. “In January 2018, I had a need to visit the United States to receive medical treatment. I am still in a state convalescence. That being said I have decided to reside in Antigua and Barbuda, the country of my citizenship and abide by the laws of the country,” he said.

The Antigua government has, meanwhile, indicated that it may consider a “legitimate request” from India, and deport Choksi, wanted by Indian authorities for supposedly colluding with billionaire Nirav Modi to defraud Punjab National Bank.

IMF cautions India against relying on global markets The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cautioned India it should not rely on global financial markets to finance its current account deficit (CAD) when it goes above 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). It advised it to reply more on stable sources of foreign inflow, foreign direct investment (FDI). India's current account deficit has sharply deteriorated over the past few quarters.

The IMF, in its latest external report has noted the real effective exchange rate is in line with the fundamentals with the range of -7 and +5 per cent for 2017-18. It notes that the country's current account deficit rose to around 1.9 per cent of GDP in 2017-18, up from 0.7 per cent in the previous year, partly due to the sharp rise in oil prices. It now

expects the deficit to rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP over the medium term “on the back of strengthening domestic demand”. The IMF also now estimates that the sum of FDI, foreign portfolio investments (FPI) and finan-

cial derivatives flows on a net basis slowed to 1.9 per cent of GDP in 2017-18 from 2.3 per cent in 2016-17 despite larger portfolio inflows.

Regarding the use of portfolio inflows to finance the deficit, the IMF notes that while “portfolio inflows into government and corporate securities were strong in 2017, leading to almost fully exhausting ceilings on nonresident investment,” they are volatile and are “susceptible to changes in the global risk appetite” as seen during the infamous taper tantrum of 2013. It cautions that given the volatility in portfolio debt flows, “attracting more stable sources of financing is needed to reduce vulnerabilities.” Adding, “implementation of structural reforms to improve business climate would help to attract FDI”.

RBI doesn’t need more powers: Govt of India In a written statement, the Centre has pointed out that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enough authority to deal with any situation arising in any bank, including state run banks. In a written reply to the Parliament, the Finance Ministry has listed the powers that the central bank enjoys under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. It has also listed powers that the RBI has with regard to nationalised banks and the State Bank of India (SBI), under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Acts of 1970 and 1980 (Bank Nationalisation Acts) and the State Bank of India Act, 1955.

The ministry said, “Further, RBI maintains the central fraud registry and banks report all frauds, involving amount above Rs 1,00,000, to RBI. In addition, RBI's master

Piyush Goyal

directions on frauds lay out guidelines on categorisation, reporting and review of

frauds, along with norms for consequent provisioning. Thus, powers of RBI are wideranging and comprehensive to deal with various situations that may emerge in all banks, including public sector banks.”

The Central Bank has lately been demanding more powers to regulate staterun banks, while the government has maintained that the available powers are adequate. Both the entities have previously sparred over the direction of interest rates.

The RBI, in its reply to a Parliamentary panel earlier this year, had said the banking regulation Act, 1949 is a legislation aimed at regulating and supervising banking companies. It said a banking company is defined in section 69(c) of that Act as “any company” which transacts the business of banking in India.

Chinese imports shut MSMEs down, says panel A Parliamentary panel has asked the government to swiftly impose quality standards and check Chinese imports across several sectors, also noting that shipments from across the border have taken a toll on the domestic manufacturing sector and pushed several micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to shut shop. The standing committee on commerce said in a report, “India has been an easy dumping ground for Chinese goods on account of low price of Chinese goods, poor enforcement and porous border, both at sea and land.”

It said the US and the European Union have been “quite aggressive and agitated over the erosion of their domestic industry and loss of employment” and recommended that the government be more “proactive” in trade

defence measures, such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions, while imposing other restrictions. The panel estimated that dumping of Chinese solar panels in India has resulted in nearly 2,00,000 job losses. And also pointed out that a large quantity of

under-invoiced bicycles were entering the Indian market due to “lax enforcement”.

While Chinese goods have traditionally faced the highest anti-dumping action, the committee believes that they are “relatively few in comparison to the kind of dumping” that has taken place.

“The impact of Chinese imports has been such that India is threatened to become a country of importers and traders with domestic factories either cutting down their production or shutting down completely,” the report said. Over the last few years, the government has also been worried about the widening trade deficit and is seeking that China open up its markets to more Indian goods to reduce the gap between imports and exports.

in brief FINAL GOVT NOD FOR VODAFONE-IDEA MERGER The government has given a final approval for the mega merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular, creating India's largest mobile operator with 35 per cent market share and around 430 million subscribers. The move comes just days after Idea Cellular and Vodafone India made a joint payment of £726.87 millon “under protest” to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for combining their businesses. A senior DoT official said the final approval was accorded to the merger and the entities would now approach the Registrar of Companies (RoC) for stipulated filings for approval, completing the last leg of formalities.

PARLIAMENT OKAYS FUGITIVE ECONOMIC OFFENDERS BILL In the aftermath of multiple bank frauds, the Parliament has approved a bill that aims to prevent economic offenders like diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi and former liquor baron Vijay Mallya from fleeing the country. The bill gives authorities powers to attach and confiscate properties and proceeds of crime of such fugitive economic offenders who flee the country to avoid the legal process. The law is aimed at “effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible deterrent” to ensure such actions are curbed and it will cover cases where the total value involved in an offence is at least £10 million. The bill was approved a day after PNB fraud accused Choksi acquired citizenship of Antigua.

ICICI BANK SEES 1ST QUARTERLY LOSS OF £12 MN ICICI Bank reported its first ever loss of £12 million for the quarter ended June 2018, as against a profit of £204.9 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, due to a doubling of bad loan provisions. In a statement, the bank said, “While the gross additions to non-performing assets at £403.6 million were the lowest in the last 11 quarters, additional provisions on existing NPAs (non-performing assets) resulted in total provisions of £597.1 million and a net loss.” The provisions include those required to be made on ageing of bad loans and on cases that have been referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), nudged by the Reserve Bank of India. The losses came at a time when the bank is being examined by Indian and US regulators for issues of governance.

CEO Chanda Kochhar has been accused of not disclosing conflict of interest arising out of her husband's business relationships with borrowers of the bank.

80% DROP IN INDIAN MONEY IN SWISS BANKS Quoting data derived by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), India's Finance Minister Piyush Goyal revealed that deposits by Indians in Swiss banks declined by 34.5 per cent in 2017 and 80.2 per cent between 2013 and 2017. The statement was made as a report on the increase in Indian deposits in Swiss banks triggered a political slugfest. Quoting Swiss authorities, Goyal told Rajya Sabha that the figures were wrongly interpreted. “Swiss authorities say that the figures published by the Swiss National Bank are regularly mentioned by the Indian media as a reliable indicator of the amount of assets held with Swiss financial institutions in respect of Indian citizens. They clarify how this is wrong.

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in brief

Sikh asylum seekers banned from wearing turbans in US prison

AUSTRALIAN TEEN CHARGED FOR MURDER OF INDIAN An Australian teenage girl has been charged for killing an Indian student she had met through a dating app. Jamie Lee Dolheguy, 18, was arrested last week over an attack on Maulin Rathod at her home in Sunbury, which left him with fatal injuries. The 25-year-old student died in a hospital the following day.

The teenager was charged with attempted murder, intentionally causing serious injury and recklessly causing serious injury after her arrest, and also faced a charge of murder. She was remanded to custody to appear before the court again on November 19.

US RADIO HOSTS APOLOGISE FOR CALLING SIKH AG ‘TURBAN MAN’ Two radio hosts in New Jersey, who called America’s first Sikh-American Attorney General Gurbir Grewal “turban man” on air, have apologised for their racist remarks and have been slapped with a 10-day suspension for using “demeaning and inappropriate” language. Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco, who host the “Dennis and Judi Show” were talking about Grewal’s decision to suspend marjiuana prosecutions in New Jersey when they repeatedly called him the “turban man.” As the audio of their show went viral, the radio hosts drew widespread criticism for their remarks against the state’s top law enforcement official.

INDIAN-AMERICAN BOY GRADUATES AS ENGINEER AGED 15 Indian American boy Tanishq Abraham who graduated from a California college at the age of 11, earned his degree in biomedical engineering at the age of 15. Tanishq received his degree on June 17, just a few days after he turned 15. His parents discovered that Tanishq was “a few years ahead of other kids when he was in kindergarden. He was enrolled in the college at the age five and had cracked math courses offered by Stanford University’s Education Programme for Gifted Youth in less than six months. At six, he took online high school and college level classes in subjects such as chemistry, paleontology, biology, and geology, and at seven, he completed courses in Geology & Astronomy, emerging as the top student in both classes.

HINDU PPP CANDIDATE WINS NA SEAT FROM THARPARKAR Mahesh Kumar Malani of Pakistan Peoples Party became the first Hindu to win the National Assembly seat from Tharparkar in Sindh province. Malani, the 55year-old minority community leader, defeated his nearest rival Arab Zakaullah of the Grand Democratic Alliance in the NA-222 seat. He secured 37,245 votes while Zakaullah received 18,323 votes.

Malani was a member of parliament from 2003-08 on a reserved seat, nominated by the PPP. In 2013 elections, Malani was elected as member of provincial assembly in Sindh.

CALIFORNIA: Hundreds of Sikh asylum seekers housed in the federal prison in Victorville, California, were banned from wearing turbans and provided no access to vegetarian food, in violation of federal laws. Indian American attorney Munmeeth Soni said that this was the first time in recent US history that ICE detainees have been contracted out to the Bureau of Prisons. “This is a complete violation of the spirit of our laws, which protect people fleeing violence and persecution,” she said.

Attorney Deepak Ahluwalia said, “I’ve never experienced what’s happening at Victorville. It’s quite shocking,” the Indian American attorney said.

According to US laws, any prisons which receives funding from the government has been banned from placing restric-

tions on prisoners’ rights to practice their religion while incarcerated.

Lori Haley, Western Region communications director at the Department of Homeland Security, said, “Due to the current surge in illegal border crossings and implementation of the US Department of Justice’s zero-tolerance policy, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working to

meet the demand for additional immigration detention space.

“The use of BOP facilities is intended to be a temporary measure until ICE can obtain additional long-term contracts for new detention facilities or until the surge in illegal border crossings subsides,” Haley said, noting that the ICE detainees are housed away from the general population at prisons. No specific criteria have been

established as to which detainees are housed at federal prisons, she said. The Sikh asylum seekers are mistakenly labelled as “American Indian” or white in the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, which provides no information on the length of their stay in the prison. Soni said that asylum seekers there are not allowed to wear turbans - though they are allowed to keep their long hair, in keeping with Sikh faith. Vegetarian food is not consistently provided at the Victorville prison, she added. Many Sikhs eschew meat as a part of their religious practices.

The detainees have been denied access to proper medical care, which is currently focused on stemming outbreaks of scabies and chicken pox, according to Soni. Other illnesses have gone untreated, she said.

