AV 21st November 2015

First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe Price 80p

SALMAN KHAN GETTING READY FOR 'SULTAN'

P29

Vol 44 | Issue 28

21st to 27th November 2015

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

UK P15 VARA MAKES PRESENTATION TO PM MODI TO RIGHT HISTORIC WRONG

Hollande promises fitting reply to ISIS

COMMUNITY P14

UK

14TH DIWALI CELEBRATIONS AT HOUSE OF COMMONS BY HINDU FORUM OF BRITAIN

www.asian-voice.com P7

HE CAME, HE SAW, HE CONQUERED ANGAD PAUL FALLS TO HIS DEATH FROM HIS PENTHOUSE

Reshma Trilochun

is threatening the whole world," he told a packed, sombre chamber.

Parliamentarians gave Hollande a standing ovation before spontaneously singing the "Marseillaise" national anthem in a show of political unity following the worst atrocity France has seen since World War Two. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday's coordinated attacks, saying they were in retaliation for France's involvement in US-backed air strikes in Iraq and Syria.

Hollande pledged that French fighter jets would intensify their assaults and said he would meet US President Continued on page 26

Photo courtesy: High Commission of India

French President Francois Hollande called on the United States and Russia to join a global coalition to destroy Islamic State in the wake of the attacks across Paris, and announced a wave of measures to combat terror in France.

"France is at war," Hollande told a joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles, promising to increase funds for national security and strengthen antiterror laws in response to the suicide bombings and shootings that killed 129.

"We're not engaged in a war of civilisations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which

The much awaited event of the year took place on Friday 13th November 2015 with great enthusiasm. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, was given a rockstar reception of his first visit to the UK after being designated as the Indian Prime Minister.

A full-house of 60,000 spectators attended this once in a lifetime event at Wembley Stadium, London, braving the cold weather to support the much loved Narendra Modi.

An outstanding list of performance dazzled the audience with their remarkable presence and performances. The likes of Baby Doll fame, Kanika Kapoor; the charming Navin Kundra; the eternal enigma who made everyone feel nostalgic and proud with her rendition of “Made in India”, Alisha Chinai; to our own home-grown British-Asian powerhouse talent, Jay Sean, who proudly declared his real name, Kamaljeet Singh Jhooti; plus many more of such talents entertained the massive crowd.

Chants of “Modi-Modi” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”

PM Modi in his own style

could be heard from throughout the stadium, encouraging one and all to participate and explicitly show their patriotism with pride. The crowd stood respectfully when it was time to sing the British and Indian anthems; Kanika Kapoor did the honours of leading the Indian anthem.

The event was a great amalgamation of East meets West; not only just about PM Modi visiting the west, but of those of South Asian ethnicity living in Britain who are still rooted and are culturally and eth-

nically intact.

It will not be farfetched to state that not only were the general public of South Asian ethnicity excited about PM Modi's visit, even dignitaries from many influential industries and backgrounds were equally enthralled by the idea of his visit. There were over 1,000 volunteers who were instrumental in making this remarkable landmark event successful, with their hard work ensuring that the reception is smoothsailing.

Prior to Narendra

Modi's visit to Wembley Stadium, the Employment Minister and the Prime Minister's Indian Diaspora Champion, Priti Patel said, “We will ensure that Prime Minister Modi’s visit will elevate our relationship [UK-India relationship] to the next level and ensure that our partnership continues to flourish. I know that together we will celebrate his visit and show him an unforgettable welcome to the United Kingdom.”

Continued on page 16

2

ONE ONE with Keith Vaz, MP

www.asian-voice.com

Asian Voice |21st November 2015

to

AsianVoiceNews

Emma James

soul as well as my material needs.

Emma James is the founder and Managing Director of Emma James Physio Ltd and James Corporate Ltd, with head offices in Hertfordshire and clinics in both London and the surrounding counties.

They specialise the management and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries whilst the corporate arm of their business provides health and wellness solutions for both government and private sector. Their team of specialists pride themselves in a patient centred approach and exemplary customer care.

As a chartered physiotherapist and business women, Emma has a passion for injury management and path finding for wellness solutions.

Identifying the underlying cause of a mechanical injury or poor wellness behaviours within a workforce may be perceived as being issues that are worlds apart. However the fundamental process involved in solving them is essentially the same, accumulative stress and strain causes failure whether that is a mechanical structure or and individual.

Emma James Physio Ltd and James Corporate Ltd equips both individuals and companies with the tools to flourish.

Their websites can be seen at: www.ejphysio.co.uk and www.jamescorporatehealth.co.uk

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

My patients as a whole have always influenced, inspired and encouraged ne to continue. I have had many people guide me along the way however the ongoing support of my husband, family and friends have influenced me and supported me the most.

1) What is your current position?

MD and Owner of Emma James Physiotherapy and James Corporate Health Ltd. 2) What are your proudest achievements?

Aside from overcoming infertility and giving birth to my two

daughters. I would say building a business from the ground up and keeping it running and growing in this current climate are my proudest achievements.

3) What inspires you?

The determination of people who have faced adversity in their

lives and are still standing to fight another day, whether that be physical or emotional adversity 4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

Continuing to run, grow and manage a business with two small children. Finding a wok life balance and fulfilling my

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

Having complete control over my business and being able to adapt quickly to a rapidly and continuing changing business environment.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

ing the books.

8) What are your long term goals?

I aspire for Emma James Physiotherapy and James Corporate to become leaders in our sector and for us to remain differentiated by our patient focused care and customer service.

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

As a country of small to medium size businesses I would encourage growth in this sector and support small businesses to bring the unemployed back into the workplace.

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

Nelson Mandela: As his tenacity, self-belief and mental strength will have fundamentally been the only things that will have kept him alive during his imprisonment and how can you not be inspired by his story to keep fighting the good fight.

Prime Minister announces 2017 UK-India Year of Culture

A year long-programme to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Indian independence and UK cultural ties has been announced by the Prime Minister.

The Year of Culture 2017 will see an exciting festival of events celebrating the vibrant cultural history of the two countries.

Top UK institutions will partner with their Indian counterparts to

strengthen cultural and economic ties between the two nations, and showcase British creativity on the global stage.

Prime Minister David Cameron said, “The great partnership between India and the UK extends beyond economic ties to the boards of The Bard and the beaches of Bollywood.

We have some of the best cultural exports in the

Prime Minister David Cameron announced 2017 to be UK-India Year of Culture

world – and it’sabout time we celebrated this, together.”

To mark the start of this cultural pairing, the British Library will be digitising 200,000 pages of their South Asian archives.

Two Centuries of Indian

The DrIvIng Force To your DIvorce!

• DK MKH NFFd DFlp witD diGKILF KI sFpaIatiKN? • Is MKHI paItNFI IFfHsiNE tK lFt MKH sFF MKHI LDildIFN? • Is tDFIF GiKlFNLF iN tDF DKmF? Whatever your problem, our family solicitors have the answers you need.

• Divorce • Separation • Financial Settlement

Print will be part of a major programme to make the wealth of Indian printed books held by the British Library dating from 1714 to 1914 accessible to anyone around the globe.

M a d a m e Tussauds – whose Bollywood figures are some of the most popular in London – has also announced its first Indian venture in New Delhi, scheduled to open in 2017.

Parent group Merlin is set to invest £50m in India over ten years, rolling out other UK favourites – such as SEA LIFE aquariums and LEGOLAND Discovery Centres – across Indian cities.

Two of the most iconic

British texts will tour India as part of the programme.

The British Library will showcase Shakespeare’s First Folio - the first collected edition of the Bard’s plays - and the 1225 edition

of the Magna Carta.

One of India’s premier museums - the CSMVS Mumbai - will tell the story of Indian civilisation in the context of world history using some items on loan from the British Museum.

The UK is already a big

hit with Indian tourists.

Last year saw a record breaking 400,000 visits to the UK from India and in the first half of 2015 Indian tourists spent £199 million during their stays.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said, "The UK has an incredibly special relationship with India - not just economically and through our historic ties - but culturally, through our music, our theatre, our design and much more. An India-UK Year of Culture is a great opportunity for both our nations strengthening this dynamic cultural partnership and driving even more innovative ways to work together to make great art."

Night of bright lights sees Harrow Hindus celebrate Diwali formances, kids talent show, fireworks, live music, a bollywood DJ and a three-course Indian meal.

Organiser Divyanjli Gandhi said: “I am delight and vitalized with the participation of everyone in Diwali related games and overwhelmed with the

NAMASTE LONDON hosted its own Diwali festival – which spiritually signifies the victory of good over evil – with an evening of lights and crackers at Mumbai Gardens on November 7.

Attended by more than 175 people, the celebration included kids dance per-

• Pre-nuptial Agreements • Children Issues • Domestic Violence

Option to pay the legal fees at the end of the case* *Terms and conditions apply

502-504 Honeypot Lane Stanmore Middlesex HA7 1JR

020 8951 6959 • iNfK@piNdKIialaw.LKm

www.piNdKIialaw.LKm

)% %'" +! /() ** ',)" ) / ** , ) " !+ )-" *

7) And the worst?

Managing cash flow and balanc-

$ %' %""

)

'

appreciation from all. I’m particularly proud of the efforts to bring together the Indian families under one roof celebrate the event in Indian style and keep the cultural tradition alive, being home away from home. I am delighted to have organised the event and make my dream

come true and successful in my goal for my community.”

"( '%# ) ( '%# )'% 1

!'() "! &"+

"

) %*'! '(

',&*$'. ,*"& **

)#

$"

0

*'%& ',&*$'.

% "$ * $ *

) "

/

")*+ $" !+ , & +

' )'% 1 )%*

)% ( ) "$'

"( )% $ ! ( ) "$' '& "+"'&* (($0

COMMENTS

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Cameron-Modi roadmap for Indo-British ties Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK may have been long overdue, but the pageantry and glitz whent it did come was worth the wait. He was given an exceptionally warm welcome by his British counterpart David Cameron. Mr Modi addressed the joint Houses of Parliament, lunched with the Queen, met with the captains of Industry, toppng it off with the Wembley extravaganza. Both leaders dwelt on the historic Indo-British relationship with exuberance and optimism, their words heart-felt. Both leaders dwelt on the unfolding opportunities to make the Indo-British fit for 21st century purpose. They referred o shared history, institutions, political systems, the rule of law and people-to-people ties. Mr Modi referred to the great British universities, at which where generations of Indians had studied, mentioning specifically, his two eminent predecessors, Jawaharlal Nehru and Manmohan Singh. He referred to Mahatma Gandhi as a bridge between the two countries.

He spoke of the Indian economic presence in the UK, and the British business footprint in India. He spoke of Tata, an Indian company becoming the largest manufacturer in Britain.

Time was India was dismissed case, but that era is well behind us as the new reality unfolds. The Indian diaspora in the UK (and the US) have done exceptionally well, profiting from the level playing field. Indians are

among the most prosperous and well educated of communities in the country – replicating the American experience – and popular perceptions about them have moved upward from where they were decades ago.

Most significantly, India now is the fast growing of the world’s major economies and its business and entrepreneurial footprints are to be seen in every continent.

India is the third-largest investor in Britain, while Britain is largest EU investor in India. Also, a flow of young Indian entrepreneurs are making Britain their hub and setting up companies with a global reach. That said, the future is even more exciting for the potential it offers in trade, investment, educational and scientific exchanges.

Common awareness of the jihadi terrorism brought home by July 7 in London and by 26/11 in Mumbai [and the Paris tragedy] have intensified Indo-British anti-terror cooperation. Britain will aid India in cyberspace skills and export civil nuclear technology to India, defence cooperation and military drills are to continue going forward. India is to take out railway bonds on the London Stock Exchange and will make greater use of the unique financial services London has to offer. India and UK have signed deals worth 15 billion pounds sterling going forward. We may be witnessing an epiphany of an Indo-British partnership of hearts and minds.

Bihar: Wake-up call for Modi The State Assembly elections outcome in Bihar was a disaster for the BJP-led NDA coalition against the Grand Alliance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU, Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who must be credited for the party’s 27 seats, although it would be premature to talk of a Congress revival. The palm undoubtedly must go to Nitish and his new found ally Laloo Prasad who put aside past antagonisms and came together for the common good. Theirs was a brilliantly fought campaign, and the speeches were pitched to reflect the public mood. They displayed not the slightest fear of their two heavyweight opponents, Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, keeping close on their trail and refuting their high octane rhetoric with sturdy common sense, sound logic, irrefutable facts, all garnished with Lalu’s inimitable rustic wit, ably complemented by Nitish Kumar.

BJP campaign managers imagined their candidates would stalk their opponents, instead, the stalked turned stalker. The tone and temper of some of Amit Shah’s addresses were simply appalling in their lack of good taste and mindless venom. Bringing Pakistan into the debate was an insult to the electorate’s intelligence, and it misfired badly.

In the aftermath of a famous victory, Mr Nitish Kumar, making an unacknowledged reference to Newton’s law, said: ‘Every action will have an equal and opposite reaction.’ It was an apt summing up. The BJP has gone into introspective mode. Aggrieved party elders are in rebellious mood; and questions are being asked that will require the appropriate answers. Inner party debate is healthy. Conducted properly it can prevent a repetition past mistakes. A citizen on Twitter remarked: ‘Modi owed his general election victory to his message on development, but today we’re are stuck in beef politics.’

The growing unease among the intelligentsia, exemplified by the return of Sahitya Academi awards, was no staged protest but one genuinely reflective of public alarm and concern. Yes, a case can be made as to why no such movement was visible during the banning of Taslima Nasrin’s work. However, the assassination of three noted writers and scholars were the final straw. ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,’ said the great 18th cen-

tury parliamentarian and political thinker, Edmund Burke. Politics in a democracy is mainly about the centre – left of centre, right of centre - but broadly centrist and consensual on issues of national interest.

The iconic figure of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is being recast as a sort of RSS guru , an organization he banned for a time as India’s Home Minister. He accused the RSS of ‘distributing sweets’ after Mahatma’s assassination and of ‘spreading communal politics,’ balancing this, however, with criticism of certain sections of the Muslim population’s lack of loyalty to India. Both Patel and Nehru had a deep and abiding aversion to the Muslim League and its leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah. When Gandhi suggested Jinnah be offered the post of prime minister of an undivided India, Patel and Nehru, who revered the Mahatma, refused point blank and opted for partition instead as the wisest course under the given circumstances. Writing to Kailash Nath Katju, Nehru described Muslim communalism as worse than Hindu communalism, but in India the latter could pose a greater danger because India’s society being predominantly Hindu, would have the power to undermine, if they so wished, the concept of a liberal state and its cultural diversity.

Reflexive anti-colonialists, in search of cut price careers, are muddying the waters. They demand reparations from Britain for its colonial rule in India, including the return of the Kohinoor, carefully avoiding the minefields of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran, whence emerged respectively, the Mughal Babur, Ghaznavi, Abdali and Nadir Shah, the last making off with the Peacock Throne. Why not demand its return from the ayatollahs?

Further afield, should Germany demand reparations from France because of the Napoleonic Empire; should France demand compensation from Italy for the Roman Empire, beginning with Caesar’s conquered Gaul?

Better to consult India’s greatest minds, Rammohun Roy, Vivekenanda, Aurobindo, Bankim Chatterjee, Tagore, or historians Jadunath Sarkar and Ramesh Chandra Majumdar for a more enlightened take on the historical significance of the British presence in India.

Je Suis Paris, Vive la France The cowardly and shameless ISIL attacks on six different districts of Paris have left the people of France benumbed and distraught. Paris is one of the world’s truly great cities: beautiful, vivacious, a centre of European civilization and all the good and great things that have defined the modern world.

Literature, the arts, philosophy, and every form of intellectual discourse has, and is, to be found in the French capital. The jihadi assault on Paris is, therefore, an attack on modern civilization itself. Today, we are all Parisian, all French, irrespective of ethnicity or faith.

Serious issues, however, must be addressed. First, why do so many in the Western media describe jihadi terrorism as a war waged by Islamism against the

West? Mumbai underwent a similar experience of hell, not once, but twice, in a decade [March 1993, November 2008] with deaths and injuries that have no parallel outside Beslan, in Russia. The uncomfortable truth is that many of these terror groups, and their Saudi and Pakistan funders and sponsors, were, and are, allies of the United States and its Nato allies.

Only last January, the French Foreign Minister, was extolling the virtues of al Nusra and al Qaeda in Syria; barely a month ago US President Barack Obama, with pedantic self-assurance, told us that his administration had ISIL on the run, as did the compliant mainstream American media. Public opinion in the West must awaken to the dismal record of their governments in the fight against jihadi terrorism.

3

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.

- John Lennon

Where are all the fundamentalists Wembley?

I'm waiting for the 'I don't deal in facts' journalist from the Guardian, Aditya Chakrabortty, to blame the Paris bombings on Narendra Modi. This is the journalist who endlessly on BBC, Sky bemoaned how India had just elected the most dangerous politician in the history of the world, some kind of Hitler + Taliban + Satan, who managed to fool millions of Muslims to vote for him and therefore for their own annihilation, and is as we speak building concentration camps in India because he's apparently a Hindu extremist...you know the type that praises a Muslim boy in his speech for 5 minutes at Wembley, (which reminds the Guardian of Hitler's Nuremburg rallies presumably) and praises the former Muslim President of India, and talks about his meeting with Sikh organisations in the UK to discuss their concerns, all the while waiting to exterminate them all with his cunning plan that only Aditya and the Guardian can see through.

In the Stadium as the scantily clad Bollywood singers started, and the Muslim contingent there watched, I thought, 'bloody hope PM Modi not watching this kind of liberal stuff'. I waited for the public hangings I'd been promised by the Guardian in the football stadium in Wembley, like they have in Taliban controlled areas of Afghanistan, but none came. Maybe I missed it? Only singing and dancing?

Huh? Surely I got the wrong Taliban-Hindu event I thought. Where was the effigy burning? The public stoning of non-Hindus, the swastikas? Darn it.

And worse still, I had to sit with women - whatever happened to the intolerance I'd been promised, and segregation and the public beatings? Women mixing with Muslims, and Christians and dark people with light people, there was no obligatory caste questionnaire that you have now fill out at all Indian airports since Fuhrer Modi took over the country in a coup and turned it into North Korea/ISIS/Hindu-State - modeled on Islamic State – with Hindutva/Sharia law.

Apparently the PM is the kind of extremist PM who caused 1 million Hindus and Muslims to die in 1947 under British rule before he was even born. And I thought the British were good at governance, or maybe they endorsed it and wanted the 1 million to die, or didn't do enough to stop it, if so, sounds to me like PM Attlee is a war criminal for the Genocide in India, like Chief Minister Modi according to Guardian. Don't see them wanting Labour PM Attlee tried for genocide.

After all, they produced that violent traitor Gandhi they've always been treacherous people, they even threw out all the Muslims in the country in 1947 partition, ummmm, but more stayed than left...but don't let facts come in the way.

Those intolerant Hindus who have national holidays for Islamic holidays and worship like gods only Hindu actors like…ummmm…. Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan and don't let Muslim actors get a break or ever captain their pride and joy – the national cricket side, not with names like Mohammed (Azharuddin) no.

Glass ceiling for Muslims is what it is - you can only go as high as President - 4 times - out of the 13 since Independence in this anti-Muslim Islamaphobic country.

For a minority of 14% of the population getting the highest office in the land, that’s just discrimination – positive discrimination.

It is the Media not Modi that fuels fear. Say it again; media not Modi. Hey, don't want to live in fear? Don't read the Guardian.

Asian Voice is published by ASIAN BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS LTD Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

4

UK

www.asian-voice.com

This is Your Life, Babu Proud Coventarians threw a party in honour of one of their city’s longest-serving sub-postmasters to mark his retirement.

Babubhai Garala officially retired from Hillfields Post Office in Coventry earlier this month after 43 years’ service. He had hoped to leave quietly but the local community were adamant not to allow this. Over 150 well-wishers attended the party at St Peter’s Centre last Tuesday, including the city’s Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress.

A line-up of over a dozen guests, including our senior news editor Dhiren Katwa, spoke briefly about their acquaintance with Mr Garala. Dhiren described Mr Garala “an outstanding citizen, a role model community leader” and saluted him for his remarkable contributions to society, particularly British and Indian.

Guests, of all ages and race, religious and cultural backgrounds, exchanged hugs and handshakes with Mr Garala, an impeccably modest gentleman, who spoke last. Other speakers included Professor Robert Jackson from the University of Warwick, Sabir Zazai, Director, Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre and Ranchodbhai Chauhan, President of Shri Krishna Temple.

Eleanor Professor Nesbitt, from the University of Warwick

twice served, selflessly, as President at the Shri Krishna Temple, where he is still actively involved.

In 2002, he was awarded an MBE for serving the community in Coventry.

A few eagle-eyed guests noticed there was nobody present from the local press, describing this as “appalling”, adding, ‘they haven’t got time for a man who has served this city for 43 years is shameful. Yet they’re quick to cover negative stories’.

Professor Nesbitt said: Happy Retirement: Babubhai Govind Garala MBE “When so much in the media is depressing or Religions and Education trivial, Coventry people Research Unit, said: need to hear about Babu’s “Each of us knows someinspirational conthing of his enortribute and we urge mous contribuThe Coventry tion to regeneraTelegraph, as a tion of the responsible newspaHillfields comper, to play it’s part”. munity.

This Paula Vennells, the event celebrated Post Office’s Chief his combination Executive, said in a of strategic activstatement: “We ity for communiwant to congratuty uplift with late Mr Babu Garala faithful service on his outstanding to each individservice to the Post ual who came to the post office for From left: Lady Mayoress, Babubhai, Savitaben Office and the local community for over Govind Garala, Lord Mayor help over a period 40 years. It’s a of nearly 43 remarkable achievement sat quietly in the front years”. and we wish him all the row, smiling proudly. Mr Joan Haywood, best in his retirement.”

Garala’s siblings were also Manager at St Peter’s Mr Garala, when present, as was the priest Centre, was master of cerasked if he has any plans from the local temple who emonies. Joan, who read for his retirement,smiled recited a prayer. The event out a list of apologies, said and said: “I look forward included a cake-cutting the community “would to continuing to support ceremony. not be the same without the good work of the local Mr Garala, one of five Babu” and wished him the community, looking after brothers and three sisters, very best. Also in attenmy mother and spending came to England from the dance were volunteers, more quality time with my Tanzanian capital Dar Es including Patrick Walsh, family and friends”.

Salaam in 1966.

He has of Working Actively to Change Hillfields, or WATCH, a charity, of which Mr Garala is also a longstanding member, as well as Paul Odera from Citizens Advice Bureau, Julian Cartlidge, former Post Office Field Change Advisor and Caroline Wright from Hills FM, a community radio station.

A slide show featuring photographs, letters from world dignitaries and press cuttings was projected in the background. At the sides of the hall display boards featured the same. His 95-year-old mother, Savitaben Govind Garala, to whom he remains a devoted carer,

Pauline Latham joins Kavita Oberoi to raise awareness on pressure cooker safety Pauline Latham OBE MP, joined businesswoman Kavita Oberoi, at the Geeta Bhawan Temple, in Derby, to raise awareness of using pressure cookers safely, in light of recent accidents that have occurred, especially amongst the Asian community. The visit to the Temple coincided with Karva Chauth.

Kavita Oberoi was recently badly injured by her pressure cooker in an incident at her home. She has since heard from many pressure cooker users who have experienced similar incidents but were unaware it was happening to others.

The two women joined

In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

informative leaflets on pressure cooker safety and also cooling gels to use if anyone is burned using their pressure cooker, or for any other reason. Their campaign is focusing on people being aware of how to use pressure cookers properly, checking old and foreign purchased cookers and giving after-burn cooling gels to users and making sure everyone in the house knows where it is Pauline Latham and Kavita Oberoi located.

Speaking after her forces to speak to worshipvisit, Pauline Latham pers at the Geeta Bhawan OBE MP said, “It has been Temple. They handed out

a great start to the campaign to raise awareness of safely using a pressure cooker. Kavita [Oberoi] has been through a lot but is thankfully making a recovery. It was only after she spoke about her injuries did more people come forward and reveal it’s happened to them too.

I hope to really make people think about the safety of their pressure cookers, especially older ones or have been brought in from overseas. I praise the reaction of Kavita to her incident. She is using her voice to help prevent others going through the same experience she went through."

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Rise in male suicides

BRITAIN: A coalition of charities has said that the increase in the suicide rates among men should be treated as a national public health issue.

They said that men failed to seek help when they were faced with calamity, which has caused the rise in male suicide rates.

Official figures reveal that there has been a slight fall in the number of women committing suicide over the past ten years, whereas the rate has risen for men.

In 2013, figures confirmed by inquests showed that 6,233 people committed suicide, out of which nearly 8 out of 10 were men; a rise of 4% in a year.

The charities, which includes the Samaritans and led by the charity Calm, urged MPs to help in order to “break down the stigma that prevents too many men from seeking help”, and hold a debate on this issue on International Men’s Day (19th November).

Study claims most women are "never straight"

ESSEX: A study, led by Dr Gerulf Rieger from the department of Psychology at the University of Essex, claims that most women are “never straight”; they are either gay or bisexual.

The research, which involved 345 women, found that most women who stated that they were heterosexual were aroused by videos of both naked men and women.

Dr Rieger said, “Even though the majority of women identify as straight, our research clearly demonstrates that when it comes to what turns them on, they are either bisexual or gay, but never straight. Although some lesbians were more masculine in their sexual arousal, and others were more masculine in their behaviours, there was no indication that these were the same women.”

30-minute brisk walk more effective for weight loss

LONDON: According to a major study conducted by researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science, a half-hour brisk walk can be more effective in reducing your weight, compared to other forms of exercise, such as swimming, working out at the gym, or even running.

The study showed that the effect of brisk walking was particularly strong for women of all women, who lost 4.3 cm (1.7 in) off their waist.

Dr Grace Lordan led the research. She said, “When it comes to walking, you can’t really be doing it wrong. You need to be out of breath and slightly red in the face."

Dhamecha's 8th cash & carry opens in Leicester

LEICESTER: On Tuesday 3rd November 2015, suppliers from across the grocery trade met at the Wembley Hilton to celebrate the opening of the Dhamecha’s 8th cash and carry.

For the first time in its 40 year history, the Londonbased cash and carry operation – the largest member of the Today’s Group - is opening a branch outside the capital.

The new 80,000sq ft. depot – in Leicester –opened its doors for business on Friday 6th November.

The first Dhamecha Cash and Carry – in Wembley – opened in 1976 and the company now operates 7 branches in and around the M25 – with a customer base of over 10,000 independent grocery convenience stores. The Group has a turnover of £700m.

Speaking at the celebration, Chief Executive, Pradip Dhamecha said, “Over the years we have built our business on the principles of first-class relationships with our customers, our suppliers and our staff... Opening a cash and carry outside of London is bold step for us and it’s fair to say that everyone connected with the Dhamecha Group is very excited about the new venture”.

www.asian-voice.com

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Bank For Your Banking Needs

Business Finance - Personalised attention to your needs.

On demand access to your money in savings account.

24*7 Internet Banking access.

Hi-return on your term deposits.

Rupee exchange rate - you will not like to miss.

Hi-Interest rates on FCNR and NRE Deposits in India.

