AV 16th July 2016

First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe Vol 45 | Issue 11

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16th July to 22nd July 2016

Just when it seemed Westminster was settling into a long summer of party elections, Andrea Leadsom, one of the leadership contestants, withdrew from the race to succeed David Cameron, making Theresa May the only and the final Prime Ministerial candidate.

As we went to press on Tuesday, Asian Voice learnt that Mr Cameron will attend his last Question Time as the Prime Minister of Britain and then head to Buckingham Palace to hand over his resignation to the Queen.

The Queen who is currently staying at Sandringham is due to be back in London on Wednesday by 1pm, delaying the meeting with Mr Cameron for the formal handover.

She has to appoint the new Prime Minister to lead her government and once Theresa May takes over, she would be the 13th Prime Minister under the Queen's reign.

This would make Theresa May the second woman PM of Britain. Incidentally, the first woman PM, Margaret Thatcher, was also from the Tory party.

Now constantly compared with Thatcher, the longest serving Home Secretary, Mrs May promised to build a "better Britain" as the PM and has pledged to “forge a new role� for Britain outside the EU. Speaking outside Parliament, Mrs May said she was "honoured and humbled" to succeed David Cameron. A Remain camp supporter, her statement 'Brexit means Brexit' has been the first clear leadership message after the EU Referendum.

Andrea Leadsom who initially had an edge over Mrs May stood down allegedly after her comment in The Times about motherhood and children misfired, though she claims she was misquoted.

Continued on page 17

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Modi's 4-nation Africa visit a grand success

BUILDING BRIDGES: Indian PM Narendra Modi with Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli WELL DONE DEAR: Husband Philip May kisses Theresa May as she is declared the new Prime Minister of Britain

In a visit that came within eight months of India hosting heads of state and governments of 41 African countries, and representatives of all 54 African states in the Indian Capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set off on a 4-nation tour of the African continent on July 7th. His first visit to the Continued on page 26

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ONE ONE with Keith Vaz, MP

Asian Voice |16th July 2016

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to

Rakesh Shah

Rakesh is a professional financial markets trader and portfolio manager. He has a passion for finance and investing and since the early 1990’s worked in a number of Global investment banks in the UK and the US. He left in 2005 to set up Ten Point Trading, a trading systems and training company to help traders and investors successfully navigate the markets, and also Kingly Capital, a professional asset management firm dedicating to help family offices and investment firms with trading systems for buying and selling currencies, commodities and equities.

Rakesh is also the Communications Director (on a voluntary basis) for a charity, ISKCON-London (also known as the ‘Hare Krishnas’), based at the Radha Krishna Temple in Soho, London. Here he shares the ideals of life based on ‘simple living and high thinking’ from the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness and the Bhagavad Gita.

1) What is your current position?

I am currently trading and investing each day in financial markets at Kingly Capital. Part of this involves designing and building trading systems. I have spoken at hundreds of events over the last 20 years to both professionals and private investors on the science of successful trading and investing, paying particular focus on how your personality will affect your results.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Over the years, as well as benefiting from the markets personally, I have helped hundreds of people to achieve their financial ambitions and objectives. This has enabled many people to become free of their prior daily work commitments and use the free time to explore lives of their

own choice and making. I am very blessed to have been given the chance to support the Hare Krishnas and Vedic leaders in hundreds of programmes we have delivered to give people a better quality life.

3) What inspires you?

Seeing the transformation that yoga has brought to society by leading a dharmic and sattvic life through the practical application of philosophy in everyday life. I wish everyone could experience this. I really like TED Talks and there is a great mobile phone app that lets you catch up on them during small breaks.

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

Challenging the status quo that to win in business, another person does not have to significantly lose out. The issue is that holistically (dharmically speaking), thinking win, win often

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

Firstly, gratitude to my parents who have been invaluable guides. Next I have taken inspiration from many disciples of the late A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and especially a thought provoking international speaker Jeffrery Armstrong based in Vancouver, Canada, who left a successful Silicon Valley executive job in the early 70’s to become a philosopher and vedic practitioner bridging the gap between the east and west in both corporate and personal life.

A day with him can really change your life. I would have never believed this until I did it!

Check him out. Once you know who you really are and how your brain works, you are really in control of your own destiny (and blissfully happy in the process).

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

I really enjoy meeting new people and discussing the financial challenges they face and the solutions available. I coach many students on a one to one basis and this is very rewarding to see the change in their characters from start to finish.

Financial markets offer new opportunities every day, but in my personal opinion, the most valuable commodity in life is not money but time and my current role allows me to do things out-

and chased through the streets, eventually hit by a meat cleaver and a knife.

The victim is also reported to have shouted a warning at a stumped passer-by saying, "He's got a knife. He wants to kill me. Be careful." The attack took place

after Samad, who ran takeaway Curry in a Hurry, was asked by an alleged group of Bengali businessmen in east London to be an intermediary in a dispute with the Stoke Newington Boys, and he refused to get involved. He suffered 18 separate chopping and knife wounds in the attack and died in the early hours of the following morning from a heart attack during emergency surgery.

Rahman continues to deny participating in the murder, insisting he had nothing to do with the killing.

The trial continues.

Not all cheers at Wimbledon A Sikh tennis lover who wishes to remain anonymous was requested to leave the overnight camping queue at this year’s Wimbledon because he was ‘making other people feel uncomfortable’. Taking to Facebook, his posted ‘Kicked out of the overnight camping line for centre court Wimbledon line “because you make some people around you uncomfortable, so we’re gonna have to report you and ask you to leave immediately,

sir”.

The Sikh gentleman who wears a turban and aspires to be a sportsman explained on Facebook, ‘All I wanted was to peacefully chill and patiently await an opportunity to re-enter the hallowed grounds and see the decorated surface while Roger and Milos scamper and glide across it.’

A spokesperson for Wimbledon said: “We can confirm that a gentleman was asked to leave the Queue at 4.42am this

morning (Friday) after a number of complaints from his fellow queuers about his behaviour. He has previously been warned about his conduct in the queue on up to six separate occasions during this year’s Championships. We do acknowledge, however, that in this instance the event safety staff could have provided a better explanation to him. Happily, the same person has been in the Grounds today (Friday) watching the tennis.’

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Culture’ in London for people to learn Vedic teaching on a practical level to improve the quality of life and showcase beautiful art of all forms.

does not result in the most profitable outcome, but the whole system is set up to ignore this and profitability is the number one and only objective in most situations. It’s a major challenge in both corporate and western mind-set. Maybe I should write a book on this one day.

Curry house owner faces trial A takeaway man was brutally killed on the street by a rival restaurant owner after two businesses entered into a rather vioFoyjur lent dispute.

Rahman, 44, stands trial for alleged murder at the Old Bailey, and is accused of being involved in a knife attack that resulted in the death of Abdul Samad, 25, in 1997. Samad was reportedly lured to the house of then-Solicitor General Lord Falconer, with a fake food order on May 21, 97.

He was attacked by masked men before he could knock on the door of the house,

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side of work that I know will have a huge positive impact on the lives of both my family and the local community.

7) And the worst?

Hearing the stories of many investors and traders that have lost small and big fortunes that had started trading the markets with often unrealistic (false) plans sold to them by many of the crooked (so-called experts) in the financial markets. I can tell you that the bitter loss of losing hard earned money is far more painful than any happiness gained by earning money in the financial markets. Taking a calculated risk is necessary in investing, but following an impossible dream is a tragedy.

8) What are your long term goals?

I will continue to grow my financial business and I am currently working hard on funding a project to set up a ‘Vedic Academic Centre of Science Arts and

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

I would change the transparency of the political system by educating each and every individual on how the political system works as a compulsory module in the school system. I would also make sure education included lessons on how to live a good life, understanding the importance of why philosophy, culture, art and creativity bind together to make a beautiful society. Many of the problems we face today, can be solved by the youth of the tomorrow if they are properly equipped to know their purpose of being here.

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

I would dream to spend some time with William Shakespeare, probably regarded as one of the greatest poets in modern history. I have always been fascinated with his ability to use words to express meaning and ideas. I always wonder, where did he get all those brilliant stories from and how amazing to have created so many words, in common use today in the modern world.

Really he was a genius.

Corbyn’s leadership ruling to test Labour’s fate Jeremy Corbyn is perhaps marked the worst Labour leader in the party's history. The turmoil within the 116-year-old party, which governed Britain for 13 years until 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is under doldrum with the country's political landscape changing fast.

He has lost the confidence of his MPs, sacrificed the support of Labour's traditional working class, including the support of the British Indians, who for generations had backed the party. His Commons performance has been disastrous, media appearance worse and seems to be devoid of inspiration or new ideas.

As we went to Press, he awaited the verdict on his fate- if he has the automatic right to defend himself from a Leadership challenge. If the ruling goes against Corbyn he could struggle to find enough lawmakers to support his bid, given that Labour MPs have already passed a motion of no-confidence in

him by a margin of 172 to 40. But Corbyn retains strong support among the party's rank-and-file members.

As Labour looks to define its priorities for the upcoming negotiations, rival MP Angela Eagle has triggered a leadership contest, saying Corbyn has failed to connect with voters and is not capable of winning a national election. But Corbyn has backlashed saying that he will not resign, citing the overwhelming mandate he won from the party's grassroots members when they elected him as the leader in September last year. This

has sparked fears that the party could split, like in 1980s, and dilute the centre-left influence over Brexit negotiations.

Hundreds of Labour supporters ar ealso rallying behind a Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire because of her refusal to continue to back Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.

The party's internal strife has fuelled tensions among its supporters too, and police said on Tuesday Eagle's constituency office in northern England had been vandalised. Corbyn said he and other lawmakers had received death threats.

C MMENTS

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Asian Voice |16th July 2016

Iraq: Sins of the past catching up The report by the Sir John Chilcot on the British Government’s decision to join the United States in its projected war with Iraq in 2003 has been seven years in the making. The report is 2.5 million words long and covers 13 volumes. Its core is a damning indictment of then Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s judgment and conduct in the initiation of hostilities, based on faulty intelligence and the deceits practiced by him and his government in presenting the need for war to the British public, which was overwhelmingly opposed to any such conflict, as the million-strong monster demonstration in London amply demonstrated. Other protest occurred the country.

The Chilcot report alludes to the catastrophic consequences of the Anglo-American intervention in Iraq; to the thousands of Iraqi lives lost. of hideous injuries inflicted, the millions displaced and, not least, the yawning sectarian divide that that continues to claim the lives of Iraqi citizens. Amidst this carnage 179 British lives were lost, families were bereaved. Many of the servicemen and women who escaped death carry the horrific wounds whose scars they bear, their lives blighted forever. Chilcot refers to the cynical way in which the United Nations was bypassed and the authority of the Security Council eroded. The peaceful avenues to achieve a possible peace were not sufficiently explored, while the Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction – the excuse for war – turned out to be a blatant falsehood.

It is on the whole a chilling document over which Parliament and the British people must now ruminate. There is a serious trust deficit among the people about the honesty and conduct of their country’s politicians and the workings of its institutions.

Britain can no longer live in a state of denial about a national, regional and global tragedy. Those responsible for it must surely be brought to justice. The erring Tony Blair admitted to faulty intelligence and failures of judgment down the line, perversely holding to the view that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was right and that Iraq was on the painful walk to democracy. The enterprise was nothing less

than a crime against Iraqi humanity, a fact never acknowledged with an appeal for God’s mercy, such as a religious man like Blair would be expected to do.

It is part of the arrogance of the Anglo-American leadership to refrain from apologizing, whether it be for the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the carpet bombing and chemical defoliation of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Let us proceed to examine the awful consequences of the Iraq war and the colonial occupation of the country and the total destruction of its infrastructure. The recent explosions in the heart of Baghdad by Islamic State suicide bombers have claimed 300 lives at the time of writing. Lebanon.

Syria, Turkey and now Saudi Arabia face IS violence, whether it be in Istanbul, Mosul or Medina, the second holiest site in the Islamic world. There appears to no end to the agonies of Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now Bangladesh; also the biblical exodus to Europe. It is blowback, for sure.

America, Britain, France must bear the burden of the cross of predatory policies that refracted Cold War realpolitik. The Polish American Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser, boasted how the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistani and China monetized jihad in a bid to assist the Soviet Union’s demise. .

However, there is another deeper truth to consider. The terrorism that haunts democratic, secular societies today was conceived in a messianic holy writ, a magnet for thousands of young people from every Islamic community to take up arms against unbelievers. The reform that is required to deal with the poison must come mainly from within the global Islamic body politic.

Fear of being branded Islamophobic or racist must no longer induce enforced silence. The voices of brave and resolute Muslim-born women, such as Taslima Nasreen and Ayan Hirsi Ali, who live abroad as exiles, have highlighted the abuses prevalent in Muslim societies. Reared in these societies, they have first-hand experiences of their workings. Listen carefully to what they have to say. Chilcot has opened a can of worms.

Narendra Modi: Stellar politician and CEO No Indian politician has dominated Indian politics since Indira Gandhi in her prime as Narendra Modi. He burst upon the national firmament in 2013, fought a brilliant election campaign and brought the BJP to power almost singlehandedly, with an absolute majority in Parliament.

His mission is simple in its audacity: it is to remake India into a modern country with a dynamic economy.

This requires intuition and a strategic vision; in other words, the mindset of a determined visionary and CEO. Without his leadership and administrative skills, the BJP and RSS would have foundered, as they had for decades. Now, they carry the deportment and weight of a governing national party. It is Congress that looks forlorn and rudderless and utterly unelectable.

The Indian people have been drawn to the unfolded reality: the Modi sarkar is here to stay for the foreseeable future, with Narendra Modi at the helm.

Nothing his demonstrated his strength and resolution as the Cabinet reshuffle. The calibration reflects thought and calculation. HRD Minister Smriti Irani was packed off to the Textile Ministry because her personality was coming in the way of its performance and goals.

Implementating policy was key, not controversies and

standoffs with intellectual heavyweights like nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar. Away from the limelight, she make get down to unobtrusive work. Moving Jayant Sinha as Minister of State in the Finance Ministry to Civil Aviation was done for broadly similar reasons. Sinha was superbly qualified for the job with his critical experience in the world of international finance, but his frequent unauthorized statements on policy cut across the authority of the Finance Minister. The CEO in Modi decided that enough was enough; Sinha was shunted to more tranquil pastures. Rudi Prasad was relieved of his IT responsibilities and moved to the Law and Justice Ministry, where he would be comfortable being a lawyer by profession. IT needed a more visionary focus, hence it was transferred to Manoj Sinha, an IIT and BHU graduate, better equipped to take things forward from the platform created by Prasad. As captain of the ship, Modi is adroitly navigating it through choppy waters into calmer seas. With turbulence in global markets following Britain’s exit from the European Union, leading India in multiple fields of endeavour will be no easy task. Prime Minister Modi has shown that he is up to the challenge.

India Shakespeare’s natural home Speaking at the recent Hay Literary Festival in Wales (which has Tata as one of its sponsors), British author and journalist, Dr Andrew Dickson said that, after extensive research and travel to ‘six countries – Poland, Germany, South Africa the US, China and India - in four continents,’ he had concluded that William Shakespeare was more relevant to India than anywhere else on the planet.

Dickson has written an acclaimed book, ‘Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare’s Globe’.

Pages 175-258 are devoted to India; Sohrab Modi’s film Khoon ka Khoon, produced in 1935, was based on Hamlet. Dickson showed a slide of Vishal Bhardwaj film Omkara, a Hindi take on Othello. Bhardwaj saw Shakespeare as a fellow producer, much to Dickson delight. Dickson met Bhardwaj in Mumbai; also Mala Sinha, a star of the 1950s, who played Ophelia in Kishore Sahu’s production of Hamlet in 1954.

‘In Calcutta I met the Shakespeare Society of

Eastern India’s Amitava Roy….The interesting thing, I thought again and again in India, is how Shakespeare was exported as a sort of colonial spear carrier in a way but so quickly becomes translated and adapted and altered and you have this very, very vivid engagement with Shakespeare: he is very, very alive,’ was how he summed it up.

‘In terms of engagement with Shakespeare and thinking of Shakespeare and understanding and reimagining Shakespeare, Indian cinema is by far the most interesting in the world…there are now several hundred adaptations of Shakespeare into all of India’s twenty-plus languages and more versions of Shakespeare in Indian cinema than anywhere else in the world.’

