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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

VOL 42. ISSUE 6

A Great Royalty by the Rule Book

80p

8th June to 14th June 2013

Irish Sikh refused permission to wear turban at work Angry community and MPs protest against the discrimination towards the Indian origin man

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In the 60 years reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the country has seen enormous change.

Her Majesty has stood as a rock against challenges that she, the nation and the Commonwealth have faced both nationally or i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y.

Unparalleled popularity and public adoration is an apt reward and salutation for a ruler of such unique distinction.

Ireland has again become the centre of a controversy involving discrimination towards a man of Indian origin.

After the recent death of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, the Irish court has now refused an appeal by a Sikh man to wear a turban while on duty for Ireland's police force.

Continued on page 13

UK-raised Bollywood actress Jiah Khan commits suicide The Bollywood actress Jiah Khan alias Nafisa Khan, who was born in USA and grew up in London, was found hanging in her apartment in Mumbai. The body of Jiah, 25, was found hanging at her 'Sagar Sangeet' residence in Juhu on Monday night where she lived with her mother and

sister who were not present when she ended her life.

Continued on page 26

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Keith Vazwith MP

Keith Vaz MP

Steve Reed MP

of energy, optimism and a lot of support to change hearts and minds.

Steve Reed MP was elected as MP for Croydon North on the 29th November 2012 in a by-election following the death of the incumbent Malcolm Wicks. He was formerly leader of Lambeth Council, credited with transforming the borough into one of Labour’s flagship local authorities. Despite funding cuts during Steve’s term as leader, Lambeth Council opened a new library, started building three new leisure centres, opened six new schools, increased pay for the lowestpaid as a Living Wage council, and was in the process of upgrading 15,000 substandard council homes. Before becoming an MP Steve led on the country’s biggest regeneration project based around Battersea Power Station.

1) What inspired you to stand for Parliament?

I became a councillor and, later, a council leader because I wanted to tackle unfairness in my local community. I was very proud that many council services improved dramatically as we involved more local people in taking decisions about them.

I wanted to take that experience to Parliament to make a difference nationally too.

2) What are your proudest achievements in politics?

I was very proud of how much Lambeth Council improved while I was leader. We opened 4 new schools and dramatically improved school standards,

opened a new library, started building 3 new leisure centres with pools, increased pay for the lowest-paid, froze council tax for 6 years, saw services for vulnerable children rated the best in the country, and pioneered a new cooperative approach to running public services that gave more power to residents. I'm proud of what we achieved and the great Labour team that made it happen.

3) Please tell us about your current position?

I'm now Member of Parliament for Croydon North. I was elected in a by-election last November following the tragic

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

The people who taught me the most are the people I've represented. The answers to the problems we face as a society lie in our own communities, we just need to find ways to let their creativity and leadership come out. That's what cooperative politics is all about.

death of my Malcolm Wicks.

predecessor

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

Looking back at the changes we made to turn round Lambeth Council, the biggest obstacle was people who didn't believe things could be better.

There are always people who fear change - often for understandable reasons. It takes a lot

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

The best thing about being MP for Croydon North is the people of Croydon North. We have one of the most diverse communities in Britain - I love the energy, creativity and celebration of different cultures that brings.

7) And the worst?

The worst thing about being a Labour MP is that we're in opposition. The Government is getting so much wrong, partic-

ularly on the economy where their failure has led to mass unemployment. In opposition we are powerless to stop them and that is deeply frustrating.

8) What are your long term goals?

I want to help get a Labour government elected that puts cooperative politics at its heart.

There's so much more we can do as a government if we learn to trust people and engage them in decision-making.

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

The great scandal of our age is the vast disparity in wealth between the developed and developing worlds. We have to tackle that so we can tackle the poverty and disadvantage that scars much of humanity.

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

Jesus. Religion has been responsible for so much good, but also so much harm including wars and persecution. I suspect he's been much misunderstood and I'd like to hear his side of the story.

What is happening in the name of Ugandan Asians?

Dhiren Katwa Preparations for an event to mark the 40thanniversary of the British Uganda Asian expulsion are underway. The event being held at Leicester Cathedral next Saturday (June 15) has been organised by The India Overseas Trust in partner-

.

according to the invitation, will be Secretary of State for Communities and Local government, Rt Hon Eric Pickles.

A series of searching questions from well-wishers in the UK and in Uganda prompted me to speak to Sheena Bhattessa, event spokeswoman, who is handling the PR. My questions included: who is organising this event; who is providing funding for this event; has the event received any financial support from the family of Late Manubhai Madhvani, the Ugandan Indian entrepreneur and community activist.

I also asked why the event was being held in Leicester and not in London, where over 70 per cent of Ugandan Asians reside.

“The Committee chose Leicester but there are other events that will happen in London later in the year. The PR department will inform all concerned,”

ship with local organisations including Shree Sanatan Mandir, Muslim Forum, Sikh Parents Association, Jain Samaj and the Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat.

The programme will be led by the Dean of Leicester, The Very Reverend David Monteith, and the chief guest,

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was the response from Praful Patel, who appears to be the leader of the organising team.

This begs the questions, what is the role of The India Overseas Trust, who are its trustees, and what other activities is it involved with, does it not?

Its audited accounts is likely to make interesting and informative reading, documents I shall be looking into.

Ugandan-born Mr Patel, who previously settled in the UK, has for the last 30 odd years resides mainly in Mumbai, India.

Interestingly, last year an announcement of a similar gala event informed people that the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, and the British Premier David Cameron were likely to be present. However, I have learned from community leaders of the Indian Association of Uganda, Kampala that President Museveni was never invited. According to my

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sources in London the British Prime Minister has also been never invited.

Several readers in the UK and in Uganda who have received an invitation to the 15thJune event in Leicester, or have just heard about it, have expressed concern and feel it is inappropriate to celebrate the expulsion of Ugandan Asians. It is well recognised that Britons and the then British government provided tremendous support and Ugandan Asians have reciprocated enormously

in their contributions across all walks of life in this country.

Stop Press: We also gather that B a ro n e ss S h ri t i V ad e ra , Lo r d Dolar Popat , both eminent Ugandan Asians, as well as Uganda born Shail esh V ara MP will not be attending the 40th anniversary thanksgiving event in Leicester on 15th June. Several questions and eyebrows are being raised. I shall be following developments over the next week and will provide an update next week.

Levenes Solicitors are proud to announce that their Partner Mitesh Patel won the 'Best in Legal Services Award' at the inaugural British Indian awards. Over 400 people attended the glamorous event. A proud Mitesh said, “I was humbled and honoured to win the Best in Legal Services Award. The award would not have been possible without my excellent legal team at Levenes who work tirelessly for our clients. The award is also a testament to the endeavours of first generation Indians, like my parents and many others, who came to Britain and worked hard so their children could have the chances they never had...”

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Comment

India and Japan seal strategic partnership The India-Japan relationship has come a long way.

Time was when it amounted to little more than polite conversation on trade and economic aid.

India appeared strange to most Japanese who experienced the country for the first time. The Japanese, being a disciplined race reared in the social mores of Confucianism, were confused by the babble tongues, the ethnic diversities and public clamour of the Indian reality. Indeed, way back in the 1870s, when the Emperor Meiji and his guest, US President Ulysses Grant, discussed the international scene, both expressed bafflement when it came to India, which to them seemed a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Times have changed. Modern travel and business have lifted the barriers, as has the fluidity in regional and global politics. The Japanese footprint in India today is significant without being compelling. Carmaker Suzuki has outpaced all its competitors, domestic and foreign, in the Indian market and is going from strength to strength, while Delhi’s world class metro is a monument to Japanese technological prowess and financial clout.

Nothing is as strong as an idea whose time has come. This is true of the India-Japan partnership, which is on the brink of critical mass. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the early running without receiving a matching response from his counterparts until his soul-mate Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived and broke the mould of Japanese politics and ended a decade of drift and uncertainty. Mr Abe has been passionate about India and forthright in expressing it. Both men are determined to take the Indo-Japanese partnership into a higher trajectory of trade, investment, civil nuclear cooperation and naval exercises, coupled with a institutionalized security dialogue. These are now part of the seamless robe of mutual understanding.

Dr Singh’s visit to Tokyo was awaited with great interest and its outcome fulfilled expectations in both countries. In nuanced speeches to three different forums, the Japan-India Association, Japan-

India Parliamentary Friendship League and the International Friendship Exchange Council, with Japanese and Indian MPs in the audience, Dr Singh spoke glowingly of Japan as a role model of economic growth and development, and the high stakes for the world in a reinvigorated Japanese economy. Dr Singh said that at this moment of flux the Asia Pacific region faces multiple challenges.

India and Japan had a unique opportunity to chart a new course for Asia based on inter-dependent prosperity and peace. Japan’s rise as a modern knowledge-based industrial power was a source of inspiration to India. India’s gradual but sustained economic rise had created new opportunities for both countries to work together. India needed Japanese technology and investment. India in turn offered increasing opportunities for the growth and globalization of Japanese companies for the overall progress and prosperity of Japan itself.

Prime Ministers Singh and Abe called for a speeding up of the master plan for the industrial corridors between Mumbai and Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad and Bangalore and Chennai, where the Japanese presence will be of paramount importance. Japanese investment in electronics hubs and super-fast bullet trains are also high on the IndiaJapan agenda. Civil nuclear energy cooperation is something of a sticking point, with Japan keen that India sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. No Indian government has been willing to do so and the present one is no exception. But it has reiterated its committed to refrain from nuclear weapon tests. The two positions will have to be bridged through a mutually acceptable compromise, but this will take time to work out.

Meanwhile the People’s Daily, mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, has blasted “Japanese politicians as petty burglars” and accused Japan of trying to rope in India in its bid to encircle China. Wonders will never cease.

Be that as it may, India and Japan are constructing a partnership fit for 21st century purpose.

They are in business. Serious business.

Britain and France fish in troubled waters The Anglo-French Entente Cordiale has been a dubious enterprise for much of its long life.

Formed in 1904 as a hedge against German aggression, it served its purpose on the European continent in the First World. Thereafter its performance has been inglorious, culminating in the shame of Munich and the betrayal of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. In the Middle East the record was no better. Sir Mark Sykes and Charles Georges Picot in 1916, representing Britain and France respectively, divided the spoils of the mouldering Ottoman Empire in Arab lands in secret, a cynical exercise in imperial realpolitik. In October 1956, the socialist prime minister of France, Guy Mollet, and the Conservative prime minister of Britain, Anthony Eden, embarked on the misadventure of Suez. No lessons, it would appear, have been learned. Here we are in 2013 witnessing or about to witness the spectre of yet another Anglo-French force majeure in the Arab world, led again by a French Socialist Prime Minister in Francois Hollande and a British Conservative Prime Minister in David Cameron.

It beggars belief that with so much on their respective plates at home, including stagnating economies, near zero growth and record levels of unemployment, the Entente Cordiale should consider an intervention to force a regime change in Damascus. The coalition of Syrian rebels are a motley crew of Sunni warlords, al Qaeda jihadists and a sprinkling of liberal secularists with neither

guns nor real political authority. Do the British and French governments know for sure the outcome of their decision to arm the Syrian opposition? There is a dangerous and lethal sectarian divide in the Syrian civil war, with serious ramifications for the entire region. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf sheikhdoms (no paragons of democracy) are pouring in weapons to one side, Iran and its local Hizbollah proxy are similarly engaged with the Assad regime. Into this maelstrom come Britain and France bearing gifts of guns and bombs. The Arab and wider Muslim world will come through their crises with their own efforts or perish in the attempt to solve them. Foreign intervention will surely add to the present inferno. Witness presentday Iraq, liberated from Saddam Hussain’s dictatorial rule only to be reduced to a bleak desolation of sectarian strife, which claims scores of innocent lives on an almost daily basis.

The Syrian conflict is a tinderbox that could blowback into something bigger, with unforeseen consequences for regional and, maybe, global peace. Miscalculation is an ever present danger.

The weak European Union has been coerced into lifting the arms embargo on Syria. Its Eurozone progeny hovers precariously on the brink of economic collapse. Meanwhile, the great and good of the EU and the massive Brussels bureaucracy indulge in inane summitry and pass resolutions of pious intent. There is nothing left in the tank but wind.

Indian cricket in the pits Indian cricket at present is more entertaining off the field than on it. The spot-fixing and betting scandal is lapping at the doors of cricket board President N. Srinivasan. Caesar’s wife must be beyond suspicion. Clearly, Mr Srinivasan’s management style has led to unrest within the Indian cricket administration, leading to a spate of resignations. The ground from under his feet appears to be crumbling fast. Mr Srinivasan would have been better advised to step aside for an appropriate panel of enquiry to investigate matters, and return to serve the remainder of his term were his name to be cleared.(This he has belatedly done, with Jagmohan Dalmiya as a temporary stand-in, as we go to press) Mr Srinivasan chose to hang on longer than he

should have. In the process, he faced the ignominy of public ridicule and obloquy.

The Indian cricket board, swelled by a cornucopia of cash, has used financial muscle to ride roughshod over the counsels of other boards. This has led to resentment and friction within the international cricket fraternity. Mr Srinivasan’s highhanded methods have earned him a multitude of foes at home and abroad. Money is meant to be a means to an end – which ought to be the welfare of cricket and cricketers everywhere, and taking the game to new corners of the world. International cricket was meant to be run in a consensual environment, not on the principles and practices of Tammany Hall.

3

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness - Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Is The Election Over - What The Tories Need To Do For Democracy A walk around Hounslow reminded this past week just how entrenched Labour are in the minds of British Indians. Just because Labour are not in power, we should not think they are not entrenched (you will see what I mean as you read on).

Remember the Tories topped the polls before the last election and despite that were not the winners!

The 2005 election gave Labour 355 MPs over Conservative’s 197 and an overall Parliamentary majority of 66. But this hides exactly the advantages in our electoral system which is locking in Labour – let alone the British Indian mindset.

First, Labour’s dispersion of voters is such that they can at merely 36% of the votes still win an election – as in 2005.

36% is the winning post for Labour. Before the last election in 2010, they were third in the polls before the election – but still not far from 36% - the Liberals went to them first to form a pact.

Never before in the history of British elections has a party won with such a low percentage of votes as Labour did in 2005. Never in the history of British elections has a party had just enough of its voters spread efficiently so that with such a low spread of voters it can win enough seats.

To understand this – think of it this way; we have a system whereby if you win a seat by 10,000 votes, you win it just as much as if you won by 1 vote. Tory voters tend to give themselves thumping large majorities and so in a way to say the Conservatives have a poll lead is irrelevant

because you are only counting a lot of people in constituencies you’ve already won not people in ones where you need to win from Labour.

Labour tend to have lower majorities, but more of them – it’s just the way their vote is spread and so they tend to win more seats per voter.

This is why it is vital for David Cameron to focus on building the Party machinery, not alienating it, if he wants to stand any chance of winning.

So pronounced is Labour’s advantage that in 2005 more people actually voted Conservative than Labour in England– but the Conservatives won 92 fewer seats than Labour within England (285 to 193). Indeed the Conservatives received 60,000 more votes than Labour in England.

Put another way Labour can get 55% of the seats with only 36% of the votes cast.

Whereas everyone else combined with 64% of the votes can only manage 45% of the seats – because everyone else’s votes are spread so inefficiently ie they are concentrated in fewer seats.

Even when everyone other than Labour has about 65% of the votes – that isn’t enough for over 50% of the seats.

To reiterate this ‘spread’ argument - the Tories with just 3% fewer votes than Labour (33% to Labour’s 36%) got only 30% of the seats against Labour’s 55% in 2005.

But it gets worse for democracy. There was an overall turnout of 61% in the 2005 election. But that means more people decided not to vote than voted for Labour.

Continued on page 13

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Midlands Voice

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 8th June 2013

20 year campaign ends in success Leicester: A 20 year campaign to establish an Indian Visa Centre in Leicester has been brought to an end with an announcement that Leicester will get an Indian visa application centre of its own.

An ecstatic Keith Vaz the MP for Leicester East has said it was unbelievable that the campaign, backed by thousands of local Leicester people over two decades has ended in success.

The announcement was made at a lunch reception held on the 30th May 2013 at Peepul Centre in the Leicester. The announcement was accompanied by a symbolic release of balloons one for each year of the campaign since 1993.

Local councillors and dignitaries attended the lunch that Mr Vaz was hosting in

honour of Dr Virander Paul the new Indian Deputy High Commissioner who has recently arrived from Washington.

Numerous campaigns, letters and petitions have been presented by Mr Vaz on behalf of local people to the High Commission and he has raised the issue on numerous occasions when visiting India.

There are currently, only two cities in England with Indian application centres, Birmingham and London.

Keith Vaz commented: “This is a dream come true. I cannot believe that after so many people campaigning over the last few decades that it has finally happened. It will allow residents to save even more time and money.

I’m delighted that Dr

Virander Paul has come to formally announce this with me. It shows a fresh commitment of the High Commission to help people of Indian Origin in Leicester.

With the Home Office Biometric Centre opened recently in the City Centre and now a new Indian visa centre, Leicester is the hub of the East Midlands.”

Dr Paul commented: “We have eight centres in six cities and we are going to have six more in different cities.

“I am happy to say Leicester will be one of those.

“It will ease the problems of the Indian-origin community in Leicester having to travel.

“We realistically expect that in three to four months all the new centres should be up and running.”

Consumer watchdogs launch investigation regarding family run tv repair businesses

Birmingham: Consumer watchdogs are again launching investigation regarding a family run TV repair businesses with a record of shortchanging customers in Birmingham, a local newspaper has reported.

Birmingham Mail repeatedly wrote about Gurdave Sharma, pictured, who was jailed twice for fleecing customers through his TV repair firm TVRC in Washwood Heath Road, Washwood Heath.

He was first jailed in 2006 after breaching a court order intended to stop him conning customers across the region.

After serving six-and-ahalf months of the one-year sentence at Winson Green prison, Sharma apparently told the Mail he had “turned a new leaf”.

He was again back behind bars in April, 2011, after once

again being caught charging hundreds of pounds for dodgy repairs and failing to return TV sets to customers.

In October, 2011, Gurdave’s brothers, Sukhdave and Hardave Singh Sharma, who ran a TV repair company in the city centre’s Constitution Hill, were given orders at Birmingham County Court to trade lawfully following similar complaints.

In the same month, Gurdave’s other brother

Restaurant boss jailed for killing woman in high-speed crash Birmingham: A restaurant boss has been jailed for 4 years for killing a woman and injuring her pregnant sister in a high-speed car crash.

Amirul Islam was branded “arrogant” as he was sent to prison over the death of Sarah Child.

The 26-year-old was mowed down by Islam as she and her sister Claire, 24, crossed Walsall Road, in Great Barr, on July 28 last year.

Sarah, pictured, suffered severe head injuries and died at the scene.

Claire, 30 weeks’ pregnant at the time, was left with leg injuries, although her unborn child was not hurt.

Birmingham Crown Court heard Islam had been driving at an average speed of 64mph and sounded his horn, expecting the sisters to move out of his way. The 36-year-old, had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

The judge said Islam, at the wheel of an Audi A4, had driven aggressively before the crash happened, getting close to other cars and forcing them out of his way.

He said the sisters had been crossing the road quite normally and Islam would have had plenty of time to see them.

The judge told Islam: “You expected the girls to get out of your path and were sounding your horn.

You made no attempt to stop.”

Rashad Mohammed, defending, said: “He thought he could get past them before they came into his path. He made a tragic mistake.”

Gurdit Sharma and nephew Gurlakhdave Singh Sharma were apparently also given similar orders after complaints about their TV repair business.

Now Birmingham City Council’s Trading Standards team has received fresh complaints about TV repair firms operating under a number of names from the same two addresses, linked to the Sharma family, in Washwood Heath Road and Constitution Hill, the newspaper has reported.

The newspaper said among the angry customers is 34-year-old planning manager Rob Smith, of Telford, who has reportedly claimed that he has not seen his TV since last September after he took it to be repaired at TV Hospital, in Washwood Heath Road.

He said he has also writ-

ten to the company to complain, but has received no response.

The Mail had also contacted TV Hospital, also advertised as Central TV Repairs.

A spokesman, who did not wish to be named, reportedly confirmed that the shop was run by Gurdit Sharma. He said Gurdave only visited the premises “to help open up”.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Birmingham Trading Standards told the newspaper: “We are investigating TV repairs that run from companies operating under a variety of names in Washwood Heath Road and Constitution Hill.

“We are gathering information and looking at taking more formal action.

“We are keen to speak to any consumer who may have had problems with these traders.”

Shopkeeper jailed for attacking drunken man Leicester: An angry shopkeeper jailed for attacking a drunken man outside his store, breaking his jaw, a court has heard.

Pankaj Mistry (50) was jailed for 16 months after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The assault happened after the victim went into the Elite news and off-licence on October 28 at 8pm.

Ben Gow, prosecuting, told the city's crown court: "The complainant frankly admits he was drunk at the time. He went in the shop to borrow a pen because he wanted to make a note of something and was being loud on his mobile phone.

"An argument broke out between him and the defendant. Mistry's brother appeared from a back room and the complainant backed out of the shop.

"After he'd left, the defendant picked up a stick, a heavy wooden handle, formerly

attached to a pick-axe or something. He walked outside and struck the complainant on the face with the stick, causing significant injuries."

The facial injuries included a fractured lower left jaw that needed an operation to insert titanium plates to realign the jawbone and a tooth was extracted. He spent three days in hospital and could only drink through a straw, initially.

He continues to have nightmares and is still only able to eat soft food.

Mr Gow said: "The complainant had to give up his business and put a number of people out of work."

Sentencing, Judge Michael Pert QC said: "You used something like a pick-axe handle to strike a man's head in the street and break his jaw, causing considerable injury and suffering for a long time.

"However irritating and drunk he may have been, there was absolutely no excuse for what you did."

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In Brief Youths urged for crime views Leicester: Leicestershire's police and crime commissioner Sir Clive Loader has requested young people to apply to be part of his youth commission.

He aims to work with a group of 14 to 25 year olds to develop strategies to address urgent issues, including offending and reoffending, hate crime, and drug crime.

Sir Clive said: "Young people want to be part of the solution, not be seen as the problem, so it is crucial they have a voice.

"I am keen to hear their views on how we can work together."

Making the gift of life possible Leicester: BAPS Charities, partnering with the Leicestershire Kidney Patients’ Association (LKPA), NHS Blood & Transplant, and the National Kidney Federation (NKF), will host an event at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan M a n d i r , on Leicester Sunday 16 June 2013 from 4.00pm to 8.00pm as part of a joint project to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation a m o n g s t Hindus. A key aim of the event is to get as many Hindus as possible to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.

Entitled ‘Making the Gift of Life Possible’, the event will address the barriers that prevent Hindus from considering organ donation and transplantation, and will tackle religious and cultural issues, whilst reinforcing that Hinduism is fully supportive of organ donation. The event will provide an opportunity for discussions, particularly relating to the Hindu perspective of organ donation.

Testimonies from Hindu patients awaiting transplants, transplant recipients, and their families will be heard. Specialist speakers include Dr Rakesh Patel, Dr Sunil Daga, as well as Hindu beneficiaries of organ donation.

Dr Sejal Saglani, Head of BAPS Health Care and volunteer of BAPS Charities shared, “We are delighted to host this conference to tackle an important concern within the Hindu community which will help those in need of vital organs.

Although almost a quarter of all patients awaiting transplantation are of Asian origin, only 3% of subjects registered for organ donation are from an Asian background.”

Kirit Modi, Chairman of the NKF, said: “I am urging all individual Hindus and Hindu organisations in this country to respond positively to addressing the shortage of organs so that we can save lives.

Together we can make a difference.

Please talk to your family members about organ donation and register on the national organ donor register today.”

Margaret Ince, Chair of the Leicestershire Kidney Patients’ Association said, “Organ donation not only gives joy and life to the recipients, and their families and friends, but also, for deceased donors, helps their families come to terms with their loss by finding benefit in this ‘gift of life’ to others.”

5

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Ding ding dong - a retail brand for bong!

Spriha Srivastava

The trend called “bollywood” stereotype, i.e., if you are geeky, intelligent, a classtopper you automatically start looking un-cool.

You wear big black frame glasses, holding on to a heavy book that no one can understand and your friends think you are the girl one can fall in love with. But no, you are not cool.

So in order to become cool and appealing to your friends you have to wear revealing clothes, take your glasses off, curl your hair and dance and sing like others. Can the two not go hand in hand?

And can you not be a topper and at the same time

look cool? Why do you need to come out of a particular character and change yourself in order for a guy to start liking you? Why is Bollywood stuck with these stereotypes?

Gone are the days when we went to a cinema for its story. The film industry is extremely star-driven and the trend has been changing more and more. In the past decade or so, one can literally count on their fingertips, stories that have created a stir. But then, as film-makers say these films target only a handful of viewers. Not everyone is interested in watching a social issue film. But no, my point here is not about social issue films. Why can’t we

have original fictional stories too? For instance, a film like Sarkaar or a film like Vicky Donor are two extreme but they both deal with excellent stories in their own way.

But a film like Student of the Year does not depict what a normal university in India is like.

It is trying to set a trend, one that is far from reality. But those of us who have a marketing bent of mind would say, that’s what sells in the end.

And it’s true as well.

Karan Johar’s larger than life movies always do wonders at the box office because they are far away from reality. They are what we wish to be but cannot due to constraints. They are what we watch as dreamy-eyed viewers in the hope that someday we might be in the place of “ Ya s h v a r d h a n Raichand.”

Brings us to a very interesting question – Is cinema a necessary evil for our society? I have always believed that cinema is a very strong medium through which one can send a message across. It brings out the stark reality of our society, our government, our economic situation and so on. But increasingly it is becoming a money making tool.

We show what sells and from a business and profit making point of view this is an excellent model.

But is that what this is all about? We are a developing nation with thousands of problems cropping on a daily basis. Isn’t it time to make a little shift from what sells to what can make a change?

Or is that too much to ask?

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

L-R: Mr Gaurav Sharma, Mr. Dharmesh Saxena, Mr Saba, Mr M Vasantha Krishna, CEO New India UK, Mr G Srinivasan, CMD New India, Mumbai, Mr Ramakant Agrawal, Manager, Mr Paren Patel and Surendra Patel, ABPL Group (back) at a reception to welcome G Srinivasan, Associate of Institute of Cost Accountants of India and Fellow of Insurance Institute of India

Mo Luthra Branding Consultant www.moluthra.com Pot. Ganja. Weed. Mary Jane. Whatever you want to call it, marijuana has been part of culture both in the East and the West for centuries.

Since the turn of the 20th Century it is commonly been a banned substance; campaigners have been fighting and lobbying to change that, to promote its health benefits and recreational users stating that it’s no worse than drinking.

Over the years the attitudes towards marijuana have really changed

brand name in the heads of an audience where previously no brand existed

is not only powerful but incredibly profitable. We are talking about a market easily worth $100 billion.

Morals aside, this is actually a very unique situation. You have a product that has been used for generations with a very committed user base and no official ‘company’ to buy from. The introduction of brands in this arena will be fast and furious, each trying to sell a different aspect of their product.

At the fore front of the crest and riding the wave is Jamen Shively, former manager at Microsoft. He recently stated that his planned brand Diego Pellicer ‘to become the Starbucks for weed lovers.’

While we are a few steps away from actually full blown legalisation, the wheels are certainly in motion and companies and individuals are clamouring to get a front row seat in a business that already has everyone hooked.

60th anniversary of Queen's coronation celebrated at the Westminster Abbey Queen Elizabeth II marked 60 years since her coronation with a service in London’s Westminster Abbey, where she was crowned, underlining her religious dedication in her role as UK head of state.

The bells of the worldfamous Abbey pealed as the 87-year-old monarch's Bentley drew up and she stepped out to enter the church where as a 27-yearold she became Queen of Britain and Head of the Commonwealth in June 1953.