Indian Americans highest earners among Asians in US CALIFORNIA: Indian Americans earn highest income among various Asian ethnic groups in the US, but there exist wide economic disparities within the community, Pew Research Center said in a report. The report, titled “Income Inequality in the US Is Rising Most Rapidly Among Asians,” surveyed income levels of several Asian Americans and found that Asians at the top 10 per cent of incomes earned 10.7 times more than those at the bottom 10 per cent.

The report highlights the income disparities among various Asian American communities. “Today, income inequality in the US. is greatest among Asians. From 1970 to 2016, the gap in the standard of living between Asians near the top and the bottom of the income ladder nearly doubled, and the distribution of income among Asians transformed from being one of the most equal to being the most unequal among America’s major racial and ethnic groups,” noted the authors of the study, Rakesh Kocchar, associate director of research at Pew Research Center; and Anthony Cilluffo, research assistant at the Pew Center.

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Within the Indian American community, median household incomes vary widely, noted the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, in its response to the report’s findings. For example, the organization noted, the median household income in San Jose, Calif., is $157,036 – where incomes are driven by the tech community – compared to $51,060 in Yuba City, Calif., where agriculture is the

driver of the local economy. Education levels are also lower in Yuba City, said the organization, noting that Indian American residents of Yuba City come largely from a previous wave of migration, whereas Indian Americans in San Jose represent a new wave of migrants chosen largely for their technical skills.

Almost four million people of Indian origin live in the US, with a median household income of $100,000, noted the survey.

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AFRICA

Extension of the term of Ugandan parliament nullified KAMPALA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has criticised judges for nullifying the extension of the term of Parliament from five years to seven and described their decision as an “undemocratic age limit nonsense.” The President also warned the judges that they are not the ones in charge of the country, adding that he and his NRM party MPs will “harmoise and galvanise” their position on the matter. Earlier the Constitutional Court on a 4-1 majority ruling upheld the amendment of the Constitution to remove the presidential age limit.

However, the five judges unanimously nullified the extension of the term of Parliament, saying it was unconstitutional because MPs did not seek or obtain people’s consent on the issue. The petitioners had asked court to nullify the removal of age limit on the presidency and the extension of the term of Parliament.

“By a unanimous decision, court declares that the Constitution Amendment Act of 2018, which provide for the extension of the tenure of Parliament and local government

Yoweri Museveni

councils by two years and for the reinstatement of the presidential term limits, unconstitutional for contravening the provisions of the Constitution,” Deputy Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo stated in his ruling. In a statement, Museveni said according to his “freedom fighter’s sense of justice”, the extension of the term of Parliament focuses more on the convenience of seven years instead of five. “With the five years, a lot of time is spent on electioneering and less time on development; the first two years settling in, the third year some work in the constituency

and, then, by the fourth year, electioneering again,” Museveni said. He said before making their ruling on the extension, the judges should have considered NRM’s massive victory in the recent Local Councils and women committee elections. “We shall harmonise and galvanise our position. The undemocratic age limit nonsense was clear,” Museveni said.

On life presidency Museveni also dismissed the arguments that the age limit removal will pave way for his life presidency. He said they are uninformed evil schemers who do not want Uganda and Africa to succeed. Removal of the age limit allows Museveni to stand for reelection as many times as he wishes. He has been President since 1986.

When contacted yesterday, Chief Justice Bart Kutureebe said: “I cannot respond to a letter I have not seen and read. There is a judgment that was made and might come on appeal at the Supreme Court and once I comment about it now, I might have conflict of interest and I will not comment about people’s opinions,” Justice Katureebe said.

Zimbabwe votes to elect new leader HARARE: Seventy per cent of 5.5 million Zimbabweans registered their votes in the first election since the ouster of former leader Robert Mugabe. Officials are counting votes a day after the people peacefully cast their votes in a process closely watched by international monitors, who have yet to announce whether the election was free and fair. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says it will release the final tally within five days.

The main fight is between President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, who took over after Mugabe stepped down last year, and 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who became head of the main opposition party a few months ago. Opinion polls

Robert Mugabe casting his vote in election

gave Mnangagwa, who heads the ruling Zanu-PF party, a narrow lead over Chamisa, the opposition Movement for Democratic

Change (MDC) leader. The official result has to be announced within five days but there will likely be an indication of the outcome.

The opposition has raised concerns about delays in the voting in its stronghold urban areas, and it has warned it will organize peaceful protests if the elections are thought to be flawed. One voter says that "they may be peaceful but we don't know how credible they are.” The vote in Zimbabwe's major cities is crucial to the opposition while rural areas traditionally back the ruling party. That can benefit President Mnangagwa. Earlier, he has urged the people to remain peaceful, saying: "We are one people, with one dream and one destiny. We will sink or swim together."

PAKISTAN

PPP, PML-N join hands to give Imran Khan tough time ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's two major parties - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party - are set to play an ARD-like opposition role in parliament as they have agreed on formulation of a “coordinated joint strategy”, if the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf manages to form its government at the Centre. The broad-based understanding on cooperation was reached during the first direct meeting between the leaders of the PML-N and PPP after the July 25 general elections here on Sunday.

“It was an ice-breaker,” said PML-N’s Mushahid Hussain Sayed, when asked about the outcome of the meeting. “It was a very good meeting and you can call it a meeting of the minds,” the PML-N leader said, adding that there was complete unanimity of views between the two parties that the “July 25 elections have been stolen.” He said both sides were of the view that they should “completely reject” the election results and should adopt “a coordinated joint opposition strategy” to give a tough time to the Imran

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazi chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman talks to leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party who called on him at his residence

Khan-led PTI government while staying inside parliament.

He said the two parties would meet again as the PML-N had told the PPP representatives that it would inform them about its decision on a proposal of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) to boycott parliament.

He said the PPP delegation had informed the PML-N that they were not in favour of boycotting parliament.

The PPP delegation comprised Yousuf Raza Gilani, Sherry Rehman, Qamar Zaman

Kaira and Farhatullah Babar while the PML-N side was represented by Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Ayaz Sadiq, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan.

Later, the PPP delegation also held talks with Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and tried to persuade him to reverse his decision of boycotting parliament. Sherry Rehman said they had urged the Maulana not to boycott

parliament because by “vacating the space we will be providing a walkover” to the PTI. She said the parties had had a bad experience of boycotting the elections or parliament in the past, adding that the PPP had even questioned the credibility of the 2013 elections and the party leadership had dubbed them “RO elections”, yet they had participated fully in the parliamentary proceedings to strengthen democracy.

“We are very clear that democratic forces while condemning the polls have all the rights to sit on the seats for which they had fought very hard,” she said. In reply to a question, Rehman said consultations among the parties would continue and they were expected to have more sessions. Both the PPP and PML-N leaders said that so far they had not discussed any strategy for the upcoming elections for key parliamentary offices of the speaker and deputy speaker, adding that such minute modalities would be discussed at a later stage.

INDIAN AMERICAN BECOMES CEO OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY Indian American Seema Nanda, who took over as the CEO of Democratic National Committee has vowed to fight to ensure the victory of Democrats in every corner of the US in the crucial upcoming mid-term elections. Nanda, the first Indian- American ever to be the Chief Executive Officer of either the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee took over reigns of the main opposition party last week on July 23. She is be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Democratic National Committee. She would play a key role in party's winning strategy in the mid-term November elections, for which the DNC has set a target of winning back the House of Representatives from the Republicans.

INDIA TO SHUT DOWN CAMP-OFFICE IN NEPAL India will close down the camp-office of its embassy in Nepal's Biratnagar from August 1 as per the request made by the Nepalese Government. "All services including issuing of motor-vehicle permits, registration certificates for Indian nationals, attestation of documents, etc will cease with effect from 1st August 2018," the Embassy said.

The embassy has also called concerned persons to contact Indian Embassy, Kathmandu effective from August 1 for the services rendered by the Biratnagar camp office. During PM Narendra Modi's visit to Nepal in May, the decision was conveyed to Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

PAK-ORIGIN MAN BEHIND TORONTO MASS SHOOTING A Pakistan-origin man has been identified by the Canadian police as the gunman who killed two persons and injured 13 others in a mass shooting incident in Toronto claimed by the Islamic State terror group.

Faisal Hussain, 29, was suffering from psychosis and was getting professional help, reports said. IS said Hussain was “one of the soldiers of the Islamic State”.

Hussain's parents who migrated from Pakistan said that their son was in the grip of untreatable and severe mental illness for “his entire life.”

BANGLA POLICE CHARGE 8 FOR DHAKA CAFE ATTACK; BRITISH SUSPECT FREED Bangladesh police have charged eight militants over a 2016 attack on a cafe in Dhaka that killed 22 people, and freed a British suspect detained without charge for the past two years. Briton Hasnat Karim was detained after the July 2016 attack in Dhaka on suspicion of being involved.

Rights group Amnesty International had campaigned for his release. Karim was with his family celebrating his daughter's 13th birthday at the cafe when militants barged in, taking 22 hostages, mostly foreigners, who were killed over 12 hours. Karim became a suspect after he agreed to a demand to act as a human shield during the ordeal, witnesses said at the time. An investigation found Karim was not involved.

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Modi's visit cements relations with African nations Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to three African countries last week came as part of his remarkable outreach to the continent in the last three years. The visit is a part of the PM's ongoing process of putting Africa on the priority list, and is also an indication of intent of challenging China's geopolitical and trading pre-eminence in Africa. The trip came at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is also on a four nation tour in the continent. Starting from Rwanda on July 23, Modi visited Uganda and then South Africa, where he also attended the BRICS summit. He completed the tour on the 27th.

The first Indian Prime Minister to visit, Modi shone bright in Rwandan capital of Kigali, where he met President Paul Kagame. Both sides signed eight agreements in an effort to bolster bilateral cooperation between the countries. Modi also gifted 200 cows to villagers as a part of Rwandan government's Girinka Programme. India also extended a $200 million Line of Credit to Rwanda out of which, the first line of credit amounted to $100 million for the development of industrial parks and Kigali Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Rwanda.

The second credit will be directed to build agricultural infrastructure. An announcement to open an Indian High Commission in Rwanda was also made.

UGANDA Marking the 25th high-level bilateral visit from India to Africa in just four years, Modi underlined a significant buildup in India's ties with the resource-rich continent. His Uganda stopover was the second leg of the tour. He arrived in Kampala, where he met with the Indian community and also participated in a Uganda-India business summit. Uganda has a substantial Indian community, including a group of industrialists who have flourished in the years since they returned to claim assets that had been seized during the reign of dictator Idi Amin.

Addressing the Uganda-India Business Forum, Modi said his country is willing to address the current trade imbalance with Uganda. “If I compare India-Uganda trade ties, I can see that we are in a win-win situation. But we are falling short and to correct that we need to strategise,” he said. He said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is right in saying there is trade imbalance between both the countries and added, “India is willing to take steps to address the trade deficit between India and Uganda.” He exhorted the business community to fully exploit the favourable conditions for doing business between India and Uganda. “India is ready to work with

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (1st L) Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd L), Brazilian President Michel Temer (centre), Russian President Vladimir Putin (1st R), and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pose for a group photo during the Plenary Session of the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg

I shared my thoughts on various global issues, the importance $64 million for agriculture and dairy production. He lauded of technology, skill development and how effective the time-tested relationship between the countries and said multilateral cooperation creates a better world,” PM Modi they should strengthen cooperation in the field of military tweeted after the session. training. “India will assist Uganda in training, capacity Nearly 1,000 delegates, including heads of state from building, infrastructure development, IT and development Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa had gathered at initiatives,” he said. Modi also announced that India will the Sandton Convention Centre for the meeting. The theme provide a cancer therapy machine to the cancer institute in of this year was ‘BRICS Africa’.