Shakespeare, the English language and cricket, were the greatest British gifts to India, pronounced Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, once India’s eminent philosopher-president. How right he was.

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We all do better when we work together.

Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more - Bill Clinton

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Woman Turmoil and crises are part of life. Great Britain has its fair share of such a calamitous period. The world is full of people who never achieve their full potential because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, besides other reasons. But there are some who find themselves in the right place at the right time and they really thrive. Winston Churchill is a perfect example of this. During World War II when everything looked dark and gloomy for Britain, the wartime leader was a godsend. Needless to say, he came; he saw; he conquered.

When Nazi Hitler was going great guns, Britain under Churchill's astute stewarship was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Similarly, in the late 1970s Britain was called, economically speaking, “sick man of Europe”. At various points, not just the economy but the whole system of democratic government in Britain seemed at the point of collapse. And then came Margaret Thatcher – Britain's first woman prime minister. Her economic legacy of free markets, free trade, competition, low tax and a small state left an enduring stamp on Britain and the world.

In the last 27 years Britain has changed unrecognisably, not only economically but also there's been a change in the mood of the country in terms of hope and confidence of people. Migration has been a key factor in the dramatic change in the make-up of the people of the country and in their beliefs.

The new prime minister in-waiting, Theresa May, too has come at a time when Britain is passing through one of its worst times in terms of political and economic instablity, to say the least. However, they say: “Cometh the hour, cometh the man”. Under the circumstances May is the ideal choice to lead the country and steady the ship. Her own election as the leader of the Conservative Party and as PM in a very dramatic fashion reflected the intrinsic strength and wisdom of the British people. When friends turned foes, perhaps Theresa May was the only candidate who stood for her values and principles.

Daughter of a vicar, educated in Grammar school and Oxford, she began her career in the banking sector. Her long political trajectory leading up to six continuous years as Home Secretary amply illustrates her intellect, wisdom, dedication, steadfastness and no-nonsense attitude. During the course of handling this important yet delicate portfolio, there were several instances where she was able to reveal her inner strength to ride out any crisis. Some 10 years ago, her comment that her party is perceived as a “nasty party” in a way was a wake-up call or warning shot and one must accept the Tory party has learnt its lessons. Her unflappable handling at the police federation conference also revealed her steely character.

Currently, Britain is going through umpteen number of serious problems. In the aftermath of the EU referendum and the growing rift between 'Remain' and 'Out' campaigners, there are so many issues plaguing the country, the effect of which is seen in stock market crash, pounding of the pound, drop in investments, EU free trade issues, defence and poor international relations. The role of Britain in the world stage too has taken a beating. Infighting within the parties (both Tories and Labour) has only added to the woes. In fact, the entire process of electing the Tory party leader saw a range of outrageous Machiavellian manoeuvres which was compounded by back-stabbing and several uncouth statements and allegations. Needless to say, Theresa May is in the hot seat.

Former PM Harold Wilson famously said: “A week is a long time in politics.” Perhaps within a couple of hours, Monday morning brought a sea change in the politics of this country. Former Tory leader Enoch Powell is supposed to have said: “All political careers end in tears” which was true in the case of Margaret Thatcher.

Theresa May, while Asian Voice is going to printers, must be very busy giving a final shape to her administration. Her short statement in front of Parliament on Monday was very inspiring when she said, “Brexit is Brexit”. It illustrates her deep desire to work with people of various backgrounds to steer the course through a challenging and delicate period.

An all-inclusive approach is the need of the hour and Theresa May has no dearth of talented people at her disposal to weather the political and economic storm. But more importanly, contemporary Britain is often referred to as a multicultural and multi-faith society and the new incumbent's stint at No. 10 should not blemish this great image of Britain.

We wish her the very best in her most important innings of her life.

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6’ statues of gods planned outside Nottingham area Hindu temple Six-foot ornate statues of Hindu deities are reportedly planned to be installed at the front of Sri Thurkkai Amman Temple-Nottingham in Beeston, Nottinghamshire..

A Planning Application is currently pending with Broxtowe Borough Council on this issue, which reportedly included covering the brick wall with fiber glass material and putting up traditional Hindu statues made in India.

Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada, commended temple leaders and area community for efforts at beautifying this temple.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was important to pass on

Rajan Zed

The proposed new look for the Sri Thurkkai Amman Temple and the ornate statues

Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society and hoped that this

temple would help in this direction. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization

of Self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.

This temple, launched in 2012 in a renovated church hall, reportedly opens everyday and conducts morning and evening poojas and all are welcome.

Sivapalan Krishanand is one of the cofounders.

Site manager on trial for death of window fitter 'told police deceased only had himself to blame' A man on trial for causing the death of a window fitter working for him on a building site told police the deceased "only had himself to blame" for what happened, a court has heard.

Faruk Patel (39) from Leicester is accused of unlawfully killing father-of-two Tasadaq Ur-Rehman through gross negligence.

Mr Ur-Rehman suffered severe brain injuries when he fell through a hole in the roof of a house under construction in St Saviours Hill, Spinney Hills, on January 24, last year, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court heard Monday. He died in hospital four days later.

It is claimed Patel, who was responsible for safety on the "chaotic" building site,

Accused: Faruk Patel

failed to take "even the simplest precautions" to safeguard Mr Ur-Rehman.

Mr Ur-Rehman, who was an experienced window fitter employed by AA Double Glazing, had agreed to spend a Saturday fitting windows for Patel.

While working alone on the site, he fell three metres to the ground through a hole cut

for a skylight. The jury was told of a catalogue of health and safety breaches on the site.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer said police officers who visited found a "chaotic mess". The police's findings were verified during a subsequent visit by Health and Safety Executive inspectors, who issued a prohibition notice banning any further work at height on the site.

The document was signed

by Patel, but on return visits inspectors found the warnings had been ignored – leading to Patel's arrest on February 10.

The court heard Patel had owned the land on which he began building the threestorey house, but ran out of

money. He sold the property to an acquaintance, businessman Ismail Aswat, for £50,000. Mr Aswat, giving evidence, said it was a verbal agreement under which Patel would continue building the house for him. He said Patel had reassured him he had the relevant building qualifications, but admitted to failing to check if that was true.

Ms Heer said that the defendant, who has been living in the UK for 12 years, has no such qualifications and had never built a house before.

The jury was told Patel has pleaded guilty to health and safety offences and admitted negligence, but denies manslaughter.

The trial continues.

Leicester drug dealer faces jail after police smash national cocaine and heroin gang A Leicester man faces jail after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and launder money as part of a national drugs operation.

Imran Patel, 30, will be sentenced on July 26, for his involvement in a drugs network across Lancashire and Leicestershire.

Six men were arrested last year following raids in which officers seized a kilo of heroin and a further kilo of cocaine - with a street value of £180,000. They also recovered nearly £50,000 in cash. Six of the men were jailed at Preston Crown Court last week.

The operation was headed by Zahid Khan, 40, PBV

of Albert Terrace, Preston, who was jailed for 13 years.

Khan was responsible for the movement of heroin and cocaine around Bolton, Accrington, Preston and Leicester.

Mohammed Miah, 35, of Cross Ormerod Street, Bolton , admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and to launder money. He was jailed for eight years and four months.

Nadeem Hussain, 28, of Falkland Avenue, Rochdale , pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and was sentenced to 16 months.

Mahmoud Jaber, 33, of Arncliffe Avenue,

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Asian Voice |16th July 2016

Accrington got 11 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine. They were rumbled in a major investigation by Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit.

Also sentenced were Mohammed Wasim Akhtar, 44, of Ashleigh Street, Preston, who got six years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to launder money.

Wajid Hussain, 30, of Symonds Road, Preston was found guilty of conspiracy to

launder money and got two years' imprisonment.

Aroon Younus, 30, of St Georges Road, Preston, and Hakeel Sawar, 26, of Cottam Avenue, Preston, both admitted conspiracy to launder money.

Both got suspended sentences and community orders.

Isaac Amin, 35, of Cromford Walk, Preston, was found not guilty of conspiracy to launder money but admitted possession of cannabis. He was given an suspended sentence.

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Jailed paedophile in legal bid to win back gold-plated phone

A Birmingham paedophile jailed for abusing a teenage boy has demanded the return of his gold-plated mobile phone and his laptop.

Tahir Hussain was sentenced to seven years after he and eight other men subjected the youngster to a “horrifying” catalogue of abuse.

Yet the 34-year-old, of St Joseph’s Road, Ward End, accused police and prosecutors of ‘acting contrary to law’ in making an application to destroy both the phone and laptop.

Hussain was cleared of 15 charges, including trafficking for sexual exploitation, but found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child. He told Judge Sylvia de Bertadano that the laptop belonged to a member of his family, who was a semi-professional poker player.

During his submissions, a tearful Hussain accused police officers of acting contrary to law by applying for the destruction of the seized items. A decision on the application will be made at a later date.

Gun robber caught after using wife’s blue Toyota Yaris in raids

An armed raider who terrorised shopkeepers with a fake firearm in separate supermarket robberies was snared when police spotted his wife’s car at the scene of both crimes.

Imran Mahmood, 40, of Edgbaston Road, Smethwick , was jailed for 15 years after admitting the double raid at shops close to his home earlier this year. He was detained when police combing CCTV footage eyed his wife’s Toyota near the stores after the two robberies in two days.

In the first raid, masked Mahmood burst into Windmill News and Booze on January 29 and threatened the shopkeeper with an imitation revolver-style handgun and demanded cash.

The following afternoon, he brandished the same weapon at a shopkeeper in Portland Road, Edgbaston , before demanding money.

He pulled the trigger setting off a loud bang and releasing a puff of smoke causing the store worker to fear for his life.

Some Muslim parents would not speak out if children went to Syria - report

A damning report from city academics has revealed that some Muslim parents in Birmingham do not trust police and would not speak out if their children travelled to Syria.

Researchers Dr Imran Awan and Dr Surinder Guru conducted focus groups with parents to explore how they view the current counter-terrorism policing strategy employed

by West Midlands Police.

The report said the parents all had children aged between 14 and 23.

Uncle angered by gang's sentences The uncle of a 16-year-old boy who was scarred for life after being tortured with a hot iron and sexually assaulted says the sentences handed to his attackers are not long enough for him to rebuild his life.

Shohaib Khan (17), Sufyan Yaqub and Adam Hussain, both 16, and 15year-old Ahsan Khan were jailed last Thursday following the violent and sickening attack on their victim last October.

The teenager suffered life-changing injuries after being lured to a house in the Werneth area of Oldham where he was tied up, beaten and burnt before having salt and lemon juice poured onto his wounds. He was then sexually

assaulted, and after several hours of torture was finally allowed to leave.

The victim's uncle says the attack was the culmination of two years of bullying and torment by the gang, and it was only after such a horrific event that he finally had the courage to speak out about the hell he was being subjected to. Each of his attackers were given sentences ranging between four and six-and-a-half years. A 17-year-old boy also pleaded guilty to a section 47 assault and was sentenced to a 12month supervision programme with a night-time curfew. But the victim's family believe this is not enough, and that they could be walking the streets again in as little as two years.

Shohaib Khan

Adam Hussain

Ahsan Khan

Sufyan Yaqub

UK Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

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Resort, Maldives Claudio Ranieri, his wife Rosanna and the Premier League Trophy with Rt Hon Keith Vaz and his daughter Anjali outside Number 10

Claudio Ranieri, Manager of Premier League Champions Leicester City FC, was the guest of honour at a tea party hosted by Indian origin MP Keith Vaz in the House of Commons on Saturday 9th July 2016. He was accompanied by the Premier League Trophy.

Before the tea party Claudio Ranieri toured Number 10, with the per-

mission of the Prime Minister, with his wife Dr Rosanna Ranieri, Leicester City’s Chief Executive Susan Whelan and her husband Robbie Gill and the Directors of LCFC. Rt Hon Keith Vaz, MP said: "I was delighted to welcome Claudio Ranieri, his family and colleagues to the House of Commons this weekend. The Prime Minister, David Cameron,

was very generous to allow us to tour Number 10.

"People across the United Kingdom were overjoyed at Leicester City Football Club’s Premier League title victory, and Westminster was no exception.

"The day was an opportunity to celebrate this achievement with the architect of Leicester’s historic title win."

The Asian Count The Department of Education has announced that primary schools in England will copy the Asian style of teaching maths. Around half the total number of schools in England, some 8,000 schools will receive a share of a £41m boost which will help in receiving support to adopt the approach used in various Asian cities including Shanghai, Singapore

and Hong Kong. Tests show that 15 year olds in these cities who are unable to perform basic calculations, were over 10 percentage points lower than in England.

Following a teacher exchange program a number of English schools already use the Asian maths approach. The funding will ensure this approach is used more

widely, with some 700 teachers to be trained to support schools in maths mastery.

Schools minister Nick Gibb, who visited Shanghai in March to see maths teaching in practice said “We are seeing a renaissance in maths teaching in this country, with good ideas from around the world helping to enliven our classrooms.”

Bob Hepple: Never stop working for justice and equality Anna Lawson, UK’s first blind female professor of law, has been honoured for her work promoting equal rights for people with disabilities.

Accepting the award, Professor Lawson, who is the Director of Leeds University’s Centre for disability Studies, spoke movingly about her own experience of disability discrimination and her work to promote equal law reform on disability.

Over 100 guests, including equality activists, lawyers, academics and students attended the Bob Hepple Equality Award event at the offices of Dechert, the law firm, in London last Thursday evening.

The event, which featured a drinks reception and a buffet dinner, was organised by the Equal Rights Trust in partnership with the Industrial Law Society. Guests were welcomed by lawyer Saphieh Ashtiany, Chair of trustees of the Equal Rights Trust, which works with around 40 countries globally.

Last year’s joint winners of the Bob Hepple Equality Award were Pragna Patel,

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Asian Voice |16th July 2016

A learning experience at Asian Voice

By Marcus Parekh I have spent two weeks working at Asian Voice, the English newspaper division of the ABPL group, and although my time has been brief, it has been rich and informative.

Arriving on the Monday morning, I was quite unsure as to what to expect during my time. Would I simply be the coffeemaker? Or would I be shadowing one of the many talented journalists or sales reps? What I had not expected was to be given the chance to write. To be given the ultimate opportu-

nity from day one to express myself through beauty of the written word.

The newspaper’s talisman and leader CB Patel showed me complete trust and faith. In the first meeting I attended he treated me as one of his staff. He filled me with options and ideas, and then set me loose. By Tuesday morning I was ghost-writing comments on the uncertainty of the departure of Raghuram Rajan from the RBI. When I arrived Wednesday morning I was astonished and delighted to see my opinion on the divisive nature of the EU referendum sprawled

across the front page.

Then of course, there was Brexit. While the proceeding ten days were hectic and stressful, CB and Associate Editor Rupanjana Dutta guided me through with a calming and nurturing influence.

Once again, I found myself free to write. The team offered no bias, no attempts to dictate content. They allowed me to write what I saw and express how I felt.

Finding myself on the front page for the second week running was a moment of inexpressible pride.

I owe a tremendous thanks to the entire team at

Asian Voice. They showed a level of faith that I have never experienced in any other working environment. Yet they also guided.

Rupanjana’s steady hand helped me through moments of writers block and frustration with the sometimes subpar content I was producing. The graphics team taught me the importance of newspaper organisation and layout.

But most importantly, CB gave me a chance, in a way few other men would. He offered me the opportunity to shine on my own. He laid the first bricks of the foundations in my future career.

Asian Voice encourages youngsters to come and do internships in our newspaper. This is our way of helping the future of this country. If you are interested please email your CV to Rupanjana Dutta on rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com

Shishukunj London celebrates 40 years

Over 700 people gathered at the JFS School in Kingsbury on Sunday 10 July to celebrate Shishukunj London’s 40th Birthday.

Despite the weather hundreds of children and their parents took part in a fun-filled event that included traditional Indian games, a delicious lunch prepared by the

Shishukunj Parents Association and a fantastic entertainment programme put on by the children. The most inspiring part of the day was the fact that nothing had been outsourced – Shishukunj showed off the best of itself and relied on its own volunteers to deliver a fantastic event.

Shishukunj London also recognised several of

its volunteers who had dedicated considerable service to ensuring that the work of this great organisation continued and expanded over the last 40 years.

