www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 14th February 2015
Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar hosts Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama at Shakti Hall
Kamal Rao
Gujarat minister of Education (Primary, Secondary and Adult), Higher and Technical Education, Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Science and T e c h n o l o g y B h u p e n d r a s i n h Chudasama and Additional Chief Secretary (Primary & Secondary Education) Arvind Agrawal were given a warm welcome by Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar at Shakti Hall, Karma Yoga House, on 22nd January. The ceremony started with a networking event followed by Gujarati vegetarian dinner and songs by Arpan Patel to commemorate India’s Republic Day. Chudasama was touched by the greetings and exclaimed, “These moments would forever become memorable to me.’’ He began his inaugural address by expressing his deep appreciation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked if they would be interested to know more about Modi. Talking about his relationship with Modi, he added that they have been known to each other since 1974 (in times of crisis). Chudasama said that Modi was blessed with some divine energy. He said that the independent India in her 67 years of history has never witnessed such incredible phenomenon and transformations so far as it can be seen under Modi’s reign. ‘‘The one who has never contested for the post of Sarpanch directly becomes a chief minister and the one who has never been an MP today becomes the Prime Minister,’’ Chudasama added. Chudasama praised Modi for his ideology of bringing permanent solutions to the problems. Outlining the development across rural areas, he says, ‘‘today even the remotest villages receive 24 hours water and electricity. Thanks to Jyotigram Yojana which has made available an array of facilities to enriching the villages and thereby quite a few people are now migrating to the rural areas.’’ Giving instances of a solar power panel which was installed over a canal near Vadodara, he said that this project saved large quantity of water and produced electricity worth over Rs 20 million. Highlighting the transformations being carried out by the Gujarat government, he said that our officers nowadays personally visit the villages on the occasions such as
Bhupendrasinh Chudasama
Lord Navnit Dholkia
Lord Raj Loomba Arvind Agrawal
Independent Day which in itself was unique. Giving emphasise to the spirit of sportsmanship among youth, he said that we have given a glittering start to ‘Khel Mahakumbh’. Recalling the fresh initiative being undertaken to resume direct AhmedabadLondon flight, Chudasama asserted that they were also supporting the demand. He added that he has also written two letters concerning the demand for direct flight. He stated though Modi was all concerned with the issues of corruption, terrorism and so on, he surely would look into your demand sympathetically. Lastly Chudasama expressed his deep gratitude to everyone present for preserving their love for the native languages as well as showing their love for the nation. Arvind Agarwal said that the whole nation is on the way to being developed the way Gujarat has been progressed under Modi’s chief ministership. He thanked the people of Gujarat for being a key driving force behind revolutionising the state. Outlining the development in the field of education, Agrawal said that the youth of Gujarat has huge growth potentials due to various universities that are being established in the state. “The Prime Minister is on the go to revolutionising our education by sending our fellow teachers abroad in a bid to help us keep pace with the latest and most influential pedagogies,’’ he added. Lord Dolar Popat said that the support for Modi had rightly kick-started from Britain but unfortunately he had not visited UK yet. He also raised his concern about the hike in visa fees by the Indian government. Responding to Lord Popat's concern, Agrawal said that Prime Minister Modi could not visit the
Lord Dolar Popat
Navin Shah
country due to forthcoming general elections in the UK. He further added that Modi initially preferred to visit only neighbouring countries for either G-20 or other summits. He has never been to any other country except Japan for his official visit. And regarding the visa fees, Agrawal explained that it’s the Indian students who are left in a dilemma following huge fees increase by the UK Immigration. Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, Lord Navnit Dholkia and Member of London Assembly Navinbhai Shah also addressed the gathering. News editor of Gujarat Samachar Kamal Rao and Associate Editor of Asian Voice Rupanjana Dutta briefed about their weekly newspapers to the gathered audience. The event concluded with India’s national anthem. The function was attended by Peers such as Lord Raj Loomba, Mayor of Southwark Cllr Sunil Chopra, entrepreneurs, professionals and community and organisational heads such as: Dhimant Trivedi, Chief Executive, European Operations of Bank of Baroda, Lohana leader Sije Rabheru, Kantibhai Nagada from Sangat Centre, President of Overseas Friends of BJP UK Lalubhai Parekh, Sanjay Kadiya, Manubhai Ramji from Kings Kitchen, Ragsudha Vinjamuri, journalist, Professor of Southampton University and former President of Maharashtra Mandal Sunil Raptawar, Lucrum Consultancy founder Milind Kangale, Avinash Tiwari from Vishwa Hindu Parishad Ilford, Vinayaben Sharma, Hinaben Vadgama from Universal Estate, Ravi Bhanot, Manish Tiwari from Here and Now, officials from British Council and others. Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, Prmediapix
INDIA
