Asian Standard Edition 8

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S WEEKENDER Includes weekly TV guide.

INTERVIEW

EVENTS

Alia Bhatt Talks about life, work & Shahrukh Kahn

Highlights of Be Befikre in Bradford

By the publishers of Asian Sunday

How one brave father took on the bullies

Issue 8 | 23 - 27 November 2016

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Army veterans from Asian and Black backgrounds less likely to find employment Data released to Parliament by the Defence minister Earl Howe, suggests Army veterans from Asian and Black backgrounds are almost a quarter less likely to find work than their those from a white background.

Earl Howe says 68% of Asian, Black and minority ethnic (BAME) servicemen and women found work six months after leaving the army, after receiving help from a careers service set up by the Ministry Of Defence.

The latest MoD statistics show that 89% of those who used the MoD's career transition pathway were white, with 87% of white service users accessing the same careers service in order to find employment, the figures suggest.

Earl Howe says these statistics are similar to the employment figures in the wider population, and the MoD strived to improve employment prospects for this group of service leavers.

Former Commission for Racial Equality chairman Lord Ouseley urged

the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to do more to tackle the problem, saying it was "unacceptable" that such disparity existed between veterans of different races.

Currently, ethnic minorities make up just 7% of the armed forces compared to 12% of the British workforce overall.

At officer level, black and ethnic minorities make up just 2.4% of the total workforce.

The MoD says it is now working towards ensuring 10% of new recruits are from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2020, at both soldier and officer level.

He said: “If it is not down to racial discrimination, what are the explanations for such unequal outcomes?”

Lord Ouseley believes this is an area of discrimination that has been under the radar for some time. He has now called for "specific and urgent attention" to be given to the reasons behind such a dramatic difference between white and BAME veterans.

"For those BAME personnel leaving the armed services, having given loyal service to Queen and country, to then be denied equal and fair treatment in finding suitable work when they leave the services, should be a bigger concern for the Ministry of Defence than it appears to be at present.

"It is unacceptable that BAME personnel experience greater difficulties in being resettled into civilian life and also suffer from longer periods of unemployment than their white counterparts.

Raheema Khan

CONTRIBUTORS Tahira Rehman Shabab Gulfraz

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Takeaway boss suffers potentially life changing injuries after thugs squirt acid in his face A horrified takeaway owner, who was squirted in the face with acid, suffering potentially life changing burns, has spoken of his horror.

Devastated father of five, Imran Khan, 37, was left with burning eyes and suffered shocking injuries to his neck, cheeks and his eyebrows after the brutal street attack.

It was only when a Good Samaritan who stumbled upon the attacked, alerted police, that the attackers ran off.

“My face was burning – it was horrible.

“I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t even open my eyes it was that bad,” said Imran.

The traumatised businessman said he was “still in shock” after teenage thugs sprayed liquid at him from a Lucozade bottle through his car window in an unprovoked attack.

Mr Khan was attacked by a mob of up to fourteen thugs in Barking,

The shell-shocked Ilford based businessman screamed for help from a shopkeeper based just yards away.

The quick-thinking Good Samaritan poured a big bottle of water on panicstricken Mr Khan’s scalded face in a bid to cool him down.

Essex, as he tried to deliver a pizza.

Reliving the senseless attack, he said: “There were a group of 13 or 14 of them – they just surrounded me.”

He added: “They started swearing at me and I didn’t know what to do.

“They took the food off me and threw it at my face.”

“I think that’s what saved me.

“The burns didn’t go too deep thank goodness,” he said.

Mr Khan was taken to Queen’s Hospital, Romford, and spent a night there having intensive treatment before being allowed home the next day.

He is now treating his burns with two different types of creams and antiseptic eye drops.

And despite being referred to a scar specialist at London’s Whipps Cross University Hospital, he has been left seriously shaken up by the horrifying attacks.

“It was shocking, I’m still in shock,” admitted Mr Khan, who fears he’ll be scarred for life.

“I’m more angry than anything.

“They should be punished for what they’ve done to me.

“If they did this to me, what could they do to more vulnerable people?”

A Met Police spokesman said they had launched an urgent investigation and are looking at apprehending those responsible for the attack.

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NEWS

Captain forced to divert plane to Manchester Airport after passengers block all the toilets

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

The captain of a plane was forced to divert to Manchester after passengers blocked up all the toilets on board.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight had been en route from Toronto to Pakistan on Saturday when the entire lavatory system ‘choked’ somewhere over the North Sea. The Boeing 777 – which tends to have eight or nine toilets – ended up having to make an unscheduled stop at Manchester Airport for the ‘convenience’ of passengers.

The Boeing 777-200 had left Canada’s most populous city and was heading for the city of Lahore in Pakistan when the problem was discovered mid-air over the North Sea. The Pakistan International Airlines flight then had to divert 200 miles to Manchester so the problem could be fixed before resuming its journey across Europe and Asia.

The plane took around an hour to reach Manchester and then was on the ground for another three hours before it could take off again.

PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani, based in

Karachi, Pakistan, said something had been thrown down one of the toilets and blocked it, which then clogged up the whole system.

He posted a statement from the airline on Twitter shortly after the incident.

It confirmed the flight had been forced to land in Manchester saying: “TorontoLahore flight PK-798 has been diverted to Manchester as its toilets got choked, due to something solid thrown in by passengers.

“As all toilets are connected with a common drain line, the rest of the toilets were also choked.

“Keeping in view the convenience of passengers, the flight has been diverted to Manchester where the toilets will be serviced before the flight continues its onward journey.

“Inconvenience caused to passengers is regretted.”

The guilty individual or individuals were condemned by the Chairman of the airline for causing the diversion and delay.

In a statement Muhammad Azam Saigol, said that “passengers need to strictly adhere to and carefully read the warning signs in the toilets!”

It’s understood the plane was diverted for a total of five hours while the pipes were unclogged.

Passengers eventually reached Lahore with a delay of five hours.

MP: Young Neo-Nazis are becoming a bigger problem

by MO BHANA

growth in far-right referrals.

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

"In some areas of the country, these Prevent referrals outnumber those about the other parts we are worried out.”

A Conservative MP has pointed towards the growth in far-right extremism in the UK, saying young neo-Nazis are becoming a bigger problem than previously envisaged.

The worrying figures show almost 300 youngsters with far-right allegiances, aged under the age of 18, have been referred to the UK anti-radicalisation Prevent taskforce, which works to deradicalise youngsters.

And 16 of the 300 referrals were under the age of 10. In total, there has been a 74 percent increase from last year in far-right referrals to Prevent, sparking fears of a Neo Nazi resurgence in Europe.

Figures from the National Police Chiefs Council show far-right referrals went from 323 in 2014-15 to 561 in 2015-2016.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said: "The Prevent strategy is seeing a

He added: “Whether it’s on the left or the right, the fringes are now leading the debate and the discussion."

The Midlands and the North have high numbers of neo-Nazis and 25% of all referrals were linked to the far right this year, up 10 percent.

Right wing militants make up “well over” 50 percent of those targeted in Wales and about half in Yorkshire, where the alleged Jo Cox killer Thomas Mair was based.

A senior fellow in extremism at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue Rashad Ali told The Times that some parts of Wales have seen figures over 50 per cent for farright referrals to the the Prevent programme.

He said the rise of such groups is linked to the “loss of the centre

ground” in politics, following Brexit and the US election.

Ali said Donald Trump’s victory and the rhetoric of French farright candidate Marine Le Pen is helping “legitimise the world view” of fascists.

He said: “Whether it’s on the left or the right, the fringes are now leading the debate and the discussion,”

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NEWS

Mahmoods boss offers £10,000 reward to help catch arsonists who attacked factory

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

The boss of fast food Company, Mahmoods has pledged to put up a £10,000 reward after the firms factory in Duncombe Street, Bradford was allegedly targeted by arsonists.

46 year old Tariq Mahmood says he is lost for words after a blaze caused £200,000 of damage with half of the

roof of the building said to have been totally destroyed.

The fire started in a storage area of the open plan building which contained food and drinks for the firm’s network of takeaway shops in Bradford.

Announcing the reward for information which leads to conviction, Mr Mahmood, who founded the business in 2001, said: “Nobody deserves this.

"I would not wish anybody to be in my shoes after what has happened. I’m lost for words.

“It has caused no less than £200,000 of damage.

“The factory is more or less totally gutted.

“The smoke damage has destroyed everything. We have only been in this unit for the last four months. It’s lost everything. We are sitting ducks. We can’t do a great deal at the moment.

Mahmoods outlet, Bradford

“We want to set a reward out for £10,000, which would lead to the successful

prosecution of who has done this.

Mr Mahmood believes that although he is lucky that the building is fully insured, he insists a similar attack would force him to close the business down.

“Another attack like this would take us out of business,” said Mr Mahmood.

“The factory is the heart of our business. If they take out our warehouse, they take us out totally.

“We are fully insured but that is the least of our concerns at the moment.”

Fire fighters from Fairweather Green, Bradford, Idle, Shipley and Odsal stations were called to the fire shortly after 11pm on November 9.

It was the second attack on one of Mahmoods properties this year.

One of its takeaway stores on Great Horton Road, in Bradford, was targeted in an arson attack on March 30. The roof of the shop collapsed in what fire crews said was an extensive blaze.

A statement posted on the Mahmood’s Facebook after the attack said: ‘It is with great sadness that we inform you that our Great Horton Mahmoods branch was severely damaged due to an arson fire last night.

‘We have another 2 sites in Bradford where you can still enjoy our finger licking fast food.

Mahmoods , 35 Oak Lane. BD9.

Mahmoods 400 Leeds Road, BD3.’

West Yorkshire Police are investigating the attack on the firms’ factory, however so far, no arrests have been made.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said inquiries into both attacks were continuing and urged anyone with information to contact officers.

To do so, people should contact Bradford District CID on 101, quoting crime reference 13160572586 for Duncombe Street, or 13160135859 for Great Horton Road. Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Teenager, who was 'wrongly' put in detention for tipping over a bin at school, died after suffering a severe panic and asthma attack

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

A 14-year-old asthmatic boy with special needs has died after being put in detention at school.

detention, according to Begum.

She said the young boy, who suffered from severe asthma, harsh eczema and other disabilities, was then punished further with an extra 45 minutes in detention after school.

Nasar Ahmed, who was in year nine at Bow School in Tower Hamlets, east London, fell ill after telling staff he needed his inhaler.

“During this time Nasar panicked and experienced anxiety which lead to a sudden asthma attack.”

It is alleged by his grieving cousin, Sani Begum, 38, that Nasar ‘pleaded’ not to be sent to detention after accidentally tripping over a bin, whilst two boys were fighting.

His concerned father, Ashrafu Zaman, 48 rushed to the school after being called by the school, with Sani saying: “To his horror, he found his son collapsed unconscious on the floor and surrounded by paramedics.”

“Nasar pleaded and promised the teacher that he would never do that again.

“He had severe asthma, eczema and other allergies the school knew about.

He told staff that he was feeling unwell and needed his inhaler. He was panicking, he collapsed.

“He had a care package in school and the school was aware of his disabilities.

“His father was called in and found him on the floor and the paramedics were treating him and said his heart and breathing had stopped.

“He was told by the assistant deputy head teacher that he did it on purpose and he was going to be in detention for 45 minutes.”

Despite his plea, the deputy head teacher still gave him an all-day

Emergency services rushed to take the young boy to Royal London Hospital where he later died.

She said paramedics managed to bring the teen back for a short time, with the 14-year-old rushed to Royal London Hospital.

She said: “He was taken to hospital and put in intensive care, where he was on life support.

“In the end he was brain-damaged and they had to turn his life support off.”

The 14-year-old’s life support machine was turned off– four days after he was admitted to hospital.

A statement from executive head teacher Cath Smith said: “I am very sad to confirm that one of our Year 9 pupils, who was taken ill at school last

14-year-old Nassar Ahmed Thursday, has passed away in hospital.

“The whole school community sends our thoughts and prayers to him, and to his family. We will continue to offer support to the family, his fellow pupils and teachers at this very difficult time.

“We will, of course, cooperate fully with investigations into the circumstances of this tragic incident and will also carry out a thorough review of what happened ourselves.”

using the #justice4nasar tag on social media, calling for more to be done.

A Met Police spokesman said: “We were informed on Sunday, 13 November that a child was being treated in an east London hospital after being taken unwell at a school in Tower Hamlets on Thursday, 10 November.

“On Monday, 14 November the 14-yearold boy died. His next of kin have been informed.”

The family has now called for the deputy to be suspended over the young boy’s death.

Police added: “A post-mortem examination will take place in due course. The Coroner has been informed.

Sani said: “We want to prevent this kind of aggressive harsh behaviour and punishment happening to other children in the future.”

“The death is being treated as unexplained at this time. Officers from Tower Hamlets are conducting a number of enquiries in relation to the incident and the investigation is ongoing.”

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COVER STORY

How one brave father took on the bullies

by MO BHANA

that allow for disappearing content.

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

“Computers, mobile phones, and social media ensures bullying occurs relentlessly, at a pace and level of malice previously unthinkable.”

Mo Abdul resides in Yorkshire. He tells the Asian Standard about the perils of bullying and why he had to take a stand against his son’s bullies.

There was a time when bullying was confined to places in and around schools, the playground, the locker room, the canteen and the corridors Kids would jostle, size each other up, and muscle their way around, adults were not looking obviously.

However, today bullying is everywhere, insists Abdul. “It does not only take place in a physical space; bullying takes place in cyberspace, online and in apps such as Snapchat

Abdul’s son is an energetic boy who until recently had a wide circle of friends.

long-term social isolation can wreak on a fourteen-year old was too much for Mo and his wife to bear. “I am not prepared to watch my son crawl into a dark place. I will not stand by while his self-esteem sinks into oblivion and he becomes unrecognisable. I will not sit idly in a holding pattern only to see his work deteriorate. I will not wait for

boys who were his friends.”

a free fall descent that involves some unspeakable point of no return.

those with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, weak, poor; those in the minority, those who simply look different, those who are anxious, those who are not inclined to sports, those who wear glasses.

Research suggests that certain characteristics, traits, frailties and differences are typically more likely to cause one to fall prey to bullies.

They include kids/people who are overweight, those who are skinny,

“One weekend completely out of the blue, and for no apparent reason, two friends wrote some very nasty things about my son,” says Mo. “He was devastated, confused and cried inconsolably, unable to understand the vicious turn. It just kept on happening and pretty soon few friends could be found.”

However, the corrosive effects that

Computers, mobile phones, and social media ensures bullying occurs relentlessly, at a pace and level of malice previously unthinkable.

“I wanted my son to be safe, healthy, unencumbered and far removed from what has become a toxic environment.

He will not have to endure the overt, yet passive-aggressive hostile glances, the accidental bumps, the subtle intimidations, the social exclusion from his peers; the boys played lacrosse with for the past five years,

It appears as though Mo’s son had been on the receiving end of this social phenomenon. He is one of a handful of boys that does not smoke weed.

“I am gratified by his decision to stay

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Issue 8 ASIAN STANDARD 7

COVER STORY through, only they know.

But what I could do, I did, I felt comfortable enough to do that, we need to stop branding people or giving them the impression that they are undeserving of help clean. However, in a world that no longer makes sense to me, somehow being one of the “good” kids had made him a pariah.”

Mo took drastic measures: “I enrolled my son into a Taekwondo class, and slowly but surely, he regained his confidence and when push came to shove, despite telling his teachers on many occasions, my son simply gave one of the offending bullies an Axe kick, which is a inverted full length kick, which sent one of the perpetrators flying, and ensured my son was never bullied again.”

Was this an extreme measure?

“Possibly,” says Mo. “But he did what he needed to do, the other kids just would not leave him alone and despite the best efforts of the teachers, who intervened on behalf of my son, one kick to the face, helped negate what seemed like a lifetime of bullying.”

One of the first steps Mo took afterwards was to help the bullies: “Instead of pandering to stereotypes and persecuting them I looked at the underlying issues and looked why they were behaving in such a way.

“For example, one of the kids lost his dad, it was some sort of an indicator as to how the person doing the bullying was feeling.

“If somebody is constantly poking fun at how others look, it is more than likely they are insecure and maybe lack education. So we called them round with their parents and uncles and aunts, and we took the time to understand and embrace each other as opposed to acting negatively.

“If the parents don’t tell them to stop hanging about with bad apples, what can you do apart from try and teach your kids to stay away from them and remember the Almighty?”

“But what I could do, I did, I felt comfortable enough to do that, we need to stop branding people or giving them the impression that they are undeserving of help.”

Most parents would say that they would walk through fire for their kids.

Mo insists he would do whatever he had to do to keep my children safe, healthy, well adjusted and happy. He send his condolences to the family of tragic Asad Kahn, the 11 year old who was said to be the victim of bullying: “I will starve to defend my son and take what may be perceived as action to support girls and boys everywhere who are victimised and left without resolution.”

“My heart goes out to Mr Kahn and his family, what they must be going

“I want to go back to the days when the boys all ran shoulder to shoulder, carefree and united behind a common cause that extended beyond the football pitch, bound by laughter and unquestioned friendships.

“I wish that our children would build each other up, not tear each other down; that they would lend a helping hand and provide encouragement to each other when needed. I wish we as Native people would stand together in solidarity, support each other, have the courage to stand up and say no to all those things that endanger our livelihood, our children, and our existence. But it starts with an individual commitment, a drive to be better and do better.

“They say there is strength in unity, but this must also come with compassion for each other. We must combine forces, remain kind, considerate and sensitive. Only then do we have hope for a better future for all of our communities.”

“I am not prepared to watch my son crawl into a dark place. I will not stand by while his self-esteem sinks into oblivion and he becomes unrecognisable. I will not sit idly in a holding pattern only to see his work deteriorate. I will not wait for a free fall descent that involves some unspeakable point of no return.

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NEWS

Conman convinced woman he was a successful Doctor when in reality he was a taxi driver living with his mum

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

A man convinced a woman that he was an acclaimed doctor, when in reality, he was a taxi driver living with his mother in a small terrace house in Wales.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Cardiff Crown Court how Farhan Mirza, 38, of Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, told her his name was Ahsan Mirza and that he worked at a hospital in Bristol, after they were introduced by a cousin of Mirza.

The court heard that Mirza is accused of voyeurism, blackmail, theft and fraud - including pretending to be a doctor - in order to commit a string of offences over a three-year period.

“I can’t remember what sort of doctor he was but he said he was a doctor in Bristol and he seemed to be working quite a lot when he called me.”

The woman, who gave evidence by video link and told the court that they first met in Abertillery.

The court heard the woman and Mirza kept in contact and met again a few weeks later.

“He said the majority of his family were all doctors and well educated and affluent,” she said. “A lot of airs and graces about his family. He said his dad was living in America and his mother was living with him.”

The complainant, a university graduate,

said she would always pay whenever they went out together.

realised he was older than he was making out, the court heard.

“I have never known anyone like him before,” she said. “We would go out for meals and he would always expect me to pay. There was a gut feeling that something wasn’t quite ringing true.”

“He had lied about his age and made himself out to be younger,” she said.

“In one conversation he said he wasn’t a doctor and he worked as an IT consultant. I later discovered he was a taxi driver.

The court heard how the woman eventually ended all contact with Mirza after she grew tired of constantly “bankrolling” him.

“I didn’t think he had very good morals.

I knew he had lied about quite a few things and I’d lost interest by then.”

Eventually Mirza told her his first name was actually Farhan and when he showed her his driving licence she

“At that point, ever since I met him, I had this gut feeling that something wasn’t right. I did have a little look on Google but nothing came up for his name.”

Defending Mirza, Andrew Taylor, asked the woman whether she found it “surprising” that a man who claimed to be a doctor lived in a small terrace house in Abertillery.

She replied: “I was surprised at first but he told me the reason was that because of his mum he was living there. Later he said it was because of his daughter.”