Awards recipients included Dipak Shah (who now runs Shishukunj Vidyalaya in Bangalore), Daksha Shah, Chagan Dabhi and Bharat Dhanani.

Dharmina Shah who

organised the event said, "the aim of today was for us to celebrate the spirit of Shishukunj over the last 40 years. We have accomplished so much even though we are quite a small organisation and we felt it was important for us to come together as a family and recognise the strength of our achievements together."

Indian Forum on British Media holds seminar on perception of Indian Women in British media The Indian Forum on British Media held a twohour seminar on ‘The perception of Indian Women within British media’ in one of the Committee rooms of the British Parliament held on 5th July and which attracted over 75 multi-ethnic members who participated enthusiastically. The panel of speakers consisted of professional Asian women from diverse fields--- journalism, law and Public Relations.

The President of the Forum, Prabhakar Kaza welcomed the audience (largely women from all communities) and explained that the main objective of the Forum, was to serve as a watchdog monitoring the Reports of Indian events

by British Media and contest the reports which seemed prejudicial or tendentious. The aim of the Seminar was to improve the aspirational levels of Indian women so that in any field of endeavor they should focus on success and raising the bar.

Mr Krishan Ralleigh,

the General Secretary of the Forum, elaborating on the theme of the seminar, pointed out that the prejudices inherent in the stories in visual, audio and print media in the last thirty years or so and the embellishments over the period of time.

The social and economic achievements of the British Asian women were highlighted by various speakers on the panel.

Ashanti Omkar, the first speaker and a wellknown TV presenter said that stereotypes are very strong, but the Indian women in UK are breaking the stereotypes. They are making their mark in all sectors of the economy.

Ritu Sethi, Solicitor, in her talk delineated the route to empowerment for Indian women living in Britain. Rachanaa Jain emphasized the need for self-realization and gradual fulfillment of one’s dreams as a goal of life.

The author explained how she inspires women to put in more energy into their vocations and take up roles in diverse sectors so

Bob Blackman at the IFBM event

that their potential is tested to the limits.

Meenkashi Ravi, TV broadcaster, gave a theoretical foundation to reporting events and clarified that they come with their own filters, which does give a slant to the report. While reporting about Indian women the British Media is more susceptible due to historical connections with the subcontinent.

Radhika Iyer, TV journalist, spoke about the representation of the average Indian woman and said that the Big Brother treatment to Shilpa Shetty was a seminal moment in

the understanding of the current Indian woman.

While Bollywood does dominate the British thinking, the 21st Century Indian woman is seen as an independent, aspiring and outgoing person.

Prerna Lau Sian, Barrister, added a legal framework to the discussions and how some public enquiries in UK have led to securing a better status for women and contributed to social safeguards.

Loveena Tandon, renowned journalist and broadcaster, spoke about her experiences in UK and India in the media field.

For women while TV is alluring in view of the public exposure, it does have its downsides as it is a 24/7 job.

Notwithstanding the challenges many Asian Women are crossing these hurdles and chalking out successful careers.

The seminar was hosted by Rt. Hon. Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East and anchored by Simi Arora, concluded with a vivacious Q & A session.

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Cllr Sachin Shah Leader of Harrow Council

Providing more for Harrow One of the great things about my role as Leader of the Council is that it provides many opportunities to get out and about to meet the people who make our borough great. Last month we celebrated the Queen’s 90th birthday, and I attended three local street parties in her honour. Despite the rain, at each one I found people in a party mood. What was great was to see so many people from different backgrounds coming together to celebrate something that unites us all. It is this spirt that makes me proud to call myself the Leader of Harrow Council. Thanks to everyone who made me so welcome and left me so well fed!

The week before, I joined fellow councillors and a great number of local people at Stanmore Temple for its tenth birthday celebrations. The temple is a beautiful place that’s cherished by the local community. In 2006 it was a disused health centre – now it boasts a wealth of facilities set in attractive grounds. It’s a real community asset and I was honoured to help mark its birthday.

I was equally delighted to be invited to Stanmore Islamic Centre and Harrow Central Mosque during Ramadan to break fast with worshippers. It was a real privilege to attend at this special time. I know that many people will be anticipating Eid and are looking forward to celebrating with family and friends. I’d like to wish everyone ending their Ramadan observance Eid Mubarak!

And finally, an event of a very different kind – a council consultation on the future of the Station Road site where the Civic Centre stands. It’s an area of great potential that’s currently under-used. The day gave people a chance to tell us what they want to see there – and nearly 400 of you came out to do so. With great food, face-painting and dancing, the day had something of a carnival feel.

It was no surprise of course that many visitors talked about housing. It’s top of many people’s lists, including mine. We’ve already committed to providing more than 800 homes on the site, but we must build communities as well as houses. That is why we want places for people to work and shop, a new school and new public spaces. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s something I’m committed to achieving. With so much community spirit in Harrow, I know we’re in for a bright future!

Briton ‘tortured’ in Sri Lanka returns to UK A British man who says he was tortured in Sri Lanka and detained by authorities after travelling there to get married last month, has returned to the UK following a campaign to secure his release.

Velauthapillai Renukaruban, 36, who lives in Ealing, west London, was freed from detention by the government in the south Asian country after the Foreign Office, a top human rights lawyer in Sri Lanka and a campaign by his family in London helped to secure his freedom.

Renukaruban arrived in the country of his birth on 1 June to marry T h a j e e p a Vinayagamoorthy, 27, in an arranged marriage.

They planned to marry on 8 June and a small family party had been arranged.

Renukaruban was planning to return to the UK on 23 June with his wife.

But soon after Renukaruban, who is a Tamil, arrived back at the family home in Jaffna, north Sri Lanka, his family said two men arrived on

motorbikes, beat him up in front of his mother and older sister and then bundled him into a van. He was accused of being involved with LTTE, a militant group known as the Tamil Tigers, which fought to break away from the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka. He was then taken to Jaffna prison.

He was only located several days later, after his family made extensive inquiries about his whereabouts. He had injuries consistent with torture, according to Anton Punethayanagam, the Sri Lankan human rights lawyer his family engaged to represent him.

Renukaruban, who arrived at Heathrow airport earlier this week, was limping and complained of severe headaches.

UK Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

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Chilcot gives crushing Iraq war verdict AsianVoiceNews

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Aaditya Kaza

Setup in 2009 by the now former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, The Chilcot Inquiry into the 2003 Iraq War finally presented its verdict on last Wednesday.

Headed by Sir John Chilcot, the inquiry is among the longest running inquires in British history looking into Britain’s role in Iraq during the run up to the war, the military action and its aftermath between 2001 to 2009.

The inquiry focused on all aspects of war including the decision by former PM Tony Blair, analysis of the Intelligence services, especially MI6, actions of the military and its generals and the advise of Lord Peter Goldsmith, the then attorney general. It was supposed to take a year to conduct, instead the inquiry has taken seven years costing the taxpayer £10m, the report contains 12 volumes and running unto 2.6m words.

THE KEY POINTS:

• Sir John Chilcot said the invasion was “not a last resort” concluding the UK chose to join the invasion before peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted.

• The intelligence community’s judgement about the severity of the threat posed by the supposed

Left bottom: Tony Blair and George Bush Right: Sir John Chilcot

weapons of mass destruction was not justified.

• The post-invasion planing for Iraq was “wholly inadequate.” He said the consequences of the invasion was underestimated • The War itself was a failure as the government failed to achieve its objectives.

The authority of the United Nations security council was undermined by the UK. Sir John said that Mr Blair and Mr Straw blamed France for the “impasse” in the UN and claimed that the UK government was acting on behalf of the international community “to uphold the authority of the security council”. In the absence of a majority in support of military action the UK was, in fact, undermining the security council’s authority.

The process of deciding the legal basis of UK military

action was far from satisfactory but they did not tell if the military intervention itself was legal or not.

The joint intelligence committee should have told Tony Blair clearly to accept the limitations of the intelligence reports about Iraq’s WMD capability.

Blair overlooked the threat to the UK due to the invasion despite being warned that the invasion would increase from AlQaida to the UK and to UK interests. Tony Blair, also had been warned that an invasion might lead to Iraq’s weapons and capabilities being transferred into the hands of terrorists. Another criticism against Blair is that he should have anticipated the post-invasion problems.

During his testimony to the inquiry Mr Blair said the problems after the invasion could not be anticipated in advance. The inquiry said

the risks of internal strife in Iraq, active Iranian pursuit of its interests, regional instability, and al-Qaida activity in Iraq, were each explicitly identified before the invasion.

The final point is that Blair overestimated his ability to influence American decision makers about Iraq.

While the full ramifications of the verdict is still to sink in some of the initial reactions to the day came from Tony Blair himself, Jeremy Corbyn and senior people of 2003 cabinet.

Among the declassified memos is one from July 2002, roughly 8 months before the war where Tony Blair tells George W Bush, “I will be with you, whatever.”

Jeremy Corbyn, paid tribute to the fallen and said the report should not have taken this long. He said the “overwhelming weight of international legal opinion” says the invasion was illegal.

It had devastating consequences, fuelling terrorism and war across the region. It has led a break-down in trust in politics. He says we must be saddened by what has been revealed. Many MPs voted to stop the war.

But they have not lived to see themselves vindicated.

Tony Blair said he takes full responsibility for the Iraq war, without exception or excuse. He added he feels

“more sorrow and regret and apology” for this “than you can ever believe”. Blair accepted the criticisms in the Chilcot report, even when he does not fully agree with them. The intelligence assessments made at the time of going to war turned out to be wrong. The aftermath turned out to be more hostile, protracted and bloody than ever we imagined. Alastair Campbell No10’s communications director at the time of the Iraq war told BBC News Tony Blair “was not giving George Bush a blank

Dr David Kelly

cheque”. He says there were “no easy decisions on the table”.

Jack Straw, then foreign secretaryreleased a statement saying that “with the benefit of hindsight, different decisions would have been made in Iraq”. He added: “The consequences which flow from the decision to take military action

against Iraq will live with me for the rest of my life.”

During the inquiry Jack Straw also highlighted that in the run up to Iraq war, in the summer of 2002, the Blair government was more focused in dealing with prospect of a India-Pakistan war which was “a far more real and present danger to us than the conflict in Iraq.”

Following the 2001 Indian parliament attack in New Delhi, the Blair government was “chiefly preoccupied” with trying to the persuade India and Pakistan to “back from the edge of war”.

One person who did not live to see the war, its aftermath and the verdict is Dr David Kelly. In 2003 Dr Kelly was a scientist and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq with a specialisation in biological warfare. He reviewed a dossier by the Joint Intelligence Committee in 2002 while working for the Defence Intelligence Staff about the weapons of mass destruction possessed by Iraq. He testified in front of parliamentary foreign affairs select committee following the revelation of this dossier by a BBC journalist. He was found dead two days later after supposedly committing suicide. This dossier and its infamous ’45 minute’ claim was used by Tony Blair as the case for war with Iraq.

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

India remembers the Somme dead As the centenary of the Battle of the Somme is commemorated, the Indian army also has good reason for remembrance.

Two Indian regiments took part in the first and only cavalry charge of the battle – between the High Wood and Delville Wood area – but were forced to retreat under heavy German fire.

When Brigadier M S Jodha shows villagers photographs of their ancestors’ names chiselled on war memorials thousands of miles away in France, many are overcome with emotion.

“They are thrilled. Some shed tears,” he said, according to a report in The Sunday Times.

Jodha’s grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel Aman Singh, at the Somme with the Jodhpur Lancers, was among those to arrive by ship at Marseilles.

Over 1 million Indian soldiers took part in World War I, making up a third of British colonial forces, and 74,000 perished in the Great War.

Hitherto, there has been little official recognition in India because of sensitivites about the colonial past.

However, that is set to change, according to the media report, thanks to a group of Indian officers who have drawn up plans for an annual remembrance day that will be marked with buttonholes of marigolds rather than poppies.

They will launch their campaign on July 14, 2016 – the centenary of the first great cavalry charge on the Western Front, which was led by an Indian regiment under a hail of machinegun fire during the Battle of the Somme.

The cavalry charge on 14 July, 1916, was conducted by two regiments, the 20th Deccan Horse and the British Seventh Dragoon Guards, who were supported by another Indian regiment, the 34th Poona Horse.

The Indians and British suffered 102 casualties and lost about 130 horses in the battle.

“It is still a matter of

pride that an Indian cavalry regiment was involved. It did not achieve much. But it showed the great chivalry and spirit of Indian troops,” LieutenantGeneral Aditya Singh, 69, a retired officer of the modern-day Deccan Horse and president of the Cavalry Officers’ Association, was quoted as saying in the Sunday Times report.

The India Remembers project is being organised by the United Service Institution of India (USI), in association with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

“For a long time these soldiers have been ignored and forgotten by the rest of the world and even in India because they were seen as part of the colonial past. Now there has been an acceptance of that part of history and a willingness to engage with it,” retired Squadron Leader Rana Chhina, 56, now the secretary of historical research at the USI, said as per the media report.

UNSUNG HEROES: Indian cavalry soldiers in France in 1916. They are yet to get their due

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17th Om Day celebrations in London a huge success

Dr Sunayana Ranjana Dey The Unity Forum of the Indogenic Religions – Hindu Buddhist, Jain and Sikh sponsored by the London Sevashram Sangha as its Millennium project in the year 2000 entered its 17th anniversary with an inspiring lecture and cultural programme on Sunday 3rd July, that was attended by 150 people of all faith groups at the London Buddhist Vihara in Chiswick, London W4.

Dr Desmond Biddulph the President of the Buddhist Society was the Chief Guest and shared his view on 'Achieving peace of mind from the perspective of the indogenic religions'.

Dr Biddhulp is the author of “1001 Pearls of Buddhist Wisdom” and “Teachings of the Buddha” and often speaks on topics such as Happiness, Mindfulness and sharing Buddhist philosophies.

The event was expertly compered by young MCs: Rajeeb Dey who was recently awarded an MBE on Her Majesty’s 90th Birthday, Chameli Singh and Nealanjan Ray. The first half of the programme comprised of respected leaders from the different faith groups sharing their perspectives. This year’s Rev speakers were Seelawimala (Head of the

London Buddhist Vihara); Sister Samani Unnata Pragya (representing the Jain Community); Ajit Singh MBE (from the Sikh Community) and Swami Nirliptananda (Founder of Om Day and Head of the London Sevashram Sangha) As Mr Singh commented the illustrious panellists were like ‘ever-lit lighthouses’ illuminating the audience with their perspectives on achieving peace of mind and seeking happiness.

Swami Nirliptananda explained that “in the Indogenic religions there is a great deal of focusing on the mind. They have realised that we are what our mind is and therefore to take care of the mind is to take care of our whole life.” He proceeded to say that “the basic problem is that we do not know how the mind functions and what causes it to function in a particular way. Unless we understand this we are like helpless animals taken to a slaughter house. We do not realise that we ourselves are the causes for the mind to function in the way it does.”

It’s fitting to therefore see the proliferation of the notion of ‘mindfulness’ and recognition of the benefits of meditation and yoga in Western society, with the

UN resolution on International Day of Yoga held on 21st June 2016.

Despite coming from different religions the message from all speakers was consistent. It was clear from all that we ourselves hold the power to happiness and peace of mind through meditation, morality and being “ambassadors of peace” (as Samani Unnata Pragya stated).

The speeches were followed by the cultural programme where we were treated to dance and vocal performances by the youth group from the London Buddhist Vihara. This was followed by performances from Clive Bell’s young students – a famous flutist and devotees from the London Sevashram Sangha including vocal performances from Mr Dhanpaul with Shaun Sukhu on the tabla and Mrs Punita Gupta, renowned music teacher who was accompanied by her talented students.

The 17th Om Day celebrations were a resounding success and showcased the commonalities in thinking between Indogenic religions. At such tumultuous times like these we need more focus than ever before in achieving peace of mind which in turn I hope will result in a more peaceful society.

Probe as white powder sent to mosques Political instability and pounding of the pound is not the only fallout of Brexit.

The EU referendum verdict also saw relatively a spike in hate crimes.

White powder sent to mosques in London is the latest in a series of racist hate crimes committed after the Brexit vote.

Police are probing five incidents in which white powder was sent to Muslim centres, mosques and government buildings in London.