Some of those who took part in her coronation in 1953 were also among the congregation.

The Queen was accompanied by more than 20 members of her family, including Prince William and his pregnant wife Kate Middleton.

Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, representing the 54 nations in the grouping of which the Queen is head, mostly former British colonies, was among those present to give a reading at the ceremony. Representatives of the Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish communities were also present.

The congregation sang the National Anthem before British Prime Minister David Cameron gave a reading from the 'Book of King'.

Queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who had pulled out of an engagement on Monday night because he was feeling unwell, was also by her side. The Archbishop of Canterbury told those

Photo by Hulton Archive

Have you heard of the latest trend called bollywood? Well these days we watch a film for its mindless script, for the fact that it has “timepass” storyline and music and we laugh our minds off and leave the theatre. But what is the takeaway? Maybe a song or a couple of funny scenes? But that raises a very important question – the role of cinema in our lives? What is it supposed to do?

It is often said that films are a depiction of the society and they often represent what various sections of society think, feel and the way they act in their real lives. But increasingly I am wondering if films truly are the real portrayal of society? I am prompted to write this because over the weekend I saw the latest flick “Yeh Jawaani hai D e e w a n i . ” Personally I liked the movie for the same reasons I have mentioned at the beginning of this article. It was a mindless comedy, not much story line except for boy meets girl, cannot decide whether to go for the girl or his dreams but in the end has to make a tough choice. Brilliant music, good acting and beautiful locations – probably a “paisa vasool” as many say. Especially with a dance number by Madhuri Dixit adding more flavor to the film.

However I wasn’t very impressed with the way the movie depicted young people these days, especially Deepika Padukone’s character in the film. So the film brings you the age old

also. Governments have downgraded the classification of the drug, to the point now in the USA that the states of Colorado and Washington have legalised recreational smoking and will allow selling of it to adults next year.

Which then begs the question, how would one purchase legalised cannabis? The answer is very simple, just as one would purchase a pint of milk, from your local retailer.

With that in mind the race to create and market a leading brand for marijuana is now on. The ability to market and place a

Queen Elizabeth II perched in a traditional howdah, on the back of an elephant, during her tour of India, January 25, 1961

gathered in the Abbey that the coronation all those years ago had been "an ordination, a setting aside of a person for service".

Commonwealth Secretary General Kamlesh Sharma

The hour-long service for 2,000 guests this morning was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, John Hall, and the address was given by the Anglican faith’s

most senior cleric, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The priceless St Edward’s Crown travelled amid the tightest possible security to be placed on the High Altar of the Abbey together with the Ampulla, a gold, eagle-shaped bottle from which holy oil was poured to anoint the Queen, first time since 1953.

Weighing 2.23kg (nearly 5lb), the St Edward's Crown is the heaviest crown in the collection of Crown Jewels.

It is set with tourmalines, white and yellow topazes, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, peridot, zircons, spinel, and aquamarines, step-cut and rose-cut and mounted in enamelled gold collets, and with a velvet cap with an ermine band.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

CII to organise annual CEO delegation in the UK to enhance Indo-British economic ties

7

Air India cabin crew detained An Air India cabin crew was detained by the London police for allegedly smuggling 50 cigarette crates, the NDTV has reported.

Though some members of the crew were released later, Bhavik Shah, who later admitted to his crime, was detained for eight hours, the tv channel confirmed. The airline later bailed him out by paying £5,000. Confirming the incident, a senior Air India official told NDTV that Mr Shah has been suspended.

According to airline sources, the incident

reportedly took place last Friday after Air India's Mumbai-London flight landed at the Heathrow airport. While the crew members were on way to the hotel, the police carried out a search of their baggage.

During the search, there was no claimant for a bag which contained the 50 cigarette crates, following which the police detained the entire crew. After a four-hour-long questioning, it was revealed that the bag belonged to Mr Shah and later he reportedly admitted to carrying the contraband.

Peers caught in lobbying scandal PM David Cameron

Rt Hon Vince Cable, MP

Mr S Gopalakrishnan

Mr S Gopalakrishnan, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys Limited will be leading CII’s annual CEOs delegation to United Kingdom from 9-12 June 2013. The delegation will be in London from 9th-11th June and will visit Loughborough on 12th June.

The visit this year gains significance as it follows shortly after a high profile visit by Rt Hon David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, to India. Prime Minister Cameron during his visit to India was accompanied by a political and the largest ever business delegation from UK to any country. Enhancing business ties with India was the primary focus of his visit. The delegation therefore will have a two fold agenda: 1. Exploring ways to enhance economic ties between India and UK. 2. Identifying collaborative measures to help each other in the current volatile economic climate. The delegation will try build and intensify partnerships which will enable counter challenges of the current times and contribute to Global growth.

During the course of the delegation the members will meet and interact with several British Government officials and also engage in conferences, business meetings and Roundtable interactions.

On 10 June 2013, the delegation will meet Rt Hon Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. At this meeting the members will apprise Dr Cable of the current economic scenario of India and existing and emerging economic opportunities between India and UK. The members will also discuss issues and impediments to trade and investments between the two countries.

The meeting with Dr Cable acquires importance as he is the UK co-chair for the India-UK JETCO a joint initiative by the India and UK governments to enhance cooperation in specific sectors. Dr Cable will visit India later this year for the next meeting of JETCO. The CII in association with the London Business School will be organizing its Annual India-UK Conference to discuss ‘India-UK Partnerships: Working towards Global Growth’. The Conference is being co-chaired by Mr S Gopalakrishnan, President, CII and Mr Peter Sands, Group CEO, Standard Chartered Plc. The opening session of this conference will set the tone for discussions on gyrating global growth graph and partnerships to revive and build sustainable economic ties

between India and UK. The session will also focus on how these partnerships can lead to Global growth. The opening session will be followed by two Parallel sessions discussing ‘The Indian opportunity- still attractive?’

‘Partnerships in R&D and Advanced Manufacturing’ with a focus on Industry-Academia collaborations.

On 11 June 2013, the delegation will engage in business discussions and roundtables. The members of the delegation will participate in a roundtable discussion on ‘Responsible Corporations: Wealth and Public Good’. The theme of the Roundtable has been developed by CII in collaboration with the London School of Economics and the session will bring together businesses, academicians and practitioners to discuss the business of Philanthropy, the efforts towards creating responsible global businesses.

Infrastructure and infrastructure financing has been an important area of cooperation between India and UK. During his visit to India, Prime Minister Cameron, established UK’s interest in participating in the multi-billion dollar Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor project and the two sides agreed to examine the content of a feasibility study and to work out a road map for a possible partnership in this area. Taking this dialogue to the next level, the delegation members will participate in discussion Meeting India’s Infrastructure Challenges, a meeting with BMEC UK group on 11th June. The discussion will be facilitated by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) and will provide an opportunity to exchange views on BMEC and to explore opportunities for the India and UK private sector to collaborate on projects along the proposed corridor route.

Energy security is a major challenge for both India and UK. At the Prime Ministerial meeting during the visit of Prime Minister Cameron to India, both sides agreed to cooperate to face this common challenge.

The leaders discussed collaborations in the energy sector including on oil and gas, renewable energy, energy efficiency, the power sector, and business leadership on low carbon technologies On 11th the members of the delegation will meet Rt Hon Gregory Barker, Minister for Business Engagement with India and Minister for Energy and Climate, Change, UK and Baroness Sandip Verma, Minister of Energy and Climate Change, UK, and discuss next steps for businesses from both countries in the sector.

The delegation members will also participate in Roundtable on

‘Start-up UK Exploring Technology Joint Ventures with India. This will be jointly organised by the CII-India Business Forum, UK, the Commonwealth Business Council and the Nexters and Hub Westminster. The session will highlight the steps being taken by the UK Government to support startup businesses and the opportunities for developing partnerships with India’s vibrant technology industry.

The session will also consider how technology can be harnessed to support social innovation in both India and the UK. On 12 June 2013, the delegation will travel to Loughborough where the members will engage in a Business Interaction on India 201314 and Partnerships between India and Midlands- the Manufacturing Hub of UK. The members of the delegation will also visit state of the art and internationally acclaimed R&D centres in Loughborough including the Additive Manufacturing center, Intelligent Energy and the Sports Technology center.

The delegation includes Mr S Gopalakrishnan, President, CII and Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys Limited, Mr Ajay Shriram, President Designate, CII and Chairman and Senior Managing Director, DCM Shriram Consolidated Limited, Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, Mr Phiroz Vandrevala, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Diligenta Limited, Mr Farhad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall Private Limited, Dr Naushad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall Private Limited, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, CII International Trade and Policy Council & Jt Managing Director, HeroMoto Corp Limited, Mr Deep Kapuria, Chairman, Hi-Tech Group, Mr Shankar Vanavarayar, President Kamaraguru College of Technology, Mr M Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Overseas Bank, Mr Rajesh Shah, CoChairman and Managing Director, Mukand Limited, Mr Alok Kirloskar, Managing Director, SPP Pumps, Mr Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO- India and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, Mr Santosh B Nayar, Deputy Managing Director and Group Executive, State Bank of India, Mr R Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Limited, Mr Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, Tata Communications Limited, Mr T T Ashok, Managing Director, Taylor Rubber Private Limited, Mr Prashant Jhawar, Chairman, Usha Martin Limited and Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman and CEO, Zensar Technologies Limited.

Three members of the House of Lords (HoL) are denying wrongdoing after apparently being caught in a newspaper sting agreeing to lobby in Parliament in return for cash.

Peers Brian Mackenzie, Jack Cunningham and John Laird were recorded by Sunday Times reporters pretending to represent a solar energy firm. The men appeared to agree to push the firm's cause in

Parliament. On Friday, lawmaker Patrick Mercer left the Conservative party in Parliament ahead of allegations of lobbying irregularities due to be aired in a BBC documentary. Mercer is alleged to have taken money from a fake firm professing to work for the government of Fiji. British parliamentarians are barred from using their political positions to make a profit. Critics comment the rules are too loose.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

As I See It 2013

Lady Mohini Kent Noon

LILY Foundation is the sponsored charity of Asian Achievers Awards 2013

Being Born a Girl is Not a Sin But then, why are they still punished?

The obsession with having sons has created a huge gender imbalance in India where girl foetuses are regularly aborted and infant girls often murdered with a pinch of opium. Haima was one such girl punished for being born.

She came from a traditional Muslim family of Benaras. “I’m one of those ill-fated girls, who are unwanted, while the family was desperate for a boy,” she says. She never went to school and had no friends. At the age of 13, her family got rid of her by marrying her to an older man, who brutally raped her. After just one year of marriage, her husband died. Haima was pregnant but her inlaws threw her out, declaring that she was ‘inauspicious for the family’ (manhoos). She tried to return to her parents but they didn’t welcome her either.

“I questioned my very existence but had another life inside me and had to take care of it,” she says. She gave birth to a son, Asif.

The baby brought joy and love into her life for the first time.

After giving birth, she left her parents home with her baby. Having nowhere to go, she

walked to the nearest railway station. Seeing her alone and in distress, a woman named Reena approached her, professing sympathy. Haima confided all and Reena invited her home, prom-

ising her a job. Instead, Reena sold her into prostitution. The traffickers broke her spirit by taking away her baby and locking her up without food or water. They threatened to harm Asif and beat her mercilessly.

“I had no choice but to give into my destiny,” she says. She became a prostitute on Delhi’s G.B. Road where regular customers included policemen. She drank alcohol to numb her senses, took to smoking, and attempted suicide by slashing her wrists.

Haima’s nightmare only ended when she was rescued by STOP India in

a raid on the Delhi brothel. Reena the trafficker sent her messages threatening to kill Asif if she testified against them so Haima stayed silent for a long time.

It was with the encouragement and support of Roma, who runs STOP India, that Haima finally made a statement. Roma even traced her son, who had been sold to a childless couple.

The couple refused to return Asif to Haima. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Eventually Haima made the heartbreaking decision to leave Asif where he was because the couple were good to him.

‘All I want is a good future for my child,’ she says.

Haima lived at the STOP refuge for a long time. With prolonged treatment and counselling, she recovered sufficiently to get married and leave.

The LILY Foundation helps victims to recover from such deep traumas and have the courage to continue living. We do so by supporting our partner projects in India, those who run rescue & rehabilitation shelters, restoring humanity where none exists.

For more information go to http://www.ipartnerindia.org/lily-foundation.php OR contact us at info@ipartnerindia.org/+44 20 7841 8919

Blair warmed Islamist ideology behind Rigby murder as 'profound and dangerous' The former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday warmed that the Islamist ideology behind the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby in South London was "profound and dangerous".

Blair, a controversial figure and now an international Middle East peace envoy, said it was time to admit the breadth of a "strain within Islam" harbouring views incompatible with free societies.

In Mail on Sunday he wrote, "There is not a problem with Islam," he wrote in The Mail on Sunday newspaper.

"There is a problem within Islam — from the adherents of an ideology which is a strain within Islam. And we have to put it on the table and be honest about it.

"I am afraid this strain is not the province of a few extremists. It has at its

Tony Blair

heart a view about religion and about the interaction between religion and politics that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal, open-minded societies.

"At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists, but the world view goes deeper and wider than it is comfortable for us to admit. So by and large we don't admit it."

He said that made

I s l a m i c extremists think "we are w e a k " , which in turn makes those within Islam who want to tackle the issue "lose heart".

Two men charged with murdering R i g b y appeared in separate London court hearings on Monday.

Both Muslim converts of Nigerian descent, they were shot by police at the scene of the killing near Rigby's barracks in Woolwich, southeast London. The murder is the first fatal Islamist attack in Britain since suicide bombers killed 52 people in the London transport network in 2005.

Dear readers, let me briefly touch upon some recent items in the British press which variously affect us. I may not be able to present a deluxe (veg) thali but it is surely my intention to present nourishing and refreshing items.

Traditional thali is for our stomach and this thali is for both our mind and heart.

Need v/s Greed India is a country of contrast. In the population of 1.2 billion, there are a number of people in powerful positions from the top to the bottom, who are involved in corruption and nepotism, so says several reports from India all the time. It is true, but as a frequent visitor to India, in my experience, amongst politicians and bureaucrats as well as much maligned businessmen, the vast numbers are law abiding and has value based behaviours.

There are some rascals who are engaged in acquiring illegal wealth, without any compunction or sense of shame. As Gandhiji said such people “acquire so much wealth which they do not need to buy or possess things that are again not necessary to impress, those whom they dislike.” Gandhiji also said “there is enough in the world to satisfy need of almost everyone but not the greed of some individuals” The UPA government in India should be recommended for the 'Noble prize' for 'the most corrupt government'- if there was a category as such.

Every now and then huge corruption scandals are exposed in the Congress ruled Central government, or in some of the states that are governed by Congress on its own or with other allies.

Not that BJP ruled states are completely immune to such nefarious activities, but at least Gujarat, my ancestral home ruled by the BJP since 1995, has not been exposed in such a corruption scandal so far. If there was any of significance, then the CBI would have been on its trail by now.

Some critics of BJP or friends of the Congress might say “No Gujarat has corruptions, but clever people are perhaps never caught!” Hahaha.

But what happens in the UK is most shameful in the world's 'largest democracy.' Great Britain, I am afraid cannot claim 'greatness' any more. Thanks to the vigilant media the recent exposure of Lords and MPs is shocking, but it could be perhaps the tip of an iceberg.

Though we the British can rightfully claim that once caught, the guilty are prosecuted, but unfortunately in India several such individuals are roaming free, unashamed and without any remorse.

Perhaps they should speak to Ms Arianna Huffington. If you do not know who is she, please google her. A Very ambitious, beautiful, talented and upwardly mobile individual, some say she would deploy all power at the disposal of a woman to succeed. But now I am told that “money and power aren't

everything” says a burnt out Arianna Huffington. At least she is honest and open.

Once again let me end this prepeating those few wise words of the Mahatma- “There is enough in the world to satisfy need of almost everyone but not the greed of some individuals.”

Now returning Indians (NRI) The word NRI has several connotations. All of us know it as the abbreviation for 'Non residential Indians'. What a confusing nomenclature!!! Some Indians felt that NRI is an apt word for 'Not required Indians'. Let me attempt to coin the third meaning as 'Now Returning Indians'. Thirdway, was a terminology used by Tony Blair, Gaddafi and Arianna Huffington.

Let us look at some interesting reporting. The Daily Telegraph magazine recently had several pages on the 'Returning Indians' From the UK, USA and other countries. More and more Indians especially well educated and successful youngsters are returning to India. Admirably not to make more money but for a better quality of life and especially to help their fellow Indians in various ways. All power to them. The numbers are quoted upto 100,000 in some reports. Some of them are from Britain as well.

The emigration of the British Indians will not only help the Indians in India but will also help to foster a long term stronger friendship and cooperation between India and Britain. In a strange way it will bring some solace and peace of mind to some Britons, who are concerned with 'migration issues'. But let me end this with a beautiful piece from the Economist of 1st June under the headline 'Suburban dreamer' Bushey in the leafy suburb of Hertfordshire has increasing number of Hindus. This is inevitable my friends.

You should know that there is a famous Hare Krishna Hare Rama shrine near Letchmore Heath. Krishna and Rama cannot reside alone. The anchor is their devotees. And now 4% of the population of Hertsmere are Hindus.

Don't be over excited. In nearby Stanmore, another beautiful part of North London, 20% of them are Hindus, predominately Gujarati with East African connection. Hindus and other Indians have embarked to follow the footprint of the Jewish community.

Both groups have shared values of hard work and emphasis on traditional families and religious ties.

Such a pattern is not confined to Stanmore or Hertfordshire alone. There are similar areas in Leicestershire, Lancashire, West Midlands, Essex, Surrey and Sussex too. Thanks to our faith and traditions, by and large we are law abiding and a peaceful community.

May that last forever.

- CB

Nepalese woman found dead Detectives have launched an investigation after officers searching for a missing woman found a body in a field.

A Home Office pathologist was at the scene in Arborfield on Monday as police insisted the woman’s death is still being treated as “unexplained”.

The woman has been named locally as 39-year-old Krishna Maya, who was reported missing by her family on Sunday night.

The body was discovered in a field off Robin Hood Copse, between Castle Hill and Eversley Road, near Arborfield Garrison, at around 1pm on Tuesday.

A neighbour said she was Nepalese although it was not known whether she had connections with the Gurkha Regiment.

Krishna Maya

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Shakeel Rahman- A Surgeon who Spends his Spare Time Serving South Asia Shakeel Rahman is a plastic surgery registrar working at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery.

He recently travelled with the charitable organisation Interburns to India and Nepal. Interburns is a network of burn care professionals who volunteer their time to transform the care provided to burns patients in low and middle-income countries through education, training and research.

‘Interburns is like a family – it was a great honour to be invited to join them recently. It was fantastic to be working with like-minded people from around the world who come together regularly.’

Shakeel found that travelling abroad has rounded his perspective on the management of patients in his daily work as the burns registrar at a tertiary centre. Plastic surgery has a lot of misconceptions surrounding it. People often think it is all to do with cosmetic work. However

Shakeel Rahman

LOWER

it encompasses much more and is a broad, technical specialty. It covers burns, complex hand trauma, breast reconstruction, cleft surgery, lower limb trauma and skin cancer.

Often Shakeel and his colleagues collaborate with other specialities.

Shakeel was born in Watford, where his grandparents and childhood friends remain, but moved to Croydon at a young age.

“My parents were supportive of me. Their openmindedness and philosophy gave me all the confidence any young person needs to succeed”.

Shakeel went to a good school, but had the privilege of making friends from all walks of life in and around London. This enriched his greatly teenage years.

“From a young age I started to ask myself about what it means to be British, Indian and Muslim. To my parents this meant: being tolerant, all loving and conscientious”. This outlook and naturally questioning personality led him to study Philosophy and Religious Studies as an undergraduate at King’s College London. He thoroughly immersed himself in London, working at Buckingham Palace, The East India Club and the Department for I n t e r n a t i o n a l Development.

“Having had a lot of time to mull things over,

during my first degree I decided I wanted to study medicine. I was very lucky again, obtaining a place at Nottingham Medical School, just a few months after I finished at King’s.”

From there he has never looked back. Since qualifying in 2007 he has been pursuing his surgical career and fostering working relations in India. ‘It is a lifelong ambition and dream to give something back professionally to the poor and needy in India.’

As soon as he worked out what he wanted to do, he has been trying to achieve it. Ultimately, Shakeel wants to obtain a consultant position in the UK and to go back to India and other parts of the world to help in whatever way he can on a regular basis.

Surgical training in the UK requires single-mindedness and determination.

Friends and family who are outside the medical profession are often surprised at the degree to which work life spills over into home life. This ranges from working unsociable hours; weekends and nights, to spending leisure time undertaking medical courses to keep surgical skills up to date, to nights working on his research in complex lower limb trauma.

It is not all work and no play – Shakeel is a keen footballer, captaining his team to victory during various tournaments at university. He plays football weekly and recently co-organised a successful charity football match in honour of a departed work colleague – raising almost three thousand pounds.

Shakeel has travelled back to India throughout his life, visiting his family in Hyderabad over a dozen times. He thought it was normal to go back to India and speak the language, stay in touch with family and learn more about his origins.

However, he has met many Indians who lead him to believe that it’s not so common. He takes this as a compliment – he is trying his best to improve his Urdu and is determined to learn his grandfather’s Hyderabadi biryani!

Surgical training in the UK requires single-mindedness and determination Shakeel is at an exciting stage in his career. He says he is fortunate to be working at such a supportive department. ‘This is a teaching hospital highly regarded for the excellent training it provides for its up and coming surgeons in Burns and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery. I still have a long way to go, but have got the best support in and outside work that I could ask for’.

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10

Your Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Golden days

Visitor visas

Poisoning British Muslims

Thanks to Rudy Otter for reading my letters and arousing memories of my childhood circa1940. This was my age of wonder and awakening to raw nature.

The environment was pure in a town lying within volcanic crater, sodium carbonate lake, Hyrax hill, Honeymoon Hill and Sandwich Hill. Roads were tracks created by traffic; turned into muddy ruts, during rains, which were sticky for pedestrians. Rain poured twice everyday with two rainy seasons annually.

Rain, accompanied with lightening and thunder, drummed on corrugated roof. Daytime hammering was tolerable, but gave insomnia at night. I remember a neighbour chased by ball-lightening.

As a little boy, my trip extended 20 paces away from house gate to rough road. I watched seemingly endless cavalcade, of military trucks, that amazed me.

My initial brush with wild life was hearing cats fighting at night. During daytime, kittens roamed freely in our house, sit/sleep in ones lap/climb on my shoulders. Litter of puppies offered endless amusement by their frolicking and chasing hapless passerby. On trip to Nairobi timid giraffes, deer and ostriches roamed within arm’s reach.

Massive kai-apple fence shielded a pool in which water cascaded day and night generating pleasant rippling sound.

Soil was so fertile that everything grew with no effort. I became familiar with edible and decorative flora that grew during whole year.

My experiences with nature involving chirpings by crickets, beetles, and nocturnal insects, creepy crawlies, spiders and gecko, chameleons, can appear incredible; Today, I wonder whether these occurred on this planet.

Ramesh Jhalla Via Email

I read in Maria’s Fernandes’s column, that the Government is changing legislation regarding visitor visas so that those who are refused entry, for whatever the reason, have no Right of Appeal. This is very unfortunate, that the present Government seems to be hell bent on reducing the Immigration Act to virtual non-existence.

How can the Government stop people coming here to celebrate the wedding of their grandchildren or close relatives?

Does the Government have any control procedures in place in India ensure that these visa officials are treating the applications fairly? Where is the room for any errors of judgement made by them? Are they not prone to any errors? If we ponder to think about any possible risk factors in allowing these visitors to visit the UK, and we, as law abiding citizens, certainly do not want anyone coming here to work illegally. So what is the other risk involved? That they may come here and never go back to India?

Would the British public sit quiet if they were refused visas by the Indian High Commission to genuine travellers who wanted to experience the richness of Indian heritage and architecture? How would they feel if their Appeals were listed in a remote part of India after 7 months? Would they wait that long for their holidays?

I personally think that the petitions of AV and GS for direct flights to Ahmedabad was a superb success and procured tremendous support from the AV/GS readers and non-readers alike. I would request CB Patel and his team to start another petition against these measures by British Government to refuse the visitors visas. There should be no grounds of Appeal, I agree, because the Appeals heard in the UK are meaningless after the occasion has passed.

The comments made by Dr. Taj Hargev, Director Muslim Educational Center of Oxford on 28 May in the London Evening Standard are really extraordinary. The points raised by him are worth considering for all Muslims. He says that there are three sources from where the Poison is being spread. First, Mullahs are hanging on to the primitive ideas of superiority of Islam over other religions. Second, Saudi Arabia teaches Religious-Cultural distortions between Muslims and Non Muslims. The third, Hadith sayings compiled 300 years after Mohammed of which SHARIA is a concoction of medieval clerical opinions and Fatwas are dubious religious rulings. The result of these teachings from the said three sources is alienating and radicalising Muslims against the people of this country. These are Toxic religious indoctrination and the result is Binary division of the world into two worlds, Muslim and Non Muslim world.

All the sanity available in the Muslim world is silent because they might be accused of being Heretic for which the punishment is death. Dr. Hargev has suggested root and branch reform of Islam while remaining faithful to authentic Koranic Principles of Cosmopolitan Pluralism and Peaceful Coexistence. This is the most wonderful advise to Muslims I have ever seen or heard from a Muslim to Muslim. The question is will they listen? No, because of the terrible illiteracy among the Muslims no rationalization is possible. Unless they are taught the word ‘love’ no peaceful coexistence is possible.

Lords in the Upper House Our Lords in the Upper House of the Parliament have been caught offering to ask Parliamentary questions, lobby ministers and host events on the on the Lords terrace for cash. Lord Mackenzie told Sunday Times reporters that he and his other Lord friends could, ‘run debates, put down amendments and write to ministers for the right amount of money.’

Lord Laird said he could get his other Lord friends to ask questions for him or host a reception at the Lords as he could not ask them personally because he had a financial interest.

All Party Parliamentary Group ( APPG ) can also be set up if the right amount of money is spent and free trips abroad can be organised according to Lord Laird. It is absolutely unbelievable that these unelected Lords are able to influence the way this country is governed and the way they are flaunting the laws of the country.

The way the Caste issue was pushed by the Lords and the way the Hindu community was attacked in the Lords makes it a matter of utter urgency to reform the Lords and remove all unelected Peers.

This country’s reputation as a genuine democracy is at stake.

Nitin Mehta

Kunverji Patel B.Com, FCCA Via Email

No End In Sight Further to Rameshbhai Jhalla’s interesting explanation, I hope following information will answer your question Mr Otter (4 May AV).

According to a layman’s terms, the soul passes through all forms of organisms, with life and death cycle and finally gets human body. Human being has most developed brain and so a person must take this opportunity to* Do good deeds, work hard and achieve goals and aims without thinking of result as success will follow if deserved (your deeds good or bad and knowledge go with you in this birth and next) * Learn and study to acquire maximum knowledge. * Give up desires and control all extreme emotions eg anger, jealousy, sadness, happiness etc.

This is when a person reaches a state of ‘Sthitpragn’-a balanced state of mind.

It is then that a soul gets Moksha (liberation) and does not have to be reborn.

Ila Kapadia Kingsbury

PV Aggarwal Via Email

Are MPs justified in their pay demand?

Recent demand of some £20k pay rise

by MPs has divided public opinion as never before, especially in view of their unpopularity after the expenses scandal that rocked HOC and their inability to take country out of recession, playing havoc with our lives. We never had such lack of political talent since before WW2.