One of Farhan Mirza’s alleged victims told jurors how she thought he was a successful doctor but instead was a taxi driver living with his mother in a small terrace house in Abertillery.

Mr Taylor asked: “I am going to suggest to you that he never once described himself as a medical doctor.”

The complainant, who was single, said she had met Mirza in March 2014 and they exchanged messages and telephone calls before arranging to meet a few weeks later.

“He portrayed himself as being single, never married and a doctor,” she told Cardiff Crown Court.

Cardiff Crown Court

She replied: “He did. Had he disclosed to me that he was a taxi driver it wouldn’t have bothered me at all, but he didn’t.

I was misled. He made the point of getting the stethoscope out of the car and taking it into the house.”

The trial continues

Asian youngster killed himself after bullies taunted him with fake Jimmy Saville Facebook page

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

A teenager killed himself after sick bullies taunted him with a fake Jimmy Savile account on Facebook and made rape threats against him and his mother 15 year old, Brandon Singh Rayat was found hanged after suffering 16 months of physical and psychological abuse.

The youngster became suicidal after his friends turned on him and started calling him a "paedo" and a "faggot".

His parents claim medics refused to send him to a secure mental unit after repeatedly telling them he wanted to kill himself.

His mum Mina, 44, gave the names of her son's bullies to his school but said teachers refused to investigate, saying Brandon was being "paranoid".

He became so depressed his parents took him to a psychiatrist who said he was suffering from social anxiety as a result of being bullied.

He stopped attending Judge meadow Community College in Evington,

Leicester, last November. However, Mina and her husband, Raj, 41 sought further professional help for their son.

A psychiatrist later refused to detain him and instead recommended his family check on him every 15 minutes.

However, just weeks later, Brandon was found dead at the family's home in Humberstone, Leicester, on August 9.

Mina says she feels totally let down, by both the school and by the doctors.

"Those boys who were his friends once have killed him. They have taken his life away and they have ruined our lives.

"There is a hole left in our hearts and there was no need for it.

"He had been at that school since he was 12 and never had a problem, then in April last year one day he came home and just broke down.

"One of his really good friends turned to him in class and said: 'I know where you live, I'm going to come round and rape your mum'.

"It got worse and worse over the next few months. He tried going back to school after the summer break, but they

even bullied him on his birthday on September 15.

"He came back that day and said: 'I'll kill them'."

Mina said her son was assaulted by one of the bullies and she asked for several meetings with the school, but she is adamant staff dismissed her concerns and tried to make out that he was making it up.

Brandon was referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in July last year who diagnosed him with social anxiety disorder.

She added: "For three months before he killed himself he started giving away all his possessions. We told everyone, nurses, doctors, but they did nothing.

"We were completely let down and this was completely preventable. I feel like everyone let my beautiful boy down and I'm heartbroken.

"I want other people to know that bullying needs to be taken seriously, as does young people's mental health.”

He stopped attending school in November and psychiatrists at Leicester Royal Infirmary said he had symptoms of "acute stress reaction in the context of bullying".

Mina said: "The school just washed their hands of him once he left. They said they couldn't talk to the bullies now because Brandon wasn't at the school, it was like they were rid of him."

She said Brandon became isolated as his anxiety worsened and he was afraid to leave the house.

Brandon Singh

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FEATURE

Does the government have a plan in place for Brexit?

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

At 06:00 BST on 24 June 2016, it was announced, the UK officially voted to leave the EU – a process that we have come to know as Brexit.

The UK is still a member of the EU and will remain so for a number of years.

However, the vote has triggered an extraordinary chain of events.

Does the government have a plan in place for Brexit?

What sort of impact will Brexit have on the Economy, Immigration and funding?

The Asian Standard Investigates.

In short, it suggests, Theresa May has got little further than saying "Brexit means Brexit," and that the government will need as many as 30,000 civil servants to work on them.

It is understood the memo is an unsolicited report drawn up by an accountancy firm pitching for business, a Government spokesman has said it is not a Government report and the claims in it were not recognised.

The consultant says the Cabinet split is between the "three Brexiteers" - Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Brexit Secretary David Davis - on the one side and Mr Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark on the other.

Curbs on immigration are at the heart of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's post-Brexit strategy. She has suggested she will sacrifice the UK's free-trade agreement with the EU in order to gain full border control, and favours a "crackdown" on the student visa system, which she believes is widely abused.

Strategy Theresa May's Government does not have a Brexit plan nor do they have an understanding of what leaving the European Union means for industry, according to a leaked memo prepared for the Cabinet Office.

Written by a consultant working for the Cabinet Office, the memo states that the Government's work so far "falls considerably short of having a 'Government plan for Brexit'."

The memo also suggests that cabinet splits are delaying the Government's ability to agree a negotiating strategy ahead of its goal to begin the Brexit process by April. It also criticises the Prime Minister for "drawing in decisions and details to settle matters herself".

The document says that nearly six months after the referendum "no common strategy has emerged" on how to leave the EU.

High Court Ruling

the lead claimant in the case against the government, has said it is vital that the UK's negotiating position is voted upon by MPs. She added that for this not to happen would mean ministers were acting like a "tin-pot" dictatorship.

The government's appeal against the High Court ruling that MPs must vote on triggering Brexit will be heard in the Supreme Court from 5 December.

There is some debate about whether a vote at Westminster on invoking Article 50 would require a full Act of Parliament, or whether it could happen much more speedily by MPs and peers agreeing to a resolution - a written motion - instead.

It will last four days, with the decision expected in the new year.

Prime Minister, Theresa May has said she expects to start talks on leaving the EU as planned by the end of March.

Campaigners say MPs and peers have to scrutinise the government's plans beforehand, but ministers say they can decide without this happening.

The High Court recently ruled that Parliament should have a say before the UK invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - which triggers up to two years of formal EU withdrawal talks.

But Brexit Secretary David Davis has suggested a full Act of Parliament is more likely should the government lose its case.

In June's UK-wide referendum, voters opted by 51.9% to 48.1% in favour of leaving the EU.

Immigration

Labour has said it will not attempt to delay or scupper this process if a vote goes ahead but pressure is mounting on the government from the devolved legislatures.

Some say Brexit will likely trigger a significant decrease in immigration, but this may be supposition as a decline in the UK’s economic performance as opposed to government policy, could result in less migrants coming to the UK.

Investment fund manager Gina Miller,

As for the figures available in relation

And the document, circulated among civil servants, warns that the Prime Minister is "rapidly acquiring the reputation of drawing in decision and details to settle matters herself - which is unlikely to be sustainable."

One of the biggest problems is Whitehall's inability to carry out any Brexit arrangements quickly because of a lack of fire power, the document says.

It says, one department "estimates that it needs a 40% increase in staff to cope with its Brexit projects".

The Government however, insist the ‘unsolicited document’ has nothing to do with them at all: “It was produced by an individual from an external accountancy firm. It has no authority and we don’t recognise any of the claims it makes. We are getting on with the job of delivering Brexit and making a success of it,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Prime Minister Theresa May

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FEATURE to the amount of people coming to the UK, these date from before the Brexit vote took place.

In the year to March net migration the difference between the number of people coming to the UK for at least a year and those leaving - remained at record levels, at 327,000. But this was slightly down on the previous year.

The figures showed a slowdown in the number of people settling in the UK

she will sacrifice the UK's free-trade agreement with the EU in order to gain full border control, and favours a "crackdown" on the student visa system, which she believes is widely abused.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has committed to reduce annual migration numbers to the "tens of thousands," from their current level of over 300,000.

While May's rhetoric is popular with

A 1% increase in migrant population creates an extra 2% GDP per capita in the long term. That boost comes from an increase in labour productivity, rather than a simple increase in working age population. from Poland and seven other Eastern European countries - but that was offset by an increase in net migration from Bulgaria and Romania, which hit record levels of 60,000.

"Two of our forecasts show that the Conservatives will meet their net migration target after all, even without any changes to immigration policy," researcher Ben Richards said.

"These forecasts don't take into account actual policy changes on migration – such as the possibility of stricter immigration rules in the event of leaving the EU – but instead just consider how migration tends to fall when unemployment rises.

"The next few years could demonstrate that the state of the economy is more important for net migration than EU membership."

voters, the study suggests that the economic impact of her strategy will be significant. Over the long-term, both high-skilled and low-skilled workers are essential for a developed economy.

Economy Prior to the referendum, a number of economists were of the opinion that there was an immediate and significant threat to the UK economy with consumer confidence set to hit an all time low if the UK voted to leave the EU. However, these predictions have not come to pass, with the latest figures show the economy grew by 0.5% in the

three months after the Brexit vote, thanks to the UK's services sector.

This was lower than the 0.7% rate the previous quarter, but stronger than official estimates of around 0.3%.

Meanwhile, international body the OECD has gone back on its warning that the UK would suffer immediately from a Brexit vote and has revised its 2016 GDP growth forecasts for the UK slightly upwards from 1.7% to 1.8%.

It has also cut the forecast for next year from 2% to 1%, saying: "Uncertainty about the future path of policy and the reaction of the economy remains very high and risks remain to the downside."

Furthermore, The Bank of England has raised its forecast for economic growth next year to 1.4% from 0.8%, but cut expectations for 2018 to 1.5% from 1.8%.

However, the heads of two major Wall Street companies have warned that the UK financial services industry could be damaged by Brexit. Rob Kapito, head of one of the world's largest investment houses Blackrock, said there was "a lot of concern" in the financial community, while the president of investment bank Morgan Stanley, Colm Kelleher, said his bank's immediate concern was over whether to invest further in the UK. The Chancellor, Richard Hammond, however is planning to invest up to £15bn into Britain's transport network and hi-tech industries in an attempt to "future-proof" the economy from the turbulence of Brexit.

Hammond says he will back dozens of small-scale infrastructure projects across the UK to get road and rail links off the ground.

Mr Hammond has earmarked several billion for various schemes - and could spend up to £15bn on infrastructure overall - as he looks for boosts to economic growth.

The Chancellor also wants his infrastructure package to boost British productivity: despite high employment levels in the UK, productivity remains

While the UK debate over immigration tends to focus on benefits, public services and freedom of movement, the evidence shows that inflows are far more dependent on the availability of jobs in the economy.

Tellingly, even the severe forecast on Britain leaving the single market only suggests a 2.4% rise in unemployment from where it would have been in 2018. But if it did reflect a sustained trend, it would lead to a 58% drop in net migration by next year, meaning the Conservatives would hit their net migration target by 2019, but at a considerable economic cost.

The IMF report titled "Spillover: Impact of Migration on Income Levels of Advanced Economies" found that a 1% increase in migrant population creates an extra 2% GDP per capita in the long term.

That boost comes from an increase in labour productivity, rather than a simple increase in working age population.

Curbs on immigration are at the heart of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's post-Brexit strategy. She has suggested

Chancellor Richard Hammond

The Chancellor, Richard Hammond, however is planning to invest up to £15bn into Britain's transport network and hi-tech industries in an attempt to "future-proof" the economy from the turbulence of Brexit. stubbornly low: on average, UK workers produce 35% less per hour than their German counterparts.

was £4.5bn, meaning the UK's net contribution was estimated at about £8.5bn, or £161m a week.

EU Funding

The UK private sector receives a further £1-1.5bn annually in EU funding, yet the EU's 80bn euro (£69bn) Horizon 2020 programme awards funding for research and innovation and is open to UK institutions while the country remains a member.

In a move which could cost up the tax payer around £6bn a year - the Treasury will guarantee to back EUfunded projects signed before this year's Autumn Statement.

The Treasury said it would assess whether to guarantee funding for certain projects "that might be signed after the Autumn Statement, but while we remain a member of the EU".

Mr Hammond said EU structural and investment fund projects signed before the Autumn Statement later this year, and Horizon research funding granted before leaving the EU, will be guaranteed by the Treasury after the UK leaves.

However, EU funding for farmers, scientists and other projects will be replaced, Chancellor Philip Hammond has said.

The UK currently pays money into the EU budget, which will stop once it formally leaves the EU.

Organisations such as universities bidding for EU funding before the UK leaves would also have any money gained underwritten by the government.

In 2015 the UK Government paid in £13bn; EU spending on the UK

How the EU vote breaks down party by party Party

Leave

Remain

Undeclared

Conservatives

121

138

72

Labour

8

214

8

SNP

0

54

0

Liberal Democrats

0

8

0

UKIP

1

0

0

Green Party

0

1

0

Independents

0

4

0

Plaid Cymru

0

3

0

Ulster Unionists

0

0

2

Social Democratic & Labour Party

0

3

0

Sinn Fein

0

4

0

Democratic Unionist Party

8

0

0

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FEATURE

Why a lack of sleep makes us depressed … and what we can do about it

by ALICE M GREGORY Professor of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London

Historically, insomnia has been thought of as secondary to other disorders such as depression. The idea was that you became depressed – and that your sleep got messed up as a consequence. This might involve difficulty falling asleep, excessive time awake at night or waking up earlier than hoped.

This may make sense to those who have experienced depression and found that thoughts of distressing events such as of a deceased loved one, or previous failures, keep them awake at night. The possibility that depression leads to insomnia is also consistent with research in which I have been involved – where we found that adults with insomnia were more likely than others to have experienced anxiety and depression earlier in life.

But could things really be the other way around? Could poor sleep be making you depressed? Over the past decade or so it has become increasingly clear that disturbed sleep often comes before an episode of depression, not afterwards, helping to do away with the notion that sleep problems are secondary to other disorders.

This is not too hard to relate to either – just think about how you feel after you have slept poorly. Perhaps you feel tearful or snap at those around you.

The literature seems to back up the idea that our ability to regulate our emotions is reduced after a bad night’s sleep. Insomnia has also been shown to predict depression defined according to diagnostic criteria.

So why does poor sleep lead to depression? Lots of different mechanisms have been proposed. To give just a few examples, let’s start by thinking about our behaviour. I, for one, am more likely to cancel an evening out with friends or an exercise class after a poor night’s sleep. This could be part of the problem, as such events are exactly those that may help to keep depressive symptoms at bay.

If we think about what happens to the brain when we miss sleep, there are clues as to why sleep and depression are linked. One study on this topic focused on an area of the brain called the amygdala. This is an almondshaped structure located deep in the brain that is believed to play an important role in our emotions and anxiety levels.

It was found that participants who had been sleep deprived for approximately 35 hours showed a greater amygdala response when presented with emotionally negative pictures when compared to those who had not been sleep deprived. Interestingly, links with parts of the brain that regulate the amygdala seemed weaker, too – meaning that the participants were perhaps less able to control their emotions. Such findings could help to explain how poor sleep may actually cause difficulties such as depression.

Inherited insomnia Over the years, my own work has taken a behavioural genetic perspective in an attempt to understand the links between poor sleep and depression.

From my twin research and work led by others it seems that poor sleep and insomnia symptoms could be, to some extent, part of the same genetic cluster – meaning that if we inherit genes which make us susceptible to

insomnia, we may also be vulnerable to depression.

researchers at the University of Oxford in collaboration with the psychological therapy provider Self When trying to explain the link Help Manchester evaluated whether between sleep and depression, I’m also an online treatment for insomnia intrigued by recent work on the reduces symptoms of anxiety and immune system and depression. depression. They advised people Studies have found that those suffering with these difficulties to take steps from, or at risk of, depression may such as keeping a consistent wake show high levels of inflammation in time, getting out of bed when they their bodies. Their immune systems can’t sleep, and challenging beliefs appear to be in hyper-drive as if that a bad night’s sleep is they’re fighting infection or healing incapacitating. from injury. When we disturb or restrict sleep we may also experience They found that both anxiety and inflammation, so perhaps depression symptoms were reduced inflammation could also help to after insomnia treatment. Other explain the link between sleep and groups are currently looking at depression. whether by improving our sleep we can reduce other types of So what can we do about it? It has been psychiatric difficulties, too. But proposed for some time now that by even before this work is complete, improving sleep we can perhaps the take-home message from prevent or treat depression. Recently, research to date is clear: we need to data have started to emerge from begin to prioritise our sleep. studies suggesting that this may indeed be the case. For example, This article originally appeared in The Conversation

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h

Who lives longest: meat eaters or vegetarians?

by JAMES BROWN Lecturer in Biology and Biomedical Science, Aston University

Our ability to live a long life is influenced by a combination of our genes and our environment. In studies that involve identical twins, scientists have estimated that no more than 30% of this influence comes from our genes, meaning that the largest group of factors that control how long a person lives is their environment.

very littleor even no difference at all in longevity between meat eaters and non-meat eaters.

What is clear is evidence that meatfree diets can reduce the risk of developing health problems such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure

and even cancer. There is some evidence to suggest that vegan diets possibly offer added protection above a standard vegetarian diet. These findings are far easier to interpret as they report the actual event of being diagnosed with a health problem rather than death from any cause.

So can we confidently say that avoiding meat will increase your lifespan? The simple answer is: not yet.

The problem with longevity The first thing that is clear is that, compared with most other creatures,

Of the many possible environmental factors, few have been as thoroughly studied or debated as our diet. Calorie restriction, for example, is one area that is being investigated. So far, studies seem to show that restricting calories can increase lifespan, at least in small creatures. But what works for mice doesn’t necessarily work for humans.

What we eat – as opposed to how much we eat – is also a hot topic to study and meat consumption is often put under the microscope. A studythat tracked almost 100,000 Americans for five years found that non-meat eaters were less likely to die – of any cause – during the study period than meat eaters. This effect was especially noticeable in males.

Some meta-analyses, which combine and re-analyse data from several studies, have also shown that a diet low in meat is associated with greater longevity and that the longer a person sticks to a meat-free diet, the greater the benefit. Not all studies agree, however. Some show very little

Daljinder Kaur, gives birth at age 72 in India

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health

humans live for a very long time. This makes it very difficult to run studies that measure the effect of anything on longevity (you’d have difficulty finding a scientist willing to wait 90 years for a study to complete). Instead scientists either look back at existing health records or recruit volunteers for studies that use shorter time periods, measuring death rates and looking to see which group, on average, was mostly likely to die first. From this data, claims are made about the effect certain activities have on longevity, including avoiding meat.

There are problems with this approach. First, finding a link between two things – such as eating meat and an early death – doesn’t necessarily mean one thing caused the other. In other words: correlation does not equal causation. It may appear that vegetarianism and longevity are related but a different variable may explain the link. It could be that vegetarians exercise more, smoke less and drink less alcohol than their meat eating counterparts, for example.

Nutrition studies also rely on volunteers accurately and truthfully recording their food intake. But this can’t be taken for granted. Studies have shown that people tend to underreport calorie intake and overreport healthy food consumption.

Without actually controlling the diet of

What is clear is evidence that meatfree diets can reduce the risk of developing health problems such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and even cancer. groups of people and measuring how long they live, it is difficult to have absolute confidence in findings.

So should I avoid meat for a long and healthy life? The key to healthy ageing probably does lie in controlling our environment, including what we eat. From the available evidence it is possible that eating a meat-free diet can

contribute to this, and that avoiding meat in your diet could certainly increase your chances of avoiding disease as you age. But there’s certainly also evidence to suggest that this really might work in tandem with avoiding some clearer risks to longevity including smoking.

This article originally appeared in The Conversation

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WOMEN OF INFLUENCE

Geeta Sidhu-Robb: Corporate lawyer to health coach

by FATIMA PATEL

fatima@asian-standard.co.uk

Q. You left a high flying career in the legal industry to set up your own business. Tell us a little about your journey.

A. I was a corporate lawyer

specialising in telecoms. But then when I got divorced and I had 3 small children under the age of 7 that I had to support and put through life and school I had to make some hard decisions.