A BBC report said a

mosque in Leyton, a Muslim centre in Finsbury Park and another in Tottenham all received packages last week.

Muslim peer Lord Ahmed was also sent hate mail along with white powder.

Aslam Hansa from the Noor Ul Islam Trust in Leyton said, according to the BBC report, the envelope felt “suspicious and lumpy”.

“When we opened it we saw it said 'paki filth' with a picture of a mosque and there was white powder inside.

“We have a very good relationship with the local police and they said to call 999.

“We've never really experienced anything like this before – it saddens us – but we're grateful that it wasn't anything worse and that nobody was hurt.”

A government mail screening service at Police tests showed that the white powder was harmless but it initially raised fears of a chemical or biological attack.

New figures show over

3,000 hate crimes and incidents were reported to police across the UK in the second half of June – a jump of 42% compared to last year.

The daily rate peaked at 289 alleged offences on June 25, the day after the EU referendum result was announced, according to the Daily Mail.

It is unclear how the sender of the hate mail chose the targets but all the recipients could be regarded as “enemies” by an individual with nationalist views.

The white envelope sent to a mosque in Tottenham

UK Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

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Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

British Asian Artist from a Past Multi-Faith Karachi Farina Alam’s drawings are constructed of repetitive nib marks, intricate linear work, and text showing a landscape of birds, lizards and people, set against monochromatic backgrounds.

Drawing with language and visual metaphors, Farina Alam critiques complex cultures of a post-colonial nation state. The artist places words and symbols within a laboriously conceived graphic framework.

A ”naqsha” or map is dotted out in diminutive quill points, which she refers to as a “made up” language of text and image as an homage to the lexicon approach of craftsmen and artists under censorship imposed

by Pakistani military and clerical leaders.

In her solo exhibition titled “My Kolachi,” at Asia House, Alam showed how language used in the media highlights a relationship to an image. The feeding ground for her research is rooted in Pakistan and its

Farina Alam

chequered existence as a nation strained by a power battle between the army, the feudals, and Islamic fundamentalists. Google images, the printed word and visits to her home town of Karachi fuel the works on paper.

The project was influenced by Arab literary symbolism, local Pakistani

craftsmanship and a play of words in Arabic, English and Urdu. She feels the undercurrent of national political anxiety remains central to her drawings.

Farina Alam has exhibited with John Martin of London, Koel Gallery, and London Print Studio. She participated in Master Drawings London, Arte

Fiera Bologna 2009, and Multiplied contemporary editions fair at Christies 2014.

Born 1971 at the Holy Family Hospital in Karachi Pakistan, Alam has a 1996 BFA from the Indus School of Art and Architecture in Karachi Pakistan.

She immigrated to England in 1998 where she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL and completed her Masters of Media in Fine Art in 2000. Alam currently lives and works in London.

Farina Alam’s parents were born in 1930s’ British India. Her father was a Punjabi, born and bred in Anarkali market, Lahore while her mother was born in Calcutta of KashmiriGujarati descent.

She says, “My mother Saleem, grew up in a traditional, religious household where she and her sisters were educated but primarily raised for marriage and bearing children. My father, Aftab, was raised with the liberal middle class values of his journalist grandfather, Mahbub Alam, founder of the daily Paisa Akhbar newspaper.

He pursued a career in civil engineering of ports and harbours in Karachi.”

Farina’s memory of Karachi in the late 70s was of a peaceful, cosmopolitan market city. The postcolonial port was an amalgam of Muslims from the sub-

9

ity of hiding our growing continent, Goan Catholics, breasts under layers of fabSikhs, Buddhist, Bahais, ric from secondary school Parsees and Jews. She onwards. Fear of the sturecalls, “As a child, I grew dent groups such as the up in a culture that celeKalashnikov-festooned brated Eid, Naurose, Easter Jamaat-e Islamis affected and Christmas through my what could be expressed parents’ multi-racial circle openly in public forums, art of friends. British culture schools and universities.” permeated daily life during Fast forward to school days, through the National Enid Blyton, Roald College of Fine Dahl, a vigorousArt Lahore in ly academic Karachi was the 90s, and a Cambridge an amalgam of s e i s m i c syllabus, the event in school dress Muslims from the code, and sub-continent, Goan F a r i n a ’ s life. It was a English as Catholics, Sikhs, t u r n i n g the main lanBuddhists, Bahais, point. “This guage of was the first instruction.”

Parsees and time in my But there Jews sheltered midwere early chaldleclass upbringlenges too. ing that I was actu“I remember the ally interacting with Karachi riots after Ziayoung people from starkly ul Haq came to power due different and poorer backto the frequent closure of grounds to mine. Now I our school that was situatwas suddenly aware of the ed in hub of the old city. air-conditioned Honda The radicalisation of civic car journey next to the Pakistan was visually manicarbon monoxide infused fest through the proliferarickshaw rides taken by tion of mosques in every other college peers. I was street corner, bearded turjust on the tip of an icebaned maulvis, head berg.” scarves on women, and Art was not a difficult censorship of the media. As choice for her. “Fortunately a young girl I watched as a girl I was allowed to bemused as kissing scenes choose my specialism as in western programmes long as I went to universitywere artfully spliced by unlike my brothers who PTV clerics from our viewwere pushed into engineering pleasure. Sex was a ing. My brothers and I dirty word and as young were always inclined girls entering puberty we towards arts and history.” had the serious responsibil-

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

The Blair Witch Hunt Robin Cook was so right then! It has taken seven years and more than 10 million pounds for Tony Blair to be truly exposed. I had never imagined the day would come when I would agree with Jeremy Corbyn but the man does have substance and the dignity to apologise on behalf of the Labour Party for the “disastrous decision” and affirming the fact by “branding the conflict a stain on the party and country”.

Was this anticipated by Labour MPs or was it a coincidence to vote Mr Corbyn out before the release of the Chilcot report.

What is good for the West will certainly not always be good for the East, and yet with an unbelievable conviction the West deem they have the God given right to impose their beliefs on these countries; first politically, followed by militarily might if necessary. Weapons of Mass Destruction in reality turned out to be Weapons of Mass Deception. It was evident when the UK or rather TB undermined UN Security to unctuously please Big Brother by joining hands (or rather ‘arms’) to annihilate Iraq and its future. The extent of the damage is beyond repair and will take decades, if it ever does, to return to normality. There are countries who not only possess weapons of mass destruction but more likely to use them ‘within 45 minutes’ and yet conveniently this does not bother the West. Britain, America’s best friend then when needed and now having voted to leave the EU will be placed at the back of the queue for trade deals as confirmed by Obama – what a strange relationship.

Now what? Tony Blair has magnanimously accepted all responsibility – the dead can’t be brought back to life, crimes in the name of a just war undone or rebuild Iraq? Not only was Iraq destroyed but it is now the stronghold of Daesh today’s new international threat.

Mujahidin, Al Queda and Daesh all a result of the West’s half-baked interference destroying countries and generations of population in these misfortunate areas. Not to mention the death of our brave soldiers used as mere pawns to appease political appetite. I am sure by now Bush must have called Blair to enquire “ Yo, Blair. How are you doing?”

Major (retd) Tikendra Dewan By email

India’s Modi

I have never seen such a wise intelligent, hard working Prime Minister in my life, maintaining wonderful political relations with all the countries of the world ie America, Europe, China, Japan, Middle East and Pakistan. I think Narendra Modi is not only a genius but a good forecaster. He knows how to maintain relationships and keep them for the future. Trade and commerce are his primary moto and solid purpose.

Our country should progress and be in the front not behind. He is a wonderful speaker of so many languages, always touches the holy feet of his old mother in order to get blessings and I always think mothers are like gods and their blessings will never go to waste - not only for his own personality least of all for the motherland - what a notion, what an idea.

Mr Modi is the owner of his own personality. If I may recall one name of India’s prime ministers is that of Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri - his prime ministerial reign was short lived and could not survive for long.

I come back again for the administration when he declared cow beef should not be eaten by the common man then people need to respect the will of our learned prime minister I am 100% sure that during Modi’s time as India’s prime minister she will progress, shine and will become a power such as China, Japan and USA. Ramesh Moradabadi Southall

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Bloodbath in Bangladesh

Britain and E.U. negotiations

Bangladesh has been on the path of radicalization for at least two decades.

But as victims were local Hindus, phantasmal West turned blind eye, as only lives of Westerners matter to Europe and America.

Now that the chicken has come home to roost with brutal murder of nine Italians, there is uproar in Western media.

It is time plutocratic West has coordinated policy on terrorism, be pertinacious, no matter who are victims.

Terrorists do not discriminate, although it is becoming common not to butcher people of their own faith, especially if they could recite versus, prayers from holy Koran!

It is indeed praise worthy that some Bangladeshis refused to abandon their nonMuslim friends and sacrificed their own lives when they were given the choice to leave.

Humanity still exists even in some of the most troubled Islamic nations.

It is also worth noticing that most terrorists are highly educated, come from wellto-do families, some are even doctors rather than old fashioned beliefs that poor people who have nothing to lose, opted out of civilization, turn to terrorism as means of escape from their everyday struggle to survive.

It is indeed a challenge to the West how to stop these youths from becoming radicals.

With such brutality on the rise, I would not be surprised if Americans elect Donald Trump as there next president, throwing world into turmoil and who can blame them!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

It will most appropriate for someone from the ‘Remain’ side is elected the Prime minister of the Tory Party in order to carry out the negotiations with the E.U. for accessing the single market rather than someone from Brexit side. Remain side will be more welcome and acceptable. E.U. will more flexible and accommodating with them than with Brexit side.

There is already bad blood between Brexit and E.U. and any negotiations between them will be fraught with mistrust and hostility. This will result in getting a bad deal for Britain. Brexit has demonised E.U. and its institutions and has created conditions for its break-up, notwithstanding the economic and financial damage it has already done globally by exiting from the E.U. through false and misleading propaganda and misinformation. They have already started reneging on what they had promised and will continue doing so. They have led the British people up the garden path.

It would be appropriate for the negotiating team to include representatives from the opposition parties in order to present a united front to the E.U. and to give a comprehensive terms of reference in order to include all points of views. This will foster better relations within Britain and E.U. Baldev Sharma By email

The Iraq war

The Chilcot Report, which was the result of seven years of diligent inquiry about the Iraq war, came out with the following conclusions: · The decision to invade was taken “before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted” and Military action was “not a last resort”; that means it was not a just war. · Saddam posed no “imminent threat”. In effect, he declared the war needless · The Iraq decision rested on flawed intelligence. · Blair and his ministers should have challenged what they were told but did not. · The planning for post-invasion Iraq was “wholly inadequate”, the consequences “underestimated” and Soldiers were sent into harm’s way with insufficient equipment.

This is a damning indictment of Tony Blair and his government. But let us not forget large parts of the British establishment were baying for this war. The Tories, the Labour Party, the Press (with the exception of the Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Guardian) and large sections of the population. We must not forget the 182 Members of Parliament who voted against the resolution in the Commons. Among the political parties, the Liberal Democrats were the only party to oppose the war.

Dhiraj Kataria By email

Deafness and early treatment

Subject about deafness and early treatment in Gujarat Samachar dated 9-7-2016, covered only half the information about hearing mechanism, loss of hearing and hearing aids.

Deafness is caused by constant loud noises e.g. domestic/ industrial/ disco music on modern apps etc. Tinnitus is early signs of onset of deafness. Deaf persons are neglected, ignored and marginalized. Hearing aids are useful only when brain segment that deciphers all impulses is intact. If not, then all the hearing aids merely amplify impulses. Such a person hears all voices and sounds but cannot understand words. Therefore besides normal hearing aids, therapists have developed lip reading and sign language method.

Digital aids are more efficient than analogue.

Researches forecast use of stem cells to regenerate hairs in the cochlea. 3 D image is also envisaged to replace the whole middle ear. Till such treatments are available, all deaf persons have to use on body loops, indoor loops, loud/flashing doorbell etc. In UK RNID is providing sorts of assistance to deaf persons. Some local councils also may supply needful accessories e.g. indoor loop, loud/flashing doorbell, early freedom pass etc. Easiest means are paper and pen outdoor and white board/pen or backboard/chalk at home.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

Cause celebre’

I was disappointed that the Letter Writers’ get together on Monday, 27 June at the House of Lords had to be cancelled. When I am not expecting any important e-mails, I only check the In-Box on my main computer for new mails once in the morning and then before reiring to bed at night. As the Internet on my mobile phone had also gone up the creek on the day, I missed the emails from CBbhai, Rupanjanaben and Kamalbhai which were sent at about 2pm stating that due to unavoidable circumstances arising from the Brexit saga, the Meet and Greet session had to be postponed and will now take place some other day.

I am grateful to them for taking this much trouble to write to me. Having been the one who had initiated this event, I had somehow made this my cause celebre’ and was very much geared up for the occasion. Hence I arrived at Lord Dholakia’s committee room no 5 only to find out that there was only one other person who was in the same boat as me who too was unaware that the programme was not taking place on that day. With a heavy heart, I took the District line train to return to Newbury Park.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford Continued on page 11

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

'Top universities to offer full degrees online in five years'

Council officers find 17 men in three-bedroom house during crackdown on rogue landlords Seventeen young men were found crammed inside a three-bedroom house after a council swooped on a property.

The raid, which took place in Kingsbury, London, last week, revealed the tenants were living in cramped conditions with no hot water or heating. Grimy mattresses were found piled into tiny damp rooms where up to five people were sleeping at a time.

Readers’ Voice

Leading universities will offer fully accredited undergraduate courses online within five years, says the co-founder of a US online university network.

Daphne Koller, president of Coursera, said the necessary technology was available but universities had been hesitant about their "reputation".

So far, online courses have mostly offered certificates for short courses rather than full degrees.

Prof Koller says online degrees can be "more affordable and accessible".

Founded in California four years ago, Coursera has become one of the world's biggest providers of "massive, open, online

Police officers who raided the property found an old mattress next to cooking appliances inside the dirty kitchen, which also had a leaking sink

Continued from page 10

Coming together to stop hate crime It’s time that London’s communities came together and put a stop to rising hate crime in the capital.

London is an open and tolerant city. Meeting people from all backgrounds, from all parts of the world, every day is what I love most about our city. But we have to remember that these values of openness and tolerance were hard won over many years of campaigning.

It is a sad fact that there has been a shocking rise in hate crime since the Brexit vote. This is down to a minority of individuals using this uncertain time to push back against the tolerance that we have fought for with vile racism. We must, as Londoners, stand together and protect our city. This is why I am fully supporting Mayor Sadiq Khan’s call to all Londoners to report hate crime either to the police or to a third party like True Vision. The message is clear: if we experience hate crime we must report it, if we see a hate crime we must report it. We have to fight to keep London the open and tolerant city that we love.

Jennette Arnold OBE AM Assembly Member for Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest

Enforcement officers found the house was scattered with mould and protruding electric cables, while the backyard was filled with household rubbish and old mattresses.

The council burst into the property with help from the Metropolitan Police after previously been blocked from carrying out a raid.

All 17 tenants living there were young men who were paying cash in hand to one person in the house who then passed on the official rent of £1,200 a month.

courses" - known as Moocs.

The online platform has 20 million students following courses from about 145 prestigious universities and institutions around the world. But most of the online courses have been short units that give students a certificate, rather than a full degree or credits

There were 151,125 penalty notices issued to parents in England for their children's term-time absence from school during 2014-15. The figure represents a 54% increase compared with the previous year. There has been a high-profile legal challenge to whether parents should have to pay fines for taking children on holiday during the school term. A Department for Education spokesman said:

"Children should not be taken out of school without good reason."The Department for Education figures include parents who have taken their children on term-time holidays - and the figures show that a high proportion of parents paid the penalty fines within 28 days. But there were more than 21,000 cases where parents did not pay and were prosecuted and in another 17,000

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cases the penalties were dropped.

The figures show how fines for parents have become more common with almost a fivefold increase in penalties over the past five years.

A separate set of figures, based on Freedom of Information requests carried out by the Santander bank, estimated that the fines levied last year amounted to £5.6m.