While most agree that MPs basic pay is one of the lowest in Europe, there is also misconception that MPs’ job is cushy with long holidays and short working week. This could not be further from truth. Most MPs work seven days a week with little time for socialising except as part of their workload.

In fact most premier league footballers earn more in a week than MPs, even PM earn in a year. So a performance related increase may be justified but what they need most is complete overhaul of pay and expenses, giving them substantial increase with minimum basic annual pay of £100k and expenses should be paid by Treasury, including staff salaries.

This would discourage tradition of employing relations as fictitious researchers.

Their performance should be judged on success of economy, inflation, unemployment, manufacture, overseas trade and budget deficit. It will make them work hard, avoid time wasting legisla-

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Caste Legislation debate 'Caste Legislation' has generated numerous letters. Some have focussed on individuals rather than on the main issue. One or two were totally attacking other individuals or even the House of Lords itself.

Asian Voice would welcome intelligent debates on the subject without any unwarranted diversification.

The invention of the internet is a very useful tool. The inventor was so honourable that his whole creation is selflessly devoted to the mankind.

Instant and impulsive use of the internet or email, though easy, it is not conducive for a sensible discussion, as I have noticed in some of the ill tempered communications.

All the same, I appreciate your inputs but please accept my responsibility to use my discretion to the best of my ability.

- Editor

GP Appointments are like Gold Dust Fury has erupted over the Tories’ plans to limit the number of times you can see your GP each year. The Conservative party is looking into limiting the number of times we are allowed to visit our GPs. They are considering an annual cap on the number of appointments that patients can book. It is one of a number of options grassroots members were asked to look at in a consultation document.

Since the NHS was created, all British citizens have had the security of being able to rely on access to our health system - whenever we need it. Limiting the number of times we can see our GP would undermine the NHS at its very foundations. This comes on top of the new restriction at some doctors’ surgery where you are only allowed to discuss one problem per visit. All this is, however, academic because as it is, doctors’ appointments are like gold dust and one would be lucky to get an appointment at the time one needs one. Sometimes I do not get an appointment until after two to three weeks’ time and by the time I get to see the doctor, either my problem would have sorted by it self or the aching arm or leg could have dropped off by then! Also, we have to ring an 0870 number for an appointment to be placed in a queue, and by the time you get hold of the receptionist and finish your discussion, you do not get away without spending at least a couple of quid.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford tions such as “Gay Marriage and Caste Discrimination” that is completely irrelevant to most voters. Above all their generous pensions and golden handshakes after losing their seats should be curtailed. I wonder what other readers of AV/GS think.

Bhupendra M Gandhi Via Email Continued on page 13

Education/council Voice

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 8th June 2013

Change Makers Sai Students acting as Poor African Children Jahnvi Kotecha Year 6 pupils at Sai School Harrow which I attend every Saturday morning were introduced to Dr Chun in March this year who wanted our class to take act in a play about a poor African Woman whose life was saved by the generosity of Heart Valve Bank (HVB) a charity inspired by Sai Baba to provide free health care to the poorest people in the world.

Sandhya Thakkar & Bina Mavani, our tutors wholeheartedly went in for the idea for our class to get this opportunity to perform for the 10th anniversary of HVB. We rehearsed for 6 weeks and finally the big day arrived, on Bank Holiday Monday 6th May our play, Heart to Heart, was performed at the W a t f o r d Colosseum, in front of a packed audience, Behind the scenes, Shyama Sodha, our year 4 tutor worked very hard to transform us into African Children.

Our moving play revolved around a poor woman, Agnes, a devout Christian who lived in a

rural Ugandan village with her husband and son. She had a very serious heart condition and was in need of heart valve replacement surgery, however the total cost of $13,500 was an insurmountable amount for her poor family, who could barely feed themselves, so a Ugandan politician contacted Sathya Sai Organisation,

who without hesitation, sponsored the whole trip to India where she attained the necessary operation for no cost at all including flights, surgery and after treatments.

During the play, visual images of the heart operation being performed at the Super Speciality Hospital in Puttaparty were put on the screen whilst we the children back home at the African village sang a moving song to Jesus to save her life during the operation.

As Year 6 children of Sai School, this play has really portrayed the difficulties of poor people who need medical aid and made us realise we can save someone’s life by simply donating or contributing skills such as the medical team of Sathya Sai Hospitals.

If you wish to register your child to attend Sai School Harrow, please contact Tejal Patel on 07951 356 423 or attend our open Day on Sat 22nd June.

Boris sympathises with foreign students The Mayor of London heavily criticised the decision by the UK Government’s to tighten visa for students after it was disclosed that there was a 22% decrease in the number of foreign students last year.

Official figures last week showed that in the year to September 2012 a net total of 153,000 migrants came to the UK, down from 242,000 in the previous year.

“I looked at the recent figures for foreign students coming to this country and I did not regard what seemed to me to be a reduction in those numbers as necessarily a positive economic indicator,” Mr Johnson said in a speech to the Global Universities Summit in London.

“I think we need to push higher education as a great, great international export and we need to be even more open in our dealings with other [higher education] institutions around the world.”

Mr Johnson has previously said that rules preventing foreign students staying in the UK after graduating unless they get a £20,000 job are putting

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London

many people off British universities.

His comments came after Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, used a speech at the same event to warn that public “panic” over immigration is causing economic harm to the UK. Highlighting problems with the visa regime, Dr Cable also reportedly said: “I was at one of our leading engineering companies a few months ago.

“I was introduced to the chief engineer, who was making the most sophisticated engines for Formula 1 cars and he happened to be Indian, and he was coming to the end of his visa and under the existing rules he was

going to have to go back to India and reapply for admission to the UK, right in the middle of a high-pressure contract. It was completely absurd.

“But that is the kind of restriction that is introduced in order to placate public panic that does create an economic harm.”

11

National Hindu Students Forum (UK)

By Mayur Shikotra, Events Team Coordinator

Student Achievers During a student’s time at university, somewhere between all their studying, procrastination and sleeping, they find the time to do something spectacular.

Some join a sports team, others join a variety of societies, but it is those very few individuals who have the courage to make a difference and run a society. Societies at university level hold regular events for their members.

However, only a handful of societies take it that step further and provide students with the opportunity to develop physically, mentally and spiritually; NHSF (UK) societies are within this minority.

The first thing that comes to mind when a student hears about the ‘Hindu Society’ is, “All they do is Aarti”.

However, evidence suggests that NHSF (UK) affiliated Hindu Societies are going above and beyond events, by providing members with a whole new Hindu student university experience.

Most Hindu Societies have weekly, monthly and annual events, which committee members spend their whole academic year

planning. Events include learning events to develop and engage the minds of young Hindu students, sewa events to give something back to the samaj, sports training to ensure students have a healthy body as well as healthy mind, trips to local Mandir’s and NHSF (UK) National and Zonal events which unite and bring together NHSF (UK) members from across the UK. Every year, NHSF (UK) university societies are gaining recognition from their Students’ Union for all their hard work, efforts and dedication by achieving the utmost prestigious awards at University and Student Union Award Ceremonies.

The seeds which these committee members have sown continue to grow and develop as shown by their outstanding achievements below: l NHSF BCU - President achieving Honorary Lifetime Membership in recognition to outstanding service to the Students' Union. l

NHSF Coventry - Best

Faith Society, Best President, Best Event, as well as three committee members winning the Full Colours. l NHSF Loughborough Best Activity of the year for Raising Awareness of a Global Cause. l NHSF Nottingham Best Performance Event (Joint with Asian Society). l NHSF Portsmouth Fundraiser of the Year and Society of the Year. l NHSF Reading - Most creative stall during fresher’s fayre l NHSF Sheffield - Best Faith Society.

Finally, good luck to NHSF (UK) Leicester following their nomination for Faith Society of the Year. We hope that all new committee members take pride in NHSF (UK) achievements and continue to provide themselves and their members the opportunities and experiences which they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Sohum Does us Proud!

Young Jain Sohum Shah organised a vegetarian day at his school in Reading on the 20th May 2013. This was to celebrate the National Vegetarian Week. The school canteen served spicy Mexican and Indian vegetarian meals all day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including the boarding house (for the boarders).

No meat, fish or eggs were served on the day.

A stall was also run by Sohum to explain the befits of being a vegetarian, a change of diet and lifestyle leading to a healthy life.

Around 550 pupils enjoyed the vegetarian food and the school is looking to organise more vegetarian days in the near future.

Sohum Shah

Reading School ranks in the top 8 schools of the country.

Nearly 30,000 applications made by landlords for Newham's property licensing scheme Nearly 30,000* applications have been made by private residential landlords to Newham Council.

The council has, so far, carried out 750 enforcement visits, issued 1200 warning letters, and handed out 50 cautions. Thirty prosecutions, at various stages of the legal process, have been pursued since the scheme started.

Private landlords who have failed to apply are committing an offence - and could face fines of up to £20,000 per property.

Newham is the first council in the country to

implement a pioneering scheme to license all private rented properties.

The trail-blazing scheme came into force on 1 January this year - but landlords were given a month's extension before it took effect.

Early applicants normally paid £150 for up to a five-year licence if they registered before 31 January. Otherwise the full fee is £500 (for up to a five year licence).

The council has consulted extensively with residents, stakeholders, private sector tenants, landlords and lettings agencies. Seventy-four per cent of residents and

76 per cent of private tenants supported the borough-wide licensing scheme.

The radical move comes after the borough announced the creation of a task force to combat 'sheds with beds'. These are illegal ramshackle buildings built at the bottom of gardens which often house tenants living in appalling squalor, exploited by rogue landlords.

The council is determined to stamp out crime and anti-social behaviour associated with bad housing. The scheme is backed by national housing charity

Shelter and other councils are considering following Newham's lead.

This pioneering initiative has already been successfully piloted on a small scale in the borough's Little Ilford Neighbourhood Improvement Zone (NIZ). The pilot scheme achieved 100% compliance following enforcement action against a number of non-compliant landlords. (* Exact figure is 29,999. This refers to the number of applications, not the number of landlords, as a number of landlords have made multiple applications)

12

Media Watch

It was a horror of horrors. A convoy of top Congress party leaders was ambushed by Maoist rebels, armed with automatic weapons, at Darbha, in the State of Chhattisgarh, with devastating effect. Twentyeight Congressmen were killed and many injured, some seriously. That there was a serious security lapse is abundantly cleared, as Chief Minister Raman Singh acknowledged.

The inadequate police escort carried pistols and was overwhelmed by superior firepower.

Union Ministers Jairam Ramesh and Sushil Kumar Shinde likened the Maoists to terrorists.

Which happens to be the unvarnished truth.

Inviting repression A Hindu editorial, with the above title, warned the Maoists leadership that such violence had been counterproductive in the past – citing previous attempts to assassinate State leaders in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, ergo, Chandrababu Naidu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. But the Maoists appeared to have learnt no lessons. The editorial hoped the government would not lose sight of developmental goals in tackling some of the causes of the Maoist rebellion.

Two inquiries Meanwhile, Chhattisgargh Chief Minister Raman Singh has promised an inquiry led by a High Court judge, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, while the central government in Delhi has set in motion another inquiry by a team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) (Hindu May 28)

Ghaziabad facility One of the most wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, Hilal Moulvi, was killed recently in a shootout with police, highlighting some of the internal security challenges confronting India. A new intelligence facility for police trainees has been set up in Ghaziabad on a 9-acre site.

Known as the Central Detective Training School, it will sharpen the intelligence gathering capabilities of Central and State agencies.

“Ghaziabad was chosen because of its proximity to Delhi where all major intelligence and Central security agencies are based. It will help improve coordination with Central departments and State governments.

In the ever-changing internal and global security scenario, the challenge is to keep our security agencies updated with the latest techniques of intelligence gathering, besides being informed of geopolitical changes, particularly in our neighbourhood,” said an official in India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.

Sushil Kumar Shinde

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 8th June 2013

President’s Gold Medal, while Archana Sharma won the Naval Command Gold Medal as the best woman trainee on the course. The cadets marched past the INA’s Saluting Dias to the strains of Auld Lang Syne. The Defence Minister inspected a guard of honour and inaugurated a state-of-the-art library, asptly named Panini (Hindu May 26)

IAF station in Thanjavur

Jairam Ramesh

Sangma founds tribal party P.A.Sangma, a former Lok Sabha Speaker and member of the National Congress Party, led

by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has formed the National People’s Party as an alternative to the country’s mainly twoparty system at the national level. Addressing a gathering of tribal people in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Sangma said: “In big political parties, smart tribal people never get a chance. Our top priority is to build a tribal leadership.”Mr Sangma said his target was to win 47 seats in the Lok Sabha in next year’s general election. “It s more advantageous for us to bargain with the [Congress-led] UPA or[BJP-led]NDA on issues that affect us like displacement, mining and forests.” Tribal people constitute 8 per cent of India’s population (Hindu May 26)

B.Tech naval cadets pass out With exponential advances in naval warfare technologies, it is now mandatory for officers to be equipped with a B.Tech of MSc qualification. The first batch of cadets completing the B.Tech course at the Naval Academy in Ezhimala, Kerala, passed out at an impressive parade attended by Defence Minister A.K.Antony, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral D.K.Joshi, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, head of the

A fully-fledged air station, the first Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter base in the country’s southern peninsula, was dedicated to the nation by Defence Minister A.K.Antony. The establishment of the base at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, assumes special importance in the context of the current geopolitical scenario. This futuristic base, with two squadrons of air superiority Sukhoi 30MKIs and surveillance aircraft in service, said Mr Antony, would guard India’s maritime security as well as protect its vital assets in the southern peninsula.

The Minister said: “India at present is not the India of the past. We have enhanced our defence capabilities. Many nations – about 48 – have evinced interest in joint military exercises with India. Such is our capability.” He would be visiting Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan, he said, to chalk out these exercises (Hindu May 28)

New mountain strike corps In another significant development, the Cabinet Committee on Security is shortly expected to approve the Army’s proposal to raise a mountain strike corps along the Himalayan border with China. Apart from the corps will come two independent infantry brigades and two amoured brigades to plug the operational gaps along the Line of Control. India started late in beefing up its border defences, but it’s now making up for lost time (Times of India June1)

ISRO-CNES ties stepped up The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and its French counterpart Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) are to step up their suc-

within a month of taking office.

Interview by The Hindu (May 28), Mr Le Gall, apropos of his presence in Bangalore, said India was one of France’s most important scientific partners, the two sides having launched a number of satellites for science research, the most notable examples being the MegaTropiques and SA-RAL-AltiKa.

New building blocks “The data gathered by MegaTropiques are creating a real threshold in this science. Now we have to decide what would be the next building blocks of the next steps of our cooperation and what we are going to do together. In my opinion this cooperation is within the framework of the larger cooperation between France and India with its several different pillars such as defence, nuclear energy and space,” said Mr Le Gall. Asked if he would be looking beyond ISRO for Indian partners, he replied with an emphatic no.

“Our present and past in India is ISRO. We have an excellent friendship…..I can tell you we are impressed by the achievements of Dr Radhakrishnan as the head of ISRO.”

the select few. He is prepared to make his second coming in Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal.

Rebuffed when his Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) sought to enter the state with a food retailing chain a few years ago, Mr Ambani has made a second bid, this time offering 4G mobile services. West Bengal, with a stagnant economy and going nowhere, needs a lifeline. Ms Banerjee and her babu cohorts have been given one by Mr Ambani (Times ofndia May 23)

Genius of the cinema dies Rituparno Ghosh, arguable the most luminous talent in the Bengali (and Indian) cinema, died in his sleep of a heart attack. He was 49, with at least two decades of creative endeavour left in him. A product of

Girls outshine boys in CBSE exams It’s now a familiar story: girls have outshone boys in the CBSE Class XII exams, recording 87.98 per cent passes to 77.78 per cent for boys. This year 944,721 candidates took the exam, with the overall percentage of passes 82.10. Over five per cent students scored above 90 per cent marks and 0.81did even better with marks of 95 and above.

The Chennai region repeated its success of the past few years by posting the highest 91.83 per cent passes, up from last year’s 90.59 per cent. Chennai also had the most number of students with marks above 95 per cent, followed by Delhi and Panchkula. Delhi, Jabalpur boys were national toppers with 99 per cent.

Mukesh Ambani eyes West Bengal It is a brave man who will go where angels fear to tread, but Mukesh Ambani must be one of

Rituparno Ghosh

Bengali high culture, from where drew his inspiration, Rituparno Ghosh was also a citizen of the world and was well versed in the English and European literary canon. His films, mostly subtle and nuanced explorations of Bengali middle class life included same sex relationships.

“I have no words for the grief I feel….The country has lost a great artist. We had spoken on the phone a few days back about a film which we wanted to do together,” said Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

“He was a great genius and the void left after his death cannot be easily filled,” said Soumitra Chatterjee, who made his name in Satyajit R ay’s Apu trilogy in the early 1960s.

A glory has passed. Those whom the gods love die young.

Defence Minister Antony inspecting guard of honour

Southern Naval Command and numerous other dignitaries including foreign military attaches.

Cadet Eby P.Henry won the

cessful collaboration in satellite science projects, said CNES director Jean-Yves Le Gall in Bangalore, where had arrived

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Tokyo with his Japan counterpart Abe Shinzo see comment page 3

uK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Irish Sikh refused permission to wear turban at work Continued from page 1 High court Judge Kevin Feeney in Ireland dismissed the appeal by Ravinder Singh Oberoi to wear a turban while on duty for the Garda Reserve.

Justice Feeney said a member of the reserve is not an employee and he could not ignore the clear meaning of the Garda Siochana Act under which members of the force are employed.

The Garda Reserve is a voluntary unpaid body drawn from the community to assist the existing police service at times when extra personnel are required. It comprises around 1,000 volunteers.

Oberoi, a member of the Irish Sikh community, had completed the first three stages of training for the Garda Reserve when he was told he would have to wear a full Garda uniform and could not wear a turban. That decision meant he was unable to continue his training and become a member of the reserve, Oberoi said.

He made a complaint under the Equality Acts alleging he was treated less favourably than others in accessing employment and in his conditions of employment, the report said.

Lawyers for the Garda Commissioner argued members of the Garda Reserve are not "employees" within the meaning of the Equality Acts and therefore the Acts did not apply to them.

The Garda Siochana Act says a reserve member

is a volunteer who does not perform functions under a contract of employment.

The Sikhs are repre-

to public places. The Parliament also includes MPs and Lords who are of Punjabi and Sikh backdrop.

memorable experience.”

He added: “When I’m hit with trouble and turbulence and problems that I can just think back to those beautiful calm waters around the Golden Temple and the wonderful smell of chappatis being cooked.”

He had also made reference to the three pillars of Sikhism: the absolute belief in God and the importance of worshipping God; the importance of work and the dignity that work PM Cameron at the 10 Downing Street Vaisakhi with invited guests brings; and the from uniformed services, showing equal rights available for British importance of concitizens from the ethnic minority background tributing to your community. “And those are really such vital sented by 5 key symbols This incident in pillars of our life here in viz. Kesh (uncut hair usuIreland came as a huge the UK, and maybe they ally tied and wrapped in a shock for the community are part of the explanation Sikh turban, Dastar), especially after the British Kanga (a wooden comb Prime Minister, David of why your community is usually worn under the Cameron's recent visit to a model of how a commuDastar), Katchera (Cotton Golden Temple at nity can integrate into a undergarments), Kara (an Amritsar and Jallianwala country, can make such an iron bracelet) and Kirpan Bagh in India and his hisenormous contribution to (an iron dagger). These torical and touching that country, but can of symbols stand for honspeech. course retain the imporesty, equality, fidelity, miliOn Vaisakhi celebratance of your separate tarism, meditation and tions held at the 10 identity at the same time.

Downing Street- PM's resOn the once aggressive opposing tyranny. idence, in the third week searching of turbans at airThe British Indian of April, Mr Cameron said, ports here in Britain, he Sikhs based in the UK are “I think the highlight of had added, ‘I’m proud that a large vote bank and the government put a stop doubtlessly will have a my year so far, in a job that to that EU nonsense.’ The major say in the 2015 gentakes me to meet some PM had also won applause eral elections. The British extraordinary people and MPs over the years have to some extraordinary for noting that next year provided enormous supplaces, was the visit that I will be the 160th anniverport to ensure the was able to make to sary of the first Sikh arrivPunjabis here have equal Amritsar to see for myself ing in the UK, in 1854. He rights as their other the Golden Temple – really had also pointed out that British counterparts, the spiritual home of your the Sikh community has including in wearing turreligion,” describing it “an Continued on page 30 bans and carrying kirpan incredibly moving and

13

Your Voice Lee Rigby’s murder

Lee Rigby’s murder by Islamic terrorists proves there is a problem within Islam. It is true that most UK and Milton Keynes Muslims were horrified at the killing and it has also created ‘strain within Islam’ fuelling hate.

According to one source ‘this strain is not the province of a few extremists. At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists.’

Most of the hate preachers in British Mosques are from the middle East and they do still practice 7th century Islam. Most of them do not speak English and they do not have any understanding of other religions.

There is a tough battle ahead of this country. The ‘seeds of future terror, possibly major conflict are being sown’ by radical Muslim preachers who still live in this country. All the jihadists are brain washed by these people and it is not going to be easy way out clearing the ground for peace and it is not going to be ‘ peaceful’.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

Healthy option Online shopping is killing off high street businesses which is a pity. Who wants to be enclosed by unending rows of boarded-up shops every time we go out? Besides, tapping all our shopping needs into a computer and having everything delivered to our doorstep will surely result in unprecedented levels of obesity across the country? To counteract this catastrophe, why don’t Asian entrepreneurs open more greengrocers’ shops to revive high streets everywhere in an effort to persuade people to step out and buy vegetables and fruits, all competitively priced to attract swarms of customers?

Rudy Otter Via Email

Is The Election Over - What The Tories Need To Do For Democracy Continued from page 3 Indeed Labour’s share of the total possible electorate was 22% - enough for a mandate to govern! 22%! At least in Iran it’s 99% for the winning party. So if you want Labour to win what is the answer? Sit back and do nothing. If you want the Tories to win? You need more Tory voters in Labour seats where the Tories are second.

What of the Liberals? You still need more Tories to win in seats where Labour are second (because the Liberals will end up with fewest seats even if they get more votes than Labour) and thereby help tip a hung parliament into a Tory parliamentary majority. It’s complicated but no one said democracy was easy.

5K Charity Walk and International Widows Conference to mark International Widows Day International Widows Day takes place on 23rd June, and to mark the occasion this year The Loomba Foundation is organising two high profile events to raise awareness of the plight of widows and their children around the world.

On Monday 24th June, we are organising an International Widows Conference, in association with UN Women, the United Nations body for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The conference will take place in the House of Lords in London, and will include a lunch reception in the Lord Speaker’s River Room, by kind permission of the Lord Speaker.

The President of The Loomba Foundation, Mrs Cherie Blair CBE, will chair the conference, and the Chief Guests will be Ms Lakshmi Puri, Acting Head of UN Women, and Dr. Karan Singh, Member of Rajya Sabha (the Upper House in India) and the former Maharaja of Kashmir.

The purpose of the conference is to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the UN recognised International Widows Day, to raise awareness of the plight of widows and their children around the world, and to showcase the projects that UN Women is carrying out as part of a three-year partnership agreement with the Loomba Foundation in India, Malawi and Guatemala.

The Loomba Foundation’s relationship with the United Nations has gone from strength to strength.

When The Loomba Foundation launched International Widows Day in 2005, there followed a five year campaign to persuade the UN to recognise this as a global day of action. Finally, in 2010, at the 65th General Assembly of the UN, a resolution was passed which recognised the plight faced by widows and their children around the world, and adopted 23rd June as International Widows Day. In November 2012, we signed a partnership agreement with UN Women. Through this agreement, The Loomba Foundation is providing funding for 3 major projects in India, Malawi and Guatemala to be adminis-

tered by UN Women that will tackle the issue of abandoned widows-from advocacy to implementation of policies to help widows.

In the first year the projects will address and ask the government to come forward and start offering due pensions to widows and change inheritance laws so that they include and favour widows. In the second year the projects will look at developing policies that will work towards eradicating the customary misconceptions surrounding widowhood. In the final year the projects will look at implementing policies and continue to target governments for permanent change.

This work with UN Women is running alongside the longstanding projects run by The Loomba Foundation in India, to educate the children of widows, and to empower widows by giving them sewing machines and the necessary training to create their own garments.

Through projects like these widows will be given independence. They can become self-reliant, educate their children, and feed and clothe their families. Most importantly, it will give them dignity, and allow them to become contributors to society.

The International Widows Conference will provide an opportunity to examine how widows in different countries face many different, yet similar challenges,

and to explore ways to increase the support given to them. One of the most important things that needs to be done is to change the cultural view of widows in many countries, which means ensuring that the Governments in those countries recognise the rights of widows.

This is a long hard challenge, but one that needs to be taken on, and the conference will go a long way to endorsing the message that any discrimination against widows is just unacceptable in the 21st Century.

The day before, on International Widows Day itself, 23rd June, The Loomba Foundation is organising a 5km charity walk around the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, to raise money to support widows and their children around the world.

There’s still time to register, so if you haven’t already, sign up and bring the family along for what promises to be a fantastic day out. The VIP walk will be led by Mrs Cherie Blair CBE, President of The Loomba Foundation. To register, just go to www.theloombafoundation.org, and click on the orange trainers.

You will also be able to see our new campaign film on our website, which shows in two minutes the shocking extent of the problems faced by widows around the world: physical, psychological and sexual abuse; losing all of their inheritance rights; torture; poverty; and isolation from society.

Please do something about it today. If you can’t come and walk on 23rd June, please text JUNE23 £5 to 70070 today, and make a difference to widows and their children around the world.

UK

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Q & A: Visa to India What is Renunciation/ Surrender of Indian Passports Under the Indian law, people of Indian origin, who have acquired foreign nationality, are required to surrender their Indian passport (nationality) to the High Commission of India in London or at the respective Indian consulates at Birmingham and Edinburgh before submitting their visa applications.

What documents do I need to surrender my Indian Passport Documents Required for Surrender of Indian Passports Duly filled application form Original Indian Passport (Last/Valid Indian passport at the time of Naturalization) Self attested photocopy of Indian passport (Used Visa Pages) Self attested photocopy of British / Foreign Passport Self attested photocopy of British / Foreign Naturalisation certificate Processing time would be a minimum of 13-14 working days; it may take longer in certain cases. All decisions are at sole discretion of the High Commission of India, London and its Consulates in the United Kingdom.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive and does not guarantee a Surrender Certificate. The High Commission of India or its Consulates reserve the right to ask for additional documents if required.

What is the fee for Surrendering my Indian Passport?

Mode of payment could be Cash, Debit or Credit Card (except American Express Card), Postal Order or Bank Draft payable to “VF Services UK Ltd” The Government of India has fixed a fee for renouncing the Indian Citizenship / Surrender Of Indian Passport based on the date, the Person of Indian Origin, has acquired British/Foreign Citizenship. The fee has been fixed w.e.f. 01.06.2010 as under:-

*The fee in the table is inclusive of the £2 Consular Surcharge.

Can I post my Indian Passport Surrender Application?

Applications can also be sent by post to our centralised postal processing centre at the address listed below. Postal applications require a minimum of 10-14 working days to be processed. This does not include the period when applications are in transit to and from the High Commission of India or its Consulate General of India in United Kingdom.

India Visa Application Centre 1-3, Canalside, Uxbridge Road Hayes, Middlesex, UB4 0JN For further information please visit our website in.vfsglobal.co.uk "

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The first British Sikh Report launched in Britain The British Sikh Report Team and the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs launched the first British Sikh Report (BSR) on Tuesday 4 June at the Portcullis House, Westminster.