My ultimate decision was that I wanted to be able to spend time with them because my son had been so ill he’d spent nearly 2 years in hospital. He had severe allergies and anaphylaxis and I was worried I would go to work and by some tragic feeding error he’d end up dead. So I decided to stay at home. Then I wondered how to pay for everything as I received no financial support at all. What I knew to do was to help people get strong and healthy as I had cured my son of eczema and asthma. At about the same time, my best friend came to me and was moaning about being fat. I was really dismissive about it as a problem and wrote up a list for her to follow. She lost all the extra weight within weeks and came to me saying ‘you know, people would pay you for this!’. So I set up Nosh Detox.

Q. Did your son’s illness inspire your interest in nutrition?

A.

Yes because it was the only thing that made a difference to his health. So I learnt as much as I could about it to help him.

Q.

When you use the word ‘Detox’ most of us would associate this with losing weight, but a detox can be so much more than just that, as you’ve proved with your son, in terms of his asthma, eczema is that right?

A.

Yes I found that when you help people to detox what happens if that the cleansing strengthens their body’s ability to heal. It helps them to work better and feel stronger. So the body starts to heal issues like asthma and eczema.

Q. Some say it is common sense to simply eat healthy, such as 5 fruits and veg a day, lots of water etc. So why would someone need to come to a company like yours for healthy eating advice?

Founder of Nosh Detox, Geeta Sidhu-Robb

A.

Because I suppose we so rarely do what is good for us despite knowing that? also when we get busy, health falls by the wayside.

really but its very client led. When someone rings in and asks for help it galvanises me to do/learn/be better.

tips to live a healthier lifestyle?

What would you say is your greatest professional accomplishment to date?

Q. Can you give our readers some A.

Eat more fruit and raw salad each and every day.

Q. What or who has been your

greatest influence in your work and why?

A.

I have a lot of influences

Q.

A.

When i set up Nosh in 2007 there was no company that delivered healthy food anywhere in London, when we delivered the first juices in 2008 there was no company that did that in London or the UK at all, and then when we

Eat more fruit and raw salad each and every day.

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WOMEN OF INFLUENCE set up the Vitamin Drip clinic that too was a major innovation. I am proud of having changed the face of 'health' in the UK.

Q.

You’ve won several awards, what do awards mean to you?

A. Its credibility and recognition.

Which is so lovely.

Q. What one thing have you

learned through your career that has served you well over the year?

A. Never give up.

The bit just before you are about to give up is the bit just before you’re going to make it big.

Q. What advice would you offer

anyone who wanted to go into your industry?

A. Go for it.

Q. Finally, what’s the best advice you have received in your career that you wish to pass on to our readers.

A.

Always always have a coach or a mentor. Why learn something the hard way when someone else already has put in the work?

Always always have a coach or a mentor. Why learn something the hard way when someone else already has put in the work?

Profile : Mumpreneur Geeta Sidhu-Robb In the decade leading up to Nosh Detox's launch in 2008, Geeta had endured several setbacks both personally and professionally which included divorce, bankruptcy and nursing a critically ill son suffering from severe food allergies, eczema, asthma and anaphylaxis as a baby.

Geeta separated from her

husband when her youngest child was four months of age; she was declared bankrupt, with no assets and income She gave up her career as a corporate lawyer to become a stayat-home mum She set up her own business, Nosh Detox in 2008, retraining as a

food technician and nutritionist to independently find a cure for her son (then aged 7) when no medic was able to help. From that moment, she fast learnt how to provide a nutritious, balanced and safe diet for her son and in turn, the whole family. Her focus was on allergy free foods, nutrition, diet and organic produce- she was determined she could make him fit

and well through nutrition, despite doctors believing only steroids and drugs were the way to control his conditions.

The bankruptcy was discharged by the time she launched Nosh Detox but finance options were limited so Geeta used her overdraft and kept costs low by working from home

The company is now projected to turnover just under £2mn.

Geeta was also a member of the WOMEN IN CAMPAIGN, joining 50 women across the UK who declared that staying in the EU will strengthen families and the nation's prosperity!

Range of products by Nosh Detox

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NEWS

Bollywood Star tear-gassed and beaten up by three masked intruders in Paris apartment

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

Bollywood star and international model Mallika Sherawat has been teargassed and beaten up by three masked intruders in her own Paris apartment block, police have revealed.

It took place after Ms Sherawat and French businessman Cyrille Auxenfans, 45, arrived at her residential building in the upmarket 16th arrondissement of Paris around 9.30pm on Friday.

French newspaper, the Le Parisien described how the criminals wore scarves across their faces and “without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas before punching them in the face”.

Mr Auxenfans suffered minor injuries, as police attempt to piece together a motive for the attack after it emerged that no items were stolen.

Investigators say they are perplexed, that although the three attackers had apparently tried to take an item belonging to Sherawat, possibly her handbag, they fled empty-handed.

“We cannot understand why the attackers fled without taking anything,” a source in the investigation told AFP. However, a criminal investigation has been launched, with detectives working on the theory that the assailants were attempting a robbery.

A police spokesman added: “A full investigation to find the assailants is underway.”

16th arrondissement of Paris

The attackers then ran away, leaving a shocked Ms Sherawat and her friend to call the emergency services.

The couple told police the men had ambushed them in the lobby

Ms Kardashian left Paris immediately after a gang of five robbers got away with millions of pounds worth of jewels from her own Paris flat on October 3.

Mr Auxenfans, who specialises in real estate, owns the flat in the building where the crime happened.

The attack on the 40-year-old Indian celebrity comes just a month after reality TV star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in a neighbouring flat.

She and a security guard had guns pointed at their heads and were tied up by the gang, who are still at large.

Officials said both Ms Sherawat and

The attack made international

headlines and prompted Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to insist that the capital is a safe place for celebrities.

Kardashian has since taken a break from social media, with many commentators lambasting her for showcasing her expensive jewellery and clothing on platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram.

We cannot understand why the attackers fled without taking anything, a source in the investigation told AFP. Such attacks are a huge blow to the worldwide image of France, which is still under a state of emergency following a spate of terrorist attacks.

Paris is the most popular tourist city in the world, but increasing violence has seen visitor numbers decrease.

Despite the alleged ordeal, Sherawat has continued to update her followers on social media and shared an updated of her visit to the Taj Mahal on Thursday.

Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat

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NEWS

Brendan Cox: Jo’s killing was an act of terrorism

by MO BHANA

of her killing with strength and love.

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

Kim Leadbeater said her family was still processing their grief but were “stronger and more united than ever”

The husband of slain MP, Jo Cox said the killing of his wife was an act of terrorism.

Brendan Cox made the comments after far-right terrorist, Thomas Mair was found guilty of murdering Cox after shooting and stabbing her to death outside a constituency surgery.

The 53-year-old Nazi fanatic repeatedly shouted "Britain First" as he ambushed the mum-of-two outside her constituency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire.

The brave MP told two staff members "let him hurt me, don't let him hurt you" as she was shot three times and stabbed 15 times on June 16.

She insisted they would continue to champion the very values that the MP represented: “Compassion, tolerance, acceptance, understanding and a determination to continue to fight for what is right.”

“I for one will not be beaten by what has happened, and I know I am not alone. It is the last thing my sister would want and it is not who I am,” said Mrs Leadbeater.

“I will channel my energy into ensuring that Jo's legacy continues.

And as a family we will respond with strength, love positivity and enthusiasm - strength and love

Late MP Jo Cox those people who just wanted to help everyone.

He faces life behind bars following the jury's verdict.

“I will always remember when I was told by my wife that she had come to our house and she even assured our local Imam, a few days before his son’s wedding, that he will be ok and not to worry about anything, she was just so compassionate yet tenacious.”

Mair, from Birstall, pleaded not guilty to murder, firearms offences and causing grievous bodily harm by stabbing 78-year-old Bernard Kenny in the abdomen as he tried to save Mrs Cox. Jo’s manager Fazila Aswat desperately tried to fight off the killer by hitting him with her handbag but was forced to back away in fear of her own life.

Witnesses heard Mair shouting: “Britain First, this is for Britain, Britain will always come first”.

Kim Leadbeater with her parents & winner of Jo Cox Award Mr Cox insisted that he has no interest in for "retribution" and felt "nothing but pity for" Mair.

for each other and positivity and enthusiasm for the cause’s principles Jo believed in.”

“His life was so devoid of love that his only way of finding meaning was to attack a defenseless woman who represented the best of our country in an act of supreme cowardice.

Cowardice that has continued throughout this trial.”

Batley resident Mo Abdul said Cox will always be remembered for her hard work and her love for everyone in the community: “Jo was comfortable around everyone, she once one of

He said that Mair has committed an act of "terrorism" which had backfired to unite the country in grief.

“In the history of such acts it was perhaps the most incompetent and self-defeating. An act driven by hatred which instead has created an outpouring of love,” said Mr Cox. “An act designed to drive communities apart which has instead brought them together. An act designed to silence a voice which instead has allowed millions of others to hear it.

Mr Cox’s comments were echoed by the sister of Cox who insisted that her family will remain steadfast and are determined to respond to the hatred

far-right terrorist, Thomas Mair

But the killer's lawyers chose not to offer a defence following seven days of prosecution evidence at the Old Bailey.

Late MP Jo Cox

His life was so devoid of love that his only way of finding meaning was to attack a defenseless woman who represented the best of our country in an act of supreme cowardice. Cowardice that has continued throughout this trial.

WEEKENDER FREE Issue eight, Wednesday 23rd November 2016

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TV GUIDE INSIDE

ALIA BHATT:

I THINK TWICE BEFORE I TALK.

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EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Bollywood stars rock Bradford in total Befikre style

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

Bollywood new generation superstar Ranveer Singh along with co-star Vaani Kapoor, who plays the leading lady for the first time are all geared up for the release of their upcoming romcom ‘Befikre’.

Bradford was the chosen destination

for the first set of UK promotions for the hotly anticipated directorial by Yash Raj Films head Aditya Chopra and certainly laid out the red carpet last Sunday for the B-Town stars to be Befikre in the world’s first UNESCO city of film.

seen the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan) followed by a live Q&A with Ranveer and his fans. The ‘Bajirao Mastani’ actor made it a point to take a selfie with every member of the audience at the media museum, which left fans overwhelmed.

The day of activities included a film screening of Ranveer’s first film, Baad Baaja Baraat at the prestigious National Media Museum, (which has

The film screening followed with a live act at City Park, where Vaani joined Ranveer and took to the stage with a packed out crowd of around

3000 people. The comfortable Befikre couple performed to songs from the film as well as paying tribute to Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Lejayenge. The finale to the event was the unveiling of a significant statue to represent peace, love and unity, which will become a permanent fixture in the city for fans to remember the occasion by.

Here are highlights from the #BeBefikreinBradford extravaganza.

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EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

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Recipes from

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Fiery desi burger Ingredients

Method

• Minced Beef – 750 gm • Chopped Onion – 2 tbsp • Chopped Green Chili – 1 tbsp • Garlic Powder – 1/4 tsp • Salt – 1/2 tsp • Black Pepper – 1/4 tsp • Bread Crumbs – 1/2 cup • Egg (Beaten) – 1/2 • Mayonnaise – 1 cup • Chinese Chili Sauce – 1 tbsp • Pickles – 1 tbsp • Chili Garlic Sauce – 2 tbsp • Oil – 1 tbsp • American Cheese • Buns • Lettuce, Onions & Tomatoes

In a large bowl – add minced beef, chopped onion, chopped green chili, Garlic Powder, Salt, Black Pepper, bread crumbs and egg. Mix well.

Facebook/ The Desi Kitchen

Make a patty and freeze for an hour.

Add mayonnaise, Chinese Chili Sauce, pickles and Chili Garlic Sauce in a bowl.

Mix well.

Add oil in a pan.

Fry the patty well from both sides.

Twitter/ @thedesikitched

Add a slice of American Cheese and let it melt on the patty for 1 minute.

Toast the buns with butter.

Spread the sauce on the buns, lettuce, onion slice and tomato slice.

Serve and enjoy.

Prepare in: 1-2 hours Recipe by chef Saadat Siddiqi www.madeeasy.com by National foods.

Youtube/ The Desi Kitchen

1st Floor, The Bazaar, Simes Street, Bradford, BD1 3SQ

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5

Afghan DUm Kebab

Enjoy the Paukhtun culture in this spicy meat recipe!

Ingredients • Meat (with fat) : half kg • Onions : 2 • Tomatoes : 250 grams • Green Chilies : 2 • National Black Pepper Powder : 1 teaspoon • Ginger Garlic Paste : 2 teaspoon • Egg : 1 • Rice Flour : 2 tablespoon • Oil : As required • National Murghi Masala : half packet (50 grams)

Method Combine the meat, onions and green chilies in a chopper and grind finely.

Mix in the National Murghi Masala, black pepper powder, ginger garlic paste, egg and rice flour and knead well.

Deseed the tomatoes and dice into 2-inch pieces.

To cook, shape handfuls of the meat mixture onto skewers in 1-inch long kababs, interspersed with tomatoes.

Barbecue the kababs on hot coals, or alternatively, shape kababs onto shashlik sticks and fry in a shallow pan.

Smoke with a piece of coal for added flavor.

Prepare in: 25 mins Tips It is recommended to use fresh mince. if frozen is used, leave it in a colander/ strainer lined with cheesecloth for atleast 40 mins or untill the moisture is completely drained.

Bombay Jhinga Biryani Ingredients

Method

• Prawns : 750 gm • Basmati Rice : 3 cups • Oil : 1 cup • Onion (sliced) : 6 medium • National Ginger & Garlic Paste : 1 tablespoon each • National Bombay Biryani Masala : 1 packet • Tomatoes (chopped) : 5 medium • Yogurt : 1/2 cup • Potatoes (quartered) : 3 medium • Green Chili (finely chopped) : 5-6 • Zarda/Orange Food Color : a pinch

Shell the prawns leaving the tail. Make a small cut on the back to devein and wash.

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Bring approximately 2 liters of water to boil and blanch the prawns. Strain and save the prawns and reserve water.

Fry the onions in oil till light brown and reserve some for garnish as well.

Add National Ginger Paste, National Garlic Paste, & National Bombay Biryani Masala. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add tomatoes, yogurt and potatoes. Cook with the lid

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covered for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are done.

Put in the green chili and blanched prawns and do bhunai for a few minutes.

In a separate pot add 3 Tbsp of National Iodized Salt to the reserved water and bring it to a full boil.

Add and boil National Basmati Rice till it reaches the do kanni stage. Strain.

Top the gravy with rice; sprinkle a pinch of zarda color and put it on dum.

When ready, garnish with fried onions and enjoy.

Youtube/ The Desi Kitchen

1st Floor, The Bazaar, Simes Street, Bradford, BD1 3SQ

6

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Your Weekend tv Guide for all your favourite Asian TV channels Saturday 26 November 2016

SONY TV

04:31 CID (Drama)

21:00 Mere Humnawa (Drama)

05:32 Crime Patrol (Drama)

22:00 Bewaqoofiyan (Comedy)

ARY TV

22:30 Aashiq Colony (Drama) 00:00 Khuda Mera Bhi Hai (Documentary) 01:00 Sahulat Bazaar (Consumer) 02:00 Khushhaal Susral (Drama)

06:00 Jeeto Pakistan (Game Show) 06:00 Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman (Drama) 06:31 Jeevan Prabhat (Religious) 07:01 Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi (Drama) 07:31 Bhakti Sagar (Religious) 08:00 Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi (Drama) 08:30 Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi (Drama)

08:00 Sahulat Bazaar (Consumer) 09:00 Inteqam (Film) 10:00 Dilli Walay Dulahray Babu (Drama)

05:00 Tadabbur-E-Qur’an (Religious)

10:30 Meri Shadi Karwao (Drama)

05:30 Hamd O Naat (Music)

11:55 Azan-E-Zuhr (Religious) 12:00 Khushhaal Susral (Drama)

10:31The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy)

13:40 Azan-E-Asr (Religious)

14:01 Fan (Film)

05:54 Azan-E-Fajr (Religious)

B4U Movies

12:30 Begunah (Drama) 13:30 Jeeto Pakistan (Game Show)

13:01 Asian Variety Show (Entertainment)

03:30 Bewaqoofiyan (Comedy) 04:00 Mere Humnawa (Drama)

09:00 Crime Patrol (Documentary)

12:01 Super Dancer (Reality Show)

02:30 Begunah (Drama)

13:45 Jeeto Pakistan (Game Show) 15:30 Dilli Walay Dulahray Babu (Drama)

06:00 Anth (Film)

16:01 Azan-E-Maghrib (Religious)

13:00 Dum (Film)

09:30 China Gate (Film)

16:06 Mein Mehroo (Drama)

16:30 Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story (Film)

19:01 CID (Drama)

16:35 Rishta Anjana Sa (Drama)

20:00 The Shaukeens (Film)

20:01 Super Dancer (Reality Show)

17:00 Meri Shadi Karwao (Drama)

21:01 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy)

17:37 Azan-E-Isha (Religious)

22:31 CID (Drama)

17:42 Meri Shadi Karwao (Drama)

17:31 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy)

23:31 Crime Patrol (Drama) 00:31 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy) 02:01 Super Dancer (Reality Show) 03:01 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy)

06:00 Shakti Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki (Drama) 06:30 Bani - Ishq Da Kalma (Drama) 07:00 Vatsalya Tech (Magazine Programme) 07:30 Shakti Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki (Drama) 09:00 Devanshi (Entertainment) 10:45 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (Reality Show) 12:30 Bigg Boss - India Isse Apna Hi Gha (Reality Show) 15:30 Comedy Nights Bachao Taaza (Comedy) 18:30 Femina Miss India 2016 (Entertainment) 20:00 Naagin (Drama) 21:00 Bigg Boss - India Isse Apna Hi Gha (Reality Show) 22:30 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (Reality Show)

08:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 09:00 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 09:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 10:00 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 10:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 11:00 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 11:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 12:00 Ijaazat (Film) 14:30 Jannat 2 (Film) 17:05 Jawani Diwani (Film) 20:00 Jeet (Film)

00:00 Kavach Kaali Shaktiyon Se (Drama)

23:05 Crime Patrol 4 (Documentary)

01:00 Naagin (Drama)

00:05 Crime Patrol 4 (Documentary)

02:00 Bigg Boss - India Isse Apna Hi Gha (Reality Show)

01:00 Crime Patrol 4 (Documentary)

03:15 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (Reality Show)

01:50 Crime Patrol 4 (Documentary)

04:30 Swaragini (Drama)

SAB TV

SONY MAX

23:30 Joker (Film) 03:00 Chatur Singh Two Star (Film)

Colours TV

18:30 Khushhaal Susral (Drama) 19:00 Begunah (Drama) 20:00 Khuda Mera Bhi Hai (Documentary)

Evil has a new face - Check out Akshay Kumar’s latest villainious avatar for 2.0 Amid huge fanfare and a cine extravaganza, the filmmakers of 2.0 starring superstar Akshay Kumar and Indian film legend Rajinikanth, finally launched the first look of the film at an event in Mumbai.

The superstar is playing an antagonist called Richard, who turns into a Crow Man after an experiment goes wrong. The makeup for his role reportedly took 6 hours every day – ferocious!

Akshay Kumar took to his Twitter handle to unveil the poster with his character in the film simply tweting: “Evil has a new face!”

Speaking about Akshay’s hard work and dedication, Rajinikanth said “In this film I am the villain. The truth is the hero of

06:00 Naam (Film) 05:10 Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (Film)

08:30 Dil Tera Deewana (Film)

08:00 Gupp Chupp (Drama)

12:00 Krrish 3 (Film)

‘2.0’ is not Rajinikanth but Akshay Kumar. I would have taken that character. Hats off to Akshay, he has worked so hard.”

Salman Khan who made an impromptu appearance at the event also spoke eloquently about the superstar saying “Akshay Kumar is the only actor who has had growth in our industry. Rest of us are stagnant.”