Kampala. “This will help Uganda as well as other African MODI MEETS CHINESE PRESIDENT XI countries,” he said.

SOUTH AFRICA Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated their commitment to directing their militaries to Narendra Modi was accorded a warm welcome as he improve communication and ensure peace and tranquillity arrived in Pretoria on a three-day visit to attend the BRICS along the border in what was their third bilateral meeting in Summit hosted by South Africa. He met SA President Cyril the past three months. The two met in Johannesburg and Ramaphosa and the two leaders discussed agreed to maintain the momentum in ties which has seen ways to expand the bilateral ties in a number several high-level visits from both sides in the past few of sectors, including trade and investment, IT months. Briefing reporters about the meeting, foreign and defence. Three MoUs were signed on secretary Vijay Gokhale said the two leaders reaffirmed their cooperation in exploration and use of outer readiness to give the necessary direction to their militaries to space for peaceful purposes, setting up of enhance communication between them and to maintain peace Gandhi-Mandela Centre of specialisation for and tranquility in the border areas. “They were satisfied with artisan skills and agricultural research and the efforts being made by the officials of the two sides to education. strengthen bilateral engagements and to implement some of External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson the understandings and decisions that the two leaders had Raveesh Kumar said, “India and South Africa reached at Wuhan,” he said. are proud inheritors of legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Modi and Ramaphosa discussed expansion of our relationship in trade and investment, agriculture and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a reception at the Parliament of Uganda in Kampala food processing, IT, Uganda in the fields of capacity building, human resource defence and people-to-people contacts.” development, skill development, innovation and also in adding Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said both value to the abundant natural resources available in this the nations expressed satisfaction at the country,” he said. growth in trade and investment, besides The PM also stressed on innovation saying that without it improvement in the people-to-people the world cannot go ahead. “Uganda can go ahead if the youth relation. “President Ramaphosa actually said of Uganda and India work together,” he said, adding that the India-South Africa relations may be new in East African country can play an important role in the overall terms of re-establishment of diplomatic development of Africa. Museveni, on his part, while inspiring relations but are in fact very deep-rooted in the business community from both countries, said, “You are in history. Now what it requires is nurturing, it the right place in the right time.” needs to be watered time to time and such Earlier, Modi extended two lines of credit worth nearly meetings help in that process,” he said. $200 million to Uganda and signed a defence cooperation Gokhale said Prime Minister Modi entirely agreement with the African nation as he held wide-ranging agreed with the South African leader on this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting ugandan President Yoweri Museveni talks with Museveni and discussed ways to strengthen the ties. and noted a "very positive" trend on Both the leaders held one-on-one meeting, followed by Xi said the Chinese side is ready to work with the Indian investments and trade. delegation-level talks to comprehensively review all aspects of BRICS SUMMIT side to carry forward the fresh impetus of bilateral relations bilateral relations. Then, they signed four MoUs in the areas of Modi addressed the BRICS summit in which he reaffirmed since their informal meeting in Wuhan, China’s state-run defence cooperation, visa exemption for official and India’s commitment to multilateralism, international trade Xinhua news agency reported. He called on the two sides to diplomatic passport holders, cultural exchange programme and rules-based world order. He also expressed India’s desire strengthen strategic communication, increase mutual trust, and material testing laboratory. to work with BRICS nations on the Fourth Industrial promote practical cooperation, as well as cultural and peopleModi said India would extend two lines of credit to Revolution, and called for sharing the best practices and to-people exchanges, strengthen dialogue and properly Uganda, one of $141 million for electricity lines and another of policies in the area. “At the session with fellow BRICS leaders, manage differences, it said.

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SOUTH INDIA

Kerala cops get death sentence for custodial death THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a one of its kind case, the highest punishment of the land was awarded to two Kerala cops for the murder of a scrap dealer who was subjected to third-degree torture. The death penalty given by a CBI court came at a time when Alwar's Rakbar Khan's death continues to make national headlines over the role played by police. Scrap dealer Udaykumar, 28 was picked up by police in a theft case in September 2005, but was released when he was proved innocent.

However, when he demanded an amount of Rs 4,000 he had on him when he was detained, be returned, both the cops took him to the lock up in Thiruvananthapuram and tortured him.

Giving the death penalty to assistant subinspector K Jithakumar and civil police offi-

Some of the accused cops

cer SV Sreekumar, Judge J Nazer said, “This is a brutal and dastardly murder by accused one and two... The acts of the accused persons would definitely adversely affect the very institution of the police department...”

He also said, “If the faith of the people in the institution is lost, that will affect public order and law of the society and it is a dan-

gerous situation.”

Three other accused in the case, TK Haridas, EK Sabu and Ajit Kumar, have been sentenced to three years in jail for destruction of evidence and conspiracy. Haridas is currently deputy superintendent of police, while the other two had served as superintendents of police. Another accused KV Soman died during trial, while a VP Mohanan was acquitted earlier. A penalty of Rs 5,000 each was imposed on all the five convicts. Prosecution had argued that Jithakumar and Sreekumar, members of the crime squad that took Udayakumar into custody, inflicted grave injuries on him by “rolling” a galvanised iron pipe on his thighs.

Judge Nazer said the murder “not only shocked judicial conscience but the conscience of the entire society.”

PUNJAB-HARYANA

Amarinder acquitted in Amritsar trust 'scam' case CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and 17 others were given a clean chit in the Amritsar Improvement Trust “scam” case. The case was filed by the Vigilance Bureau during the SAd-BJP regime.

What is Amritsar Improvement Trust 'scam' It was alleged that Amarinder-led Congress government granted special exemptions for transfer of 32.1 acres of land belonging to Amritsar Improvement Trust to a private developer in his previous term (2002-07). Former deputy speaker of the Vidhan Sabha and the then MLA Bir devinder raised the issue in the House in the last session of assembly in 2006. It was alleged that exemptions were granted in exchange of money. After Bir devinder, who was a Congress MLA, raised the issue against his own party’s CM, it led to commotion in the House, compelling the then speaker Kewal Krishan to announce formation of a House committee to look into the allegations.

Probe into allegations devinder alleged that the committee was never formed and the speaker forged the

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh

Vidhan Sabha proceedings and tampered with records by adding that ‘a committee will be formed if House agrees.' Kewal Krishan and former ministers Raghunath Sahai Puri and Jagjit Singh were among those who were acquitted. When the SAdBJP formed the government in 2007, it moved the case to the House privileges committee which found that records were tampered with. Thereafter, a special committee

was formed and this committee ordered suspension of Amarinder as MLA; and a vigilance bureau probe was ordered.

On September 11, VB registered a case against 18 persons, including Amarinder.

The agency on February 10, 2009 filed a challan in the special court. The VB said the scam caused a loss of £36 million to the state exchequer. And the investigation even concluded that the allegations pertaining to tampering with Vidhan Sabha records, misuse of power and illegality in exemption of land, tampering with Trust records and corruption had strong basis.

The final U-turn by VB Amarinder filed a petition in the high court in 2012 for cancellation of FIR. He said the committee, which formed the basis of his suspension and the registration of the FIR, was biased against him. The high court did not cancel the FIR but ordered a fresh probe.

A special investigation team conducted the fresh probe, and gave the clean chit to Amarinder while SAd-BJP was in power. “It’s a case where the investigation agency has been misused to get political gains,” said Bir devinder.

WEST BENGAL

Modi's autograph makes Bengal girl famous BANKURA (WEST BENGAL): A 19 year old college student has reached celebrity status in her village after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rita Mudi had travelled to Midnapore with her mother and sister on July 16, to hear Modi speak.

They sat under a tent that subsequently collapsed and were rushed to the hospital.

The PM later came to visit and spoke to Rita among others. “That day at the hospital when the PM came to my bedside, I told him how happy I was to see him,” she said.

“I requested an autograph. I saw him hesitate a bit but I insisted. He then smiled and wrote 'Rita Mudi tum sukhi raho'. (Stay well, Rita Mudi).”

Rita soon had visitors pouring in to meet her. “We started having a stream of visitors, including people who would not talk to us till the other day. We were recuperating but that didn't stop people from coming to see the autograph. The sudden attention was slightly disconcerting.

I think my photograph in social media and newspapers made me famous,” Rita said.

Her mother Sandhya informed that she even received marriage proposals. “It isn't only visitors,” she said. “In the last 10 days, we received two marriage proposals for Rita. The first was from Jharkhand's Tatanagar. They said the groom had his

KARUNANIDHI IN ICU; BP STABILISED

DMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi suffered a major medical problem on July 28, while at his residence in Chennai. He was immediately rushed to nearby hospital where his condition improved. In a bulletin, the hospital said there was a significant drop in his blood pressure, but now he is stable. The leader is currently in the ICU and is being treated by a panel of doctors.

He was reportedly suffering from fever and infection for the past few days and was attended by a team of doctors and nursing personnel at his house.

DAYANIDHI MARAN TO FACE TRIAL IN PHONE EXCHANGE CASE: SC The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran and upheld a Madras High Court ruling that directed him to face trial in the illegal BSNL telephone exchange case. The Madras High Court had earlier set aside a trial court order discharging Dayanidhi and his elder brother Kalanithi. The HC asked the special CBI court for trial and framing of charges within 12 weeks. The special CBI court had discharged the Maran brothers and others accused in the case. The trial court had allowed the petitions filed by Maran brothers and others seeking their discharge, holding that there was no prima facie case against them.

AAP SACKS KHAIRA AS PUNJAB OPPN LEADER The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has sacked Sukhpal Khaira from the post of Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly and appointed Dirba MLA Harpal Singh Cheema in his place. Reacting to the move, Khaira said that he had paid the price for speaking the truth. While there had been simmering discontent between Khaira and the Delhi leadership over Arvind Kejriwal's apology to Bikram Majithia and Khaira’s remarks on “Referendum 2020”, but matters came to a head with open discord between the Punjab co-president Dr Balbir Singh and Khaira. The AAP MLAs were once again called by Manish Sisodia for their opinion on the selection of a new name and the majority of those present agreed with the name of Harpal Cheema.

WEST BENGAL SEEKS TO RENAME STATE AS ‘BANGLA’

Rita Mudi with the autograph

own business and they had no demands.

They also invited us to visit their home first before we decided.”

“The second proposal was from Chatna, Bankura. The groom owns agricultural land. Both my daughters want to study. So we didn't show much interest.” The family

had earlier received one marriage proposal for Rita but the groom had asked for Rs 1,00,000 in dowry. Rita's father Subhas Chandra Mudi, who tills his own land, didn't have the means to provide it.

“Marriage will happen when my parents decide but I want to study now,” Rita said.

