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INDIA
Asian Voice - Saturday 21st April 2012
Shah Rukh's detention: US apologises, India talks tough In Focus The US customs and border protection authorities have expressed "profound" apologies for the Shah Rukh Khan detention incident. However, taking the incident seriously, India’s external affairs minister SM Krishna has asked the Indian ambassador to US, Nirupama Rao, to take up the matter with the authorities. Reacting strongly to the detention, Krishna said it has become a policy of detention and apology by the US which cannot continue. Earlier, Shah Rukh Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University. While Nita, wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, and the rest of their group were cleared immediately, Khan was stopped and was given immigration clearance only after about two hours.
46-year-old Khan was to address a press conference at 2pm and deliver his lecture at 4pm at the Yale University. However, he arrived for the press meet three hours behind schedule and his hour-long lecture started at about 6pm."Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom," Khan said with some sarcasm addressing the students at the University.
He added that he always has his "small victories" even in such circumstances. "They (immigration officials) always ask me how tall I am and I always lie and say 5 feet 10 inches. Next time I am going to get more adventurous. (If they ask me) What colour are you, I am going to say white," Khan said. Earlier, when informed about Khan being held up at the White Plains airport in New York, Yale University officials "contacted and spoke with officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of US Immigration and Customs in Washington," the sources said. They added that Khan was "very very upset" at the episode and it "took time for the university officials to make him comfortable again." The Rt. Hon Keith Vaz, the Chairman of the UK's influential Home Affairs Committee has written to his
opposite number in the United States Congress urging better international cooperation to avoid any further embarrassing incidents such as the detention on Friday for two hours of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. Mr Vaz has received similar complaints in the past of British Indians of the highest integrity arriving in the USA who have been subjected to similar treatment. Vaz said "Every country has the right to protect its border. The USA , the UK and India are allies in the fight against terrorism and crime. There are ample examples of the three countries working together but incidents such as the one we have seen on Friday with Shah Rukh Khan mirror other occasions when prominent people of Indian origin are subjected to lengthy questioning after a very long flight. The US authorities were right to issue a quick apology.
BJP wins, Congress drubbed in Delhi civic polls Capitalising on issues of corruption and price rise, BJP on Tuesday trumped Congress to retain its hold in the Delhi municipal polls winning North and East Corporations and is set to capture South where it has emerged as the single-largest group. The BJP victory came as a shock to chief minister Sheila Dikshit of the Congress who has been ruling the capital for the last nearly 14 years uninterruptedly and trifurcated the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in a bid to weaken the saffron party's hold.
But the victory in the elections to the newly-created three municipal bodies was not as comprehensive in 2007 as BJP won only 138 out of 272 wards losing 26 seats from its earlier tally of 164 in 2007. Congress tally went up from 64 to 78 seats. BJP captured North and East Corporations with a clear majority while it got 44, nine short of majority in the 104-member House in South Corporation. The party may hope to muster a majority with help from independents who have bagged 14 wards.
In North Delhi Corporation, BJP romped home with 59 seats in the 104-member strong body while Congress lagged behind at 29. BSP won seven seats while RLD four, LJP one and independents four. At the end of counting of votes, South Delhi Corporation remained a hung house with BJP emerging victorious in 44 wards while Congress bagged 30 seats. BSP won five, NCP five, INLD three, JD(U) one, RLD one besides 14 independents.
But the real shocker for Congress came in its stronghold East Delhi Corporation where BJP came up with an impressive victory, winning 35 out of 64 wards. Congress was behind with 19 seats, INLD six, SP one and independents three. Congress was quick to downplay the defeat saying MCD polls should only be seen as civic polls while BJP attributed its victory to a country-wide wave against Congress which failed to contain price rise and rampant corruption.