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Term absence fines soar past 150,000

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MEDIA WATCH

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

The killing of 20 hostages - Japanese, Italians, an American and a young Indian woman, aged 21, Tarashi Jain at a café in one of Dhaka’s hotspots has sent shock waves across Bangladesh, India, and the world beyond. Tarashi Jain’s distraught mother, Tulika, sobbing at her daughter’s cremation in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of Delhi, said: ‘Tell everyone the truth, the truth is that she was killed because she was an Indian.’ Islamic State, or ISIS, claimed responsibility for this and other murders of people belonging to the country’s minority Hindu, Christian and Buddhist communities, and also Muslim figures known for their liberal views.

Critical arrest in Kolkata

Bangalore air show

A suspected IS operative was arrested in Kolkata by the CID. A gun, ammunition and bombing making material was found on his person. His name is Masiuddin, the son of a well known Islamic cleric from the Birbhum district of West Bengal.

Under interrogation, he claimed to have been living in Tamil Nadu for the past seven years and speaks multiple languages.

Acting on a tip-off from central security agencies the local CID stated trailing the 25 year-old man and arrested him as he alighted from a train in Amodhpur in Birbhum (Times of India, Telegraph July 6)

Tejas will participate in the Bangalore air show on 8 October.

The more advanced Tejas 1A with appropriate electronic warfare system are due for induction sometime next year. (Hindu, Telegraph July 2)

India-Israel missile twice test-fired

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other dignitaries maintain a minute's silence to offer their tributes to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka

A new generation Medium Range Surface-to-Air 70km missile has been test-fired twice in succession at the integrated test range off the Odisha coast in the Bay of Bengal. The missile was developed by India’s Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industry (IAI). A Ministry of Defence statement from New Delhi said: ‘Many Indian industries like Bharat Electronics Ltd, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Dynamics Ltd and the Tata group of companies have contributed to a number of subsystems which have been put to use in this flight test.’

Quantum leap

Cultural activists, teachers and people from all walks of life attend a candle-light vigil to pay homage to the people who have been killed in a terrorists attack

In the present case, Bangladesh Army commandoes went into action, shooting dead six of the seven terrorists and arresting the solitary survivor. Thirteen captives were rescued.

Bangladesh ministers, in denial over ISIS claims, insist that the jihadis were homegrown.

Whatever be the truth, it remains a fact that few, if any, of the perpetrators of the previous random assassinations have been brought to justice by the authorities. Disturbingly, the Dhaka killers were young, well educated, of middle and upper class families. The stereotype of the bearded, semi-literate mullah doesn’t hold water any longer.

A few days after the Dhaka tragedy, another occurred in Kishoreganj town, some eighty miles north of the capital, Dhaka. A 250,000 sized Eid prayer meeting was attacked by seven gunmen. Two policemen died in the shootout.

Candlelight vigil

A large candlelight vigil, attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and domestic and foreign dignitaries, were present together with a substantial public presence. Japanese companies have started withdrawing en masse from the country,

which they say, is too unsafe for business.

Garment industry endangered

The Bangladeshi garment industry which covers around 80 per cent of the national economy as international retailers who source their good from the country also appear to be winding up their operations for safer locations in Cambodia and Sri Lanka (TV networks July 5)

India on alert

Events in Bangladesh have led to growing security concerns in India. Border patrols have intensified with the perception that Bangladesh could be used as a platform for jihadi terrorism in India. India’s smart set, long accustomed to peddling absurdities that the country’s cultural and religious pluralism, not to speak of its democracy, were a hedge against terrorism have suffered indecent exposure. The Times of India (July 3) devoted three pages to the coverage of the Dhaka horror story and its possible implications for India. Kolkata’s Telegraph newspaper (July 3) expended reams of print on its own coverage. There was no stinting of space.

Dr G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and Programme Director of the Mission, who led the launch operation, congratulated the team, saying ‘it’s a quantum jump in air defence capability. The missile successfully intercepted a manoeuvring air-breathing target mimicking an attack combat aircraft. It was a perfect launch achieving all the mission parameters.’ (Hindu July 1)

Tejas joins IAF

The first two Tejas fighter aircraft have been inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF). These Light Combat fourth-generation warplanes were inducted into a squadeon named the Flying Daggers . Two more Tejas will shortly be part of the same 45 squadron. Tejas was designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and manufactured by the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). Group Captain Madhav Rangachari, 40, is its first Commanding Officer.

He said: ‘I am Mirage 2000 pilot and I can say with authority that the Tejas is a fourth-generationplus fighter way ahead of even the Mirage. Each planes carries a weapons payload of four tonnes and has a maximum cruising speed of mach 1.6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, ‘I laud HAL and ADA on the induction of Tejas fighter jet.

This illustrates your skills and strengths to enhance indigenous defence manufacturing.’

(Telegraph, Hindu, Times of India July 2)

Jet powered warship commissioned

INS Tarasa, a 48 metre long, 7.5 wide, Fast Attack Craft with a displacement of 315 tonnes, built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, was launched by Aruba Korde, wife of Vice Admiral Jayant Korde. The jet engine propelling the ship is an advanced technology allowing greater speed, manoeuvrability and can be used in a shallower draft than the earlier model based on propellers.(Times of India July 1)

BAE-Mahindra tie-up on howitzers

British aerospace major BAE Systems and Indian private company Mahindra ^ Mahindra have struck a deal to manufacture the formers iconic ultra-light Howitzer battlefield guns at Faridabad, some 300 kms from Delhi.

‘Earlier this year, we announced the down selection of Mahindra as our supplier for the Assembly integration & Test capability for the M777 Ultra Lightweight Howitzer, said Joe Seattle, Vice President, and General Manager (Weapons Systems) BAE Systems Inc (Business Line July 2)

India-Russia defence ties on track

India’s Ambassador to the Russian Federation, P.S. Raghavan issued a newsletter from Moscow on the current level of India-Russian engagement across a wide spectrum. The leaderships of both countries, he said, were in contact at the highest ministerial level on issues of mutual interest, from trade and industry to science, technology, space, security and defence.

The Ambassador writes: ‘Defence cooperation is an important pillar of our bilateral relations. About 60 to 70 per cent of the equipment and systems of the Indian Armed Forces is of Soviet or Russian origin. They are constantly upgraded, newer generations introduced, higher-technology technology inducted, and new systems developed through joint research. With increasing focus

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on ‘Make in India,’ this cooperation will provide increasing opportunities to Indian industry to partner with Russian companies for manufacturing in India.

In December 2015, an IndiaRussia venture agreement was signed to manufacture Russian Kamov helicopters in India - the first Make in India project in the defence sector.’ (June 21 online)

Good, monsoon drives car sales

The arrival of the monsoon, and the launches of new models have bumped up consumer sentiment and helped automobile firms maintain a positive momentum in June sales, according to monthly sales data released by automakers. They are hopeful that the Supreme Court will end its ban on diesel engine vehicles in Delhi.

This, and the substantial hike in salaries of civil servants are expected to stimulate prospective buyers with deeper pockets to acquire cars and SUVs (Mint July 5)

India maintains lead in pharma exports

India has maintained its lead in pharmaceutical exports in 201516, ending with an impressive $12.54 billion compared with China’s $6.94 billion. India’s growth in the sector was 7.5 per cent to China’s 5.3 per cent.

India’s export markets range from the US, Europe to Africa and South East Asia. Its exports to the US jumped 23.4 per cent, worth $4 billion. (Business Line July 6)

Cabinet reshuffle

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet reshuffle was the cynosure of all eyes. Smriti Irani’s transfer from the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Textile Ministry was the main talking point. She made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Prakash Javadkar is her replacement. Jayant Sinha has been moved from the Finance Ministry to Civil Aviation, Manoj Sinha, an IIT-BHU graduate takes over the high profile Telecom Ministry, Journalist M.J Akbar becomes Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, Ravi Shankar Prasad shifted from Telecom to Law and Justice Minister. These were the more eye-catching changes, according to the media. Message: Low key performers rewarded; high profile ministers perceived to be slack and speaking out of turn demoted. Time to stand and deliver (Times of India, Hindu, Business Line July 6).

Sir John Chilcot in press conference in London. see comment page 3

Tony Blair. see comment page 3

UK Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

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Chinese visitors’ spending spree lifts UK high streets

Roadmap to Prosperity

A joint article with Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Minister of State for Employment.

Although we were both on opposing sides of the Brexit debate, one the Employment Minister and the other a businessman, asset manager in London’s financial centre, one thing is absolutely clear – we have opportunities ahead and exciting times for Britain and jobs to get on with to ensure Britain can be as great as we always believed – despite wishing to take different routes to that same destination.

Regardless of our past views, we have no time to waste in what might have been – it’s time to get on and seize the day.

First up, businesses. If you’re an exporter or have the potential to export, you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to take advantage of an oversold Pound to boost your sales globally. Governments around the world have been desperate to weaken their currency to boost exports.

For Britain, a trading nation, a boost in our exports will help balance our trade deficit but more importantly create more new British exporters and boost sales and profitability of existing ones. Of course importers will have a tighter cost straightjacket imposed on them for a time, and it would be glib to say there will be productivity gains as a result, but that is the opportunity.

Of course we have to be mindful of the employees and businesses concerned about uncertainty, but the best thing politicians can do now is communicate a clear vision and plan of action, and the best thing for business is to do what it always does, see opportunities in all environments and never say die. We are not closed to hurdles and pains that exist even in the best of times, but the support that was available from Government agencies before the vote still exists – please use it, whether for as a member of the workforce or business person.

At the other end of the economic scale, those who need our help the most if you’re disillusioned fed up of no oppor-

tunities and yours was a protest vote, don’t forget all the government programmes for retraining and reskilling. Use them. The New Enterprise Allowance for instance has seen 85,000 business launched since it was unveiled in 2011 for jobseekers wanting to start their own firm and access government funding.

And know we are redoubling our efforts in becoming an even more international country into bringing more global investment into all parts of the United Kingdom to create more opportunities and jobs for young and old and getting the message out around the world about the opportunities. Our vision is to make doing business in Britain easier than in any other country and so more growth, more jobs, all sides of the debate know this is a worthy goal.

And if you want to see this at work in its early stages – look at the comments from the Indian press - India one of the largest investors in Britain, and their business persons on how a future trade deal outside the EU would hugely benefit the UK. If you’re an overseas investor you’ve got once in a lifetime bargain low prices because of the exchange rate, buy when others are fearful remember. By investing here you tap into a hugely talented skilled workforce, some incredible intellectual property, facilities for worldclass R&D. Of course we need a calm stable balanced economy in which all sections of society share in our prosperity and the vision from politicians and business must to be move in the same direction together and unified to deliver on both prosperity and the greatness of this country everyone on all sides of the political and economic divide believe in. Our roads may have diverged, but our destination is the same.

- Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Minister of State for Employment - Alpesh Patel, CEO Praefinium Partners, UK based global asset manager.

The British population have decided to leave the European Union by voting in favour of Brexit.

The immediate aftermath of the UK referendum has created a global Valerie Shao wave of uncertainty to our economy, social and political landscape.

Focusing on our economy for a moment, the pound (GBP) took a dramatic plunge almost across the board immediately after the vote results were announced. When compared against a major economic power such as China, it is noted that China’s CNY soared by +8.11% to 9.0738, while the offshore Yuan (GBP/CNH) rose +7.68% to 9.0934, as confirmed by Daily FX Forex Market News And Analysis.

As a result of the weakened pound, the UK is bracing itself for an influx in Chinese investment, tourism and sales of luxury products as it is now cheaper for Chinese nationals to purchase UK goods and services.

Chinese nationals are taking advantage of this extraordinary time in the UK’s history by moving ahead with their plans to invest, visit and enjoy the British culture.

According to Boomerang, Chinese are the biggest buyers of high-end goods and make the most of their purchases overseas, counting a number of 270,000 trips to the UK over the past year. As stated in The Economist in 2014, around twothirds of luxury products bought by Chinese are purchased outside the

13

country. Also, Global Blue, a retailtourism company, has revealed that for 82% of them shopping is a crucial part of their holiday plans, preferring European or American stores to their own as a guarantee of authenticity.

Due to the recent events, it’s believed that cheaper prices for luxury goods and services may benefit British companies, such as Burberry Group Plc and Mulberry Group Plc, bringing them out of the sales slowdown that they have been facing in the past year.

We have noted many Chinese investors, entrepreneurs and visitors are uncertain as to the process of coming to the UK. At Duncan Lewis Solicitors, we have a dedicated team of specialist Chinese speaking immigration lawyers who can help Chinese nationals enter the UK for business or leisure.

Applicants can apply for their visitor visa three months prior to their travel to the UK. Most applications are processed within 15 working days. Long Term Visit visa for a period of more than 6 months may take up to 30 days to process. Fast track process is also available to Chinese visitors at an additional fee of 1410 RMB. Applicants can either pay online or at the application centres for their visa to be processed within 3 to 5 working days. It is well advised that applicants should not book any travel tickets until receiving the visa.

For any further information or queries, please contact Duncan Lewis’ specialist Immigration Caseworker, Valerie Shao, who is fluent in speaking Mandarin and Cantonese at valeries@duncanlewis.com or the Head of Business Development, Geoffrey Yeung, at geoffreyy@duncanlewis.com.

Ex-model awarded £75 million in Britain’s largest divorce settlement Christina Estrada, a former model and ex-wife of Saudi businessman Walid Juffali, has been awarded a record £75 million in cash and assets in the biggest divorce settlement by an English court.

Berkshire-based Christina Estrada, 54, had sought the large sum to meet her “reasonable needs”, including £1 million a year for clothes.

American Estrada went to the High Court in London after 61-year-old Sheikh Walid Juffali took a second wife and divorced her under Islamic law in 2014.

Juffali was given three weeks to pay £53.5 million. He must also deliver a Lamborghini to Estrada within a fortnight or hand over another £140,000 million.

Estrada had wanted £196m from the Saudi

Indian-origin child genius on TV quiz show

RECORD PAYOUT: Christina Estrada and Sheikh Walid Juffali

businessman.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, Estrada’s requests included an annual £116,000 for handbags, £46,000 for Wimbledon and Ascot tickets and £1 million for clothes. The latter total included £40,000 for fur coats and £83,000 for cocktail dresses.

In the event, Mrs

Justice Roberts gave her an annual clothing allowance of £500,000.

Estrada said she had a 13-year-old daughter with Juffali, adding: “My focus now is to support my daughter and move forward with our lives. For her sake and the sake of our wider family, I hope we can now resolve matters sensibly.”

They say genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. This Thomas Alva Edison quote is so true. It’s only hard work that makes you a genius and so is nineyear-old Rhea.

Rhea, a hard-working Indian-origin child prodigy, has pulled herself up by her bootstraps to become one of the stars of the ‘Child Genius’ series on Channel 4 that starts next week in which children compete to be crowned Britain’s brainiest youngster.

Rhea, whose surname has not been revealed, recently warmed up for the contest by beating 8,000 children to a national art prize. She has been studying for up to 10 hours a day to prepare herself for the programme in which she

YOUNG PRODIGY: Rhea with her parents Anish and Sonal

will compete with 15 young rivals, The Sunday Times reported.

“Doing Child Genius was probably the most incredible experience of my life. It was tense at times but it was incredible. I have made friends with some of the children,” Rhea, who is privately educated in London and hopes to go to Oxford to study medicine,

told the newspaper.

Her mother Sonal, who went to university at 16 and gave up her job as a doctor to support Rhea’s education, said, “The school did not have a programme for gifted kids so they designed one. Now she reads GCSElevel books for stimulation.

We are starting to get advice on her taking GCSEs early.”