With all parties in the state approving a name-change in the assembly, West Bengal seems to be a step closer to becoming 'Bangla'. According to a leader of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress, it will be 'Bangla' in all languages. A similar move had been stalled two years ago, after the Mamata Banerjee government cleared a new name with three versions- Bangla in Bengali, Bangaal in Hindi and Bengal in English. The centre suggested one uniform name. Banerjee has had her own motive in angling for a new name for her state. One of her reasons is that West Bengal comes last in state lists, meaning the CM gets to speak last in meetings, or often, not at all.

The new name needs the centre's clearance.

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HERITAGE HISTORY

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4 - 10 August 2018

The Vision of Chagla who established the JNU • •

Refusing consent to give his name, PM Nehru suggested “Raisina” Dahyabhai Patel accused MC of spreading the “personality cult”

One of the two best Universities in India, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has “the educational philosophy of the university gets translated into its somewhat unorthodox academic structure”.

Though of late JNU has been in news for wrong reasons, it continues to serve the society with the same zeal following the very Nehruvian objectives embedded in the founding of the university – ‘national integration, social justice, secularism, the democratic way of life, international understanding and a scientific approach to the problems of society.’

Sometimes branded as a “Leftist den” and “Ground to groom anti-national activities” by ignorant people, the JNU is a prestigious academic and research institution India and Indians can be proud of. Still a young university, established by an act of Parliament in 1966, the strength, energy, and reputation of Jawaharlal Nehru University results from the vision that ideas are a field for adventure, experimentation and unceasing quest, and that diversity of opinions are the basis for intellectual exploration. JNU is the place for the intellectually restless, the insatiably curious, and the mentally rigorous, giving them the space to grow amidst the calmness of an oasis, a green lung within the hustle and bustle and the crowds of the capital city of India.

Coming into being in 1969, three years after its establishment

by Parliament, JNU brought frontier disciplines and newer perspectives for old disciplines to the Indian university system.

Justice Mahommedali Currim Chagla who was the Minister of Education in the Nehru Cabinet, after his stints as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and Indian Ambassador to USA, was responsible for establishing the JNU as an another University in Delhi. Chagla writes in his autobiography, “Roses in December”: “I had once told Nehru that if I have his approval, I would establish another university in Delhi. I explained that Delhi was growing

wrong. No statues should be raised to living persons and no institutions should be named after them.”

Though Chagla continued to persist, Nehru refused to budge. Instead the Prime Minister said: “There are several names to choose from. Delhi had been called differently at different times in its history, and you can select one of these names.” He suggested “Raisina” as a possibility; as a very fine sounding name. But Chagla dropped the matter for the time being.

It was only after Nehru’s death that the Bill came before Parliament, Justice M. C. Chagla who had a dream of JNU and according to the Bill the university was to bear and one university was not adehis name. Justice Chagla records: quate for its student population, “I was violently attacked in the Nehru agreed.”

Rajya Sabha by Dahyabhai Patel, An Oxford trained Gujarati the leader of the Swatantra Party, Muslim, Chagla, known for his no for spreading the personality cult. nonsense approach, wanted the In answering the charge, I mennew university to be named after tioned the talk I had with Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru and he had reaon the subject. The House was sons for that too. With some hesisatisfied that Nehru was never guilty of trying to encourage a personality cult around himself.”

As a Minister of Education, Chagla never wanted the Nehru University to be constituted on conventional lines. During his days as the High Commissioner for India in U.K., he had studied the structure of the new universities set up in England and had discussed the subject with some of the Vice-Chancellors. “This university should be a modern university, that the students should not be tied down only to the subjects in which they were specializing, and that there should be G. Parthasarathy became the VC of JNU inter-disciplinary facilities.

Students should study subjects tation, he mentioned a more deliwhich had a bearing on one cate point: “Panditji, I would like another, and the various discito name this university after you. plines should not function in You have been the Prime Minister water-tight compartments. The of this country since indepenuniversity should be international dence, and you have ruled over in its outlook, and carry on intenour destinies from this city.” sive research in, and teach those Nehru flared up: “You know subjects which were closest to my views about raising memorials Nehru’s heart, and to which be to living persons. This is entirely

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Both the PMs Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi

Home Minister could become rather instrumental in getting G. Parthasarathy as the first and worthy Vice-Chancellor of was JNU appointed.

Chagla was once invited to dinner by Dr. Karan Singh, the Minister of Tourism. After dinner PM Indira Gandhi came and sat by his side. During chatting, Chagla asked her: “Have you as yet thought of someone for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Nehru University, for the founding of which I worked so hard?” She inquired if Justice had anybody in mind. Chagla writes: “On the spur of the moment, I said, ‘Why not

Next Column: The Rise and Fall of Communists in WB Parthasarathy? He has just returned from the United States, and I think he will do well.’ She immediately agreed, but asked me whether Parthasarathy would accept the appointment if request-

Government and many members of the faculty have served the Government of India in various capacities including as Ambassadors/ High Commissioners, and members of the important bodies like the Planning Commission. Many of JNU faculty members have also served and serve as Vice Chancellors of other universities.

Even one would find most of the senior bureaucrats in India including the IAS and IPS officials as the proud products of JNU. Chagla, who was closed to both the PMs Nehru and Indira and accepted various assignments including the Ministership in their Cabinet, had no hesitation to oppose the Black Emergency of 1975-77 and was ready to be imprisoned like Jai Prakash Narayan and Morarji Desai! He was a great democrat.

Dr. Hari Desai (The writer is a Socio-political Historian.

E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com)

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devoted and dedicated himself throughout his life,- subjects like democracy, secularism, international understanding.”

Evolving such an innovative university is not an easy task. A large campus for the university was bought. But till he left the Ministry, there was no further progress. Later when Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister, Chagla, who was to be the Minister for External Affairs after G.L. Nanda resigned as the

ed to do so. As it happened, he was present at the dinner, and was at the moment standing in a corner talking to someone.”

Chagla was prompt to take Parthasarathy away from the gentleman he was talking to and asked him. “Yes” was his reply.

PM got him appointed the first Vice-Chancellor.

Parthasarathy, a celebrated diplomat, could develop JNU on sound footing. Many members of faculty and research scholars have won prestigious national and international awards for their academic work. A number of academic associations are headed by JNU faculty. JNU expertise is highly sought after by the

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40,00,000 people excluded from Citizen's Register in Assam In an unexpected announcement, India announced on Monday that it had excluded over 40,00,000 people from a draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, who could not produce valid documents. The move immediately sent across a wave of fear for the future of the thousands in the region. Long been the centre of social and communal tensions with locals campaigning against illegal immigrants, Assam also borders Bangladesh and is home to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims.

The much-awaited final draft of the NRC was published with over 28.9 million names, out of the total 32.9 million applicants in the state. The 40,07,000 applicants however, did not find a place in the historic document, which is touted to be a proof of Assamese identity. NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela said the exercise was carried out as per the instructions of the Supreme Court. He said four categories of people - doubtful voters, their descendants, people whose cases were pending at foreigners tribunals and their offspring, were not included in the list. He however, declined to comment on non-inclusion of

the other applicants. He added that people can reapply for inclusion at NRC seva kendras from August 30 to September 28.

“No genuine Indian citizen should have any fear,” he said.

Satyendra Garg, joint secretary (northeast), Union Home Ministry too, sought to assuage fears. He said, “We are not calling them Indians or non-Indians. At present, no action will be taken as the claims, objections and corrections process has to be undertaken.” Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the process had been impartial and transparent, and appealed to people to refrain from making “communal and

inflammatory remarks”. India's census commissioner, Sailesh spoke to the media and said, “Based on this draft, there is no question of anyone being taken to detention centres or foreigners' tribunal.”

Hundreds of people fled to India from Bangladesh during its war of independence from Pakistan in the early 1970s. Most of them settled in Assam, which has almost a 270 km border with Bangladesh. Over 30 million people had applied and 4,007,707 had been excluded from the list, Sailesh said. All residents of Assam had to produce documents proving that they or their families lived in the country before March 24, 1971.

Critics, however, see the test as yet another measure supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party aimed at minority Muslims. The first draft of the NRC, released on December 31, confirmed the citizenship of 19 million people. It however, told the SC this month that 150,000 people from the first list, a third of them married people, would be dropped from the next one, mainly because they provided false information or gave inadmissible documents.

Indians win 5 golds at Physics Olympiad In the best ever performance by an of the four students have opted for IIT-Bombay, while Jain is headed Indian team, each of the five stuto MIT, US, to pursue a joint dents representing the country course in computer science and bagged gold medals at the physics. Tiwary, who has opted for International Physics Olympiad engineering physics at IIT(IPhO 2018) held in Lisbon, Bombay, is keen on pursuing Portugal, last week. This is the first research. Abhangi, the youngest, is time in 21 years of participation in class XII and will be preparing that all five students have brought for JEE (Advanced). home gold. China is the only other Speaking about the competicountry, among 86 others, to bag tion, Goyal said, “The experimenthe maximum gold medals. tal component was difficult, but Mumbai’s Bhaskar Gupta, Lay Jain the theoretical exam was easier from Kota, Rajkot’s Nishant and three of us scored between 29 Abhangi, Pawan Goyal from Jaipur and 30 out of 30 marks.” and Siddharth Tiwary from Juhu resident, Bhaskar Gupta, Kolkata represented the country at a chess enthusiast, too, found the the 49th IPhO this year. Of the 396 Pawan Goyal , Lay Jain, Siddharth Tiwari , Bhaskar Gupta and Nishanth Abhangi experimental component tougher. students who participated from and this is the first year all the team members The theory exam had questions based on across the world, 42 won gold medals after a bagged gold medals. Thrice in the past, we LIGO detection of gravitational waves, the gruelling two-stage competition. have managed four golds and one silver,” said ATLAS instrument at the Large Hadron Praveen Pathak, scientific officer at Homi Pathak.

Collider and the physics of blood flow in living Bhabha Centre for Science Education, a The team was accompanied by Pathak and tissues and growth of tumours. The experinational centre of the Tata Institute of KGM Nair from Chennai and two scientific ments focussed on paper transistors and the Fundamental Research (TIFR), which led the observers - Surajit Chakrabarti and Manish phenomenon of viscoelasticity. Goyal and Jain international team, said India performed Kapoor. While Jain and Goyal were among the bagged the seventh and 12th world ranks in the exceptionally well this year. “We have been top 10 rankers for JEE (Advanced) this year, competition. participating in the competition since 1998 Gupta and Tiwary, too, had good ranks. Three

Propio & Pivot launch to Asian Voice readers at Houses of Parliament Propio.com, a new online platform that allows people to directly invest in residential property developments with just £1,000, was launched for the Asian community at last month’s Finance, Banking, Insurance ( FBI ) Magazine event in Westminster. The platform, which is a venture from the team behind award-winning Housebuilder Fruition Properties and Pivot – a specialist property lender – aims to democratise the property investment market and let everyday investors access the sort of opportunities that, until now, have only been available to the financial elite. Pivot, also provided an overview of their lending products – short term residential, commercial and development loans from £150k to £5m.