For further information and T&C, visit www.bankofbarodauk.com or call 020 7457 1515 Visit any of our 10 branches in the UK: Bank of Baroda London Main Office EC1Y 2BD T:+44 (0) 20 7457 1544

Bank of Baroda Tooting Branch SW17 7TR T: +44 (0) 20 8767 6469

Bank of Baroda Ilford Branch IGI 2RT T: +44 (0) 20 8514 8609

Bank of Baroda Aldgate Branch E1 1NL T: +44 (0) 20 7480 0000

Bank of Baroda Southall Branch UB1 1QD T: +44 (0) 20 8574 1324

Bank of Baroda Wembley Branch HA0 4TL T: +44 (0) 20 8902 7407

Bank of Baroda Kenton Branch HA3 0HD T:+44 (0) 208 909 1739

Bank of Baroda Birmingham Branch B21 9SU T: +44 (0) 121 523 5973

Bank of Baroda Manchester Branch M4 5JU T: +44 (0) 161 832 5588

Bank of Baroda Leicester Branch LE4 6AS T: +44 (0) 116 266 3970

Bank of Baroda is established in the UK with company number BR002014 and is based at 32 City Road, London EC1Y 2BD. T. +44(0)207 457 1515 F. +44 (0)207 457 1505 E. info.uk@bankofbaroda.com W. www.bankofbarodauk.com Bank of Baroda is authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Our regulator firm reference no. is 204624 Bank of Baroda, UK Operations facilitates submission of NRI application forms to India. Account/s opened and amount deposited are held in India which comes under banking regulation of Reserve Bank of India only. For details, you are requested to visit www.bankofbaroda.com.

5

6

UK

www.asian-voice.com

PM Modi announces resumption of London- Kapil’s KHICHADI Ahmedabad direct flight AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Amid a crowd of over 60,000 at Wembley Stadium, the Prime Minister gives credit to 'friend' Shri CB Patel for the breakthrough

Anand Pillai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced resumption of the muchawaited direct flight between London and Ahmedabad. The service will start from December 15, 2015. He announced this in front of over 60,000 people who had gathered at the Wembley Stadium to honour the Indian PM, who was on a three-day visit to the UK. The Wembley extravaganza was on the second day of his visit on 13th December.

The direct flight between the two cities was stopped seven years ago.

The massive crowd at the stadium went in raptures as soon as the PM made the direct flight announcement and gave him a thunderous applause.

The Prime Minister gave the credit for the resumption of the flight to CB Patel (our editor) for

his relentless campaign for the service.

Modi spoke for 1 hour and 20 minutes at Wembley.

Before his speech, he was given a rousing welcome by British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, who was clad in a beautiful red Indian sari.

A grand Indian cultural programme was organised in honour of PM Modi which lasted for 2 hours.

Modi began his speech at 5.35pm (London time) and ended it at 6.55pm. In his speech he mentioned about the problems faced by the Indian diaspora in UK as well as other major issues faced by the world today.

Interestingly, Modi got the maximum applause when he announced the resumption of the direct flight between Ahmedabad and London, which had not seen the light of the day for the last seven years.

However, before he talked about the flight, the Prime Minister touched upon the OCI, PIO and Visa issues. He acknowledged that these issues were brought to his notice during his meetings in London and he has notified it to the departments concerned. (A memorandum

by Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar was earlier presented to the PM).

Thereafter he spoke in detail about the direct flight. He said he had visited London in 2003. At that time he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The Indian diaspora in UK had made a representation to him regarding the direct flight service between Ahmedabad and London.

He represented the matter to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Central Government responded to it positively.

Ekal Abhiyan a guiding light in education Continued on page 17

Anand Pillai

They say give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. This is exactly Ekal Abhiyan is doing, empowering the downtrodden through education, targeting especially the rural India. It is a people’s movement from darkness to light.

Ekal Abhiyan is supported by Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad (BLSP), which was founded in 2000. The seeds of education were sown way back in 1988, starting with remote villages in Jharkhand. Since then Ekal has come a long way but still miles to go. At present, over 52,000 Ekal Vidyalayas are educating more than 14 lakh children. It aims to cover one lakh villages in India.

Currently, it is running the show with 6,000 fulltime volunteers, who are paid honorarium for their services. Their food and travel allowance is taken care of.

The schools are run under trees, in temples, village courtyard and even at teacher’s home. The format is one village, one teacher with 30 students of 6 to 14 years of age, mainly focusing on 3R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic). The teachers are local youth, mostly females. Ekal aims 100% literacy among tribal and

From left, CB Patel, Ramesh P Shah, Ekal Global COCoordinator, Naresh Jain, President, Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad, Neeraj Dhingra, CEO-Europe, Zee, and L George, Chief of Operations, Asian Voice

rural children across the length and breadth of India. The operating cost is Rs 20,000 per school per annum. Besides education, it is also zeroing in on health care, with special emphasis on personal hygiene, sanitation and others. It is also strengthening rural India by cowbased agriculture and entrepreneurship, tailoring, computer training, etc.

Ramesh P Shah, Ekal Global CO-Coordinator, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, says: “Education is the need of the hour. It’s the most powerful weapon to bring a positive change in society. Talent is there in everyone, but there is a grave need to provide opportunity to the talented to exploit their latent ability to the maximum positively. It is very important to appreciate the infinite potential in each child and provide a channel to tap it to the fullest. And the best way to do it is to

spread education, making people aware about the positive effects of being intolerant to ignorance.”

However, it is not an easy task to convince the conservative parents,particularly menfolk, in rural India, especially on girls’ education and housewives working as teachers.

Shah says: “It's always a daunting task to convince the elderly in remote villages in India. They don't believe in sending their children to school, especially girls, and to overcome that mindset, we take refuge in Swami Vivekananda's philosophy - 'If a child cannot go to school, school must reach to the child'. So we are setting up makeshift schools under trees, village courtyards to make things easy.”

Ekal Abhiyan is a beacon of hope in education.

Its might lies in its mite to effect a positive change in society. The world will certainly become a better place to live in.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Follow me on Twitter: @kdudakia

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com

Labour: Anti Modi & Anti India?

Whilst you and I, and a billion other people around the world rejoiced the historic visit of Prime Minister Shri Modiji to the UK, a more sinister and troubling underbelly of the Labour Party was exposed for all to see.

Readers will be aware that well before the general elections I had exposed Labour and its anti-Modi, antiIndia and even anti-Hindu stance. At that time Jeremy Corbyn was an unknown, but I had shown to you that he was very much comfortable with the extremist in society. He was very friendly with the Pakistani mobs, the Pakistani Kashmiri Separatist and extremist organisations such as ‘Avaaz’.

Many of you heeded my observations and you took that monumental step not to vote for Labour. You made the right call and I trust you will see increasingly how right you were not to trust Labour.

So what has got me upset sufficiently that I have resurrected Kapil’s Khichadi? For me the matter has and will always be simple. If any politician or political party threatens the stability and future prospects of our community, or attempts to undermine our Dharma – then they have to be exposed. Full Stop.

I know there are many very powerful people from within our community who are staunch supporters of Labour. In fact they tried everything to highjack PM Modiji’s visit to make it a Labour event. Instead it became their biggest nightmare disaster imaginable.

Their leader, Jeremy Corbyn failed to turn up to every single event in which PM Modiji was taking part or was being honoured. This includes ALL formal national events in Parliament, as well as those honouring our heroes such as Mahatma Gandhiji and our cultural heritage.

Jeremy Corbyn showed total disrespect for India, the Indian PM and every Indian in the world. In order for Jeremy to appease to his Muslim Pakistani vote bank, he undermined the future prospects of the whole of the United Kingdom. Tens of thousands of jobs are dependent on Indian companies and Indian investment into the UK. And the potential to increase this significantly over the coming decade has severally been compromised by a Party Leader who cares less about his country, less about the traditions of his country and even less about its people.

This is the man who is willing to compromise the security of our nation so he can remain buddies with some of his extremist friends here in the UK as well as abroad.

I am still waiting for leading MPs of Indian origin from the Labour Party to openly and without reservation denounce their leader for his disgraceful behaviour. I will not accept any half baked weasel words. I want to see them come out and attack this incompetent

Labour leader with utter bluntness.

After all it was their leader who elected to disrespect the largest democracy in the world in such an open manner.

PM Modi came to the UK with a mandate that was greater than all Prime Ministers and Presidents of the EU countries put together. A fact that Jeremy Corbyn and his ilk just could not stomach.

The Labour Party has gone Sharia. I had warned AV readers and the nation of this several years ago. The Labour Party is now led by a group of dimwits with half baked ideas about governance.

They will readily appease the dictators and the extremists in the Middle East, South America or even some closer to home. Ludicrous as it may sound, but it seems Jeremy Corbyn wanted to capture ‘Jihadi John’ than to obliterate that excuse of a human being to kingdom come.

So what is the message for you the readers? For you the Indian Diaspora?

Well my friends it is simple, there comes a time when we all have to make that call for truth and justice. For being on the right side of Dharma and on the right side of history. Either you can remain deluded and blind to what is unfolding in front of your eyes, or you can take note and make changes to your voting behaviour.

The Labour Party is dead. It is now in the hands of extremists who are against you. They have shown this very clearly. There is now no doubt since their behaviour during PM Modiji visit showed us what they are, a bunch of left wing nutters indulging in their prejudices.

The London Mayoral elections will be with us soon. I hope you exercise your civic right and vote for the right person and party. Just in case there still remain a few deluded souls out there, yes Labour Sadiq Khan also ignored PM Modiji!

In Kapil’s Khichadi I don’t sit on the fence or try to be ‘politically correct’.

Frankly I don’t have time or patience for such rubbish. It is now time for our community, our media and yes, our politicians to recognise what is happening and see the bigger picture. If we don’t get our act together, believe me there will be no future left for the generations to come. Don’t let your future generations judge you by your inaction today. It is time to recognise your duty.

Your duty to the nation, your duty to your community, your duty to your dharma and yes, your duty to the legacy you leave behind.

When PM Modiji referred to PM Cameron as his brother, I understood the clear message he was giving to all of us. I get it, do you?

Wake up oh sons of Bharat Varsh.

History demands of you your sacrifice and service for the protection of the nation.

Bid to steal car in broad daylight Police are on the lookout for a man who made an unsuccessful attempt to steal a Porsche in Mayfair, London.

CCTV footage shows the suspect in broad daylight slashing his way into the classic £50,000 four-wheeler. He is seen

making a hole in its softtop roof and leaping into the driving seat.

However, since he failed to start the car, he abandoned it and was shown walking past the vehicle.

He was later seen trying to steal a nearby Porsche Cayenne.

UK

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Leader of House of Commons celebrates London Tigers success The Leader of the House of Commons, Chris Grayling MP, attended as Chief Guest at the packed out London Tigers Annual Awards Ceremony in Porchester Hall, London with over 500 people on Wednesday 28th October 2015. The event celebrated the achievements of London Tigers members, coaches, volunteers and staff, with over 100 awards given out on the day to a diverse range of people from different nationalities, age and background and from across the London boroughs of Ealing, Westminster, Brent, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Camden.

Special guests at the event included Anne Main MP, Bob Blackman MP, Karen Buck MP, Paul Scully MP, the Mayors of Brent, Redbridge and Ealing, and the Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh Khondker M Talha along with many other distinguished councillors.

Sulthana Begum and Nazifa Anjum of London Tigers hosted the evening.

Chairman Ronald Boddy gave a speech on behalf of the trustees. Asian business tycoon Mr Zilu Miah was

CB Patel along with winner Tiger of the Year, Tarik Ali Khan and London Tigers CEO Mesba Ahmed

publicly announced as the new Chairman of London Tigers Football Club to drive the ambitious semiprofessional team further up the FA Football pyramid structure.

Awards were given out to members of the London Tigers Football, Cricket, Badminton and Youth Clubs along with the Health and Wellbeing and Coaches and Volunteer awards. Special awards were given to Volunteer of the Year (Nazifa Anjum, 21), Young Person of the Year (Zakaria Bunni, 12 and Benson N’gari, 11, young footballers who are

in the books with QPR FC and Brentford FC), Special Recognition (Margarita Claden and Mick Wilkins) and Tiger of the Year (Tarik Ali Khan, the Captain of London Tigers Cricket Club in Southall).

London Tigers trustee Polly Islam gave a special award to CEO Mesba Ahmed for all his hard work. She said, “He has driven the organisation from the beginning to where it is today, nationally inspiring not only the Asian Community but also mainstream community who are following the model of London Tigers.”

MP Philip Hammond hosts exclusive reception for Woking & Sam Beare Hospices The Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond MP for Runnymede and Weybridge kindly hosted an exclusive reception for Woking & Sam Beare Hospices at his official residence as Foreign Secretary, to introduce and update some of the Hospices’ supporters about their exciting plans for the new future for hospice care in the heart of Surrey.

Mr Hammond hosted the event at the prestigious property in Carlton Gardens, London and guests in attendance included members of the Hospices’ New Future Appeal Committee, including Chairman and global Patrick businessman, O’Sullivan, local celebrity patron, Michael Aspel, and celebrated figurehead Chris Ingram.

Mr Hammond introduced the event before presentations were heard from CEO Nigel Harding, Medical Director Dr Fiona Bailey and Chairman of the committee Patrick O’ Sullivan.

The Hospices’ vision to transform the provision of palliative and end of life care in the local community, through the new stateof-the-art Hospice in Goldsworth Park and the reconfiguration of Sam Beare Hospice was shared with guests, along with an

MP Philip Hammond

emotional film showing what Hospice care had meant to individuals within the community and why it is essential it will be there for future generations.

F u n d r a i s i n g Development Manager, Amy Sweeting said “We would like to thank MP Philip Hammond for welcoming us and our supporters in to his private residence for this event.

We are really excited to be one step closer to our vision for the future of hospice care in Surrey becoming a reality after this week’s reception. It was great to see so many local people who are as passion-

ate about it as we are and we’re thrilled to have the support of our community behind us as we embark on this exciting journey.”

With a loan facility from Woking Borough Council confirmed, a Capital Appeal to Trusts and Foundations and businesses was launched earlier this year to start to share the vision and raise the funds needed to see the project through. As building works progress, the appeal will be broadened to the public to include all the communities in North West Surrey. For more information please visit www.wsbhospices.co.uk

7

Angad Paul falls to his death from his penthouse Chief Executive of Caparo, Angad Paul (45), the son of billionaire steel magnate and life peer, Lord Swraj Paul has died after falling from his eight-storey penthouse, in Marylebone, London, on Sunday 8th November.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Angad Paul’s death comes after the news of Caparo Industries going into administration, who about 450 job cut and the future of a further 1,200 jobs being uncertain.

He was given the ownership of Caparo by his father, in 1996, and he was also involved in many business ventures. He was listed as the executive producer of many of Guy Ritchie’s films, such as Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch. He was also behind the Caparo T1, which was considered the fastest supercar during its launch in 2006.

Angad Paul had a degree in economics, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He married media lawyer, Michelle Bonn, in 2004.

Police have stated that they are not treated

Angad Paul with his wife, Michelle Bonn

Angad Paul, Michelle Bonn, Lady Paul and Lord Paul

his death as suspicious. A witness told The Evening Standard, “There were four or five police cars, the fire brigade and three ambulances outside the flat. Forensic teams came

later. I was told someone had jumped out of a window or off a balcony.

There were police climbing onto the roof at Chandos House to reach him.”

8

UK

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Modi, Modi, Modi...

CB Patel

As I See It

Not only at the Wembley Stadium, right from his stepping down from the plane on the morning of 12th November, there was always a large audience welcoming the Indian Prime Minister. Such a welcome has never happened before, not only for any Indian political leader but any one from any country except perhaps the Pope. Why? All over the world in previous 27 countries PM Modi visited, there has been unprecedented enthusiasm coupled with hope and confidence for future of India. There is an article written by me and published in the celebratory souvenir of the Wembley Stadium memorial titled “The Secret of Modi Mania”, which is available in this edition of Asian Voice.

The charisma of a leader is built over a long period through his thoughts, words and actions.

Another important point to remember is that any individual whose idealism and modus operandi is crystallised in his youth, in his early twenties, remains connected to that philosophy. PM Modi is admired by millions and denounced by some.

This happens to anyone of substance. You cannot have all in the

praising mode. You love or loathe him. But Modi has remained anchored to his philosophy carved during his most formative years.

The words, if I may say so, historic and not normally uttered by a British Prime Minister for a guest have resonance of a budding and brilliant Indo-British partnership. It is not confined to economic sphere alone. Over the last four centuries, India contributed a lot for the development and defence of the United Kingdom. The total contribution of Indian armed forces in World War I was 2.1 million and it increased to 4.2 million in World War II. As many as 74,000 armed personnel from undivided India gave their lives and many more were injured in the defence of the far-flung island nation. The British India treasury lent £800 million (of those days) to the British exchequer to help the war effort. The sacrifice of Indians in human terms was the second largest to that of the UK, while the financial assistance was just second to the USA. There are many millions of Britons who recollect and cherish this connection and now over 1.5

million Britons of Indian origin added by increasing number of children of mixed marriages are continuously building bridges between the UK and India. PM Modi's visit is just an excellent beginning at the most appropriate time. The leaders of the British government are very clear on the potential of IndoBritish partnership. China is the world's second largest economic power but it is slowing down, while India is speeding up. The command economy of China has its own fault lines. The private sector in India as well as free press, rule of law, working democracy, unity amidst diversity are just some of the sterling qualities of India which Britain of all the countries is fully aware of and is correctly appreciative.

World's oldest democracy and the one which is justifiably called the world's largest democracy have begun a new phase of partnership. It is a win-win situation for both as well as others. Modi magic was there in Wembley Stadium and elsewhere and it is bound to permeate through all the layers of British society. Long may live this mutually beneficial compact.

Beeline to India... but why?

During the short Diwali break I read Anthropological Encounters by Mario Rutten, Professor of Comparative Anthropology and Sociology of Asia at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research. In the 120-page book Professor Mario describes several anecdotes from his 30 years of interaction with India, Indonesia and several other countries. I have known Professor Mario for over two decades. He has been especially focusing his attention to a town called Boriavi near Anand for some 30-odd years. He has a unique bond with the people of that town. During Christmas 2011 I was taking a walk with Professor Mario, his wife Rienke and daughter Lisa (21).

Mario would greet people going to farms or shops or at doorsteps, both men, women and children with their correct names in “Dutch Gujarati” – Hello Uncle..., Hello Kaka..., Hello bhai..., Kem Cho... Kyare Awaya... I must confess I have never experienced such a warm bonding between a visiting academic from Europe and the homegrown population, most of whom have never been abroad.

Lisa Rutten, now a full-time university student perhaps to follow in her father's footsteps, has in her own way described her father Mario Rutten in Amsterdam totally different from the one in Boriavi.

Professor Mario has written books and produced documentaries about people from Boriavi who have over the years migrated to the US, the UK and other European countries. It is an amazing contribution – to put it succinctly.

Dr Martin Wood is a researcher and lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Bristol. He has been conducting research on Hinduism for the past 15 years and on Pujya Jalaram Bapa for the past few years. Recently he conducted his field research at Virpor and related places like Charakhadi and Rajkot. His visit was sponsored by a generous businessman and devotee of Jalaram Bapa, Mr Hitesh

Bhagdai. Dr Martin Wood was accompanied by Dr Iros Vaja, Associate Professor and Head of English Department at Matushri Virbaima Mahila Arts College, Rajkot.

In the souvenir published by Shree Jalaram Mandir, Greenford, UK, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the temple and 216th anniversary of Pujya Jalaram Bapa, there is a very informative article.

Dr Wood describes Jalaram Bapa as a simple, loving, godly person devoted to the service of human beings without any distinction of caste or religion.

In the last 10 months I have had the privilege to attend some important events at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of London University when they opened a special project for India studies. About six months ago, I visited Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies as well as world famous Balliol College in Oxford.

In so many British educational and research organisations there is so much scholastic work going on exploring India and building bridges between the two countries.

Indian languages like Sanskrit, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi are studiously pursued by students. I met an American student at Balliol who is about to finish his Ph.D in Vedantic Sanskrit for which he spent nearly two years in Varanasi.

Similarly, there are substantial number of studies going on in various aspects of Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Indian

culture and tradition has its own attraction for hundreds of students in British University. I wonder why?

Recently I read a thought-provoking sentence by Honey & Co. on Thanksgiving – “Tradition have a way of sneaking into our lives.

Resistance is futile.” Somehow at some stage one craves for the search of his roots and tradition. It is both welcoming and rewarding.

I have also noticed that most of the students pursuing their education or research into things Indian are of non-Indian background. To put it differently, why Indian boys and girls are not interested to dwell on their past? Learning Indian languages will not only help in better understanding and interpretation of our culture and tradition but also in this global world with sizeable Indians in most of the developed and developing countries engaging in trade and commerce, industry and professions, will stand to gain.

There is perhaps one simple and convenient explanation! The British Indian settlement has established substantially over the last four to five decades only. The pioneer's focus on how to live more comfortably and how to educate their children. Now, there is a substantial change in priorities and preferences in our future career.

Maybe there is increasing number of budding scholars of Indian or mixed origin who will attempt to understand and interpret it and their ancestors.

Sabka Saath...

PM Narendra Modi made over 60,000 audience at Wembley Stadium so happy with his announcement of resumption of direct AhmedabadLondon flight. He received a rupturous and roaring welcome.

Narendrabhai was especially generous to me. His two words “Mara Mitra” (my friend) as a prefix to my name was received with roaring approval from thousands of people in the audience. I feel very humbled.

Genuinely the credit goes to so many who helped in various aspects of the campaign, to my esteemed readers of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar and especially to Manoj Ladwa in London and Bhupadbhai Parekh in Ahmedabad. Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. Heartfelt thanks to PM Modi and so many others. I am grateful.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Councillor answers nature's call in street, fined £40 Well, pee is something even a superman can't resist, leave alone a councillor. Jackie Burns, South Lanarkshire Council's deputy leader, was literally caught with his pants down after he was spotted easing himself in Hamilton town centre. Police issued him with a £40 fixed penalty notice.

Burns said: “I was in a taxi rank at the Bottom

Cross in Hamilton and needed the toilet. I went down a lane to relieve myself and was approached by police, who gave me a £40 fine which I have duly paid. I am embarrassed by the incident and have apologised.”

Ironically, the councillor had overseen the closure of his local public toilets. The incident happened last Saturday.

Mixcloud making waves in music world For those into song and dance, this bit will be music to ears. Mixcloud, co-founded by a northwest London lad Nikhil Shah, is making waves in the world of music and dance.

It is world's leading platform for radio and DJs and is one of the few music sites which have obtained the necessary licences from copyright holders to allow anyone to upload legally a DJ mix, podcast or radio show containing songs.

With not much capital in hand, against all odds Shah pulled himself up by his bootstraps – from a warehouse in London to a global platform with 14m users a month today. More than the straitened conditions, his biggest challenge was

Nikhil Shah

figuring out how to win licences from copyright holders to stream music legally. Mixcloud, headquartered in Shoreditch, east London, offers more than 9m programmes and DJ sets uploaded by users, including famous DJs like Carl Cox and Rob Da Bank.

Just like radio, Mixcloud is free for listeners and makes money from advertising.

Site to sweeten the pill for diabetics There is some sweet news for diabetics. Here is a site where you can cite and discuss everything that you want to know about your health condition, yes - just at the click of a button.

Go to Diabetes.co.uk, it is Europe's first patient to patient diabetes community forum.

It is improving the health of people suffering from diabetes by sharing information, especially on diet, and as a consequence is saving health services money as well.

It's run by enterprising Arjun entrepreneur

Arjun Panesar

Panesar alongside family friend Charlotte Summers.

The site welcomes 2.2m visitors a month and has more than 400,000 members.

Decision to quit was personal, says Fidelity fund manager Sanjeev Shah Sanjeev Shah, the former manager of one of Fidelity's flagship funds for small investors, says the decision to quit in 2013 was personal.

Shah had taken over Fidelity Special Situations from renowned investor Anthony Bolton five years ago before stepping down in 2013. At that time Shah had made it categorical that stepping down was a personal decision and not that he was feeling the heat after stepping into his predecessor's shoes. Shah had said, “I do recognise that this is a role that requires 110% effort and I have made the decision that I do

Sanjeev Shah

not want that level of intensity going forward.”

The fund is still strongly associated with Bolton, even though he stopped managing the fund in 2007. Shah was replaced

by Alex Wright, who at that time was manager of Fidelity's top-performing UK smaller companies fund and widely regarded as the company's rising star.

UK

www.asian-voice.com

Leading Lights

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Priya Paul, Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited Art collector and design aficionado, Priya Paul is Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels in India.

Priya Paul started her career under her father, the late Surrendra Paul, as Marketing Manager of the Park in New Delhi. She is the creative powerhouse behind The Park collection of contemporary luxury boutique hotels.

The Park Hotels is part of The Apeejay Surrenda Group, owners of Typhoo Tea - a conglomerate run by the Paul family. Priya’s brother, Karan Paul, is the Group Chairman (her father was the late Chairman and then her mother) and her sister Priti Paul runs the retail and real estate divisions.

Priya is a founding member of the World Travel and Tourism Council – India Initiative and was Chairperson for 2013.

She is a Trustee of the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) and Chairperson. She is a mem-

Priya Paul

ber of Harvard Business Schools’ India Advisory Board. She is also an Executive Committee Member and Ex-President of the Hotel Association of India.

Priya was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions to trade and industry and was nominated Business

Woman of The Year four times by The Economic Times of India. She has also been one of the 12 Forebears of Contemporary Travel at LE Miami.

Priya Paul has now been working in the hospitality industry for 25 years.

With a BA in Economics from Wellesley

£45m gold theft in London over 12 months Scotland Yard has revealed that jewellery and gold worth £45 million has been stolen from Asian families in London over 12 months.

The number of offences for the financial year of 2014-15 fell by 24%, or 1,324 incidents, in comparison to 201314.

However, police said there was often a rise in thefts around the fiveday festival of Diwali.

The Metropolitan

Police said an annual rise in burglary and robbery as the nights draw in made Asian communities particularly vulnerable at a time when they would be travelling across the

city to attend events.

Detective Chief Inspector, Jane Corrigan said, "Gold will continue to be highly desired by criminals due to the speed and anonymity with which it can be exchanged for large sums of cash. These pieces of gold and jewellery are not just valuable possessions - they are also of great sentimental worth and, if stolen, would have a huge impact on owners."

Muslim father tries exorcism to "cure" gay son 23-year-old Sohail Ahmed, an alleged former Muslim extremist revealed how he was made to undergo an exorcism by his father, in attempt to “cure” him of his homosexuality. The exorcism allegedly took place at the Islamic spiritual healing shop, Abu Ruqya in East London, in June 2014.

Ahmed, a former student of Queen Mary University of London expressed how the experience left him feeling suicidal and convinced that his faith will not accept his sexuality.

He has left Islam; however, he identifies himself as a “cultural Muslim”.

While speaking to The Times newspaper, Ahmed mentioned how he used to

fantasise about blowing up Canary Wharf when he was 17 years old, but he did not take any such drastic steps.

Sohail Ahmed expressed how distressed he was. “It got too much for me and my dad walked in on me when I was going to hang myself. That’s when I realised I had to leave home or else I would have killed myself… I understand the Muslim viewpoint on homosexuality. A mosque saying we accept LGBT people – this is not going to happen in my lifetime, it’s a long process.”

Ahmed also mentioned about how he understood his parents’ point of view as well. “My parents are going through so much pain, I wish I hated them. I under-

Sohail Ahmed

stand why they are doing it, they are trying to help me. I understand where they are coming from.”

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015 College, Priya completed the Owner President Management Program at Harvard Business School.

She took time out to talk to the Asian Voice.

She must have had early challenges, we wondered. Priya agreed.