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TLIGHT

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A.A. Dhand: Streets of Darkness Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

on the face of it, there's been a racist murder but it's not that black and white

Sunetra Senior

A.A. Dhand’s new crime fiction novel, Streets of Darkness, is cut with a distinctly urbane edge: one that champions the multicultural virtue at a time when it once again seems dark and grim. Set on the brooding streets of Bradford, we follow Sikh Detective Harry Virdee as he becomes embroiled in the investigation of a high-profile murder at high risk to the rocky racial relations of his home city: “the beginning shows Detective Harry running through Leicester Park,” Dhand told us, “and he comes across the crucified body of Shakeel Ahmed, the day before a hotly contested by-election between himself and the MP for Bradford West. When Harry calls this in, his boss tells him it’s the ex-leader of the BNP, Lucas Dwight, who’s responsible and tasks Harry with tracking down Dwight before the beginning of the Bradford Mela – the biggest Asian festival in England. The city has a history of instability and the crime going unresolved will likely result in social havoc. Identity is at the heart of my book. A lot of people today are fighting for their nation without even knowing what it means; you’ve got disconnected youths demonstrating on the streets with Union Jacks when they don’t fully understand. Harry knows. He is both Asian and a patriot. He cares about what Britain represents which is democracy, tolerance and a space for integration.” *** In this sense, Dhand’s raw relationship with his many oddball characters is as striking as his progressive message: “there are as many white English characters in the novel as there are Asians, and none of them are predictable. For example, you end up liking the bigoted arch enemy of the narrative by the end. Saima, Virdee’s Muslim wife in the story, is a character I’m particularly proud of. She is so fiercely vibrant and dispels the derogatory images of Muslim women in the media: she’s got Yorkshire charm and her quirky religious rituals, and defends passionately her right to be married to Harry.” Dhand then does not just write to superficially preach. His sustained and meticulous commitment to the creating process demonstrates a real commitment to storytelling and his tradition of detective fiction: it took the witty renegade a period of 10 years to perfect “a gripping crime fiction novel that cracked the industry, achieving what no other Asian writer could.” The signature of a timeless, literary writer Dhand finally shows us is the sheer clarity of their vision: ‘There was an air of peacefulness. Simpler times.’ he writes in an organic echoing of the seminal crime novels of old, “simpler because they hadn’t been corrupted by the absurdity of life, by the complexity of having brown skin in a western land.’ One of the genre’s defining themes is the slighted detective hero who longs for a pre-industrial past, and here Dhand expertly works in a post-colonial context, through instilling a sense of nostalgia for communal harmony: "I wanted to write a book that flew in the face of the social standard" he aptly added, "one that didn't just talk about equality, but actually embodied it. I have had several offers from independent publishers before Penguin Random House for Streets of Darkness and I’m glad I waited. It is a powerful platform. Asian people – who are of course just people - can now immediately relate to the themes they’re reading, ones usually reserved for non-fiction and sociology: interfaith marriages, racism, and the struggles of a mixed heritage identity. I am hope to turn an entire generation of Asians onto the thrill of crime fiction and hopefully through this also stoke their love of reading”.

How did you avoid the ageold publishers’ trap of being ‘Too Asian’ or ‘Not Asian Enough’?

Streets of Darkness is a book of our times and so is culturally diverse. I think historically Asian writers have produced books which are completely Asian and not quite reflective of the country’s current zeitgeist.

What have been some of your literary influences?

I grew up on mysteries such as Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven, later moving to writers like Stephen King. I loved the power of these books; their ability to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Are there Parallels in your writing between Detective Harry and Ex-BNP Leader Lucas Dwight, and A Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and his arch enemy Moriarty?

Maybe, but it’s always interesting to have two main characters who are so vastly opposed in their upbringings and beliefs and then bottleneck them to work alongside each other. The time frame of the novel is 10 hours so

all the while you’re wondering ‘will they turn on each other, will they be able to help each other?’ the clock is also ticking. If you put as much pressure on your characters to the point where you are about to break them, you’ll get the most out of them.

Crime Fiction often has a convoluted web of crime: how exactly does your novel engage this theme?

On the face of it there’s been a racist murder, but everyone has their own unique motivations: you‘ve got a young pretender who wants revenge, who in turn enlists the help of a menacing henchman, who despite being very frightening also evokes your sympathy by the end. Harry’s very much invested in the case because he needs to save his job. Every chapter reveals a turn and subverts another expectation. This book has more twists than a Jalebi…

Tell us more about your journey to high profile success?

Yes, I landed a big deal with Transworld – the same publishers to pick up big names such as Lee Child

and Dan Brown - and they were just the sort of people I’d been hoping for.

It took me many years to draft the book and get the multiple, parallel storylines to run alongside each other perfectly. With a lot of hard work, they fused together to give a strong worldending finale.

What was the most difficult part in writing the book?

Avoiding clichés. I worked diligently to iron these out. I was getting frustrated only seeing Asian caricatures in the media: the pharmacist, the corner shop keeper, the taxi driver. I wanted a lead that could be cool, edgy and smart and who represented a new – more genuine - breed of our generation.

Finally, do you have any other awards you’re particularly proud of?

Streets of Darkness is currently in the early stages of being produced for TV. I was also the recipient of the Literary Consulting Inaugural Scriptwriting Prize in 2006. twitter.com/aadhand

In Brief

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

‘Brainwashed’ girls

A therapist has been described as being “manipulative” and accused of brainwashing daughters of rich parents into thinking they were abused as kids and turing them against their parents. According to the claim Anne Craig purposely fed false memories into the young women’s minds. The case came to the high court as Amanda Cayzer, Countess of Caledon’s 27 year old daughter served ties with her parents.

The countess requested the court to order the police to give evidence they have on Mrs Craig so that a civil action can be brought against her. The barrister for the Countess, Mark Jones said that a private investigator uncovered “harrowing evidence” about her methods. Mrs Craig’s former clients spoke to the private investigator with one woman said “We were so brainwashed by her constant pressure, we ended up believing it. She took things that happened and twisted them until we saw ourselves as only victims.”

Sadly in our Asian community this type of things are more of a commonplace. Most of the exploitation against women are for financial and emotional purposes. Awareness is important and the media needs to play an important role and take an antisocial stance on matters of manipulation.

A Brain Damaged Child’s £15m payout

A child who has been left severely disabled due to blunders by two out of hours GPs has a £15m settlement. Now aged nine, Jacob Stratton was six weeks old when he contracted meningitis. Despite his parents making numerous calls to out of house GPs it is said the doctors did not follow standard procedure and failed to spot the condition. By the time Jacob reached the hospital it was too late to prevent permanent brain damage. Jacob Stratton, born 15th February 2007 fell sick on 31st March with high temperature accompanied by seizures. The medical guidelines state that babies running high temperatures should be examined although dotters did not make a visit. Jacob’s parents, Mandy and David, took him to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where he was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis. The two GPs, Daniel Evans and Ruth Smith, were represented by the medical defence unions in the High Court last week to agreed the financial settlement.

Easter Murder

A Muslim taxi driver was so enraged by a fellow Muslim wishing his customers Happy Easter that the taxi driver murdered the shopkeeper. Tanveer Ahmed, 33, a Sunni Muslim pleaded guilty to sectarian murder.

Mr Ahmed from Bradford drove from his home to Mr Asad Shah’s newsagents in Glasgow. CCTV footage showed Mr Ahmed taking a knife out of his robes, moving behind the counter and stabbing Mr Shah. Asad Shah, 40, from the Ahmadi faith known for its peaceful interfaith work, suffered fatal wounds despite efforts by Mr Shah’s brother and a staff member to protect him. On 24th March, the day of the attack, a message on Facebook posted by Mr Shah read “Good Friday and a very happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation.” After the stabbing Mr Ahmed sat at a nearby bus shelter with his head bowed “as if in prayer” as he waited to the police to arrive.

Judge Lady Rae at the Glasgow high court told Ahmed “ This was a truly despicable crime motivated, it seems, by your sense of offence at a man’s expression of his religious beliefs which differ from yours. Let me be clear at this stage, there is no justification whatsoever for what you did.”

Married IT worker groped colleague at Christmas party

A married IT worker is facing jail after he groped a female colleague at the Christmas party of a City law firm. The 30 year old from Dagenham, Varun Krishnakumar introduced himself to woman in her 20s while she chatted with colleagues last year. She told the Old Bailey “He went to shake my hand and introduced himself. I had never seen him before. He asked me if we could take a selfie together, which I said no to because it was a bit weird with someone I have just met.”At around 9pm he followed her into the ladies bathroom the woman told the court “The door opened and I could see in the mirror the guy from earlier pop his head in and he seemed to hesitate. I said, ‘This is the girls’ toilets’ because I presumed he had wandered in by accident thinking it was the men’s. He started walking towards me and just said ‘It’s fine don't worry about it’.” Krishnakumar then grabbed the woman, forced her towards a cubicle and started pulling her clothes. She was only saved when a colleague came into the ladies and heard the struggle, following which Krishnakumar fled the scene, however he was identified by the police.

The jury at the Old Bailey unanimously found him guilty of one count of sexual assault. The judge Nicholas Cooke QC said “It seems to me a custodial sentence seems inevitable.”

Krishnakumar could also face deportation, as an Indian national he has been given a leave to remain as his wife is an EU citizen. He is being remanded in custody pending sentencing on 4th August. He will also be put on the sex offenders register when he is released from prison.

AAA-2016 Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

It's That Time of the Year: Nominate for the 16th Asian Achievers Awards

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

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he UK can boast of a vast number of Asians within various walks of life. Many occupy senior or board level positions in top firms, some lead successful businesses or head community services or head sports teams. Ingrained in the Asian culture and work ethic are traits such as hard work, determination and the passion to succeed against all odds. As a result, their belief in high standards and commitment to continuous development is second to none. To reward such talents, and recognise their unparalleled contributions, Asian Business Publications Limited organises their Asian Achievers Awards every year in London.

The awards are a star-studded event where the renown and crème de la crème attend to celebrate and acknowledge the contribution of the British Asians in today's society. The awards in its 16th year, will be held at the prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel, in September 2016.

There are ten categories for the Asian Achievers Awards. As you may recall, we have already elaborated on categories such as: Media, Arts and Culture, Community Services, Achievements in Sports and Uniform and Civil Services in the

Nish and Sach Kukadia (centre), with Suresh Vagjiani, Director, Sow and Reap Ltd (left) and Navin Shah AM (right)

Bindi Karia (centre), with Ashwin Mankad, Axiom Stone Solicitors (left) and DJ, songwriter, record producer and musician Naughty Boy (right)

last two weeks (see page 5 and 15 respectively). This week we will be telling you more on two more categories: Enterpreneur and Woman of the Year.

The Entrepreneur of the Year is awarded to a young, aspiring entrepreneur with a proven track record of operating a successful business enterprise.

Last year the winner was Nish and Sach Kukadia, Founders of Secret Sales. Finalists included names like Vanita Parti MBE, Founder of Blink Brow Bar, Nitin Passi- creator of the fashion web-

PRESENTS

site Missguided and Jyotin Sethi and Karam Sethi, who are behind some of the most exciting restaurants in London today.

The Woman of the Year is awarded to recognise and honour a woman who has made a significant contribution in any chosen

field. Last year Bindi Karia, a technology startup expert, took home the award. Shortlisted candidates included Smruti Sriram, CEO of Supreme Creations, the world’s largest ethical manufacturer of reusable bags and sustainable packaging, Dame Zarin Kharas DME, co-founder of Justgiving, a company providing online tool and processing services to enable the collection of charitable donations, and Dr Irene Khan, a lawyer who has served as the Secretary General of

ASIAN ACHIEVERS

AWARDS

The people’s choice awards

Amnesty International for seven years.

There are many British Asians in the UK who deserve the recognition along with their contributions in their respective fields. If you know someone who has contributed to the community, has broken the glass celling and deserves recognition then nominate them online at www.asianachieversawards.com or register their details on the nomination form of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar this week.

Deadline for nominations is 31 July 2016.

I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H

NOMINATION FORM

The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians par excellence. If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation then please nominate them for one of the awards listed below.

Make sure that you fill in this application form and send it on or before 31st July, 2016 by post, fax or email to Mr. L George, Tel: 020 7749 4013, Fax 020 7749 4081, Email: aaa@abplgroup.com. If you are sending it by post the address is Mr. L George, ABPL Group, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

Please tick the appropriate category Uniformed and Civil Services For outstanding achievements in uniformed and civil services or contribution to the community through any of the above services.

Entrepreneur of the Year Awarded to an entrepreneur with a proven track record of operating a successful business enterprise.

Achievement in Community Service In recognition for an individuals service to community.

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

Sports Personality of the Year Awarded for excellence in sports.

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

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

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

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

Application Form Full Name of the Person you are Nominating: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ His/Her Contact Details (Tel & email): ___________________________________________________Occupation of the Nominee:____________________________________________ Plea s e a tta ch the Nominee s' s CV w hic h include s the f ollow ing informa tion (Please do not exceed a limit of 1000 words) (1) Personal background ( 2) Most important career achievements till date.

(3 ) Nominee's contribution to the community and nation.

(4 ) Future Plans, ambitions and visions.

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

Summary- (Please include a summary in not more than 150 words why the nominee is worthy of winning the particular award in a separate sheet) Your name and contact details: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your current Occupation/Company: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your contact ____________________________________________________________ Email: __________________________________________________________________

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SPECIAL

AI floating on air as dream fulfilled

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Finally, a dream fulfilled for Air India after it announced the much-awaited London-Ahmedabad non-stop flight from Heathrow starting August 15, 2016. The airline could not have asked for a better campaign line (A Dream Fulfilled) as it not only fulfils AI’s dream but also realises the dream of the over 6 lakh Gujaratis in the UK as also the dream of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar which has relentlessly campaigned, especially its Editor/Publisher Mr CB Patel, for re-starting the London-Ahmedabad flight. Ms Tara Naidu, Air India Regional Manager for UK & Europe, opens up to Rupanjana Dutta and Anand Pillai in an exclusive interview.

H

security checks. What happened?

It happened on a few flights. On some flights there were some crew issues. If the next set of crew has not come, then passengers cannot stay on board. It’s a Directorate General of Civil Aviation requirement. We have to disembark them. When they disembark, then they have to go through security checks again and that was the issue. This time it won’t happen because it’s a non-stop flight.

There’s no question of getting off from the flight except at the destination.

ave you had any response from the public regarding the non-stop flight?

Little bit. It’s been good, but I don’t think everybody knows about it. Hopefully we will start some more advertising. They will come to know about it.

Since it’s a non-stop flight without any stoppage in between, will it affect the fares then?

No, we haven’t increasd the fares.

The existing normal fare to Ahmedabad applies on this flight.

All people who have been booked on the London-Ahmedabad flight before the August 15 announcement will be automatically included in the non-stop flight without any increase in fares. But in December we would have a minimal 30 pounds increase because that’s a peak period.

Has Brexit affected AI? Not yet. I don’t know how much will it affect? To some extent I can see the difference in cargo, as a lot of it moves from Europe. You can see the rates have fallen drastically. Market has become much slower. I can see the immediate effects on cargo. For passenger it hasn’t affected much. But I think in the long run it will affect those whose businesses depend on trade with Europe that suffered financially following Brexit. Automatically their spending will be reduced.

Plus those going to India will have to shell out more because of the devaluation of pound. Hopefully the bright side is that we are hoping India picks up because it will be less expensive to the UK for a holiday. So we are hoping inbound tourism will increase.

Why the non-stop flight was not started in December 2015 itself?

All along AI wanted to start but there were resource constraints – mainly aircraft, crew. It’s not easy to do it at short notice. At that time it was said we will do it in due course. This (August 15, 2016) was the earliest when everything worked out.

How AI is doing financially?

It’s much better than it was.

Hopefully we will do even better.

Of course, fuel prices have helped us because they haven’t really gone up that much. Plus we are happy with the fuel-efficient Dreamliner aircraft. That’s keeping the cost under control. In fact, that’s good for all airlines. The competition has increased, especially for this market from indirect operators.

Any particular challenge you are facing with this non-stop flight?

Well, filling up the front of the aircraft is a challenge when you go to the non-metros whether it’s Amrtisar or Ahmedbad flights.

Even for Birmingham we face that challenge. So that is going to be a little tough. We do have some reg-

Tara Naidu

ular business class travellers to Ahmedabad even without the non-stop. I think it has picked up.

I am hoping by August 15 we will have more people in business class. And the other advantage is that it’s shared with Newark that is Newark-Ahmedbad. If it fills the half, then we have only half the aircraft to fill. It’s a Dreamliner aircraft which is costefficient. So we have a fairly good chance of success.

Some of the Malaysia Airlines planes had mysteriously vanished in the recent past. What AI is doing to prevent such incidents?

For AI safety is of prime importance. It’s the first and the foremost thing. In any case we don’t fly over any of the conflict zones.

We don’t expect any of these problems. We have continuous safety audits. In fact, we have a safety audit where we will be having a team of 10 people coming to the UK in August.

AI is often criticised for not having very young air hostesses on board, especially the attire they wear is not moving with the times. How do you respond to that criticism or is there any makeover plans?

There are two things there. You will find that some of the air hostesses are old. You will also find some very young crew on board.