Speaking at the event, co-founder Mani Khiroya explained, “by connecting more everyday investors to SME property developers, Propio can provide investors with a better overall investment portfolio and at the same time help to address the housing issues faced by the UK.” The firm has already received more than £5.5M in investment since the start of the year and hopes to attract everyone from high net worth investors to dissatisfied buy-to-let landlords tech-savvy millennials.

While and Generation Y may be priced out of the property ladder, the low £1,000 investment threshold could make property development a worthwhile venture for someone comfortable with the risk who wants returns up to ten times higher than a typical cash ISA. For more information on investing visit www.propio.com.

MAGSAYSAY AWARD FOR INDIA'S BHARAT VATWANI, SONAM WANGCHUK India's Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk will be honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year. Along with these two, Youk Chhang from Cambodia, Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz from East Timor, Howard Dee from the Philippines and Vo Thi Hoang Yen from Vietnam also got the award. The six Magsaysay awardees will each receive a certificate, a medallion and a cash prize. They will receive the award on 31 August at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The foundation said that Bharat is being awarded for his work for the mentally-afflicted people in India. Sonam Wangchuk, the man on whom Aamir Khan's character in the movie '3 Idiots' was based, has also been recognised for his communitydriven reform of learning systems.

Imran bats for Pakistan Continued from page 1

Meanwhile, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party has announced they would form a grand opposition in the Parliament. Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the parties had agreed in principle to form a strong opposition both inside and outside the Parliament. Party representatives said they will issue a white paper about alleged election rigging.

The cricket star and A-list celebrity, Khan could either use his fame and charisma to reset his country's troubled relations with the West, or simply follow the path walked over by many Pakistani leaders before him - support harsh Islamic laws and show sympathy for militant groups.

However, Khan brings more stardom than any recent Pakistani leader, and the janta hopes for a better chance of a naya Pakistan. Deputy director for the South Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, Michael Kugelman said, “Relatively few Pakistani leaders have won over the West. But Khan is familiar with operating in the international world.

He already has strong name recognition. He doesn't need to be introduced.”

Oxford-educated and formerly married to a wealthy British woman, Khan is no stranger to the highest circles of the mighty West. He was even close friends with Princes Diana. However, that is the cricketer Khan, and politician Khan has visibly distanced himself from his days as a celebrity and a ladies' man. He now has sympathy

for the Taliban, Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws, and a strong, aggressive view on Kashmir. The 65 year old is already known for being dangerously accommodating of extremists.

Demand for probe over 'poll rigging' Sharif's PML-N demanded an official probe into allegations of rigging in last week's elections. "We demand a judicial commission to probe incidents that took place on July 25," PML-N leader Khawaja Asif told reporters after a meeting of the party's Central Executive Committee in Lahore. Asif said he would publish a white paper with proofs of alleged fraud committed during the elections.

India intensifies contact with PTI After providing a seal of approval to Pakistan elections, India has intensified

contacts with Imran's PTI in the run-up to government formation. The Indian mission remains in touch with senior PTI leaders who are likely to play an important role in the new government, according to sources.

While the PTI campaign was not completely devoid of anti-India rhetoric, the Indian side understands that this had more to do with the rough and tumble of Pakistan politics than any antipathy for India. Khan’s party too has been appreciative of the fact that the Indian side, contrary to the popular perception in Pakistan that the Narendra Modi government wanted Nawaz Sharif’s party to return to power, remained equidistant from all parties. “They know that the Indian mission was as much in touch with PTI as with PML-N or even with PPP,” said a source.

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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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4 - 10 August 2018

How turmeric could offer hope for millions with glaucoma Researchers find compound in turmeric can be used in eye drops to halt vision loss Turmeric could offer hope for millions of people battling the common eye condition glaucoma, researchers believe.

Scientists have found a derivative of the spice used in curry - curcumin - can be used in eye drops to halt vision loss.

Trials showed eye drops containing curcumin, responsible for turmeric's yellow colour, slashed the loss of crucial retinal cells in rats.

Glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness, mainly involves the loss of retinal ganglion cells, located near the surface of the retina.

The condition strikes 60 million people across the world, estimates suggest, and is most prevalent among the elderly.

Evidence already exists to show curcumin can protect retinal ganglion cells from dying off, when taken

as a tablet.

But the compound has poor solubility, meaning it does not dissolve easily and can take a long time to enter the bloodstream.

Patients would, therefore, need to take up to 24 curcumin tablets a day to see enough benefit from the compound.

The new British study delved in to other ways of delivering curcumin, in hope of finding a more reliable method.

Researchers at University College London and Imperial College London led the trial, published in Scientific Reports.

They claim their findings, based on human cells and rats, pave the way for a more reliable method to deliver curcumin to patients.

Eye drops are the main treatment for glaucoma, according to the NHS. They all work by reducing the build-up of pressure in

patients' eyes.

Delivering curcumin as eye drops increases the compound's solubility factor by almost 400,000 times. And it localises the curcumin in the eyes instead of throughout the body, meaning it can get to work almost immediately.

Francesca Professor Cordeiro, who led the study, described curcumin as an 'exciting' compound.

The study was first conducted on retinal ganglion cells in the lab, before moving onto testing the eye drops in rats who were given

the eye drops twice daily for three weeks and had much lower levels of retinal ganglion cell loss than their counterparts. No side effects, including irritation or inflammation, were noted by the team of researchers.

Professor Cordeiro said: 'As we live longer, diseases such as glaucoma and Alzheimer's are steadily increasing.

'We believe our findings could make a major contribution at helping the lives of people affected by these devastating diseases.'

Omega-3 supplements make children better behaved by improving brain health Children who take omega-3 supplements are better behaved, new research suggests. Youngsters who take such supplements every day are less likely to disobey instructions, steal or damage property, a study found. This in turn makes such children's parents less likely to argue with them, the research adds.

Lead author Professor Jill Portnoy, from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, said: 'Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to improve brain health in children and adults. There is more to be learned about the benefits, but if we can improve people's brain health and behaviour in the process, that's a really big plus.'

Some 200 children were analysed, half of which were given a fruit drink containing 1mg of omega-3 fats every day, while the remainder received the same beverage but without the supple-

Omega 3 supplements could help improve childrens behaviour

ment. The children's parents or carers reported the youngsters' behaviour at the start of the study, when the trial ended six months later and then a further 24 weeks after that.

The study's findings add to Professor Portnoy's interest in whether people act a certain way due to aspects of their genetic makeup or if social factors drive them to it. She said: 'Biology and social environment interact in complex ways that we're just beginning to figure out.'

Professor Portnoy plans to investigate whether hav-

ing a low heart rate leads to anti-social behaviour. She said: 'If you are subjected to chronic or frequent stress as a child, you adapt by lowering your heart rate.

'The lower heart rate protects you by blunting your reaction to stressful events, but it can also lead to stimulation-seeking behavior. In other words, a stressful environment may cause physiological changes that lead to an increase in aggressive and impulsive behavior, in addition to causing the behaviour directly.'

This follows research released last December which suggested feeding babies eggs boosts their brain development function.

Just one egg a day for six months significantly increases youngsters' levels of the nutrients choline and DHA, both of which are involved in brain health, a study found. Previous research suggests feeding

babies eggs improves their growth and prevents stunting.

Lead author Lora Iannotti, from the Brown School at Washington University, said: 'Like milk or seeds, eggs are designed to support the early growth and development of an organism and are, therefore, dense in nutrient content.

Daily intake of eggs could boost brain development in babies

'Eggs provide essential fatty acids, proteins, choline, vitamins A and B12, selenium, and other critical nutrients at levels above or comparable to those found in other animal food products, but they are relatively more affordable.'

Nearly one million antidepressants doled out to kids in less than three years Nearly one million antidepressants were doled out to children in less than three years, new figures reveal.

Between April 2015 and March 2018, 950,000 prescriptions were issued to children under

18 in the UK, according to data obtained from Freedom of Information requests.

Prescriptions rose from 290,393 in 2015-to-2016 to 330,616 in 2017-to-2018, with the sharpest increase being in

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the under 12s, where prescription numbers increased by 24 per cent.

Experts have blamed long waits for specialist mental health services for being behind children's increased reliance of depression medication. In rare cases, antidepressants can trigger thoughts of suicide and self harm in children.

Dr Shruti Garg, a Camhs

consultant at the Manchester Foundation NHS Trust, added young people may also struggle in the period between leaving Camhs' care at 16 to being provided adult mental health support at 18.The Department of Health in England told the BBC it has pledged £1.7bn to transform Camhs. This money is due to go towards a wider range of therapies.

Superbugs are in the air As well as soot and exhaust fumes city air could be filling our lungs with antibiotic resistant genes, a study has found.

Some two million people in the US are thought to become infected with drugresistant bacteria every year, and they could be inhaling them from the air.

The genes which cause bacteria to become immune to medication – antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) – are able to move between different bacteria and also from bacteria into the environment, experts say.

And research by the American Chemical Society revealed scientists have found the airborne genes in farms and parks in America.

This confirms drug

resistance could be spread through the air, adding another element to a growing challenge for scientists around the world.

It suggests bacteria could acquire their ability to survive antibiotic treatment – and become superbugs – from the air we breathe.

The researchers added the ways pollution is measured and the public are warned should be changed to explain the risk of breathing in the resistant genes.

28 BOLLYWOOD

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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4 - 10 August 2018

Priyanka, Nick engaged, says media reports The US media has reported that actor Priyanka Chopra and pop singer Nick Jonas are engaged after two months of dating. People.com quoted a source saying the couple got engaged a week before Priyanka’s 36th birthday on July 18 while the two were in London. “They are so happy,” the source told People.com. A source close to Jonas said the singer is “very, very happy.”

“His friends and family have never seen him like this, and they’re all really excited for him. He’s definitely very serious about her,” the source added. Priyanka and Jonas had made their relationship public earlier in the month of June, but they are yet to officially comment on it.

Meanwhile, Bollywood director Ali Abbas Zafar announced

Priyanka’s exit from his film 'Bharat' in a cryptic tweet alluding to her beau. He said the reason for her opting out in the “Nick of time” was “very special”. Over the last several weeks, Priyanka and 25-year-old Jonas have been spotted on several dates, including a dinner date in New York City and a Beauty and the Beast Live in Concert show in Los Angeles.

Priyanka was also seen celebrating July 4 - the American Independence Day - with Nick’s family. Nick earlier visited India with the “Quantico” actress to meet her friends and family. The couple has been sporting similar gold rings.

Khushi Kapoor too will join Bollywood

Deepika’s wax figure to be unveiled in London, Delhi

Yet another from the Kapoor clan will be joining the Bollywood soon.

Khushi Kapoor is following elder sister Janhvi Kapoor's footsteps and focusing on becoming an actress. Khushi, apparently had no plans of joining Bollywood, but of late she has changed the course of her boat, and is all set to navigate a new terrain. Earlier, the youngest daughter of veteran actress late Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, wanted to pursue a career in modelling and Sridevi had confirmed it herself.