The BSR seeks to identify the needs and wants of the Sikh population in the UK. As an annual Report and a strategic document for the entire British Sikh community, it aims to help informing political and community leaders as to the changing face of British Sikhs. The speakers included Fabian Hamilton MP, Chair of the APPG on British Sikhs, Paul Uppal MP and Jasvir Singh, Chair, British Sikh Report and faith in leadership graduate.

The aim of this report is to form the basis for engagement with political and community leaders and help inspire Sikhs to get more involved in running and creating initiatives to cater for Sikhs in Britain.

The British Sikh Report team consists of academics as well as professionals from other areas in society. All the work that is being done is done on a seva basis, for the betterment of the Sikh community as a whole.

Sikh and non Sikh organisations including like City Sikhs Network, Sikh Channel, Sikh Directory, Turban campaign, UKPHA, Women Empowered, City of London Police and Faith in Leadership have helped and continue to support the completion of the BSR questionnaire and the creation of the Sikh Report.

A full and EXCLUSIVE story on the launch will be published in the forthcoming issue of Asian Voice.

a Dutta

Rupanjan

In London you will seldom come by a restaurant that offers more than one particular cuisine under the same roof.

But Tara Tari, based right outside Swiss cottage underground is an utter delight. Not only it offers 7 types of cuisine within one restaurant premises, but also offers it in a lavish buffet- so that you can eat as much as you wish to, as long as you want to, whether it's for lunch or dinner.

Why is this place different than other restaurants? Let me give you 7 good reasons.

First, it offers seven cuisines of the world under one roof.

Second, it is a buffet, so you can eat as quickly or as slowly you wish to.

Ratings Taste : Ambience : Decor : Service : Value 4 Money :

***** **** **** **** *****

The name Tara Tari is a Bengali word for the meaning quickly.

Third, it has a fixed price for the buffet, so you don't have to watch what you eat for budget sake. Given Swiss cottage area has an extremely expensive surrounding, this restaurant keeps an eye on what is the most important, quality v/s expense.

Fourth, it is open for lunch and dinner. So office goers around the area, can swing by a quick bite.

Fifth, it has a spacious lay out, that allows one to move around freely, be content with their privacy, as its not a typically cramped central London restaurant.

Sixth, it has a lounge bar section- if you just fancy a cocktail, drop by and you won’t be disappointed.

Lastly, it is family friendly. Take your children for a meal with you and they would never ever leave the delightful dessert or chocolate fountain section.

The food taste is distinctive. Whether it is Italian, Continental, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Thai or Japanese, every dish tastes particularly authentic and neat.

The ambience is friendly, the décor is simple and very spacious and the service is extremely swift.

The friendly staff are frank and eager to assist.

And what should I say about the price? It's quality food at the most affordable prices.

Tara tari 17 Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 6HY, Contact: 020 7483 4282

If you want your restaurant to be reviewed, email rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com with your full details or call 020 7749 4098.

Statutory message: Please note the reviewer holds no responsibility or guarantee for your personal experience.

Nuksha showcases Next Generation Design Talent in Asian Fashion Setting a new benchmark in Asian fashion from across the globe The online home for stylistas and trendsetters, Asian fashion label Nuksha features the work of next generation design talent located worldwide, who have collaborated their prowess and vision to provide style-conscious consumers with on trend Asian fashion designs and collections.

Nuksha showcases the work of an international team of designers currently based in London, New York, India, Pakistan and Dubai, with new talent currently being vetted across Canada, Jordan and China. The rationale behind an international group of designers is to unite the Asian fashion community across the globe as one, where Asian fashion is currently fragmented and isolated within each country. The designers stand

out because of their innovative talent and willing to experiment, extending the current parameters of Asian fashion.

Each design featured on the website has been scrutinised and approved by Nuksha’s international Board of Designers before it is presented to the consumer. The style and innovation factors instilled in the Nuksha label are reflected by the website, www.nuksha.com. Designs are categorised into Sarees and Semi Formal Wear across biannual collections. A Bespoke service is also available whereby clients can liaise with their choice of designer in London, New York, Dubai, Pakistan or India to create the perfect, one-off piece. The website is easy to use and clients can buy an outfit in four, simple clicks, with free shipping.

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

15

'Business person of the Year' category awaits nominations from you in the Asian Achievers Awards 2013 Members of the public are invited to participate in this ‘People’s Awards’ by nominating their choice of candidates The time to rejoice the growing success of Britain's Asian community through a unique and an absolutely non biased awards is drawing close.

Asian Achievers Awards salute individuals who are singularly responsible for bringing the Asian community to the centre stage of British life. Exceptional and exemplary achievements of individual that are truly inspirational.

It is not unknown to us that the first generation of British Asians have travelled a long way since their settlement years in Britain, working exceptionally hard, making innumerable sacrifices to integrate and achieve the current status and providing their younger generations with a role model. The younger generations have also strived enormously to reach another level of success, that their predecessors, may have left unachieved.

Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar continue to proudly play their part in recording the community’s and generation's consistent efforts to maintain and enhance its position within the British society.

ABPL recognises individuals from various fields for their commitment to the society through this Asian Achievers Awards (AAA) since last 12 years.

Lord Raj Loomba, Shyam V Lakhani, Director, City Pavillion with Subaskaran Allirajah, Founder & Chairman, Lycatel and Lycamobile Group, winner of Business Person of the Year category

The AAA is now in its 13th year and by an impressive array of high net worth individuals, industry captains, high - level decision makers, Parliamentarians, community leaders and senior professionals.

There are various types of awards worldwide, but Asian Achievers Awards (AAA) is rather uncommon.

Instead of few individuals deciding who the award winner is, a truly independent panel of judges are given total freedom to

select a shortlist and then the winner in each category. Not only the subscribers and the readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar but also the wider community is invited to nominate in various categories of the award, as its publicised through radio, television, internet and various events. Every year we receive a record number of nominations and the calibre of the candidates are always very impressive.

Asian Achievers Award cate-

gories comprise: Business Person of the Year; Woman of the Year; Young Entrepreneur of the Year; Uniformed and Civil Services; International Personality of the Year; Lifetime Achievement Award, Sports Personality of the Year; Professional of the Year; Achievement in Community Service; Achievement in Media and Arts and Culture; Award for Entertainment. This year the theme of the award is Woman.

However, one of the key category as always is the Business Person of the Year award.

British Asians, who mostly have business acumen or insight by default, deserve this award by every means for their continuous contributions over the years, to the British economy.

Whether they have created corporate giants like the Mittals, or Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs), they have built a legacy that the generations of Britons and their history will remember.

This category is especially designed to choose that business person from within the community, who is a success story in every sense and can demonstrate a genuine passion for social issues.

Over the last years Business person of the Year has had win-

ners like Subaskaran Allirajah, Nadir Lalani, Nat Puri, Yogesh Mehta, Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, Anil Maneklal Solanki, Arun Panchariya, Dr Rami Ranger MBE. Shortlisted candidates have included esteemed personalities like Ashok Rabheru, Mansoor Popat, Dr Rahul Nanda, Dolar Popat (now Lord), Koolesh Shah, Kirit Patel, Ken Popat, Ruby McGregor-Smith and others.

Speaking about his achievements, last year's winner Subaskaran Allirajah, Chairman of Lycamobile said, “I am delighted to receive this prestigious Business Person of the Year award. My mission over the past 6 years has been to develop the Lycamobile business by investing in technology, people, processes and brand to enable us to deliver compelling customer offers.

At Lycamobile we are committed to growing our business and working harder for customers to earn their loyalty and to consolidate our position as the leading global provider of low cost international mobile calls. I am thrilled to have been recognised and I would like to thank the Lycamobile team and my family for supporting me throughout this journey.”

Please tick the appropriate category Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture ................................

Someone who has made a mark in media including print and broadcast media; cinema, art and culture.

Achievement in Community Service............................................

NOMINATION FORM The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians par excellence. If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation then please nominate them for one of the awards listed below. Make sure that you fill in this application form and send it on or before 12th July, 2013 by post, fax or email to Mr. L George, Tel: 020 7749 4013, Fax 020 7749 4081, Email: aaa@abplgroup.com. If you are sending it by post the address is Mr. L George, ABPL Group, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

Name of the Person you are Nominating: _______________________________________ Contact Details of the Nominee (Tel & email):____________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Present Occupation of the Nominee: ____________________________________________ Please attach the Nominees's CV which includes the following information (Please do not exceed a limit of 1000 words) (1) Personal background (2) (3) (4) (5) are

Most important career achievements till date.

Nominee's contribution to the community and nation.

Future Plans, ambitions and visions.

Any notable obstacles in the Nominee's career that has helped him/her to reach where they today.

Summary-

(Please include a summary in not more than 150 words why the nominee is worthy of win-

ning the particular award in a separate sheet)

Nominators name and contact details: __________________________________________ Nominators current Occupation/Company: ______________________________________ Tel/Mobile: __________________________________________________________________ Email:_______________________________________________________________________ NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS: This is a unique event where readers nominate and an independent panel of judges comprising of eminent personalities selects the winner. Judges’ decision is final. ABPL Group will not entertain any dialogue with members of the public regarding the judging process. In order to ensure a high degree of transparency and fairness, the management and members of the staff of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will play no role in the nomination or judging process. You may use an additional sheet if the space provided is insufficient. The winners will be announced at the AAA Awards ceremony on 6th September, 2013. Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar will publish the names of the short listed candidates and winners after the event. The winners names will also appear in our e-edition www.abplgroup.com You can nominate yourself if you wish to. Nominations and entries must follow the prescribed format. All nomination forms must reach our offices on or before 12th July, 2013

In recognition for an individuals service to community.

Sports Personality of the Year ......................................................

Awarded for excellence in sports.

Uniformed and Civil Services ........................................................

For outstanding achievements in uniformed and civil services or contribution to the community through any of the above services.

Professional of the Year ..................................................................

Professionals in the field of medicine, law, education, banking, finance and others, who have scaled the heights of their chosen profession.

Young Entrepreneur of the Year ..................................................

Awarded to an young entrepreneur (less than 35 years) with a proven track record of operating a successful business enterprise.

Business Person of the Year ..........................................................

Awarded to a business person who is a success in every sense of the word and can demonstrate a genuine passion for social issues.

Woman of the Year ............................................................................

The award will recognise and honour a woman who has made a significant mark in any chosen field.

International Personality of the Year ........................................

Awarded to those who have acclaimed popularity internationally for his/her contribution in any particular sector and is recognised for their timeless philanthropic activities.

Lifetime Achievement Award ........................................................

To honour those individuals, who during their lifetime, have made immense contributions in any given field. This remarkable individual can be marked as an example for the younger generation.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

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Karan Johar set to become a father

A leading daily has reported that filmmaker-producer Karan Johar is all set to become a father. Karan, who recently celebrated his 41st birthday is soon going to adopt a child. The director who has time and again emphasized that he will be a good parent has finally zeroed in on the idea of adoption. Johar, who is not seeing anyone intends on raising the child on his own, with a little help from his mother Hiroo Johar. Currently, the head of Dharma Productions is packed with a tight schedule and yet seems keen on bringing home a bundle of joy. One of Bollywood's most eligible bachelors, the idea of extending his family comes almost naturally to him. Adoption for stars has been a brave choice.

‘Welcome 2’: Katrina out, Sonakshi in ‘Dabangg 2’ star Sonakshi Sinha has replaced the barbie doll of Bollywood Katrina Kaif in the sequel of 'Welcome 2'.

If reports are to be believed, Sonakshi has replaced Katrina in the highly anticipated sequel to Anees Bazmi’s ‘Welcome.’ 'Welcome 2' is set to go on floors from June and Sonakshi will romance John Abraham in the film. Sonakshi, who made her debut in 2010 in Salman Khan’s ‘Dabangg,’ is one of the favourite lead actress of the producers. She is playing the love interest of Ranveer Singh in the upcoming Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Lootera.’

Actress Anjali is one wanted gals of T Although her maiden d in Telugu with "Photo", not make many strides Telugu industry. She good time in Kollywood some award winning ac as well. Now with h popularity soaring, th actress has sought for rise in her remuneration for her upcoming flicks. Reportedly she was being paid 2000,000 for her rol however she has be paid 5000,000 for upcoming flick Venkatesh. Her turnin in Telugu industry was multi starrer Seetham Sirimalle Chettu wit Babu and Venkatesh.

Kajal Agarwal is one happening girl, who needs no introduction at all. She's been acting along with most of Kollywood and Tollywood's leading heroes. Her recent movie with Ilayathalapathi Vijay in “Thuppakki” was a hit and she is currently acting again with Vijay in “Jilla” as well. Now the latest buzz is that she has been roped in by Tirupathi Brothers production house for their next.

It's a known fact that, post ‘Vishwaroopam2’ Kamal will be directing and acting in a movie under Tirupathi Brothers banner. So Kajal is the lucky gal who gets to act and be directed alongside Ulaganayagan himself.

Ace filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh passes away Rituparno Ghosh, one of the most talented young film directors of India, died at his home on Thursday last. The award winning filmmaker was 49. Ghosh was suffering from disease of the pancreas. The director died in his sleep. Members of his family discovered his death around 8 am.

“The doctor said the death was caused by cardiac arrest,” West Bengal minister Arup Biswas said.

Ghosh won more than a dozen national awards. In 2012, his film ‘Abohoman’ won a national award.

Katrina's sister to debut in Salman Khan's film

Slow and steady seems to be the course of Katrina Kaif's younger sister Isabel's career. She has been signed for the second lead opposite British Indian actor Kunal Nayyar in French director Jean-Francois Pouliot's “Dr Cabbie.” The film coproduced by Salman Khan features Vinay Virmani who played one of the title roles in Bejoy Nambiar's film “David.” The story goes that Salman wanted to cast Isabel opposite Virmani. But by the time the decision was taken to cast her it was too late. So Isabel stepped in to co-star with the film's second lead Kunal Nayyar who has worked in the hit British series ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ Sources from Canada where the film is being shot say co-producer Salman Khan is taking a keen interest in the project and in Isabel's role. According to sources, Isabelle would make her full-fledged Bollywood debut in 2014 in a film that may be jointly co-produced by Salman and Katrina.

‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' to be released in Russia, Israel

Hrithik to endorse car audio products brand, Ground Zero

Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan has now been targeted

by Ground Zero in India to endorse the car audio and accessories brand. Sahil International is the exclusive and authorised importer and distributor of all Ground Zero products in the country and has put in place a 360-degree marketing campaign with Hrithik to expand Ground Zero’s It had been reported recently that the Ranbir Kapoor- consumer base in India. The Just Dance and Krrish 3 star Deepika Padukone starrer, “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani,” is ‘truly reflects the classy, high-end charismatic persona of going to be released in Russia. Now, the latest news is that the brand and is a true embodiment of the brand’s the film, directed by Ayan Mukerji, will be out in Israel as philosophy’ said Sahil Sani, Managing Director, Sahil well. Eros International, the film's overseas distributor, is International, and it appears that the admiration is mutual expecting the movie to do great business in the country. The with Hrithik stating, ‘I am proud to represent Ground Zero. film will be subtitled in Hebrew for audiences in Israel and My love for music and the brand’s vision together will be a its promos are currently being run on television channels in mutually rewarding collaboration’. Ground Zero joins the country. The last Hindi film to release in Israel was exclusive brand names such as J Hampstead, Rado and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's “Devdas,” which starred Shah Rukh Mountain Dew in signing the actor with the view of reaping Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit. the benefits of the star’s iconic status internationally.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

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Revathy likely to host Malayalam version of 'Bigg Boss' South actress-filmmaker Revathy is being considered for hosting the Malayalam version of the popular reality show ‘Bigg Boss.’ Sources reveal that Revathy, who has acted in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films, and directed several feature films, may be roped in as the host for this South version. She will become the first woman to host the popular reality series, is she ends up accepting the offer. The Hindi, Marathi and Kannada versions of Bigg Boss are hosted by Salman Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Sudeep respectively.

‘Aashiqui 2’ makes it to the `100 crore club

Director Mohit Suri's musical saga “Aashiqui” 2 has become the latest to join the Rs 100 crore club and the producers are elated. Released on April 26, the musical love story, starring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor, was made on a budget of Rs 90 million. The film was co-produced by Vishesh Films and T-Series. Mukesh Bhatt of Vishesh Films is elated with the success of the movie and says they have set a trend with the film. "I am very happy because I am the only producer who has given biggest blockbusters with newcomers... As a producer what can give me more joy than that," Bhatt said.

ollywood was never kind to Freida Pinto. Not that it mattered to her.

But now that she has walked out of her Hindi debut, a thriller titled “NH10,” the gloves are officially off. The actress, who was supposed to play a detective in the film produced by Phantom Productions, took the decision before flying off to Cannes. She had signed the film in November last year. According to a friend of the “Slumdog” star, "she was irritated with the tardiness of the producers, even though she was quite excited about doing the film." Apparently, Phantom Productions kept delaying the project - which stars Rajkumar Yadav and was to be directed by Navdeep Singh - without giving her convincing reasons. Said the friend: "Freida was told that NH10 will go on floors on March 25. She had several meetings with Phantom Productions at their Andheri office. Later, she was informed that it would start in June. Now, they are telling her that it will not flag off before October. How long can Freida keep blocking her dates and keep her other commitments on hold?" What also upset the actress, who has worked with the likes of Danny Boyle, Woody Allen and Rupert Wyatt among others, is that the production house failed to offer her a bound script. "Freida even roped in international financers for the film, who have now walked out. The delay was inexplicable," the friend added.

‘Fukrey’ inspires to ‘play our cards’ right “T

here is no shortcut to life, it's all about what you manage in between ....you have to live it fully and it is all about playing your cards right. Issues are not big, it is how we go about it makes all the difference,” is an inspiration from the film “Fukrey.” It is an entertaining comedy movie that revolves around the relations of friends.

Four friends - Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh and Ali Fazal - in names of Honey, Chu-Cha, Lali and Zafar takes audience on a roller coaster ride. It is the story of ‘Fukries’ who are good for nothing, the wander years where they do not have any mission or vision. In the story one friend always has weird dreams and the other one interprets it and concludes a lucky number that wins those lotteries all the time. This gang of friends meet a Bholi Punjaban Richa Chaddha who is a mafia queen and lot happens around this idea.

“It is basically about our own experiences in life,” says director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. It is a Delhi-set up where one gets to see so much of Delhi, in fact the name of the movie Fukrey is a Delhi slang used to express the idea of ‘good for nothing.’ “It is film that has an instant connection to youth but will also be loved by everyone,” says Pulkit. There are two more female characters - Vishakha Singh and Priya Anand - who are love interest of boys.

“Fukrey” is produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani and it was presumed that the film is partly inspired by the life of the duo who were clueless about the direction of their life, post their college days. It is then director Mrighdeep Singh, who also was assistant director on Farhan Akhtar's 'Don' shared the idea with Farhan, he got really excited as he could relate himself to the story of four boys in the movie.

It will be released on 14th June worldwide. “Fukrey” is one such crazy story of four restless and hapless souls, running after their individual desires, brought together by one dream, which turns their not so simple life upside down. Can the four ‘Fukrey’, the four nobodies, twist their fate and dreams into reality or will they forever be lost in the obscurity that they come from?

- Purvi Shah

‘Men Are Lazy Lads,’ says Vidya in quirky 'Ghanchakkar' song

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ow we all know that men are from Mars and women are from Venus and “Ghanchakkar's” new song 'Lazy Lad', which breaks across TV channels and radio stations, explores the same concept further. Picturised on superstars Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan, the song sees Vidya list out the traits of men that women get most frustrated about like: being a couch potato, general lack of tardiness and how men can get easily distracted among others. The lively music video sees Vidya in her loud, fun Punjabi housewife avatar that has added to the film's USP. Vidya explains the concept behind the song saying, "I think that all of us know that boys, the lads are always so lazy to do anything. They just sit in front their television and just switch channels. It’s so frustrating and if a cricket match is on then you have had it. Lazy Lad the term was coined for men."

Emraan too admits that men can be a little lackadaisical in doing things. "Most men are couch potatoes.

When I am at home I pretty much do what I am doing in the video that we just shot. It's just chilling in front of the television, switching channels and just sometime staring into nothing - I think that’s my best pass time. If I lock myself on the couch, I can go on for like 7-8 hours without doing anything. And I don’t hear sounds, just glue to the television."

Produced by UTV Motion Pictures and directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, “Ghanchakkar” is set to release on 28th June 2013.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Financial Voice Dear Financial Voice Reader,

A family member asked me for stock ideas this past week – which got me thinking. How do I give him a quick course in investing? Quotes are a good idea.

(Thank IFA website!).

So I started with three from Warren Buffett – one of the richest men in the world through investments.

1..the best way to own common stocks is through index funds...

2. Over the 35 years, American business has delivered terrific results. It should therefore have been easy for investors to earn juicy returns: All they had to do was piggyback Corporate America in a diversified, lowexpense way. An index fund that they never touched would have done the job. Instead many investors have had experiences ranging from mediocre to disastrous.

3. Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks (shares¹) is through an index fund that charges minimal fees. Those following this path are sure to beat the net results (after fees and expenses) of the great majority of investment professionals.

Then there are Nobel Prize Winners: "Most of my investments are in equity index funds."

- William F. Sharpe, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1990 ‘So investors shouldn't delude themselves about beating the market? They're just not going to do it. It's just not going to happen.’ - Investors Can't Beat Market, Jan 2, 2002 - Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2002; "If you would be wealthy, think of Saving as well as Getting.....Remember that time is money....Beware of little Expenses; a small Leak will sink a great Ship.....

There are no Gains, without Pains....He hat would catch Fish, must venture his Bait...Great Estates may venture more, but little Boasts should keep near the shore....Tis easy to see, hard to forsee....Industry, Perseverance, and Fruglity make Fortune yield." The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle "If you passed a law saying that [members of Congress and their staffs] can only invest in index funds, on the whole you would do them a great favor, for two reasons. First, they won't be reading news coverage about themselves that they and their constituents don't like. And two, they're more likely to make more money on index funds than by trying to outsmart the market." Jason Zweig, “What Conflict of Interest? How Power Blinds Us to Our Flaws,” The Wall Street Journal, 16 October 2010, Wall St Journal.

"It's bad enough that you have to take market risk.

Only a fool takes on the additional risk of doing yet more damage by failing to diversify properly with his or her nest egg. Avoid the problem—buy a well-run index fund and own the whole market." William Bernstein "To reduce risk it is necessary to avoid a portfolio whose securities are all highly correlated with each other. One hundred securities whose returns rise and fall in near unison afford little protection than the uncertain return of a single security." Henry Markowitz – Nobel Prize Winner.

So there you have it – it will be an index tracker – may be tracking the US market, another on the Indian and maybe one on Europe.

DoT slaps `12.63 bn fine on Vodafone

The penalty woes for Vodafone have refused to go with the Department of Telecom imposing a fresh penalty of Rs 12.63 billion for allegedly under reporting revenues during financial years 2007-08 to 2010-11.

Official sources said: "The notice has been given on Monday. It (Vodafone) has been asked to pay within 15 days."

The exact break-up of penalty imposed on the company for each financial year could not be ascertained.

Based on telecom licences, telecom operators are required to pay licence fee and spectrum usage on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) which earned from telecom services only.

According to official sources, DoT found that adjusted revenue filed by company were not appropriate. Vodafone declined to comment. The company is struggling to settle Rs 112 billion tax liability case with Indian government over tax on its acquisition of Hutchison's stake in Hutchison-Essar in 2007, but has not received any respite so far.

The company is also in dispute with DoT over its 3G intra-circle roaming agreement with Airtel and Idea Cellular. DoT has termed the agreement illegal and asked the company to terminate. The company along with the other two telecom majors have challenged DoT's order in this regard.

India has probably surpassed Japan to become the world’s third largest economy after the US and China, Paris-based thinktank OECD said even as it lowered the country’s economic growth projection for 2013 to 5.3 per cent.

“China will likely pass the United States as the world’s largest economy in a few years and India has probably recently surpassed Japan to be third largest,” said the OECD Economic Outlook report.

Until around 2020, China is set to have to highest growth rate among major countries, but could be then surpassed by India, it further said. OECD also said that by early 2030s, the BRIICS’ (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa) combined GDP should roughly equal that of the OECD (based on current membership), compared with just over

half that of OECD now.

“Between now and 2060, GDP per capita is seen to increase more than 8-fold in India and 6-fold in Indonesia and China,” it added.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which in November had projected India to grow at 5.9 per cent in 2013, cautioned that structural bottlenecks in the country

could further constrain investment and growth potential.

“GDP growth is projected to rise gradually over the next two years...

Significantly more growth would be forthcoming if structural bottlenecks were swept away by fundamental structural reforms,” the report said.

Looking ahead, it said India is likely to improve growth to 6.7 per cent next year, after having logged a decade’s low of 3.8 per cent in 2012.

OECD said the world real GDP is projected to increase by 3.1 per cent this year and by 4 per cent in 2014. Across OECD countries, GDP is projected to rise by 1.2 per cent this year improve to 2.3 per cent in 2014. Growth in non-OECD countries will rise by 5.5 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent in 2014. In the US, activi-

India likely to review gold import policy: Chidambaram India cannot afford high levels of gold imports and may review its import policy, finance minister P. Chidambaram said, after imports of precious metals jumped more than 150 per cent in April.

India, the world's biggest buyer of gold, hiked its import duty to 6 per cent in January in an attempt to limit purchases and rein in a record high current account deficit.

Gold is the second biggest import item after crude oil.

Gold prices on the Multi Commodity Exchange rose to a session high of 27,015 rupees per 10 grams after Chidambaram's remarks, before easing back to trade 0.63 per cent higher at 26,980 rupees.

On May 13, the RBI

P. Chidambaram

introduced more restrictions on purchases for jewellers and banks as it also weighs in to curb imports.

Prices may fall by Rs 2,000 in medium term Gold prices may fall by Rs 2,000 from the present levels in the near to medium term as the precious metal is losing appeal as an asset, a report by industry body Assocham has said.

The report, however, said that gold was unlikely

to fall below Rs 25,000 per 10 grams due to a strong buying support at that level and a weak rupee against the US dollar.

Gold prices have come down to Rs 27,790 per 10 grams in the national capital this month from the high of Rs 32,990 per 10 grams in April.

"A fall of Rs 2,000 or little more from the present level looks plausible in the near to medium term," according to Assocham report on gold.

A likely drop in gold prices below Rs 25,000 per ten grams level will attract a strong buying support and may lead to April-like situation, when the downward spiral had made buyers rush to jewellers and banks for enriching their bullion collection, it said.

ty is projected to rise by 1.9 per cent this year and by a further 2.8 per cent in 2014, OECD said.

GDP in the euro area is expected to decline by 0.6 per cent this year and then rebound by 1.1 per cent in 2014. Japan’s GDP is expected to grow by 1.6 per cent in 2013 and 1.4 per cent in 2014, it added.

Talking about India’s neighbor China, OECD forecast that its economy would grow 7.8 per cent this year, down from a previous estimate of 8.5 per cent.

Referring to India, it also said the fiscal tightening and the new fiscal consolidation roadmap are “welcome and should allow monetary policy to be eased further”.

On-going efforts to better target household transfers are commendable although further progress is needed, OECD said.

Eurozone unemployment hits another record high Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro has hit another record high, the latest in a series of ignominious landmarks for the ailing single currency zone.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said that unemployment rose to 12.2 per cent in April from the previous record of 12.1 per cent the month before.

Another 95,000 people joined the ranks of the unemployed, taking the total to 19.38 million.

The figures mask big disparities among countries. While over one in four people are unemployed in Greece and Spain, Germany's rate is down at 5.4 per cent.

Four Indian business leaders on Forbes’ philanthropy list Four Indian business leaders - Kiran MazumdarShaw, P N C Menon, Vineet Nayar and Ronnie Screwvala - figure in this year's list of Asia-Pacific's most remarkable “givers”.