Directed by Shankar, the science-fiction sequel to Robot is set to release in 3D during Diwali 2017 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

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15:00 Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Film)

07:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (Drama)

18:00 Dilwale (Film)

08:00 Chandra Nandni (Drama)

21:00 Abcd 2 (Film) 00:00 PK (Film)

08:30 Pardes Main Hai Mera Dil (Drama)

03:00 Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki (Entertainment)

09:00 Ishqbaaaz (Drama)

STAR GOLD

09:30 Naamkarann (Drama) 10:00 Masterchef India 5 Master Class (Cookery) 11:00 Masterchef India 5 (Cookery) 12:00 Mere Angne Mein (Drama)

06:00 Koffee with Karan (Chat Show)

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Hai (Drama)

07:00 Zee News (News)

03:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (Drama)

07:30 Yoga for You (Entertainment)

04:00 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (Drama)

08:00 Nirankari Baba Mission (Entertainment)

04:30 Suhaani Si Ek Ladki (Drama)

08:30 Narayan Seva Sansthan (Documentary)

05:00 Suhaani Si Ek Ladki (Drama)

09:00 Money Guru (Business and Finance)

05:30 Suhaani Si Ek Ladki (Drama)

09:30 The Art Room (Entertainment)

ZEE CINEMA

11:00 Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani (Drama)

13:00 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama)

11:30 Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani (Drama)

13:30 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama)

12:00 Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani (Drama)

14:00 Ishqbaaaz (Drama)

12:30 Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani (Drama)

05:10 Kunwara Baap (Film)

15:00 Sanam Re (Film)

07:35 Trimurti (Film)

11:20 Salaam-E-Ishq (Film)

17:30 Jana Na Dil Se Door (Drama)

10:35 Baton Baton Mein (Film)

15:35 Hero (Sooraj Pancholi) (Film)

18:00 Mere Angne Mein (Drama)

12:40 Geraftaar (Film)

18:00 Tere Bin Laden (Film)

18:30 Suhaani Si Ek Ladki (Drama)

09:35 Dil Dosti Etc (Film)

20:00 Dabangg 2 (Film) 22:20 Kick (Film) 01:15 Shola Aur Shabnam (Film) 04:20 Ishwar Sakshi (Film)

STAR PLUS

19:00 Saathiya (Drama) 19:30 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama) 20:00 Masterchef India 5 (Cookery) 21:00 Naamkarann (Drama) 21:30 Ishqbaaaz (Drama) 22:00 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (Drama) 22:30 Jana Na Dil Se Door (Drama)

15:25 Dor (Film) 17:35 Happy Ending (Film) 20:00 Nil Battey Sannata (Film) 22:10 Dhadkan (Film) 00:50 Geraftaar (Film) 03:40 Pure Bollywood (Music) 04:25 Baton Baton Mein (Film)

ZEE TV

23:00 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama)

06:00 Jana Na Dil Se Door (Drama) 06:30 Mere Angne Mein (Drama) 07:00 Saathiya (Drama)

10:30 Bacha Party (Cookery)

12:30 Chandra Nandni (Drama)

14:30 Ishqbaaaz (Drama)

06:55 Kunwara (Film)

10:00 Food Ka Mood (Cookery)

7

00:00 Brahmarakshas... Jaag Utha Shaitaan (Drama) 01:00 Dr. Subhash Chandra Show (Drama) 02:00 Bollywood Business (Magazine Programme) 02:30 Big Story, Big Debate (Chat Show) 03:30 The Art Room (Entertainment) 04:30 Fear Files (Documentary) 05:30 Yogic Healing by Swami Ramdev (Entertainment)

HUM TV

13:00 Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani (Drama) 13:30 Kumkum Bhagya (Drama) 14:00 Kumkum Bhagya (Drama) 14:30 Kumkum Bhagya (Drama) 15:00 Kumkum Bhagya (Drama) 15:30 Kumkum Bhagya (Drama) 16:00 The Big Idea (Entertainment) 16:30 Big Story, Big Debate (Chat Show) 17:30 3 Course with Pankaj (Cookery) 18:00 Out and About (Entertainment) 18:30 Zee News (News)

09:00 Jago Pakistan Jago 10:30 Joru Ka Ghulam(Rpt) 11:00 Hatheli 12:00 Dil Banjaara 13:00 Saya e Deewaar bhi Nahi 14:00 Sila 15:00 Bin Roye 16:00 Bunty I love u 17:00 Laaj 18:00 Sange Mar Mar 19:00 Fun Khana 19:30 Joru Ka Ghulam

23:30 Masterchef India 5 (Cookery)

19:00 Dr. Subhash Chandra Show (Drama)

00:30 Saathiya (Drama) 01:00 Ishqbaaaz (Drama)

20:00 Yaaron Ki Baraat (Game Show)

21:00 Bunty I love u

01:30 Ishqbaaaz (Drama)

21:00 Amma (Drama)

22:00 Saturday Night Special

05:30 Yogic Healing by Swami Ramdev (Entertainment)

22:00 Brahmarakshas... Jaag Utha Shaitaan (Drama)

06:30 Shrimad Bhagwat Katha (Entertainment)

23:00 Neeli Chatri Waale (Documentary)

Disclaimer : Please note listings correct at the time of printing and can vary.

02:00 Ishqbaaaz (Drama) 02:30 Ishqbaaaz (Drama) 03:00 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

Amazon casts Anil Kapoor in original pilot based on 'The Book of Strange New Things’ Amazon today announced an original pilot based on ‘The Book of Strange New Things’ slated to cast worldrenowned actor and producer, Anil Kapoor.

The ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘24’ actor will play the role of Vikram Danesh, the authoritative head of the base on Oasis.

Based on the cult-hit novel from Michael Faber, Amazon’s upcoming pilot follows a priest who is sent into space to help found a new colony but what he ends up discovering not only puts his faith to the test

but life as we know it. The pilot is set to be written and executive produced by Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies) and produced by Andy Harries (Strike Back) and Lila Rawlings (Left Bank Productions) with Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland) directing. The one-hour drama pilot is a co-production of Amazon Studios and Left Bank Productions.

“The Book of Strange New Things is a mesmerizing genre-defying novel from a writer in full command of his many talents, and we couldn’t think of anyone

better than Anil Kapoor to play this complex role.

He is one of India’s most respected stars and we are honored to work with him on the pilot,” said Nitesh Kripalani, Director and Country Head, Amazon Video India. “We know our Prime members are going to love the monumental novel being brought to life with Anil being cast in it.”

Anil Kapoor is one of India’s most critically-praised movie stars and one of international cinema’s most prolific and versatile actors today.

He has been recognized with a SAG award for his role on Slumdog Millionaire and served as President of the fictional Republic of Kamistan on 24. He has also starred opposite Tom Cruise in 2012’s blockbuster Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

20:00 Laaj

8

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Your Weekend tv Guide for all your favourite Asian TV channels Sunday 27 November 2016

SONY TV

00:31 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy) 02:01 Super Dancer (Reality Show) 03:01 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy) 04:32 CID (Drama) 05:32 Crime Patrol (Drama)

ARY TV 05:32 Crime Patrol (Drama)

08:30 Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman (Drama)

06:00 Begunah (Drama) 07:00 Khuda Mera Bhi Hai (Documentary) 08:00 Sahulat Bazaar (Consumer) 09:00 Good Morning Pakistan (Chat Show) 10:30 Aashiq Colony (Drama)

09:31 Crime Patrol (Drama)

11:55 Azan-E-Zuhr (Religious)

12:01 Super Dancer (Reality Show) 13:01 CID (Drama) 14:01 Kill Dil (Film) 17:01 Beyhadh (Drama) 17:31 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy) 19:01 Crime Patrol (Drama) 20:01 Super Dancer (Reality Show) 21:01 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy) 22:31 CID (Drama) 23:31 Crime Patrol (Drama)

17:45 Aashiq Colony (Drama)

07:00 Vatsalya Tech (Magazine Programme)

09:00 Khidki (Reality Show)

18:30 Bulbulay (Comedy)

07:30 Swaragini (Drama)

19:00 Begunah (Drama)

09:00 Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi (Drama)

20:00 Jeeto Pakistan (Game Show) 22:00 Inteqam (Film)

10:45 Bigg Boss - India Isse Apna Hi Gha (Reality Show)

23:00 Meray Shohar Ki Dulhan (Drama)

12:30 Bigg Boss - India Isse Apna Hi Gha (Reality Show)

00:30 Bulbulay (Comedy)

14:00 Karmafal Daata Shani (Drama)

01:00 Sahulat Bazaar (Consumer)

04:00 Ghayal (Film)

09:00 Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman (Drama)

10:31 The Kapil Sharma Show (Comedy)

08:30 Khidki (Reality Show)

03:00 Inteqam (Film)

07:01 Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman (Drama)

08:00 Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman (Drama)

06:00 Udaan (Film)

02:00 Begunah (Drama)

06:31 Jeevan Prabhat (Religious)

07:31 Bhakti Sagar (Religious)

17:37 Azan-E-Isha (Religious)

05:00 Tadabbur-E-Qur’an (Religious) 05:30 Hamd O Naat (Music) 05:55 Azan-E-Fajr (Religious)

B4U Movies

13:00 Khuda Mera Bhi Hai (Documentary) 13:39 Azan-E-Asr (Religious) 13:45 Khuda Mera Bhi Hai (Documentary) 14:00 Mere Humnawa (Drama) 15:00 Aap Kay Liye (Drama) 16:01 Azan-E-Maghrib (Religious)

19:30 Desi Beat (Magazine Programme) 20:00 Naagin (Drama) 21:00 Bigg Boss - India Isse Apna Hi Gha (Reality Show) 22:30 Comedy Nights Bachao Taaza (Comedy) 00:00 Kavach Kaali Shaktiyon Se (Drama) 01:00 Naagin (Drama) 02:00 Bigg Boss - India Isse Apna Hi Gha (Reality Show) 03:15 Comedy Nights Bachao Taaza (Comedy)

12:00 Khushhaal Susral (Drama) 12:30 Bewaqoofiyan (Comedy)

16:30 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (Reality Show)

06:00 Saudagar (Film) 09:30 Baadshah (Film) 13:00 Laadla (Film)

11:00 Spice Up (Cookery) 11:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 12:00 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (Reality Show) 12:30 Jamai Raja (Film) 16:00 Joru Ka Ghulam (Film) 20:00 Kaamchor (Film) 23:30 Kambhakt Ishq (Film) 03:05 Crime Patrol 4 (Documentary) 03:45 Crime Patrol 4 (Documentary) 04:35 Kareeb (Film)

SONY MAX

SAB TV

20:00 English Vinglish (Film) 23:30 The Shaukeens (Film) 03:00 Familywala (Film)

06:00 Sadma (Film)

Colours TV

08:30 Dedh Ishqiya (Film) 11:30 Veer-Zaara (Film) 15:00 Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwani (Film) 05:00 Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (Film) 08:00 Gupp Chupp (Drama)

Would love to work with Kareena: Karisma Kapoor

Actress Karisma Kapoor says she would love to share the big screen with her sister and actress Kareena Kapoor Khan.

Raj Kapoor and daughter of veteran actor Randhir Kapoor, has been a part of the film industry for over two decades.

The 42-year-old actress was last seen on the big screen in filmmaker Vikram Bhatt's "Dangerous Ishhq" in 2012.

Karisma made her debut in 1991 with the film "Prem Qaidi" and since then has won many hearts with her power packed performances in films like "Dil Toh Pagal Hai", "Raja Hindustani" and "Zubeidaa".

Asked how has the role of women evolved over the years, the "Judwaa" actress said: "I think in a certain way, the role (for women) has always been strong. Back in the early 2000s or 1990s, from a role point of view, if you're a good artiste, you'll always get good work and good roles; no matter what the box office status."

"My family and kids are most important to me and I've spent the last few years really involved with them. As for movies, you never know; I never plan anything in my life," said Karisma, who launched the third season of USL - Diageo's Road to Safety initiative.

Karisma, who is the grand-daughter of legendary actor

10:30 Khidki (Reality Show)

16:30 Agneepath (Film)

17:00 Aashiq Colony (Drama)

Asked if she is keen to work with Kareena, Karisma told IANS over e-mail: "(I) would love to work with Kareena, provided we get a super script."

10:00 Khidki (Reality Show)

04:30 Udaan (Film)

16:05 Teri Chah Mein (Drama)

Her sister Kareena is one of the top stars and has featured in blockbusters like "Refugee", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", "Omkara", "Jab We Met" and "3 Idiots"

09:30 Khidki (Reality Show)

The actress added that she had done films like "'Biwi No. 1" which was a commercial movie with David Dhawan or films like "Fiza" and "Zubeidaa".

"These are roles that were written for women. So, I think if you're a good artiste, you'll always get work around," she said.

What has kept Karisma away from the silver screen?

The actress says the cause is close to her heart.

"I'm currently supporting a few causes close to my heart and lending my time to initiatives such as the Road Safety programme," she added.

17:30 Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Film) 21:00 Te3n (Film)

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00:00 Dilwale (Film) 03:00 Lovers (Film)

STAR GOLD

AS WEEKENDER

@Asian_Standard

07:30 Mere Angne Mein (Drama)

04:00 Suhaani Si Ek Ladki (Drama)

09:30 The Art Room (Entertainment)

03:30 Kumkum Bhagya (Drama)

08:00 Mere Angne Mein (Drama)

04:30 Naamkarann (Drama)

10:00 Out and About (Entertainment)

04:00 Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani (Drama)

10:30 Bollywood Business (Magazine Programme)

04:30 Jamai Raja (Drama)

08:30 Mere Angne Mein (Drama) 09:00 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama) 09:30 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama)

05:00 Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil (Drama) 05:30 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama)

ZEE CINEMA

11:00 Big Story, Big Debate (Chat Show) 12:00 Neeli Chatri Waale (Documentary)

10:00 Masterchef India 5 Master Class (Cookery)

13:00 The Big Idea (Entertainment)

11:00 Masterchef India 5 (Cookery)

13:30 The Great Chefs of India (Cookery)

06:00 Gandhi, My Father (Film)

12:00 Koffee with Karan (Chat Show)

14:00 Jamai Raja (Drama)

08:45 Taarzan: The Wonder Car (Film)

12:30 Ishqbaaaz (Drama)

11:55 Hungama (Film) 15:00 Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (Film) 18:00 Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive (Film) 20:00 Tees Maar Khan (Film) 22:35 Guddu Rangeela (Drama) 01:15 Vijaypath (Film) 03:35 Woh Kaun Thi! (Film)

STAR PLUS

04:25 Baton Baton Mein (Film)

13:30 Naamkarann (Drama)

06:30 Dor (Film)

14:00 Naamkarann (Drama)

08:40 Satrangee Parachute (Film)

14:30 Tere Naam (Entertainment) 17:30 Jana Na Dil Se Door (Drama)

10:20 Jage Raho (Film) 12:50 Fool n Final (Film) 15:20 Enemmy (Film)

16:30 Bollywood Cut (Entertainment) 17:30 3 Course with Pankaj (Cookery) 18:00 The Big Idea (Entertainment)

20:00 Ghayal Once Again (Film)

19:00 Saathiya (Drama)

22:20 Raat (Film)

19:30 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama)

00:40 Fool n Final (Film)

20:00 Yaaron Ki Baraat (Game Show)

03:10 Jage Raho (Film)

21:00 Amma (Drama)

05:40 Enemmy

22:00 Brahmarakshas... Jaag Utha Shaitaan (Drama)

ZEE TV

19:00 The Golden Years with Javed Aktar (Documentary)

23:00 The Golden Years with Javed Aktar (Documentary)

01:00 Bollywood Cut (Entertainment)

02:30 Zindagi Ki Mehek (Drama)

03:00 Saathiya (Drama) 09:00 Money Guru (Business and Finance)

03:00 Sanyukt (Drama)

Salman begins last leg of 'Tubelight' shoot After completing his hectic shooting schedules in Ladakh and Manali, Bollywood’s Bhaijaan Salman Khan has commenced the third and final leg of shooting for Kabir Khan’s war-drama ‘Tubelight’ in Mumbai.

Speculations are rife that due to Salman’s

09:00 Jago Pakistan Jago 10:30 Fun Khana (Rpt) 11:00 Saya e Dewaar bhi Nahin 12:00 Laaj 13:00 Bin Roye 14:00 Hatheli 15:00 Hatheli 16:00 Bunty I love u 17:00 SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL 19:00 Joru Ka Ghulam 19:30 Mr Shamim 20:00 Bin Roye 21:00 Bunty I love u 22:00 Kitni Girhein Baqi Hain

02:00 Kaala Teeka (Drama)

02:30 Ishqbaaaz (Drama)

03:30 Chandra Nandni (Drama)

18:30 Zee News (News)

00:00 Brahmarakshas... Jaag Utha Shaitaan (Drama)

02:00 Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (Drama)

07:00 Chandra Nandni (Drama)

16:00 Jamai Raja (Drama)

18:30 Suhaani Si Ek Ladki (Drama)

01:00 Masterchef India 5 (Cookery)

06:30 Chandra Nandni (Drama)

HUM TV

15:30 Jamai Raja (Drama)

17:30 Khubsoorat (Film)

22:00 Baby (Film)

05:30 Yogic Healing by Swami Ramdev (Entertainment)

15:00 Jamai Raja (Drama)

18:00 Mere Angne Mein (Drama)

21:00 Koffee with Karan (Chat Show)

05:00 Kaala Teeka (Drama)

14:30 Jamai Raja (Drama)

13:00 Naamkarann (Drama)

20:00 Masterchef India 5 (Cookery)

06:00 Chandra Nandni (Drama)

9

busy schedule, Manali has been recreated in Mumbai, reports PinkVilla.

well. We start the last schedule on 22nd November.”

While a picture recently appeared on social media that confirms the news, sometime back the director also tweeted “And for all those asking #Tubelight is going very

On a related note, the film that also features Chinese actress Zhu Zhu and Sohail Khan will hit the theatres next year.

Disclaimer : Please note listings correct at the time of printing and can vary.

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INTERVIEW

Alia Bhatt : I think twice before i talk.

Q A

How closely could you relate to your character in Dear Zindagi?

Dear Zindagi is closest to my life. I am not saying I am exactly that character but I relate to it the most. Getting pissed off with relationships, there is a dialogue in teaser 3, where I say I hate couples.

That happens. Not only me, but everyone will be able to see a shade of themselves in my character.

Q A

And what specifics of the character could you relate to?

I relate a lot to Kaira's character. It's not because I relate to her that I chose the part. I chose Dear Zindagi because of the uniqueness of its story and the tone of the film. But I slowly figured out how much I related to her.

Kaira is very impulsive just like me.

She loves eating crazy food items like Soya Chakli - which even I enjoy in real life. She loves her friends.

She is a way better friend than she is a girlfriend, which I have been telling about myself all my life. She is extremely passionate about her work and so am I. So these are the little things that make me a lot like Kaira.

Q A

Playing a cinematographer in the film, did you seek out advise from anyone?

I had to be very much into my character, as Kaira is someone who is really well versed with her job. She maybe young, but she knows what she is doing is perfect. She is very confident of herself. So yes, I learned physical techniques as opposed to getting really into learning the craft of a cinematographer. If I start learning then it would have taken me a really long time to get it perfect. You either learn with experience or you study about it. I didn't have that much time for either.

Q A

How was it to work with Shah Rukh Khan?

He goes out of his way to make his co-stars comfortable which is a very rare quality. For me it was a very fresh experience and it wasn’t so because I was working with Shah Rukh and Gauri for the first time, but because I could relate to this character the most as compared to all other films that I have done.

Except for the traits shown in my character which is quite impulsive and upfront, rest is all me. In real life, I think twice before I talk.

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INTERVIEW

Q A Q A

What was your reaction when you found out he was also cast for the film?

I was really shocked and surprised. Not because I didn't think this is his kind of film. I was just too glad that he made a move like this.

It's a very cool move to make and once you all see the film you will get to know why I am saying so.

How was it working with a female director for the first time?