Asian companies shine in Britain Continued from page 1 Under managing director Majid Hussain, the Blackburn firm’s profits have grown 76% a year, from £988,000 in 2008 to £5.4m in 2011. Thirty ninth on the list is 99p Stores, discount dealer, which is expanding internationally with its first shop in Dublin. Founded by chief executive Nadir Lalani in 2001, this retailer runs discount stores that sell items from toothpaste to padlocks for 99p. The business has tripled in size over the past three years and now has 176 stores in Britain. It opened its first overseas shop in Dublin in September, called !uro 50 Stores. Barclays Ventures holds a 25% stake following two investments, in 2004 and 2006, totalling £4m. Economies of scale since it opened a 4m sq ft warehouse in 2010 have helped profits to grow 72% a year, from £1.4m in 2008 to £7.2m in 2011. 53rd on the list is OneE Tax, tax planning specialist. Its latest tax solution cost £1m to create, most of which went on barristers' fees, Former Deloitte employee Sufyan Ismail founded this Bolton company in 2006. Its products enable clients to cut tax bills legitimately by investing in commercial enterprises such as infrastructure projects or small entrepreneurial firms. Clients
Moni Varma
Nadir Lalani
Sufyan Ismail
come mainly through accountancy firms that do not possess the financial means or incentive to create the products themselves but which receive a commission from OneE Tax for the sale. Developing these marketing channels has encouraged profit growth at the company of 60% a year, from an annualised £1.8m in 2007 to an annualised £7.6m in 2010. 58th on the list is Veetee Rice, rice wholesaler and distributor. The Kent firm imports rice from around the world, including India, Pakistan, Thailand and America and sells it to all big UK supermarkets. Founded by Moni Varma in 1987, the firm attributes its success to refocusing the business in 2007 and it now looks to continue growth by investment in IT. Veetee Rice has lifted profits by 57% a year, from £1.3m in 2007 to £5m in 2010. Varma also owns sister company Veetee Foods. 62nd on the list is B&M
Retail discount retailer. It has recently acquired 11 outlets from the collapsed DIY chain Focus. Other than Asians companies the private company that was topping the list is Partnership Life assurance specialist, that provides financial products for the people whose illness has cut their life expectancy. The annual league table, now in its 13th year, ranks companies according to growth in profits over the last three years of available audited accounts. This year’s league table features wellknown brands such as shoe maker Dr Martens (No 8), child car seat maker Britax Childcare (No 19), lifestyle retailer Cath Kidston (No 47), shirt maker Charles Tyrwhitt (No 67), cinema operator Vue (No 77), and café operator Patisserie Valerie (No 79). Specialist insurer Partnership, which makes its first appearance this year, takes the top spot. The com-
pany sells long-term care plans, life assurance and equity release schemes as well as annuities exclusively to people whose life expectancy is significantly shortened due to medical conditions. Growing demand and backing from private equity house Cinven helped it grow profits on an average of 211% a year over three years to £37.7m in 2010. Despite tough economic conditions, the 100 companies on the league table grew their profits over the last three years by an average of 70% a year to combined profits of £1.2bn. Together they employ 60,750 staff, having added 23,600 employees to their workforce over the period, some as a result of acquisitions. The Profit Track 100 league table is sponsored by PwC, Lloyds Bank Wholesale Banking & Markets, and UBS Wealth Management. It is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based networking events and research company.
Gujarat riots: 18 get life imprisonment
A designated Special Investigation Team (SIT) court pronounced the quantum of sentence in the Ode massacre case in which 23 people were found guilty of killing 23 Muslims in the Ode town of central Gujarat during the 2002 riots. Judge Poonam Singh punished 18 persons, guilty of murder, with life imprisonment and five others, guilty of attempt to murder, with seven-year jail term. The charges of conspiracy, rioting, arson, unlawful assembly, destruction of evidence etc were common to all 23 convicts. All the convicts were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment. The accused remained silent and calm in the courtroom when the judge pronounced quantum of punishment. The entire campus was in an uproar as the agitated relatives shouted slogans against the judiciary and chief minister Narendra Modi. While a family claimed alibi for a convict, a girl Dhruti Patel said that her father, Dilip Vinu Patel, was mentally unstable and was wrongly implicated in the case.
Chisti released from Ajmer jail
After spending over 14 months in jail, 80year-old ailing Pakistani scientist Mohammed Khalil Chisti was released on bail from Ajmer jail in a two-decade-old murder case and said he wanted to return to his homeland soon. “I am happy to be out of the jail. I believe in God and thank him. My wish is to see my family members in Pakistan as soon as possible,” Dr. Chisti, who was granted bail by the Supreme Court said as his brother Jamil Chisti and cousin Aaiyad Anwar-ul-Haq along with others gave him a warm welcome on stepping out of Ajmer central jail.
India's private schools ordered to reserve places for poor
The order was made by the country's Supreme Court after some resistance to the government's Right to Education bill 2009 which made primary education compulsory for all children more than 60 years after the country became independent. The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill will create a three year school building programme and end the powers of government officials to award places to favoured families. Campaigners say the proof of the government's commitment will be in its funding for new schools and training for thousands of new teachers in a sector where many expect to be paid without turning up to teach. But the impact of the bill will be felt most keenly be India's elite private schools. Several private schools mounted a legal challenge to the bill, but their objections were overruled by India's Supreme Court in a move which heralds a caste and class revolution in some of the Indian establishment's most cherished institutions.
India extends visa of US historian Heehs
Indian Government has extended the visa of controversial US historian Peter Heehs for one year, ignoring calls to deny him continued residence after some groups objected to his portrayal of Sri Aurobindo. Heehs has been informed about the extension that will allow him to stay in India till April 15, 2013. Several prominent authors, intellectuals and academics had protested the move to deny him an extension on his visa. The case reached the desk of Union home minister P Chidambaram last month, who cleared his visa extension.
Supreme Court wants VIP quota for Haj to go
The Supreme Court said that the VIP quota in Haj pilgrimage should not go on perpetually. An apex court bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam said that the government has proposed a Haj quota of one plus nine for VIPs, but it should come down to one plus three and eventually should be avoided. The court said this in the course of a hearing of petitions by Haj tour operators. The court is examining the VIP quota component of the Haj policy. Haj subsidy to become once in lifetime affair. This will ensure that the Haji will benefit from government subsidy only once in his/ her lifetime.