It’s a 50-50 ratio. Fifty per cent will be more mature, while the rest will be youngsters. And I think that combination is required because those with experience can anticipate what a passenger wants and serves their needs. We get very good feedback about them – they serve the passenger very well.

At the same time 50% of the crew is young today. And we are going in for further recruitment.

What AI has to offer in terms of seating comforts, cuisine and entertainment as opposed to Middle East airways?

Everything is absolutely state-of-

the-art. All the aircraft are new whether it’s the Dreamliner or Boeing 777. All of them have personal in-flight entertainment system for each seat. You can view whichever film you want. We have a huge choice – English, Hindi, regional languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, etc. We have something to cater for the different types of market segments. We have films, documentaries, news section, comedy – as a passenger you can choose, you have a personal set with the TV, you can stop it when you want, rewind it at your wish, it’s like an individual entertainment system for everyone.

Are there any other non-stop London flights connecting other Indian cities (like Kochi, Chennai, Kolkata) in the pipeline?

Well, from Heathrow it is unlikely because of the slot constraints.

Heathrow, as you know, is saturated. You cannot have any new flights over there. We won’t get the slots. But we are looking at expansion for the whole of Europe and the UK. We have 6 more Dreamliner aircraft on order. Of the 27 we have ordered, we have got 21. Six more are yet to come.

Probably Madrid is next on the cards – that is Delhi-Madrid. And various routes are being evaluated. In fact, many of the airports in the UK have approached me and I am in touch with them – be it Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Gatwick. So that’s being evaluated. Many routes in Europe are being evaluated. Depending on the economic feasibility we will be expanding in the UK as well.

For the London-Ahmedabad nonstop flight, what are the various options for meals?

There are various options available for meals. Apart from Asian vegetarian, we also have Jain meals. In fact, there is something called the “Gujju Meal”. You just

have to book it at the time of reservation.

Is London-Ahmedabad route a profitable venture for AI? Well, as of now, we have to wait and see. But I am optimistic.

There are various reasons – fuel price, Dreamliner is cost-efficient, we will see more and more Gujaratis travelling in business class. It makes a big difference to the yield. Fifty per cent of the aircraft will be filled by Newark. It’s a Newark-London-Ahmedabad flight. Only 50% has to be done from here. Considering all these, I am hopeful it will be a successful venture.

Has Air India-Indian Airlines merger helped the airline?

There are pluses and minuses.

Various factors are to be considered in terms of schedules, network. There are some advantages from passenger point of view – better network, better connectivity, smoother connections. There have been challenges in terms of costs because when you have two big organisations – both have ordered aircraft, both have taken loans for that. As a result, the financial liability is so huge and that falls on to that one organisation so it’s something to overcome.

AI chairman Ashwani Lohani says the airline has some Rs 28,000 crore of accumulated losses and it will take decades to wipe that off.

What do you have to say about that?

If you talk about total loss, yes it’s true. But in terms of operational at least we have turned the tide.

And hopefully it will be plus plus after that. Operationally we are still profitable. But to wipe out the interest burdens and things like that will take long time.

Sometime in January, some passengers in the LondonAhmedabad direct flight were disembarked from the aircraft and they had to again go through the

Why people should travel in AI? That’s because it’s the best airline.

It gives the best value for your money. We have got brand new aircraft, fantastic seatings, in business class in Dreamliners we have 180 degrees flat bed – there’s nothing more comfortable than that. Indian ambience is a key factor. Whether it’s parents travelling or tourists, we always say “Your journey begins when you step on to Air India”. Best food is another attraction. No other airline cooks their food. Others heat up the frozen food. Air India is the only airline where the food is actually prepared in the kitchen fresh.

Whether it’s the food, comfort seats, aircraft, connectivity, you will have no other airline that will give you connections into India the way we give. From here we fly 5 times a day from the UK to India. And from Delhi and Mumbai which are our hubs as of now you have connections to so many destinations – cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Ahmedabad these are all international. So you just straight away get off from the aircraft and get into another for final destination. Customs and immigration are at your final destination which is a USP. Only in Air India you get this. And we have this connectivity over Delhi and to some extent over Mumbai to other parts of the world, especially Bangkok is the most popular holiday destination for this market.

We have connections to Kathmandu, we have a good Nepali population here, Colombo for the Sri Lankans and tourists, and Australia (Sydney and Melbourne). We have very good connections over Delhi. All in all, you will get the best product at the best price only in Air India.

Do you have any message for the readers?

Well, we are happy and delighted over the announcement of the London-Ahmedabad non-stop flight on August 15 coinciding with our Independence Day anniversary and we hope the entire Gujarati community takes advantage of it, not only to Ahmedabad but also to US using our London-Newark flight service.

UK Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

www.asian-voice.com

Theresa is the PM AsianVoiceNews

Continued from page 1

After she meets the Queen, PM May will:

Appoint a Cabinet: One of Mrs May's first steps will be to appoint her top team. It will be interesting to see if she offers Andrea Leadsom a role in her Cabinet.

Mrs May aides said her chosen cabinet would be about “unity and stability”.

The Telegraph pointed out, Leading Leave campaigners including Liam Fox, David Davis and Chris Grayling are expected to feature prominently on the new cabinet. Chris Grayling will likely be rewarded for chairing Mrs May’s successful campaign by replacing her as Home Secretary.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly 23.

ister and Brexiter, Priti Patel, is also expected to feature prominently in May’s cabinet.

Stephen Crabb is also expected to land a top cabinet position. Despite being an early leadership rival, Crabb was quick to drop out and back May’s campaign.

The political fate of May’s other short-lived leadership rival Boris Johnson also hangs in the balance.

As the face of the Brexit campaign – alongside Nigel Farage – he would be a valuable ally for May. Other key members in her campaign include Alan Duncan, Brandon Lewis, Michael Ellis, Gavin Williamson, Sam Gyimah, Richard Harrington.

Rt Hon Theresa May MP receiving the Cabinet Minister of the Year award from Baroness Boothroyd in presence of Publisher/Editor CB Patel at Asian Voice Political and Public Life Awards

George Osborne is not expected to continue as Chancellor and Michael Gove will likely be pushed to the back benches after his failed leadership bid. He could still see him offered Hammond’s position as Foreign Secretary or possibly Business Secretary.

Many believe Mrs May will make history by appointing Britain’s first female Defence Secretary.

Likely candidates include Amber Rudd, Anna Soubry or Penny Mordaunt.

Current education min-

She is also expected to create a dedicated Brexit minster to assist with negotiations.

Getting on with Brexit: No new Prime Minister in living memory has faced as much economic and constituitional uncertainty as Theresa May. Although she has said that she would not trigger Article 50, the formal process for leaving the European Union, until 2017, she has to now initiate the process of Brexit. The prospect of Prime Minister May is the best news Brussels has had since June

Theresa May is a formidable politician and she is the right person to lead Britain forward at this time in our country's history. I have worked closely with Theresa and have no doubt that she will provide the strong and experienced leadership the country needs. She will be a very tough negotiator in our dealings with the European Union and she will work tirelessly to unite the country and ensure that there is opportunity for all.

- Shailesh Vara, MP A woman prime minister in Britain is not longer a novelty though having one at the same time as the US having a woman president is. I am afraid the only woman Prime Minister we have had so far set a bad example of obstinate pursuit of a rather narrow minded English nationalism and sadly a subsequent woman prime minister is tempted to emulate her. Theresa May's remarks so far seem to bear this out. I only hope that a woman prime minister faced by a woman leader of the Opposition would change the divisive political discourse and inject the spirit of moderation and compassion.

- Lord Bhikhu Parekh

The power vacuum that opened up in Britain in the week after the Brexit vote gravely alarmed the 27 remaining members. The deal will not be easy, but they are desperate for assurances that an agreement can be achieved that does not result in a messy and economically ruinous exit from the EU. The exit process will be terrifyingly fast - just two years to cover the full breadth of EU law and trade policy - and will see Britain negotiate from a position of weakness with the clock against it.

Theresa May is known in Brussels - as the former Home Secretary, as she has attended regular justice and home affairs summits for six years. Reportedly after Leadsom stepped down and Mrs May was announced as the leader, the financial market happened to see a surge in pound.

Renewing Trident: One of the first major jobs of her government will be to carry out a parliamentary vote on the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent on Monday July 18 before Parliament breaks up for the summer recess.

Call a snap general election? Theresa May has previously said that she would not call a snap general election but she is already facing calls from every political party for one. They argue that she does not even have the mandate of Conservative Party members, let alone voters.

Mrs May and her relationship with India

Theresa May visited India only once in 2012, but she is already well known in the country for her strict immigration policies for the UK. During her visit, she addressed the top officers in the National Police Academy in Hyderabad in November 2012, mentioning how she incorporated the lessons of the 2008

Mumbai attacks in Britain’s security forces.

Mrs May is expected to continue Cameron’s focus on India, particularly given that the Brexit camp promised trade ties with India, China and the Commonwealth after leaving the EU. Conservative MP Alok Sharma told Asian Voice: “Prime Minister David Cameron was responsible for successfully taking the UK-India relationship to the next level and I am absolutely confident that under Prime Minister Theresa May the special relations h i p between the two g r e a t nations will grow and prosper further.

Theresa May is a hugely respected and experienced politician who recognises the fantastic potential for significantly increasing bilateral trade between the UK and India. In Theresa May, India will find a very good friend and speaking partner with a real ‘can-do’ attitude.”

Though Mrs May has not engage much in Parliamentary debates on any issues related to India, in 2013 she infuriated the Indian government by including India in a list of five countries whose citizens were to be subjected to a visa bond of £3000 for as tourists in the UK, to be refunded after they returned to their countries.

The scheme was dropped in November 2013, after much backlash.

In April 2012, she closed the post-study work visa, which was popular among self-financing Indian students, resulting into a sharp drop in the number of Indian students coming to the UK. She received much praise for closing down bogus colleges that allegedly enrolled a large number

Quick glance at her profile

l Theresa May was born in the seaside town of Eastbourne to a vicar, Reverend Hubert Brasier, and his wife, Zaidee.

The Daily Express wrote that the Home Secretary said that her upbringing gave her a sense of public duty that continues to be a key driving force for her. She said: “I grew up the daughter of a local vicar and the granddaughter of a regimental sergeant major. Public service has been a part of who I am for as long as I can remember.” l Mrs May studied at a local grammar school before going to Oxford University and working for the Bank of England for a number of years. l She has long been the most powerful Conservative woman in British politics. She is one of the longestserving home secretaries in history. l She first developed a passion for putting policies into action after being elected to Merton Borough Council in 1986. l The new Prime Minister was first elected as MP of Maidenhead in 1997 after previously failing to win seats in Durham and Barking. l The MP was quickly appointed to William Hague’s shadow cabinet and she became the first female chairman of the Conservative Party in 2002. She famously told the Conservatives that they had to change their ways in order to stop being the “Nasty Party". l The Tory MP met her husband, Philip May, a Conservative Association dance while studying geography at Oxford University. l She has spoken about their heartbreak over the fact that they cannot have children, adding: "You have to accept the hand that life deals you. l Mrs May, who has Type 1 diabetes, has to inject herself with insulin twice a day but says it is "a case of just getting on with it". of Indian and other nonEU students and has since resisted much pressure from universities and others to ease curbs on student visas. Her imposition of salary thresholds for those seeking permanent residence after a five-year stay, and for British nationals seeking to bring non-EU spouses to the country are currently facing legal challenge.

Thousands of Indians were also affected when her department took action, after flaws in an English-language test centre were applied to all who had taken the mandatory exam for visa purposes, and cancelled their results. This was ultimately struck down in court.

Earlier this year, Mrs

What MPs and Peers have to say

Theresa May’s primary task is to steady the Tory ship. I am sure the new Prime Minister has the ability and toughness to bring the warring fractions together.

David Cameron will go down in history as someone who came so close to break up the UK by promising a referendum which was so unnecessary. Mrs May's main task is to unite the country and negotiate the best terms for our departure from the EU. As Home Secretary of long standing she has learnt the lesson of not making promises on immigration she could not deliver.

We now await the announcement of the new Cabinet. We also hope that the General Election is will be held in not too distant a future as legitimacy of her position needs the approval of the country."

- Lord Dholakia PC.OBE.DL. Deputy Leader, Liberal Democrats I am pleased that we will have a strong leader in Theresa May who commands the backing of a clear majority of MPs and has already strongly confirmed her commitment to deliv-

17

ering the instruction of the people to withdraw from the European Union. I look forward to working with her as we move on from this orderly change of leadership to implement the right plan for the long term good of the economy.

- Bob Blackman MP Theresa May’s own record as Home Secretary is one of being part of a Tory government for the privileged few not the many. Police forces have lost £2.3 billion worth of funding and seen the loss of 18,000 police officers and 5,000 community support officers. She will carry on the failed policies of David Cameron and George Osborne where we saw a tax cut for millionaires, while putting up VAT for everyone else.

She backed David Cameron and George Osborne's failed austerity to the hilt. She has endorsed every single Tory policy that has damaged our vital public services, including the NHS.” - Virendra Sharma MP

May dropped the proKhalistan International Sikh Youth Federation from the list of banned organisations in a move that “disappointed” New Delhi, while she continued to delay deciding on the extradition of wanted Indians such as Tiger Hanif.

Besides politics, Mrs May and her husband Philip John May are known to be keen cricket fans.

They were introduced at an Oxford Conservative disco by former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1976, which was May’s first year at university. Ms May is believed to often quietly attend Indian festivals in Maidenhead- her constituency.

Handing Theresa May the power over our elected Government now will offer some stability and a powerful position when renegotiating with the EU. However, Article 50 cannot be triggered until Parliament votes on the matter, and the pro-Remain MPs outnumber Leave supporters by 3:1. In the House of Lords, the proportion of pro-Remain members is far greater.

“Theresa May said that ‘Brexit means Brexit’, but the referendum was only advisory... More worrying still is the record our new Prime Minister has on immigration policy. I have said again and again that Theresa May's approach to immigration as Home Secretary has damaged our economy and universities.

By refusing to take international students out of net migration figures and stripping them of post-study work rights in the UK, she has cut off a vital source of talent for our economy...

That said, apart from her approach to immigration, I respect Theresa May as a strong candidate who will be able to act as a tough negotiator during our dealings with the EU. …

- Lord Bilimoria, Founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer

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CII delegation and UK Minister discuss India-UK economic engagement and bilateral business opportunities post Brexit AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

Rupanjana Dutta

A high-profile CEOs delegation led by Naushad Forbes, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and CoChairman, Forbes Marshall visited the UK from 5-7 July, 2016 to reinforce the vibrant and dynamic IndiaUK economic engagement and highlight new bilateral business opportunities post Brexit. The delegation, one of the largest CII missions to the UK, with 22 top Indian CEOs, was the first such business engagement between the two countries after Britain's referendum to exit from the EU. This is a dynamic period for the UK-India bilateral economic relationship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit to the UK in November 2015 reinvigorated business ties.

Over £9 billion of commercial deals were announced as UK companies responded to “Make in India” and Indian companies increased their business footprint in the UK. Regional engagement is playing a greater role and Technology collaboration has emerged as a major theme with possibilities from R&D to entrepreneurship, tech transfer to co-creation.

Indian companies invest more in the UK than in the rest of the EU combined, and India is the third largest investor in the UK economy. Likewise, the UK is the third largest foreign investor in India. The two countries have established a range of cooperation mechanisms, including UK participation in India's high profile industrial corridors, ambitious renewable energy program and science and technology.

At a gathering at

British High Commission to India, Sir Dominic Asquith; Keith Brown MSP, Naushad Forbes, HE Navtej Sarna, High Commision of India to UK, Chandrajit Banerjee, Carolyn Fairbairn, and Minister of State for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson

London's Taj Hotel, on the second day of their visit (6 July) Naushad Forbes told a room full of guests that included businessman and media, that this year India's growth is projected to be 8% (if India has a normal monsoon), and could even go upto 10%- in urban and rural areas. “Opportunities in India are huge. Last 25 years, several Indian companies, Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) with Indian roots are establishing themselves internationally- especially in the UK. India and UK have been great investment partners, due to similar systems, such as the legal structure etc.

But they have not been equally good trade partners.”

He further added that with Brexit, he is hoping the trade ties between UK and India are going to get stronger. He also emphasised that India could benefit from the advanced research tenchniques UK has, especially in design technology area.