However, now it seems that the young girl wants to don the hat of an actress. Guess, Janhvi’s recent success with her debut film 'Dhadak,' motivated her to take the big step. When daddy dearest Boney Kapoor was asked if Khushi plans to tread on Janhvi’s path, his answer was affirmative. Boney in a recent conversation said, “I wouldn’t say that I motivated Janhvi. I encouraged her to let her do what she wants. Why curb someone’s natural instincts? Like for one, I didn’t know until Salman (Khan) told me that Arjun (Kapoor) has it in him to become an actor. On the other hand, my eldest child, Anshula is extremely academically inclined. And Khushi first wanted to become a model, but has now shifted her focus to becoming an actress.” Acting runs in her blood and so this doesn't come as a surprise.

Ranbir turns photographer for Alia Bhatt in Bulgaria Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor are shooting for 'Brahmastra' in Bulgaria along with Amitabh Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia and Nagarjuna. Amidst work, Alia was joined by her dear friend Akanksha Ranjan Kapoor in the foreign land and the young actor couldn’t hold her excitement. As Akanksha reached Bulgaria, Alia posted a photo on her Instagram story with the caption “Lookie who’s here”. Later, she shared another photo with her bestie where the two pretty girls are looking out of the window and enjoying the scenic beauty of Bulgaria. Guess who clicked the candid photo of the two friends? Alia’s co-actor Ranbir Kapoor. Crediting the click to Ranbir, Alia captioned the image, “the view and her too.. photo credit – RK.” Alia has been sharing many photos of herself from Bulgaria where she is filming for the second schedule of the movie. And this is not the first time that Ranbir has turned photographer for rumoured girlfriend Alia. Earlier too we saw photos of the 'Raazi' actor with Ranbir in the background holding a camera. Ranbir and Alia’s relationship is no longer news for their fans. The two actors have neither accepted dating each other nor have they denied it.

Actress Deepika Padukone will be joining the superstars at Madame Tussauds, with wax figures in London and Delhi. The first figure will be launched in London in early 2019, while the Delhi figure will follow a few months later, a statement said. Deepika made her Bollywood foray with “Om Shanti Om,” beginning a journey that has seen her experience a whole lot of success. Known for her savvy style and versatility seen via films as diverse as “Piku” and “Padmaavat,” Deepika has also done a Hollywood film, “xXx: Return of Xander Cage.”

The team of Madame Tussauds expert artists met Deepika in London for the all-important sitting for her figures, where they took over 200 specific measurements, as well as photographs to create an authentic likeness.

A delighted Deepika said, “The sitting with the team of experts was a special experience and I look forward to the incredible figure at the attraction.” “Deepika is an extremely talented actress that Bollywood has seen over the years. Her fan following is huge and is growing across the world. Her beauty has won the hearts of millions across the nation and worldwide,” said Anshul Jain, general manager and director at Merlin Entertainments India Pvt Ltd. “We are thrilled to announce her figure at the Delhi attraction. We are certain that our guests will love to see her wax figure.”

Jackie Shroff plays traffic cop in Lucknow Actor Jackie Shroff, known as the 'Bindaas Bhidu' of Bollywood was at his usual self in Lucknow's streets. The actor, who got stuck in traffic jam near Rumi Darwaza, chose to take charge of a traffic cop to ease out the situation. The senior actor posted the video of him clearing the way. In the video he was seen guiding his car near the Rumi Darwaza. Ever since, he has been garnering applauds from the Twitterati.

Jackie Shroff captioned the post as: "Lucknow Traffic Control... (sic)." The people were delighted to see the star's humble gesture. Seemingly, someone sitting inside a car has shot the video. There have been several comments from the users on the post. "Bhidu is absolutely a true human and that makes him Hero in real life," wrote one. "That's the reason why people love you," read another comment.

"Classic Jaggu dada," and "Nice work Bhidu. Sir, great r u in my city. If it is possible plz come in old lucknow, U vl gt various delicious food (sic)," were the kinds of comments pouring in. On the professional front, Jackie Shroff is shooting for the film 'Prasthaanam,' which also features Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala and Ali Fazal.

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4 - 10 August 2018

I got engaged 10 years back: Taapsee

Trisha conferred with new title

After making a mark in Tamil cinema with films like 'Aadukalam' and 'Kanchana 2', Taapsee Pannu is now an important part of Bollywood and Tollywood. She has been getting critical acclaim for her performances lately. Recently, there were rumours suggested that she has been engaged to a popular badminton player. Before this rumour took centre-stage on social media, Taapsee was quick to handle it. She took to giving a sarcastic reply to a report about her wedding.

Trisha's upcoming film 'Mohini' is a horror-thriller by Ramana directed Madhesh and produced by S. Lakshman Kumar.

Trisha plays the lead in the film and is set to hit the silver screens in the last week of July. At the press meet Trisha shared her experience working with the team.

"I would like to thank the team for giving me this film.

Horror is my favourite genre and I'm so glad I got to play a part in this film. it is a femalecentric film, but it has all the elements in it. Be it romance, horror, thriller or comedy, it has a good blend of all. It is the first time I'm playing a double action role and it was really challenging for me. As a team, we worked really hard for this project since we didn't want to compromise on the class or quality of the film." The highlight of the event was conferring Trisha the title of "Markandeyi" which means everyouthful heroine of Tamil cinema.

Senthil Ganesh and Rajalakshmi sing their couple song Super singer sensation and this season's title winner, Senthil Ganesh has now sung an interesting folk number in Prabhu Deva's upcoming film, 'Charlie Chaplin 2,' along with his wife, Rajalakshmi. The film, also starring Prabhu, Nikki Galrani and Adah Sharma is directed by Shakti Chidambaram.

Talking about the song, Shakti Chidambaram says, "As like the first part, the sequel will also be equally entertaining. The couple, Senthil Ganesh and Rajalakshmi performed a song, 'Chinna Machan Sevatha Machan', during the show, which became instantly popular. We recorded that song in our music director Amrish's studio. Prabhu Deva and Nikki Galrani will feature in the video song."

* Schedule is subject to change

TIME

MONDAY 6th - FRIDAY 10th August

19:00:00 19:30:00 20:00:00 20:30:00 21:00:00 21:30:00 22:00:00 22:30:00 22:30:00

TIME

19:30:00 20:00:00 21:00:00 22:30:00 23:30:00

TIME

TV PROGRAM NAMES

SAVITRI DEVI COLLEGE & HOSPITAL UDANN SHAKTI ASTITVA KE EHSAAS KI TU AASHIQUI ROOP BEPANNAAH SILSILA DEV 2 KAUN HAI? (Friday only)

SATURDAY 11th August TV PROGRAM NAMES

DESI BEAT 3.0 NAAGIN - SEASON 3 DANCE DEEWANE KAUN HAI? DESI BEAT 3.0

SUNDAY 12th August TV PROGRAM NAMES

19:30:00BREAKFAST WITH CHAMPIONS 20:00:00NAAGIN - SEASON 3 21:00:00DANCE DEEWANE 22:30:00KAUN HAI? 23:30:00BREAKFAST WITH CHAMPIONS

* Schedule is subject to change

MONDAY 6th - FRIDAY 10th August 16:00: RASOI SHOW 17:00: FOOD HIGHWAY 17:30: THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI

"Really! Strange I was invited to my own engagement... and just so u know my parents haven’t visited Goa since past 10 years... unless u think I got engaged 10 years back," said the Pink actress, denying the rumour.

SATURDAY 4th August TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES

* Schedule is subject to change

16:30 17:30 18:30 20:00 21:30 22:30

TIME

16:30 17:30 18:30 20:00 21:30 22:30

CID Dus Ka Dum Indian Idol Indian Idol Dus Ka Dum Crime Patrol

SUNDAY 5th August TV PROGRAM NAMES CID Dus Ka Dum Indian Idol Indian Idol Dus Ka Dum Crime Patrol

MONDAY 6th - FRIDAY 10th August TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 18:30 19:00 19:45 20:30 21:15 21:45 22:15

18:30: 19:00: 19:30: 20:00: 20:30: 21:00:

Yeh Pyaar Nahi Toh Kya Hai Mere Sai Vighnaharta Ganesh Porus Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai Dil Hi Toh Hai Crime Patrol

UTTARAN DIL KI PUKAR AMRUTA GHADGE & FAMILY ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN DESI BEAT 3 BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE 21:30: RADHA KI BETIYAAN 22:00: RADHA PREM KI DEEWANI 22:30: AMRUTA GHADGE & FAMILY

Wednesday August 08, 2018 00:28 Film : Jeet - Born To Win 05:00 Film : Rokkk 07:10 Film : Rahu Ketu 10:00 Film : Aasma - The Sky Is The Limit 12:24 Film : Shaurya 15:21 Film : Ghatak 18:32 Film : Star Stop * Schedule is subject to change 19:04 Film : Kasoor 22:20 Film : Dastak Sunday August 05, 2018 Thursday August 09, 2018 01:35 Film : Familywala 01:00 Film : Jahan Tum Le Chalo 05:00 Film : 18.11...A code of secrecy 05:00 Film : Surkhaab 07:22 Film : Tehzeeb 07:00 Film : Sai Teri Maya 10:27 Film : Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha 09:25 Film : Juaari 13:29 Film : Baazigar 12:31 Film : Pappu Can't Dance 17:00 Film : Phata Poster Nikla Hero 15:12 Film : Woh Lamhe 20:00 Film : Tanu Weds Manu 17:50 Film : Star Stop 22:24 Film : Shor in the City 19:00 Film : Aakrosh Monday August 06, 2018 22:00 Film : Koyelaanchal 00:40 Film : Ragini MMS Friday August 10, 2018 05:00 Film : Bas Ek Tamanna 01:00 Film : Kaun?

07:05 Film : Kaash 05:00 Film : 18.11...A code of secrecy 09:50 Film : Indra- The Tiger 07:24 Film : Tadipaar 13:20 Film : Gulaab Gang 10:18 Film : Shaurya 16:14 Film : English Vinglish 13:10 Film : Chaar Din Ki Chandni 19:00 Film : Blackmail 16:00 Film : Sanam Teri Kasam 21:45 Film : Bol 19:15 Film : Ra.One Tuesday August 07, 2018 22:25 Film : Jab We Met 00:52 Film : EMI - Liya Hai To Chukana Padega Saturday August 11, 2018 05:00 Film : The Perfect Girl 01:18 Film : Tumsa Nahi Dekha 07:00 Film : Shukriya 05:00 Film : Chal Bhaag 09:54 Film : Baazigar 07:03 Film : Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya 13:23 Film : Jo Bole So Nihaal 09:52 Film : Josh 15:46 Film : Tanu Weds Manu 13:13 Film : Dhadkan 18:05 Film : Star Stop 16:41 Film : Aakrosh 19:00 Film : Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha 19:35 Film : It's Entertainment 22:00 Film : Dhokha 22:21 Film : Shakti - The Power

SATURDAY 11th August

TIME

TV PROGRAM NAMES

18:30: UTTARAN

19:00: DIL KI PUKAR

19:30: IIFA WEEKEND WITH STARS 20:30:0 IIFA BUZZ

21:30: RISING STAR

SUNDAY 12th August

TIME

TV PROGRAM NAMES

17:30: "WEEKEND KA MAHAEPISODE DIL KI PUKAR" 18:30: UTTARAN 19:00: DIL KI PUKAR 19:30: IIFA BUZZ 21:30: RISING STAR (SEASON 2)

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Longest football match record attempt begins

for the Rohingya crisis.