The annual list of ‘Heroes of Philanthropy’, compiled by Forbes Asia magazine, features a total of 48 persons from the Asia-Pacific region, including countries like China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Listing Indian biotechnology major Biocon's founder and chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw as one of “the most notable givers,” Forbes said she was working to improve cancer care and has pledged to give

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, P N C Menon, Vineet Nayar, Ronnie Screwvala

away 75 per cent of her wealth.

Other Indians on the list included realty major Sobha Developers’ Chairman Emeritus P N C Menon, who plans to give away half his estimated $ 435 million fortune through his Sri Kurumba Trust - his family's charitable arm.

The Sri Kurumba Trust has adopted 4 villages in his native Kerala in 2006

and helps families with a monthly income below $ 90 (approx Rs 5,000).

HCL Technologies Vice Chairman Vineet Nayar sold shares in the outsourcing company for $ 24 million last year and the proceeds went mostly to Sampark, a charity he started long with his wife Anupama. The charity works with local governments to improve schools, fund social ventures and

expand water supply.

Entertainment mogul Rohinton ‘Ronnie’ Screwvala, co-founder of UTV Group and Walt Disney's India Managing Director, also plans to spend $ 180 million over 5 years to uplift 1 million villagers in Maharashtra.

“The selections are subjective and we aim for a mix of notable people and causes. We also try to identify new philanthropists each year and pick only true philanthropists who are giving their own money, not their company's because donating shareholder's funds is not charity,” Forbes Asia Senior Editor John Koppisch said.

finAnciAl Voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

19

The importance of the three R’s: Reselling, Remortgaging and Renting

Suresh Vagjiani Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

A week ago a husband and wife team of accountants came to see me, they had invested in several places around the world, from Romania to India, as well as in the UK. They have over 30 years of experience in dealing with property and were reluctant to come and see us, simply because they couldn't see what possible extra benefit we could add to their wide and variegated experience of the property market.

Furthermore our fee would be a slice of the cake as well.

I like these sorts of clients, it’s a challenge for me; especially when I ask what’s the highest return you have ever made on your investment, and if they answer honestly we aim to beat whatever returns they have gained.

Initially when we started sourcing properties it was mostly ex local authority properties in strong locations such as Maida Vale, St Johns Wood and Paddington too; those who didn’t have the time to go looking for properties themselves and wanted a hands free type of investment would use our services. Even those who did have the time used us because of the discounts we could get.

At this time the government was paying a large amount of rental for these properties. For example a three bedroom can be bought for £350,000 and the rental payable was £800pw, this equates to an income of £41,600 per annum. After mortgage and other expenses were taken off you would be left with a net income of £23,000, equivalent of a modest salary. With only 25% deposit required plus expenses, £100,000 would have been your total input into the deal. This was a no brainer and even a run for two to three years would be worth the investment.

Even if the rentals drop afterwards you would have got most of your funds back from the strong rental yields.

This however was a honeymoon period, and a honeymoon is only there for a short time.

The environment changed and there were two changes in the market. First what happened was the bankers lost their jobs; penthouses which would have been occupied by this segment of the market disappeared, this hole was filled by DSS tenants believe it or not, they had an allowance for £1050 per week for a four bedroom property and £1500 per week for a five bedroom property and they were now taking up new build penthouses and other prime properties in Westminster.

This meant ex council properties were no longer desirable as now they could command prime properties.

The final nail in the coffin was when the government put a cap on the rent it would pay; this was done to reduce their expenses and this was an obvious target just waiting to be shut down.

These two events meant this is was no longer the best way of doing property in Central London. However do not misunderstand, there is no doubt it is still a very good investment to purchase and hold this type of property as the yields are still higher than many places in London.

property market are using us to rotate their funds from one deal to the next. When we get money from this segment of the market we feel as if it is a stamp of approval on the way we operate, and of course the bottom line is the returns we are able to get for them. Ordinarily many business people make the highest returns in their businesses and then park their money in property to diversify their income; somewhere to turn to, to keep them safe on a rainy day. The reasons why many of the investors are investing through us is not to keep their funds safe for a rainy day but to make their money work aggressively on par with returns they gain from their businesses.

Cash is king in the current market, and to put all your funds in one property and wait for it to rise is a good way of making money, but not the quickest way. For one your cash will be trapped for a couple of years, or however long your mortgage product is for, a better way is to ensure it comes back out so you can trade again. This is a more aggressive and more profitable way where we are taking short term views of three months and even less.

You can afford to be aggressive with property and get away with it.

Property by nature is not a volatile investment, it does not swing up and down like the stock markets do. What people term as a crash is when London property prices decrease by 15%. Our properties are sourced at least this much cheaper, in strong locations where prices are rising month on month and so the chances of experiencing a loss is slim. To date, on trading property in Central London, we have not incurred a loss; this has been verified by a leading London Law Firm DAC Beachcroft.

W hat’ s mo st appeal in g is no t the yiel d but the level o f capital g rowth; an e xample is a prope rty we pu rchase d o n be half of a clien t fo r £325,000 in Burlingto n C lose in J an uary 2012, it is cu rrentl y o n the market with Foxton s f or £450,000; this is an ex lo cal authority three bedroom property in Maida Vale.

However as time has gone on we have got cleverer with the way we invest in property. One indicator is the calibre of investors we are attracting. Our investments are not just from the investors who have very little time and want to find a good home for their money, but from even those who are well versed with property and have been in the game long before Sow & Reap even came into existence. Investors who are accomplished business men and have a good understanding on the

H olding propert y has its place , but so do es t rading prope rt y. It's import ant to predef in e what you r requ iremen ts are prio r to just lettin g t he first de al defin e what shape you r in ve stme nt will be.

The Real Deal

I met a businessman who had purchased a HMO with some of his partners, it was giving a strong rental yield. With HMOs this high yield is often at the expense of future capital growth. In many boroughs it is very difficult to get rid of this label as they actually like having these kind of properties in the borough as it allows lower income earners to live in expensive places where they ordinarily could not afford to live.

It encourages a more diverse population in the area.

As this investor was on a high income already I asked him why they had decided to purchase such an investment as half of their income was going straight to the government; he had no answer. They would have been better off focusing on capital growth and not the income.

Investing in Central London has many benefits besides the obvious one, which is your money is growing strongly. There's a good saying which is: you should grow your flowers where you can water them. In investment terms this means you are in an environment where you can resell, remortgage, or rent your investment easily within one to two months; there’s always a way out, there are multiple exit strategies.

Investing overseas is often not so easy to realise your investment, most countries do not have a financially mature economy as we do in London.

Wembley, London, HA9 Purchase Price: £370,000 l Prime development opportunity in North Wembley l Requires total modernisation l End value expected to be £500k to £550k l Probate sale l Rare to find such a deal in this street l Close to all amenities, Wembley Park station is only minutes away l Wembley is earmarked for massive regeneration which is already well under way Call now to purchase!!

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

0207 993 0103 info@sowandreap.co.uk

www.sowandreap.co.uk

55 Bryanston Street, Marble Arch Tower, London, W1H 7AA Follow us online:

Sowandreapuk

SowandReapProperties

Tips of the Week l It is essential to determine what you want from your property investment – quick gains (buy and flip) or a consistent second income (buy to let). If you are not sure consult an expert to know what would suit you best. l Often people get carried away with terms like Below Market Value; remember this is not the main consideration; the potential for future growth needs to be there. A property may be cheap but that doesn’t mean it will increase in value in the future.

UK

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Maria Fernandes

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London taxes No not black cabs, but rather a thought from our Mayor Boris that London needs more taxes to pay for its burgeoning costs of growth and more to the point redevelopment of its grand but ageing infrastructure.

The thought would be that London could have transferred to it revenue raising powers potentially of more than £12bn - which to put into proportion, is about 12% of the national amount raised for VAT. Apparently this is part of a more radical development to try and transfer more powers to the regional cities to allow them greater local control and the ability to raise their own debt.

Now hang on - there is nothing new about this. I remember in days gone by a certain Mrs Thatcher stamping out the ability of local authorities to raise debt and forcing those same local authorities to get it under control. The local authority bonds always used to be a regular holding in old portfolios as almost junior gilts paying quite a healthy yield. Mrs T saw these funds though as a means of propping up inefficient small local authorities unable to get any of the benefits of scale.

The taxes now envisaged could include a tourism tax - great in theory to pay for better tourism facilities but actually I have never found that paying more tax has been a great major pull to attract more tourists.

Inevitably this is going to mean the weight of tax falling on residents and businesses. Boris needs to be careful not to push business away.

What could be more appealing though is the greater emphasis being put on allowing borrowing for the increased provision of house building. This is something which should be addressed not just in London but throughout the nation as a strategic investment in the future.

Maybe these proposals are not going to go back to that sort of structure, but none the less having a London mayor raising taxes and devolving revenue powers away from Westminster? Does this not sound familiar? Wasn't this what Mrs Thatcher fought and beat Ken Livingstone to stop such action at the Greater London Council? Gosh we really are seeing a form of 'Back to the Future'.

All Time Highs My CIO Chris Darbyshire quite rightly reminded me of just quite how far we have come in a mere five years in the equity markets. From the nadir and "slough of despond" of 2009, UK blue-chip shares have risen 116%, including reinvestment of dividends and US blue-chips have risen some 161%.

Even in the much maligned Eurozone, the German Dax index has recently passed its all time high last week.

So is this a sign that all is fine and dandy and that we can at last relax? Well in investment markets I don't believe you can ever relax - remember the mantra of the Buffett here - buy when others are nervous and sell when others are complacent. Well I don't think we have reached complacency yet but certainly there has been a level of relief that the global economy, whilst not exactly in fine fettle is at least healing from its financial heart attack.

When looking at companies though, Chris makes a good point when he says there may be a simple explanation: more buyers than sellers.

"Normally, in a deep and long-lasting recession, companies struggle to stay in business and have to ask their shareholders for more capital. This increases the supply of shares and should, all else being equal, reduce the price. Since the credit crunch, however, and partly due to low interest payments, many large companies have actually been flush with cash and able to buy back their own shares. In fact, with slow growth the norm, there has been a strong incentive to buy back shares rather than invest in the business. This reduces the supply of shares and should increase their price."

Justin

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maria@abplgroup.com

All about immigration

Narayana Murthy comes out to head Infosys again

he media is awash with stories or views about immigration. Is it a good or bad thing, is it positive or negative, is it desirable or not. Everyone has a view on it. At high levels there is disquiet and more politicians at senior levels on the Government’s side are now speaking out. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary rightly described it as public panic which is causing real harm to the entry of students. Gus O Donnell, the former Cabinet Secretary to David Cameron warned that it is shooting itself in the foot by imposing an immigration cap.

There is also a great deal of disarray in imposing new tough laws without thinking them through.

Take the announcement that regulations were to be brought in to require landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants.

This having been announced a bold measure swiftly changed tack by another announcement that these checks would only be necessary in “problem” areas. However what problem area means was not clear. Is it going to be based on the level of ethnic minorities in an area, say

conducted in Southall? Will it be confined to the poorer areas. Will it combine these issues and if so will it be lawful.

Are the Government aware that the law does not permit discrimination, direct or indirect. Worse do they care? Are we returning to the dark ages?

Now a new initiative is being proposed by the Conservative think (or more accurately thinkless) tanks. They would like to propose that residency be available for the comely price of £30000. In other words, you can buy your residency. It is easy to imagine the billboards all over inviting applicants to buy their residency to the UK. Are these people serious or simply bonkers.

The Government have consistently ignored the cacophony of voices in favour of removing students from the overall calculation of migrants. They have kept on piling regulation upon regulation to stop the entry of students, workers and more recently spouses. The human rights regulations are suffering defeat after defeat in the courts, as was expected. When there are discussions about human rights, the worst case

UK energy firm to move jobs to India

Indian economy makes feeble recovery, January-March GDP up 4.8 per cent global economy have put interest rate cut at the cenIndia's economic growth

British energy firm Npower has announced plans to move hundreds of customer contact jobs to India to save costs and improve the firm's services. Workers based in Durham, in the north-east of England, were informed of the decision that will affect around 200 members of staff whose roles will be changing.

The gas and electricity supplier's said the move, which involves its team based at Tees House in Peterlee, will help improve the firm's services. "At the moment, our customer service teams are experiencing really high volumes of calls and correspondence and so we've decided to ask one of our existing partners to help us handle customer letters and emails. This will free up almost 200 employees, who'll then be able to help take more alls from our customers," a spokesperson said.

"The partner we're using for this administrative work will be handling it off shore - and will start doing it from July... We are aiming to be number one in customer experience by 2015, and we are working to put our customers at the heart of everything we do," he added.

began a feeble recovery at the tail end of a 2012 fiscal year that saw the slowest expansion in a decade, providing little relief for a government heading into a busy election period dogged by graft scandals and criticism of its economic management.

Asia's third largest economy grew 4.8 per cent from a year earlier in the January-March quarter..

The showing in the March quarter was only slightly better than an upwardly revised 4.7 per cent growth in the previous three months, which was the lowest in fifteen quarters.

The full year economic growth for the fiscal year 2012-13 came in at 5 per cent, in line with an official forecast given in February, but its worst in a decade, and a far cry from the 9 per cent annual expansion recorded until two years back.

"The sectoral performance affirms our expectations that while GDP growth remains subdued, a floor is in sight, but lacks signs of sustainable pick up in momentum," said Radhika Rao, an economist at DBS in Singapore.

The data dampened market hopes for another

examples are put forward.

Foreign criminals who are allowed to stay are highlighted as a reason for rejecting human rights law although they form a small number of claims.

Non EU nationals are not allowed to claim any kind of benefit even though migrant workers pay their taxes.

Nor do they want to. EU citizens are already limited in what they can claim.

Politicians of all parties veer towards the immigration argument as they can all agree that that is a problem that needs to be solved. They do so on the basis that the public want this. So whilst the public are being fed these scraps, what is really happening is that public services are being decimated (with huge job losses) or privatised under our very noses. By the time they wise up to the smoke and mirrors it will be too late.

Maria Fernandes has been in practice exclusively in immigration for the past 28 years. Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by telephone on 02087330123, by email on info@fernandesvaz.com.

tral bank's policy review on June 17. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) has cut its policy rate by a total of 75 basis points since January to spur economic recovery.

RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao has warned that upside risks to inflation and a high current account deficit have limited room for more monetary easing even though inflation is on a downward trajectory and economic growth remains weak.

The government data showed that the manufacturing sector grew an annual 2.6 per cent in the March quarter. The farm sector expanded 1.4 per cent from a year earlier.

Mining sector, meanwhile, contracted an annual 3.1 per cent.

The services sector that makes up more than half of India's economy grew an annual 6.6 per cent in the March quarter.

Worryingly, annual capital investment growth slowed down to 3.5 per cent in the March quarter from 4.5 per cent year-onyear a quarter ago.

Years of fiscal profligacy, a long struggle with high inflation, high interest rates, persistent political gridlock and fragile

Less than two years after he gave up all official roles at India's information technology bellwether Infosys Ltd, a company he founded in 1981, the 66year-old N R Narayana Murthy has come out of retirement to serve again as the executive chairman of the Infosys board for the next five years.

Narayana Murthy's son Rohan Murty, 29, a PhD in computer science from Harvard, has been chosen to assist his father during this fresh tenure.

Narayana Murthy will join CEO and managing director S B Shibulal, like him, one of the founding employees of Infosys, in running the company.

The surprising decision taken by Infy's board of directors appeared to run contrary to some of its own leadership practices of retirement from executive functions at 60, and attempts at keeping family members out of the scene.

India back in a rut.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leads a minority, coalition government that has been weakened by a series of high profile graft cases, and there is little sign of the fast economic rebound that could shore up its prospects in state elections this year and a national vote due by May 2014.

Opposition parties have used the scandals linked to allocation of resources including coal and telecoms to paralyze parliament, delaying legislation aimed at attracting funds to lift capital investment growth from an eight-year low.

The deep economic slowdown has tarnished the image of octogenarian Singh, a venerated economist whose far-reaching reforms two decades ago laid the ground for boom years that followed.

His poor record of delivering on promises, coupled with myriad regulatory hurdles - including high-profile tax battles with foreign companies has driven investors away.

Foreign direct investment into the country has fallen, while outbound corporate investment is on the rise.

finAnciAl voice

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

21

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

Manufacturing sector on an upward trend The United Kingdom’s manufacturing sector grew at its strongest pace in over a year last month.

The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 51.3 in May from 50.2 in the previous month. A figure above 50 indicates expansion. Markit said both production and new orders had picked up, with the domestic market driving demand for new business. The survey also indicated that the manufacturing sector created jobs for the first time in four months.

The pound rose against the dollar following the release of the UK's PMI survey, rising 0.5% to $1.5289, its strongest level in two weeks. Manufacturing accounts for just over 10% of the UK economy. But expansion in the sector tends to have a knockon effect elsewhere, especially in the services sector, which makes up three quarters of the UK economy.

PMI for the euro zone manufacturing sector rose to 48.3 from April's 46.7, marking its highest level in 15 months.

Although too much cheer can’t be taken from this as the manufacturing sector is still in con-

traction.

Data on Friday 31st May revealed that unemployment in the euro zone rose to a record high, causing the euro to fall off from its three week highs against the US dollar. Alongside the unemployment rate rising to a record 12.2% in April, further pressure fell on the euro as retail spending in Germany fell in April. The rate of inflation however rose to 1.4% in May. Mario Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), has defended its bondbuying programme. The plan, dubbed Outright Monetary Transactions (OMTs), allows the ECB to buy bonds of Eurozone member countries to bring down their borrowing costs. Its announcement last year helped lower borrowing costs for debtburdened countries such as Spain and Italy. However, Mr Draghi sought to allay any fears, saying that the ECB can only start buying bonds of a country after it had requested a bailout and as a result agreed to reforms.

United States showed that consumer spending fell by 0.2% in April for the first time in almost a year but consumer con-

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 4th June 2013 @ 3pm GBP - INR = 86.36 USD - INR = 56.44 EUR - INR = 73.75 GBP - USD = 1.53 GBP - EUR = 1.17 EUR - USD = 1.31 GBP - AED = 5.62 GBP - CAD = 1.58 GBP - NZD = 1.91

fidence in May rose to its highest level in more than five years. The US economy grew at an annualised rate of 2.4% in the first three months of the year. The figure is slightly slower than the 2.5% rate originally estimated for the quarter. Economists widely expect growth to slow again in the next three months.

First quarter GDP figures revealed that Canada grew by 2.5%. However the data did little to relieve recent pressure on the Canadian dollar as investors continue to be cautious on the

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$ 0 4 5

outlook on the nation amid speculation that exports may well fall in the second quarter.

Uncertainty surrounding the appointment of the new Bank of Canada Governor can also be credited to the weakness of the Canadian dollar.

Commodity linked currencies such as the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and South African rand all suffered in the week ending May 31st as the International Monetary Fund lowered growth forecasts for China from 8% to 7.75%.

GBP - AUD = 1.58 GBP - ZAR = 14.83 GBP - HUF = 342.64

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

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Pakistan-Bangladesh-sri lanka

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 8th June 2013

In Focus 30,000 Pakistanis fall victim of Saudi Nitaqat Law

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia having declared around 30,000 Pakistanis as illegal immigrants, who now seen queued up in the scorching heat outside the Pakistani embassy for getting their documents readied before the set deadline of July 3 for leaving the Kingdom and avoid facing jail and fines.

In the latest move Saudi Arabia has warned illegal foreign workers, including some 30,000 Pakistanis, that they will face jail and fines once the three-month grace period ends on July 3, but those willing to return to Pakistan will not face any penalty.

161 killed in 56 bomb blasts in Pakistan in May

Islamabad: At least 161 people were killed and 652 injured in 56 bomb blasts as militants escalated attacks across Pakistan in May when the country held elections, according to official statistics. Among the 56, four were suicide attacks that killed 40 people and injured 143 others, reports Xinhua.

During the month, at least 42 political rallies, gatherings and offices of different political parties were targeted, leaving over 100 people dead. The worst of these attacks took place May 6 when a suicide bomber targeted a candidate of the Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazal (JUI-F), a religious-political party, in the tribal region of Kurram Agency.

Legislator from Imran Khan's party shot dead

Islamabad: A newly elected legislator from Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the country's restive northwest.

Farid Khan Aurakzai was being driven home when gunmen riding a motorcycle ambushed his vehicle in the main market in Hangu town of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The gunmen fired indiscriminately at the vehicle, killing him instantly.

Aurakzai's bodyguard and driver were injured in the shooting, police officials said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Aurakzai was elected to the KhyberPakhtunkhwa assembly as an independent candidate in the May 11 polls. He later joined the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf.

Pak court adjourns Benazir Bhutto killing case till June 11

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court adjourned the hearing of the 2007 Benazir Bhutto assassination case without any proceedings till June 11 after investigators sought more time to submit the final chargesheet. The agency had not yet completed its probe and more time is needed to finalise the challan. The FIA has submitted four interim chargesheets in the anti-terrorism court over the assassination of former premier Bhutto, who was killed by a suicide attacker shortly after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007.

Why not give relief to Jaffna Tamils, asks Lanka court

Colombo: Although the war ended in 2009, the petitioners have been prevented from returning to their land due to the military presence in the area. The Appeals Court issued notice to the respondents to show cause through filing of objections by July 10 as to why the court should not grant the relief asked for by the applicants. Although the war ended in 2009, the petitioners have been prevented from returning to their land due to the military presence in the area.

Responding criticism the Army plans to reduce the number of military camps.

Rape cases: DNA data not acceptable

Islamabad: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has declared that DNA test is not acceptable as primary evidence in cases of rape, but it could be used as a supporting evidence for confirmation of the crime. A meeting of the CII, presided over by its chairman Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, also maintained that there was nothing wrong with the blasphemy law and it didn’t need amendment.

Kabul: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is removing some international staff and curtailing operations in Afghanistan following last week's fatal attack on their Jalalabad compound, a spokesman said.

The ICRC has held emergency meetings since the May 29 attack in the east of the country in which an Afghan guard was shot dead and three people, including one international staff member, were wounded.

Seven international staff members were rescued from the compound by police as a group of suicide bombers and gunmen went on a rampage, shooting and throwing grenades at staff members.

One of the world's bestknown humanitarian agencies, the ICRC works in conflicts around the world. Its

decision to remove international staff from Afghanistan is likely to bring significant unease to the international community in the country.

There has already been an increase in attacks on and kidnappings of foreigners as US-led NATO forces prepare to withdraw next year.

"Throughout the country, we are removing some international staff and putting on hold some activities as we gather information and analyse the situation," ICRC Kabul spokesman Robin Waudo said, adding that the change was "temporary".

He would not stipulate how many international staff would leave, nor which activities would be suspended, though he said the ICRC would continue to provide orthopaedic services, support a large hospital in Kandahar and facilitate contacts between detainees and their families.

"The ICRC is committed to assisting those affected by the conflict, but we must weigh this against the security of its staff," Waudo said.

Waudo said the Jalalabad assault, the first of its kind on the famously impartial agency since it came to Afghanistan in 1987, had "serious implications" for the ICRC's ability to provide humanitarian assistance.

The Taliban denied any responsibility for the attack, saying they never target those who "truly serve" the people.

However, senior officials from NATO's International Security Assistance Force and the Afghan government said they had intelligence that suggested the Taliban was behind the attack.

The ICRC's $90 million a year operation in Afghanistan is one of its biggest, with some 1,800 staff working in 17 offices around the country. It maintains strict neutrality in protecting civilians in armed conflict and has contact with all sides. The ICRC's medical facility across the border with Pakistan in Peshawar regularly treats insurgents wounded in Afghanistan.

In July 2004 and after 24 years in Afghanistan, the French medical agency Médecins Sans Frontieres announced it was leaving following the murder of five staff, but it returned in 2009.

Pak lawmakers take Dozens of Taliban fighters oath, face many tests killed in Afghan clashes Islamabad: Pakistan’s prime minister-designate Nawaz Sharif took oath as a National Assembly member last week along with other parliamentarians elected after last month’s polls.

A majority of the lawmakers in the 342-member house, including 190 newcomers, took oath at the parliament building here under tight security. Outgoing speaker Fehmida Mirza administered the oath.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, recovering from injuries sustained after a fall during campaigning in April, was among those who could not attend the newly elected parliament’s inaugural session. The house would reconvene later to elect the new speaker and deputy speaker through secret ballot.

The election of the PM would be held two days later and Sharif is going to sail through as his party enjoys a simple majority.

Sharif would be sworn in the same day as the PM for a record third time. It would mark the first transfer of

Nawaz Sharif

power from one civilian government to another in the country’s history.

“It is a good development that a peaceful democratic transition is taking place.

There could not be a better way to change a government than through the ballot,” Sharif told reporters at the Islamabad airport upon his arrival from Lahore. Later, he pledged to hold accountable those who had plundered national wealth. Sharif, who was deposed, jailed and exiled 14 years back, faces challenges like a shaky economy, worsening power crisis and the Taliban insurgency.

Kabul: At least 38 Taliban fighters, many of them Pakistani citizens, have been killed and dozens injured during overnight clashes with a government-sponsored militia in south-eastern Afghanistan, a local commander said.

Lotfullah Kamran said that about 1,000 Taliban fighters attacked three villages in Andar, one of the most dangerous districts in Ghazni province.

“At least 38 of the attackers, most of them Pakistani citizens, were killed and dozens more were wounded in a six-hour-long battle with Afghan local police and the

fighters of the national uprising,” Kamran said.

According to Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, the deputy provincial governor, the Taliban “attacked a local police checkpoint in Andar district.” One policeman was injured “while our reports say that 10 to 15 attackers have been killed,” he said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi confirmed the attack, saying 10 pro-government militias had been killed by their fighters. The local militia, known as National Uprising, was recently set up to counter and prevent Taliban attacks in the area.

Pakistan Taliban vow to avenge Waliur death Islamabad: A "shocked" Pakistani Taliban confirmed the death of its deputy chief Waliur Rehman in a American drone strike and announced it was withdrawing its offer to hold talks with the new Pakistan government over the killing.

"I confirm the martyrdom of Waliur Rehman in a drone strike. We are shocked at the martyrdom of our leader but are proud of his sacrifices," said Ihsanullah Ihsan, spokesman for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Ihsan said the Taliban was withdrawing its offer of a dialogue with the new government, and would take revenge for Rehman's killing.

"We had sincerely offered a dialogue to the government but we strongly believe that the government has a role to

Waliur Rehman

play in the drone strikes," he said. The Taliban consider the Pakistan government "fully responsible" for the drone strikes because it was

"passing on information" to the US, he said.

Rehman and three senior militant commanders were among six persons killed in the CIA-operated drone strike carried out in Chashma Pul area of North Waziristan Agency. Sources said his death would hit the incoming PML-N government's plans to open a dialogue with the Taliban as mediators were hoping to establish contact with the militants through the relatively moderate Rehman.

The PML-N, which won the general election earlier this month, has said it would hold talks with the Taliban and other militants to usher in peace in the country.

Earlier in the day, security officials told journalists in the country's northwest that

Rehman was buried at an undisclosed location. The US had accused Rehman of involvement in a 2009 suicide attack in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA employees. Rehman was carrying a $5 million bounty on his head.

The Pakistani Taliban, formed in late 2007, aims to overthrow the Pakistani government, which it believes is too closely aligned with the US. The militant group has been responsible for hundreds of shootings and bombings across Pakistan that have resulted in thousands of deaths. Earlier this year the group had indicated it was open to the idea of peace talks to end years of fighting if certain individuals including two-time PM Nawaz Sharif were involved.

world

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

British-Indian Sanjeev Kanoria buys Austrian bank

In Focus 4 US firefighters killed in Gujarati restaurant fire

Houston: Four firefighters were killed and 13 injured while trying to douse a massive fire that broke out at a Gujarati restaurant and spread to an adjacent motel near a busy highway here. Three bodies were found in the rubble of ‘Bhojan,’ a Gujarati restaurant, while a fourth firefighter died after being rushed to the closest hospital.