“When I entered the industry at 22, I really needed to look at our hotel company and make it operate like a group. I needed to establish common procedures. It was the 1990s, so I decided we could differentiate ourselves with design. From there we started to build.

Priya pioneered designled hospitality in India and The Park Hotels is a brand that represents New India, combining references to local culture with Western design influences – Conran designed four hotels.

Priya and her “talented” team are constantly coming up with innovative ideas to stay ahead. “I carefully select creative people. Together we have been able to shake up the markets by being bold. We created this niche of design,” she explained. “We stay ahead by selecting the right people, and have a well developed reward system for ideas.”

For example, The Park hotels have introduced “Anything But Ordinary” food experiences such as the “Launch of home in 20 minutes”. Now guests stay-

9

New Festival, a contempoing at any of The Park rary performance arts festiHotels feeling nostalgic val organized by The Park and missing home can Hotels and curated by the order from the hotels comPrakriti Foundation. The fort/soul food section. An festival started in Kolkata “In-room picnic menu” has and is travelling to been introduced to enjoy a Bangalore, Hyderabad, fun picnic in the room Mumbai, Delhi and without having to step outChennai. doors. There are bright There is also a work plates and bowls, with food bed table to provide a work served hot in colourful trafrom bed facility to busiditional "dabbas" or tiffin ness travellers. boxes, three dimenGuests can “consional coasters, “Together we vert their bed large oversized into the most napkins, and have been able flasks for hot to shake up the c o m f o r t a b l e office in the beverages. It markets by world” - just all brings being bold. We by asking for alive the the work bed child in created this table.

This guests and niche of cushioned table reminds them of design,” with a small reading the excitement that light, a beverage they felt during school cup/glass holder and a recess hours – wondering small channel to keep your what surprises the tiffin pen/pencil/stylus allows boxes held. guests to work on their lapUnder “Anything But tops from their beds.

Ordinary” travel experiThis year Priya ences, the hotel has introlaunched a diffusion line of duced fun eco-friendly design-forward hotels for Reva cars at its properties the mid-market called in Hyderabad and Zone by The Park, pioneerVisakhapatnam. Guests ing this sector in India. can explore the city, visit “They will be aspirational, beautiful sights and shop in two and three tier cities, during their stay in the design hotels but at a Revas. cheaper price – in the £40For “Anything But £50 range, she said.

Ordinary” Entertainment, Also launching in winthe Park has added 39 ter 2015 is a new hotel movies curated by under The Park Naseeruddin Shah and Collection, The Park Ratna Pathak to its library.

Corbett, located in the Jim Priya’s arts affinity is Corbett National Park. shown by the hotel goup’s

10

READERS’VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Resilience and persistance

It was a very important acknowledgement by Mr Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, when he publicly said in the presence of 60,000 people at Wembley Stadium on Friday 13 November 2015 that CB’s persistent campaign demanding start of direct flights from London to Ahmedabad was successful. Mr Modi declared during his landmark speech that direct flights to Ahmedabad from London will commence from 15 December 2015.

Myself together with my family members, my friends and perhaps millions of people worldwide were thrilled when PM Modi mentioned CB’s name as a long standing friend and praised his continuous service which was a unique occasion.

I remember that for a long time CB had been campaigning for recommencement of this service. In 2009, as the Chairman of NCGO and the Editor of Asian Voice, he re-launched a joint campaign and collected a large number of signatures which were formally submitted to Air India. In 2010 Mr Praful Patel, then Minister of Aviation in the Indian Government falsely declared that the flights will start from October 2010.

CB has been very resilient and his persistent knocking on the door of the Indian Government, using various channels and forums in India and in the UK finally proved to be greatly instrumental in the Indian Prime Minister declaring that the direct flights will commence on 15 December 2015.

On behalf of National Association of Patidar Samaj, I congratulate and thank CB for becoming a large factor in this result.

Pravin Amin, BSc (Civil), CEng, MICE. President, National Association of Patidar Samaj

Anish Kapoor

Is Sir Anish Kapoor on a high? his comments on the article is totally wrong and non factual, he states no facts to support his comments, apart from slandering Narendra Modiji. He compares Modiji to Lord Visnu’s Reincarnation, not facts to support this, and in doing so he disrespects lord Vishnu.

He has no evidence to support the statement “a saffron- clad army of Hindu activist, and why would a man who has a great burden of managing, one of the biggest democracy in the world, worry about trivial habits of ones dietary intake, and that of cricket, China human rights, I don’t know what Anish Kapoor is thinking “Hindu Tyranny”. Again this surmounts to one ill judgement and not knowing what day it is.

There is no evidence to show that Modiji has floundered any Human Right, on any one, If Anish has any then he should disclose these not just join the band wagon in blame culture. I don’t profess to know everything, but there is evidence to support that India, is Improving, in all sectors, Finance, living standards, ect ect ect, since Modiji Came in.

Human nature is that humans don’t like change, therefore minorities of ill judgement and little mind will throw slander onto others. Anish Kapoor may be a great artist, he is also an Indian, He should be proud that as an Indian and an upstanding person support the changes, in India. Rather than ill mouthing, a person well respected, by head of states.

So my view point is that Mr Anish Kapoor you are ill informed , I suggest that you take a personal tour of India and find supporting evidence, to justify your claims. As an Indian who has lived in this country, since 1972. I am still proud to be India, and know that India is on the right road, to better every one’s life. Not just few minorities who cant handle the changes.

Naresh Govindia By email

Subscribe Today Asian Voice in UK for only £29 for one year

Proud of CB

I thought to let you know (you must be knowing I am sure) that our beloved Leader Modi ji remembered you in front of 70,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium.

Me and my wife both were delighted and felt proud to hear your name.

Sanjay Dwivedy By email

India’s parallel faiths Arun Vaidyanathan’s letter, "Parallel faiths in India" (Asian Voice dated 7-11-2015), stating that India's Hindus will be a minority in 50 years’ time is a harsh fact.

This shrinking of Hindu population is not new but has occurred since advent of Islam and later, infiltration by Christians.

After independence of India from British rule in 1947, India committed cardinal mistake of declaring itself as secular state instead of Hindu state.

Another mistake was to allow sizeable amount of Muslims to stay behind in India. They have grown from mere 7% in 1947 to 15% today.

Pakistan created massive demographic imbalance by pushing thousands of Muslims into Kashmir to influence plebiscite.

Millions of illegal Bangladeshis have also caused massive increase of Muslims population.

Another obstacle is absence of uniform civil law to stop proselytization and polygamy, practiced

by Christians and Muslims which has increased Muslim population and has shrunk Hindu population.

As per prevailing conditions of the country, demographic imbalance is unstoppable. Home grown and international meddlers can overturn any pro Hindu action. Now only history will tell what will stop this demographic shrinkage of Hindu population.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

Modi’s visit to Britain

The Prime Minister Modi’s visit was an epoch making event in the history and politics of Britain and India. Indian Prime Minister was the first person to address the Parliament. Some vested interests in the labour party including Jeremy Corbin failed to attend. Some of the organisations originating from Britain try to sabotage the event by demonstration against Modi against his human rights. It is outrageous on the part of Amnesty International who raised red flags for Prime Minister on human rights concern. NGOs such as green peace, World Vision and Christian organisations are involved in anti-national activities in India. Amnesty International is about human rights.

Where is human rights in Islamic countries and Saudi Arabia? Some of them are barbaric rulers and chop the heads as punishment.

Awaaz network which is operating in Britain for more than 10 years is anti-national, anti-Hindu and anti-Modi. The demonstration was carefully planned with anti- Indian groups pouring money. Awazz network equated Modi directly with Adolf Hitler and created a Nazi ‘OM’ and ‘OM Swastika’. Even the most trident critics are saying the comparison is excessive and odious. It is insult to more then 800 million Hindus to call it Nazi OM. Will Suresh Grover, the left- wing anti-Modi will put Cross or Mosque in the banner while demonstration against other religious groups. Some of the prominent Indians such as Tista Setlawad, Shabana Azmi, Mallikka Sarabhai and some extremist Muslims from Pakistan & India are involved. Ford foundation gave lot of money for this group.

In addition groups such as Tamil, Sikh, Islamic, Kashmiri, Nepalese and Amnesty International demonstrated against Modi and these were much planned and organised well in advance. The method conveyed by Awazz in front on the façade of the House was pretty crude and this was deliberately designed to humiliate a visiting Prime Minister of India and this can happen only to Hindu India leaders.

Inspite of their best effort the slogan shouting crowd was no more then about 100.

Arun Vaidyanathan By email

UK welcomes Modi

Invited by the Indian High Commission for the UK Welcomes Modi event at the Wembley Stadium and VIP Dinner Reception in Bobby Moore Suite I have had the good fortune to attend both events last Friday, Nov 13. Thanks to brilliant work of the High Commission both the events were well organised, punctual and magnificent as Mr Modi would have wanted them.

The attendees were graced by Mr Modi and British Prime Minister Mr David Cameron and his wife Samantha. The event’s highlight was the speeches, first by Mr Cameron and then by Prime Minister Mr Modi. Mr Cameron made a brilliant speech to the Indian Diaspora. He explained the importance of India-UK friendship and cooperation and the positive contribution to UK economy and society made by Indians especially Hindus. It was gratefully received by the audience and he was repeatedly applauded by them.

Mr Modi is an eloquent speaker. He spoke mostly in Hindi without any note. It was a very thoughtful speech explaining the large number of programmes he has undertaken in such a short time and successful completion of many of them. It was very much appreciated by the Indian Diaspora that they were given a socio-political account since he came to power. What he missed was why he lost very badly Delhi and Bihar elections.

Unless steps are taken to rectify the problem his fate could be the same as that of Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee. Brilliant speech abroad is unlikely to translate into votes at home.

Jatindra Saha By email

Is Modi magic melting in India?

While PM Modiji’s London visit was triumph beyond comprehension, putting British Indian community in seventh heaven, my joy was tinged with heart-rending disappointment due to Bihar fiasco against hotchpotch alliance, following Delhi debacle.

This should ring alarm bells in BJP camp if this government does not want to go down in history as One Term Wonder, throwing away Modiji’s wonderful bridge-building overseas with inward investment of billions of dollars, securing supply of nuclear fuels and exchange of technology in space exploration, agriculture and security to stay one step ahead of terrorists. The massacre of civilians in Paris should convince, open eyes of doubters who live in bliss of ignorance! Gujarat elections in 2017 will be real test, as losing Gujarat is unthinkable.

It seems even 100 million membership could not guarantee victory, as Indian voters are volatile. As low turnout among Hindus harms BJP most, it is time to make voting compulsory to make India truly democratic rather than winning by default.

Perhaps Modiji should spent more time at home taking on pseudo secularist, appoint someone like lustre, popular Shruti Irani who oozes confidence, as Minister for Minority, concentrating, mingling full-time with voters and invest in media, as murder of beef truck driver makes headlines for days while rape, murder and kidnapping of Hindu girls in West Bengal totally ignored. BJP losing next election will be unmitigated disaster for India and the world.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

ASIAN VOICE

Tel: 020 7749 4080

(Off Coronet Street)

Rates Valid from 1-10-2015

Please detach the form and send it with your payment or credit card instructions to address below

Karma Yoga House Fax: 020 7749 4081 E-mail: support@abplgroup.com 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

UK EUROPE WORLD 1 Year £29 £77 £92 2 Years £52.50 £141.50 £169 Subscriptions are non-refundable after 30 days

Visit our website: www.abplgroup.com

NAME

ADDRESS POST CODE Email:

TEL:

I'd like to be kept up to date by email with offers and news from ABPL

Please charge my VISA / MASTERCARD / CREDIT / DEBIT CARD for £

Card No:

Signature

Card Expiry date

Date

EDUCATION/COUNCIL

www.asian-voice.com

University of Westminster sets design challenge for upcoming architects in India AsianVoiceNews

Over 500 undergraduate architecture students from 42 towns and cities in South Asia have undertaken the challenge to transform 100 public spaces as part of the University of Westminster International Design Competition inspired by the Clean India Mission.

The Clean Indian Mission, launched by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in 2014, aims to spread awareness, behavioral change and capacity building towards healthy sanitation practices and solid waste management. The mission is a national level campaign by the Government of India that encouraged people to pledge towards the mission of cleaning up public spaces in India.

This year’s brief of the University of Westminster International Design Challenge is inspired by the Clean India Mission and the wave of citizen participation it has generated through its cleanliness drives*. The competition goes further to facilitate upcoming architects to use design as a catalyst of positive change within local communities. It encourages participants to transform disused public spaces in South Asia into recre-

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

ational, informative and easy to maintain spaces by involving local communities.

The competition was established by the University of Westminster working in partnership with the National Association of Students of Architecture in India (NASA INDIA). The best examples of the transformations of these public spaces will be published in the international publication of the Massive Small Compendium in 2016.

The first round of transformations have already taken place and several public spaces in cities and towns from Jammu to Chennai and Jaipur to Raipur have been cleaned and brought back into active use through design interventions using recycled materials. The range of transformed public spaces include waterfronts (Karbala Talab) in Bhopal, flyover under crofts (CH flyover) in Calicut, local Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) stations in Chennai, disused subway in Andheri, Mumbai and several other neglected community spaces within local neighborhoods and public institutions across India.

COUNCIL NEWS

Hundreds of local people have joined forces and local authorities have extended support to the participating teams of the next generation of architects and change-makers.

The students have selffunded, initiated local fund raising activities or worked closely with local authorities and stakeholders to acquire material and labour for their individual projects. Acquiring permissions for working on publicly owned land, the students have taken the challenge head on with their creativity and have managed to deliver collective transformations within four months.

Darshana Chauhan, Co-founder of the University of Westminster International Design Competition, said: “We are overwhelmed by the response and the efforts of young creative minds of South Asia towards making their towns and cities better places to live. The collective power of these small changes will make a massive difference and truly become an inspiring international case-study of positive impact on local communities through the power of architecture design and community engagement.”

Southall landlord fined £70K for HMO regulation breaches Mr Balwinder Singh Kahlon, the landlord of a property on East Avenue in Southall, received a substantial fine of more than £70K at Ealing Magistrates’ Court as the result of action brought by Ealing Council.

Appearing in court on Friday, 30 October, Mr Kahlon was sentenced for 18 offences of failing to comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation

(England) Regulations 2006 (Section 234(3) and (5) of the Housing Act 2004) and one offence in breach of Section 72(2) of the Housing Act 2004, having pleaded guilty to the charges. The 19 fines imposed totalled £69,100 and he was also ordered to pay council costs of £3,180.43 and the victim surcharge of £120, a penalty sum of £72,400.43.

The breaches in relation to the management of

Fake goods land phone shop with heavy fine and confiscation order Ealing Council has achieved an effective prosecution against a mobile phone accessories wholesaler as the result of a large-scale operation carried out with police officers.

The Fone Shop Parts Ltd of Charles House, Bridge Road, Southall and its sole director, Mr Rajinder Singh Chopra, were sentenced at a hearing at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, 30 October.

They had previously pleaded guilty to offences

under the Trade Marks Act (TMA) 1994 and Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations (EESR) 1994.

The company was ordered to pay a penalty totalling £17,730.48, which included the council’s costs of £10,730.48, plus the victim surcharge.

Mr Chopra received imprisonment sentences suspended for two years for the charges. He was also order to carry out 250 hours of unpaid community work and pay a victim surcharge.

Ethnic minorities more likely to go to university Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Ethnic minorities are now "substantially" more likely to go to university than their white British peers, according to a landmark new report. The findings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which described their conclusions as a "relatively recent change", contradict September data from the universities application processing body, Ucas, that showed ethnic minority students were actually less likely to win university offers.

The research does, however, go back to figures from 2013, which revealed white teenagers are less likely to apply to university than youngsters from any other ethnic group.

The findings, published last Tuesday, showed girls are slightly more likely to go to university than boys.

The IFS also revealed Chinese pupils in the lowest socio-economic quintile group are, on average, more than 10 percentage points more likely to go to university than white British pupils in the highest socio-economic group.

White British pupils in the lowest socio-economic group, meanwhile, have participation rates that are more than 10 percentage points lower than those observed for any other eth-

nic group.

"Amongst the cohort who sat their GCSEs in 2008, all ethnic minority groups are significantly more likely to go to university than their White British peers. These differences are larger for ethnic minorities who speak English as an additional language and for those who live in London. They have also been increasing over time," the report says."

In an observation written by IFS researchers Claire Crawford and Ellen Greaves, they said: "All ethnic minority groups in England are now, on average, more likely to go to university than their White British peers. This is the case even amongst groups who were previously under-represented in higher education, such as those

of Black Caribbean ethnic origin, a relatively recent change."

The research, funded by the Department for Education, used census data linking all pupils going to school in England to all students going to university in the UK. It focused on those taking their GCSEs in 2007-08, who could have gone to university at age 18 in 2010-11 or age 19 in 201112.

The report adds: "Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to explore what might be driving these remaining differences in HE participation by ethnic background using the administrative data at our disposal; but it seems plausible that aspirations and expectations might play a role."

1 in 6 new teachers in England ' qualified overseas'

the property were discovered during an unannounced inspection of the premises in January by regulatory services officers.

The property, a licenced house in multiple occupation (HMO) for 10 individuals in seven households, was found to have a number of serious management breaches, including blocked means of escape, dirty and unmaintained bathrooms and kitchens, unclean common parts, and poor maintenance of the emergency lighting.

Nearly one in six teachers starting in England's schools last year qualified overseas, according to official figures obtained by the Times Educational Supplement (TES).

In the year to March, 6,179 teachers who qualified elsewhere had their qualifications recognised in England, suggests Department for Education data.

This amounts to 16% of 38,746 teachers who gained qualified status that year.

England faces a

INVESTMENT GOLD FOR SALE

GOLD BARS and gold bullion coins (Krugerrands, Maples, Sovereigns & Others)

¾Ъ.અщ.ªЪ. ╙¾³Ц

11

¢ђàª ઇ×¾щ窸щת Âђ³Ц³Ъ »¢¬Ъઅђ અ³щÂђ³Ц³Ц ╙ÂŨЦઅђ (¸щ´», Âђ¾ºЪ³ અ³щĝЮ¢ºщ׬) ¾щ¥щ¦щ. અЦ´³Ъ §λºЪ¹Ц¯ ¸ЦªъઅЦ§щ§ Âє´ક↕ÂЦ²ђ.

City Office: 88 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0DN Tel: 020-7283 7752/4080 Fax: 020-7283 7754 Email: info@goldinvestments.co.uk

www.goldinvestments.co.uk

"major shortage" of teachers, said a head teachers' leader.

"Schools will recruit anybody who meets the standards and has the relevant qualifications," explained Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondary heads.

The overall figures on the number of overseas teachers who achieved qualified status in England last year are from the annual report of the National College of Teaching and Leadership.

The TES also obtained Freedom of Information figures on the countries from which these teachers came.

12

MEDIAWATCH

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

India was agog as the State Assembly election results started coming on Sunday, November 8. The vast majority of pollsters who had predicted a neck and neck race with victory too close to call, were confounded when the Grand Alliance of JDU, RJD and Congress, led respectively by incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rahul Gandhi swept the board, outsmarting the BJP- led NDA all the way. India may not have had much to celebrate lately, but the result and the manner in which it was achieved, changed the national mood. Indian democracy, warts and all, was alive and well; Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar and the people’s voice makes itself heard - and felt. Furthermore, there are real choices before the electorate, not a Tweedledum-Tweedledee nexus of Democrats and Republicans as is the case in America, where like meets like and the same failed policies – with cosmetic changes – are regurgitated ad nauseam. The other factor worthy of celebration is the performance of the country’s Election Commission.

Time was when elections in Bihar were criminality, booth capturing and general mayhem. There was much malpractice in West Bengal too. These have now become things of a discredited past, a miracle, no less and a source of joy and satisfaction to all good citizens.

The rising tide of intolerance ending in shameful deaths of the weak and innocent, the targeted assassinations of three prominent scholars and writers of note and irresponsible threats and intimidation against those stepping out of line with Hindutva ideology became the red lines for the liberal intelligentsia and multitudes of ordinary folk whose common sense, sense of fair play and gut instinct propelled them to cast their ballots in the bid to stem the rot.

Stemming the rot

Despite the beat efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, the BJP lost decisively, within a short distance from a complete rout.

Encouragingly, public courtesies and good manners also won the day. Messrs Modi and Shah telephoned Mr Nitish Kumar to congratulate him on a famous victory. Better still, Prime Minister Modi assured the Bihar Chief Minister that the Centre would sanction all the development aid the State required. With the battle lost and won, life has returned to normal, but lessons will be learned by losers and winners alike. Pride cometh before a fall has been the wisdom of the ancients. Present and future generations must take heed its enduring relevance. Bihar represents the opening of new possibilities undreamt of barely a fortnight ago. (Hindu, Times of India, Telegraph, Mint November 7, 8,9)

Reform roadmap unchanged

Following the Bihar debacle, a few doubts were raised about the

future of the Union government’s programme of economic reforms.

Assurances have emanated from Delhi that the programme is on track and that there will no deviation from stated goals. The focus will also be on methods of enhancing revenue collection in a bid to reduce the country’s fiscal deficit.

FDI norms eased

The government has eased foreign direct investment (FDI) across 15 sectors, including defence, civil aviation and broadcasting to attract overseas funds and boost economic growth. The steps also include foreign investment under the automatic route subject to caps in key sectors such as defence, but removing restrictions on the construction industry and single-brand retail. ‘FDI is an additionality of resource.

This is required to if the cycle of economic activity is to go on,’ said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

‘Reforms are an ongoing process.

There is no finishing line. As and when so warranted, we will look into it.’ These measures are clearly designed to reassure investors that there will be no change in government policy in the aftermath of the Bihar election.

GE, Alstom in rail contracts

Indian Railways awarded contracts to General Electric (GE) and Alstom companies, worth Rs 40,000 crore, to set up diesel and electric locomotive plants in Bihar. This is the first big foreign direct investment in India’s rail network. The diesel locomotive factory at Marhora is worth Rs2,052 crore, while the facility for the manufacture of electrical locomotives at Madhepura will require an investment of Rs 1, 293.57 crore. The projects to be closely monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office, will manufacture 1000 diesel engines and 800 electrical engines over the next ten years. Both projects were approved way back in 2008 when Laloo Prasad Yadav was the

Railways Minister, but political controversy and bureaucratic red tape held things up. GE will manufacture the diesel engines, Alstom the electrical ones (Mint, November 10)

Boeing-Tata partnership

US company Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) have announced a joint venture to manufacture aero structures for aircraft and collaborate on integrated systems development in India. ‘This partnership will capitalize on India’s Industrial capability and talent to Boeing’s longterm competiveness for future growth in the global marketplace,’ said Chris Chadwick, President & CEO, Boeing Defense, Space and Security.

‘Over the last 12 months, we have doubled our sources from India and are committed to continue that journey, said Pratyush Kumar ,President Boeing, India (Business Line November 10)

Agni IV test-fired

India’s long-range, nuclear capable 4,000 kilomtre missile was test-fired from Wheeler Island (renamed Abdul Kalam) off the Odisha coast in the Bay of Bengal. This user trial by the Strategic Forces Command oversaw the missile take-off from a mobile launcher. This is the fourth sequential success of five, hence its induction is likely to take place in a couple of years.

Agni V, with a range of 5,000 plus km range was test-fired from a mobile canister in January 2014. Agni 1 (700 km), Agni II (2,000km), Agni III (3000 km) are now fully operational

BrahMos tested

India’s 2,800km supersonic cruise missile with a 290km range was tested at the Rajasthan desert in a routine exercise, near the Pakistan the border.

BrahMos, jointly manufactured with Russia comes in three shapes; one for the Army, the second for the Navy, the third, for the Air Force. The latest test Block III version – tested its unique capability to fly at a highlow trajectory to evade enemy air defence systems. BrahMos has steep-dive capabilities suitable for mountain warfare, hence many batteries are located in Arunachal Pradesh, near the Chinese border (Times of India November 10, 8)

Russian Shoigu.

counterpart

Sergei

New commander for Vikramaditya

INS Vikramaditya, India’s 45,000 tonne aircraft carrier is to have a new commanding officer,

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

time. Born into the family of a village grain merchant in undivided Punjab, he left home at 20 and wandered the world in search of markets and experience and return to his country to set up a modest-sized business specializing in bicycle parts. Those were difficult times with newly independent India taking her first faltering steps on the road to development.

Long journey

The long journey had to end, as it does for all mortal men, but the small shop turned into a giant group of two-wheel motorcycles, scooters and the like, the tentacles Capt. Suraj Berry exchanges the baton with spread across India Capt. Krishna Swaminathan, on his taking over and much of the the Command of INS Vikramaditya at Karwar on world. The great 2 November, 2015 entrepreneur never lost his common touch, known to Captain Krishnan Swaminathan. his employees and vendors as The ship carries 40 MIG 29 air‘Lallaji,’ keeping in touch with craft. (Times of India November each and every one, never turning 3) down invitation to a family wedAuto sales up ding. To his business associates, he was ‘BM.’ Brijmohan Lall Automobile sales rose in October Munjal leaves behind three sons, on the back of increased festive a daughter and nine grandchilseason demand. Other factors dren. He truly was the ‘special contributing to the pick-up were one.’ (Mint, Business Line the decrease in fuel prices.

November 2) Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai led the surge, with Toyota and Tata next on the list. The motorcycle segment was led by Enfield and Honda; and the commercial vehicle segment by Tata, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ashok Leyland (Business Line November 3)

Hero founder dies at 92

He was the founder of the Hero Gropup of companies, but patriarch Brijmohan Lall Munjal who died recently, aged 92, was a hero to the legacy he left behind. He became a legend in his own life-

Who’s there?

A team of Indian astronomers at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics at Pune has discovered a rare galaxy of gigantic size.

Located about 9 billion light years away it emits powerful radio waves. The newly discovered galaxy was discovered through the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The findings were published in the Monthly Notices Royal Astronomical Society (Hindu November 9).

Indo-Russian defence deals

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s visit to Moscow for the meeting of the Inter-Government Commission on MilitaryTechnical Cooperation – the curtain-raiser to the annual IndoRussian summit to be held in the Russian capital sometime in early December, has resulted in a raft of Indian acquisitions of the latest weapon systems, including anti- ballistic missile batteries, upgrades for the Indian armed forces and the leasing of a second Russian nuclear submarine etc Parrikar made the announcement following his talks with his

Modi in UK, with David Cameron.

See comment page 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart David Cameron during a delegation level meeting at 10 Downing Street in London.

See comment page 3

UK

www.asian-voice.com

New choir will promote British Values AsianVoiceNews

Pupils from Greet Primary School in Birmingham took in a pioneering East meets West-style children’s choir, the first of its kind, ever, as part of a drive to reinforce British Values.

Around 120 Year 5 pupils showcased on stage last Friday a series of songs in Sanskrit, the ancient language, including one similar to the National Anthem of the United Kingdom, ‘God Save The Queen’.

The British Carnatic Youth Choir is the brainchild of Dr Chithra Ramakrishnan, one of UK’s finest Carnatic vocalists. Her mission is to raise awareness of this: ‘mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith’, one of four fundamental British Values, according to schools watchdog Ofsted. Almost all pupils at Greet Primary School speak English as an additional language.

Pat Smart, Headteacher at the “Outstanding” Greet Primary School said: “Equality of Opportunity is at the heart of everything we do at Greet Primary School.