More than 700,000 Rohingya people have fled the destruction of their homes and persecution in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) since August 2017.

The players will be scheduled to come on and off the pitch on a balanced shift pattern over the 109 hours, which is the equivalent length of 72 games.

Sarfraz Hussain, organiser of the event at West

Footballers are aiming to play a match non-stop for five days and four nights to break the longest game world record. The match began at 9:00 BST in Leicester and the men need to play for 109 hours, finishing on Friday, to break the current Guinness World Record of 108 hours with 36 players. The 36 players will take turns and must remain close to the pitch throughout the record attempt.

The One Nation challenge aims to raise £100,000

Gate School, in Leicester, said: "The players will be coming on for approximately two hours or three hours at a time and rotating for 24 hours for five days. A lot of the guys have come on board for two reasons - they love football and they want to break this Guinness World Record for an amazing cause.

"We are hoping to meet the target of £100,000, which will impact on the lives of 30,000 men, women and children in one of the

largest refugee camps in the world."

The Rohingya, who numbered around one million in Myanmar at the start of 2017, are one of the many ethnic minorities in the country.

The United Nations described the military offensive in Rakhine, which provoked the exodus, as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Myanmar's military said it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies targeting civilians.

Schoolboy makes big screen debut in Tinseltown film premiered at The Downtown Independent cinema in Los Angeles.

According to Manny, the film is set to be presented at film festivals after the first screening - with the eventual dream of Oscars success.

For young Arun, it was certainly a tough topic to be making his big screen debut

A Coventry schoolboy is set to star on the big screen with the premiere taking place a stone's throw from Hollywood Boulevard.

Grangehurst Primary School pupil Arun Hayre starred in documentary film The Boy Who Never Came Home, along with his dad, Coventry actor Manny Hayre. And this week the

Bochasanwasi Shree Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha's head Param Pujya Mahant Swami is currently in Godhra. He earlier conducted his vicharan in Bochasan till July 27. The occasion of Gurupurnima was celebrated in his divine presence. During the vicharan, different dance and cultural programmes and other entertainment were organised. Pujya Atmaswarupdasji explained the significance of Gurupurnima, keeping in mind the principles of 'Guru Seva: From the heart, deeds, and words'.

Mahant Swami remembered Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj, and Pramukh Swami on the occasion, and keeping their lessons in mind, said that the Lord's true path cannot be found without a Guru. Mahant Swami will go to Bodeli on August 2.

Sneh Joshi

An off-duty police officer who told a 17-year-old girl he was a firefighter before sexually assaulting her has been jailed for seven years.

Majud Hussain, 41, of Wilford Crescent East, Nottingham, picked up the teenager and attacked her in the back of his car in Stapleford in July 2017.

Hussain, who denied the charges, was found guilty of four sexual offences at Nottingham Crown Court. He will now be the subject of a police gross misconduct hearing.

Hussain finished his shift at Leicestershire Police and drove to Long Eaton city centre in the early hours of 17 July 2017, the jury heard.

He picked up two teenage girls, telling them he was a firefighter, and took them to McDonalds.

He later dropped the 14year-old girl home, but took the 17-year-old to a street in Stapleford where he sexually assaulted her in his car.

Hussain then dropped the teenager off at her friend's house.

The following day her friend called the police. He

REFUGEE'S ABUSE LEAVES SON 'SHAKEN'

Manny Hayre and his son, Arun

- with the film looking at a hugely emotive topic.

The film tells the true story of a five-year-old boy who traveled to India in 1974 and had his organs illegally removed. It goes into an in-depth discussion with the mother of the boy, who never came home.

Manny tweeted that he and Arun are the "first British-born Sikh males to hit the big screen in LA." In addition to Arun and Manny, the cast and crew

feature talent from the Midlands and the UK. Director Ranjeet Marwa comes from Birmingham, while the film was produced by a familiar face.

Bruce Payne, who starred as villain Charles Rane in 1992 action film Passenger 57 turned his hand to production on this effort. The Boy Who Never Came Home premiered on July 27 at The Downtown Independent cinema in Los Angeles.

A refugee who was told he "didn't belong in this country" said his son's sense of British identity has been left shaken after witnessing the abuse.

Rohullah Yakobi said he felt "immense pain" when his British-born son Saaadat, 10, burst into tears after overhearing the incident last Thursday. Mr Yakobi, tweeted what happened when he went to speak to neighbours and has been overwhelmed by the response he has received.

ing with financial interests with a long-term basis and all jointly held resources. There may be a certain amount of unfinished business to be dealt with.

Therefore you will need to adopt a fairly flexible policy in order to accommodate the odd twists and turns of everyday life.

It is certainly going to be a fortunate time for those already married or in an established TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 relationship.

The keynote is emotional enrichment through close interaction with a loved one. Facets of your life that have been a source of restriction and dissatisfaction will begin to loosen their hold.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 There may be a certain

amount of unfinished business to be dealt with. Therefore you will need to adopt a fairly flexible policy in order to accommodate the odd twists and turns of everyday life. there are planetary energies firing you up preventing you from sleeping properly. Give yourself plenty of physical outlets to calm you down mentally.

Relationships are complex in the best of times, but Saturn's motion can make things even more complicated now.

Misunderstandings can plague partnerships or potential romances - be more careful and forgiving. A good time for completing unfinished business and reassessing your future projects.

You have been going through major changes in your relationships. Your ideas about love and partnership are changing daily. As with most things, your health waxes and wanes.

You might even find the energy to keep up with your projected gym schedule. Try to make time for relaxation.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

Don't get over- anxious if you feel that you're being kept in the dark. You will probably find that worries have been unfounded. Although you may be faced with a difficult decision concerning your career or employment, this is not the time to hide. Don't waste time if you can improve matters.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

At home, be at your diplomatic best and try not to tread on anyone's toes. Passions will run from hot to cold, and relationships may suffer. Even the most strongwilled Librans will be more open to compromise to keep the peace. Plan your spending and set sensible budgets to reach your financial goals.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

There seems to be a danger of conflicts of duty between home and work. Your work is likely to take up a lot of your time which may generate some domestic strain. Try to balance these areas of your life. Some of you will be intent on expanding their mental horizons through meditation, yoga or by travelling.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Majud Hussain

was convicted of two counts of assault by penetration and two counts of sexual assault.

Det Ch Insp Kev Broadhead, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "The fact that he was a police officer when he assaulted this girl makes it all the more disturbing - he should have been a person to be trusted.

"The victim in this case has shown a huge amount of courage and I hope that she can find some solace in knowing that Hussain is behind bars."

Julia Debenham, Leicestershire Police's asst ch con said: "Hussain has committed very serious criminal offences. Such behaviour has no place in our organisation."

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The UK’s leading Vedic writer and TV personality

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 It is a favourable time for deal-

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

Police officer jailed for sexual assault

020 8518 5500

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

There are subtle transformations taking shape in your life and a feeling of helpful influences in the background.

There is much to suggest that you are in tune with your inner self and in touch with those hidden forces which often seem to take a guiding hand in one's life. Focus on essentials and establish a solid foundations.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

Get out as much as possible. Do not be misled by inconsequential issues as you will have better opportunities if you stick to your main objectives. A tremendous amount of planetary activity in your chart signals a time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to be dealt with.

You will continue to be in a restless mood for some time to come. This makes you impatient with restrictions and even more determined to cut your own path. Do not get over-anxious if everything seems to be in slow motion - it is time to pull a few strings. You are likely to experience some tension in close relationships..

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

You need to pay more attention than usual to your everyday work dairy. Meetings, work hours and organised breaks could play havoc, unless you're prepared to re-group on the spur of the moment. Try to be meticulous but flexible about your schedule. Play your cards right and you can pull strings in you favour.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

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4 - 10 August 2018

in brief INDIAN WOMEN BEAT ITALY IN HOCKEY The Indian women’s hockey team on Tuesday defeated Italy 3-0 at Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre in London to enter the quarter finals of the tournament.

India will now lock horns with Ireland on Thursday who defeated them in the group stages of the tournament. India started attacking from the word go in the do-ordie match as Lalremsiami scored the opening goal of the match in the ninth minute of the game. Post the first goal, India continued to play with aggression but were unable to score in the second quarter.

With just seconds to go in the third quarter India earned a penalty corner and converted it into a goal with a brilliant deflection from Neha Goyal. With just 5 minutes to go in the final quarter Vandana Katariya too scored with a deflection making it impossible for Italy to level the scores.

MUMBAI TEEN PRABHAT KOLI CROSSES JERSEYFRANCE CHANNEL A Mumbai college student, Prabhat Koli (19), who crossed the English Channel when he was 16, has become the first Asian to swim the choppy water from Jersey (an Island in the UK) to France in cold weather recently. The long-distance sea swimmer covered 25km in 6 hours and 54 minutes.

He started off from La Coupe Point of Jersey, behind St Catherine’s backwater and touched the shore of St Germain Plage on the Normandy coast of France.

His father Raju Koli, an employee of BARC, said Prabhat is the first Asian to have crossed this sea route. “In 2015, he had completed a round-Jersey Island swim of 66km as part of his attempt to swim seven seas. He was supported by his coach Sally Minty Garavett.”

Jersey Long Distance Swimming Club (JLDSC) organized this swim under the observation of Sally Minty Gravett, of the UK. “As per JLDSC records, Prabhat is the first Asian to have successfully attempted this route,” he added. During the swim, the temperature of water was around 16-170 c.

Prabhat had undergone water swimming training at Nanital for a month and Sherwood college swimming pool before embarking on this challenge “It was cold water swim. I had got acclimatized with the weather condition. I had set the target of clocking below 7 hours and managed it. So far, only 13 swimmers have been able to do this in less than 7 hours. Since 1966 only 63 swimmers, including myself, have succeeded in completing the event,” said an ecstatic Prabhat, who is doing second year B Com at Ambedkar College, Chembur.

TWO LANKAN CRICKET LEGENDS ACCUSED OF MATCH-FIXING The 1996 ICC World Cup heroes, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva, have been accused of match-fixing by former Sri Lanka Cricket President Thilanga Sumathipala. He alleged the duo of being the first Lankan cricketers to be involved in a match-fixing scandal. The former SLC chief has stunned everyone by his claims. It remains to be seen how the incident unfolds from here on.

Thilanga Sumathipala has gone on to claim that the country's legendary cricketers took a bribe of $15,000 from someone named Gupta. He also indicated that the duo were involved in match fixing in 1999.

Ironically, Sumathipala had blasted Ranatunga after the former Lankan skipper had raised doubts over the 2011 World Cup final in which India beat the Lankans.

Indian boys thrash Sri Lanka by an innings & 147 runs A brilliant all-round show helped India Under-19 to thrash Sri Lanka Under-19 by an innings and 147 runs in the second and final Youth Test to seal the series 2-0 at Hambantota in Sri Lanka last week.