40 expats visit Karamsad's Shree Krishna hospital
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A group of 40 expats from Dharma, Karamsad, Bhadran and other villages of Charotar visited Karamsad-based Shree Krishna Hospital on January 17. Prominent among those present were Surendrabhai Patel, Maharbhai Patel, Praveenaben Patel, Kamleshbhai Patel and Kantibhai Patel all of Dhasol and Virendrabhai Patel. There were also a couple of guests from the USA - Vishubhai Patel from Newyork and Dineshbhai Patel from West Springfield, Massachusetts. The group was addressed by Dr Amrita Patel, Chairman of Charutar Arogya Mandal which manages the hospital and Jagrutbhai Bhatt, the Honorary Secretary of the Mandal. Amritaben spoke of the evolution of the Mandal and the long struggle it underwent to remain an upright, honest and transparent institution, while at the same time become one of the finest healthcare facility and educational centre in the country. She mentioned that the Mandal could never have managed to do so well without the support and generous contribution of the community, especially the people of Charotar. Jagrutbhai mentioned that while so far over 95% of the funding of the Mandal has been domestic, the Mandal is confident that in times of need, there would be far greater contribution from the community abroad. He said that the visit of
team to the Mandal last year in June, which also included Amritaben, was not only noteworthy in respect of the amount of funds that we so generously committed in a matter of a few days, but the warmth and enthusiasm with which the team was received. Surendrabhai said that there were still some Gold rooms in the newly constructed Privilege Centre, for which a contribution of GBP 10,000 per room is determined and requested all present to not only contribute generously but also encourage their relatives and friends to do so. Manharbhai requested all present to provide names and addresses of their acquaintances in the UK so that a directory could be created for the Mandal to send regular updates on the developments and r e q u i r e m e n t s . Virendrabhai Patel generously announced a further contribution of GBP 15,000 to the Mandal on the occasion. After the meeting, the
group visited various facilities of the hospital, including a ward, its Cardiac and Cancer Centres as well the new Privilege Centre. While the group was very appreciative of the level and upkeep of the facilities, especially the spotlessly floors and walls, it was the Privilege Centre that received the most effusive praise. The Privilege Centre, with its exclusive out-patient services called Privilege Day Care, its preventive health check-up programmes, named Hello Health, its very wellappointed Gold Rooms with facilities to make patients and relatives comfortable such as television, refrigerator and microwave with an attached wash room and couch for relatives and the large and elegantly prepared Platinum and Diamond Suites, has started full-fledged operations only recently, but even in this short time, has received overwhelming response from the community.
The Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow all residents and non-residents to carry Indian currency notes up to Rs 25,000 while leaving the country. They can also bring Indian currency up to Rs 25,000 into India every time they visit. However, citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh travelling to and from India will not be allowed to carry Indian currency. Resident individuals travelling to Nepal and Bhutan will also not be allowed to carry Indian currency. Till recently, only Indian residents were allowed to take Indian currency abroad; non-resident Indians (NRIs) were neither permitted to take out nor bring in any Indian currency while entering or leaving India. You don’t need Indian rupees while abroad, but you may need it when you return. The increased limit to Rs 25,000 can be useful for various purposes - it
can cover the cost of transportation on reaching India, hotel stay, buying a SIM card or even buying gifts at duty-free shops at an Indian airport. Say, you plan to go to a small town and your international flight lands in Delhi. This extra cash will allow you to cover the cost of your long journey. It can also come in handy in case of an emergency. But with ATM easily accessible, is this cash really needed? Yes, for various reasons. You can convert the cash into foreign currency in your destination country if you didn’t have the chance to do so while departing from India. Moreover, some people may not be comfortable using their ATM cards in another country for reasons of safety or the extra charges involved. This may be especially useful for frequent travellers as it will save them from having to rush to a foreign exchange counter every time they visit India.
Since its first outbreak in 2009, Ahmedabad city registered 61 new cases, the highest number of swine flu patients on a single day, in Gujarat on Sunday. The state also registered 11 deaths as well as 117 new H1N1 positive cases - the highest till now. This has taken the death toll to 88. Ahmedabad registered a single death on Sunday that of an 82-year-old man from Gota area. Among the patients who have been confirmed of H1N1, five are below four years of age, including a one-year-old girl. The deadly disease is assuming mammoth proportions and is already worrying the state health department. According to an official report, three people died in Vadodara on Sunday, two each in Kutch and Surat while one death each was reported from Dahod, Narmada, Ahmedabad and Surendranagar.
Dr Amrita Patel with visiting NRIs
Now, expats too can carry Swine flu toll to 88 in up to Rs 25,000 abroad rises Gujarat