We are delighted to have been offered the chance to participate in the British Carnatic Youth Choir, an exciting and inclusive experience for us all.” The British Carnatic Choir, or BCC, a new initiative of Shruthi UK, a Midlandbased South Asian arts and culture organisation, aims to create and explore choral singing in South Indian classical music in the UK and aims to identify and recognise people, particularly children and youth, of all abilities and from all walks of life who

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Student Shruthi Ramakrishnan, 14, receives her certificate from Paul Sabapathy

share a common passion to create a British Carnatic Community, one which reflects the multicultural mosaic of Great Britain.

It is Dr Ramakrishnan’s mission to complement Prime Minister David Cameron’s British Values in an attempt to encourage all citizens, but particularly our future generations, to respect each other’s ways of life and to celebrate good work, through the sounds, words and pictures of the British Carnatic Choir.

On Saturday, a followup concert marked the 10th anniversary of Shruthi UK. Held at the B i r m i n g h a m Conservatoire, the event brought together around 100 people. Distinguished guests included Paul Sabapathy, former Chairman of Birmingham City University, High Sheriff of the West Midlands Jonnie Turpie and his partner Marian, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands Satinder Kaur Taunque and her husband Jagjit Singh Taunque, Mayor of Solihull Cllr Glenis Slater , Mr BC Pradhan from the Indian High Commission, Cllr Ramesh Srivastava, former Mayor of Rugby, Beverly Lindsay OBE and

our senior news editor Dhiren Katwa. Dhiren told the audience it was impressive to see Britishborn youngsters proud of their rich Indian culture and heritage, symbolised by their costumes, language and instruments.

Likewise, he said it was pleasing to see the willingness of English staff from Birmingham City University to learn Carnatic music and the Indian way of life.

The vibrant and colourful evening, compered beautifully by Mini Mohan, a senior IT specialist in the NHS, featured Bharatnatyam dances and a series of songs performed by a unisex group of 38. Dr Ramakrishnan’s daughter Shruthi, who was part of the performance, as was her brother, was praised for creating and managing her mum’s website. Aged 14, Shruthi attends King Edwards Girls Grammar School in Handsworth and aspires to be a dentist or architect.

Carnatic music is a system of classical music associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The violin was introduced into Carnatic music by Baluswami Dikshitar, the younger brother of Muthuswami Dikshitar, a South Asian poet and composer (1775 – 1835). He encountered the instrument through British bands in colonial Madras, and decided to learn it.

Dr Ramakrishnan has also been invited to perform at the Nehru Centre, the arts arm of the Indian High Commission in London later this month.

To find out more about Shruthi UK visit www.shruthiuk.com

White schoolgirl 'raped by 14 Asian men' was a virgin A schoolgirl who claims to have been repeatedly raped by a gang of Asian men has told a court how she was a virgin aged 12 or 13 when the first attack happened.

The white British girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, says the man responsible for the initial sexual assault "knew how old I was" as he had "seen me in my school uni-

form".

The jury in the trial at Bradford Crown Court heard police interviews with the girl where she said was a virgin at the time of the first rape.

Fourteen defendants 13 men and a youth who cannot be named - are standing trial accused of 26 counts of rape and one count of sexual abuse

against her.

She was allegedly passed around the group of "nasty" men who "used" her, by a ringleader named Ahmed Al-Choudhury who is not included in the line-up of men standing trial.

Choudhury also allegedly hit the girl, bruising her face and breaking a rib.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to visit India in 2016 Official announcements have been made that Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be making a visit to India during spring 2016.

This will be their first visit to India and it is being undertaken at the request of Her M a j e s t y ' s Government.

Full details of the visit to India will be confirmed in early 2016.

13

Tim Farron appoints Sudhir Choudhrie as his Adviser on India Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron has today announced the appointment of businessman Sudhir Choudhrie as his Adviser on India.

The role will involve helping the party develop its relationship with the British-Indian community and provide advice on Britain’s foreign and business relationships with India. The role is also tasked to help the new leader gain a better understanding of the UK Indian community, its needs and concerns as part of Tim Farron's wider commitment to increasing the diversity of the party.

During the recent Lib Dem leadership election Tim spoke passionately about the need for the party to reach out to Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic

(BAME) communities and for the party to become far more reflective of the communities it is seeking to serve.

Tim Farron has also committed to visit India in early 2016.

Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron said, “India is a key strategic partner for the United Kingdom and the BritishIndian community contribute so much to our country. I am determined that the Liberal Democrats do all we can to maximise the economic, cultural and social benefit of these relationships. Sudhir has been a committed supporter of the Liberal Democrats for many years and I look forward to being able to draw on his vast business experience, unparalleled network in both the UK and India,

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron

and wise political counsel.”

Sudhir Choudhrie said, “I have long believed that the Liberal Democrats best embody the internationalist and pro-enterprise values that characterise the British-Indian community and I am honoured by Tim Farron’s decision to ask me to fulfil this role, especially coinciding with Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK this week.”

Shopkeeper fined for selling cigarettes to 14-year-olds A shopkeeper who sold cigarettes to children has been fined.

Kathirshelvan Kalaginathan, who works at TSK Cash and Carry, in Alexander Avenue, Harrow, was caught selling cigarettes during a test purchasing exercise.

Despite asking the 14year-old volunteers how old they were, he allowed them to buy the cigarettes – which should not be sold

to anyone under the age of 18.

After the sale, Trading Standards officers question Mr Kalaginathan who said he was distracted because he was “on the phone”. He was fined £985 in court.

In another case, a routine inspection of Good Morning Superstore, in Streatfield Road, Harrow, found cigarettes without the correct health warn-

ings.

There were 33 packets of 20 cigarettes, five tobacco pouches and 105 chewing tobacco hidden under the counter.

Owner Amrik Singh Arora claimed he had bought them for £180 from a Sri Lankan man he had never met before. He admitted he hid them because he knew it was illegal and after pleading guilty, was fined £1,221.

Veteran at the National Service of Remembrance On Sunday 8 November 2015, the National Service of Remembrance was held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London.

Starting at 11am, the service commemorated the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women involved in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

Veterans, current serving personnel and reservists paraded down Whitehall – including three veterans from the Undivided Indian exServicemen’s Association who all fought in WWII; Mr Muhammed Hussein, Mr Rujinder Singh Dhatt and Mr Preetum Singh Phugura.

Despite having had a bad knee and ankle, Mr Rujinder Singh Dhatt was determined to walk in remembrance of all those who have given their lives to protect the UK in past and present conflicts, and so declined the offer of a wheelchair.

Each veteran was escorted by a current serving member of the Armed

Mr Rujinder Singh Dhatt was determined to walk in remembrance of all those who have given their lives, despite having a bad knee and ankle

Forces; Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Manish Tayal, Engineer

Major Sartaj Gogna and defence specialist Corporal Dhalai.

CAR NUMBER PLAT FOR SALE

K15 HAV

(KASHAV - KESHAV) Price on application

For more details 07939 188 409 nalinijethwa@blueyonder.co.uk

14

COMMUNITY

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

14th Diwali celebrations at House of Commons by Hindu Forum of Britain This year Diwali arrived early at the Parliament as the Hindu Forum of Britain organised the Annual Diwali celebrations at the House of Commons at the beautiful Terrace Pavilion, Wednesday 4th November. “Proud to be British, Proud to be a Hindu”, the slogan coined

by Lord Popat of Harrow at the time of Hindu Forum of Britain’s inception has been carried forward with responsibility and enthusiasm for a sense of shared cultural identity.

The event was co-sponsored by the Conservative MP Bob Blackman who is also the Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus and Labour

already beautiful venue overlooking the River Thames.

Over 80 parliamentarians participated in this unique celebration. The guests were warmly welcomed with a ‘tilak’ and

Trupti Patel with Priti Patel MP

MP, Rt Hon Keith Vaz, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.

The event was very well attended and saw participation of members of the Hindu community across diverse backgrounds, members and officers of the Armed forces, various temples, community leaders and activists, councillors and parliamentarians from across parties. There were also dance and music presentations from artistes from up and down the country outlaying a beautiful cultural ambience in the

‘offering of prasad’ by the volunteers of Swaminarayan temple in Kenton, who also put together the ceremonial ‘Anna Koot’ meaning ‘Mountain of Food’.

Welcoming everyone at the Diwali celebrations, President of HFB, Trupti Patel said, “The 14th Diwali celebrations at the Palace of Westminster is a unique partnership between Parliamentarians and members of community represented by the Hindu Forum of Britain.

We are proud to demon-

strate the shared value of Vasudhev Kutumbakam meaning one world, one family. It is a matter of great pride that Parliamentarians across parties have come forward to celebrate this special festival with us.”

The High Commissioner of India, His Excellency Mr. Ranjan Mathai lit the inaugural lamp along with the Prime Minister’s UK India Diaspora Champion and Minister of State for Employment, Rt Hon Priti Patel. Welcoming the guests, Priti Patel said, “I would like to wish the Hindu Forum of Britain a very happy Diwali. As the Prime Minister’s Indian Diaspora Champion, I extend my best wishes to everyone in the Indian community here in the UK, and worldwide, as we enter into the bright lights of the Hindu New Year. I am continually inspired by the talent, ingenuity, and community spirit of the UK’s Indian diaspora, and by how active they are in helping further develop the already strong UK India relationship.”

Energising everyone with the patriotic slogan, Bharat Mata ki Jai, Bob Blackman MP got the patriotic spirit out in the room full of guests. He

said, “I stand shoulder to shoulder with the many peaceful and hardworking British Hindus in this country and I will continue to raise your issues and concerns at all levels. As the Chair of APPG for British Hindus, I invite you to proactively lobby your

members of parliament. I urge you all to stand by each other in times of difficulty and to present a united front in order to properly highlight the issues faced by members of the Hindu community, locally, nationally and internationally.”

Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, who was a co-sponsor of the event said, “Britain’s Diwali celebrations are the largest in the world outside India and we can rightly be proud of them. The celebrations held in the historic building, provide us with the opportunity to celebrate one of the most important festivals in the religious calendar and to

LycaHealth opens first healthcare centre in London LycaHealth, the new healthcare brand, has opened its first centre in London. The centre, located in Canary Wharf, was officially opened by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

The healthcare centre will offer comprehensive, multi-speciality consultation, diagnostics, treatment and wellness services for the local residential and professional population.

Patients will be seen by LycaHealth’s handpicked specialists and can access state-of-the-art equipment such as Multi Resonance Imaging Scanners (MRI), C o m p u t e r i s e d

L to R: Councillor Abdul Chunumukit, Speaker of Tower Hamlets Borough, Subaskaran Allirajah, Chairman of Lyca Group, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, Prema Allirajah, Chairperson of LycaHealth and Dr Manpreet Gulati, CEO of LycaHealth

Tomography (CT), ultrasound scanners and digital

X-ray.

LycaHealth CEO Dr

Manpreet Gulati aims to bring a high-quality consumer experience to the healthcare sector, with patients seen in modern, stylish and welcoming surroundings.

Dr Manpreet Gulati, CEO of LycaHealth said, “Our mission is to combine our expert knowledge and personal service with technological innovation, to deliver an exceptional and highly personable experience to our clients. By capitalising on our wealth of knowledge and listening carefully to our clients’ needs, we devise healthcare solutions that exceed all expectations.”

Bob Blackman MP, Trupti Patel with dancers

allow MPs and Peers to share Diwali greetings with their constituents from all over the United Kingdom.

Britain is a Nation of many faiths and cultures.”

There was also a special guest to grace the Rev Jesse occasion, Jackson all the way from Washington joined in the celebrations at the British Parliament. He gave a moving speech and highlighted the value of life and its preservation. He made everyone join in a pledge to protect, love and nurture all humanity.

The Prime Minister of UK, Rt Hon David Cameron sent a message of good wishes even though he was unable to make it to

the programme in person: “The Hindu Forum of Britain is just one example of the great contribution British Hindus make to our country. Whether it’s in business, medicine, the voluntary sector, the police, the armed services, law or journalism, the contribution is huge – and greatly appreciated by the wider British public. I am delighted to wish you all a very peaceful and happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year”.

A fantastic celebration of harmony, hope and community cohesion was held with much grandeur and everyone is already looking forward to the next year’s celebrations.

Interfaith week event hosted by Universal Peace Federation UK The Universal Peace Federation UK will be hosting the Interfaith Week Event, on Wednesday 25th November 2015, at Lancaster Gate, London.

During Interfaith week, the Universal Peace Federation UK has a good opportunity to consider the state of inter-religious, intrareligious, and inter-community relations. In some cases it is the intrareligious tension that is the more difficult to overcome. As a group of people from different faith backgrounds, as well as no faith, they are attempting to create different models that enhance interaction between communities within the UK. The Universal Peace Federation UK would like to invite people of various faiths and cultural backgrounds, as well as some young representatives and people

working with young people, to consider how inter-religious harmony and cooperation can help us to understand and deal with the current problems facing our country.

They hope that this event will allow each speaker to explore different models of improving understanding and interaction between communities. Along the lines of the saying, “You cannot solve a problem on the same level of consciousness that it was created”, they also hope to hear innovative ideas utilising scriptural wisdom to tackle current problems.

SP

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Shishukunj organises dance event to raise funds for neglected victims of Nepal earthquake

Shishukunj is organising its first ever Dance-a-thon on Saturday 28th November 2015 at London Academy in Edgware. It will be an exciting and energetic event to raise money to support the rebuilding of schools affected by the Nepal earthquake.

Shishukunj has identified and validated a project that re-build schools in the Dhading, Nuwakot and Rasuwa areas of Nepal The total cost of the project will be £280,000.

The Dance-a-thon challenge involves dancing for 2 hours (under 12s) or 5 hours (12+) whilst taking a journey around the world to experience different styles of dance taught by

professional dancers.

Attendees will have the opportunity to try Latin American, Bhangra, Gaana, African, Line dancing, Hip Hop, Salsa and Indian Folk.

Shishukunj is a children’s charity that has been working in London for over 30 years. Through the medium of Indian culture, Shishukunj tries to instil morals and values in children from the age of 5 upwards so that they become responsible and respected leaders of tomorrow’s society.

For more information or to make a donation please visit www.shishukunj.org.uk/ danceathon

15

by a well-brought up, young man! I really advise that you come and see it: I’ll be discussing diversity quotas, what it really means to be a left wing comedian, the political bias of action movies and board games, discussing there being a potentially black James Bond, and some more serious material about climate change and privatisation.

Vara makes presentation to PM Modi to right historic wrong Justice Minister Shailesh Vara MP presented Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with a certificate reinstating Shyamji Krishna Varma to the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of Court which determine who can prac- Shailesh Vara MP with Indian PM Narendra Modi tice law at the Bar of England and taken place and the presWales. entation was made at the Shyamji Krishna Foreign and Varma was the first Indian Commonwealth Office in national to be called to the the presence of the Prime Bar in 1884. However, he Minister, David Cameron was disbarred by the Inner and Mr Patrick Maddams, Temple more than a cenSub-Treasurer for the tury ago following a letter Inner Temple. he wrote to The Times Mr Vara said, “I am newspaper advocating delighted that Shyamji Indian home rule. Prime Krishna Varma has been Minister Modi is a great posthumously reinstated admirer of Shyamji to the Bar. It is the right Krishna Varma and tweets thing to do. He was from about him every year on the Indian state of the anniversary of his Gujarat, and as Britain’s birthday. He also travelled first Gujarati Minister, to Switzerland in 2003 as and a lawyer myself, I am the Chief Minister of particularly pleased at his Gujarat to repatriate the reinstatement. Given that ashes of Mr Varma and his he is admired by Prime wife, Bhanumati Minister Modi and milKrishnavarma, who lions of fellow Indians, it is wished only to return to fitting that the presentaIndia once it was a free tion of the reinstatement country. The Honourable certificate was made to Society of the Inner Prime Minister Modi on Temple recognised that a his historic visit to miscarriage of justice had Britain.”

TLIGHT

Do you think there’s a secret to being funny?

Oh, it’s definitely a mixture of being both instinctively funny and working hard to create a good set.

stand-up is more varied than people make out

Nish Kumar: Just Left

of the Left-wing Laughter

Sunetra Senior

Croydon-born comedian, Nish Kumar, is setting the pulse for progressive stand-up. His first solo act ‘Who is Nish Kumar?’ opened to great critical acclaim, making it to entertainment Channel Dave’s top ‘Ten funniest shows of the (Edinburgh) Fringe’, and the man himself has just been growing/gesticulating since. With razor-sharp observations that touch upon the most nuanced of social ponderings, such as the ‘nature of subjectivity’ and whether truly committed comedy can ever be politically biased, he questions if there is even a box to think outside of (or at least hides it very skilfully): “In London we have things called ‘nightbuses” he says in ‘Who is Nish Kumar?’, “which means the trains and tubes have all stopped, and the buses have become floating mental hospitals”. Though we’ve all felt the crowd change in central London at around midnight, Kumar isn’t afraid to say it. In another extract, where he is clearly making use of his joint BA in English and History from the University of Durham, he tells us about the diverse, immigration history of Kerala- his region of ethnic origin - before stating that “that diversity has now landed on my face” making him appear “ethnically ambiguous” and “the target of ‘incorrect racism”. Now at the start of his brand-new tour, the subversively titled ‘Long Word ... Long Word ... Blah Blah Blah ... I’m So Clever’, Kumar is only continuing to head the zeitgeist; one where speaking frankly beats political correctness and having a cracking charisma is the outer quality that counts.

Tell us about the current tour; what can we expect?

It’s a show that I did in Edinburgh this year. I’m currently 4 days in and it’s been good fun so far. It’s got a longwinded title and it’s about politics. My mother called me a left-wing comedian and it’s sort of an exploration of what that means.

Who are some comedians you identify with?

I’m a big fan of Stewart Lee and Chris Rock among others, but I don’t just enjoy left-wing comedy- that’s really the whole point. Humour and stand-up is a lot more varied than people make out. I’m questioning whether comedy is even left-wing in itself.

When did you first suspect that you were funny?

Well, I still have my doubts…but I started doing sketch performances at university and it took off from there. I did a couple of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, sort of the way everyone does it and just worked my way up to paid spots in comedy clubs etc.

Who were your Favourite Comics growing up?

Chris Rock, Ross Noble, The Simpsons, Goodness Gracious Me— I’m just a massive comedy fan.

How would you describe your comedy style?

Very hilarious; you’ll find that this current show is a political comedy done

What has been a highlight of your career?

It’s all been a highlight – a dream come true in many ways. It was great to work with Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal and be the warm up for the Goodness Gracious Me Reunion episode. You also never forget your first solo show. That was exhilarating!

Do you think comedy has changed over time?

You’re definitely more open to getting feedback because of social media, but ultimately funny is funny: the same principles always apply.

What helped you keep this up as a career?

It requires certain bloody-mindedness. You’ve got to stick to your guns for the first few years, as with most careers, and eventually just accept the person you find emerging. Some people will like it, others won’t.

What grabs you most about stand-up?

Comedy has always been a hobby for me so I’m being paid to do something I love. It’s more than just being myself. I would be watching comedy, and performing it: basically being able to do it.

What’s your favourite British comedy?

The office

Finally, what’s your advice to other stand-ups who want to keep doing this?

Give it a go if you think it’ll be something that interests you. You’ll find out

this current show is a political comedy done by a well-brought up, young man! very quickly whether it is for you or not. In terms of being a British Asian, the landscape is changing. When generation Y were growing up there may have been less diversity on TV, and it was a more isolating experience, but now it is much more welcoming environment for non-whites.

The most important thing though is just to get up and do it: you’ll soon realise if it’s where you want to be.

W

www.nishkumar.co.uk/

twitter.com/MrNishKumar

16

HE CAME, HE SAW

MODI SPECIAL

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Continued from page 1 Prime Minister David Cameron, who played the perfect host to PM Modi, also released a pre-prepared video on YouTube of prominent Indians in the UK, saying “welcome” to Narendra Modi. One of the businessmen featured in the video was India's Honorary Consul to Wales, Raj Aggarwal. He said, “It was a great privilege to be asked by David Cameron to be part of the welcome video for Mr

deals in education, retail, finance, logistics, IT, energy and health sectors, which No 10 stated that had safeguarded or create about 1,900 jobs.

He was also received at Buckingham Palace, where he had lunch with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. During his visit at Buckingham Palace, he was shown a collection of items from the palace's stores, which included a shawl gift-

PM Narendra Modi, arrives at London Heathrow Airport after 12 years

Modi, and I was invited down to Number 10 this week to meet Mr Modi and Mr Cameron in person.

There was also a couple of events at the House of Commons which I attended, which were a fantastic

ed by Mahatma Gandhi to the Queen, in 1947, as a wedding gift.

Many pleasantries and gifts were exchanged. PM Modi presented Her Majesty with photograph of her visit to India in the year 1961, as

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

There has also been the ongoing fight to get direct flights from London to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, sanctioned. It looks like many people's hard work, and in some cases prayers, have paid off. PM Modi declared that from 15th December 2015, direct flights from London to Ahmedabad will be made available, which made the audience PM David Cameron, with his wife, Samantha, and PM Modi making cheer in excitement and their way to the Wembley Stadium contentment. He gave a wonderful people, we are at Wembley Stadium, had special mention to CB Patel, celebrating this very special more than 450 UK-based Publisher/Editor of Asian relationship in this very speIndian organisations, who Voice/Gujarat Samachar, for cial venue... Your wonderful collaborated to host this succhannelising and leading and warm welcome makes cessful event reception; it this petition. was organised by the Europe- India Forum, headed by entrepreneur, Nathu Puri.

Addressing the 60,000 attendees at the Wembley Stadium, Prime Minister David Cameron said, “It is truly a historical moment and yes, it is the most spectacular celebration of BritishIndia relations our country has ever seen.

Let's think for a moment of what it The crowd saw a variety of performances before Modi’s arrival means... what British me feel at home. I'm grateful Indians mean to Britain and While cheering and joyto Prime Minister Cameron, to me. Over one and a half ful chants were going on for his kind words. Thanks million people, you are inside the stadium, there to everybody.” teaching in our schools, were other chants going on PM Modi spoke on many policing our streets, starting in the exterior. Some people issues regarding India, in up our businesses, serving in gathered outside the venue to show their displeasure about Modi's visit to the UK. There were two groups protesting for a free Kashmir, and to make

event at Wembley Stadium, Priti Patel stated, “This visit showcased the world’s oldest democracy alongside the world’s largest democracy.

The UK and India already share a deep partnership based on shared values and as we all saw on Friday evening - the exceptional people-to people links. What stood out for me throughout the duration of this visit was the natural affinity between our two countries, rooted in 1.5 million strong Indian diaspora in Britain that have contributed so richly to British life, success and identity. Our people-to-people ties, between British Indians and Indians have been strengthened as a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.K. Ours is also a natural partnership for a mutually shared prosperity.

Many police officers were seen patrolling outside the stadium, ensuring that the protests remains peaceful and does not disrupt anyone or cause any friction or danger amongst those who were at the scene.

Many may like him, some may not, but we can definitely not ignore the power and aura that Modi has globally. It is an unthinkable concept to have a Prime Minister receiving such a grand welcoming where people from all regions came, bearing the cold weather, just to get a

Glimpse of the special fly past by the Royal Air Force of UK, welcoming PM Modi to the UK

opportunity to build even better relations between the two countries.”

Prime Minister Modi arrived in the UK on 12th November for his 3-day visit.

What stands out is the fact that he was visiting the UK after 12 years, after having his name cleared from amidst all the controversies in which his name was dragged in, during his time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

One of the engagements of PM Modi in the UK was a round table of British and Indian Business leaders in Downing Street, in which he participated in. The UK and India successfully sealed £9 billion worth of commercial

well as a gift box which included silk Tanchoi scarves from his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, as well as Darjeeling tea from West Bengal. In return, the Queen presented Modi with a silver dish and signed photographs.

Other engagements included visiting Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Parliament Square; visiting the Jaguar Land Rover Factory; as well as unveiling the statue of the 12th century Indian philosopher, Basaveshwara, on the bank of river Thames, London Borough of Lambeth.

The grand “UKWelcomes Modi” event

PM Modi and PM Cameron by the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, at Parliament Square

our arm forces; in return, displaying those values you hold dear. Family, responsibility, enterprise, hard workthese are the values that our country needs more of.”

Deeply and earnestly touched by the response to his arrival in Britain, Narendra Modi stated at Wembley Stadium, “This is a historic day for a great partnership, and you [the spectators] are the heartbeat.

Between two nations, two vibrant democracies, two

terms of poverty, on the blooming economy. He also pledged to sort out the OCI visa issues for the UK diaspora, simplifying the OCI and PIO norms. He has launched the “Madad” (help) portal where people can official make their complaints regarding issues, such as OCI. He also stressed upon clean energy and its important, as well as mentioning how he, and Indians, want India to be a hub for solar energy.

Modi meets the Queen, at Buckingham Palace

Punjabi a free nation, Khalistan. Many people have allegedly blamed Modi for the religious conflicts which have been taking place in India. Recently, the holy Sikh scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib was desecrated in India, infuriating the Sikh community, especially in the UK, who decided to make this year a “Black Diwali”; purposely choosing not to celebrate Diwali this year due to the appalling attack.

Post the spectacular

glimpse of this person.

70,000 people is not a mere figure; indeed, it is remarkable and historical in many ways. This is enough to prove that Modi's vision for a better India seconds the thoughts of the majority, be it in India or the UK. The video of PM Modi's speech on direct flights from London to Ahmedabad is available on: https://www.youtube.com/ w a t c h ? v = gRMyrzihAM&start=4039& end=4250

W, HE CONQUERED

MODI SPECIAL

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

17

The Secret of "Modi-mania"

On the 13th November, Prime Minister Modi will be felicitated by over 60,000 fans at Wembley stadium. The Europe India Forum is organising this event, and within days of its announcement, over 60,000 people registered their names.

What is the secret of Narendra Modi's public adoration?

PM Modi announces resumption of LondonAhmedabad direct flight PM Modi inaugurates Dr Ambedkar Memorial, in London

Continued from page 6

And he was overjoyed that the direct flight service took off. This was the first time such a direct flight between the two cities was started. But then all of a sudden the service stopped when the UPA Government came to power. Modi said he does not want to get into – why the service stopped, who stopped it, the reasons behind it. But he said he is now announcing the resumption of the direct flight between the two cities from December 15 this year. The overjoyed crowd lauded Modi with a grand ovation.

Giving more details about how he arrived at the decision to resume the direct flight service, he said once the direct flight service stopped, (for which he had made genuine efforts to start it in 2003), the visiting Gujaratis from UK used to call on him with the representations to resume the flight. He jokingly said that they used to catch hold of his neck to do something in this connection.

Modi said: “Whenever my friend Shri CB Patel used to visit Gujarat, even when I was in Delhi, he used to 'catch hold of my neck' on this matter, and it is because of him, today I am announcing the resumption of the direct flight between London and Ahmedabad.”

However, before he

announced the news of the direct flight service, Modi kept the crowd on tenterhooks. When he took the name of Shri CB Patel, he also mentioned that Shri CB Patel used to 'catch hold of his neck' on this matter. He said as a result, from December 15 onwards he has decided to....... and then he stopped. The crowd got anxious. They didn't know what was coming. What the announcement was.

And then again he repeated the same line and paused without finishing the sentence. The crowd was stumped by Modi's crowd-pulling tactics.

They didn't know how to react and were getting impatient with every passing second. But then the smiling Modi did not keep them waiting any more and immediately announced the resumption of the flight service, much to the delight of the massive crowd present at the Wembley Stadium.