In this Test, first the Indian batters put up a clinical show to post a mammoth score of 613/8 and then the bowlers did a fantastic job to bundle out the hosts twice in the four day match. Continuing day four for 47/3, overnight batsmen Nuwanidu Fernando (28) and S. Senarathne (3) could not stop the fall of wickets as the latter was dismissed after adding 10 odd runs to the score with Fernando.

Next to depart was Pasindu Sooriyabandara (10). He was dismissed by in-form bowler Siddharth Desai when the scoreboard was reading 76.

With the top five players back in the hut, the onus fell on

Fernando who was playing well at the other end. But soon he was also dismissed by Siddharth.

The lower-order batsmen Sonal Dinusha (26) T Mendis (0) and Nipun Malinga (16) also could not contribute and got

out cheaply. For India, Siddharth was the most successful among the bowlers, scalping four wickets in the second innings. Yatin Mangwani and Ayush Badoni took two wickets each.

Earlier, in the first innings,

Sri Lanka were dismissed for 316. Pasindu Sooriyabandara (115) played handsomely and he was also supported by Sonal Dinusha (51) but lack of support from other players cost them.

Mohit Jangra took four wickets in the first innings.

Smriti Mandhana scores half century in 18 balls Smriti Mandhana smashed the fastest half-century in history of Women's Cricket Super League in London on Sunday. The star opener, representing the Western Storm, notched up her half-century in 18 balls. She now shares the record with Sophie Devine of New Zealand, who achieved the feat in identical deliveries. Mandhana, who is also the first Indian to feature in the league, finished her innings with an unbeaten 52 off 19 balls against Loughborough Lightning. Her innings was laced with five boundaries and four hits over the rope in a sixover-per-side rain-marred match. The innings also helped her side beat the opponents by 18 runs. The Western Storm applauded Mandhana for her prolific knock.

Highest six hitter Mandhana also became the

highest six hitter in the tournament with 11 hits over the fence from 3 innings ahead of West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor who had smashed nine sixes in 2016 and New Zealand's Rachel Priest who also had nine sixes to

her name in 2017. Mandhana on her debut in the league missed out a half-century by a whisker.

She scored a blistering 48 from 20-ball against Yorkshire Diamonds in a successful runchase. In that knock, she had hit

five sixes and three boundaries.

Mandhana has been in good form in 2018. She had smashed a half-century in 25 balls for India against England in March to better her own 30-ball 50 record.

1978 Asian Games gold medal winner seeks help Hakam Singh Bhattal, 64, a former Asian gold medalist and is battling with serious liver and kidney ailments. He seeks immediate help to meet the hospital expenses and stay alive. He had won the gold medal at the 1978 Asian Games in the 20-km race walk. He had made India proud by winning a gold medal in Asian Games 1978 held in Bangkok. He bagged the first place in the 20km race walk discipline. He also won a gold in the Asian Track and Field Meeting held at Tokyo in 1979. But all of it seems to be forgotten by the country. The Punjab government has left the former athlete on his own as his health deteriorates.

Admitted to a private hospi-

tal in Punjab's Sangrur district with severe liver and kidney ailments, Hakam Singh is in miserable condition. As for his family, seeing the former champion inch towards his end due to lack of proper medication is worst. They are struggling to bear the expense of treatment with no help provided by the state government.

Hakam Singh did not just have an illustrious career as an active athlete but also as a coach and later as a part of Punjab police.

In 1981, Hakam Singh’s career in athletics was cut short after meeting with a serious accident. But he did not give up on his dream of taking the sports in India to newer heights. Hakam Singh turned into a coach for young athletes.

In 2003, Punjab Police hired him as an athletic coach in the department. In 2014, he retired after serving as a constable.

Among the many feats, winning Dhyan Chand Award in 2009 remains the most memo-

rable. With the state government turning a blind eye to his deteriorating health conditions, his family request Sports Minister of India Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to come to his aid.

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Indian wrestlers Bajrang, Pinki win gold medals in Turkey

Bajrang Punia and Pinki

Bajrang Punia won his second consecutive international gold while Sandeep Tomar had to be content with a silver medal at the Yasar Dogu International as Indian wrestlers returned with 10 medals, including seven by women, from the ranking event in Istanbul, Turkey. In the women's competition, Pinki was the lone gold medallist in the 55kg category with her 6-3 win over Ukraine's Olga Shnaider in the final but Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik endured a disappointing result as she failed to reach the medal round in the 62kg category.

Overall Indian women grapplers outperformed the men's by winning seven medals. CWG champion Bajrang, who won a gold at the Tbilisi Grand Prix in Gerogia early this month, did not have to break a sweat as his gold medal opponent Andriy Kvyatkovskyy from Ukraine withdrew from the 70kg final due to an injury. In the 61kg final, Sandeep, who was the last Indian to grab a place in Indian men's Asian Games squad, lost 2-8 to Iran's Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi.

Vicky had won a bronze in the 57kg yesterday.

All other Indian men's wrestlers - Amit (65kg), Jitendra (74kg),

Pawan (86kg), Deepak (92kg), Jashkawar Singh (97 and 125kg) failed to reach the medal rounds. Two gold medals were at stake in the women's 53kg and 57kg categories but Seema and CWG silver medallist Pooja Dhanda lost their final bouts.

Seema was outplayed 2-10 by Ukraine's Khrystyna Bereza while Pooja was outclassed 0-11 by another Ukrainian Irnya Khariv. In the 62kg, Sarita grabbed a bronze with a commanding 10-0 win over Turkey's Cansu Aksoy. In the same category Sakshi also competed but she won only her qualification round before suffering a defeat by fall against Elmira Gambarova in the quarterfinals.

It was Sakshi's first competition since winning a bronze at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games this year. In the three-player 72kg category, Rajni finished second after losing the final 3-4 to local girl Beste Aitug. Sangeeta Phogat (59kg) and Geeta (65kg) won bronze medals in their respective categories.

Both Pooja and Pinki are in India's women's Asian Games squad along with Sakshi and Kiran, who also failed to reach the medal round in the 76kg category.

Shreyas Iyer to lead India A against SA, Australia A sides Promising top-order batsman Shreyas Iyer was named captain of the India A teams which will take on South Africa A in the upcoming four-day games and a quadrangular series involving the two teams and Australia A. The team also includes Under 19 World Cup winning captain Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and India regular Yuzvendra Chahal.

The BCCI also named the India A and India B teams for the quadrangular series against Australia A and South Africa A with U-19 pacer Shivam Mavi finding a place in the India A team. The India B team will be led by Manish Pandey. It will be the fourth team in the series and will also see the likes of highly rated top-order U-19 batsman Shubman Gill. In the bowling department, Navdeep Saini and Prasidh Krishna were chosen with Krunal Pandya being the allrounder option.

The India 'A' squad for the four-day games against Australia 'A' will be announced soon, a BCCI statement said.

Squads: India A against South Africa A Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, R Samarth, Mayank Agarwal, A.R. Easwaran, Hanuma Vihari, Ankit Bawne, K.S. Bharat (WK), Axar Patel (1st four-day game)/S. Nadeem (2nd four-day game), Y. Chahal, Jayant Yadav, R Gurbani, Navdeep Saini, Ankit Rajpoot, Md. Siraj Quadrangular series vs SA A & Aus A India A: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, R Samarth, Suryakumar Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad,

Sanju Samson (WK), Mayank Markande, K. Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Md. Siraj, Shivam Mavi, Khaleel Ahmed India B: Manish Pandey (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, A.R. Easwaran, Shubhman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Ricky Bhui, Vijay Shankar, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Gopal, Jayant Yadav, D.A. Jadeja, Siddarth Kaul, Prasidh Krishna, Kulwant Khejroliya, Navdeep Saini The committee also picked the teams for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, 2018-19.

India Blue: Faiz Fazal (Captain), Abhishek Raman, Anmolpreet Singh, Ganesh Satish, N. Gangta, Dhruv Shorey, K.S. Bharat

(WK), Akshay Wakhare, Saurav Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Basil Thampi, B Ayappa, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni India Red: Abhinav Mukund (Captain), R.R. Sanjay, Ashutosh Singh, Baba Aparajith, Writtick Chatterjee, B. Sandeep, Abhishek Gupta (WK), S Nadeem, Mihir Hirwani, Parvez Rasool, R Gurbani, A Mithun, Ishan Porel, Y. Prithvi Raj India Green: Parthiv Patel (Captain & WK), Prashant Chopra, Priyank Panchal, Sudeep Chatterjee, Gurkeerat Mann, Baba Indrajit, V.P. Solanki, Jajal Saxena, Karn Sharma, Vikas Mishra, K. Vignesh, Ankit Rajpoot, Ashok Dinda, Atith Sheth

in brief ASHWIN JOINS WORCESTERSHIRE FOR COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has joined Worcestershire cricket club for the last two games of the County Championship, slated to be held later in the year. The 31-year-old, who played four matches for the club in the last season, made a great impact by taking 20 wickets and averaging 42.50 with the bat.

Reflecting on Ashwin's come back to the club, Worcestershire's chief executive Matt Rawnsley said that they are delighted to have him in the team as he is one of the best spinners in the world. "The lads all speak so highly of him, the impact he had on the field and the way he slotted in so well off the pitch and he was willing to offer advice to our young spinners like Ben Twohig," he added. The Worcestershire head coach Kevin Sharp also expressed happiness over Ashwin's comeback and said that it would prove to be a "great fillip" for the team.

CHANDIGARH FENCER WINS HISTORIC BRONZE MEDAL Fencing prodigy Yashkeerat Kaur Hayar admirably showcased quality to win bronze in the individual epee section at the Commonwealth Junior and Cadet Fencing Championship in Newcastle, England. The 17-year-old is the first Indian woman fencer to win individual medal at the Commonwealth level. “I should have done better. I lost by just two points in the semifinal to my Scottish opponent. That said, this medal definitely boosts my confidence level,” Yashkeerat said.

ENGLAND RECALL ADIL RASHID FOR FIRST TEST AGAINST INDIA England recalled Adil Rashid to their 13man squad for the first Test against India even though the Yorkshire leg-spinner has opted out of playing first-class County Championship cricket this season. Rashid is now in line to play his first home Test, after all 10 of his previous appearances were made overseas.

His inclusion alongside off-spinner Moeen Ali in a squad for what will be England's 1,000th Test when they face India in the first of a five-match series at Edgbaston, comes despite Rashid deciding to opt out of all first-class cricket this year ahead of a home World Cup campaign in 2019.

It was a bold move by a panel headed up by new national selector Ed Smith, who earlier this season recalled Jos Buttler to the Test squad for a drawn series against Pakistan. Rashid won the last of his 10 Test caps away to India in Chennai more than 18 months ago. He starred recently in England's one-day series win over India, producing a classic leg-break to bowl India captain and star batsman Virat Kohli as the hosts clinched a 2-1 success at Rashid's Headingley home ground.

England Test captain Joe Root can bowl off-spin, while left-armer Jack Leach, who like Rashid naturally turns the ball away from right-handed batsmen, suffered concussion on his return to county cricket with Somerset. “Before the selection meeting, Adil had confirmed his availability to play Test cricket for England for whole of this summer and the upcoming winter tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies.”