We have male and female actors, but director is a director, you can’t classify them as male or female. The only difference I can see between directors is in terms of creativity and not because of any gender. I like Gauri’s quality of being a frank person. She is also very clear in her thoughts and hence our scenes were so ‘kadak’; we went with the flow.

I feel, if I’m doing something, I better be good at it whatever be my age

Q A Q A

Your character in the film sees a life coach. Would you ever consider doing so in real life?

I am a very secretive person so I don’t like sharing too many details about my personal life with anybody and everybody. But I have a few friends; with some I talk about work, with others I talk about family and relationships.

She maybe young, but she knows what she is doing is perfect. She is very confident of herself.

You’ve championed some wonderful roles at a relatively young age. How does that feel?

I feel, if I’m doing something, I better be good at it whatever be my age — 12, 13, 23 or 45. We should stop thinking about age. Everybody’s journey is different.

Some people figure out what they want to do much later in life. I would just like to tell young girls that whatever it is, be passionate about at least one thing in life; that can be cooking, being a homemaker, an astronaut or even a chauffeur.

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TECHNOLO technology TECHNOLOGY 12

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Autumn Statement will include Sony introduces £400m for superfast broadband XAV-AX100 in-car and £740m for 5G at $499 audio system The UK government is set to pledge a commitment to funding faster

by RAHUL RAUT broadband across the country as part of rahul@asian-standard.co.uk a new Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund.

Sony Electronics introduced a new car receiver brings lots of In this year’sthat Autumn Statement, smartphone connectivity to your Hammond will Chancellor Philip car.

XAV-AX100 both Apple announce £400supports million funding for the CarPlay and Android making it new initiative, aimedAuto, at fibre broadband Sony’s firstwho smart audioto system to providers arecar looking expand. come with both support.

The biggest Private investors will also be asked to selling point of this new in-dash match the amount. receiver is its price tag of $499 (£380 British Pound) which is much cheaper Mr Hammond is for alsoallset to announce and comfortable compared to its £740m for the development of 5G and the big rivals. future rollout of fibre connections. There date fortothe service yet. is no launchappears XAV-AX100 be 5G a double Currently per cent of athe UK DIN systemonly and2comes with 6.4-inch population has access to ‘full-fibre’ clear and responsive touchscreen with asuperfast resolution of 800*480.

Though internet, which offersthe screen resolution screen panel per download speedsof ofthe up to one gigabit is not up to par with the quality new Android smartphones and iPhones are providing, it’s still considered decent for an in-car display. It’s display is resistive and has physical buttons

ubiquitous coverage, so no-one is left broadband to property. Until this is out,other however, will out,Apple and with sufficient capacity CarPlay functionally allows yourolled the hand,BT lets you always stay in speeds formore the all notonly today’s needs but to usefor your smartphone in in a safe and "substantially" control ofenhance music, maps and the country, he told BBC's Today for future and apps likerest ofthrough readiness smart way lettingchange you access the touchscreen.

Apple Music Maps.

You can also Programme. demand,” beforeand adding “we are As far as sound is concerned, AX100 make phone calls, and sendfuture messages to see a full fibre in determined delivers powerful sound, thanks via touchscreen on the audio system BT plans to invest £6 billion in the newto its Britain.” four 55-watt Dynamic or vocally using Siri. Android Auto, oninfrastructure.

As part of theReality plans,Amp 12 2, BASS technology and a 10-band millionExtra homes should have broadband BT, which is the UK's top broadband such as Gigaclear and Hyperoptic, equalizer which speedsgraphic in excess of 300Mbps byproduce 2020. clear provider with 32 per cent of the which received a £21m investment sound at any volume level overcoming share, has been criticised by market Follow us on Facebook /AsianStandard or noise.

Twitter @Asian_Standard from the European Investment Bank engine The device also comes MPs for failing to invest properly in earlier this year to bring high-speed with Bluetooth technology and an broadband infrastructure.

Ofcom broadband to more homes in the UK. input for a rearview camera. It also criticised the company for not has a 3 pre-out connectivity ports investing enough in high-quality Digital minister Matt Hancock has that can be connected to external that are necessary to bring the cables spoken about the UK government’s amplifiers and other accessories. commitment to ensuring the full-fibre full-fibre broadband service to UK For its downsiders, AX100 doesn’t come rollout to the rest of the UK. Speaking citizens. with AUX input, video output or NFC at the Parliament and Internet pairing unlike its competitors. Also it Conference 2016 in October, Hancock The company’s chairman Sir Mike Rake has said the firm developed an has only one USB located at the back said: “We need the right interim technology to get full-fibre of the unit, which could make charging infrastructure. That means your phone difficult if you don’t have other means.

second. which lets the driver adjust the audio system without The new fund istaking part ofhis theeyes UK off the road. It hasplans four straightforward government’s to increase the physical the Home amount buttons: of peopleone whoishave access to button, a knobconnection. for volumeFull-fibre control and a “full-fibre” two other smaller buttons for skip provisions are offered by some forward and back. independent broadband providers

Sony introduces XAV-AX100 in-car in Netflix finally available Twittersystem rolls out at $499 audio 4k on your windows pc Quality Filter to all users

by RAHUL RAUT

XAV-AX100 will be available across North America from later part of November 2016.

which lets the driver adjust the audio system without taking his eyes off the road. It has four straightforward physical buttons: one is the Home button, a knob for volume control and two other smaller buttons for skip forward and back.

Apple CarPlay functionally allows you the other hand, lets you always stay in to use your smartphone in a safe and control of music, maps and more all a longthe time coming, but worth smart way letting you access apps like It's been through touchscreen. the wait.

Netflix in 4K has finally come Apple Music and Maps. You can also 4Ksound resolution has beenAX100 far as is concerned, make phone calls, and send messages to PC.AsWhile on apowerful selectionsound, of TVs thanks and delivers to its via touchscreen on the audio system available sticks since the roll-out four 55-watt Dynamic Reality Amp 2, or vocally using Siri. Android Auto, on streaming 10-band beganExtra over BASS a yeartechnology ago, it's theand firsta time equalizer which produce you'll graphic be able to see all those pixels (or, clear at any volume level However, this feature does not work yoursound preferences, you can turnovercoming it on rather, not see pixels thanks to the engine noise.

The device also in the case of the people you follow. or off in your notifications settings.” much improved picture quality) on comes PC. with Bluetooth technology and an “It does not filter content from people “Quality Filter” isn’t exactly a newIt also inputmade for athe rearview camera. you follow or accounts you’ve recently Microsoft announcement feature though.

It recommended was first rolledports out has a 3apre-out connectivity interacted with – and depending on (along with list of last that yearcan but be was availabletotoexternal only connected "Gilmore Girls" episodes in a crossverified accounts. until now, only amplifiers andUp other accessories. promotional flurry) in a blog post this accounts with blue checkmark had week.

For its of downsiders, AX100 doesn’t come the option filtering out tweets. with AUX input, video output or NFC 4K content is also only going to be available Twitter has made notification pairing unlike its competitors.

Also it onsettings compatible Windows 10 and 2-in-1s widely available easier has only one USB located at and the back PCs, which means it'smobile not as and easy as charging to find across the of the unit,both which could make web.your Everyone the ability firing up your PCwill andhave plowing through 7 phone difficult if you don’ttohave limitother notifications they means. to only people seasons of mother-daughter bonding.

Orfollow. whatever you want to watch. You'll XAV-AX100 will available across need to be running thebelatest Microsoft Filtering feature is another North America from later part Edge Web browser inTwitter’s Windows 10, andof attempt to stem the allegation of its November 2016. your computer will need to be packing lack of concern toward harassment, the latest seventh generation Kaby Lake which has grown into a major processor from Intel. Which is to say, it's problem for the company. Last a month pretty small subset Windows users.

Twitter madeofapplications

to reduce harassment rahul@asian-standard.co.uk

Sony Electronics introduced a new car receiver that brings lots of smartphone connectivity to your car. XAV-AX100 supports both Apple byAndroid RAHULAuto, RAUT CarPlay and making it Sony’s first smart car audio system to rahul@asian-standard.co.uk come with both support. The biggest selling point of this new in-dash The micro-blogging website, receiver is its price tag of $499Twitter (£380 is taking another stepisforward to British Pound) which much cheaper make it more welcoming place forto its and comfortable for all compared discussion big rivals. and interaction. The company has announced to roll out “Quality Filter” - which filter low XAV-AX100 appears to belets a double quality notifications and DIN system and comesfrom withbots a 6.4-inch spammers - to all users to reducewith clear and responsive touchscreen harassment.

ThisThough featurethe is a aonline resolution of 800*480. new move to reduce molestation and screen resolution of the screen panel filters “lower content” isitnot up out to par withquality the quality new such as smartphones duplicate tweets contents Android andoriPhones are that appear be considered automated.decent providing, it’stostill for an in-car display. It’s display is “Qualityand Filter” helpful for blocking resistive hasisphysical buttons targeted harassment. It automatically screens out tweets from suspicious accounts and minimize abuse from taking place on the platform. This feature restricts what kinds of tweets appear in a user’s notification tab.

“When turned on, the filter can improve the quality of Tweets you see by using a variety of signals, such as

appears to be automated, from your notifications and other parts of your Twitter experience,” the company said announcing the feature in its blog post.

Twitter rolls out

for verification open for all users and recently it announced that it has suspended 360,000 accounts for promoting terrorism. In all way,

R

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AS WEEKENDER 13

technology

Sony introduces A phone that charges in XAV-AX100 in-car seconds and battery life audio system at $499

that could last a week?

by RAHUL RAUT

rahul@asian-standard.co.uk

Sony Electronics introduced a new car receiver that brings lots of smartphone connectivity to your car. XAV-AX100 supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, making it Sony’s first smart car audio system to come with both support. The biggest selling point of this new in-dash receiver is its price tag of $499 (£380 British Pound) which is much cheaper and comfortable for all compared to its big rivals.

XAV-AX100 appears to be a double DIN system and comes with a 6.4-inch clear and responsive touchscreen with a resolution of 800*480. Though the screen resolution of the screen panel is not up to par with the quality new Android smartphones and iPhones are providing, it’s still considered decent for an in-car display. It’s display is resistive and has physical buttons

which lets the driver adjust the audio system without taking his eyes off the road. It has four straightforward physical buttons: one is the Home button, a knob for volume control and two other smaller buttons for skip forward and back.

Apple CarPlay functionally allows you to use your smartphone in a safe and smart way letting you access apps like Apple Music and Maps. You can also make phone calls, and send messages via touchscreen on the audio system or vocally using Siri. Android Auto, on

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the other hand, lets you always stay in control of music, maps and more all through the touchscreen.

As far as sound is concerned,terms AX100of energy density, power density and cyclic delivers powerful sound, thanks to its stability,” Choudhary said. four 55-watt Dynamic Reality Amp 2, Extra BASS technology and a 10-band Cyclicclear stability defines how many times it can be charged, graphic equalizer which produce drained and recharged before beginning to degrade. For sound at any volume level overcoming engine noise. The device alsoexample, comes a lithium-ion battery can be recharged fewer than with Bluetooth technology and an1,500 times without significant failure. Recent of supercapacitors with two-dimensional input for a rearview camera.formulations It also can be recharged a few thousand times. has a 3 pre-out connectivity materials ports that can be connected to external By comparison, the new process created at UCF yields a amplifiers and other accessories. supercapacitor that doesn’t degrade even after it’s been recharged 30,000 times.

For its downsiders, AX100 doesn’t come with AUX input, video outputJung or NFC is working with UCF’s Office of Technology Transfer /AsianStandard or unlike Twitter @Asian_Standard pairing its competitors. it the new process. to Also patent has only one USB located at the back of the unit, which could make charging Supercapacitors that use the new materials could be used your phone difficult if you don’t have in phones and other electronic gadgets, and electric other means. vehicles that could benefit from sudden bursts of power speed. And because they’re flexible, it could mean a XAV-AX100 will be available and across significant advancement in wearable tech, as well.

North America from later part of “It’s not ready for commercialization,” Jung said. “But November 2016. this is a proof-of-concept demonstration, and our studies show there are very high impacts for many technologies.”

In addition to Choudhary and Jung, the research team included Chao Li, Julian Moore and Associate Professor Jayan Thomas, all of the UCF NanoScience Technology Center; and Hee-Suk Chung of Korea Basic Science Institute in Jeonju, South Korea.

Sony Twitterintroduces rolls out XAV-AX100 in-car Quality Filter to all users to reduce harassment audio system at $499

Scientistsby atRAHUL the University a simple chemical synthesis approach so we can RAUTof Central Florida Anyone with a smartphone knows the problem: to be from your However, this feature not work you preferences, you can turn it onstay in could be by answering allRAUT your smartphone appears verydoes nicely integrate theyour existing materials with the 18automated, months or so, it holds a charge for less whichAfter lets the driver adjust the audio Apple CarPlay functionally allows the other hand, lets you always RAHUL rahul@asian-standard.co.uk notifications and other parts of your in degrade. the case of the people youinfollow. in your battery problems. two-dimensional said principal systemand without taking hisbattery eyes offbegins to to use your smartphone a safematerials,” and or off control ofnotifications music, mapssettings.” and more all less time as the rahul@asian-standard.co.uk Twitter experience,” company said “It smart does not filter content from Yeonwoong people the road.

It has fourthe straightforward way letting you access apps like “Eric” through theassistant touchscreen. investigator Jung, an “Quality Filter” the feature its blog the use you follow or accounts you’ve recently physical buttons: onebeen isin the Home Apple Music andprofessor Maps.

You canjoint alsoappointments The micro-blogging website, A team of UCF scientists haveTwitter developed aannouncing with to theisn’t exactly a new Scientists have studying of feature though.

It was first rolled AX100 out post. withcalls, – and depending on As far asthe sound is concerned, button, a knob for volume control and interacted makethat phone and send messages isnew taking another step forward to process for creating flexible NanoScience Technology Center and Materials nanomaterials to improve supercapacitors Sony Electronics introduced a new last year but was available to only delivers powerful sound, thanks to its two other smaller buttons for skip via touchscreen on the audio system make it more welcoming place for supercapacitors canlots store Science & Engineering Department. could enhance or even replace batteries in car receiver that that brings of more energy Up untilReality now, only fouraccounts.

55-watt Dynamic Amp 2, and back. or vocally usingJung’s Siri. Android Auto, on verified discussion and interaction. and be recharged more than 30,000 times forward team has developed supercapacitors smartphone connectivity to The your electronic devices. It’s a stubborn problem, accounts blue checkmark Extrawith BASS technology andhad a 10-band company has announced to roll out without degrading. car.

XAV-AX100 supports both Apple composed of millions of nanometer-thick wiresout tweets. because a supercapacitor that held as much the option of equalizer filtering graphic which produce clear “Quality Filter” which lets filter low CarPlay and Android Auto, making it coated with shells of two-dimensional materials. A energy as a lithium-ion battery would have to be sound at any volume level overcoming quality notifications from and to of Sony’s first smart car audio system The novel method from thebots University highly conductive core facilitates fast electron much, much larger.

Twitter has also made notification engine noise.

The device also comes spammers - to all users toThe reduce come with both support. biggest Central Florida’s NanoScience Technology transfer for fast charging and discharging.

And settings widely available and easier with Bluetooth technology and an online harassment.

This in-dash feature is a selling point of this new Center could eventually revolutionise uniformly coated shells of to two-dimensional find across both mobilecamera. and theIt also The team at UCF has experimented with input for a rearview new move to reduce molestation and receiver is its price tag ofmobile $499 (£380 technology as varied as phones and web.

Everyone will have the ability to materials yield high energy and densities. applying newly discovered two-dimensional haspower a 3 pre-out connectivity ports it filtersPound) out “lower quality content” British which is much cheaper limitthat notifications to only people they electric vehicles. materials only a few atoms thick to can be connected to external such as duplicate tweets or contents and comfortable for all compared to its follow.

Scientists already knew two-dimensional materials supercapacitors. Other researchers have also amplifiers and other accessories. thatrivals. appear to be automated. big “If they were to replace the batteries with held great promise for energy storage applications. tried formulations with graphene and other twoFiltering feature is Twitter’s another For its downsiders, AX100 doesn’t come these supercapacitors, you could charge your “Quality Filter” is helpful for blocking But until the UCF-developed process for integrating dimensional materials, but with limited success.

XAV-AX100 appears to be a double attempt to stem the allegation of its with AUX input, video output or NFC targeted harassment.

It automatically mobile phone in a few seconds and you those materials, there was no way to realize that DIN system and comes with a 6.4-inch lack pairing of concern toward harassment,Also it unlike its competitors. screens out tweets from suspicious wouldn’t need to charge it again for over a potential, Jung said.

“There have been problems in the way people clear and responsive touchscreen with which has grown into a major at the back has only one USB located and abuse week,” said Nitin Choudhary, afrom postdoctoral incorporate these two-dimensional materials aaccounts resolution ofminimize 800*480.

Though the problem forunit, the which company.

Last of the could make charging taking place on the platform.

This associate who conducted muchpanel of the “For small electronic devices, our materials are screen resolution of the screen into the existing systems – that’s been a month Twitter made applications your phone difficult if you don’t have feature restricts what kinds of tweets in the academic isresearch not up topublished par withrecently the quality new surpassing the conventional ones worldwide in bottleneck in the field. We developed for verification open for all users other means. appear a user’s tab. are Android smartphones and iPhones journalin ACS Nano.notification and recently it announced that it “When turned on, the filter can providing, it’s still considered decent has suspended accounts across XAV-AX100360,000 will be available improve the quality Tweets you for an in-car display.ofIt’s display is see for promoting terrorism.

In all part way, of North America from later by using a variety of signals, such as resistive and has physical buttons Twitter is ensuring that its service is a November 2016. account origin and behavior. Turning safe place to be. it on filters lower-quality content,

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TRAVEL

Romantic winter break in Switzerland

by FATIMA PATEL fatima@asian-standard.co.uk

For those romantic’s out there, travelling in winter with your loved couldn’t get any better with European rail experts, Voyages-sncf.com The experience of travelling by train is always amazing as you get to view the stunning scenery on route to your travel destination and the best part is it doesn’t have to break your bank balance to do so.

Voyages-sncf.com have some amazing winter short breaks on offer at the moment and our pick of the week from their exciting packages is a short break to the striking Lake Lucerne.

Lake Lucerne - with its remarkable moorlands, the rugged karst formations and other natural wonders, the first biosphere reserve

to open in Switzerland is simply stunning. Everything on the 'Culinary Winter hike' is set to make winter walkers gasp in amazement, from the breathtaking panoramas to the heaving dining tables at the inns along the Rossweid – Salwiidli – Rischli – Sörenberg route where they indulge in a local delicacy in each restaurant.

Fares start at £166 for an adult standard class return ticket and takes 8.10 hours.

Lucerne, the town itself which is sited on Lake Lucerne is the gateway to central Switzerland. Thanks to its attractions, its souvenir and watch shops, the beautiful lakeside setting and the nearby excursion mountains of the Rigi, Pilatus and Stanserhorn, the town is a destination for many travel groups and individuals on their journey through central Switzerland.

Am sure you’ve seen some of these sites in the very romantic song and

Image courtesy of Switzerland Tourism

Image courtesy of Switzerland Tourism

dance sequences in Bollywood.

Another fascinating part of this beautiful place is the medieval Chapel Bridge, complete with gable paintings, forms the centre-piece of Lucerne’s townscape and is

considered to be one of the oldest, covered wooden bridges in Europe. A further landmark of the town is the Museggmauer, a wall which, with the exception only of one of its towers, has been preserved in its original, well-fortified state.

Image courtesy of Switzerland Tourism

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15

TRAVEL Historic houses decorated with frescoes line the picturesque town squares as they do the ‘Weinmarkt’ square in the car-free old town.