For the last six years from 2009-2015, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar and CB Patel had been making valiant efforts to resume the flight service, but to no avail. But Prime Minister Modi had been witness to each and every effort made by CB Patel and acknowledged it in front of the public at Wembley Stadium. CB Patel happened to be the only alive Indian whose name got a mention in Modi's speech.

Stopover at Mumbai, but no change of aircraft Asian Voice talked to Paula Chattaraj, Officer- PR & Corporate Sales, Air India, UK, for more details on the flight service. Chattaraj said it's a direct flight with stopover at Mumbai, but there won't be any change of aircraft.

The official said AI 130

London to Ahmedabad / AI 131 Ahmedabad to London are direct flights.

The stopover will be of 90 minutes on either direction at Mumbai with no change of aircraft. The fares will depend on market conditions and seasonality, added the official.

When PM Modi went to the USA on his second prime ministerial trip, he was again enthusiastically greeted by a large and admiring audience. With approval ratings of over 70% in India, he has a level of popularity unseen by other incumbents. Despite being unpopular with some people in India and abroad, who are vastly outnumbered by those who have today placed their trust in him.

Rewind 5 decades, and one sees a fascinating journey. Between 1967 and 1981 the young Narendra Modi published articles, poems and stories in several Gujarati publications: chiefly Sadhana and Chandni. His writing's main themes were Matrubhakti (devotion to mother) and Desh Prem (love of the nation). During the State of Emergency in India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Narendra Modi wrote articles against the curtailment of civil liberties. In 1977, he published a book called "Sangharshman Gujarat" (Gujarat in struggle). I have

had the pleasure and privilege to have read all these publications, and it is plain to see that his values are part of his appeal.

For the last 20 years, Narendra Modi has been visiting the UK, initially as the Pracharak of the RSS, later as BJP General Secretary, then as Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat. I've been fortunate to help organise his public meetings in the UK, as well as some in India for visiting non resident Indians, and it is unfortunate that the tragic events of 2002 in Godhra - where 59 Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive and the subsequent riots led to the deaths of almost 750 Muslims and 430 Hindus continue to blinker the views of people unfamiliar with the Narendra Modi that many of us know.

For several years, the coverage in English language media, mostly based outside Gujarat was more emotional and from third party sources, while the Gujarati media had the advantage of local information and the initial campaign from some quarters to malign Modi and Gujarat were exposed in due course. The Congress led UPA Government, in spite of their best efforts, failed to nail down Narendra Modi. Even the Supreme Court of India has cleared Modi of all such allegations.

Fortunately, as last year's general election of over 550 million Indians voters showed, Narendra Modi's brilliant oratorial skills, hard campaign

work, and focus on economic progress coupled with democratic ideals have not just won the BJP and Narendra Modi his position, but have also attracted the hearts and minds of the Indian diaspora globally.

PM Modi's overseas visits to nearly 30 countries in the last 18 months has, he would have expected, awakened the interest of oversea Indians in the development of their ancestral homes. Such visits also has spread worldwide that the doors in India are open for vestments and business.

British Indians, and their friends from other countries, warmly welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his historic state visit. The British government, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, has been working assiduously with the Indian government to closer ties between the world's largest and oldest democracies, and we are all aware that increased mutual cooperation will lead not only to manifold benefits for both our countries, but may also benefit the world. We wholeheartedly welcome Prime Minister Modi.

CB Patel Editor/Publish of Asian Voice/ Gujarat Samachar This article has been written by CB Patel, for The Europe India Forum Souvenir before Modi's visit to the UK.

Mr Modi and the Elephants As Mr Modi departs these shores, for many the cheers ring hollow. Recent media coverage about India's wildlife portrays all as well. But for keystone species it is not. Recent Populus polling shows overwhelming outrage across all communities in Britain, Asian and otherwise, at the desecration of India’s wondrous elephants, whose wild population has collapsed from millions in the 19th century to barely 20,000 today.

The sufferings of this species are as hideous as anything imaginable in the animal kingdom, led by the brutal practice of pajan - the isolation, starvation and beating, often fatally, of baby and calf elephants to "break the spirits" - to facilitate their management. Anyone doubting the daily horrors for captive elephants tangled up in tourism, festivals and temples must read the output of distinguished Indian bodies such as the Animal Welfare Board of India, the careful deliberations of the Indian Supreme Court and the abundance of documentary and photographic evidence gathered by NGOs working in the field.

Wild elephants too live increasingly precarious lives. Moves are currently threatened in India to strip elephants of established legal protection by declaring them "vermin". And this brutality is far from being a manifestation of Hinduism, as just a few still claim. It is indeed a repudiation of that peaceable and thoughtful belief system, represented often to the world by the elephant-headed God Ganesh, progeny of Shiva himself.

As it stands on the threshold of a new global presence, India risks enormous tourism, trade and reputational

damage if these horrors persist. But responsibility for the situation is not India’s alone; it is all mankind’s. India reaps now a long history of plunder of its flora and fauna, and a recent legacy of intensive commercialisation and

brutal abuse of these gentle creatures for human entertainment, predicated overwhelmingly from the West.

Far greater public awareness is

urgently needed, to drive a new political will. Save The Asian E l e p h a n t s (www.stae.org) is discussing its proposals with the British Foreign Office and DEFRA , following an invitation to STAE from the Indian High Commission in London to offer proposals for India's collaboration with the British government. This builds on David Cameron's election manifesto pledge to the British people to "support the Indian government in its efforts to protect the Asian elephant."Motions in the Westminster Parliament show wide all-party support, as can be expected for a Written Declaration 62/2015 just tabled in Strasbourg.

It is Man’s collective duty to save this ancient species, loved across the world perhaps above all creatures before it is brought, in our lifetime, to its final stand.

India must act now and the West must help.

Duncan McNair is a lawyer and CEO of Save The Asian Elephants, a not for profit association of academics, conservationists, lawyers and campaigners dedicated to the protection of the Asian elephant.

18

ASIANBUSINESS

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Consultant Editor Financial Voice

Alpesh Patel

Dear Financial Voice Reader, After PM Modi’s trip – many will be looking at investing in India.

I’ve always suggested holding Indian stocks via ADRs, ie American Depository Receipts – these are those large Indian companies quoted in Dollars on the New York Stock Exchange. That allows me to hold them in Dollars, and also trade them the way I would US stocks which are a lot easier to trade than Indian ones from the UK because of the availability of online UK brokers offering online trading in US stocks.

Are there any more advantages to ADRs? Further advantages of trading ADRs are that they are traded like any other US security. You are only holding dollars, not numerous other currencies. You pay US online trading commissions, which can be very low, even to those of brokers in other developed markets like the UK. Is there any special risk to trading in ADRs? If you are residing in the UK, for example, trading on a UK account, investing in ADRs for emerging markets will of course mean that you need to open an ADR account with a US broker.

And here, with the ADR you have the currency risk of holding dollars and the conversion costs involved.

But if you intend to put away for several months a pool of money for trading in dollar stocks and don't intend to convert back and forth those costs and risks can be minimised.

What are the practicalities of trading ADRs? The practicalities of trading ADRs are straightforward. It is just like trading any US security. You would use a US e-broking account as you would for trading in say, Microsoft or Intel.

Any other sites for ADR investors?

Free sites like Google Finance are outstanding too.

Go on, go ahead – own a slice of the world.

I declare I own some Infosys and Tata Motors. But bewarned, the weak Rupee is good for exports and profits, but it also means those profits are translated back into Rupees from dollars and so the shareprice does not necessarily rise as fast.

Probably the best and easiest investments into India, albeit with risk appear to be such stocks because they are easier to exit. I’ve heard too many horror stories with Indian real estate, including from my father in law and his litigation with Assotech to even suggest real estate, let alone all the NRIs who belatedly decide they actually are not going to retire in India because they’ve got used to the UK cold and indeed NHS.

India's services sector growth hits new high in Oct India's services sector activity touched an eight-month high in October driven by a significant rise in new business orders even as growth in manufacturing output eased, a survey said.

According to the survey the index climbed to 53.2 in October, from 51.3 in September, as fresh orders expanded at a solid pace and were most pronounced since February. “Services companies saw a faster rise in new businesses than their manufacturing counterparts,” said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit, which compiled the survey. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output index, which maps both manufacturing and services sectors, rose to 52.6 in October from 51.5 in September helped by new businesses. A reading of 50 divides growth and contraction. “India's economic growth shifted into

higher gear in October driven by the services sector. Although manufacturing production continued to expand, the growth eased and was sluggish by historical standards,” Lima added. He noted that “the upward trend in private sector output reflected stronger inflows of incoming new works, one that was most marked since March.” Going forward, services business sentiment regarding the 12-month business outlook remained positive in October.

Notwithstanding the growth in services activity, October data indicated that services sector employment remained unchanged.

Around 98% of respondents reported no change in payroll numbers since the preceding month.

“Private sector firms remained wary of costs and payroll numbers, once again, were unchanged,” Lima said.

www.asian-voice.com

Modi govt goes for major FDI reforms AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Changes rules for 15 sectors, including retail, defence, construction, banking and electronic media and raises limits

The Modi government has gone for a raft of changes in the foreign direct investment (FDI) rules for 15 sectors - including retail, defence, construction, banking and electronic media - signalling that despite NDA's electoral defeat in Bihar has not deterred it from the path of economic reforms.

Although these measures have been discussed for the past few months, the decisions were cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself and the announcements were made before being approved by the Union Cabinet. Sources said that some of the deci-

sions, such as allowing 100% FDI in coffee, rubber, cardamom, palm oil and olive oil plantations, were taken at Modi's behest.

The PM also was keen to ensure that the rules provide a boost to those manufacturing locally, with sources pointing to the decision to allow “Indian manufacturers” to retail their goods, including on e-commerce platforms - a move that will benefit the likes of Fabindia and Hidesign.

Other “manufacturers” too have been allowed to enter the retail arena without the government's approval.

Apple and other “high technology” retailers will no longer be required to mandatorily source 30% of their goods from India to comply with conditions related to single-brand retail, according to the changes in the FDI rules announced by the government.

“The FDI reforms will touch 15 sectors and benefit youth. Government's commitment to development and reforms is unequivocal and unwavering... Today's reforms are another example of emphasis on minimum government, maximum governance. They will ease,

rationalise and simplify processes,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted. The decision, coming two days after BJP's Bihar poll defeat, is seen as an attempt by the Centre to show its commitment to reforms and its willingness to open up the economy despite political challenges and hurdles.

Unlike most policy changes, which are approved by the Union cabinet, the government this time chose to use a provision that allowed the Prime Minister to decide on the announcements, which were rushed in before his departure to the UK and Turkey.

India likely to grow at over 8% next year: Modi In his intervention at the G20 working session on "Inclusive Growth: Global Economy, Growth Strategies, Employment and Investment Strategies," at Antalya in Turkey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India was likely to grow at 7.5 per cent this year and achieve a growth rate of 8 per cent plus next year. He said that global economic growth remained weak and it needed capital flows as also efforts to facilitate labour mobility and skill portability.

He said India has reduced inflation and current account and fiscal deficits and its programmes of inclusive development, financial inclusion, universal access to basic needs, Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Industrial Corridors and Smart Cities will boost growth and employment in the country.

"This will be a source of strength for the global economy," he said.

Modi said "global economic growth remains weak, with slowdown in several major economies, volatile financial markets and competitive devaluation of currencies. To stimulate growth, we need to enhance public investments, not just rely on monetary policy. G20's continued call to central banks for careful communication on

monetary policy actions will be helpful in keeping financial and currency markets stable," Modi said.

"Stable long term global economic growth requires not just capital flows, but also efforts to facilitate labour mobility and skill portability," he added. He said there was global consensus on the need to address climate change but multilateral institutions should not impose such difficult safeguards and condi-

tions on loans that they become barriers to development in many countries and undermine sustainable development.

Modi said multilateral development banks should enlarge their capital base to support infrastructure needs of the developing countries and noted that new institutions such as the New Development Bank were welcome additional sources of financing.

"G20 efforts must be aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, adopted this year, particularly with the number one goal of elimination of all poverty by 2030," he said. Modi said India welcomes the G20 focus this year on employment of women and on youth.

London’s Asian business community gathers to celebrate ahead of Modi’s visit to UK Over 250 leading ambassadors from the Asian Business community gathered in London last week for KPMG’s annual Asian Festival Dinner to celebrate the festivals of Eid and Diwali.

The event, which was organised by Nina Amin, Partner and Head of Asian Markets at KPMG, who has been awarded an MBE for her services to the Asian Business Community, and held at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in London, brought together some of the most successful Asian business people from the Capital including Bassim Haider, who has built a telecommunication empire in Africa and the Right Honourable Priti Patel, MP for Witham and UK India Diaspora Champion.

The event, commemorated the 12th anniversary

From left: Bassim Haider - CEO, Channel IT Group; Nina Amin KPMG; RT Hon Priti Patel,MP; Simon Collins - Chairman KPMG UK of the celebration, a key gathering in the KPMG calendar.

During her speech, Priti Patel thanked guests for the huge turnout of voters from the Asian business community during the elections and expressed how proud the Government were to be

welcoming Prime Minister Modi to the UK next week.

She emphasised how the visit will help to develop further the strong partnership that the UK has with India built on mutual trust and shared aspirations for the future, particularly in David Cameron and Mr

Modi’s passion to help provide young people with skills, apprenticeships and improving opportunities for work. Commenting on the event, Nina Amin said, “At KPMG we are delighted with how this event has evolved over the years to become an important event on the Asian business calendar. Asian businesses are such a vital part of the economy providing jobs to thousands of people across the UK, and as a firm we feel it is important to celebrate their successes with them. It is a privilege to work with such an impressive list of Asian businesses that continue to support us each year and to share insights with such innovative and forward thinking enterprises and the ambitions they have now that the UK economy is gaining strength.”

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

REALESTATEVOICE

Staying Grounded

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

19

We have finally managed to come to an agreement with another party in regards to a Joint Venture. We had two pieces of land next to each other, the other side had a long strip to the rear of one of ours.

Initially when we met the two brothers who owned the strip they tried to play hard ball with us and firstly claimed they had the right to sell it and then they demanded ludicrous sums for the land.

Though they were the legal owners they had signed an option agreement with someone else, who was responsible for pushing the planning forward, and at that point he could exercise his option to purchase the property. He had put a charge on the title to register his interest.

We managed to unravel the situation and get to the option holder, and get the real story out; in the end the truth generally comes out.

All it did was to make the legal owners look rather stupid. It is a waste of time playing games especially when you’re dealing with people in the property game.

After this hurdle had been crossed, the next conundrum was how do we split the cake, we clearly had the bigger and better site. There was talk of splitting whatever is gained by us by joining hands down the middle. I pushed for the gain to be split according to the value of the site we bring in, e.g. if our site is worth £100k and theirs £50k we split 2/3rds to us and 1/3rd to them. They were naturally resistant to this idea, but they then conceded. As the bottom line is we do not need them as much as they need us, not that this gives us a license to bully.

Based on this principle we will be applying for a pre app with the council for a 150 unit scheme which will include some units for social housing, we do have the option to separate this element completely from the main site.

Another deal we have just exchanged upon is in Linden Gardens, Notting Hill, W2. The property is a freehold house, consisting of 2,346 sq. ft. and was purchased for £1,065 per sq. ft. The local rate on the street is circa £1,650 per sq. ft. The property was a probate deal, meaning the previous owner died and his estate put the property on the market. The property belonged to a notable James Gowan, who passed away in June of this year. His obituary appeared in the Telegraph and The Guardian amongst other newspapers.

It could be he did not need the space or wasn't interested in the rise in value, or perhaps when you are involved in projects for your clients you tend to neglect your own rather like the doctors who don't look after their own health, whilst instructing others to do so.

The property is a little odd in that the obvious thing to do from a development point of view is to turn it into flats, easy to rent and to resell.

James Gowan, the architect, who died at the ripe age of 91, was responsible with his partner for the design of one of the most celebrated buildings of post-war Britain, the engineering department of the University of Leicester (1963).

While they were both in their early thirties, the two architects had launched their partnership on the back of a commission to design a complex of private apartments at Ham Common in West London.

Gowan developed a parallel career as one of the most influential teachers of his era having taught other architects who subsequently rose to prominence. Gowan was committed to the education of freethinkers, not disciples. The obituary described him to have a very individual style.

All his papers and drawings have been carted off to a museum.

The property is spread over five floors, and there exists the possibility to extend by a further floor which will add circa 400 sq. ft., which means this should add about £700k to the end price if successful. It does beg the question if the property was occupied by an architect why did he not extend the property given the obvious rise in value and space.

However given the property is spread over five floors it makes the conversion cumbersome and would result in a large loss of internal square footage. As a house it has limitations as it does not have a garden, and someone spending circa £4m on a house would expect to have one. Saying this it seems the famous architect lived there for many years and was satisfied with not having one. This is what Hyde Park down the road is there for.

The location overrides all, this is the first rule of property, and here the location is supreme, close to Notting HiIl station. The north of Hyde Park has been earmarked for the highest growth in years to come by Knight Frank’s recent report, this location falls close to this region.

This is my limited analysis, which is not the means to go by. The architect is visiting today and this will shed more light on the best way to capitalise on this deal. It may be a combination of a roof extension and a division into two flats; the council policy on conversions will need to be taken into account.

It is an interesting project and one which will require a hands on approach for it to be successful. When undertaking this it is important not to follow your or the architects owns whims. It is important to note the distinction - he is an architect, not a commercially minded developer. For the project to be successful it needs constant collaboration with people actually on the ground, the local agents, for they are in touch with the buyers both from a rental and sales point of view.

The Real Deal

London, N6 Purchase Price: £850k l A large and bright three bedroom flat in a very good location l New built l Share of freehold l Luxury Italian kitchen l Three bathrooms l Close to the green spaces of Hampstead Heath l Excellent capital growth prospects l Very good buy and hold opportunity

The end goal is to capitalise on the project, for this to happen constant awareness of what the market wants and where it is going is important. I have seen large projects worth £8-10m take losses for this sole reason - the architect designed according to his own whims.

We are about to close the deal on a couple of more flats in Notting Hill in the next few days, these will be in the region of £650k, this equates to around £1,100 per sq. ft. representing a solid discount on day one. Call our office if you’re interested in these deals.

Call us now to secure this deal!

0207 993 0103

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in

Central London Property Sourcing

info@sowandreap.co.uk

www.sowandreap.co.uk

27 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8HU

Follow us online:

Sowandreapuk

SowandReapProperties

Tips of the Week l The idea of investing in property is good, but always remember the mantra of property investment - Location, Location, Location! l Always consider the projects which are happening in and around the area you’re investing in, this will ensure strong capital growth in the future.

20

LEGALVOICE

VISA BYTES

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Maria Fernandes

Landlords appointed to role of unpaid immigration officers

Last year, the Immigration Act 2014 introduced regulations which prohibit landlords from authorising adults to occupy premises under a residential tenancy agreement if their immigration status disqualifies them from doing so. There was a pilot study within certain areas in the north and the law will now be rolled out country wide.

Landlords need to get their affairs in order for any new tenants that are taken on after the law came into effect.

Properties affected The regulations affect lodgers, those on short term assured tenancies or property that is sublet within the landlord’s property.

Exclusions The regulations exclude the following: under 18s long leases care homes student accommodation Documents to check (originals only) passports, biometric cards, residence cards British citizens, EU citizens and those who have indefinite leave will not need to have further checks done.

There will be a need to repeat the check when the person’s leave is due to expire.

When to carry out checks Before the tenancy begins and no earlier than 28 days before the start of the tenancy. The landlords should carry out the check themselves but can delegate this to an agent providing there is a clear written contract between the landlord and agent.

Retention of documents Copies of documents must be made and kept for at least 12 months after the tenancy expires.

Action that needs to be taken • The Home Office are establishing a Landlords Checking Service where enquiries can be made. If this service reports that a person has a right to rent, this will provide a defence against any changes that occur that the landlord is unaware of.

• If the tenant no longer has a right to rent, the landlord is required to report this to the Home Office as soon as is “reasonably practicable” but thereafter under no obligation to evict the tenant. However there are regulations that have been put into the latest Immigration Bill which are designed to make it easier for the landlord to evict a tenant.

Penalties Lodgers in private households will receive fines of £80 or £500 if there has been a breach before in a 3 year period.

Occupiers of rented accommodation will receive fines of £1000 or £3000 if there has been a breach in 3 years.

Avoiding discrimination A landlord cannot discriminate by selecting only British and EU citizens or avoiding renting to those who only have a limited right to rent. There is a Code of Practice issued which gives some guidance on this issue.

To contact Maria Fernandes, please email at info@fernandesvaz.com

New appraisal rule for taxmen on cards: Modi In a bid to overhaul tax administration, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a revamp of the appraisal system for officers, besides backing a new method of scrutiny of returns that spares taxpayers the need to visit offices.

“We are also taking several steps to serve the honest taxpayer better...

This (the new appraisal system) will deter corruption and also motivate officers to pass correct orders.

When fully implemented, these changes, namely online scrutiny, and changes in performance appraisal have transformative potential,” Modi said at the Delhi Economics Conclave. The statement seemed to be targeted at investors, many of whom still complain about the need to tone up the tax administration. In his address, Modi suggested that things are already improving.

www.asian-voice.com

Vodafone plans £1.30 bn investment in India AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

They plan to upgrade and expand its network and its payments bank operations in India British telecom giant Vodafone plans major expansion in India and plans to invest of over £1.30 billion in the country to upgrade and expand its network and in its payments bank operations.

The announcement was made after Vodafone's global head Vittorio Colao met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in London last week.

Vodafone, which is India's No. 2 telecom operator with over 188 million subscribers, however, didn't give details about the

Vittorio Colao investments.

Vodafone said that out of the total proposed investment,

£800 million would go towards enhancement, upgradation and expansion of its network coverage.

Vodafone has called this investment in "Digital India".

In addition, £400 million would go towards "Make in India for the World".

This would include investments to further increase capacity and upgrade its high-end technology centre and IT and customer experience centres in Pune and Ahmedabad. It would also set up a state-of-the-art

tier-4 data centre in the country.

The balance £100 million would go into the Payment Bank business, a permit for which the company recently acquired from the RBI. Vodafone added that it hoped to increase its headcount in India to 15,000 in the next two years.

The statement further said that Vodafone was the largest FDI investor in the country as it had invested over £11.10 billion and contributed over £10 billion to the exchequer.

Most legacy tax issues resolved: Jaitley India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government had made significant headway on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and hoped to soon implement the most ambitious indirect tax reform since independence. Jaitley also said the government has been able to resolve legacy tax issues and added that the list of exemptions that would be phased out would be unveiled soon.

“Systematically, one by one, we have been resolving (taxation issues) ...

That fear of retrospective taxation has gone. Some of those problems remain and they remain because of legal reasons. I have publicly announced that we are looking for processes by which we can resolve some of these,” Jaitley said.

Arun Jaitley Jaitley said he was ready to have a dialogue with Congress on GST. The government has identified implementing GST as one of the key priorities but the opposition has blocked the move in Parliament. The government will make a fresh bid to get the Constitution amendment bill approved in the winter session of Parliament.

Reacting to Jaitley's comments, the Congress party said parliamentary democracy cannot be reduced to “just one bill” and urged the NDA to shed its “confrontational mindset.”

“The Prime Minister and his government have both arrogance and confrontational mindset,” said party spokesman Anand Sharma. “By berating, ridiculing and intimidating them (the opposition) on a daily basis cannot help in creating that atmosphere.

It is their call,” Sharma said, adding that the onus of a successful winter session was with the PM and his party.

Jaitley said the government would unveil the list of exemptions and hoped that the first tranche of reduction in corporate tax

would be done in the next budget. “I have announced a road map for direct taxation ... (to) bring corporate tax down to 25% by phasing out some of those exemptions. We are going to put in the public domain in the next few days some of those exemptions that we intend to phase out in the first round,” he said.

He also said that government would soon announce a major policy for the stressed power sector, which has been reeling under high debt. While Jaitley did not elaborate, it is believed that the Cabinet at its next meeting may consider recasting £43billion of loans of nine power distribution companies subject to states agreeing to raise electricity tariff over a period of time.

BRICS leaders pledge to work with G20 The BRICS group of emerging nations called on the Group of 20 (G20) top developed and developing nations on Sunday to strengthen their macroeconomic policy cooperation to prevent bad effects from a weak global economy and reduce risks to growth.

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, who met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Turkish town of Antalya, said global economic recovery was not yet sustainable. "(This) underlines the importance of strengthening macroeconomic policy coordination and cooperation among G20 members to avoid negative spillovers and to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth," the group said in a statement after the meeting.

The group's economies have been struggling this year, with China's growth at its weakest since the 20082009 global financial crisis and recovering from extreme market volatility

over the summer.

Russia's economy, hit by sanctions imposed over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis as well as declining commodity prices, has entered into recession for the first time since 2009.

Many investors have pulled out of the oncevaunted BRIC quartet of emerging markets, then without South Africa, due to years of collective underperformance by the group.

"Complex structural and cyclical problems have led to a slowdown in the world economy and in ours,"

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the BRICS meeting. The group, which has struggled to build an economic and political partnership, condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris, vowing to strengthen cooperation among one another and with other nations in the fight against terrorism.

But the group came short of addressing another critical issue discussed at the G20 summit over the weekend in Turkey - the refugee crisis.

South African President Jacob Zuma said only when addressing the group and

commenting on the attacks in Paris, that "the attacks don't mean that every refugee is a terrorist". The diverse BRICS, which have been meeting regularly since 2009 and account for a fifth of the world's economic output and 40 per cent of its population, have struggled to come up with unified actions, often instead focusing on criticising the West.

For Russia, hit by sanctions that have cut off access to Western funding, thwarted investment and contributed to an economic downturn, greater cooperation is a priority. The group criticised the sanctions.

"The leaders noted that geopolitical challenges, including the politicisation of economic relations and the introduction of unilateral economic sanctions, continue to beset future prospects for economic growth," it said. They pledged to work together with other G20 members to reduce potential risks to economic growth.

CURRENCYVOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Britain’s unemployment rate dips Currency Specialists.

Britain's unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since early 2008 but earnings grew more slowly than expected, showing why the Bank of England is in no hurry to raise interest rates. Britain's unemployment rate dipped to 5.3 percent in the third quarter, its lowest level since the three months to April 2008, before the financial crisis crippled the economy .However, wage growth has not risen as strongly as the Bank projected. Last week the BoE said Britain's near-zero inflation rate would only pick up slowly even if interest rates stayed on hold throughout next year.

The Office for National Statistics said the total earnings of workers - including bonuses - rose by 3.0 percent in the three months to September, unchanged from the three months to August.

The Office for National Statistics said the total earnings of workers - including bonuses - rose by 3.0 percent in the three months to September, unchanged from the three months to August. Sterling fell after Wednesday's data release as investors bet it would keep the pressure off the BoE to raise rates, even as the U.S. Federal Reserve heads for a hike

21

Foreign Exchange

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

possibly as soon as next month.

David Cameron spoke about the European reform stating the European Union must not turn into a clique that discriminates against countries that don't use the Euro. Mr Cameron spelled out that the European Union and the Eurozone "are not the same thing" and that needs to be accepted by countries that are within the euro-area. Cameron said it is a matter of "cardinal importance" that there is recognition that the EU is a union "with more than one currency", Mr Cameron said, and those countries such as Britain that choose not to use the single currency do not bear any costs of supporting the euro. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, will begin discussions with member states on the issues raised by UK Prime Minister David Cameron's plan to renegotiate Britain's membership of the EU. Mr Cameron sent a letter to Mr Tusk detailing his objectives in trying to redraw the terms of Britain's membership. Mr Tusk, the former president of Poland, said in a tweet that receipt of the letter means negotiations can begin.