According to a fire department statement, the fire broke out at the restaurant, causing a thick, black cloud of smoke across the Southwest Freeway at Hillcroft.

Chinese poultry slaughterhouse fire kills 120

Beijing: A fire at a locked poultry slaughterhouse in northeast China killed 120 people, the local government and state media said. The fire broke out just after dawn near Dehui in Jilin province.

More than 300 workers were in the plant when the fire broke out, with employees reporting hearing a sudden bang and then seeing dark smoke.

About 100 workers have managed to escape from the plant whose gate was locked when the fire occurred.

Jamaican gets life term for killing Indian American

Washington: A Jamaican man has been convicted to life in prison by a US court for the murder of an Indian American woman in 2004. Kelvin Daye, 43, who consistently pleaded his innocence for the kidnapping and murder of Trupti Patel, 36, in East Hartford in July, 2004. A jury had found Daye guilty & acquitted him of firstdegree sexual assault.

Daye had grabbed her and dragged her down a 300foot basement hallway, tied a rope and duct tape around her neck and shot her head thrice leaving her naked from the waist down.

23

Melbourne: The seventh edition of the annual Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, expected to be attended by over a thousand delegates from Asia-Pacific, will be held in the Australian city of Sydney this November.

India's minister of overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi and Premier of New South Wales Barry O'Farrell jointly announced this during a video conference conducted between their offices in New Delhi and Sydney, an official statement said.

"I am delighted to be jointly announcing with minister Ravi that the strong bond between NSW, India and overseas Indians will be further strengthened during the

2013 Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Sydney," O'Farrell said.

"I look forward to officially opening the 2013 Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Sydney on November 11 and meeting minister Ravi in person. I am confident the event will be a major success," he added.

The 2013 Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the seventh such conference to be held outside India is expected to attract about 1,000 delegates from the Asia-Pacific.

"The aim of the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas - or Overseas Indian Conference - is to connect India with its vast Indian Diaspora and bringing their knowledge, expertise

and skills together. NSW is honoured to be a part of this fantastic event," O'Farrell added.

He also hailed Sydney as the perfect location for the conference, adding that the event will generate an estimated USD 2.8 million of economic activity for NSW. The NSW premier praised the contribution of Indian people living in the state.

"NSW has welcomed many Indian people to our shores - tourists, students, business people and migrants who have made an important contribution to our society," he said, adding that "the NSW Government is keen to forge even stronger ties with government and business leaders across India."

Indian-American wins 2013 spelling bee Washington: Thirteenyear-old Indian American Arvind Mahankali won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee breaking a personal four-year losing streak. Arvind, of Bayside Hills, New York, correctly spelled "knaidel", a German-origin word meaning a type of dumpling. "I thought a German curse has turned into a German blessing," Arvind was quoted as saying after he emerged the winner.

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There were 11 finalists

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in the bee. Another 13year-old Indian American, Pranav Sivakumar, of Chicago, came second after he was felled by the word "cyanophycean".

In all, 281 contestants featured in the final stage of the bee. Eight-year-old Indian American Tara Singh was the youngest contestant in this year's edition. Champion Arvind took home $30,000 and the Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved trophy.

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London: London-based Indian businessman Sanjeev Kanoria, 49, is set to acquire the domestic banking unit of Austrian bank Hypo Alpe Adria for $85.5 million. Sanjeev Kanoria heads the Londonbased Anadi Financial Holdings and is the brother of Hemant Kanoria who heads SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited in India.

The SREI group has been named as a potential buyer of its domestic banking unit by the Austrian bank since the deal is subject to a regulatory approval by the Austrian financial watchdog FMA. In a statement, Hypo Alpe Adria chief executive Gottwald Kranebitter said, Kanoria was “not only the clearly best bidder, but also has first-class experience in international

business and convincing connections to leading financial organisations.’’

He said, “Despite extremely difficult market conditions throughout Europe, we have been able to take an important step in the privatisation process following the permanent restructuring of our Austrian subsidiary.’’

The Austrian bank, which was nationalized during the global financial crisis, is embarking on its privatization again by selling its domestic banking unit to Anadi Financial Holdings. The unit operates in the southern Austrian province of Carinthia.

On his new acquisition, Sanjeev Kanoria said, “New products, additional markets and fostering the core region are the aims of our engagement.’’

Obama calls Srinivasan his ‘favourite’ Washington: Barack Obama is obviously the first African-American President of the United States; but less well known - he is also the country's foremost leader from the Asian-American community. At a White House gala for the socalled AAPI (AsianAmerican Pacific Islanders) loyalists, Obama pulled out the full repertoire of his Asian connections, starting with a cheery "Aloha" from his native Hawaii to boasting about his culinary prowess with keema and daal.

"I can think back on my college years when my roommates were Indian and Pakistanis, which is how I learned how to cook

keema and dal," he recalled.

But it was for his freshly confirmed IndianAmerican judicial nominee Sri Srinivasan that Obama reserved special praise, calling him "one of my favourite people right now". As the 48-year-old judge acknowledged the recognition, Obama joked that he was telling Srinivasan's twins that if their father "starts getting a big head, walking around the house with a robe asking them to call him 'Your Honor'... then they should talk to me."

India now biggest source of migrants to Australia

Sydney: India has become the leading source of permanent migrants to Australia for the first time, ahead of China, a government report showed.

Reflecting the growing prominence of Asia to Australia, seven of the top 10 source countries during 2011-2012 were from the region, Australia's Migration Trends study showed. "Between 1996 and 2011, Australia's overseas-born population grew by more than 40% to reach six million," said immigration minister Brendan O'Connor.

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24

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South Tamil Nadu bans gutka and pan masala with immediate effect

The Tamil Nadu government has banned gutka and pan masala with immediate effect. Chief minister J Jayalalithaa had announced in the assembly on May 8 about the ban but a notification was not issued till now. It will be illegal to manufacture, store, distribute and sell these tobacco products. The state food safety department officials said "We will give one month time for the manufactures to stop production.’

South Indian actress Leena Paul, arrested in cheating case South Indian actress Leena Maria Paul, wanted in connection with a cheating case and arrested from Delhi recently in a joint operation by Delhi Police and Chennai crime branch officials, was today brought to Chennai for further interrogation. She was likely to be produced before a court later, police said. She is wanted for allegedly cheating a Chennai bank of Rs. 19 crore.

The actress and her male friend were arrested from a south Delhi farmhouse where they were hiding.

Kagodu Thimmappa elected as the Speaker of Karnataka

Senior Congress leader Kagodu Thimmappa was elected Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly unopposed. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah proposed his name and it was backed by Higher Education Minister RV Deshpande. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister TB Jayachandra also proposed the candidature of the 82-year-old MLA, which was backed

by CS Nadagouda. After a voice-vote, protem Speaker Malikayya Guttedar announced that Thimmappa, a former Minister who was elected from Sagara in Shimoga district in the May five electionss, was elected to the post unanimously.

Punjab 2 % quota for sportspersons in government plots Punjab government has announced a new reservation policy of keeping aside two percent quota in allotment of residential plots for sportspersons of the state. In the first preference, sports persons who have won medals in Olympics Games, World Cup, Asian Games and mountaineers who have scaled Mount Everest will be included, whereas in the second preference, medal winners in Commonwealth Games, Afro Asian Games and Asian Championship& third preference would be for those sportspersons who have participated in various international meets and cricket matches, the release added.

Heat wave claims lives of 8

The ongoing heat wave conditions in most parts of Punjab and Haryana continued unabated, claiming at least eight lives and forcing people in the region to confine indoors. While six persons lost their lives due to intense heat wave in Punjab, two died in Haryana in the past three days.

Priest gets life term for killing wife

In Ludhiana, a gurdwara priest has been awarded life imprisonment for murdering his wife. The court of additional district and sessions judge Priya Sood pronounced the judgment. Ashok Singh of Dehlon, had a troubled relationship with his wife Swaranjeet Kaur. and the situation went out of control. Ashok gagged his wife by putting a rubber ball in her mouth and then strangulated her.

Punjab CM to fulfill promises made to Sarabjit's family

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said all promises made by his government to the family of Sarabjit Singh would be fulfilled. "Sarabjit is a national martyr as he had suffered endless agonies in the Pakistani jail for being an Indian," Badal said. It is the responsibility of government to respect the heroes who had laid down there life.

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 8th June 2013

Kerala gets its first seaplane In a 'big boost' to Kerala Tourism, the first seaplane, which would commence service from Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam to Punnamada lake in Alapuzha on June 2, landed to a warm welcome. The project, to be formally launched by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, aims at connecting various backwater destinations in the state. The Seaplane was given a 'water salute' as it touched down at the Kochi International airport at nearby Nedumbassery. Tourism minister AP Anil Kumar accompanied by State Planning Board Vice Chairman KM Chandrasekhar and Tourism Secretary Suman Billa, received the aircraft piloted by Captain Michael Fabry.

The six-seater Cessna 206 H amphibian aircraft, capable of flying five hours at a stretch, was welcomed at the airport's

aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) hanger with a water salute by two tankers of the CIAL fire force.

Allaying apprehensions that the operation of the seaplane would affect fishing operations and fishery resources, Anil Kumar told reporters that once the service

becomes operational all the concerns would disappear.

Chandrasekhar said the introduction of the seaplane in Kerala marked a new chapter in the country's civil aviation sector and it would soon encourage other coastal states to follow suit. Suman Billa said the service would

have the four airports of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Mangalore as base stations and will connect key backwater tourism destinations of Ashtamudi in Kollam, Punnamada in Alappuzha and Bekal in Kasaragod districts.

Bengaluru-based Kairali Aviation will run the maiden service of the seaplane project which is based on a Zero Subsidy - Open Sky Policy.

Besides Kairali Aviation, Kerala Tourism has shortlisted four other companies for operating the seaplane services.

"Once the other agencies begin operations, it will give ample scope for competition in this sector. We expect it to be a very profitable activity, going by the growing number of domestic and overseas tourists reaching the state every year," Billa said.

Congress wins Karnataka Jayalalithaa wants levy assembly seat sugar system to continue Karnataka's ruling Congress won a keenly contested assembly seat, taking its tally in the 225-member house to 122. The BJP finished in the fourth spot.

Congress nominee K. Venkatesh defeated K. Mahadev of the Janata DalSecular by over 2,000 votes in the May 28 poll whose votes were counted Friday.

Periyapatna, about 200 km from here, did not vote with the rest of the state May 5 following the death of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.

Venkatesh polled 62,045 votes while Mahadev bagged 59,957, election officials told reporters here.

The third place was taken

by H.D. Ganesh of a regional outfit formed by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister B. Sriramulu. He got over 5,000 votes.

The BJP, which was rout-

ed in the May 5 poll, fared miserably in Periyapatna as well with its candidate R.T. Satish coming fourth, getting only 3,731 votes and losing his security deposit.

More than 80 percent of Periyapatna's over 160,000 eligible voters had voted May 28.

With the Periyapatna victory, the Congress has taken eight of the 11 assembly seats from Mysore district.

It also boosted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as Periyapatna falls in his home district Mysore.

The Congress victory has dashed the JD-S' hopes of becoming the second largest party in the assembly. It is now tied at the second spot with BJP as the two have won 40 seats each.

The remaining 22 seats are shared by smaller parties and individuals. One member is nominated to represent the Anglo-Indian community.

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa urged the Centre to reconsider the decision of withdrawing the levy sugar obligation on sugar mills and continue with the system in the interest of the public.

"I would like to register my strong protest against this decision taken by the Government of India as it will adversely impact the supply of sugar through the PDS and hence the welfare of the poor and downtrodden in the long run", she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The decision of the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution to do away with the levy obligation on sugar will have a severe impact on the welfare of the poor and downtrodden who depend fully on the PDS for sugar, she said.

The chief minister also asked the PM to guarantee

that the entire difference between the open market price of sugar and issue price in the PDS would be borne as subsidy by the Government of India and to continue it beyond 2014-2015 as well.

Stating that as per the communication received, this subsidy by the Government of India will be available only for the financial years 20132014 and 2014-2015, Jayalalithaa said there is no clarity whether this arrangement will continue beyond 2014-2015.

"The sudden withdrawal of levy obligation on sugar mills will expose the supply of PDS sugar to the vagaries of the market and the resultant volatility", she said.

Further, any price fluctuation over Rs 32 per kg in the open market will have to be borne by the State, which is already saddled with a huge subsidy burden.

Controversial daughter-in-law Sridevi inspires Gurgaon in line for induction into IAS women to brush up English

Under a well thought-out strategy, the daughter-in-law of Punjab education minister Sikander Singh Maluka, who has been in an eye of a storm because of an alleged scam in the supply of textbooks, practical notebooks and science kits to schools under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, is now in line for induction into the elite Indian Administrative Services (IAS).

Parampal Kaur originally belongs to rural development department in which she is district development and panchayat officer (DDPO).

But soon after Maluka became education minister in Badal Cabinet last year, he inducted his daughter-in-law as additional project director of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan in education department.

Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan receives hundreds of crores of rupees from the Centre as grants for disbursement among the schools. Parampal Kaur

was also given all financial powers thus bypassing director general, secondary education Kahan Singh Pannu.

Acting under the directions of her father-in-law, Parampal Kaur is alleged to have used these powers to allot tenders to certain favorite firms for sub-standard and over-priced books and science kits to schools.

Under the existing rules, a non-PCS officer can be inducted into the IAS under ‘exceptional circumstances’ if he/she has an outstanding and meritorious service record for 10 years. The file relating to Parampal Kaur’s nomination into the IAS against one post was moved by the rural development department by minister Surjit Singh Rakhra about two months ago. There are about 20 other applicants for the post, including Dr Shiv Kiran Singh Kahlon, who is the son of former Speaker of state assembly Nirmal Singh Kahlon.

Bollywood films are not just about entertainment these days, they are a strong motivating force as well.

Inspired by Bollywood star Sridevi's comeback film, English Vinglish, a group of homemakers in the city, taken-for-granted and ridiculed for their poor English-speaking skills in their social circle, are learning the Queen's language.

In the film, Sridevi plays an ordinary housewife who manages to speak fluent English after a month-long crash course in New York.

The theme has struck %the right chord among homemakers in the city, where they have enrolled for %English-speaking crash courses started by city resident Roliee Anshuman.

"Every time I go to the parent-teacher meeting of my kids, I find it difficult to talk to other parents who converse in English, due to my

language barrier. When parents of my kids' friends call to invite them for birthday parties, they speak in English and I just give a monosyllabic answer. I also face difficulties in conversing with the friends of my kids as they also talk in English. I want to talk to them but I don't as I feel my kids will feel embarrassed if I speak incorrectly," said 37-year-old Radhika Gupta, who enrolled for the course a month back.

"Now that my kids have grown up, I have time and hence decided to join the course," Gupta said. The classes have already started showing results. It has also boost in her self-confidence.

indiA

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

25

In Focus Aamir Khan meets Bill Gates, discusses India's development

The Microsoft co-founder Gates, who is currently on a tour to India, met with Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan on May 30. Commenting on his blog Gates stated, I want to hear about his work as a UNICEF ambassador for child nutrition. I also want to hear about his TV show, Satyamev Jayate, which is on some critical issues facing India. Gates posted, "Talking toilets with Bollywood star Aamir Khan, discussing how satellites help fight disease. We were filming a question-and-answer segment in front of a studio audience for his show.

Dubai to be enlightened by Mumbai dabbawallas

The legendary dabbawallas (lunch-box carriers) in Mumbai, known for their management skills, will feature in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) conference to be held in Dubai on June 4 and 5. Arvind Talekar, spokesperson of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers' Trust (NMTBST) said that he would represent the 5,000 dabbawalas in the metro at the two-day 'Third GCC Government Organisations Third and Fourth Line Leaders' Development Conference'. He said "I will share the 'mantra' for the success of Mumbai's dabbawallas. I will also speak on time and supply management and accuracy in delivery,"

PM Manmohan Singh has 14 cabinet vacancies to fill

Prime minister Manmohan Singh’s indication of a cabinet reshuffle has ensued an intense lobbying within the Congress party with leaders vying to seek ministerial berths in the last year of the UPA government. “There are some vacancies. The issue of filling them up is being considered,” the PM said interacting with reporters on while returning from a tour of Thailand and Japan. The buzz in the party is that Singh is seeing the reshuffle as an opportunity to refurbish the image of the government that has been dented by a host of scams.

Special package for northeast, hill states: Sonia

India should take out seven crore families out of poverty in the next 10 years, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said, while announcing that the government was preparing a special package for the northeast and hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. "In the next 10 years we have to bring seven crore families out of poverty. This is not an easy job," Gandhi said at Ajeevika Diwas. She said Ajeevika, or the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, had proved that social and economic changes could be brought about through women's self help groups in villages.

Akhilesh to unveil infrastructural projects

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will visit Ghaziabad to formally inaugurate around half a dozen infrastructural projects. According to the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) officials, the estimated cost of all the projects is `9,000 crore. "The projects include the new bridge over Hindon river, connecting Raj Nagar to Loni Road. The bridge project has been jointly developed by GDA and UP irrigation department in order to ease vehicular congestion over the old Hindon bridge along NH-58," a senior GDA official said.

Army to get heavy duty scanners in J&K

The Army is planning to procure heavyduty scanners to enhance the security level at its various units and transit camps in Jammu and Kashmir. Army's Northern Command Headquarters have recently floated Request for Proposal (RFP) for procurement of at least 11 heavy-duty scanners for important locations in the Northern Command Theatre. The heavy-duty baggage scanners will enhance the securitylevel at Army units and transit camps at various places.

EU had halted diplomatic relations with Gujarat after the 2002 post-Godhra riots in which more than 1,000 people were killed.

After UK and Germany, another European nation — Belgium — said that it is ready to engage with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

"We are very willing to interact with him (Modi) at the first given opportunity and would like to take forward business relations.

Would also say that everybody is welcome to Europe," Belgium Consul general to Mumbai Karl Van den Bossche told reporters here on a question about Modi.

"EU is positive and constructive about reaching out to Gujarat and is also willing to engage with the chief minister," Van den Bossche said after opening a Belgium visa application centre here.

Belgium, which has rich business ties with Gujarat

Narendra Modi

due to two-way diamond trade, opened its visa application centre in the city.

"But we are also for the balanced view and justice be done by way of the courts for those incidents," he said apparently indicating to the 2002 riots.

European Union had halted diplomatic relations with Gujarat after the 2002 postGodhra riots in which more than 1,000 people were killed.

However, in October last year, UK became the first EU country to engage with

Gujarat chief minister, lifting the 10 year diplomatic boycott. Later, after the Gujarat elections Germany and some other EU states also softened their stand on Modi.

Gujarat's relation with Belgium is robust due to the diamond trade, as out of the two-way yearly trade of 13 million Euros between India and that country, 80 per cent is due to diamonds.

British govt justifies engaging with Modi: The UK’s interests in Gujarat were best served by engaging with the elected leadership there, the British High Commissioner to India James Bevan here said while clarifying his country’s decision to end a decade-long boycott of chief minister Narendra Modi.

In his first ‘twitter interaction’, Bevan also said “it is the views” of Indian voters that count when asked how the UK views Modi and his role at the national level. “We

Advani bats for Shivraj Chouhan Veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani made clear his preference for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan over Gujarat’s Narendra Modi in a speech at a party conclave. “Gujarat was a healthy State, when Modiji became CM. He improved the State. But here Shivrajji has achieved a complete turnaround, transforming a ‘Bimaru’ State into a healthy State that is counted internationally,” Advani said.

Earlier this year, Advani had pushed for Chouhan’s induction into the party’s parliamentary board. Modi made it, but Chouhan was kept out. It’s an open secret that Advani, MP from Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar, is not too keen on letting Modi become the party’s PM candidate.

Chouhan, along with senior leader Sushma Swaraj (both legislators from Madhya Pradesh), are seen as alterna-

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that there were no differences between himself and Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.

Speaking onboard his Air India One, his special aircraft, on his way back home after state visits to Japan and Thailand, the Prime Minister said: "There are no differences between me and the Congress president. I consult her on all issues that require consultations."

In recent times, the Congress has dismissed suggestions of a disconnect between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and reports that Singh was sulking after he was forced to dump his 'favourite ministers' Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal.

The party also said that the reports about differences between Singh and Sonia Gandhi were rumours and disinformation, and main-

judged that the UK’s interests in Gujarat were best served by engaging with elected leadership of state,” he tweeted.

In October 2012, Bevan had met with Modi in Gandhinagar. The British government, which had boycotted Modi after the 2002 riots, had asked Bevan to meet Modi and other senior officials in the state to discuss a range of issues of mutual interest and explore opportunities for closer cooperation.

In a bid to allay fears over its new student visa policy, he said all “genuine” Indians students are welcome and stressed there is no limit on numbers.

Asked about the deportation of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi from the UK, Bevan said he can’t comment on individual cases but “we cooperate closely with the Indian authorities on judicial matters.”

Full autonomy unlikely for CBI

tive candidates.

At the conclave, Advani even went to the extent of comparing Chouhan to the former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. “Atalji’s greatest quality was his politeness. Shivrajji also, even after all these years, is untouched by arrogance.”

Vajpayee was brought up in Gwalior and had first dabbled in politics while studying at Victoria College, now Laxmi Bai College, here.

Speaking before Advani, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley

also praised Chouhan for his leadership skills at a time “when the biggest national crisis is lack of leadership at the Centre.” Jaitley said the party’s target was the UPA — which he attacked on its handling of Maoists, national security, the economy and corruption.

Jaitley rebutted the Congress’ charge that the BJP government of Chhattisgarh had failed to prevent the May 25 naxal attack. “A section of the Congress supports Maoists and uses them during elections. History is witness that they [the Congress] have used their [Maoists’] help in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh... Maoism will not be defeated by statements from the Central government... If anyone was warning the country about Maoists, it was the BJP. It was only [Chhattisgarh CM] Raman Singh who took on Maoists.”

In a clear indication that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) may not get full autonomy, the government is likely to only make minor changes in the provisions of Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, top sources said.

Sources said the group of ministers tasked with working out measures to insulate the CBI from external influence has held two meetings and is said to be not too enthusiastic over loosening the government’s grip on the agency.

Under the DSPE Act which governs the CBI, the agency can only investigate specific crimes notified by the central government under the Act but the proposed bill aimed to give it powers to investigate cases spread across state borders without needing state governments’ permission.

tained that Singh would remain in office until 2014.

Even when the UPA-2 had presented its report card on May 22, Gandhi scotched all rumours of an alleged rift with the Prime Minister.

She said that she and the Congress party fully backed Prime Minister Singh and his government's policies, and there was no room for anybody to say otherwise.

"There cannot be any better relationship between a party president and a Prime Minister," he said, adding that the "reports about differences between PM and Sonia Gandhi are rumours and disinformation, and Congress condemns it." There is no doubt that Manmohan Singh will remain PM till 2014, he said.

PMO sources said "All these rumours of a PM-Sonia disconnect on the resignation of the two ministers are baseless."

AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, who had

recently stirred the controversy over dual power centre, said that there was no disconnect between Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister.

Targeting the opposition parties led by the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) for their obstructive form of politics, which has prevented the government from passing crucial laws for the overall benefit of the people of India, Singh that he did not agree with the view that there was a disconenct between UPA-1 and UPA-2 regimes.

"There is continuity between UPA-1 and UPA-2.

My regret is that the opposition is playing obstructive politics since their (electoral) defeat in 2009," the Prime Minister said.

Replying to a question about the Left Front withdrawing support to the UPA-1 and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee exiting from UPA-2, and whether he was

looking to reach out to potential allies if and when UPA-3 is formed, Dr. Singh said: "In politics, there are no permanent enemies or friends."

Asked if the Congress has been approached by the DMK for support in the Rajya Sabha elections for a seat from Tamil Nadu, the prime minister said: "I can't say on behalf of the Congress high command. These are matters which are discussed at the highest level in our party. It will not be proper for me to pre-judge what stand the Congress party will take."

"In politics, there are no permanent enemies or friends," the prime minister told reporters on his way back from a trip to Japan and Thailand.

The prime minister refused to be drawn into the controversy that top politicians, including ministers, were holding top positions in the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).

L.K. Advani

No differences with Sonia Gandhi: Manmohan

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IndIa

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 8th June 2013

In Focus Kejriwal to contest against Sheila Dikshit Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal will contest polls from the constituency of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Diskhit in the upcoming state Assembly elections. Dikshit has contested elections from New Delhi constituency. The party held a meeting with AAP volunteers to take a decision on which seat Kejriwal will contest. AAP has already announced the names of 44 shortlisted candidates for 12 constituencies, including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh.

Railway bribery case: CBI grills Pawan Kumar Bansal

Former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a witness in connection with the recent railway bribery case. Bansal is under the scanner for his role in the appointment of suspended railway board member (Staff) Mahesh Kumar for which his nephew Vijay Singla was caught allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 90 lakh. Bansal had to resign from the Union Cabinet in the aftermath of the case involving his nephew.

Two arrested for allegedly assaulting Pak diplomat

Delhi Police arrested two people in connection with the assault on a Pakistani diplomat and his driver after an accident near Jawaharlal Nehru University. The two were arrested after the Pakistan High Commission lodged a strong protest with the Ministry of External Affairs and demanded a probe into the alleged attack.

The diplomat, Zargham Raza, had alleged that a group of 10-15 people slapped him after the accident. The car of Raza, the First Secretary of Pakistan's High Commission, hit a motorcycle and the pillion rider, a woman, fell down and sustained bruises.

Women will get equal opportunity in 2014 polls

Women will get "equal opportunity" to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP vice president and TV acterss Smriti Irani said. When asked if "equal opportunity" meant that 50 percent of the party tickets would be allotted to women, Irani said, "I cannot speak on behalf of the parliamentary board", which takes the final call on ticket allotment. Irani was in Goa for the first time after being appointed the minder for Goa affairs ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Acid attack victim Preeti's father demands CBI probe

The family members of acid attack victim Preeti Rathi refused to cremate her body until Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit attended the funeral. Earlier in the day, the 23-yearoldâs body was brought from Mumbai to her house in Narela in the national capital, where she succumbed to her injuries in Bombay Hospital on Saturday, about a month after acid was thrown at her by unidentified man had flung.

Nigeria sends 100 seafarers to India for training

Nigeria has sent 100 youths to India to receive training in various maritime fields to enable the oil-rich nation to take control of its coastal trade. Seafarers would receive training at Chennai-based AMET University of Maritime Transport.

Akpobolokemi told PTI the training is aimed to place Nigeria in a strategic position to "effectively take control of its coastal trade within the next 10 years "President Goodluck Jonathan is interested in the seafarers development programme and the cadets were admonished to be good ambassadors of Nigeria while in India," he said adding that he hopes Nigeria would become a hub of maritime activities in Africa as far as human capacity is concerned.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) order on bringing parties under RTI ambit on Tuesday divided the political class, with Congress and some others rejecting it while main opposition BJP saw nothing wrong in such a move.

A day after the CIC gave its ruling, Congress termed it as an "adventurist" approach that would harm democratic institutions.

Its view was echoed by CPM and BJP's ally JD(U), which also rejected the order passed by the quasi-judicial body.

"It is not acceptable. We totally disagree with it. Such an adventurist approach will create lot of harm and dam-

age to democratic institutions," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.

"Getting political parties entangled in such unnecessary things will damage the democratic process. We simply cannot accept it," he said.

The CPM, in a statement, said it "cannot accept" the CIC order that political parties are to be treated as "public authorities" and brought under the purview of the Right to Information Act. "This decision is based on a fundamental misconception about the role of political parties in a parliamentary democracy," it said, adding "This will interfere with and hamper the functioning of a

political party."