Lucerne is a city of town squares and churches. The Jesuit church dating from the 17th century is regarded as Switzerland’s first sacral Baroque building and the twin towers of the Hofkirche form an integral part of the townscape. The figure of a dying lion which was hewn from the face of rock in remembrance of the heroic death of Swiss guards killed during an attack on the Tuileries in 1792 is one of the best-known monuments in Switzerland. And with its 112-metrelong Bourbaki panorama, Lucerne

possesses one of the world’s few maintained, mammoth circular paintings.

Lucerne is the ideal starting point for many excursions to the highlights of central Switzerland. A trip up one of Lucerne’s regional mountains, the Pilatus or the Rigi – the queen of mountains – is a must. But excursions up onto the Stanserhorn, the Bürgenstock or a steamship cruise on Lake Lucerne with its many bends and arms are certainly no less worthy.

The Wilhelm Tell Express originates in Lucerne and ferries its passengers to the foot of the Gotthard pass via Lake Lucerne and then continues by rail

into Ticino, south of the Alpine ridge.

The cherry road leads from Lucerne through the landscape of cheery trees and kirsch.

Above all the main attraction is the Lucerne lake itself. A trip on a late scheduled sailing shortly before Christmas, toward the sea of lights that is the town of Lucerne is most definitely an unforgettable moment.

So what are you waiting for, take that short break and rail through to Lucerne this winter.

Images courtesy of Switzerland Tourism

Image courtesy of Switzerland Tourism

Everything on the 'Culinary Winter hike' is set to make winter walkers gasp in amazement, from the breathtaking panoramas to the heaving dining tables at the inns Highlights when visiting Lake Lucerne 1. Chapel Bridge one of Europe’s oldest wooden bridges and landmark of Lucerne, faithfully restored to its original design after a serious fire.

2. Culture and Convention Centre of Lucerne (KKL) – unites a large concert auditorium, the convention centre and the art museum under its imposing roof.

3. Swiss Museum of Transport one of the most diverse museums in Europe for transport and communication, and the most-frequented museum in Switzerland. Has its own IMAX cinema on site.

4. Lake Lucerne the scenic beauty of the lake can be discovered on the many different cruises offered by paddlewheel steamers and motor vessels.

5. Pilatus, Rigi, Stanserhorn excursion mountains made accessible by cableways, offering up picture-book panoramas of the regions around Lucerne.

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Issue 8 ASIAN STANDARD 21

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NEWS

Black and Asian people more likely to be jailed for certain crimes, report finds

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

People from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be jailed for certain crimes as opposed to those from a white indigenous background, a governmentcommissioned report has found.

The report notes cites the fact that although “black individuals account for about 3% of the total population of England and Wales yet make up about 9% of defendants prosecuted for indictable offences” at crown court.

Lammy’s report was commissioned by former Prime Minister, David Cameron in order to investigate any evidence of prejudice against black

magistrates court, where they might receive a lower sentence.

The report confirmed that BAME defendants are more likely than their white counterparts to be tried at crown court: for every 100 young white defendants opting to have a jury trial, 156 young black men choose to do the same. The report also found 152 BAME men pleaded not guilty at crown court for every 100 white men.

David Isaac, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who also sits on the panel, said: “I’m worried. It confirms some of the observations that our own research produced.

“Black people are more likely to be the victims of crime yet are treated more harshly in the criminal justice system. This confirms that trend does not just exist but it is more acute than

The report, revealed by the Labour MP for Tottenham, David Lammy, reveals racial disparities at a number of stages including initial arrest, prosecution and imprisonment.

Mr Lammy believes the findings raise difficult questions about whether ethnic minority communities are being treated equally by the justice system. “We need to fully understand why, for example, ethnic minority defendants are more likely to receive prison sentences than white defendants. These are complex issues, and I will dig deeper in the coming months to establish whether bias is a

and Asian within the justice system.

The inquiry, supported by the justice secretary, Liz Truss, is to be expanded to include a review of ethnic diversity among judges across tribunals, civil and family courts. It has already begun considering judicial ethnic diversity in crown courts.

we realised. I don’t think this is overt racism but it’s hard to break down the individual components that produce these statistics.”

Among other findings, the report states Black and Asian males are almost five times more likely to be housed in high-security jails for public order offences than white men.

Despite a fall in youth detention, 41% of youth prisoners are from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared with 25% 10 years ago.

Furthermore, the report found that around 51% of the UK-born BAME population agree that “the criminal justice system discriminates against particular groups”, compared with 35% of the UK-born white population.

The report also found that young Black or Asian females and adults were less likely to be charged by

the Crown Prosecution Service than comparable white groups. BAME men were about 10% less likely to be convicted at crown court than the comparative white group. Asian women were about 20% less likely to be convicted at crown court than white women.

The report also stated that the number of Muslim prisoners in British jails has doubled over the past 10 years.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, Lammy wrote: “Some groups, such as the Muslim population, do not fall within one ethnic category -- but we know that the number of Muslims in our prisons has nearly doubled in the last decade.”

“We need to fully understand why, for example, ethnic minority defendants are more likely to receive prison sentences than white defendants.”

Black and Asian males are almost five times more likely to be housed in high-security jails for public order offences than white men.

Disproportional outcomes were particularly noticeable in certain categories of offences. For every 100 white women handed custodial sentences at crown courts for drug offences, the report found, 227 black women were sentenced to custody. For

Black people are more likely to be the victims of crime yet are treated more harshly in the criminal justice system. factor,” said Mr Lammy.

The report found that young black males are 10.5 times more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested for robbery. In general, black men were more than three times more likely to be arrested than white men.

black men, the figure is 141 for every 100 white men.

One of the most frequent explanations for differential outcomes is that distrust of the justice system encourages ethnic minority defendants to opt for jury trial as opposed to pleading guilty at a

Armley Jail, Leeds

22

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Politics

Summary of Chancellor’s Autumn Statement

The Autumn summary was delivered

by Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond, just as we were going to print. Here is a summary of the announcement: 1. New economic forecast The UK economy is forecast to be the fastest growing major economy in 2016, but the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast growth to slow and inflation to rise over the next two years.

But growth remains positive and employment continues to rise in each of the next 5 years, with half a million more people forecast to be in work by 2021.

2. Debt falling by 2020 The government has cut borrowing by nearly two-thirds since 2010, but will no longer aim for a budget surplus (where more tax is raised than is spent) by 2019.

New fiscal targets are needed to provide the flexibility to support the economy and create space for more investment in roads, rail, research, and housing.

The government has therefore set new fiscal targets which aim for 2%

underlying deficit and debt falling by 2020, and a balanced budget as soon as possible thereafter.Building an economy that works for all 3. Fuel duty will remain frozen for a seventh year In 2017, fuel duty will remain frozen for the seventh successive year, saving drivers £130 a year on average.

4. A new three-year NS&I Investment Bond available from spring 2017 To support savers, NS&I will offer a new three-year Investment Bond with an indicative rate of 2.2% from spring 2017.

The bond will offer the flexibility to put away between £100 and £3,000 and be available to those aged 16 or over.

5. Committing to raise the Personal Allowance to £12,500 and the Higher Rate Threshold to £50,000 by 2020-21 The Personal Allowance is the amount of income you can earn before you start paying income tax. It is currently £11,000 this year, and will rise to £11,500 in 2017-18. The point at which you pay the higher rate of income tax will increase from £43,000 this year, to £45,000 in 2017-18.

Once the Personal Allowance reaches

£12,500, it will increase in line with inflation.

6. The National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage will increase from April 2017 The National Living Wage for those aged 25 and over will increase from £7.20 per hour to £7.50 per hour. That means over £1,400 a year more for a full-time worker previously on the National Minimum Wage.

The National Minimum Wage will also increase: for 21 to 24 year olds – from • £6.95 per hour to £7.05 • for 18 to 20 year olds – from £5.55 per hour to £5.60 for 16 to 17 year olds – from • £4.00 per hour to £4.05 • for apprentices – from £3.40 per hour to £3.50 And £4.3 million will be spent on: helping small businesses to • understand the rules • cracking down on employers who are breaking the law by not paying the minimum wage 7. The Universal Credit taper will be reduced from 65% to 63% from April 2017

In Universal Credit, as a person’s income increases, their benefit payments are gradually reduced.

The taper rate calculates the reduction in benefits as a person’s salary increases.

Currently, for every £1 earned after tax above an income threshold, a person receiving Universal Credit has their benefit award reduced by 65p and keeps 35p. They will now keep 37p for every £1, from April 2017.

Three million households will benefit from this change: • a single parent with one child and not receiving support with their housing costs earning £15,000 a year will benefit by £170 a year • a couple with two children receiving support with their housing costs, where one parent earns £30,000 a year, will benefit by £425 a year • a disabled person receiving support with their housing costs and earning £12,000 a year will benefit by £180 a year

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8. A ban on letting agents charging fees to renters Letting agents will no longer be able to charge renters fees, for example when they sign a new tenancy agreement. This will stop tenants being hit with fees averaging £223 per tenancy.

The government will consult on this in due course.

9. Cracking down on pensions scams A consultation before Christmas will look at ways to tackle pensions scams, including banning businesses from cold calling someone about their pension. This includes scammers targeting people who inadvertently ‘opt-in’ to receiving third party communications.

10. Over £102 million of LIBOR banking fines to support armed forces and emergency services charities LIBOR fines are collected from banks who break banking rules, and are given directly to causes benefitting armed forces and emergency services charities. £102 million will go to more than 100 projects supporting armed forces personnel, their families and veterans; emergency service personnel; children’s hospitals, air ambulances and emergency responders; and museums and memorials, over the next 4 years.

Investing in infrastructure and innovation to improve long-term productivity 11. A new National Productivity Investment Fund to provide £23 billion of additional spending, ensuring the UK’s economy is fit for the future The National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) will provide major additional spending in areas that are key to boosting productivity: transport, digital communications, research and development (R&D), and housing.

12. £2.3 billion for a new Housing Infrastructure Fund The fund will be used for projects such as roads and water connections that will support the construction of up to 100,000 new homes in the areas where they are needed most.

On top of that, £1.4 billion will be used to provide 40,000 new affordable homes, including some for shared ownership and some for affordable rent. And another £1.7 billion will be used to speed up the construction of new homes on public sector land.

13. £390 million investment in future transport technology

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£390 million will go to future transport technology, including driverless cars, renewable fuels and energy efficient transport. This will include: • £100 million investment in testing infrastructure for driverless cars • £150 million to provide at least 550 new electric and hydrogen buses, reduce the emissions of 1,500 existing buses and support taxis to become zero emission • £80 million to install more charging points for ultra-low emission vehicles 14. A major new investment in transport infrastructure As part of the National Productivity Investment Fund, this will cover: • £1.1 billion to reduce congestion and upgrade local roads and public transport • £220 million to tackle road safety and congestion on Highways England roads • £27 million to develop an expressway connecting Oxford and Cambridge There will also be a two-year 100% first year allowance for companies who install electric charge-points, coming in from today. This allows companies to deduct the cost of the charge-point from their pre-tax profits in that year.

And £450 million will also be spent on trialling railway digital signalling technology which will expand capacity and improve reliability.

15. £1 billion to invest in full-fibre broadband and trialling 5G networks Investment will support the private sector to roll out more full-fibre broadband by 2020-21. Funding will also support trials of 5G mobile communications.

And from April 2017, the government will also provide a new 100% business rates relief for new full-fibre infrastructure for a 5 year period.

16. £2 billion more per year in research and development funding by 2020-21 A major increase in research and development funding for universities and businesses with R&D projects to help the UK remain an attractive place for businesses to invest in innovative research.

This will back scientific research and development of technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence and industrial biotechnology.

17. More money for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive more money which can be spent on infrastructure projects, with each devolved administration deciding where this will be spent.

This will be an increase of over £800 million for the Scottish Government, over £400 million for the Welsh Government and over £250 million for the Northern Ireland Executive.

18. Expanding the museums and galleries tax relief The new museums and galleries tax relief will be expanded to include permanent exhibitions.

The new tax relief, which starts in April 2017, was originally only intended to be available for temporary and touring exhibitions.

The rates of relief will be set at 20% for non-touring exhibitions and 25% for touring exhibitions. The relief will be capped at £500,000 of qualifying expenditure per exhibition.

19. Over £10 million to support culture and heritage projects across the UK £7.6 million will cover urgent and essential repairs to the heritage house, Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire.

Other cultural projects will also be supported, including: • £850,000 for a Royal Society of the Arts pilot to promote cultural education in schools • £1.6 million to help complete Studio 144, an arts complex in Southampton, including an auditorium, studio, and gallery

• £1 million towards the development of a new creative media centre in Plymouth Providing certainty for businesses 20. Committing to cutting corporation tax to 17% by 2020 The main rate of corporation tax has already been cut from 28% in 2010 to 20%, and will be cut again to 17% by 2020, by far the lowest in the G20 and benefitting over 1 million businesses.

21. £400 million through the British Business Bank to invest in growing innovative firms The funds will be invested in innovative small businesses with potential for growth, to provide the finance that they need to expand. This will support up to £1 billion of new investment.

22. Rural Rate Relief will increase to 100% Rural rate relief will increase from 50 to 100% in April 2017, saving a business up to £2900 a year. This business rate relief is available to businesses in rural areas with a population under 3,000, where that business is: • the only village shop or post office with a rateable value of up to £8,500, or • the only public house or petrol station with a rateable value of up to £12,500 A fair and sustainable tax system 23. Cracking down on tax avoiders and those who help them

A new penalty is being introduced for those helping someone else to use a tax avoidance scheme. Tax avoiders are hit with significant bills when HMRC defeats their avoidance scheme, this new penalty will ensure that those who help them will also face the consequences.

Also tax avoiders will not be able to claim as a defence against penalties that relying on non-independent tax advice is taking reasonable care.

24. Salary sacrifice schemes will be taxed more fairly From April 2017, most salary sacrifice schemes will be subject to the same tax as cash income.

In salary sacrifice schemes, employees exchange some of their salary for a non-cash benefit in kind (such as a mobile phone). Both the employer and employee make a tax saving, because the benefit is taxed less than a salary or not taxed at all.

This will affect types of salary sacrifice schemes differently: • pensions, pensions advice, childcare, Cycle to Work and ultra-low emission cars will be exempt • all arrangements in place before April 2017 will be protected for up to a year, and arrangements in place before April 2017 for cars, accommodation and school fees will be protected for up to 4 years 25. Insurance Premium Tax will increase by 2% from 1 June 2017 Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) will increase from 10% to 12%. IPT is a tax on insurers and it is up to them whether and how to pass on costs to customers.

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

Asian drive sees Prudential's profits soar

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

The British insurance company, Prudential has seen a 19 percent rise in new business profit for the first nine months of 2016 thanks to a significant focus on the Asian market.

The company has seen new business profits climb by 19% over the period, according to a Reuters report.

The company, which serves around 24 million customers and has £562 billion in assets under management, says new business profit has reached £1.97 billion –up from £1.66 billion just one year earlier.

Asia accounts for around a third of Prudential’s operating profit and the region’s head Tony Wilkey said the business was on course to meet its 2017 objectives as it targets an expanding Asian middle class to deliver growth.

Prudential said new business profit from Asia increased 34 percent on an actual exchange rate basis to 1.31

billion pounds in the period, while APE sales jumped 25 percent.

Sales in Indonesia, a particular focus for analysts ahead of the results, were “relatively subdued”, Chief Financial Officer Nic Nicandrou said at the firm’s investor day.

Prudential said a 41 percent rise in new business profit from retail sales in its British life business to 179 million pounds was helped by its popular withprofits products.

Shares in Prudential were up 1.6 percent at 1003 GMT, outperforming in a 0.3 percent weaker FTSE 100.

Market moves drove an eight percent rise over the nine-month period in UK fund arm M&G’s external assets under management, to 136.2 billion pounds at end-September.

Retail net outflows from M&G slowed to 1.1 billion pounds in the third quarter, compared with 2 billion in the second quarter.

The company’s estimated Group

Solvency II surplus at the end of October was 11.5 billion pounds, resulting in a capital ratio of 189 percent, up from 175 percent at endJune, Prudential said in a statement.

A ratio of 100 percent shows insurers have sufficient capital to cover underwriting, investment and operational risks.

In the US, meanwhile, business slumped by 13% to stand at £485 million. The blame was largely placed on the Department of Labor tightening rules around the sale of variable annuities that offer a variable rate of income above the guaranteed minimum level.

But U.S. new business profit fell 13 percent to 485 million pounds after the Department of Labor tightened rules about the sale of variable annuities, which offer a variable rate of income often above a guaranteed minimum level.

Nicandrou said that while the U.S. market had been “disrupted” the growth outlook was strong.

Tony Wilkey

Indian SMEs and start-up companies looking at investment opportunities in the Manchester

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

Leading Indian SMEs and start-up companies looking at investment opportunities in the UK, have been given a boost with the news that the the Manchester’s inward investment agency and Deloitte India are offering substantial support packages starting from £25,000 all the way to £2 million.

Representatives from MIDAS have visited a number of key Indian companies in a drive to attract some of the country’s top firms to the North of England and showcase the city of Manchester as a leading business destination.

is said to be a popular business destination for Indian companies.

The city also boasts numerous Indian businesses that have been well established for many years, from across a diverse range of industries including creative, digital and tech sector.

Rajiv Sundar, a partner at Deloitte India, believes the initiative will entice some of the best Indian talent to the UK: “It gives me great pleasure that

Manchester is hosting interaction events for Deloitte’s Technology Fast50 2016 winners. This series of events is to provide a view to the Tech ventures in India on the possibilities and opportunities available to them through using Manchester as a launch platform for their Global ambitions.”

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, insists India is a critical market for Manchester and through focused activities such as the Fast 50, he hopes to attract some

“Manchester has a world-class talent pool from top universities and provides access to markets at a good cost point. With a selection of digital and creative hubs across the city; from university-backed incubators, science parks and commercial accelerators to collaborative working spaces and a robust customer base, the region provides the ideal environment to support fast-growth companies to expand and internationalise.”

Tim Newns, chief executive officer, MIDAS, said: “The companies who win the Manchester Fast 50 competition will have the opportunity to work alongside international giants such as IBM, Microsoft and Cisco. Manchester being the UK’s IoT demonstrator site, will see the city deploy smart city technologies and our status as a tech hub is being further strengthened.”

They hosted prelude sessions to the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 in Delhi and Bangalore, between 10 – 14 November to identify some of the top performing companies in India’s thriving IT industry, with MIDAS offering collaborative opportunities in the UK worth between £25,000 to £2 million.

With the city’s high Indian and Gujarati population, the city is one of the region’s key markets for foreign direct investment and Manchester

of India’s most exciting companies to Manchester.

Tim Newns

Mr Newns concluded: “Manchester is excited to be working with Deloitte once again to meet India’s leading tech firms. We also look forward to bringing a high-level delegation to India in coming months as well as welcoming the competition winners to one of Europe’s leading business cities.”

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

Trump aide: There are too many Asian CEOs in silicon valley

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

United States President elect, Donald Trump’s chief strategist believes there are too people from Asian backgrounds heading organisations

by many to air white nationalist standpoints. However, his beliefs and rhetoric have come under increasing scrutiny since America’s next president appointed him to the senior leadership role in the incoming administration on Sunday.

“I think that’s terrible,” added Trump, who was a regular guest on the show. “We have to be careful of that, Steve. You know, we have to keep our talented people in this country.”

Trump asked Bannon if he agreed with him, but the Breitbart executive chairman was hesitant when responding to the suggestion.

“When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think...”

Bannon said. “A country is more than an economy. We’re a civic society.”

Bannon’s “facts” however, seem to be inaccurate. A May 2015 study found that 27 percent of professionals working in Silicon Valley companies were Asian or Asian-American. They represented less than 19 percent of managers and fewer than 14 percent of executives, according to the report.

Trump’s aide Steve Bannon at the world famous technology hub – Silicon Valley.