The UK prime minister is hoping

to seal a deal with the EU's 27 member states in the next few weeks.

German GDP was released at 0.3%, demonstrating moderate growth which falls in line with expectations. Analysts believe slowing growth removes any doubt that Europe will get another dose of central bank stimulus.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and fellow officials had already been talking up the chances of an interest rate cut, expanded money printing, or both, when they meet for the last time this year on December.

However, Reuters did report that the ECB is considering extending its QE programme by purchasing municipal bonds of cities such as Paris or Bavaria.

Municipal bonds are debt securities issued by states, cities, counties and other governmental entities that the ECB will now buy to try and stimulate growth in individual areas. Currently the ECB's scheme of QE centers mainly on state bonds, however with the Eurozone’s economy only growing modestly, the ECB is considering alternative options to improve growth and inflation.

The French economy is hin-

dered with record high unemployment, despite President François Hollande embracing billions of euros worth of tax breaks for businesses and households and supporting reforms to make businesses more flexible.

The US released a string of disappointing data with Producer price index, retail sales and core retail sales all coming in below forecast. US wholesale prices unexpectedly declined in October for a second month, depressed by falling costs of food and new model light trucks. The 0.4 percent drop in the producer-price index followed a 0.5 percent decrease in September as the key inflationary figure was hit by a waning global demand and a strong dollar this year which have sent commodity prices plummeting while holding down the cost of goods for consumers.

Sales at US retailers also rose less than forecast in October as consumers pocketed the money saved after fuelling up their cars.

Receipts at service stations dropped for a fourth consecutive month as gasoline prices declined and purchases only increased by 0.1% on last month’s figure.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 16th November 2015 @ 4.50pm GBP - INR = 100.34 USD - INR = 65.96 EUR - INR = 70.16 GBP - USD = 1.52 GBP - EUR = 1.43

EUR - USD = 1.06 GBP - AED = 5.59

GBP - CAD = 2.03

GBP - NZD = 2.35

GBP - AUD = 2.14

GBP - ZAR = 21.71

GBP - HUF = 445.15

www.rationalfx.com

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

Don’t have Safe as houses nightmares.

We offer a range of risk management services that aim to ensure that your business is getting the best possible deal on your foreign currency exchange transfers.

With RationalFX you get: ȏ 0% commission & no hidden costs

ȏ Stop/limit orders & forward trades

ȏ Fixed exchange rates for up to 2 years

ȏ Online payments platform available 24/7

ȏ Low wire transfer fees

ȏ Personalised service

Sign up for a free account today: www.rationalfx.com/business or call our dealing desk: 020 7220 8181

22

WORLD

In Brief

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Disabled Indian-origin cricketer beheaded in South Africa

www.asian-voice.com

Cameron wants to end EU migrants claiming benefits AsianVoiceNews

JOHANNESBURG: An intellectually-impaired cricketer of Indian origin in South Africa has been beheaded in a ritual sacrifice, prompting police to start a probe and arrest three persons, including his best friend, in connection with the murder. Nawaz Khan, 23, was allegedly lured to a forest near his home by his best friend Thandowakhe Duma, 21 and a traditional healer to a forest near his home, where he was attacked with a bush knife and beheaded, police said.

His friend Duma was charged with murder after he led the police team to the site of the head at the weekend after confessing that a traditional healer had requested him to bring along a human head to address problems that he (the friend) was facing. Police also lauded the actions of the community at a housing settlement in the coastal town of Umzinto, who helped nab the traditional healer after he went on the run following the investigation. Two more people were arrested after being found in possession of Khan's mobile phones, which they claimed they had purchased from his alleged killers. Khan was named Cricket South Africa's award for the intellectually impaired Cricketer of the Year in 2013 and lived for the sport, his mother, Zakia Khan said. "He was thrilled when he received his award from his ideal, Hashim Amla, calling it the happiest day of his life," said the mother, adding that her son could not read or write but had excelled in sport despite being mocked.

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron will insist on a four-year ban on EU migrants claiming benefits as part of his renegotiation of Britain’s membership of the European Union. He will back up his demand with the claim that nearly half of all new arrivals from the EU are claiming benefits.

He will say that 43 per cent of EU migrants rely on the support of the UK benefits system during their first four years in the country.

This represents 224,000 EU nationals out of 526,000 new arrivals.

About 148,000 of these claimants, some 66 per cent, receive tax credits,

WASHINGTON: Two Indian-American brothers have been convicted on charges of H-1B visa fraud and will face a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, the Department of Justice has said. Atul Nanda, 46, and his brother, Jiten "Jay" Nanda, 44, were each convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, one count of conspiracy to harbour illegal aliens, and four counts of wire fraud. A sentencing date has not been set.

Atul and Jiten are owners of Dibon Solutions, an information technology consulting company located in Texas.

During the six-day trial, federal prosecutors presented evidence at trial that as part of their scheme, the Nanda brothers recruited foreign workers to work in the US. They sponsored the workers' H-1B visa with the stated purpose of working at Dibon headquarters in Carrolton, Texas but, in fact, did not have an actual position at the time they were recruited and knew the workers would ultimately provide consulting services to third-party companies located throughout the US. Nanda brothers falsely represented that the workers had full-time positions and were paid an annual salary, as required by regulation to secure the visas, federal prosecutors alleged.

LONDON: Four alleged jihadists face trial for plotting to kidnap British diplomats abroad. Italian authorities who detained the men – aged between 32 and 52 – said they were part of an al-Qaeda splinter group using the “dark web” to recruit suicide bombers, establish “sleeper cells” inside Europe and attack targets overseas.

The four - named as Awat Wahab Hamasalih from Birmingham; Hamad e Bakr Rahim, from Hull;

Indian-American brothers convicted for H-1B visa fraud

Woman stoned to death for eloping in Afghanistan

KABUL: A young Afghan woman who was married against her will was stoned to death after she eloped with another man, officials said. The video of the stoning shows a woman in a hole in the ground as men almost casually hurl stones at her with sickening thuds, local officials said. The woman, named by officials as Rokhsahana and aged between 19 and 21, can be heard repeating the `shahada', or Muslim profession of faith, her voice growing increasingly highpitched in the nearly 30-second clip run in Afghan media. The killing took place about a week ago in Ghalmeen, about 40 km from the Ghor provincial capital of Firozkoh, governor Seema Joyenda said, adding the local warlords and Taliban executed the punishment.

Uterus transplants to begin in US

CLEVELAND: US doctors are hoping to transplant uterus soon. In a practice run, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic removed the uterus of a deceased organ donor. Within the next few months, surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic expect to become the first in the US to transplant a uterus into a woman who lacks one, so that she can become pregnant and give birth. The recipients will be women who were born without a uterus, had it removed or have uterine damage.

The transplants will be temporary: The uterus would be removed after the recipient has had one or two babies, so she can stop taking transplant anti-rejection drugs. Uterine transplantation is a new frontier. If it works, many women could benefit- an estimated 50,000 women in the US might be candidates. But there are potential dangers. The recipients, healthy women, will face the risks of surgery and antirejection drugs for a transplant that they, unlike someone with heart or liver failure, do not need to save their lives.

Their pregnancies will be considered high risk, with fetuses exposed to anti-rejection drugs and developing inside a womb taken from a dead woman.

David Cameron housing benefit and other welfare handouts available to people in work. The government said that EU migrants entitled to socalled “in-work” benefits claimed an average of £5,000 per family, costing

UK taxpayers £530 million in 2013. Under the government’s planned reforms, none of these claims would be permitted for migrants in their first four years.

No 10 also said that the figures suggested that more than 10,000 recently arrived EU families claimed over £10,000 through in-work welfare in 2013. A government source said that the new analysis made clear the need for changes to the welfare rules, and the four-year benefit ban will reduce the financial incentive for EU migrants to come to Britain in the first place.

“Because of how generous the UK’s in-work bene-

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

fits can be, it can make financial sense for an EU citizen to go from an average wage elsewhere in Europe, to a minimum wage in the UK, using the in-work benefits to top up the income,” said the source.

“These benefits act as a taxpayer-backed subsidy for EU migrants to come to the UK to perform lowpaid jobs. The prime minister’s renegotiation will put an end to this for the first four years.”

Cameron will set out his main EU reform demands in a speech and a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council.

4 refugees face trial for ‘plot to kidnap British diplomats abroad’ Zana Abdul Rahman, of Derby; and Kadir Sharif, from Sheffield - were detained under European arrest warrants issued by Italy and are due to appear at Westminster magistrates’ court in west London on Friday. They are believed to have been granted refugee status in Britain from Iraq.

Police refused to give details about the detained men. Giuseppe Governale of the Italian police's Special Operations Group,

said the men were planning "attacks against Norwegian and British diplomats in the Middle East". The plot is alleged to have included kidnappings of diplomats to negotiate the release of Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, a radical Iraqi preacher, who has been in jail in Norway since 2012. The 59-year-old Kurdish Iraqi is listed as a terrorist by the United States and United Nations.

Governale said the group was intending to carry out

attacks on members of parliament in Norway.

The operation, which he described as the “most important police operation in Europe in the last 20 years spanned six countries and had "dismantled an integrated cell.”

He said the network "was about to continue sending many other jihadists abroad”. "This was an incredibly difficult and complicated investigation that has been going on for five years," he added.

Hindu prayers sought in British schools NEVADA (US): Hindu statesman Rajan Zed in a statement in Nevada said that Hindu prayers should be included in the daily acts of collective worship in British schools. He said that the current practice of collective worship focused on and favouring one religion was unfair and discriminatory to Hindu children.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that

Rajan Zed as argued by the government; statutory collective worship, introduced in

1945, might play important role in schools; but it must include Hindu prayers also because of substantial presence of Hindu children in UK schools. Zed said that it was inappropriate to have worship highlighting only majority religion in increasingly diverse, plural and multicultural British schools; thus disrespecting the rights of children, parents and teachers of other faiths and no-faith. Is this

the British way to “promote community spirit”, “encouraging cohesive and inclusive school communities” and “respect and understanding for others.” Zed asked.

Many parents were unaware that they could withdraw their kids from such assemblies because of inadequate/unclear information/communication. All collective worship activities should be made public, Zed added.

Pak women use street cricket to fight for their rights ISLAMABAD: Women in Pakistan are using street cricket as a tool to fight for their rights. Women and girls are posting photos of themselves taking part in traditionally male pursuits such as cricket, hanging out at the beach, climbing trees and eating in roadside cafés.

These truck stops, called dhabas, are like pubs without alcohol and have given the movement its name: “GirlsAtDhabas.”

While women are more evident in the more cosmopolitan cities of Islamabad and Lahore, in many parts of Pakistan they are almost invisible, rarely seen outside women’s quarters. Street cricket is the latest front-

line. Women in Pakistan have always been discouraged from playing cricket, even though the country has a successful women’s national side. After conservative students recently broke up a mixed-sex game at the University of Karachi, campaigners responded with photos of girls around the country taking part in street matches.

The viral movement has attracted support in India, where women’s rights are also a growing issue.

“Most of us could narrate instances of childhood where we were either told by the boys playing street cricket that we can’t play with them or were discour-

aged or not allowed by parents,” said Sadia Khatri, 24, one of the movement’s founders.

“Cricket on the streets is something girls aren’t supposed to do, so it seemed like a natural next step to take, after going to dhabas.

We hope this next evolves to other traditionally maledominated domains.”

Chai tea and chicken stew are the only options on the menu at the truck stop café on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most violent city, with 22 million inhabitants. Two young, unveiled women stand out from the regular crowd of tough Pashtun truckers. One is clad in

jeans and sandals, the other in a shalwar kameez, a traditional outfit. They sip tea, order chicken and take selfies, posting them online and ignoring the stares of the men.

“It started with just us venturing out in the city among ourselves and putting up these pictures with the “GirlsAtDhabas hashtag” said Natasha Ansari, 25. The movement swelled rapidly, spreading from one social network to the next.

The hashtag has inspired spin-offs including “GirlsPlayingStreetCricket.”

Though run by university students and graduates, the movement has attracted all manner of supporters.

WORLD

www.asian-voice.com

370,000 people speak Gujarati in US In Brief AsianVoiceNews

WASHINGTON: Hindi has emerged as the largest spoken Indian language in the United States, with nearly 650,000 people speaking it, according to the latest Census data. The US Census Bureau data collected from 2009 to 2013, said that more than 60 million people in the US speak a language other than English at home, 25 million of whom speak English.

Other top languages Top languages other than English spoken in the US homes include Spanish (with more than 37.4 million speakers), Chinese (about 2.9 million), French (1.3 million), Korean (1.1 million), German (1.1 million), Vietnamese (1.4 million), Arabic (924,573), Tagalog (1.6 million) and Russian (879,434).

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Hindi tops the list from India with nearly 650,000 speakers. Nearly 400,000 US residents speak Urdu and Gujarati is spoken by more than 370,000 people. Other than Hindi, all the major Indian languages are also spoken in the US. While Bengali and Punjabi are spoken by more than 250,000 people each, the Census bureau says Marathi is spoken by more than 73,000 people, Oriya (more than 5,000), Assamese (about 1,300) and Kashmiri by about 1,700 people in the US. It has even listed Bihari as a language spoken by nearly 600 people and Rajasthani by about 700.

Nepali is spoken by more than 94,000 people and Sindhi by nearly

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

9,000. Nearly 2,50,000 people speak Telugu while Tamil is spoken by about 190,000 people, Malayalam (about 1,46,000 people) and Kannada (about 48,000).

Tribal language Munda is spoken by more than 2,000 people and Tibetan by over 16,000. These are the most comprehensive data ever released from the Census Bureau on languages spoken less widely in the US, such as Pennsylvania Dutch, Ukrainian, Turkish, Romanian, Amharic and many others.

Also included are 150 different Native North American languages, collectively spoken by more than 3,50,000 people, including Yupik, Dakota, Apache, Keres and Cherokee.

Linguistic diversity “While most of the US population speaks only English at home or a handful of other languages like Spanish or Vietnamese, the American Community Survey released the wide-ranging language diversity of the US,” said Erik Vickstrom, a Census Bureau statistician.

“For example, in the New York metro area alone, more than a third of the population speaks a language other than English at home, and close to 200 different languages are spoken. Knowing the number of languages and how many speak these languages in a particular area provides valuable information to policymakers, planners and researchers,” he said.

How Jihadi John was tracked down and killed LONDON: Mohammed Emwazi, better known as Jihadi John, was killed following 15 months of intensive intelligence gathering

by MI6, GCHQ and the CIA. While his victims suffered untold sufferings, his end came instantaneously and without warning.

For more than a year British and US intelligence agencies had been trying to gain live information on the whereabouts of the masked man whose first victim, the American journalist James Foley, was murdered in a video posted on YouTube in August

2014.

Their efforts finally paid off shortly before midnight on Thursday, when intelligence pinpointed him to a car in the centre of Raqqa, Syria, within a short walk of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s headquarters in

the old governorate building.

Emwazi is understood to have been located by either MI6 or GCHQ, either through a human source on the ground or by monitoring his communications. The intelligence was passed on to the Pentagon, enabling the operators of an armed Predator drone already in the sky above Raqqa to spot the car in which he was travelling. Controlling their drone via a satellite link, and using a second Reaper as a “spotter” plane, they selected their target and

released a Hellfire missile from 10,000 ft. Experts say the Predator may have been several miles away at the time, invisible in the night sky. Its missile arrived at such speed that Emwazi would have known nothing before it struck. At 11.51pm the car, and its four occupants, were blown to pieces.

The result was described by one US official as a “flawless” strike, a “clean hit” that would have “evaporated” Emwazi, with no collateral damage. “We are 99 per cent sure we got him,” the official said.

Mayor of London calls for visa scheme to raise Indian student numbers The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has called for a Commonwealth visa programme, in order to tackle the dramatic fall in the number of students from India attending universities in London.

Boris Johnson has proposed to trial the poststudy work visa (which allows students to stay and work for two years after graduation) with Indian citizens. If the trial is successful, it will be extended to other Commonwealth

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson students.

The Mayor of London, however, has no power over immigration policy, and

neither has his proposal been formally presented to the Home Secretary, Theresa May. On the other hand, Theresa May seeks to reduce the number of non EU residents settling in the UK. While the number of Indian students coming to the UK has fallen drastically, the figure has risen on the number of Indians studying in the US. It is said that the tough UK visa restrictions have

made Indian students opt for studying in America, rather than choosing Britain.

The number of Indian students joining UK universities have halved in four years. In the academic year 2009-10, the figures were 23,120, while they dropped to 11,270 in 201314.

It is said that during his 3-day visit to the UK, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi raised this issue with David Cameron.

Now Health International reveals top IPMI claim diagnoses Leading international private medical insurance (IPMI) provider, Now Health International analysed almost 120,000 claims made by its customers and revealed the top diagnoses, in terms of frequency since the company started trading in 2011.

The top ten claims were acute bronchitis; sprains and strains; lower back pain; acute nasopharyngitis (common cold); diar-

rhoea and gastroenteritis; fever; cough; urinary infection; conjunctivitis; and gastritis.

The top ten claims accounted for 77% of all claims made. Claims for list-topping acute bronchitis/bronchiolitis amounted to 16% of all claims spread across the four years.

Now Health’s Marketing and Ecommerce Director, Alison Massey said, “As an Asian-head-

quartered business, much of our customer base resides in this part of the world. The region often experiences poor air quality due to pollution and other factors such as haze that comes from crop burning so it seems logical that a respiratory illness should top our list.”

Massey continued, “We were also initially surprised at the number of claims associated with Vitamin D

deficiency. However, we have discovered that it is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide for both adults and children. And with many of our members based in the Middle East who spend much of their time in indoors and out of the blazing hot sun, it’s more understandable.”

For more information, visit www.nowhealth.com

23

Kuwait stops visas to Indian helps

KUWAIT: Kuwait has suspended issuance of entry visas to Indian domestic workers. Confirming the move, Indian ambassador to Kuwait Sunil Jain said that Kuwait was the only Gulf country that had failed to comply with a condition set by India that foreign employers, particularly the Gulf nations, pay $2,500 as bank guarantee to hire Indian domestic workers. The condition was set in the light of various reports of abuse of domestic workers abroad. “Since Kuwait did not want its citizens to provide bank guarantees, we asked them not to issue visas,” he added.

War with India not an option: Sharif

ISLAMABAD: War with India is not an option as use of force could only worsen the situation, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said while hoping to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries. Sharif, during a meeting with President Mamnoon Hussain, wished to resolve all outstanding issues with India through dialogue as he believed the use of force could only worsen the situation, The Nation reported quoting a senior government official who cited the conversation between the two leaders. The Pakistan PM said war with India was not an option, according to the report. Sharif said his government desired friendly ties with India, all its neighbours and the world at large for sustainable development.

FBI hunts for Indian accused of murder

WASHINGTON: The Federal Bureau of Investigation in US has unveiled a massive “wanted“ poster in the form of a digital billboard at Times Square for Bhadreshkumar Patel, who they are seeking in the murder of his wife Palak Patel. The FBI s offering $ 20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. The case has baffled investigators and unnerved the Patel community who number more than 150,000 in the United States alone.

Bhadreshkumar, 24, and Palak, 22, were newly-weds when they arrived in the US in September 2014 to visit his mother who lives in New Jersey. They planned to stay in America for 16 days, but ended up extending their stay on an expired visa. At some point they began working.

On the midnight on April 12, 2015, with several customers in the front of the counter, Bhadresh and Palak walked to the ante-room of the eatery behind racks of donuts. Surveillance footage shows only Bhadresh emerging from the back moments later, switching off an oven, and hurriedly exiting. Authorities say he fled the store and customers called police. Palak was found in the back with fatal stab wounds inflicted by a kitchen knife. They believe Bhadresh killed his wife after marital disagreements that may have included his decision to stay back in the US, possibly illegally considering their expired visa, and her opposition to it. Palak had told her parents in India she wanted to return. Almost six months after the murder, there has been no trace of Bhadresh, considering it is almost impossible to live in the country without leaving an electronic trail. During investigations, a cab driver came forward to say he had driven Bhadresh to New Jersey the night of the murder. He is believed to have stayed in a motel before disappearing in New York City.

Sangat Advice Centre

(UK Immigration practitioner) We can assist with: British citizenship and passports Entry Clearance applications

(Visitors, family reunion, Marriage, Student)

In Country point bases applications

Marriage applications (UK Law and EU law) Over stayer / illegal entry cases

TEN YEAR LONG RESIDENCE APPLICATIONS (any category)

Immigration refusals and appeals Human Right Applications OCI / visa / passport

Contact: Sangat Centre Sancroft Road Harrow HA3 7NS Phone: 02084270659

24

INDIA

www.asian-voice.com

71 killed as heavy rains lash TN In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

CHENNAI: The NorthEast monsoon continued to wreak havoc in Tamil Nadu with rains pounding the northern coastal districts and more being forecast for the coming days in the state, where the death toll has climbed to 71.

Twelve more people have been killed in incidents of drowning and wall-collapse between November 11 and 15, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said as she also took stock of the situation at a review meeting with her cabinet colleagues and officials.

Condoling the death of the victims, she announced

a relief of Rs 400,000 each to their families. Normal life has been hit in Tamil Nadu as incessant rains led to inundation of large areas and authorities have shut down educational institutions. The weather office forecast heavy downpour in the next three days in the state, Puducherry, and

Kerala minister resigns following HC rap THIRUVANANTHAPUR AM: Kerala's finance minister K M Mani was forced to resign, a day after the high court hinted that he had no right to continue in office till he was exonerated from bribery charges.

Mani had earlier rubbished demands for his resignation in the wake of allegations that he was bribed for a favourable policy decision regarding the renewal of bar licences. “(As) law minister (his additional portfolio), I wanted to be the first to uphold the law,” Mani said while announcing his resignation. The minister's opponents had seized upon the high court's remarks and targeted Mani, who is Kerala's longest serving MLA and has never lost an assembly election. The ruling Congress had always seen Mani as a liability, but chief minister Oommen Chandy's support ensured

K M Mani his continuation. The high court's comments came after the ruling UDF's poor showing in the local body polls recently, six months ahead of assembly elections.

This prompted state Congress president V M Sudheeran and home minister Ramesh Chennithala to make it clear to Chandy that they wanted Mani's exit. Earlier, the Kerala high court, in an unusually scathing judgment, said the principle that justice should not only be done but also seen applied to the executive as well, making it virtually impossible for Mani to continue in office.

Rebels challenge SGPC's authority AMRITSAR: Challenging the authority of Sikhism's highest religious body, several Sikh organisations came together and held a Sarbat Khalsa on the outskirts of Amritsar, triggering fears of a revival of the Khalistan movement. The conclave chose former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassin, Jagtar Singh Hawara, as the jathedar (head priest) of the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhism in the Golden Temple complex.

The parallel conclave was predictably opposed

by SGPC, the all-powerful, cash-rich body that controls most gurdwaras in north India and is the final arbiter of the faith. It insisted that a Sarbat Khalsa can be called only by the Akal Takht jathedar at the Golden Temple. The Sarbat Khalsa was opposed by the SGPC and Punjab's ruling party, the

Shiromani Akali DalBadal (SAD-B), which draws legitimacy as a party representing Sikh interests.

The SAD-B and the SGPC insisted that the conclave had no authority as it was not held according to Sikh tradition. SGPC chief Avatar Singh Makkar said a Sarbat Khalsa could be called only by the Akal Takht jathedar at the Golden Temple complex.

The conclave, however, threatened to take its challenge forward by organising another Sarbat Khalsa in the spring of 2016.

While reading out the resolutions, president of United Akali Dal Mohkam Singh announced that they had appointed Hawara, currently in jail for masterminding the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995, as the jathedar of the Akal Takht following which the gathering loudly applauded the decision.

coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Overnight rains pounded Chennai and its suburbs, giving citizens a harrowing time. Subways at T Nagar and Saidapet in the city were inundated, resulting in their closure. In Chennai, residents had a harrowing time due to water-logging and delay in train services. Several areas, including Mylapore (South Chennai), Vysarpadi and Perambur (North Chennai) have remained inundated due to

flooding.

As several water bodies breached their banks, hundreds of families living along Adyar river and other low lying areas were being evacuated to safer places.

With roads and rail tracks submerged in water, major city stretches including Koyambedu, the place that houses city’s largest bus stand, have been sealed off by authorities. Traffic is being diverted creating blocks that stretches up to several kilometres from city’s southern gateway.

Boats are being used in flooded areas to rescue stranded people.

Notorious red sanders smuggler in police custody HYDERABAD: Notorious red sanders smuggler Kollam Gangi Reddy was taken into custody by the Andhra Pradesh CID from Mauritius authorities after deportation formalities were completed. According to AP Police, Reddy is notorious for organising and operating the entire network of red sanders smuggling from cutting the trees to transporting them to various ports across the country to smuggling them abroad for the past many years. Once allegedly associated with Naxalites, Reddy is an accused in the 2003 landmine attack on the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu near Alipiri in Tirupati. Dozens of cases of smuggling of red sanders were registered against Gangi Reddy following seizures made by forest and police officials and arrest of many of his

henchmen. Officials say he amassed a huge fortune by smuggling red sanders and selling them in the international market.

Hailing from Kadapa, the 58-year-old fled the country after the Telugu Desam Party came to power in May 2014. Based on the number of cases registered against him, a red corner notice was issued against him. This February, he was detained

by Mauritius authorities while he was about to board a flight to Colombo.

"Reddy fled to Dubai and from there flew to various countries such as Ghana and Madagascar spending a few months in each country and continued to be elusive. On February 2 this year, he landed in Mauritius and the police took him into custody,’’ AP DGP J V Ramulu said.

Parties gearing up for forthcoming Punjab polls CHANDIGARH: The Congress and Aam Admi Party (AAP) are leaving nothing to chance as far as the 2017 assembly elections in Punjab are concerned. Though the elections are 15 months away, both parties have already worked out elaborate trips to the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the hope that expatriates will endorse them when the time comes. In fact, Punjab is one of the very few states where politicians campaign on foreign soil in the hope that expatriates influence elections back home. While some AAP leaders are already abroad, trying to keep their NRI flock together, Congress' Amritsar MP Captain Amarinder Singh will soon be leaving for New Zealand and Australia.

This trend had started after Punjabi NRIs not only financed AAP's 2014 Lok Sabha campaign in the

state, but also call up home to virtually force their kin to vote for Arvind Kejriwal's outfit. This resulted in four AAP MPs in Punjab even as the party drew a blank in the rest of the country.

At present, NRIs are extremely upset with the instances of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in the state and have vented their anger both against the state government and the police on social media.

"NRIs were the ones who told people to vote for AAP. Now, it is changing.

Now, they are saying go for Congress," Amarinder said.

In spring, he will go to America, Canada and even Germany and Italy where there is a fairly large Punjabi NRI population today. The former chief minister adds that instead of sending other leaders, he will himself meet NRIs and get them into the Congress fold.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Woman raped in moving bus near Bengaluru

BENGALURU: A driver allegedly raped a 19-year-old hospital employee in a moving minibus at Hoskote near here. Police said the woman was on her way to work from her village when a mini-bus pulled up. There was no other passengers in the van apart from the driver, Ravi, 26, and cleaner Manjunath, 23. The woman realised she was alone when she boar ded the bus. Ravi asked Manjunath to take the wheel after driving the vehicle for about a km and raped the woman. The minibus travelled more than 4 km before the accused dumped her on a street. The survivor boarded another bus, went to her hospital and informed colleagues what had happened. Police tracked down Ravi and Manjunath and booked them for rape and under the SC/ST Act.