Expressing "astonishment and shock", JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said the order was "no way justified" as "political parties are not shops".

Asserting that "we are totally against this move", he wanted the central government to scuttle the CIC move.

BJP, however, felt nothing wrong in the CIC order. "BJP is not against anything that brings transparency and accountability which is equally applicable to all. We will follow the law," said BJP spokesman Capt Abhimanyu.

The CIC held that six national parties -- Congress, BJP, NCP, CPM, CPI and BSP

British couple's abduction in Chennai: Scotland Yard makes first arrest in London

An abducted British couple was rescued in Chennai and nine persons, including two Sri Lankans, were arrested for allegedly committing the crime and demanding £300,000 as ransom.

Scotland Yard has arrested a 22-year-old man in London for his involvement in the kidnapping of a British couple in Chennai. The accused was arrested from the Swanage/Dorest area by the Metropolitan Police kidnap and specialist investigations unit.

The kidnapping was a planned operation run jointly by gangs in India and UK".

Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), London, and Serious Organised Crime Agency, United Kingdom, state and central intelligence agencies rescued the couple from an SUV bound for a house at Mandarakuppam in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu.

The British couple of Sri

Lankan origin Thavaraja (59) and Salaja (55) were kidnapped from Chennai during their visit to India after attending a wedding in Sri Lanka.

The couple's daughter Dharshini, a doctor in London received a call from the kidnappers in London asking for a £300,000 ransom.

The victims had flown to Colombo for a wedding, before flying to India for a nine-day temple tour.

When they landed in Chennai, two men holding a placard bearing the names of Thavaraja and the hotel they were to stay in, escorted them to a car.

Near the airport exit, two others got into the car.

Another car with other members of the gang followed behind, police said.

Before the couple realized what was happening, the gang members snatched their mobile phones at knife point.

The couple's daughter

Dharshini, a doctor in London received a call from the kidnappers in London asking for a £300,000 ransom.

Based on a complaint on May 29 that British nationals who landed at the airport from Colombo, were missing, a case was registered. They were originally from Sri Lanka and had settled down in the UK and obtained citizenship.

Chennai Police coordinated with Dharshini, as she sent them clippings of her conversation with the abductors and sought more time to raise the ransom money, as was advised by police.

"The only source of information was Dharshini's clippings as we did not know who were the abductors and where they were keeping the couple," George said.

The pair were rescued from a car in Mandarakuppam village, 122 miles (180km) from Chennai, on Sunday night.

-- have been substantially funded indirectly by the central government and they have the character of public authority under the RTI Act as they perform public functions.

RTI is one of the historic measures of the Congress-led UPA government in its first term, introduced at the behest of Sonia Gandhi for greater transparency and accountability in government and government-funded bodies.

Congress leader Dwivedi suggested that the CIC move would encroach upon the right to privacy of political organisations which don't receive any grants from the government and are voluntary organisations.

Congress, BJP lock horns over Food Security Bill

Congress Party lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for delaying the passage of the Food Security Bill in Parliament and politicising the matter. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath took potshots at the BJP for disrupting the parliamentary proceedings in the last session when the bill was being discussed. "The Bharatiya Janata Party wants to politicise this issue because they can see that around 65 percent of the country's population would benefit from it, majority of which are poor.

This bill is being stalled for such a long time. We want it to be passed immediately," said Nath. " The BJP is politicising this bill, wants to block it by giving all excuses. This bill has been on the agenda of the lower house since January. In the last session, discussions began on this issue, but the BJP did not allow the discussion to continue and this bill could not be passed," he added.

UK-raised Bollywood actress Jiah Khan commits suicide Continued from page 1 Her mother and sister had gone out and she was alone at the house when the incident happened, police said. "Jiah's mother and sister found her hanging when they returned at around 11 pm," police said, adding that Jiah used her own dupatta to hang herself. She did not leave a suicide note and police are reportedly questioning her maid and guard to trace her last visitors.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that she was in a relationship with Suraj, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab for nearly a year. Jiah was said to be under depression after coming to know of Suraj's new love interest.

Suraj and Jiah spoke over telephone a number of times on that day with the last call being made at 10.53pm which lasted for two minutes.

Soon after, Jiah hanged herself. Post mortem examination revealed the incident

took place between 11 pm and 11.30 pm, sources said.

"Jiah was said to be very possessive about Suraj. Last night they exchanged text messages on their cell phones. Suraj also sent her a bouquet which she did not accept," they said. Both Suraj and Aditya were questioned by the police in connection with the case for nearly threeand-a-half hours.

Jiah was also said to be unhappy about her career in Bollywood as she had been out of work for quite some time. She had told her mother that she wanted to take up interior designing as a profession besides acting in Bollywood. Jiah was born in New York and grew up in London before moving to Mumbai for a career in Bollywood. For much of her childhood, the US-born actress lived in Chelsea with her parents and took A-levels in film and literature before moving to Mumbai. She was the daughter of Indian-

American Ali Rizvi Khan, a Hindi film actress in the 1980s. Her original name is Nafisa Khan.

According to police, the young actress was heartbroken after the failed relationship with Suraj. Her mother Razia Khan told the police that Jiah had gone to Hyderabad on June 2 for an audition which did not go off well. The actor, she told the police, was advised to shed weight.

Deputy Commissioner of police Chherring Dorje said an investigation into her death was underway and “As of now it is not clear why she took such a drastic step and her mother is in state of shock so in this situation we have not recorded her statement. The cause of death will be more clear after the postmortem test report arrives.

After a preliminary investigation it appears that she had been depressed for the past few months.”

Her Bollywood debut

came in 2007 opposite Amitabh Bachchan and she went on to appear alongside Aamir Khan in the movie “Ghajini.” Her last film was in the 2010 comedy “Housefull,” in which she played a supporting role.

Her last film role was three years ago. Her website claimed she had signed for a part in an upcoming Hollywood production. The actress had last posted on social media site 10 days ago. Her message said: “So sorry I have been off twitter!

Took a bit of a break from twitter verse.. sometimes u need a sabbatical to recollect ur thoughts.”

Her death caused shock within the film industry. Film director Ram Gopal Varma tweeted: “The last time I met her Jiah told me that everyone around her makes her feel like a failure. Never ever seen a debutant actress with more spunk and more spirit than Jiah when I was directing her in Nishabd," Ram Gopal Varma wrote.

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Gujarat: The ‘Power House’ of India

I

Gujarat’s turnaround story from power deficit to power surplus state has become case study for most other states in India. Gujarat’s installed power generation capacity has crossed 21,000 MW and the state aims to add another around 10,000 MW in the next five years, to touch the 30,000 MW generation capacity by 2017.

By Nayan Dave

W

hen Narendra Modi became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, power sector scenario in the state was in shambles. Modi, a strong contender to be named as prime ministerial candidate of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming parliamentary election, initiated reforms in state power policy. The reforms brought mammoth private sector investment which completely changed power sector scenario in the state.

Today Gujarat emerged as power surplus state. The installed capacity is going up constantly as investment in the sector is still flowing in.

Gujarat’s installed power generation capacity has crossed 21,000 MW and the state aims to add another around 10,000 MW in the next five years, to touch the 30,000 MW by 2017.

Just a couple of months back, a 500 MW coal based power unit at Ukai in Tapi district started. Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) is setting up a 4,000 MW coal based power plant in Kutch district through its subsidiary Nana Layja Power Co Ltd (NLPCL). The project would likely to commission in mid June according to sources in the company.

Conducive power policies and solid infrastructure have attracted many such private players. Companies like Tata Power, Adani Power Ltd, OPG Power, Videocon Industries, Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd, Torrent Power etc. are in the process to make heavy investments.

Gujarat’s turnaround story from power deficit to power surplus state has become case study for most other states in India.

In the year 2001, The Gujarat State Electricity Board (GEB) posted huge loss of around Rs 22.50 billion. Transmission and distribution loss was as high as 35 per cent. Forget about adding capacity, the government owned corporation had no funds to pay salaries to their employees on time.

In order to make the state’s power sector efficient, an action plan was prepared and a decision to bring private sector investment was taken. Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with private players was renegotiated.

Simultaneously the government started to plug the leakages in distribution and rampant power thefts in some of the areas were curbed. Stringent actions were taken against those who ran up large power bill arrears, including disconnecting their supply.

The tariff for power used for agriculture was

lower and people were using the subsidized power for their household purposes. The issue was sorted out with path breaking step to separate feeders of agriculture and household supply. All these measures paid off as GEB posted profit in 2006.

“Turnaround of GEB sent positive message.

Private players, once reluctant to invest in Gujarat’s power generation started rushing in.

Suddenly power generation capacity of Gujarat started augmenting,” said a senior official in the state energy department.

Attention was given for renovation, modernization and management of existing power plants.

Besides, private industries including Export Oriented Units (EOUs) were permitted to go for captive generation up to 60 MW without any restriction.

For higher captive capacity the state government gave permissions on case by case basis.

At the same time the state government started to focus on non-conventional sources of energy. In the solar energy front, more than 50 units totaling to about 900 MW capacity have been commissioned in the state up to December 2012 end. The state has the second largest wind power plant installed capacity in the country which is about 3,000 MW.

Premlata first Indian woman to scale 7 peaks on 7 continents

B

eing a housewife and mother of two girls was hardly a deterrent for Premlata to conquer some of the highest peaks in the world. And that too at the age of 50!

In the process, she became the first Indian woman to conquer the top peaks of the seven continents, popularly called the 'Seven Summits'.

"I was married at a young age and then I got busy with the family. It was only when I turned 35 that I got interested in mountaineering," said

Premlata, who is based in Jamshedpur.

"I met Bachendri Pal as I wanted my daughters to be into adventure sports.

But meeting with the leg-

endary mountaineer changed my perception and I also took to the adventure sports. Then in 2000, I completed basic mountaineering course. My first big achievement was climbing Mt. Everest in 2011, after my elder daughter got married," she said.

In the subsequent years, she conquered other peaks of different continents. The dusky lady completed her journey on May 23, this year, when she climbed the North America's highest peak Mount McKinley.

t is 2013, incidentally the 60th anniversary of successful ascent of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain peak in the world at 29,029 feet. This year also marks the first successful attempt by a Gujarati in scaling the mount and completing its seven summits, a mountaineering challenge to climb the tallest mountains in all seven continents.

Dr Manoj Vora, now a US-based medical professional, achieved this feat on May 22 after which he visited Gujarat to inspire the youth to dream big and rise up to the challenge.

Vora, 52, a native of Surendranagar who completed his education from Saurashtra University, shared his vision and what went behind his success.

"I started serious mountaineering very late, in my 40s, when I decided to scale the seven summits. I had roots in trekking in my teenage years when I used to go to Himalayas, but after I shifted to Lowville, New York, I couldn't get time to pursue it. At the age of 43, I started the mission by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2004 and the initial success gave me

27

the boost to carry on. Of course, I had to train specially for Mount McKinley in Alaska and Mount Everest," he said.

Scaling the highest mountain of the world was not an easy task and Vora learned it first-hand during his first attempt in 2010 which he had to abandon due to health reasons. He had completed six mountains in nine years and thus was eager to add the crowning jewel to his collection. "I was having trouble in breathing at high altitudes and thus I started training very differently.

One needs all three aspects of health - strength, stamina and flexibility - to achieve the feat and thus I concentrated on my fitness regime. Moreover, it is always mind over body

that pushes it to its limits.

Many a times, every muscle of the body makes its presence felt in thin air when one decides to call it quits. It is the mind that drives the climber to his goal," he said.

He said that spirituality played a major part in training the mind. "Navkar Mantra stayed with me throughout my climbing. I even recited it at the summit and thanked the higher powers. Most of the accidents during mountaineering takes place while coming down as the person gets drained out of his energies but I felt rejuvenated in the process and had no difficulty," said Vora.

Raghav Joneja, 15, becomes youngest Indian to climb Everest: At the age of 15 years and seven months, Raghav Joneja from Moradabad became the youngest Indian to scale the Mount Everest when he along with his five schoolmates summited the fifth highest peak in the world. Raghav broke the record set by Manipur's Nameirakpam Chingkheinganba, at 16 years seven months and 11 days, as recently as last month, surpassing Arjun Vajpai's feat by a week.

sarpanch of this village Himanshu Patel said, “My father too had always wanted to see the village way ahead of others and he did whatever was needed during his tenure.’’ Patel said that now it was his turn and with a youth population of around 1,600 in his village he thought that getting a wi-fi connection was the most important requirement of the day. He said that the youth would always want to be updated with the latest and the best. “While staying in the village why should they feel less informed than their city counterparts, so this connection has enabled them to not only look for employment but remain informed as well,’’ said Patel. He said that the youth have also learnt to remain connected with the social networking sites.

“So when they are attending for higher education in the neighbouring cities they do not feel outdated and are at par with their city counterparts,’’ said Patel.

The development is not just restricted to connectivity; it has concentrated on the welfare schemes of villagers as well. "The village panchayat pays an annual premium of Rs 2500,000 against insurance for each of the 6,000 villagers who have a cover of Rs 100,000 and a medi claim policy of Rs 25,000,’’ said Patel. While there have been campaigns

for girls’ education and the importance of continued education there has been a zero drop out rate in the schools of this village.

“Our schools have zero dropout rates, CCTV cameras in classrooms help us keep watch on teachers in classrooms,’’ said Patel.

Hence the attendance of the teachers and students could be monitored.

Concentrating on the health sector, the village has a reverse osmosis system. “Our reverse osmosis plant supplies 20-litre cans to houses for a token cost of Rs 4, so that people do not have to bother about clean drinking water.

These are bare essentials for a standard life today and why should our village be behind," said the 31year- old sarpanch.

The village panchayat had a capital of Rs 25,000 five years ago. Today, the deposits have soared to Rs 7500,000. "The turn-around happened when we sold part of our grazing land as plotted schemes to various communities. The money is deposited in government coffers," says Patel. The village received rewards from the central and the state governments recently and was declared the best village of Gujarat. Patel said that the advantage of having the wi-fi was realised recently when three youths from the village without having to pay a penny from their pocket bagged jobs in the Gujarat police.

This village offers the most modern facilities

AV Correspondent

T

his village can give a lesson or two to even urban areas. When one thinks of villages, the image that runs through one’s mind is primarily that of dusty roads, aimless children and stray cattle. But not so with this village which has a population of about 6,000 situated in Himmatnagar in North Gujarat.

The Punsari village is just opposite to what one imagines and it is the first such village in the state to boast of a wi-fi and optical fibre broadband network.

And this is not just it; the village has five primary schools with CCTV cameras and air conditioned class rooms.

And all this is not through any NRI fund which is commonly seen in Gujarat. These facilities have been acquired through the judicious utilisation of state and central government funds allocated for village development.

The village gives a reason to be an award winning village for the last three year. The village has led from the front to be an example for others on fund management and developing infrastructure on a time to time basis. The system in this village has ensured that the villagers do not have to migrate to look for alternative employment.

The third generation

28

travel & women

Travel Deal: Majestic Rajasthan and laid back Goa from only £ 999 pp ajasthan - the land of Kings is famous the world over. To visit this majestic R heartland is to pay homage to the real

India. Sparkling lakes and arid deserts intertwine with blazes of colour. From the blue city of Jodhpur – where the blue buildings look like a meandering wave, to the startling pink city of Jaipur, the desert land comes alive at every turn.

Close to one of the Seven Wonders of the World – the awe inspiring Taj Mahal – built by a King for his beloved Mumtaz.

This magnificent mausoleum is the crowning glory of all the neighboring Palaces and Forts in Rajasthan. The Raja’s, whilst feuding with each other, also out did each other in building ever more extravagant palaces. Many of these can now be visited and still retain the allure of times gone by. There’s the incredible Hawa Mahal, with a total of no less than 953 windows, believed to depict the crown of Lord Krishna. The story goes that Sawai Pratap Singh built this beehive structure so that Royal Rajput women could view processions and day to day events whilst being hidden from strangers (who were not allowed to see their faces). Jaisalmer Fort – A palace or

a fort? This question begs to be answered as you look at this sprawling building.

Made of sandstone it is like a chameleon that seems to vanish as the sun sets and becomes one with the sprawling desert.

After touring the heartland of India, it must surely be time for a little rest and relaxation – and where else other than the home of laid back living – Goa. Apparently, Goa magically appeared when the God Vishnu fired his arrow into its sands. A former Portuguese colony, the 450 year rule has left some enchanting qualities on this hybrid landscape. Without doubt an Indian state, it is home to stunning Mediterranean

architecture and religion.

While beach life is order of the day, a short trip out into the country takes you to Dudhsagar falls. The best way to get there is by a scenic train journey, then enjoy a 4WD experience, a short walk (passing some tourist friendly monkeys) and you will be at the foot of the 310 meter high waterfall. Here you can dip a toe (or your entire self!) into the cooling pool at the bottom of the falls. This truly is an adventure for all ages.

Rajasthan & Goa the perfect marriage of culture & relaxation - an experience like no other.

When booking a holiday, we recom-

mend using a well established travel agent who is well versed in delivering holidays with an ATOL certification, ensuring the security of your booking. When booking with an online agent, check there is a contact phone number – this ensures you will get service from an actual person and get your questions answered swiftly.

Brightsun Travel is such an agent and we were able to uncover a fantastic package that includes on the ground tours of Rajasthan stopping at Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Mandore, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Pushkar & Ajmer starting from just £999 per person with flights and accommodation thrown in. Be sure to add an extension to Goa to complete your holiday from an additional £125 pp when purchased at the same time as the Rajasthan Tour – fares include flights and accommodation. Brightsun Travel also offers a price match promise on worldwide flights and holidays. To book your dream holiday, visit www.brightsun.co.uk or call Brightsun Travel on 0208 819 0486 and make a booking with an actual person – a refreshing way to book your next holiday!

www.abplgroup.com - asian voice 8th June 2013

A temple to Shiva in the middle of the sea

AV Correspondent t Koliyak, a village in the Bhavnagar district A of Gujarat, people reach

out to the Shiva temple about 1.5 km into the sea.

In this historic place, Pandavas worshipped the lingas that are symbolic of Lord Shiva after the fierce battle in which they killed their evil cousins as narrated in the epic Mahabharat.

Think of a temple in the weirdest of places - under the sea. But then, the Hindus have built their temples over the hills and mountains, inside the caves, at the sea shore, near the water falls…where ever nature reveals itself in all its grandeur and pristine beauty. The said temple is Nishkalank Mahadev’s temple (Nishkalank – blemishless or sinless; Mahadev – Lord Shiva), and it is under water during high tides in the sea and emerges during low tides to reveal itself majestically, promising its devotees to wash away all sins. As it did for the Pandavas in the epic Mahabharata, when they wanted to atone for the sin

Lacha Paratha can be used in place of bread or roti.

And can be served with any gravy base dish or subji.

Ingredients: For Dough: 1 cup whole wheat flour (atta) 1 teaspoon oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water lukewarm 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (atta) to help rolling Approx. 2 tablespoons oil for cooking Method: Mix the flour, salt, and oil together. Add about 1/3 cup of water to make dough and remaining water as needed to make smooth and pliable dough. Knead the dough.

Cover the dough for at least 15 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 equal parts.

Take one part of the dough and press it both sides in dry flour this will help rolling, roll it into about 9” diameter or as thin you can roll.

Generously spread the oil over rolled paratha about ½ teaspoon with your fingers or brush, sprinkle approx. 2 teaspoon of flour over oiled paratha and spread evenly

of killing their brethren, even though they were all evil incarnated.

From the beach along the Arabian Sea, you have to traverse 1.5 km into the interior. There are the five Shiva lingas that the five Pandava brothers worshipped, along with Shiva’s vehicle Nandi, or the Bull.

Many people come here to dissolve ashes of their departed kith and kin. The day after the New Moon day, the sea recedes to the maximum, and hundreds of people including children walk the distance and worship the idols. The New Moon day that comes in August and corresponds to the Hindu calendar month of Bhadra is of special importance, and people throng here in large numbers.

The people have to wait sometimes for the sea to recede, a time they spend in singing devotional songs or relaxing in wooden ‘charpoys’ or bedsteads.

Once the sea starts receding, the trek begins.

Once they reach the large rampart square, they wash their feet in a small pond called Pandava pond, and

proceed to the main shrine.

The worship: This temple can be reached between 9 am to 12 noon on the day next to the new moon night. The visitors should leave the place before the sea begins to rise again.

Travel Tips: Koliyak is located around 30 km from Bhavnagar and there are local transportation available to temple from Bhavnagar railway station.

You can visit the temple on all the days, though you will have to wait for the sea to recede and it becomes accessible for a few hours only. High and low tide occur every day, and the times and amplitude of the tides at the coast are influenced by the alignment of the Sun and Moon and by the shape of the coastline.

During full moon and new moon when the earth, sun and the moon are in line, both the high and the low tides are at their maximum levels. That is why it is advisable to visit the temple during these times. The sea recession is maximum during August-September.

Lacha Paratha

over whole surface.

Start making pleats from one side make small pleats as there are more pleats, Paratha will have more layers.

Make it into pinwheel and should be pressed lightly in dry flour from both sides.

Roll the pinwheel light handed into approx. 7” circle. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or rolling surface, lightly sprinkle dry whole-wheat flour on both sides of the semirolled paratha.

Heat the flat skillet over medium heat, heavy skillet works the best. To check if skillet is ready sprinkle few drops of water over skillet, water should sizzle.

Place the paratha over skillet, after few seconds

Paratha will start changing the color to dry look, after half a minute turn over the Paratha.

Let it cook for few seconds from other side, spread 1 teaspoon of oil over the parathe and turn it over. Cook the Paratha from both sides pressing with spatula to light brown color.

Lacha Paratha is ready.

Health benefits: Whole-wheat flour provides iron, thiamin and niacin, as well as fiber and an earthy taste.

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 8th June 2013

CALCIUM + Magnesium + Vit. D3

lthough some Buddhists may swear A off onions and garlic

because they allegedly arouse both anger and libido, these aromatics have powerful nourishing properties. Experts say you can enhance the many health-promoting and cancer-fighting effects of onions and garlic by adopting certain culinary habits. They might be smelly and must be making you teary but in long run, they prove to be highly beneficial.

But what does real science have to say about onions and their garlic cousins? Like leeks, chives and scallions, the other “forbidden spices” of certain Buddhists and Hindus, onions and garlic are members of the allium family of vegetables, so named because they contain the enzyme allinase, which converts the sulfurcontaining compound alliin to allicin, its active form.

Alliums have long been prized for their ability to lower cholesterol, blood sugar and pressure, to thin the blood and to attack microbes. Recent research shows they fight cancer, too.

Studies in human populations “suggest that allium vegetable intake reduces the risk of cancer,” writes Italian researcher Carlotta Galeone, “and laboratory investigations have provided convincing evidence that selected substances contained in garlic and other allium vegetables inhibit a variety of chemically induced tumours in animals,” including cancers of the breast, endometrium, colon and digestive tract.

The “selected substances” include those stinky, pungent, tearinducing molecules of sulfur.

In addition to more than 50 variations on sulfur, onions have another trait going for them: They contain flavonoids, compounds that give plants color and contribute to a

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host of healthy benefits.

Quercetin, which acts as an anti-inflammatory, antihistamine and antioxidant, is the most exalted. It’s also has been shown to inhibit estrogen.

Garlic breath, and onion sense: Top 5 practices for using them To maximize the health benefits of onions and garlic, Goldman said, you must adopt some simple culinary habits: Tip 1: Attack alliums first, as soon as you get to the kitchen.

By cutting onions and garlic, you break their cell walls, thus releasing those allinase enzymes.

To develop the full complement of sulfur compounds, you have to let the cut vegetables sit for a while so that the enzymes have time to go to work, Goldman said.

How long is that?

Goldman suggested 30 minutes for onions while garlic researcher Suhasini Modem suggested about half that time for cloves of garlic. And sulfur expert Eric Block said shorter times may suffice. In other words, nobody knows for sure, so hedge your bets by choosing the least risky course of action.

You could even cut your onions and garlic far in advance, Modem said, as long as you let them sit on the counter long enough, then refrigerate them to keep the sulfurs stable. Chopped garlic should last six to eight hours on the counter, she said, and two to three days in a cold fridge.

Tip 2: Don’t cut alliums too finely.

If you do, the enzymes will undergo a short-lived reaction and quickly evaporate, Block said.

(Crucifers cut too finely react the same way.) But what if you desire a subtle mince? My solution is to keep the cut chunky at first, then cut the vegetables even more just before you’re planning to consume them.

Tip 3: Choose small red and yellow onions

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grown in colder climates and peel them gently.

Pity the poor Vidalia.

She may be southern and mellow, which could be attractive qualities in a mate, but the harsh northern varieties of onions grown in latitudes above 40 degrees are higher in healthy sulfurs, Goldman said. Red and yellow onions, including the small yellow-skinned shallots, also contain more flavonoids than other varieties while white onions appear to have the least Quercetin and other flavonoids concentrate in the outer layers of onions, so peel them slightly and throw the skins into soup stock or compost. Smaller onions are simply better value. Why pay for those hunks of flavonoid-free interiors?

Tip 4: Eat alliums raw or slightly cooked.

In the case of garlic, Modem found that cooking it — even a quick saute for two minutes — destroyed its ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

Other researchers, however, have found that cooking in the microwave for 60 seconds or even 45 minutes in the oven only partially destroyed garlic’s anticancer properties as long as it had time to percolate beforehand. Again, hedge your bets.

Sulfur compounds in all alliums do get destroyed by cooking, Goldman said, but the flavonoids in onions may get enhanced with slight exposure to heat. For that reason, he recommends raw or quickly sautéed onions, cooked for four to five minutes, max.

Tip 5: Combine alliums with alliums and other healthy plant foods.

Even if you insist on cooking your alliums, you can increase their cancerfighting qualities by throwing in some raw garlic, onions or their juices at the end. Combining garlic with olive oil, said Modem, may also add some anti-cancer synergy.

Some studies also suggest you can get a similar boost by combining garlic with tomatoes or with selenium. And if you’re really angling to hedge your bets, you could always snort those piercing fumes.

Funny you should bring that up, Goldman said.

High on his bucket list is a study of people who work in onion factories–and cry “sulfur” every day.

Green Beans With Brazil Nut-Garlic Paste.

29

HEALTH HEAL LTH & VIT VITALITY TALITY ALITY TY TTablets ablets

Face says a lot about organs' health

ncient Chinese beliefs say that your face can tell you about the health of A your inner organs...Your face is reflection

of your healt: Acne on the forehead: Your forehead is linked to the digestive system and the space between the brows is connected to your liver. It is when you tend to consume lot of oily and rich food, or go on an alcohol bingeing spree, it results in a breakout in these areas. Improve your eating habits. Eat a nourishing diet and keep your body hydrated.

Spots on the cheeks: There could be many reasons for this. While dirty bed linen and hormonal imbalances could be a few, cheeks are linked to your lungs. So recurring spots indicate respiratory problems.

Excessive body hair: Excessive hair could point towards an underlying endocrine disorder, get yourself checked by a doctor. One of the symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is excessive body apart from acne, infre-

quent periods and weight gain.

Spots on the chin: As women go through stages in their menstrual cycle, imbalances cause spots and breakouts on the chin and jaw line. However, persistent spots could be a hormone imbalance or an endocrine disorder like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Get your hormone levels checked.

Dark circles: While in some cases dark circles are hereditary, if you notice a dramatic increase or realise they're getting worse, it may point to some problems. The area under your eyes is connected to your kidneys, so big changes indicate dehydration or accumulating toxins. Increase water intake and avoid excessive coffee, alcohol and salt. Other reasons include anaemia.