Steve Bannon alluded to the idea that Asian students should return to their respective countries after attending school in the US, as opposed to working with or founding technology companies.

However, in what could be seen as a surprising move, Mr Trump, who pledged to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico to keep people out, has insisted he wants immigrants educated at high profile universities to stay and help the U.S economy thrive.

Bannon is the executive chairman of Breibart News, a site that is known

During the exchange on Asian migrants, Trump told Bannon that he

wanted people to come into the country.

you on this.”

“You got to remember, we’re Breitbart,” Bannon replied. “We’re the know-nothing vulgarians. So we’ve always got to be to the right of

The future Republican president then moved on to tell Bannon of his plans to build a “great” wall as his central immigration policy.

When two-thirds or threequarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think...

Bannon said. A country is more than an economy. We’re a civic society

Trump was a guest on his Sirius XM “Breitbart News Daily” radio show when Bannon made the remarks.

“People are coming in and they’re taking jobs and people are getting paid less money,” Trump said during the broadcast. “A lot of it has to do with borders.”

But people who are capable of making lots of money and building big businesses should stay, the New York businessman stressed.

“When someone is going to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Stanford, all the greats” and then they graduate, “we throw them out of the country, and they can’t get back in,” Trump said.

President elect Donald Trump

Leading business lobby just ‘too white’

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

The UK’s leading business lobby has been accused by a leading thinktank of refusing to follow its own recommendations to improve ethnic diversity in British business.

The Policy Exchange accused The Confederation of British Industry of not having a single non-white senior director at a national or regional level, despite urging its associate members to broaden the diversity of their directors.

The CBI has seven individuals on its

board and 13 UK regional directors, all of whom are white.

The research by the respected thinktank shows only 1.5 per cent of the FTSE 100’s 1,087 directors are Britishborn non-whites — a total of 17. Ethnic minorities make up 14 per cent of the UK population.

Shamit Saggar, professor of public policy at the University of Essex, and the author of the report, believes that minority talent is evidently coming through but there are still ‘snowy white peaks’ at the top of business and in public institutions.

He said: “The minority talent is evidently coming through but there

are still ‘snowy white peaks’ at the very top of business and in our public institutions.”

There is not a single non-white chief executive in local government in London or the “eight core cities”, according to Saggar’s research, while the top of the senior civil service, grades one to four, is almost entirely white.

David Goodhart, head of the exchange’s integration and immigration unit, believes it is incumbent on organisations which represent British business such as the CBI to lead by example. He said: “It came as a bit of a surprise that the organisation that talks such a good

game on diversity doesn’t practice what it preaches.”

The CBI said it was “completely committed” to promoting diversity.

The lobby group said more than a quarter of all new CBI appointments in the past six months were from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background, while half were female. It added: “But of course, there is still more to do.”

The exchange’s research found that the representation of Britain’s ethnic minorities in some professions, such as law and medicine, had increased substantially, in particular from British Indian and Chinese backgrounds.

One in 10 law firm partners are nonwhite, up from 6 per cent a decade ago, although the proportion at big firms in the City of London is 5-6 per cent.

There is now a greater percentage of the ethnic minority population in senior managerial roles than of the white population — 12 per cent compared with 11 per cent. In 2002, only 7 per cent of people with an ethnic minority background were in senior management roles.

About a third of doctors, consultants, pharmacists and dentists are nonwhite. But despite the rapid rise in non-white consultants, less than 6 per cent of NHS board-level directors are non-white.

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BUSINESS

Money Talk with our finance expert

Shabab Gulfraz

New Buy to Let regulations.

Yet again regulators are looking to clamp down on buy to let investors by bringing fresh new regulations being given to regulators.

The Bank of England is to give powers to its officials by specifying how much landlords are able to borrow against their property, should it be felt the markets are overheating.

This will be the first time the bank has intervened and will be the first time it is defined how much deposit is required on a buy to let purchase.

The issue for me is existing landlords because will the regulations stop people from re mortgaging high loan to value properties. This is because if the property has very little equity, then surely the landlord will be stuck and

forced to pay at the standard variable rate.

The second element to the rules is that the bank will be able to intervene and set limits on interest rate coverage.

This is the minimum amount that rent must exceed mortgage payments. This currently is ÂŁ25 extra rental for every ÂŁ100 of mortgage debt; therefore rent should be ÂŁ125.

Overall this means that landlords could be forced to pay higher deposits on properties, and then they would have to find properties where the rental income would be a minimum of 125% of the mortgage payment.

I can see the rationale behind why such rules are being put in place. The government wants to ensure the

housing market is strong, wants individuals to be less reliant on debt, but at the same time it will put people off buying a second home.

The issues arises when we look at existing buy to let invests because they will have to inevitably raise rent to ensure that they are able to get the rental to mortgage ratio at the required level to re mortgage properties.

At the present time, there is no suggestion that the bank will start taking action immediately. I personally feel that lenders are already wary of legislation changes; new powers coming into force etc. therefore lending criteria will start to

become more stringent.

The news above is not good news when landlords have already been hit with changes to how much tax relief they can get on mortgage interest.

The level of mortgage interest that can be offset is being tapered down, and by 2020 this will be 20%; therefore affecting all individuals that are high rate tax payers.

The issue that I find with such legislation is that it affects smaller landlords who became landlords because property was being promoted by the government. There are many people that are stuck on standard variable rates because they are not able to re-mortgage properties.

Perhaps the government should pay consideration to existing landlords issues and actually make rules to protect such individuals from being tied into debt which may not satisfy new lending criteria. The real worry is if the Bank of England base rate increased by even 1%, then this would significantly affect many buy to let investors.

If you are an investor then please review your overall lending, and review your buy to let strategy to ensure you are protected from stringent lending rules which may come into practice.

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LEGAL TALK

LUKE PATEL

Luke Patel is a Partner at Leeds law firm Blacks Solicitors LLP specialising in commercial dispute resolution and heads up that team. Luke was the winner of the Best Professional in Business award at the Asian English Business Awards 2013. Described in the Legal 500 as “exceptional” he primarily acts for individuals, owner managed businesses and SME’s in a wide range of sectors including financial, insurance, property and construction.

What Constitutes Deliberate Non-Disclosure?

Insurance contracts are contracts “uberrimae fidei” i.e. of the utmost good faith. Anybody buying an insurance policy owes a duty to the insurer both to disclose material facts and to avoid making any material misrepresentations. Breach of that duty can result in the insurer avoiding the insurance policy “ab initio” i.e. the insurer is entitled to treat the policy as if it never existed. The insurer is entitled to this remedy even if the non-disclosure was innocent or negligent. However, some insurance policies limit the right of the insurer to void the policy only where the non-disclosure has been deliberate or fraudulent. This was the situation in the case of Mutual Energy Ltd v Starr Underwriting Agents Ltd & Another, a case which was decided by the High Court earlier this year.

In that case the insured, MEL, operated an undersea cable link between the electricity system of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Five insurers (including the two Defendants in the case) provided insurance cover against the risk of the connection failing. Subsequently there were two separate cable failures resulting in a claim of over £41m by MEL. Three of the insurers agreed to pay out on the claim but the other two refused on the grounds that they claimed that there had been deliberate non-disclosure on the part of MEL, namely the failure to disclose previous cable failures to the insurers.

The relevant clause within the insurance policy stated: “the Insurers agree not to ... avoid this insurance as against any ... claim ... unless deliberate or fraudulent nondisclosure or misrepresentation ... by that Insured is established”.

The issue which the Court had to decide was whether the reference in

the insurance policy to “deliberate ... non-disclosure” meant that the contract could be avoided in circumstances where the insured had honestly but mistakenly decided not to disclose a particular document or fact; or whether, as MEL contended, the words meant that avoidance was only available if there had been a deliberate decision not to disclose a particular document or fact which MEL knew was material, such, that non-disclosure would involve an element of dishonesty.

The Court took the view that commercial business sense dictated that the insured should be punished if it had behaved dishonestly but

not if it had made an honest but deliberate mistake. There had been an honest but mistaken decision by MEL not to disclose that there had been historic problems with the cables but that did not amount to it being deliberate or fraudulent. “Deliberate” non-disclosure meant that MEL must have known what it was doing and therefore an element of dishonesty was required. On the facts of the case, the Judge decided that MEL had not behaved dishonestly and the Court decided that there had been no deliberate non-disclosure.

were asking the Court to interpret a wide meaning of the word “deliberate”. Had the Court had accepted their arguments so that “deliberate” included honest mistakes then it would have allowed insurers to void insurance policies for negligent non-disclosure.

This decision will be of comfort for insured parties but less so for insurers. The insurers in this case

You can also follow Luke Patel on Twitter @LukeLawBlacks

If you are involved in any dispute with an insurer and require assistance then please contact Luke Patel at Blacks Solicitors on 0113 227 9316 or email him at “LPatel@LawBlacks. com”.

It’s the way forward Yaar

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NEWS

Prevent fuelling Islamophobia as anti-extremism policy fails, says Labour MP Liam Byrne

by MO BHANA

their faith,” he told the Guardian.

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

He is of the opinion that Theresa May and David Cameron’s mistaken “conveyor belt” theory has actually inspired ministers to draw up a very ambigious definition of “extremism” that even the archbishop of Canterbury believes would make him a criminal.

Prevent, the government’s counterextremism policy is failing to address the legitimate grievances of Muslims in the face of rising Islamophobia, a Home office minister and Labour MP has said.

The MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, Liam Byrne is of the opinion that thousands of Daesh foreign fighters are expected to return to Europe, including Britain, after their expected defeat of Mosul and use Donald Trump’s victory as a ‘provocative’ example to find vulnerable recruits.

In a new book which he has authored, Black Flag Down: Counter-extremism, defeating Isis and winning the battle of ideas, Byrne insists that any new strategy must reflect what the security services genuinely believe, therefore discarding David Cameron’s claims that there is a straightforward “conveyor belt” that pinpoints faith with extremism.

My Byrne, who represents the largest Muslim constituency in Britain, also dismissed ‘dangerous rhetoric’ that he believes wrongly claims there is an “epic clash of civilisations” underway between Islam and “the west”.

“In the vacuum, while Islamophobia

The former minister who conducted his research in Birmingham along with Iraq and Palestine, also had conversations with counter-terror police and intelligence experts.

My Byrne says he is convinced that a new understanding of radicalisation is needed based on the fact that it is grievance rather than god that inspires too many to turn to violence.

concluded that there was “no single pathway to extremism”, as the basis

for rejecting the conveyor belt theory that leads to the banning of non-violent

In the vacuum, while Islamophobia spirals, British Muslims despair.

Many British Muslims feel surrounded by ‘supremacists’.

National supremacists who declare you can’t be British and Muslim.

His comments echo that of fellow Labour MP, Andy Burnham, who in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Manchester, called for a cross-party review of the Prevent Strategy, but said his personal view was that the policy should be discarded. “I do feel that the brand is so toxic now that I think it’s got to go,” he said.

He added: “The Prevent duty to report extremist behaviour is today’s equivalent of internment in Northern Ireland – a policy felt to be highly discriminatory against one section of the community.

“It is creating a feeling in the Muslim community that it is being spied upon and unfairly targeted. It is building a climate of mutual suspicion and distrust. Far from tackling extremism, it risks creating the very conditions for it to flourish.”

Bryne cites a 2008 MI5 study, which

Labour MP, Andy Burnham extremists groups and individuals.

MP Liam Byrne spirals, British Muslims despair. Many British Muslims feel surrounded by ‘supremacists’. National supremacists who declare you can’t be British and Muslim. And religious supremacists who say you can’t be Muslim and British. One lot deny Muslims their country. The other crowd deny Muslims

It is creating a feeling in the Muslim community that it is being spied upon and unfairly targeted. It is building a climate of mutual suspicion and distrust. Far from tackling extremism, it risks creating the very conditions for it to flourish

He suggests other elements in a new counter-extremism strategy, such as a British bill of rights that covers free speech and compassion; universal “character education” in schools and a history curriculum that recognises the contribution of other nations to the British war effort; and a bank holiday for St George’s Day. Freedom of Information requests by Byrne revealed that in Birmingham – Britain’s most diverse city whose population is 52% white British – nearly 80% of 561 identified leaders of organisations that spend public money are white British.

Two universities, hospitals and the fire service have no minority ethnic people in their top 10 leadership positions. “We have work to do to ensure the power structure of the city reflects the community that calls it home,” says Byrne.

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MOTORING Nissan Reveals Stylish New Leaf Black Edition Nissan has unveiled the special version LEAF Black Edition, setting the standard for sleek, premium styling in the mass-market electric vehicle (EV) sector.

Based on Nissan’s existing Acenta grade, the Nissan LEAF Black Edition offers cutting-edge design and a number of dynamic styling enhancements. Stylish exterior additions include 16” black alloy wheels, LED headlamps, illuminated entry guards, privacy glass, black door mirror caps and black rear roof spoiler. Blue-stitched mats give the interior a premium finish.

The Black Edition also comes with the latest evolution of the advanced

NissanConnect EV telematics system and its innovative Around View Monitor technology as standard.

Gareth Dunsmore, Director of Electric Vehicles at Nissan Europe, said: "The Nissan LEAF Black Edition offers our customers stylish, premium design in an affordable mass-market 100 percent electric vehicle. We are committed to delivering innovation that excites and this vehicle does just that, with our leading Around View Monitor technology offering customers a more confident drive – embodying Nissan Intelligent Mobility.”

The limited edition model is on sale in Europe for a restricted production run from March 2017 up until August 2017, with the first 1,000 customers in Europe receiving a free Wi-Fi hotspot – capable of powering up to eight devices.

Launched in 2010, the Nissan LEAF was the first mass-market electric vehicle. The latest 30kWh version gives drivers up to 155 miles* of motoring range, opening up a new world of opportunity for drivers.

Nissan is dedicated to delivering a smarter, more sustainable future, with customers having driven more than 2.5 billion electric miles.

Since the Nissan LEAF first went on sale in 2010, almost 240,000 units have been sold globally, with 64,000

of these on Europe’s roads; making it the world’s best-selling electric vehicle.

Based on the mid-range Acenta trim, the Leaf Black Edition adds 16in black alloy wheels, black door mirror caps and rear spoilers, as well as LED headlights, privacy glass and special edition floor mats with blue stitching.

No pricing has been announced yet, but expect the Leaf Black Edition to cost around £3500 more than the Acenta model, which is roughly the premium the Note Black Edition carries over standard Notes.

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MOTORING

Renault announces pricing and specification for all-new Scénic and Grand Scénic

radio with fingertip controls and an AUX input with Bluetooth® connectivity and a seven-inch touchscreen are fitted to every version.

Finally, cruise control, speed limiter, a two-way adjustable steering column, height adjustable driver seat, gear-shift indicator and a 12-volt front socket are all standard from Expression+ trim level.

Renault’s distinctive fourth-generation Scénic range arrives in the UK this December, playing host to a raft of unique-in-class safety features and technologies usually associated with the segment above. Unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, the All-New Scénic and Grand Scénic range displays Renault’s sensual design language with a C-shaped front lighting signature and unique and innovative 20-inch wheels.

The All-New five-seat Scénic and sevenseat Grand Scénic range, priced from £21,445 on-the-road, will be available to order from 1st December with first customer deliveries taking place later that month.

Renault invented the compact family MPV segment in 1996 and the arrival of the fourth generation signals the complete renewal of Renault’s all-new family car line-up with Kadjar, Mégane, Mégane Sport Tourer, Scénic and Grand Scénic. The French manufacturer now has the newest model range on sale in Europe.

The Scénic and Grand Scénic are

each offered in four trim levels that owners of other Renault vehicles will be accustomed to – Expression+, Dynamique Nav, Dynamique S Nav and Signature Nav. Each version provides a comprehensive standard specification, rising to the truly luxurious at the topof-the-range.

All-New Scénic and All-New Grand Scénic are the only vehicles in the class to receive the Active Emergency Braking System (AEBS) with Pedestrian Detection as standard.

Even from Expression+, this high-end technology is complemented by the Visio active safety system providing Lane Departure Warning, Traffic Sign Recognition and Automatic High/Low Beam headlamps. An electronic parking brake, LED daytime running lights, roof rails (Grand Scénic only), automatic dual-zone climate control, automatic headlights and windscreen wipers, electrically adjustable heated and folding door mirrors, F1-style integrated fuel filler whereby the cap is a part of the fuel flap for ease of refuelling, leather steering wheel, 4 x 20W DAB

The All-New Scénic and Grand Scénic remains as impressively practical as ever thanks to its modularity and class-leading storage and boot space.

The five-seat All-New Scénic has a best-in-class boot volume of 572-litres with all seats in the upright position, whilst the seven-seat All-New Grand Scénic has a boot volume of 596-litres when configured with the rearmost two seats down. Other ingenious storage solutions, including four underfloor compartments, extend total storage capacity to 57-litres, placing the AllNew Scénic at the top of its class by offering up to twice as much space as its competitors.

The All-New Scénic and Grand Scénic have been given a five star safety rating

by Euro NCAP. Passive safety features as standard across every version in the range include six airbags, seat belts with load limiters and pretensioners at the front, side impact protection bars and ISOFIX child-seat mounting points on the two outer rear seats.

Active safety features on each version in the range include Emergency Brake Assist, ABS with Electronic Brake-force Distribution, ESC (Electronic Stability Control) with traction and understeer control and Hill Start Assist.

Dynamique Nav adds to this with further driver aids such as front

and rear parking sensors, fatigue alert whereby the vehicle monitors steering control to detect tiredness and alerts the driver to take a break; and handsfree keycard with walkaway lock and welcome functionality. This convenience function enables the driver to walkaway without needing to press anything on the key and the car will lock, the door mirrors will fold in and the headlights will turn off. When the driver returns to the car with the key, the car will unlock, the door mirrors will unfold and the lights will turn on.

Passengers are also well-catered for with rear-mounted aviation-style tables on front seats, one-touch easy folding rear seats – activated either directly inside the boot or via R-Link2 multimedia system in the front, LED reading lights, sun blinds and cup holders.

Puddle lighting under the door mirrors

and chrome detailing along the side window line, tailgate and front grille help the Dynamique Nav to further stand out.

All-New Scénic and Grand Scénic are available with a range of safety and convenience features such as Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Spot and Safe Distance warnings, Handsfree Parking and 360-degree parking sensors.

All versions are covered by Renault’s four year warranty. The car is protected for four years or 100,000 miles (first two years have no mileage limit). There is also a three-year paint warranty and 12 years’ cover against corrosion.

Servicing is required once a year or every 18,000 miles.

UK ordering opens on 1st December, with customer deliveries arriving later that month.

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PUZZLES & CROSSWORD

Crossword

Down

1 Shed, throw off (4) 3 Contrary (8) 9 Capital of Kenya (7) 10 Discourage (5) 11 Painting stand (5) 12 Become smaller (6) 14 Marionette (6) 16 Movie theatre (6) 19 Conan Doyle's detective (6) 21 Soup (5) 24 Yorkshire city (5) 25 Sooner (7) 26 Amaze (8) 27 Among (4)

1.Scorn (8) 2. Secret agents (5) 4 Clergyman (6) 5 Command (5) 6 Acute (7) 7 Merit (4) 8 Long-haired sheepdog (6) 13 Collected (8) 15 Defend (7) 17 Inmate (6) 18 Appraise (6) 20 Stoneworker (5) 22 Narcotic derived from poppies (5) 23 Parasitic insect (4)

Answers

Across

Wordsearch Countries

Albania Angola Antigua Bahrain Belize Chad Chile Comoros Honduras India

Congo Cuba Djibouti Dominica France Germany Grenada Haiti Iran

Iraq Italy Laos Liberia Mali Malta Mexico Nepal Oman

Peru Russia Singapore Spain Sudan Thailand Zaire Zambia

COMPETITION

The producers of a range of chicken mix and tantalising ready sauces, Tropics Foods are giving our readers a hamper full of Tropics Foods goodies.