Left knocks Cong out in Kerala civic polls

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BJP emerged as an electoral force in the Kerala local body elections, results for which were declared last week, even as the CPM-led Left Democratic Front won more than half of the 1,199 bodies. The BJP, which was helped by the RSS’ vast ground machinery, improved its tally in village, block and district panchayats, as well as municipalities and corporations. H owever, the party doesn’t appear to have gained much from its much-watched alliance with Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam).

BJP state president V Muraleedharan said people of Kerala had rejected the malicious campaign of the Congress and CPM against the party. However, the CPM saw the results as a vote for secularism and against corruption.

Maoists threaten to kill Andhra Pradesh minister

HYDERABAD: Maoists have threatened to kill Andhra minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu over bauxite mining in Visakhapatnam district. They reportedly asked Patrudu to prevail upon the state government to withdraw permission for bauxite mining and resign from the ministry. Following the threat call, the minister rushed to the state secretariat in Hyderabad and briefed the chief secretary about he mounting pr essure from tribals in his assembly constituency to stop the mining project.

Earlier, the government had issued orders permitting mining of bauxite in Narsipatnam. Maoists had kidnapped three ruling Telugu Desam Party functionaries recently and released them after government gave an assurance that it won't take up mining.

Haryana drops chargesheet against Khemka in Vadra land deal

CHANDIGARH: The BJP government in Haryana has dropped the chargesheet filed against whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka for wrongly cancelling the mutation of land deal between Sonia Gandhi's son-inlaw Robert Vadra and real estate giant DLF. The then state government in December 2013 had issued chargesheet against Khemka after approval by the then chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Khemka was asked to reply the charge sheet within 15 days. The chargesheet was served to Khemka's minor son on December 4, 2013 as the bureaucrat was not at home that time. Khemka was transferred from the land consolidation department on October 11, 2012,but he left the charge on October 15 after cancelling the mutation of Vadra- DLF land deal. It was alleged in the chargesheet that he did not leave the charge for four days "intentionally" to cancel the mutation.

Punjab CM orders CBI probe into sacrilege cases

CHANDIGARH: Deeply concerned over the alleged incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in the state, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has decided to hand over the probe to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Three separate cases regarding the theft of Guru Granth Sahib, putting up of objectionable posters and sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib were registered at the Baja Khana police station in Faridkot.

Akali Dal spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said that the “The Chief Minister, who is deeply anguished over the incidents, took the decision to get these cases investigated by the highest investigative agency in the country. And thus he gave his nod to the handing over the cases to the CBI.”

www.asian-voice.com

Nitish Kumar to take oath as new Bihar Chief Minister on Nov 20 AsianVoiceNews

Legislators of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) elected Nitish Kumar as their leader in the assembly, paving the way for him to become the chief minister yet again.

Nitish, who led the Grand Alliance to a victory in assembly elections, was later elected leader of the legislature party of the three-member grouping that also includes the RJD and the Congress.

His election as the JDU legislature party leader came two hours after he submitted his resignation to Governor Ramnath Kovind. "This formality is now over," JD-U state president Vashsisht Narain Singh said.

Earlier, Nitish Kumar met the governor, submitted his resignation and said the cabinet had decided to dissolve the outgoing assembly. The governor urged him to continue as caretaker chief minister till a new government is formed. According to JD-U leaders, Nitish Kumar will take oath as chief minister on 20 November along with a 36-member council

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Nitish Kumar of ministers.

The RJD emerged as the single largest party with 80 assembly seats, followed by the JD-U with 71 and the Congress with 27 seats.

There will be 16 ministers from Lalu Prasad's RJD, 15 from the JD-U and five from the Congress in the new government.

NDA suffers major defeat Earlier, Nitish Kumar led the `secular' Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance to a landslide win over BJP-led NDA, avenging the humiliation Modi had inflicted on him in the Lok Sabha polls.

This is the saffron alliance's

second straight defeat - both crushing, but this one a lot more significant after Delhi in February.

MGB's stunning victory, besides whetting the anti-BJP opposition's appetite for confrontation, represents a vote of confidence in Nitish's governance during his decade-long stint as chief minister and could spur efforts to form Bihartype `secular' coalitions in other states.

The win on the eve of Diwali also marked a spectacular comeback for Lalu Prasad, who had been in the political doldrums after suffering decisive defeats in consecutive state and central polls. After finishing third with a paltry 22 seats in the last elections, he has emerged as the single largest player in the 243strong House with a tally of 80. While Nitish, who like Lalu is also an OBC (Other Backward Caste; he's a Kurmi), projected development with social justice, the flamboyant Yadav

chieftain unabashedly turned it into a backward vs forward caste struggle.

The win for Nitish, who now has a strong claim to be projected as the `secular' PM candidate in 2019, may signal the beginning of the campaign for the next Lok Sabha polls, besides making things tougher for the government in Parliament. Lalu and Nitish as well as Rahul Gandhi, whose Congress rode on the coattails of the two Mandal warriors to return an astonishing high tally of 27 - the best since 1995 when it won 29 - all talked of a soon-to-be launched campaign against the Centre.

Worst show by BJP in state in 10 years With 53 seats this time around, BJP's seat share is its lowest in the last three Bihar assemblies.

Ironically, JD(U)'s 71 seats are also its worst show since the October/November elections in 2005. RJD's 80 seats is its best performance since the state was divided in 2000. Cong put up its best show since 1995.

Madame Tussauds to open venture in Delhi Madame Tussauds, the famous wax museum, will open a venture in New Delhi for Bollywood stars as part of the India-UK Year of Culture celebrations in 2017. These celebrations will mark the 70th anniversary of Independence as well as India’s cultural ties with the UK. This was announced in London by the British government on the occasion of PM Narendra Modi’s visit. A festival of India will also be held in the UK during the year.

“The great partnership between India and the UK extends beyond economic ties to the boards of The Bard and the beaches of Bollywood. We have some of the best cultural exports in the world - and it’s about time we celebrated this,

together,” British PM David Cameron said.

Bollywood stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan are among the most popular exhibits at Madame Tussauds in London. The parent group of Madame

Tussauds, Merlin, is set to invest £50 million in India over 10 years, rolling out other UK favourites - such as Sea Life aquariums and Legoland Discovery Centres - across Indian cities.

Two of the most iconic

British texts will tour India as part of the 2017 cultural exchange.

The British Library will s h o w c a s e Shakespeare’s First Folio, the first collected edition of the Bard’s plays, and the 1,225 edition of the Magna Carta.

The British Library will digitise 200,000 pages of their South Asian archives, making Indian books from 1,714 to 1,914 accessible around the globe. One of India’s premier museums, the CSMVS Mumbai, will tell the story of Indian civilisation using items on loan from British Museum.

INDIA

25

Chhota Rajan in CBI custody Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Hours after he landed in Delhi airport last week, Chhota Rajan was arrested

by CBI in connection with the passport recovered from him in Bali, issued on the basis of forged documents. He was holding a passport in the name of Mohan Kumar when he was held on October 25.

Sources said CBI had registered a case under sections of cheating and forgery and also invoked sections of Passport Act against Rajan. The agency had no other option as Mumbai police are yet to formally hand over the cases against him and Delhi police did not have any case which may make for his arrest.

A special judge who resides in Lutyens' Delhi went to CBI headquarters to remand Rajan in CBI custody. Rajan was to be produced before a special CBI judge at the latter's home but it was decided not to move the gangster, given the threat perception to him. Further appearances before a magistrate are likely through video conferencing.

The custody will pave way for Rajan's interrogation. Contrary to reports, officials said Rajan had not named any Mumbai policeman on the “payroll of D Company.” A senior officer said, “A formal interrogation will start soon after documentations

and formalities get over.”

CBI officials, however, revealed that it was a slip of tongue that facilitated Rajan's dramatic detention at Bali airport. The don, sources said, apparently blurted out his real name to an officer while boarding a flight to Australia on October 25. Though he was holding a passport in the name of `Mohan Kumar', Rajan “accidentally” told the officer that his name was Rajendra Nikalje. He was subsequently detained and Interpol Indonesia roped in for interrogation.

Once his fingerprints and other details were matched with Interpol data, the Bali Interpol officials informed their Indian counterparts.

A special CBI team, constituted to handle Rajan case, is coordinating with Mumbai and Delhi Police along with intelligence agencies to take forward the investigation of cases lodged against him.“There were around half a dozen agencies involved, namely Indonesian national police, DG Immigration, Interpol Indonesia, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Indonesia apart from India's MEA, MHA, Delhi Police and Mumbai Police.

A control room was set up at the CBI headquarters which was in touch with all these agencies and coordinating his deportation,” an officer said.

Modi `gifts' Jammu & Kashmir 8 billion pound Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced a £8 billion package for Jammu & Kashmir, calling it a gift and just a beginning in terms of assistance for the state. “Delhi's treasure is for you and we will provide you more in the future,'' he said at a public meeting at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium. Modi said the package was besides the £3.5 billion granted for connecting Jammu with Srinagar through a railway link.

Modi vowed to carry

forward former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's three-point vision - Kashmiriyat (coexistence), jamhooriyat (democracy) and insaaniyat (humanity) - and underlined that India was incomplete without Kashmiriyat.

He skirted any reference to any political process even as CM Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and his ministers had created an impression that Modi would do a Vajpayee and invite separatists and Pakistan for talks. Instead,

Modi said he does not need any analysis or advice on Kashmir and praised Kashmiris for showing faith in democracy by participating in parliamentary and state polls. “Now the chief minister wishes to conduct panchayat polls to give more power to people at the grassroots level,” he said.

Former PM Vajpayee had famously extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan when he addressed a meeting at the same venue in Srinagar in

2003.

Helicopters hovered over the cricket stadium while authorities suspended internet services as part of the security measures for the event, which was attended by around 40,000 people. PM Modi vowed to restore Kashmir's glory and said the state should become a must-visit destination for tourists like it was in the past. “I love Kashmir and used to come here and stay here for days,'' he said, stressing production of quality saf-

fron, pashmina and cricket bats.

He said he realised the pain and destruction the state had undergone due to last year's floods. “But the people of the state know ways to come out of this destruction and pain and they really came out of it.”

Modi praised the potential of Kashmiri youth and said they were making their mark in IAS, IPS and other services.

He mentioned cricketer Parvez Rasool and wished the state produces more

such players to bring laurels for the country. “I wish another international cricket match be played here like the one in 1983,” Modi said. He reiterated his slogan of `sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' and spoke about his 17-month rule, saying people were not thinking of India competing with China prior to it.

“Now we are ahead of China in many areas,'' said Modi at the rally which was held amid tight security arrangements.

INDIA

26

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Bombay HC relaxes surrogacy bar on foreigners matter, said before introducing a sudden change in policy, prior notice should have been given. “The preparatory steps to commission surrogacy consume time, energy and cost, apart from pain and suffering by the individuals (involved).

Once such process is set in motion, it becomes very difficult to abandon or postpone it at the crucial stage,” said the judge. “In such situation, if this court fails to interfere in the matter at the crucial stage, the same shall result in travesty of justice.”

barred them from taking up fresh cases of surrogacy for foreign couples.

Coincidentally, the Centre, in an online statement, announced that the ban will not affect surrogacy cases already underway and or exit of child or children born out of surrogacy before November 4. It added that Overseas Citizen of India cardholders, too, cannot seek surrogacy in India under its new policy.

The HC, rejecting the Centre's contention that there was no urgency in the

The Bombay high court in an interim order stayed the directive of the Union government and the Indian Council for Medical Research banning surrogacy for foreign couples who are in the final stages of the process. Hearing a petition filed by fertility clinics, the HC's vacation bench headed by Justice Ravi Deshpande clarified its order was restricted to cases in the midst of treatment.

It asked the clinics to furnish details of such cases to the authorities and

VHP leader Ashok Singhal passes away Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal passed away on Tuesday, less than a week after he was admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon following complaints of breathlessness. The death of the 89-year-old Hindutva veteran was announced by Singhal's deputy in theVHP, Praveen Togadia.

Singhal, who was diagnosed with right lower Lobe Pneumonia, was put on a ventilator on November 14 evening.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders of

hospital included BJP president Amit Shah, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Union ministers Harsh Vardhan, JP Nadda and Uma Bharti, Haryana's Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Singhal was referred to the same hospital on October 20, but he was discharged after he showed signs of improvement. He was brought back last week after his condition deteriorated.

Singhal was at the forefront of the Ram Temple movement.

Ashok Singhal the BJP had visited him at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon.

Others who visited the

Asian Voice £29 Gujarat Samachar £29 Both Weeklies (separate) £58 Both Together for Subscriber only £35-00 Total Savings £23-00 You Save 40% By adding only £6 you can subsribe Gujarat Samachar

SUBSCRIPTION FOR

One year subscription of Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice is ONLY £35 (UK)

Please tick as appropriate:

GUJARAT SAMACHAR & ASIAN VOICE ASIAN VOICE

Europe and Overseas Subscription rates are being held the same as last year!

G.S.

UK A.V. Both

It means only 9 Pense a day

Rates Valid from 1-10-2015

EUROPE G.S. A.V.

Both

1 Year £29 £29 £35 £77 £77 £126 2 Years £52.50 £52.50 £63.50 £141.50 £141.50 £242

WORLD G.S. A.V.

Both

£92 £92 £169 £169

£150 £280

Please Note: Subscriptions are non-refundable after 30 days

Please detach this form and send it with your payment or credit card instructions to address below

GUJARAT SAMACHAR & ASIAN VOICE

12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW

Tel: 020 7749 4080 / 020 7749 4000 Fax: 020 7749 4081 E-mail: support@abplgroup.com

NAME

ADDRESS Email:

£

POST CODE

www.abplgroup.com

Click p.com rou for

abplg

e-Editio

n

TEL:

I'd like to be kept up to date by email with offers and news from ABPL

Please charge my credit card VISA / MASTERCARD / CREDIT / DEBIT CARD for Card Expiry date

Card No: Signature

Hollande promises fitting reply to ISIS CONTINUED FROM P1 Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days to urge them to pool their resources. "We must combine our forces to achieve a result that is already too late in coming," the president said.

The US-led coalition has been bombing Islamic State for more than a year.

Russia joined the conflict in September, but Western officials say it has mainly hit foreign-backed fighters battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, not Islamic State. Obama called Friday's attacks a "terrible and sickening setback", but maintained that the US-led coalition was making progress. "Even as we grieve with our French friends ... we can't lose sight that there has been progress," Obama said at a Group of 20 summit, ruling out sending in ground troops.

US secretary of state John Kerry arrived in Paris late on Monday to pay

tage of a recent wave of refugees fleeing Syria to slip militants into Europe.

Police believe one attacker is on the run, and suspect at least four people helped organise the mayhem.

"We know that more attacks are being prepared, not just against France but also against other European countries," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.

"We are going to live with this terrorist threat for a long time." Islamic State warned in a video that any country hitting it would suffer the same fate as Paris, promising specifically to target Washington.

Manhunt: A source close to the investigation said Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud, currently in Syria, was suspected of having ordered the Paris operation.

"He appears to be the brain behind several planned attacks in Europe," the source said. RTL Radio said Abaaoud was a 27-year-old from the Brussels district of

respects to those killed in the attacks and stress Washington's support for the toughened French stance. Much of France came to a standstill at midday for a minute's silence to remember the dead, many of whom were young people killed as they enjoyed a night out. Metro trains stopped, pedestrians paused on pavements and office workers stood at their desks.

But in a sign of life slowly returning to normal, schools and museums reopened after a 48-hour shutdown, as did the Eiffel Tower.

Masterminds: Investigators have identified a Belgian national living in Syria as the possible mastermind behind the attacks, which targeted bars, restaurants, a concert hall and soccer stadium.

"Friday's act of war was decided upon and planned in Syria, prepared and organised in Belgium and carried out on our territory with the complicity of French citizens," said Hollande.

Prosecutors have identified five of the seven dead assailants - four Frenchmen and a foreigner fingerprinted in Greece last month.

His role in the carnage has fuelled speculation that Islamic State took advan-

Molenbeek, home to many Muslim immigrants and a focal point for Islamist radicalism in recent years.

Police in Brussels have detained two suspects and are hunting Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old Frenchman based in Belgium. One of his brother's died in the Paris assault, while a third brother was arrested at the weekend but later released.

Police in France named two of the French attackers as Ismael Omar Mostefai, 29, from Chartres, southwest of Paris, and Samy Amimour, 28, from the Paris suburb of Drancy.

Police raided homes of suspected Islamist militants across France overnight and arrested 24 people and seized arms including rocket launchers. Another 104 people were put under house arrest, he said.

"Let this be clear to everyone, this is just the beginning, these actions are going to continue," French minister Cazeneuve said.

French warplanes pounded Islamic State positions in its Syrian stronghold Raqqa late on Sunday its biggest such strike since it started assaults as part of a US-led mission launched in 2014.

Duke of Cambridge to join football fans at Wembley: The Duke of

One year subsrciption

Asian Voice Newsweekly Bumper & Trustworthy News Various informative/inspiring columns, Subscribers also receive sevaral Theme based Special issue, Diwali Magazines, Annual Calender delivered at home

Date

NOTICE: Subscribers who pay by credit or switch card, the transaction will show as made for Asian Business Publications Ltd (ABPL) on your bank statement.

Please make the cheque payable to Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice.

NOTICE: If you are going away on a holiday and would like to suspend Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice for that duration, please notify us in advance in written via email at support@abplgroup.com or via post (see below for address). We do not take any such instruction on phone. Please NOTE we are CLOSED on Saturdays and Sundays

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Cambridge has decided to join 90,000 English and French football fans at Wembley in a massed show of defiance and solidarity over the Paris terrorist attacks. The Duke, who is President of the Football Association, had not been due to attend the match but told the FA he wanted to be there to show the French people that Britain is right behind them.

Until the weekend, 14,000 tickets remained unsold for the friendly game, but all of them have now been snapped up after ordinary football fans decided to show their French counterparts – who are hosting next year’s Euro 2016 tournament – that terrorists will never win.

A spokesman for the Duke said: “He wants to go to show solidarity with the people of France. He was not scheduled to go but he decided that he wants to be there.” Wembley will be surrounded by one of the tightest security operations ever put in place for a football match, with a large number of armed police on duty and thorough searches of fans entering the stadium.

Prince William’s personal security is also likely to be beefed up, though Kensington Palace has a policy of never discussing security matters.

Fans have been asked to arrive 30 to 40 minutes early, not only because the extra searches will lead to queues but also because they will be asked to take part in a special show of support for the French five minutes before kick-off, which will include holding up placards that will make a giant French tricolour.

Hounslow Ahmadi Muslims Shocked: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the Hounslow Borough expresses its utter abhorrence of the carnage that was carried out in Paris.

The World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Caliph, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, speaking from London said: “On behalf of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community worldwide, I express my heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the French nation, its people and government following the heinous terrorist attacks that have taken place in Paris. This brutal and inhumane attack can only be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

The Ramadhan Foundation has organised a vigil in Manchester to show solidarity and support for the victims and people of Paris. The vigil was held on November 15th at Piccadilly Gardens, Portland Street, Manchester.

AsianVoiceNews

FOOD

FITNESS

unhealthy and unbalanced diet. The major cause of obesity is not having too much of food but moving too little after it is what makes it an issue. We tend to hear from parents and health concerned people that we must eat healthy food and avoid eating burgers and pizzas on regular basis which will cause obesity, chronic illness and other diseases. But it is like no music for our ears and we pay little attention to this. Some people have developed a habit of comfort eating in which people tend to eat whenever they feel depressed or have low self-esteem just to make themselves feel better.

The small habits will help you to overcome this

deadly disease like indulging into some physical activity - choosing staircase instead of lift or elevator; cycling, fast walking, exercising, doing yoga etc which is not a big task. A gym instructor, believes, “Working out an hour in a day will lead you to stay fit and it will prepare a shield around you to protect from all diseases.“ Experts say that the average physically active man needs about 2,500 calories a day to maintain a healthy weight, and the average physically active woman needs about 2,000 a day. This can be easily achieved by having a balanced diet and most importantly being physically active. Children

so people don’t reduce their food intake at subsequent meals.

They stressed that the study only involved older white men and the findings may not be applicable to younger age groups, women or certain ethnic groups.

In an accompanying editorial, Spanish professors Miguel MartinezGonzalez and Miguel RuizCanela said people who drink a lot of sweetened drinks often have a poor diet overall, which is more of a determinant of illhealth than any one component.

ere are a few surprising and simple ways to avoid getting unhealthy Go for sauna: This time, instead of the usual manicure and pedicure, go for sauna. Saunas are not only a way to detox but they also help you get over a cold quicker by opening your sinus passages and helping you breathe easily. Moreover, they can also reduce the occurrence of colds.

Plug in a humidifier: Dry air is a downer and in many cases an ideal environment for a virus to thrive. To combat an arid environment or an illness, plug in a humidifier and you'll certainly feel better.

Get kissing: While you may not wish to lock lips with your loved one when he/she has cold, but do not miss any opportunity to pucker up when you both are healthy. When you and your partner swap spit, you're exposing yourself to each other's germs, which

helps strengthen your immunity.

Listen to some tunes: The benefits of music are beyond your imagination.

It reduces stress, improves memory and also boosts immunity. So if you just considered music as sound, it's time you change your opinion and start listening to music that really moves you.

Gargle: Your mother or grandmother must have surely advised you to gargle with salt water to ease the pain of a sore throat sometime or the other, but yes, it works. Studies say that gargling with tap water a few times a day keeps cold miles away.

A

team of researchers say that one fizzy beverage a day will lead to heart-related prolems. The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm study says daily drinking of the beverage can raise the heart attack risk by 23 per cent. A further analysis, excluding people diagnosed with heart failure in the first five years, showed the link still held true.

The researchers warned that because it was an observational study, no conclusion could be drawn to say sweetened drinks definitely caused heart failure. Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages could lead to weight gain because the liquid calories are not filling, and

To Our Readers

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

www.asian-voice.com

should involve in outdoor games rather than sticking in front of TV or other gadgets. Childhood set the foundation for lifelong habits in their youth, making junk food particularly hazardous to their wellrounded development.

Physical activity is also essential for children of all ages, and regularly eating junk food does not provide the necessary nutrients children need for sufficient energy to engage in physical activity . A lack of physical activity is harmful to physical and mental well being and may also exclude a child from critical social development.

Only reading about weight tips and consulting health specialist will not help you to grow healthy if one continues eating unhealthy food. Fattening food is likely to retain weight leading to obesity.

One can balance their energy by equalising their energy and will take you far away from hazardous disease. Youths of today involve much in sedentary activities like TV , laptop, surfing which create caloric deficit.

Thus, indulging in some physical activities will help you to burn your extra calories and will lift you up in every way. To sum up, it's not people who can teach you how to live healthy; eventually it's you who will follow the path of good and healthy life by executing the healthy knowledge that is crammed up in your head. So take a pledge towards a healthy life.

Drinking soda daily increases risk of heart failure

27

AsianVoiceNewsweekly | Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

LIFESTYLE

Obesity can lead to severe health issues E

xtra weight or obesity is a massive issue among children and youths nowadays.

It does not happen overnight but it also includes environment, genetics, metabolism, behaviour and habits. The most important thing which hoots here is energy balance which can be helpful if one is well acknowledged with it. It is not about diabetes, heart disease that is being run but it is all about how you tackle it in a positive way . Weight can be balanced with a balancing diet.

The issue of obesity is not mystified but it always has a reason behind the genealogy of it, the reasons can be fat family,

HEALTH&WELLNESS

How to avoid getting sick

H

Brisk walking is best exercise for keeping your weight down

new publication from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) says that regular brisk walking can help you to lower your weight, especially for men above the age of 50 and women of all ages. The publication says that it is even better than like going to the gym.

Dr Grace Lordan, a specialist in health economics who led the research, examined physical activity levels from the annual Health Survey for England (HSE) from 1999 to 2012. In particular, she focused on activities which increased heart rate and caused perspiring.

Individuals reported on the number of periods they engaged in 30 minutes or more of: Walking at a fast or brisk pace: Moderateintensity sports or exercise, such as swimming, cycling, working out at the gym, dancing, running, footb a l l / r u g b y , badminton/tennis, squash, and exercises including press-ups and sit-ups.

Heavy housework, such as moving heavy furniture, walking with heavy shopping, scrubbing floors.

Heavy manual activities, such as digging, felling trees, chopping wood and moving heavy loads.

She then analysed collected data on body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) measurements and found that men and women who regularly walked briskly for more than 30 minutes had lower BMIs and smaller waists than those who engaged in regular sports/exercise.

A

The article explains that although the government recommends that adults should do 150 minutes or more of moderateintensity physical activity every week, there is no guidance as to which activity is the most effective.

The authors estimated that almost 80 per cent of the UK population is not meeting the government-specified targets. This costs the NHS almost £1 billion a year, with much of these costs being attributed to the effects of obesity.

It concludes by calling for a campaign to promote walking as a potentially effective way to tackle obesity rather than public health messages on healthy diets: “The results thus provide an argument for a campaign to promote walking…Focus on physical activity is less controversial as it would not be subject to political lobbying as is the case for “fat” tax and other policies that aim to change consumption of junk foods in a person’s diet.”

It adds: “Given the obesity epidemic and the fact that a large proportion of people in the UK are inactive, recommending that people walk briskly more often is a cheap and easy policy option. Additionally, there is no monetary cost to walking so it is very likely that the benefits will outweigh the costs. It has also been shown by the same authors that walking is associated with better physical and mental health.

So, a simple policy that “every step counts” may be a step towards curbing the upward trend in obesity rates and beneficial for other health conditions.”

28

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Leading heroines to appear in same film

Ajith's 'Vedalam' heading for big success

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

I

t was reported earlier that actors Jiiva and Hansika will be making cameo appearances in the film 'Inji Idupzhagi' directed by Prakash Kovelamudi

T

hala Ajith's 'Vedalam' created history in the Tamil Nadu box office by collecting a whopping £5000,000 revenue on the first week of its release. The Siva directed film is still running to packed houses and on the way to create more and more box-office records. Sources within the trade circles reveal that 'Vedalam' has touched the £5000,000 mark in theatrical collections within the first week of release which is a record. However, the figures are yet to be made official. Even though it is raining heavily for the last week, day time shows are running houseful which is a visible proof for the film's phenomenal reach among audience. Meanwhile, the screen count for 'Vedalam' may be increased in Tamil Nadu as the Telugu film 'Akhil' and Bollywood film 'Prem Rathan Dan Payo' are performing poorly in the state.

L

version. Now it has been confirmed that a host of leading actors and actresses has appeared in the film apart from Jiiva and Hansika. The list includes

arisma Kapoor's daughter, Samaira, Saif Ali Khan's son Ibrahim and Shekhar Kapur and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi's daughter, Kaveri, have made a short film, 'Be Happy,' which was screened on November 15 at the 19th International Children's Film Festival of India (ICFFI) in Hyderabad. Apparently Kareena has been roped in as the keynote speaker at the festival. An elated Kareena said, "I am very proud of my niece. She has the Kapoor filmmaking genes in her. We might just have the first female director in the family one day."

Bobby Simha, Sri Divya, Kajal Aggarwal. Tamannah, Rana Daggupati and senior actress Revathy have played cameo roles in the film. 'Inji Idupazhagi' or 'Size Zero'

revolves around the life of an obese woman played by Anushka and her attempts to become slim. The film is expected to hit the screens on November 27.