Discoloured tongue: If you have a lack of iron or vitamin B12, your tongue will get red and sore. If there is a blue discolouration, it could indicate a lack of oxygen in your blood stream. White lesions are a sign of oral thrush.

pices are not just flavour to food but if S used correctly, they are

actually a storehouse of curative properties Think about it, what would our curries, gravies and sabzis be without essential ingredients like chillies, turmeric, coriander and the likes? And what would a tadka be without mustard, cumin and curry leaves?

But taste isn't the only benefit you can derive from spices. Ask the elders in your house and they are sure to start off a litany about the various medicinal properties of all the spices that are a part of everyday cooking. Yes, just like each of these spices have their unique flavour, in their own way they also work to contribute to our health. While turmeric is being researched for its potential to prevent cancer, coriander seeds, which have anti-inflammatory properties, are being studied for their connection to cholesterol reduction. The flaming red chilli is associated with a range of health

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

benefits including reducing congestion, pain relief, prevention of stomach ulcers and even weight loss.

But as the golden rule says, you need to use them in moderation, as using these spices in excessive amounts may just work adversely and harm you.

Below are a couple of spices (that we use rather extensively) and their medicinal properties explained: Ginger (Adrak): Apart from flavouring your morning cup of tea, ginger

A spicy route to good health works wonders to treat a whole lot of illnesses. Its anti-inflammatory properties make it a natural remedy for heartburn. It is also effective against morning sickness, migraine, cold and flu, stomach ailments and even those dreaded menstrual cramps. Ginger is also being researched as an effective treatment for ovarian and colon cancer as it has been found to induce cell death in ovarian cancer cells and slow the growth of colorectal cancer cells.

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

Irish Sikh refused permission to wear turban at work Continued from page 13 “one of the lowest rates of imprisonment of any group in our society.”

A one-and-a-half-hour debate in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament recently saw Don Foster, the minister for communities and local government in David Cameron's cabinet saying "UK is working very closely with European colleagues to persuade them to accept the Sikh identity."

Foster said his department was working to enable Sikh turban-wearers not to have to wear hard hats to work after several MPs raised concerns over discrimination at work against Sikhs with turbans. Foster added "Freedom of worship is core to the British way of life. Public displays of religious belief, such as the wearing of faith symbols and clothing are all vital aspects of religious freedom and we are keen to do all we can to support that freedom."

John McDonnell, Labour MP gave examples to show how Sikhs have been turned away at the London Eye, from concerts at Wembley and Madame Tussauds for carrying a kirpan. He said the government needs to bring about standard guidelines for individual organisations to follow.

Lilian Greenwood, Labour MP for Nottingham South said more needs to be done to tackle discrimination against Sikh workers in the workplace and ensure employers understand the relevance of the Sikh turban.

Another MP Anas Sarwar reportedly said how a high street operator recently refused to employ a Sikh because he wore

the Kirpan.

He added "I was interested to hear the concern raised about a member of the Sikh community not being allowed to serve on a jury because he was wearing the Kirpan. If Anas Sarwar can provide me with details about it, I would take it up."

Over 50 MPs recent took part in the debate at the British Parliament raising concerns about discrimination against Sikhs during the debate.

On June 4th, the first British Sikh annual report was also published at Westminster by a group of people from the community (see report in page 14) in order to highlight an annual report and a strategic document for the entire British Sikh community, to help informing political and community leaders as to the changing face of British Sikhs.

Protesting against rejection of the appeal to Oberoi, Virendra Sharma, a Punjabi MP from Ealing and Southall area, told the Asian Voice, “I am deeply disappointed that this kind of discrimination still takes place. Religious freedom is a very important principle and we need to do more to support the freedom to wear symbols of faith and religious clothing. It is important that we ensure that employers understand the significance of the Sikh turban, kara and Kirpan so that Sikh workers are not discriminated against in this way.”

Paul Uppal, also a Punjabi MP, who had accompanied PM Cameron to his recent India visit told the Asian Voice in an exclusive telephone interview, “It is extremely disappointing to learn about this particular discrimination faced

Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Freelance Correspondent: Rudy Otter Chief Operating Officer: Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 Email: george@abplgroup.com Chief Financial Officer: Surendra Patel Tel: 020 7749 4093 Mobile: 07875 229 220 Email: surendra.patel@abplgroup.com Chief Accountant: Akshay Desai Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email:accounts@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Alka Shah Tel: 020 7749 4002 - Mobile: 07944 151 893 Email: alka.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Business Development Managers: Rovin J George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Nihir Shah - Email: nihir.shah@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4089 - Mobile: 07875 229 111 Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Kalpesh Shah Tel: 07539 88 66 44 Email: kalpesh.shah@abplgroup.com Graphic Designers: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Ragini Nayak Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad.

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by an Irish Sikh. The UK Parliamentary group has taken lead to familiarise the rest of Europe about the traditions of Sikhism as a religion. The government has particularly highlighted the historical and cultural aspects, the sacred and spiritual mean-

ing of wearing the turban.

It is a very sensitive and integral part of the British Sikhs, and we are doing whatever we can to help spread the awareness about this religion. I am very disappointed to learn about Ravinder Singh Oberoi's story.”

Coming Events l On 11th June, the best of Parliamentarian brawn will be rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into the 26th annual Macmillan Cancer Support Tug of War at Westminster Abbey’s College Gardens, SW1P 3RX. The unique event, pitting Lords and MPs at either end of the rope, has become a staple of the Westminster social calendar – and more importantly, raises over £100,000 each year for people affected by cancer. This year Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon and Lord Bilimoria will also be taking part along with other Lords and MPs. l All are very welcome to ‘Big Lunch’ from 1:30 to 3:30pm on Sunday 9th June 2013 in Parkhill Park – a great afternoon out! Bring your own picnic and something to share with others.

Email: faithstogetherincroydon@gmail.com l The Musical Evening with dinner Bhuli Bisri Yadde with Arpankumar & Mittal, Saturday 8 June 2013, The Archbishop Lanfranc school, Croydon CR9 3AS. Contact: 0208 662 1753 l Bhajan Kirtan evenings, 5-9 June, 7:30-9:30pm.

Contact: Chandubhai Nayee 01293519130 l AMC Music Circuit presents Yogeswaran and The carnatic Music Ensemble Recital, 7 June, 1 Bradford Road, London W37SP l SSGP presents Hindu Lifeline Seminar, 9 June, SKS Swaminarayan Temple, East London.

Contact: 020 883 84900 l Apple Tree Centre, Gurjar Hindu Union presents AGM, Sunday 23 June, 2pm. l Shivam presents Lottery Lottery, Waterman Arts Centre- Peepul Centre, Leicester 7-9 June, 7:30pm, contact: 01162616000, Patidar Theatre 13-16 June 7:30pm, 0208795 1648 l Shreemad Bhagwat Saptha recited by Shastri Ramnikbhai Dave, Vale Farm Sports Centre, Wembley HA0 3HG, 16 June 3-6:30pm l 'Tame right to hum e all right', Winston Churchill, Ruislip, HA4 7QL, June 15, 8pm, Indo UK Theatres, 0203 730 8600.

Legal or official matters are likely to occupy your attention this week. A long-standing problem or disagreement will need to be sorted out before allowing you to restructure both personal and joint financial interests more efficiently. Luck and love form a pleasing combination this week.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people and pursue any romantic liaisons that might present themselves. Your communications are extremely high making it easy to close those lucrative deals.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Developments during this week are likely to make you feel rather restless, perhaps because you have allowed yourself to fall into a routine that is now becoming jaded. If so, then the hint of change will be extremely welcome, even if it might entail an element of disruption.

Adaptable and versatile, as you are, it is unlikely that even a major change will faze you.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 The fiery planet Mars is the moving force in regard to amorous experience, giving more than just a hint that links between lovers will be rather intense and passionate. Your attitude to material interests is likely to undergo some deep change. On a material level the trend greatly favours anything geared towards establishing greater financial stability.

Co-operative ventures are likely to generate financial success. So, if hoping to drum up support or backing, it would certainly do no harm to adopt a more pushy and outgoing approach to life. As social life will tend to draw you into a wider circle, the chances of meeting someone attractive are greatly increased.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

You should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people and pursue any romantic liaisons that might present themselves. Your communications are extremely high making it easy to close those lucrative deals.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

Much enthusiasm goes into professional ambitions right now, but you need to be your own boss in many ways. Circumstances will make you more determined to place your lifestyle on a foundation of greater security. Taking a broad perspective on the prevailing cosmic pattern, far-reaching change begins to gather momentum.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

Love is liable to blow hot and cold rather unpredictably. If so, then it might be a good idea to check your own behaviour and motives for it could be that you are already taking too much for granted.

Avoid get-rich-quick schemes and be cautious about other people's enthusiasm which is likely to be misplaced. Travel and social life combine to bring a lively time ahead of you.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (M) +91 94266 36912 Email: nilesh.parmar@abplgroup.com Consulting Editor: Bhupatbhai Parekh, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Tel: +91 79 2630 4142 Urvashi Jagadeesan (India) Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 205, Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar,Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Tel / Fax: +91 79 2646 5960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 99250 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 98255 11702 Email: neeta_abplgroup@yahoo.co.in Assistant Marketing Manager: Manish Shah (Vadodara) M: +91 96876 06824 Email: manish.shah@abplgroup.com Assistant Marketing Manager: Krunal Shah (Ahmedabad) M: +91 98243 67146 Email: krunal.shah@abplgroup.com Business Co-ordinator: Shrijit Rajan M: +91 98798 82312 Email: shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com Prashant Chanchal (Rajkot) M: +91 98250 35635 International Advertisement Representative: Jain Group (South India) Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 222471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 44 9311581597

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 You may find yourself hard at work behind the scenes, although that may not be apparent to others. You may find yourself caught up in a whirlwind of activity, with opportunities to advance on both the inner and outer level. There is likely to be a powerful incentive to do what remains to be done and tie up loose ends.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 An exchange of opinions ought to prove very enlivening at this time.

An influence that should help to enjoy the 'nicer' side of others as bring out the best in friends, colleagues and partners alike. A wind of change may be in the air; attention should turn to the wider world and benefits come from broadening of horizons and mental stimuli.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

You are endowed with a level of determination that others sometimes find formidable. Once you set your mind on a goal you stay the course no matter what obstacles you encounter. Saturn's placement in your Solar 10th house often denotes a phase of restriction, sometimes frustration, in one's life.

The accent’s very much on relationships.

The opening up of a more diverse social life is a point in favour of romantic attachments. You will achieve a lot more, especially when you're motivated by your own desires. The general pattern of things continues on a progressive and buoyant theme.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

Sport World

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

31

Kiwis win ODI series against England on back of Guptill's bludgeoning 189 Three months after being dropped from the 2020 Olympics, wrestling won a reprieve and made the IOC shortlist for inclusion in the games.

Also making the cut were squash and a combined baseball-softball bid.

Eight sports were vying for a single opening on the lineup. Eliminated from contention were five sports: karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and the Chinese martial art of wushu.

The IOC executive board will submit wrestling, squash and baseball-softball to the full IOC assembly for a final decision on Sept. 8 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "It's a good mix of team sports and individual," IOC vice president Thomas Bach said. The decision came after the eight sports federations made closed-door presentations to the IOC executive board.

The board voted by secret ballot over several rounds, with wrestling winning on the first round with eight of the 14 votes.

Baseball-softball beat karate 9-5 in a head-to-vote to win its spot on the list. Squash got through in the final

round, getting eight votes to defeat wushu with four and sport climbing with two.

Men's baseball and women's softball, which have been off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games, merged into a single federation to improve their chances of getting back in.

"We are humbled and honored," said Riccardo Fraccari, co-president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

"The decision motivates us to work even harder on behalf of the athletes," he said.

Squash is bidding for an Olympic

Middlesex Tamil ease to victory

David Devadoss

Middlesex Tamil Sports & Social Club maintained their fine start to the season with a 93-run victory over Birbeck College. The hosts were put into bat and got off to a slow start. The side desperately needed a partnership and that’s exactly what David Devadoss and Ashok Andrew provided as they put together a score of 65 runs to steady the ship.

Andrew hit 25 before Devadoss was joined in the middle by vice-captain Raghu Loganathan.

Devadoss reached his half-century in style with an exquisite six over mid-wicket and went on to tear the Birbeck College bowling apart.

The home team went on to lose wickets at regular intervals but the depth in their batting proved vital as Mustufa Bhagat and Kavi Kannathasan scored 31 and 28 respectively to take them to a challenging total of 207 for eight.

In reply, Birbeck College were struggling on 96 for six.

Andrew was then introduced to the attack and the allrounder proved his versatility yet again by claiming the rest of the four wickets in just three overs. The result puts Middlesex Tamil second in the Middlesex Championship Division One.

spot for a third time. The addition of wrestling to the mix has not gone over well with all the sports. If wrestling is reinstated in September, that will defeat the IOC's original goal of bringing in a new sport in 2020.

Changes introduced: Wrestling, which has freestyle and Greco-Roman events, has gone through a major upheaval since February's rejection by the IOC. Raphael Martinetti resigned as FILA president and was replaced by Nenad Lalovic, women and athletes were brought into decision-making roles, and changes were enacted to make the sport more compelling.

Among the changes, matches will consist of two three-minute sessions instead of three two-minute periods, and scoring will be cumulative instead of the previous best-of-three system.

Wrestling, with a tradition dating to the ancient Olympics, was surprisingly cut from the list of core sports by the IOC board in February. The decision caused an international outcry and prompted the United States, Russia, Iran and other countries to join forces in a bid to bring the sport back.

Raina, Jadeja, Ojha managed by firm part-owned by Dhoni A day after BCCI president N Srinivasan had to step aside because of a conflict of interest; Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni faced a similar charge for holding shares in Rhiti Sports Management Pvt Ltd, a firm that manages three Indian national players - Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha besides Dhoni himself.

According to documents filed by the company with the ministry of corporate affairs, Dhoni held 30,000 shares or 15% stake in Rithi Sports as on March 22. This would indicate an obvious conflict of interest since he has a role in picking the Indian team and the firm would benefit if its clients were to be part of the team.

A sports management firm essentially gets its income from commissions on a player’s commercial

deals like endorsements, event appearances and so on. Clearly, a Team India player demands higher fees for all of these than somebody who is merely a domestic player. Rhiti Sports also managed the marketing of Chennai Super Kings of which Dhoni is captain, as well as badminton ace Saina Nehwal.

Dhoni had signed up with Rhiti Sports for three years, reportedly for Rs 2.10 billion in 2010, which translates into an average fee of Rs 700 million a year, the costliest deal ever in Indian cricket.

Rise of Rhiti linked to MSD: Dhoni may or may not own Rhiti Sports on paper, but it is beyond doubt that its fortunes are completely linked to those of the Indian captain. Nowhere is this more evident than on the company’s website.

New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill led his team to victory in the second One Day International (ODI) against England, thereby winning the series against the hosts by taking an unbeatable 2-0 lead.

England under Captain Alstair Cook has lost its first series in four years. According to a report, England was all out for 273 in 44.1 overs after New Zealand plundered 359 runs for 3 wickets off their 50 overs.

Opening batsman Guptill made a record 189 not out and guided his team to a extraordinary 86 run victory in Southampton.

Cook admitted that it was the worst one-day performance by saying that New Zealand earned the right to do some damage by holding wickets in hand and gave full credit to Guptill, saying that he had put in a very special effort as it was a tough day.

Cook added that losing bowlers of the quality of Stuart Broad and Steven Finn left a hole but definitely gave an opportunity for other players to show their capabilities. Cook also expressed his concern that the standards that they have played to were not good enough.

England needed some home-grown player to play big, but apart from right-handed batsman Jonathan Trott, none of their batsmen could turn a 20 or 30 runs into 60 or 70 runs while the day remained tailor-made for Guptill who became the first New Zealander to reach the highest score in ODI cricket.

Stating that it feels very special to get the record, Guptill said that he was happy to be able to score back to back hundreds.

Indians shine at Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships Akshay B Gaikwad clinched three gold medals while Lalu Taku bagged a silver and two bronze as Indian Weightlifters continued to shine at the 15th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships in Doha. After two days, India now have secured eight gold, five silver and four bronze medals in the championship. Akshay clinched a gold each in snatch and clean and jerk (C&J) with efforts of 109kg and 135kg respectively, to secure overall first position in the 62kg category. Lalu (69 kg) bagged a silver in snatch and followed it up with a bronze in C&J and finished with overall effort of 242 kg to claim another bronze. In the 44kg girls category, Chandrika Tarafdar had secured overall first position by lifting total weight of 131kg in the two lifts while team mate Dipali Gursale had to settle for a silver with an overall effort of 123 kg in the same discipline. Earlier, TBC Lalchhanhima (56kg) claimed overall bronze with lifts of 90 and 130kg.

Dhoni bags Reliance ICC ODI championship shield India cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni received the prestigious Reliance ICC ODI championship shield and a cheque of US $175,000 for leading his side to the top of the Reliance ICC ODI championship table on the annual April 1 cut-off date.

Dhoni on his part expressed his delight to receive this shield from former International Cricket Council (ICC) President David Morgan. "I am very proud of this huge achievement, as being number-one is a reward for all of us, but hopefully it is just the beginning. You have to be consistent to be ranked number-one and I think we have reached that level of consistency over a period of time.

We have performed very well and I am very proud of what the guys have achieved," said Dhoni.

"Being number-one in the world brings with it a certain respect for the game itself and for the way in which we play the game and conduct ourselves on the field," he added.

This is the first time since the current

Dhoni with Reliance ICC ODI Cheque and Shield

ranking system was introduced in 2002 that India has finished as the number-one ranked ODI side on the 1 April cut-off date.

India had claimed the number-one spot from England after winning the series 3-2 in January, and, in the 12month period between 1 April 2012 and 1 April 2013, it won eight out of 13 ODIs while losing five ODIs.

David Morgan on his part said the ODI Shield is recognition of excellence.

"This is the first time that India has been the top ODI side at the 1 April cutoff date. I want to congratulate India for its dedication and for the ability to entertain us all. I wish the team all the best for the coming year," said Morgan.

"The importance of the Reliance ICC ODI Shield should be celebrated as this is the ICC Cricket World Cup format. To finish as the number-one ranked ODI side in addition to being the defending champion of ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, is a wonderful achievement," he added.

Morgan further said he was confident that Team India would be looking forward to maintaining its rank at the top of this format. "India will no doubt, therefore, enter the ICC Champions Trophy as one of the sides to watch out for. There could not have been a better fillip for India as it heads into the tournament featuring the eight best ODI sides. I'm sure that Mahendra and his team will be looking forward to maintaining their rank at the

top of this format," he said.

Gurdeep Singh, President and CEO, Wireless Business, Reliance Communications, congratulated Dhoni and his boys for claiming the number-one slot on the Reliance ICC ODI championship table.

"The team has put in tremendous effort to succeed in this format of the game and gain the top position in the rankings. Reliance Group wishes the Indian team the very best for the ICC Champions Trophy, and we look forward to other teams coming back strong, making the Reliance ICC ODI Championship Table even more competitive and entertaining," he said.

Reliance ICC ODI Championship table (as on 2 June, after second ODI between England and New Zealand): Rank Team Points: India 119 • Australia 116 • South Africa 113 • England 112 • Sri Lanka 108 • Pakistan 105 • New Zealand 88 • West Indies 86 • Bangladesh 75 • Zimbabwe 55 • Ireland 39 • Netherlands 14 • Kenya 11

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 8th June 2013

BCCI chief Srinivasan steps aside, but gets his way Despite mounting pressure, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N Srinivasan refused to resign on Sunday, but agreed to "step aside" till the board's internal probe into the IPL spot-fixing controversy is over.

Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya, a former president of the BCCI and ICC, has been appointed as the "interim head", and will take over the executive powers.

Setting the tone for the BCCI's emergency working committee meeting in Chennai, Srinivasan reportedly began by saying that he had no intention of resigning. "Tell me why should I resign? It is not me who has done anything wrong," he reportedly said in his opening remarks.

"If Gurunath (Meiyappan) has done something wrong, the law will take its own course and I will accept it."

"I have been under terrible pressure. People have been talking non-stop. I have been portrayed as the main guy behind this. I said I am ready to appoint a commis-

sion that will independently inquire into the betting and spot-fixing scandal," he reportedly said, adding, "I am being hounded by the media as if I am a criminal... The other day, they chased my daughter's car... they are chasing me even during my morning walk."

The members gave him a patient hearing, with nobody interrupting him.

Arun Jaitley, the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association chief who participated in the proceedings via video conference, then reportedly advised Srinivasan to step aside till the end of the internal inquiry. Srinivasan agreed, and requested Jaitley to take over in the interim.

Jaitley said this wouldn't be possible, with his political career taking up most of his time over the coming months, and suggested Dalmiya's name. All the committee members reportedly agreed, with the exception of Punjab Cricket Board chief I S Bindra, who demanded that Srinivasan should resign.

A BCCI press release

issued after the meeting said: "N Srinivasan announced that he will not discharge his duties as the president of the board till such time that the probe is completed. Till such time, Jagmohan Dalmiya will conduct the day-to-day affairs of the board." The board also requested Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke to withdraw their resignations from their posts of secretary and treasurer respectively.

Jaitley also requested Shirke and Jagdale to reconsider their decisions to resign.

Jagdale said as a former cricketer, he was hurt by the whole row. Jaitley asked him to give it some more thought, and

take a final decision.

Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, Srinivasan said that "nobody" in the committee had asked him to resign. Srinivasan has been under immense pressure to resign ever since his son-inlaw and Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested in the case more than a week back. Srinivasan is managing director of India Cements which own the CSK franchise.

Before the start of the meeting, Srinivasan met each member individually and tried to impress on them how difficult the past week has been for him. He was seen sitting in the lobby of the hotel at which the meeting was held, and talking to BCCI vice-president Sudhir Dabir and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Ravi Savant.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the choice of Dalmiya as interim head didn't go down too well with Niranjan Shah, the seniormost BCCI vicepresident and one of the contenders.

India crush Australia by 243 runs in warm-up tie

Deadly bowling by Indian pacers Umesh Yadav (5/18) and Ishant Sharma (3/11) guided India to a crushing 243-run victory over Australia in their warm-up tie in Cardiff ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Chasing a mammoth 309-run target, The Australians were bundled out for a meagre 65 runs in just 23.3 overs.

Earlier, Dinesh Karthik smashed an unbeaten 146 and added 211 runs for the sixth wicket with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (91) as India recovered from a precarious position to post a challenging 308/6.

India scored exactly 100 runs in their last 10 overs as Australia failed to turn the screws after polishing off five top Indian wickets for only 55 runs at the Swalec Stadium.

Like India's first warm-up game, the lower middle-order batsmen saved the blushes with both Karthik and Dhoni magnificently pacing their innings on a track that had plenty for the batsmen.

Their stand came off 191 balls.

Karthik faced 140 balls and hit 17 fours and a six while Dhoni took 77 balls for his knock, laced with 10 boundaries, including four sixes.

Karthik's back-to-back centuries, he scored an unbeaten 106 in Birmingham against the Sri Lankans on Saturday, will help him improve his chances for a slot in the playing XI when India take on South Africa in their opener here on Thursday.

The quality of the Australian attack was always going to be a challenge and India's top batsmen failed to take the fight into the enemy camp after Dhoni opted to bat.

Predictably, Australia unleashed their fast bowlers with Mitchell Starc and Clint McKay doing the early damage with two wickets apiece in their first spells.

Except for Murali Vijay, who was unlucky to be ruled out LWB after get-

ting a faint edge (there is no DRS in warm-up games), India's top batsmen paid for poor shot selection.

In a warm-up game, it was important

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik

to spend time in the middle but India's young turks preferred flamboyance over pragmatism. Kohli, basking in the glory of his 120-ball 144 against Sri Lanka in the first warm-up game, made a telling start. The Delhi batsman on-drove Starc for a classy boundary off the third ball he faced.

Kohli was quickly growing in confidence, cleverly finding gaps towards the Cardiff Castle side that had the longer boundaries. In consecutive matches, he ran four singles and seemed to be in good nick till his luck ran out. Flicking a Starc delivery outside the leg stump, Kohli edged to keeper Matthew Wade, scoring 9 off 12 balls.

India lost Rohit Sharma (10 off 14 balls) and Suresh Raina (0) in quick succession. At the end of the 10th over, India plummeted to 39 for four.

India's path to recovery was left to Karthik and Dhoni. The skipper took the initiative to look the Aussies in the eye,

slamming Shane Watson for a six and hurting Mitchell Marsh's right shoulder with a full-blooded drive.

The duo prospered even as stand-in skipper George Bailey kept rotating his six fast bowlers. The 50 of the DhoniKarthik partnership came off 62 balls, the skipper clearly the aggressor with a breezy 30.

India used their batting power-play well, scoring 38 runs in five overs (34th to 39th overs). During this phase, Karthik completed his 50, the knock coming off 81 balls and laced with five boundaries.

The roles had clearly reversed during this period. Dhoni let Karthik prevail as the 28-year-old from Chennai shifted gears, flicking on the rise a Faulkner delivery for a six.

The skipper was not to be left behind as Dhoni raced to his 50 off 58 balls. It was studded with three fours and two sixes, the second coming off an expensive Marsh over that produced 22 runs.

As the innings ended, India strike rate improved considerably. The 200 partnership came off just 182 balls as Karthik and Dhoni demonstrated an array of strokes, including the captain's trademark helicopter shot, around the park much to the delight of about 1,000odd fans, mostly Indian expats.

India win against Lanka: In the first warm- up match, centuries by Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik gave India the start they wanted. Coming back from the Indian Premier League, Kohli and Karthik adjusted well in the English conditions to help India beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a warm-up game. With the Champions Trophy to kick off next week, it was important for India to settle down in the English conditions fast and Kohli (144) and Karthik (unbeaten 106)’s performances would certainly be a moral booster for Dhoni’s men.

Vindu Dara Singh, Gurunath Meiyappan granted bail

Actor Vindu Dara Singh and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) principal Gurunath Meiyappan, arrested in connection with the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal, were on Tuesday granted bail by a local court.

Besides Vindu and Meiyappan, the son-inlaw of N Srinivasan who recently stepped aside as BCCI president, six bookies too were granted the relief on the bond of Rs 25,000 each. The duo moved the bail applications on Monday after the metropolitan magistrate remanded them in judicial custody till June 14. The court also asked all of them to not leave the country and report to the Crime Branch every alternate day. The lawyers of Meiyappan and Vindu requested the court to grant bail to their clients arguing that their custodial interrogation was not required. Meiyappan (35) was arrested on the night of May 25 for his alleged involvement in the IPL betting scandal. He was in the eye of a storm after actor and TV reality show winner Vindu, arrested on May 22 for his alleged links with bookies, admitted to having placed bets on his behalf.

Police invokes MCOCA provisions against Sreesanth: Meanwhile, pacer S Sreesanth was denied bail by a local court and his judicial custody was extended till June 18 in the IPL spot-fixing scandal.

Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan and 23 others were arrested from various places after Delhi Police intercepted telephone calls of those linked to the Mumbai underworld. Earlier, Delhi Police invoked stringent provisions of MCOCA against Sreesanth and 25 others arrested in the scandal. Police sources said the stringent provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was invoked to strengthen the case against those involved in the spot-fixing scandal.

According to the provisions of the act, confessions made before an officer of rank above deputy commissioner of police are admissible as evidence in a court of law.

Mistry joins Canada's Senior Women's Team staff

Dipesh is third from left holding a Pad.

Dipesh Mistry, video coordinator for the Ryerson Rams men's basketball team for the past two seasons, has been named to Canada's Senior Women's National Team staff as a Performance Analyst. In his role, Mistry will provide game and video analysis of Team Canada and the opposition in order to assist the coaching staff. The Senior Women's National Team has a busy summer schedule which includes trips to the Czech Republic, Serbia, France, China and Brazil for exhibition matches before heading to Mexico from September 21-28 for the FIBA Americas Championship for Women where the squad will look to qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Cup.