To WIN all you have to do is answer the following question: Where is the head office of Tropics Foods based?

A. Leeds B. Bradford C. Halifax Send your answers to competition@asian-standard.co.uk with your full name and contact details. Or post your answer to Asian Standard, 1st Floor, 18 East Parade, Bradford, BD1 5EE Competition terms and conditions apply. Closing date is Midnight 30 November 2016 For full T's & C's visit www.asian-standard.co.uk or email info@asian-standard.co.uk

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JOBS

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Are you a self-starter, ambitious, self-motivator, have the hunger to achieve and increase earning potential?

Hours of Work: Negotiable Salary: Basic+Commission+ Expenses+Pension

Then our Managers at Asian Standard want to hear from you A position has become available for Business Development Manager to help sell our services to Business clients.

You must have a minimum of one year’s experience selling to B2B customers. You must possess excellent communication skills and be educated to a minimum of 5 GCSE’s at grade C or above and have a can do attitude. You will be required to travel nationally and will be required to meet targets.

For the right candidate full training will be given.

To apply or for more information email a covering letter with your CV to jobs@asian-standard.co.uk with BDM in the subject field or post to: RF Publishing Ltd, 1st Floor,18 East Parade, Bradford, BD1 5EE T. 0333 577 0046

COLUMNISTS

Are you a professional?

Do you want to share your views and opinions of the field you specialise in?

Do you enjoy writing?

Can you commit one weekly column a week? Then we might

be looking for you. Asian Standard is a new weekly newspaper from the same publishers of Asian Sunday and Asian Style. With a brand new look and feel, we are currently looking for columnists from a range of different fields to write for our exciting title - Asian Standard With a growing readership and distribution of over 7,000 newspapers nationally, you can expect some great exposure plus

additional income, without having to give up your day job.

If you are interest in writing for one of the most talked about Asian media titles in the country, then send in your CV along with a sample 500 word article to editor@asian-standard.co.uk or post to: RF Publishing Ltd, 1st Floor. 18 East Parade, Bradford, BD1 5EE

This could be your opportunity to tap into the creative you and become a household name with our readers.

Good Luck!

VIDEOGRAPHER WITH VIDEO EDITING EXPERIENCE WANTED and content. Hence an opportunity has arisen for a videographer with video editing experience to join our team.

Hours: 30 hours per week Pay: Based on experience Pension plus other perks Media is a very fast paced industry, and with more and more people having smartphones video content is becoming a very popular way of sharing news

We are looking for someone who has experience in creating content for our new online TV social media and our websites as well as experience in social media strategy and campaign delivery.

Main responsibilities will include: Using portable digital video (DV) cameras and other equipment to record material and appropriate editing software to produce

produce complete packages for broadcast; Preparing and presenting material for both pre-recorded and live social media pieces;

software such as Adobe after effects and Premiere Pro. Experience managing social media platforms, particularly YouTube Minimum of 1 year photography & video experience

Working with the news teams to turn around content fast and according to company standards and branding;

Self-starter attitude

Coming up with creative ideas for client campaigns.

To apply simply send in your CV plus samples of work to editor@ asian-standard.co.uk or post to RF Publishing Ltd, 1st Floor, 18 East Parade, Bradford, BD1 5EE

Key Skills required: Proficient knowledge of editing

Ability to work within a team and to very tight deadlines/

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latest FREE weekly newspaper to our portfolio.

Pay: Voluntary first year. Thereafter £150 per day plus expenses Number of positions: 6 RF Publishing Ltd, is the publisher of Asian Sunday, Asian Style magazine and a new weekly title Asian Standard. Asian Sunday was launched in 2011 as Britain’s leading and first FREE Sunday newspaper, with a particular focus on British Asian news, for British born South Asians, with a view to reaching out to the wider community. We then relaunched the successful Asian Style Magazine in January 2016 and then added Asian Standard as the

After five successful years, we want to ensure we continue leading as Britain’s to go to Asian media when it comes to British Asian news.

As leading ethnic media publishers, we want to ensure our media teams are always reporting responsibly and accurately as well as being at the forefront of breaking news. Therefore, we are now looking to recruit a non-executive team to help steer our media team in the right direction.

We are looking for individuals who have a passion for community and want to help make a difference by guiding and steering our media relations and media reporting in the right direction.

We are looking for individuals who have a passion for news and are committed to developing responsible relationships with our partners, key

stakeholders, as well as Directors and to help us build trust with our readership with factual, responsible and independent reporting

analytical ability; and the capacity and temperament to work in an open, inclusive and collaborative environment.

The appointed candidate(s) will be expected to contribute to the strategic development and direction of our publications oversee the development and review of key performance targets, ensure the publication complies with its statutory requirements and ensure that a high standard of corporate governance is observed at all times. Candidates who are able to offer advice to senior management on a range of general management issues, such as HR matters and management best practice would be advantageous.

Previous experience as a NonExecutive Director is not essential but an aptitude for strategic thinking, the ability to work as part of a team and a commitment to our publications objectives are.

We are looking for candidates with a background in business, HR, finance, law, training above all with the ability to perform at Board level.

Candidates must also be able to demonstrate: integrity and a commitment to transparency of decision-making; effective communication, influencing and inter-personal skills; high level of

Applications are welcome from individuals of any background, gender and disabled people who are able to make a real contribution to this organisation.

Members are expected to attend quarterly board meeting and to participate in additional meetings, conference calls and sit on ad hoc committees from time to time. Most meetings take place in the evening.

Interested candidates should submit a CV to board@asian-standard.co.uk with a covering letter explaining why you believe you are suitable for the role.

CARE ASSISTANT

Join one of the fasted growing Home Care companies in the country. We offer a competitive hourly pay rate, time and a half on bank holidays, paid mileage (20p per mile), company uniform, company training.

We provide what we believe to be a fresh, modern and compassionate approach to home care, domiciliary care, healthcare and assisted living. Our caring, friendly

and understanding team of staff are highly trained and passionate about their jobs, hereby delivering exceptional home care services to all our clients. We are also very proud to offer a financial support service that is not readily available with many other care providers.

The Care Assistant’s role will involve:

• Following care plans and Service User needs

• Personal Care

The successful Care Assistant will have:

The Care Assistant will be responsible for supporting Service Users in their daily routines.

• Being flexible to cover weekends, early mornings and evenings

• Meal Preparation • Supporting an open, positive and inclusive working culture

• Health and Social Care training or be willing to work towards Level 2 • Home Care experience • Full driving licence and own car

• Also looking for carers who can speak: Urdu, Punjabi & Hindi Applicants must be willing to undergo a DBS check.

The pay rate starts at £7.50 per hour.

Call: 01274 309543

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JOBS

NON-EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

4-year appointment, approximately 12 days per year

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SPORTS

Why England’s biggest football clubs are suddenly turning towards India

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

Manchester United take on Liverpool in Mumbai?

Can Coutinho score a brace for the reds or will Marcus Rashford delight with his trickery?

Arsenal team dubbed “The Invincibles” in 2004: a team of XI that went the entire season unbeaten, representing Arsene Wenger’s attacking philosophy at its finest, embodying modern football at its best – complete with style and precision.

However, it also highlights that the Premier League has a perfect product to sell. The football on display is often furious, dramatic and competitive, designed for consummation,

Arsenal against Manchester City in New Delhi?

Look around the economic capital of India, the state of Gujarat, and one will find a plethora of Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham shirts around.

second-most watched sports league— after cricket, of course—with 74.7 million viewers on its launch day and a combined reach of 170.6 million in the first week.

Look around and everyone seems to playing Football, from Surat to Navsari, it’s all about football.

And Indian football fans have turned up at stadiums nationwide in such large numbers that the championship has become the ninth most-attended outdoor professional sports league in the world, in terms of average attendance.

Chelsea and Manchester United have held clinics in the country, the latter have over eleven stores across India.

Liverpool have a youth academy in Pune, whilst Arsenal have multiple training centers in New Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The clubs claim this is for the development of football in India, a philanthropic manner of spreading the gospel of the beautiful game. In reality, however, it’s a business venture aimed at cashing in on the popularity of the Premier League, the most popular league in the world.

Arsenal fans in India enjoy the game

To gauge the India’s appetite for football, one only needs to look at the Indian Super League. Within its first season, it has become the country’s second-most watched sports league with 170.6 million in the first week.

Will Theo Walcott light up Delhi or will Raheem Sterling deliver for Pep Guardiola’s team?

The English top flight playing in India might have once been a wild fantasy, but the Premier League is increasingly turning its eye towards the subcontinent.

Yes, China is fast embracing football, with many overseas players receiving in excess of £250,000 a week.

However, India is fast catching up and Premier League clubs know all about it.

Arsenal are just some of the teams that have played a friendly match in the country, having gone up against Super League franchises FC Goa and Mumbai City, where former Arsenal stars Robert Pires and Freddie Ljunberg played their trade respectively.

The duo were at the core of the famous

appreciation and fervent support.

The year before, the Premier League started capitalising on the enormous market that Asia offers with the establishment of the Barclays Asia Trophy, a bi-annual pre-season tournament hosted in the Far East.

It’s broadcast in 212 territories around the world with 80 different broadcasters. The combined TV audience is 4.7 billion of which more than 30% comes from Asia, according to the Premier League’s website. Every weekend, millions of Indian football aficionados religiously watch the league on Star Sports—apparently outnumbering fans watching the games back in England.

The figures dwarf Spain’s La Liga, where only Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have a global appeal. This October’s El Classico had a global audience of 400 million viewers.

To gauge the India’s appetite for football, one only needs to look at the Indian Super League. Within its first season, it has become the country’s

Liverpool fans celebrate At the same time, the drive towards further overseas expansion is set to continue for England’s top teams.

The Premier League is growing thanks to their globetrotting ambitions. The lesser English clubs simply cannot compete with that kind of financial power.

To level the playing field, they will also have to start looking abroad—and towards India.

So soon, FC Goa and Mumbai City might not only be playing just Arsenal, but also, Hull City and Southampton.

Premier League started capitalising on the enormous market that Asia offers with the establishment of the Barclays Asia Trophy

And ever since, these lucrative tours have become part and parcel of the big club’s season routine – Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea, with fans snapping up tickets, priced between £13 and £51 along with shirt sales, merchandise and money spinning commercial sponsorship deals.

Asian businesses such as Samsung, Chang and Goldenway have all accured massive expenditure in relation to backing Premier League clubs.

And what is the next natural step?

Welcome to India off course!

Manchester United fans watch the game

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SPORTS

Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey pleads not guilty to using racist language

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

Footballer Jonjo Shelvey could be slapped with a lengthy ban after pleading not guilty to a using racist language towards a Wolves player.

The Football Association charged the Newcastle United midfielder after he is alleged to have used abusive language and/or insulting words including reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality towards Moroccan utility player, Romain Saiss.

Saiss, who speaks limited English was made aware of the abuse by a team mate who promptly reported the comments and immediately complained to the FA after Wolves beat the Championship leaders’ at St James’ Park on 17 September.

The FA guidelines, which were revised in 2013, state any player found guilty of racially abusing an opponent or discriminating on religion, sexuality or disability, should be banned for at

least five games.

The allegation was said to have been made to referee Tim Robinson immediately after the game, only emerging after the FA carried out a meticulous investigation.

If found guilty, Shelvey could not only be hit with a five-game ban, a vast amount of damage could be done to his personal reputation along with his marketability, given the nature of the offence.

Shelvey has recently been in very good form for Rafa Benitez’s side, as the Tyneside club look to make an instant return to the Premier League. The 24-year-old has also been tipped to make a return to the England squad, even though the former Charlton Athletic and Swansea City midfielder, is no longer playing at the highest level.

The FA said in a statement: "Jonjo Shelvey has been charged for misconduct in relation to Newcastle United’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 17 September 2016.

"It is alleged that in or around the 87th minute of the fixture, he used

abusive and/or insulting words towards an opponent.

"It is further alleged that this breach of Rule E3(1) is an 'Aggravated Breach' as defined in Rule E3(2), as it included reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality. The player has until 16 November 2016 to respond to the charge."

Shelvey joined Newcastle in January for £12m from Swansea City but they were relegated from the Premier League in May.

However, Shelvey has requested a personal hearing, where former Liverpool star will insist that there were mitigating circumstances.

However, York City goalkeeper Scott Flinders was banned for five games after he was found guilty of a similar offence earlier this season during a game against Wimbledon.

While Benítez has developed a convincingly tough squad to beat, with healthy competition in almost every position, Shelvey has thrived under Benítez’s coaching.

His extensive passing and vision sets him apart from the club’s other midfielders and any ban could hit Newcastle hard.

Another precedent is the eight-game ban imposed on former Liverpool striker Luis Suárez for racially abusing Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra in 2011.

Footballer Jonjo Shelvey

A Newcastle United statement said no further comment will be made "until the matter is concluded".

World Taekwondo Championships: Britain to host 2019 event at the Manchester Arena

by MO BHANA mo@asian-standard.co.uk

After a record-breaking medal haul for Britain at this summer's Olympic Games in Rio, Manchester has been picked to host the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships The WTF confirmed the decision at a meeting of its council held in Burnaby, Canada, on Monday.

The WTF picked Manchester over the Houston in the U.S, insisting the British city has the relevant capabilities and infrastructure to hold the 2019 championships, having also been chosen to host another international taekwondo event, the 2018 World Grand-Prix Series.

As part of a three-year package, London and Manchester will also host legs of the World Grand Prix series in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The Manchester championships will run for five days from May 15th to the 19th, 2019.

The Great Britain Taekwondo team includes Rio silver medallist Lutalo Muhammad.

London based Muhammad, nicknamed the Walthamstow warrior, won silver for Britain in an agonising final in which he came within a second of beating Cheick Sallah Junior Cisse of the Ivory Coast.

The African champion won the contest with the final kick of the match, making contact with the Briton’s head to take four points, winning 6-8.

It was Britain’s second taekwondo medal of the Games, after Jade Jones retained her Olympic title, taking gold.

Afterwards, Muhammad sobbed into his father’s arms. He was absolutely devastated, he told the BBC: “This is the

lowest moment of my life.”

Steve Flynn, director of GB Taekwondo, said the events would give the sport "a chance to drive real growth".

Bronze medallist Bianca Walkden and Mahama Cho, who finished fourth, are also in the Manchester-based squad.

The bid team - which beat competition from American city Houston - is also discussing the possibility of hosting the World Para Taekwondo Championships alongside the Grand Prix event at the Copper Box Arena in London next year.

The WTF World Championships are held every two years. The 2017 event will be held in Muju, North Jeolla Province.

Meanwhile, the WTF announced new guidelines on selecting host cities in accordance with the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Agenda 2020.

Silver medallist Lutalo Muhammad As a result, London will host the third round of the 2017 World Grand-Prix Series, while Abidjan of Cote d’Ivoire

was selected as the host for the 2017 WTF World Taekwondo Grand-Prix Final and 2017 WTF World Taekwondo Team Championships.

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SPORTS

Meet the little master:

Haseeb Hameed

by MO BHANA

mo@asian-standard.co.uk

England appear to have a ‘little master’ in the same vein as India’s legendary cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, on their hands in the form of Lancashire teenager Haseeb Hameed.

The 19-year-old made headlines worldwide when he made his Test debut in the first of five matches against India.

After a relatively decent start, notching up 31 runs in his first Test innings, Hameed flourished second time around with a composed halfcentury on a pitch which was by all means and purposes, ideal for India’s bowlers to exploit.

Hameed lived up to his Baby Boycott nickname thanks to an energetic display - hitting a number of boundaries on his debut.

Indeed, the comparison is there for all to see. However, the precociously talented youngster has also been compared to the original little master himself: Sachin Tendulkar.

Yet to those who saw his development at first hand, he will always be the Little Master.

That is exactly how his former team-mates at Bolton League club Farnworth Social Circle have referred to him since the made his senior men’s debut with a hundred at the age of, wait for it: 12.

Seven years before becoming only the sixth teenage Test cricketer in England’s history, Hameed was wowing those he played alongside at weekends and after school. He was taken on as a nine-year-old by

Lancashire, although primarily for his leg-spin.

Farnworth SC secretary John Hutchinson said: “He stuck out like a sore thumb from ball one and at 11 years old he was a different class to anything I had seen. I go all around watching cricket and I am not saying that he was different class to anyone in Lancashire — I am saying anyone in the country.

Lancashire’s traditional mill towns, relinquished his factory job to become a driving instructor.

Why? Because Hameed Senior, a former opening batsman himself, was afforded the freedom to coach his son on evenings on the concrete expanse of Rawsthorne Park, adjacent to the family home.

him to play over a period of time.

that was undoubtedly first XI level.

Compton said: “I sat Haseeb down when he started sixth form and asked him how much time he was spending down at Old Trafford.

“‘He’s always been a little bit wiry. At 14 there were people who felt he ought to be biffing the ball around more, that he was not hitting it as hard as he should and needed to score more quickly. But Hass wasn’t like that. He found ways of doing things his way.”

“We were trying to find an appropriate timetable for him so that he could do A-Levels and attend the academy

“It was unbelievable. His technique was as close to infallible as you could get. What people are seeing is what we knew. His main attribute is his temperament. He’s totally unflappable.”

Hameed scored his first hundred for Lancashire at the age of 10 but it was when Stewart Marsh, Circle’s 2nd XI captain, took a chance on Hameed, when things got serious.

Marsh said: “I picked him at 12 years old to open the batting. He batted through the full 50 overs against a very good Greenmount team, getting to his hundred off the last ball of the innings.”

FSC had a reputation for developing talent but talk of Hameed’s ability spread like wildfire.

As a Year 8 student, he was approached by Worcestershire who offered him a place at the club’s academy and a chance to board at the nearby school.

However, Lancashire’s response was to instigate a cricket scholarship.

He left his local comprehensive to join Bolton School and, in so doing, Hameed was on the road to fulfil his dream of being an England cricketer.

His father Ismail, who like many, left the Baruch area of Gujarat, India, as a youngster to work in one of

Seven years before becoming only the sixth teenage Test cricketer in England’s history, Hameed was wowing those he played alongside at weekends and after school. He was taken on as a nine-yearold by Lancashire, although primarily for his leg-spin.

Haseeb Hameed the little master Hutchinson said: “When Has played for England last week, it was reward for the winters spent in the freezing cold, brushing snow out of the way just so they could practise batting.

“Our club is located in one of the most deprived areas in the county. This should be being used by the ECB as an example of what you can achieve just by sheer dedication.”

Andrew Compton, the 1st XI coach at Bolton School and head of cricket, believes Haseeb’s dad should take take 90 per cent of all the credit for Haseeb but would like to think that he also provided an appropriate context for

The 19-year-old made headlines worldwide when he made his Test debut in the first of five matches against India.

sessions. Beyond the time he was committed to with Lancashire, he was putting in 16 hours a week with his dad. That is phenomenal dedication.”

When Ashley Giles said recently, “Has just gets it”, Compton said totally knew where he was coming from. Has believes Haseeb is a great reader of the game. He explains how in year 9, Haseeb was promoted to open for the school first XI. Compton recalled: “Cricket is, in a sense, structured by age group but when you have lads of that kind of talent, you fast track them and play them at a level which challenges them. And for him

Thanks to Haseeb’s help, Bolton School were crowned the English Schools Cricket Association’s Twenty20 champions at Under 15 level in July 2012, Hameed adapting his game to hit an unbeaten 83 in a 10-wicket win over Whitgift in the final at Arundel.

Incredibly, he also managed two Twenty20 hundreds in a single day for the school 1st XI — against Merchant Taylor’s, Crosby, and Lancaster Royal Grammar School at Liverpool College.

And that is why, in a small area of Lancashire, Haseeb Hameed will always be known as the Little Master.

Haseeb Hameed celebrates after a successful innings