Samantha to play a slum girl in her next

eading Kollywood actress Samantha will be playing a never before role of a slum girl without any special make up in her next movie 'Vadachennai’ to be directed by Vetrimaran. Dhanush will act as the male lead in the film. Samantha will be dubbing in her own voice in this film after ‘Neethane En Ponvasantham’ and the latest ’10 Endrathukulla’. This time the talented girl will go more vernacular with the Chennai slang. Sources reveal that audience can see a de-glamorised Samantha in this film and Samantha being a Chennai based girl can be expected give her best for the role. The shooting of the film is expected to being in early 2016 and this will be subsequent to the release of ‘Thangamagan’ which is Samantha’s first film opposite Dhanush.

Karisma's daughter, Saif's son make short film

K

with Arya and Anushka in the lead roles. The film is simultaneously being made in Telugu as 'Size Zero', and Nagarjuna will be seen in place of Jiiva in the Telugu

'Uttama Villain' to vie for awards in Los Angeles

A

ctor Kamal Haasan's 'Uttama Villain' which is the Tamil directorial debut of actor Ramesh Aravind was critically acclaimed despite its poor box office performance. Now the film that was a multistarrer with Kamal, Oorvashi, Andrea, Pooja Kumar, Parvathi Menon, Nasser and many others will be sent to an award function

Ranbir's film to clash with grandfather's film

R

a n b i r Kapoor's upcoming film 'Tamasha' will hit screens on the same day as the digitallyenhanced version of his late great grandfather, P r i t h v i r a j Kapoor's 1969 film, 'Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai' is slated for re-release. "Our chairman, Raju Chadha, was keen on rereleasing the film. We have digitally enhanced the film. It is a great film in terms of its story... it is important for the audience to watch this film. It is an iconic film," Rahul Mittra, CEO Wave Cinemas, who are re-releasing the film, said. Mitra said that the patriotic drama film would be shown to the Kapoor family. "We would invite the Kapoor family to see the film. We will approach Rishi sir or Ranbir to come and watch the film with the entire Kapoor family," he added.

Ranvir to act in Konkona's directorial venture

A

c t o r Ranvir Shorey has agreed to act in a film to be directed by his estranged wife Konkona Sen Sharma.

"Next I'm doing a play with Rajat Kapoor.

It opens on December 5. After that I'll be doing a film which Konkana (Sen Sharma) is directing.

The name of the film is Death in a Ganj. But I want her to reveal more about the film first," Ranvir said. The movie was reportedly picked by the Script Lab of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) last year, and Konkona developed the movie's screenplay under the guidance of mentors. It seems she's now truly ready to step into the shoes of her mother, Aparna Sen, who has balanced both worlds of acting and film direction.

to the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards.

The unedited version of the film, which is a lengthier one that the general audience watched in theatres is expected to be screened in this festival. The film will complete under the Best Film. Best Actor, Best Music composer, and Best Sound Designer categories.

Veteran actor Saeed Jaffrey passes away at 86

V

e t e r a n a c t o r S a e e d Jaffrey, who was seen in films like 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' and 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili,' passed away on November 15. He was 86. Jaffrey's niece, Shaheen Aggarwal, broke the news on Facebook.

She wrote, "Today, a generation of Jaffreys has passed away. Saeed Jaffrey has joined his brothers and sister and is rejoicing in the lap of his Heavenly Father, eternally.

The entire Jaffrey Family bids you, "adieu", you beautiful, beautiful man See you in heaven!" Saeed Jaffrey was the first Indian actor to tour Shakespeare, taking his company across the United States. He had also won the Filmfare Award for the film, 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi,' in the Best Supporting Actor category.

29

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Salman Khan getting ready for 'Sultan'

Deepika's name annoys Katrina?

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

I am selfish as an actor: Deepika

B

A

B

ollywood superstar Salman Khan got only a few days to get back to shape for his role as a wrestler in Yash Raj Films' 'Sultan'. "I start from today actually. I've got 10 days to get back into shape.

These three weeks of mine I could not do anything because of promotions, so let's see in 10 days how much difference can be seen," Salman said during the promotions of his film 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.'

"I'm already there but I need to fine-tune it a bit," he added. In the film, Salman plays the title character, a wrestler from Haryana. Earlier in an interview, Salman said, "Audiences will see me in double size. My training for Sultan has started; so I need to get bigger and fitter

for the role."

Salman is also seen sporting a stubble and a crew cut currently as part of his look for the film. The first look of the film, too, saw him with a handlebar moustache, which had generated enough curiosity among his loyal fans. In fact, the teaser of the film announcing that it will release on Eid 2016 had sent both Salman and Shah Rukh Khan's fans in a frenzy since now both SRK's film 'Raees' and 'Sultan' were going to clash.

At the same time, Salman's 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo' has got a stupendous start at the boxoffice, wrapping up a great 2015 for him with his production 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' also being declared a blockbuster.

Aamir suffers a serious shoulder injury

A

amir Khan's Ludhiana schedule of the biopic 'Dangal' had to be abruptly stalled as the actor who had been shooting for the film for the last 40 days collapsed suddenly at the Guru Nanak stadium. "Aamir had been filming a long action sequence that required multiple takes from different angles. When he slumped during the final take, the unit thought he had pulled a muscle. He was in excruciating pain even after half an hour of rest and ice packs. He couldn't even stand up. He was then rushed to the hospital where it was diagnosed that he had suffered a serious shoulder injury," the actor's spokesperson said.

ctor Ranbir Kapoor is in a fix these days. While he and his ex-flame Deepika Padukone, seem quite comfortable working with each other, it seems like the film's promotional activities are not going down well with Ranbir's rumoured girlfriend, Katrina Kaif. According to a report, Katrina is not so happy with the manner in which Ranbir is going gaga over Deepika and her acting skills in every interview. In fact, the report claims that the mere mention of Deepika annoys Katrina these days. Wonder how will Ranbir manage to get out of this one.

Although Ranbir and Katrina have never admitted their alleged relationship, they have made it quite evident through their statements.

When asked on a television show as to who she considers her 4am friend, the pretty actress took the names of Karan Johar, Ayan Mukerji and Kabir Khan. On being asked where Ranbir featured in

Karan Singh Grover 'ditches' Bipasha

B

ipasha Basu is a distressed girl nowadays.

Her latest lover Karan Singh Grover is attracted to Salman Khan discovery Zarine Khan and she is the new woman of his dreams. A source close to the 'Jism' actress says, “The cracks in her relationship with KSG are now showing.

We hope that the two sit and talk it out.

We want her relationship with KSG to sustain. She has loved him dearly and if she has another experience like John Abraham or Harman Baweja, she might not be able to handle it well.” It is learnt that Zarine is unflustered by Bipasha’s distress and is enjoying all the attention she’s getting from KSG. Adds the source, “KSG has a roving eye. We hope he stays loyal to Bipasha.”

all this, Katrina went on to say that he is her ‘all hours’ friend.

The alleged couple will be next seen together in the upcoming film 'Jagga Jasoos.'

Katrina, who is currently busy with the shoot of 'Fitoor' was spotted entering a church in Mumbai. As the actress moved closer to Mother Mary's idol, the actress started crying inconsolably, reports said. As per the report, Katrina looked depressed while entering the church, and broke down in front of Mother Mary's statue.

The cameraman who followed her till there was asked not to take pictures, the report added.

ollywood actress D e e p i k a Padukone says she is selfish when it comes to acting. “We all work so hard on every movie and want each one to have its own space to do it… sort of properly. But I look at the overall picture, of course I am selfish as an actor,” Deepika said at the unveiling of the video of “Wat wat wat” song from her forthcoming film “Tamasha.”

“While ‘Piku’ has already released, now we have ‘Tamasha’ and then ‘Bajirao Mastani.’

So, as an actor I am very happy,” said the 29-year-old.

Talking about “Tamasha”, she said: “‘Tamasha’ is something that talks about breaking stereotype and expressing things differently. And I think we w e r e expressing the character’s mood dif-

Emraan Hashmi narrowly escapes mob attack

A

b o u t 2 , 0 0 0 aggressive union members of Hyderabad's O s m a n i a University have disrupted the shooting of A n t h o n y D'Souza's upcoming Emraan Hashmi-starrer, 'Azhar.' It is a film based on the life of former India captain Mohd. Azharuddin. "We had all the necessary permits to shoot in the university. But there was some kind of miscommunication among the institution's 32 unions. It was quite scary," admits Anthony, who had planned a four-day schedule for the courtroom sequence at the university. "We will scout for another location for the courtroom sequence and finish shooting the other parts. We don't intend to waste any more dates," concludes Anthony.

ferently, how one could normally express that.” The movie also stars Ranbir Kapoor.

Ready to work in Hollywood: Speaking at the MAMI movie mela, Deepika said that she was exploring avenues in the West.

The actress, who was offered ‘Furious 7’, said that she was now ready to star in projects in Hollywood.

She said, “There has been interest coming in from Hollywood and I will explore it now. I am very ambitious and am here (Bollywood) for a long time.” She doesn’t regret letting go the chance of ‘Furious 7’.

“Fast and Furious 7 was a great opportunity. But I am glad I did Ram-Leela.

If something as exciting comes up, I will take it,” said Deepika.

Farah throws birthday party for Sania

D

irector Farah Khan recently threw a party to celebrate the birthday of tennis star Sania Mirza. Posting a group photo with the birthday girl, Riteish Deshmukh, Tabu, Sajid Khan, Genelia D'Souza and Parineeti Chopra, the 50year-old director tweeted, "N the party begins!! The early guests r here!!" Her tweet was followed by a group collage from the party that was captioned, "What a night!! Must say the hostess (me) had the best time if I'm awake til 4 am..Happy bday again @MirzaSania .." Showing her gratitude towards the host, Sania later tweeted, "Thank you for being the best friend and best host ever I love you baby @TheFarahKhan Thank you for being the best friend and best host ever I love you baby @TheFarahKhan."

30

UK

www.asian-voice.com

Diwali and Hindu New Year Celebrations at Neasden Temple

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Diwali at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in London – the ‘Neasden Temple’ – is an iconic community celebration, reinforcing charity, goodwill, family values and the love of God. These traditions were joyously celebrated on Wednesday 11 November 2015 where worshippers and visitors experienced the colours and rich culture of the Hindu faith.

Avani Patel, a volunteer at the Mandir, explains: “Diwali at the Mandir [Neasden Temple] is a really special time and I enjoy taking part as well as volunteering here every year. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of this Mandir, it is an even greater moment to share the happiness and messages of friendship and goodwill with friends, family and so many people from the local communi-

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 The accent’s very much on relationships. The opening up of a more diverse social life is a point in favour of romantic attachments, if this is what you want. You will achieve a lot more, especially when you're motivated by your own desires. The general pattern of things continues on a progressive and buoyant theme.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You need to pay more attention than usual to your everyday work dairy.

Meetings, work hours and organised breaks could play havoc, unless you're prepared to re-group on the spur of the moment. Try to be meticulous but flexible about your schedule. Play your cards right and you can pull strings in you favour.

CB Patel speaking at the temple’s Diwali celebrations

ty.” This year, the event will also mark the Hindu Festival of Light in support of the UN’s ‘International Year of Light’. A special evening ceremony was conducted for home and business owners in the presence of senior sadhu, Sadguru Pujya Swayamprakash Swami (Doctor Swami),

Coming Events

l Brahmin Society North London (BSNL)- Diwali Programme: Saturday 21st November 2015, 6pm11:30pm. Sangam Community Centre, Burnt Oak , London. Contact Vandana Joshi: 07944 913 208. l Jalaram Jayanti Celebrations: Saturday 21st November, 1pm. Apple Tree Centre, Gurjar Hindu Union (GHU) Ltd, Sanatan Mandir, Ifield Avenue, Ifield, Crawley RH11 0AF. Contact Chandubhai Nayee: 01293 519 130. l Gujarat Hindu Society- Tulsi Vivah: Sunday 22nd November, 12:15pm onwards. Gujarat Hindu Society, South Meadow Lane, Preston PR1 8JN. Contact: 01772 253 901. l Tulsi Vivah: Sunday 22nd November. Gurjar Hindu Union, Dhamecha Hall, Appletree Centre, Appletree Farm, Ifield Avenue, Ifield, Crawley, West Sussex RH11 0AF. Contact:01293 530 105. l Johanna Community South London & The Raghuvanshi Association- Aankot & Jalaram Jayanti: Sunday 22nd November. Contact Deenaben Ganatra: 020 8289 6509. l Tulsi Vivah: Sunday 22nd November, 11am. Shree Swaminarayan Temple, 72 Colmer Road, Streatham, London SW16 5JZ. Contact: 020 8679 8050.

Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Editorial Executive: Reshma Trilochun Tel: 020 7749 4010 - Email: reshma.trilochun@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Chief Operating Officer: Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 Email: george@abplgroup.com Account Executive: Arjun Chokshi Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email: arjun.chokshi@abplgroup.

Advertising Manager: Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Business Development Managers: Rovin J George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Graphic Designers: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Ragini Nayak Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com Leicester Distributors: Shabde Magazine, Shobhan Mehta Mob: 07846480220 (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad.

Tel. +91 79 2646 5960 Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (M) +91 94266 36912 Email: nilesh.parmar@abplgroup.com Consulting Editor: Bhupatbhai Parekh, Ahmedabad,

where business-owners closed existing account books and open new ones in preparation for the year ahead, and in doing so, also reflected on their spiritual relationship with God. The grand finale was enjoyed through a spectacular fireworks display at 8.30pm in Gibbons Park, across the road from the Mandir. Local councillors Muhammed Butt, and Krupa Sheth, joined the large crowds who had gathered for the vibrant fusion of sound and colour.

The Hindu New Year began on 12 November 2015 with prayers for peace and prosperity across the world. Visitors to the Mandir also witnessed the Annakut – literally, ‘mountain of food’ –

made in thanksgiving to God for his providence over the year past and the year to come. The hundreds of varieties of pure vegetarian food, all artistically arranged, is the largest such devotional offering in Europe.

Continuing the theme of thanksgiving for the New Year, children collected funds for the BBC’s ‘Children in Need’ campaign. The young volunteers engaged enthusiastically with visitors, encouraging all to donate generously. One of the collectors, Kirtan Patel (11), shared, “The Mandir has taught me to think of people less fortunate than ourselves. This campaign gives me a great opportunity to do something positive and make a difference to others.”

Gujarat Tel: +91 79 2630 4142 Urvashi Jagadeesan (India) Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 2012, Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Tel +91 79 2646 5960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 99250 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 98255 11702 Email: neeta_abplgroup@yahoo.co.in Business Co-ordinator: Shrijit Rajan M: +91 98798 82312 Email: shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com International Advertisement Representative: Jain International Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 022 2471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 9311581597

Asian Voice Head Office

Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080, Fax: 020 7749 4081 www.abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

Asian Voice switchboard: 020 7749 4000 Gujarat Samachar switchboard: 020 7749 4080 Advertising Sales: 020 7749 4085 asianVoiceNews AsianVoiceNewsweekly AsianVoiceNews linkedin.com/company/asian-achievers-awards

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Mars and Saturn placement in your chart sets a rather challenging theme.

Although this gives increased potential for tension and conflict with other people, it also means that you are able to confront issues and sort any problems out. If this involves a close relationship, you can now resolve your differences.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 You seem to have an insight into what makes people tick and this understanding nature may help someone to move forward with their life. This week your mind turns to family and the good spiritual values you hold dear. You will get a lot of things done if you discipline yourself and be focused on your task in hand.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 The focus is on finances this week, but that doesn’t mean you should worry yourself sick. Rather, It is about finding new and improved ways to boost your earnings potential. Don’t let nebulous tendencies interfere with your plans. It’s fine to consider several options but don’t get caught up in indecision.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 At home, be at your diplomatic best and try not to tread on anyone's toes.

Passions will run from hot to cold, and relationships may suffer. Even the most strong-willed Virgoans will be more open to compromise to keep the peace. Plan your spending and set sensible budgets to reach your financial goals.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 Relationships look great as Venus and Mars help to enhance your personal magnetism and put you in a gregarious mood. There are subtle transformations taking shape in you life and a feeling of helpful influences in the background. There is much to suggest that you are in tune with your inner self.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 The fiery planet Mars is the moving force in regard to amorous experience, giving more than just a hint that links between lovers will be rather intense and passionate. Your attitude to material interests is likely to undergo some deep change. On a material level the trend greatly favours anything geared towards establishing greater financial stability.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 Venus and Mars transit through your solar eleventh house. This is a good time for networking with friends and work colleagues creating ripples for business or just having a great social life.

If there are any issues with anyone, this is a great time to iron out the differences. Personal freedom is especially important to you right now.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 A wind of change may be in the air; attention should turn to the wider world and benefits come from broadening of horizons and mental stimuli. This is an opportune time to go ahead with your plans. All things considered, your health should be robust. The more you live up to your own set of principles the more you’ll gain.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 Venus and Mars grace your solar ninth house. During this cycle you might become inspired by someone who might awaken a new perspective or way of thinking in you. You could also enjoy a trip, or a new adventure of sorts. In fact, you are attracted to anything that is non-routine and beyond your comfort zone.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 If you're currently romantically involved, your lover could well go from strength to strength in the area of passion. The work that you are involved with at this time is likely to demand a great deal of energy and initiative from you. This will also involve a lot of moving around and a need to establish a wider network of contacts.

www.asian-voice.com

Pakistan refuse to play 'home' series in India AsianVoiceNews

Pakistan have ruled out touring India to play their 'home' bilateral series scheduled in December. A cricket website has quoted Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan as saying that a third 'home' series in India was out of the question.

Khan claimed last week that Board of Control for Cricket in India had invited Pakistan to play a series in India in December.

According to a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the BCCI and PCB in 2014, this is Pakistan's turn to play host. For security reasons, Pakistan play their home matches in the UAE. "There is no question of playing in India. I (am) still awaiting the reason of not playing in UAE," Khan

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

said.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said last week that due to government restrictions, Team India will not travel to play in the UAE. Khan said Pakistan have played two 'home' series in India. With PCB adamant on play host, the December series once again hits a roadblock. "We

went there in 2007 and 2012. This time not again.

It is our series and we will play at our home venue which is the UAE," he reiterated. "What is the problem playing in UAE as they had also played their IPL there as well so why not Pakistan series?"

India have repeatedly thwarted the December

series largely due to terror attacks, allegedly sponsored by Pakistan. Thakur has categorically stated that cricket was impossible in a climate of terror. But things have looked up after Shashank Manohar took charge as BCCI president in October.

More than security reasons, PCB and BCCI are also fighting over broadcast right. Pakistan have a tie-up with TEN Sports while STAR India are the broadcast partners of the wealthy BCCI. After the series with South Africa ends on December 7, India have a month's window to play Pakistan. If the tour gets government nod and the Boards agree on the venue and profit sharing, the series will possibly see ODIs and T20s.

Russia 'suspended' from athletics competitions Sebastian Coe, IAAF president, said Russia would be banned from next year's Olympics unless it convinces the world it has cleaned up its act on doping. The sport's governing body provisionally suspended Russia's track and field federation last week, four days after the country was accused of operating a vast, state-sponsored doping program in a damning report by a World AntiDoping Agency commission.

The move bars Russia from all international track and field competition for an indefinite period, including the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, until the country is judged to have fixed its problems and fallen into line with global anti-doping rules.

Coe called the decision - approved 22-1 in a secret vote of the IAAF council via teleconference - "the toughest sanction we can apply at this time." It's the first time the International Association of Athletics Federations has ever

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar has replaced N Srinivasan as the chairman of ICC, cricket's world governing body.

Manohar had been signalling his intent to take over and it became official when BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur made the announcement after the board's AGM. However, there's a twist in this story. The board also announced that Sharad Pawar will represent India at the ICC

Sebastian Coe

banned a country over its doping failures.

"The whole system has failed the athletes, not just in Russia but around the world," Coe said after a meeting that lasted nearly 3 1/2 hours. "This has been a shameful wake-up call and we are clear that cheating at any level will not be tolerated."

"It makes me angry," added Coe, a two-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion from Britain.

"We find ourselves in a shameful position tonight." Coe, who was elected IAAF president in

August, had been under heavy pressure to take tough action, despite efforts by Russian officials to avoid a blanket ban by agreeing to cooperate and make reforms in their antidoping system.

"This is not about politics, this is about protection of clean athletes," Coe said. "It is why our council has sent such a strong message." Coe said Russia will need to fulfill "a list of criteria" to win reinstatement. An independent inspection team led by Norwegian anti-doping expert Rune Andersen will

be appointed in the next few days to verify Russia's progress.

Still uncertain is whether the Russian federation will be able to reform in time for its athletes to compete at the Rio Games, which run from Aug. 5-21.

"It is entirely up to the Russian federation and Russia to enact those changes," Coe said. "Our verification team will be tough. ... It is for the IAAF and no other organization to make that judgment.

We will get the change that we want and only then will Russian athletes be able to return to competition."

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said he was hopeful Russia would be able to compete at the world indoor championships in Portland, Oregon, from March 1720. "Anyway, the main thing is the Olympics," he said. Unless the Russian federation voluntarily accepts a full suspension, the IAAF will hold a hearing to elevate the provisional penalty to a full suspension.

SPORTWORLD

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

Zimbabwe stun Bangladesh to draw T20 series

Neville Madziva hit 18 runs in the last over as Zimbabwe pulled off a nail-biting three-wicket victory against Bangladesh in the second Twenty20 international to level the two-match series in Dhaka last week.

Madziva first starred with his pace bowling and then made the most of a reprieve to score an unbeaten 28 runs to steer Zimbabwe to 136-7 in 19.5 overs, after the visitors restricted Bangladesh to 135-9 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Bangladesh, who won the preceding one-day series 3-0, almost sealed off another clean-sweep when Nasir Hossain dismissed Malcolm Waller in the first ball of the last over, but Madziva hit the off-spinner for 6, 2, 4, and 6 off the next four balls to stun the home crowd.

Madziva was caught behind for 10 in the previous over off medium pacer Mustafizur Rahman, but the right-hander was called back after television replays showed Rahman had overstepped. Waller made 40 off 27 balls with two fours and three sixes and shared 55 runs in the sixth wicket stand with Luke Jongwe (34) as Zimbabwe recovered from a wobbly 39-5 to win the game. The victory ended Zimbabwe's 13-match losing streak against Bangladesh in all formats of the game.

Mitchell Johnson retires from test

Mitchell Johnson, the Australia fast bowler will retire from international cricket at the conclusion of the second Test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth. Johnson, 34, has struggled in both the Tests, taking just five wickets at an average of over 60. He picked up four wickets for 163 runs in the first Test in Brisbane last week, which got Johnson contemplating his future, and figures of 1157 in New Zealand's first innings in the second Test, the most expensive by an Australian bowler in a Test at the WACA, finally led to him taking the call. "I feel now is the best time to say goodbye," Johnson said. "I have been lucky enough to have had a wonderful career and enjoyed every moment of playing for my country. It's been an incredible ride." Born and raised in Queensland, Johnson ended up playing his state cricket for Western Australia and it is fitting that he played his 73rd and final Test at the WACA. "The ride has to come to an end at some point and to do so here at the WACA is very special. I've given the decision a lot of thought. Beyond this match, I'm just not sure that I can continue competing consistently at the level required to wear the baggy green." In a career spanning a decade, Johnson bagged 589 wickets since his debut for Australia against New Zealand at Christchurch in December 2005.

A two-time World Cup Winner - 2007 and 2015 - Johnson was named the 2009 and 2014 International Cricket Council (ICC) Player of the Year. With 313 Test wickets, Johnson is the fourth-highest wicket-taker for Australia after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, and Dennis Lillee.

Yuvraj finds his love in Hazel

After denying it several times, Yuvraj Singh and Hazel Keech have finally started talking about their relationship.

After posting pictures of their engagement, the duo has finally written as to what they feel about each other on their respective Twitter handles. While Yuvraj wrote, "Yes I am engaged cause I found a friend for life in @hazelkeech as mom says a reflection of her," Hazel soon followed it up by tweeting, "Yes, its true, im getting married.”

Shashank Manohar is ‘new’ ICC chairman

as an alternate to Manohar whenever the latter is unavailable. According to sources, the decision to bring Pawar on board as Manohar's alternate took quite some time coming at the AGM. Pawar, a former BCCI and ICC president, doesn't hold any current official position in the BCCI other than being a member of the Working Committee by virtue of his being the

Shashank Manohar

Mumbai Cricket Association president. It is highly likely now that with Manohar handling key BCCI responsibilities, Pawar may become India's more frequent face at the ICC. India will get only seven months at the helm of ICC given that Srinivasan's tenure as chairman was to end in June 2016.

With the World Twenty20 coming

31

up in March-April next year, it could still be a busy period. In a statement, the ICC acknowledged the change at the top but said it was yet to receive an official message. “The ICC notes media reports, but it is yet to receive an official notification from the BCCI regards its decision to change its nominee to the ICC board,” it said.

“I never aspired for this position,” said Manohar. “I have not been in contact with the ICC the last five years,” he

added. The board president, however, did elaborate on Pawar's appointment.“There is a system in the ICC that every country has to nominate an alternate director...Pawar has been nominated as the alternative,” he said.

Apart from being the BCCI president and the ICC chairman, the only other committee that Manohar will be heading in the BCCI is the disciplinary committee, along with Jyotiraditya Scindia and Niranjan Shah.

32

SPORT

twitter.com/AsianVoiceNews

www.facebook.com/AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Asian Voice | 21st November 2015

India - SA 2nd test heading for draw www.asian-voice.com

With only one day's play remaining, the only result is a tame draw with India winning the first test

The second test match between India and South Africa being played at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru is heading for a tame draw as play was abandoned without a ball being bowled for the third successive day on Tuesday.

Incessant rains, which had washed out play on the second and third days, relented to allow the ground staff at the stadium to work on the drenched outfield despite overcast skies.

The umpires decided to resume the match at 2 pm, but another sharp shower brought the covers back on the pitch and led to another wasted day for the players and fans. With just the final day's play remaining weather permitting - the Test is headed for a tame draw. Play took place only on the first day on Saturday when South Africa were shot out for 214 after being sent in to

bat, and India replied with 80 for no loss by stumps.

India lead the four-match series after securing a 108run win in the first Test in Mohali earlier this month.

The third Test is to be played in Nagpur from November 25.

India win first test Three days is all it took for India to ensure that

South Africa's morale would crumble like the pitch on offer at Mohali in the first Test. Though the Indian captain and his leading players spent all three days of the game lamenting the media spotlight on the playing surface, there is no doubt the snare was set with intense deliberation and was

intended to attract enough attention to play on the minds of the visitors - this is, after all, the fourth straight three-day finish in a Test on Indian soil.

South Africa knew they would be caught like rats in a trap and kept themselves in the game right till the start of their second innings on Saturday, but

the inexperience of a majority of their batsmen in these conditions meant they were incapable of engineering an escape.

Add to that the doubtful play of some of their more experienced campaigners and India can congratulate themselves on a well-executed win.

The 108-run victory, when it did come with Ravindra Jadeja dismissing Imran Tahir to complete a five-wicket haul and a dream comeback, would have come as a huge relief for an Indian team

management desperate to knock the sails out of a South Africa team buoyant after wins in the ODI and T20 series.

The surface, though not a rank turner, was dry, loose and pliant enough for the spinners on both sides to keep the traditional ebb and flow of Test cricket safely at bay: in keeping with the trend, a total of 18 wickets fell on the third day and both sides suffered disconcerting batting collapses involving their primary batsmen.