Jo Johnson, UK

Minister of State for Universities and Science promised that Britain is not going to be insular or inward looking. “It's been frustrating that the IndiaEU bilateral relationship has been taking so long. We have people to people ties, having a huge Indian diaspora in the UK, that is successful. We welcome all those ties, and one of such moments were Indian Pm Modi visiting the UK and the establishment of the Gandhi statue at the Parlaiment square.

He also added that as a Minister for Universities he welcomes Indian students in the UK. “There is no limit to Indian students coming here to study or stay back here after completion of their course- provided they land a job under the graduate scheme.

He concluded saying, as the Minister of Science, he would be going to India from 7-9 November for the tech summit in Delhi and he is hoping to make more contacts and meet further CII delegates there.

Keith Brown, a Scottish politician (MSP) spoke about the potential of Scotland and India relationship in the field of green fuel, in diagnostic areas such as HIV, Malaria tests; education, skill, water; innovation in areas such as low carbon technology, regenerating medicinesbeing one of the emerging sectors of potential bilateral trades. He also welcomed Indian companies to coinvest in companies in Scotland, including equity investments. He concluded by saying that they would also like to look at a direct airline to India from Scotland.

Indian High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency Navtej Sarna added, that uncertainties that Brexit brings along could be useful for business. He emphasised that India's trade and investment relationship with UK is very strong in several areas, and there are 800 Indian companies here in the UK already. This has been the year of

Technology and Education.

Next year will be the year of culture. “We (india) are a young country. Literacy will go upto 99% in the future, R&D, aviation market, railway- all have lot of potential.” He added as per his discussions with different people and sectors here in the UK- it is evidential India-UK relationship can concentrate on India's manufacturing and desigh hub, renewable energy and of course FDI- opening up in all sectors.

Sir Dominic Asquith, the British High Commission to India emphasised that India-UK partnership has a great future and established how keen UK is to take the relationship further- whether it is the City of London, Masala bonds or any other aspects of the financial relationship.

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said, “The UK is India’s biggest investor among the G20, and we need to make the decision to invest in India even easier. Now more than

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ever before, we also need to send out a clear message to our friends around the world - especially in India that Britain is open for business. Working together, the UK and India have already achieved so much. We want to continue the progress we’ve seen, and get a whole generation of young people - tens of millions of Brits, and hundreds of millions of Indians - excited about what we can do together.”

The session was followed by a panel discussion among business leaders and experts on India-UK business collaboration, who provided resourceful and valuable insights across various sectors and areas– ranging from manufacturing, infrastructure, healthcare, energy and water, agriculture and food processing industries to youth collaboration.

The session was moderated by Mark Runacres, India Advisor for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Panellists in the business session Shobana included: Kamineni, President Designate, CII and Executive ViceChairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice President, CII and Vice Chairman, Bharti Dhruv Enterprises, Sawhney, Chairman & Managing Director, Triveni Ajay Turbines Ltd, Shriram, Past President, CII and Chairman & Senior Managing Director, DCM Sumit Shriram Ltd., Mazumder, Immediate Past President, CII and Chairman & Managing Director, Tractors India Pvt. Ltd. and Raghu Kailas, National Chairman, Young Indians and Managing Director Unimo Exports Pvt. Ltd.

Next RBI chief to face Herculean task As India awaits a new leader to takeover Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan's place, critics say the next central bank chief will have a lot on his hands, including the task of completing a bank clean up. Rajan has been praised for his efforts to tackle bad debt that maims India's financial system, however, critics say an excessive focus on asset quality has scared banks out of lending and is partly to blame for credit growth slumping to a near twodecade low.

"The bad thing is that funding by banks has almost stopped. There's too much negativity. The gov-

ernment may not want it to precipitate more," said a senior banker. Officials also said the government has narrowed down to four candidates likely to replace Rajan.

The former International Monetary Fund chief economist, has often spoken out against India's "crony capitalism", which has witnessed banks endlessly rolling over dud loans to companies, and insisted lenders fully reveal the extent of bad assets and undertake "deep surgery" to deal with them by March 2017.

Rajan had recently stunned the world by denouncing a second term as the RBI chief. His term

Raghuram Rajan

as governor has been considerably fruitful to the Indian economy. As the clean-up has taken hold, loan growth slipped to 10.7 per cent in the last fiscal

year to the end of March, the slowest in almost 20 years. The risk is that clamping down too hard on lending crimps economic growth, stoking a vicious cycle of more defaults and lower business investment and production.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a recent interview that banks should strike a balance between expanding credit and cutting non-performing assets, warning them not to stop lending as a "panic reaction".

No agreement on haircuts Moody's analyst Gene Fang said that pushing for growth before completing

the clean-up of bad debts would strain banks' capital ratios. "Stimulating more loan growth now would only delay or derail corporate deleveraging," said Fang. Meanwhile, bankers say a shortage of well-capitalised funds specialising in buying bad loans, a sluggish legal system and an inability to decide on the size of "haircuts", or losses borne by creditors, have all slowed efforts to tackle the problem.

"To some extent a few things were quite harsh knowing very well that the economy is not doing very well," said another senior commercial banker, who declined to be named. "And

you don't have those kinds of stressed assets funds, (and mechanisms) for banks to take haircuts and move ahead."

The RBI's debt-forequity swap scheme, which allows banks to take temporary majority control in defaulting companies, has been seen as a failure, with banks struggling to find buyers for stakes they have taken in companies sitting on $15 billion worth of loans. A new scheme is not seen as a game changer.

While central bank officials say there is no going back on the clean-up, a senior policymaker said the March 2017 deadline was not "cast in stone".

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Suresh Vagjiani Sow & Reap London Property Investment

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

REAL ESTATEVOICE Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

Unknowns = Profits

Only yesterday I was introduced to the seller of a duplex flat in Kensington, the property occupies the top two floors of a period conversion. The flat also has exclusive access to the roof. The property consists of 2,100 sq. ft.

The seller is a motivated seller. From the three boxes, distressed, divorced and death, he ticks not one but two of these boxes. He is stuck financially and is going through a divorce.

So he qualifies as a ‘good’ seller.

The property is worth £3.3m and there were offers from developers for 2.8m, pre Brexit. It’s important to note if the offer is from a developer this means there is further margin in the deal.

Post Brexit no prime minister - the price should be £2.4-£2.5m.

Post Brexit with a prime minister -the price should edge up even more. Don't not ask me why the price of a square cube of concrete goes up and down, depending on whether the country has a leader or not, but it does.

The seller has a need for money, one lump one to be released on exchange and another lump in a couple of weeks’ time.

The deal could be done in various ways. One, we exchange and release the funds to the seller with a very delayed completion. And then aim to sell the property prior to completion.

The other way is to use the current seller to procure the freehold, and then the roof garden, as well as develop the property and then resell for £3.5m.

As a plain vanilla flip you can resell for £2.5mish netting about £350k within three months assuming a current strike price of £2.15m.

The other option is to do the above, get the freehold and the garden and sell it on without the works, or a variation is to refurbish the extended flat and then sell it on.

The second option requires the sellers input, therefore it would be wise to cut him into the upside of the deal.

Rather than confusing the issue from the outset, I suggested we execute the deal plain vanilla and talk about the second possibility after exchange. It comes down to whether you want a bird in hand verses two in the bush, a bird in hand meaning a straight quick flip verses the variables involved in getting the freehold and the roof gardens for more profit in the future.

Several property funds, totaling £14.2bn, have closed their funds to redemptions, this is to stop panic selling in property stocks, owing to instability caused by the country voting to leave the EU. Property shares too have taken some heavy losses with Barratts amongst the worst hit with a decline in share price of 42% since the 23rd June.

A shrewd Dragon told me early on in the year that property stocks will be taking a beating, and the clever traders were shorting the stocks in anticipation of this occurring.

The decline in property shares has not trickled down to the ground. The companies concerned have not started reducing prices quite as yet, much to the annoyance of one particular buyer I know who was hoping to pick up a bargain on a new build house he has

Real Deal The

19

been eyeing for some time. No such luck.

This is the stark difference between the stock market, even of property companies, which are fickle in nature and panic is caused even with the slightest breeze of uncertainty, and property, which stands firm. Property has even been seen as a safe haven during times of uncertainty. Money goes there seeking shelter during time of turmoil.

The word on the ground is properties from £500k to £1m are still flying of the shelves; agents cannot get enough of them.

However on the higher end there are price drops across the board.

More and more deals will be coming out of the word work as time goes on. This, after many years, is a good time to buy.

In general the environment is conducive to purchasing, however if you wish to exploit it, it is better to go for properties which have variables attached to them.

In particular repossessed properties appear to have many issues attached to them. I use the word ‘appear’, because often they do not exist, or they look more complicated than they actually are.

I met a Jewish developer many years ago, who following the credit crisis had many of his sites repossessed. Repossession does not happen overnight, the lender has to follow a process.

When it looked like he was heading down this slippery slope he would do some form of illegal works to his sites and ensure the council knew this had occurred. Thereby getting enforcement notices served on the property.

On one particular property, to make matters more complicated, he even encroached on the neighbour’s property to give the impression there was some litigation going on with the neighbour, who actually happened to be on good terms with him.

London, W2 Purchase Price: £575k

Once the property had been repossessed he would then go and purchase the same property for a fraction of the price of what it was worth, reversing the complication he himself had put into motion.

l A beautiful one bedroom flat in a very deisrable purpose built block in W2 l Long lease l Porterage l Lift l Close to Hyde Park and Connaught Village l Excellent buy and hold opportunity Call us now to reserve!

There are more simple variables too, for example if the property is put on sale but has unknown tenancies, this may give the impression they could be life tenancies, this has the effect of reducing the property value to possibly half the market price.

In some cases, in reality all that has happened is the borrower did not pass the ASTs on to the lender when the property was repossessed. Therefore, when it comes to auction they mark the tenancies as unknown.

Buyers get nervous when they see this. We purchased a property in an auction in W9, with 5 tenants, all terms unknown. We had some insider information that these were all ASTs. We picked this deal up for £1.1m and promptly resold it for £1.3m within days of exchanging.

It’s a great environment to buy at the moment, if you wish to exploit it call us now and see how we can help.

0207 993 0103

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

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Tips of the Week

l Buying at auction is a good way to pick up a bargain, provided you don't get carried away with the emotion of the auction itself.

l In an auction if the bidding doesn't reach the reserve price, try and negotiate with the seller afterwards. The property wouldn't be at an auction in the first place if they weren't very keen to sell.

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India Connect

Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

Overseas Citizens Of India (OCI) PHOTO/ SIGNATURE SPECIFICATION Signature/Thumb Impression Specifications for OCI registration An OCI application requires the applicant s to sign or place thumb impression on multiple places, applicant are requested to ensure that the signatures or thumb impressions have been placed where ever required.

Children below 5 years of age should place the thumb impression and children above 5 years of age should write their name or sign.

While uploading signatures on the application form, please ensure the below: Signature/ thumb impression should not be distorted (Stretched, carrying a background, pixilated, parts missing).

G Signature/Thumb impression WHITE with be should BACKGROUND only.

G signature/thumb Uploaded impression should exactly match with the original signature/thumb impression placed on the application form. and with the passport copy submitted with the application (if applicable) Photo Specifications for OCI registration Based upon the specifications of the Standards International Organization (ISO) and ICAO, responsible for standardizing travel documents, the most important requirement for a photograph is that the face must be taken from a full frontal position and the height of the face must meet the prescribed specifications. The eyes must be open, level and clearly visible within the indicated area. The face should be centred within the frame. Please read the instructions below: Sample Photo

2 inch.

G

2 inch.

The photograph should be in colour and of the size of 2 inch x 2 inch (51 mm x 51 mm).

G The photo-print should be clear

and with a continuous-tone quality.

G It should have full face, front view, eyes open.

G Photo should present full head from top of hair to bottom of chin.

G Center head within frame.

G The background should be a white.

G There should not be any distracting shadows on the face or on the background.

G Head coverings are not permitted except for religious reasons, but the facial features from bottom of chin to top of forehead and both edges of the face must be clearly shown.

G The expression on the face should look natural.

The processing of OCI comes with three steps: Step-1: complete and uploading of the documents online.

Complete http://passport.gov.in/oci/ all information as per your foreign passport.

Upload documents Print and sign all parts of the application Book and appointment Take your signed application and all the original documents to VFS Global.

St e p - 2: fully of Submission completed application to VFS Global.

Processing of documents at VFS Global VFS will send the application for processing to the High commission of India/Consulate Dispatch of applications to New Delhi from The High commission of India/ Consulate Verification of OCI application at New Delhi Granting and printing of OCI cards at New Delhi Dispatch of OCI Cards from New Delhi to United Kingdom Step-3: Track your application Arrival of printed OCI cards to The India/ of commission High Consulate Applicant track and Printout of online status report.

Applicant delivers Printout of online status report and foreign passport to VFS Global.

Foreign passport and Printout of online status report sent to The High commission of India/Consulate for match up of OCI Match up of OCI Cards with foreign passport dispatch to you via DX trackable service.

OCI and Your foreign passport arrive to your requested ad.

For more information please contact us on our helpline numbers: +44 203 793 8629 / +44 203 695 9849 Monday – Friday 8:30 – 17:30 (except for Consular Holiday)

Alternatively applicants can also call : 09057 570 045* * Please note calls to this number will be chargeable at the rate of 95p per minutes plus a connection charge from a BT landline. Calls from mobile phones may cost considerably higher.

For Email inquiry please email us: OCI: info.ociuk@vfshelpline.com Visa: info.inuk@vfshelpline.com Consular & Passports: Info.ppt-Consularuk@vfshelpline.com

India Connect - your questions answered on India visas” a service offered by

Diageo to pursue Mallya on ‘improper transactions’ AsianVoiceNews

British spirits group Diageo has expressed its intentions to pursue Indian businessman Vijay Mallya to recover an estimated $182 million in funds it said were diverted from Indian subsidiary, United Spirits.

In a weekend notice issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange, United Spirits said a detailed forensic investigation had revealed improper transactions in which Rs 12 billion were diverted to overseas and Indian entities connected to Mallya from 2010 to 2014, before Diageo took over the reins. Firms that received money in these transactions included Force One India and Kingfisher Airlines. In a press release, USL said the February agreement between Diageo and Mallya, that saw the king

Vijay Mallya

step down from the chairmanship of United Spirits in exchange for a $ 75 million payout did not preclude attempts to recover funds that were the subject of the just-concluded forensic probe.

"The USL Board has directed the management to pursue recovery from the relevant companies and individuals and undertake

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any action, including legal and regulatory as deemed necessary," the company said. Mallya, who is on a "self exile" in London, said he wasn't aware of the allegations or the inquiry. "I can only reiterate that all transactions were legal, above board and approved

by USL Auditors, the USL Board and shareholders."

A businessman mostly known for his luxurious and extravagant lifestyle, Mallya is now the poster boy for the country's bad debt problem.

The government currently looks to recover up to $1.3 billion he owes state banks and other creditors after his Kingfisher Airlines collapsed. He has ignored multiple summons from Indian anti-corruption investigators in New Delhi, since March.

Cairn Energy seeks £3.74 bn compensation from India British oil explorer Cairn Energy has sought £3.74 billion in compensation from the Indian government for raising a retrospective tax demand of £2.90 billion on 10-year old internal reorganisation of its India unit.

In a 'statement of claim' filed with an international arbitration panel on June 28, the Edinburgh-based company sought withdrawal of the tax demand and declaring that India has "failed to uphold its obligations" under the UK-India Investment Treaty by not giving its investments in the country "fair and equitable treatment."

It sought $1.05 billion in compensation for the loss of value its 9.8 per cent shareholding in its erstwhile sub-

sidiary Cairn India suffered following income tax department raising the tax demand in January 2014 and attaching the shares.

"In the alternative, and should the (arbitration) tribunal determine not to order India to refrain from enforcing its unlawful tax demand", Cairn sought to be compensated of breaches of the investment treaty by being paid for the loss of value of its holding in Cairn India as well as interest and penalties, totalling £3.74 billion. The total compensation sought is equal to the tax demand raised and the value of Cairn Energy's 9.8 per cent shareholding in Cairn India. A three-member arbitration panel headed by Geneva-based arbitrator Laurent Levy began

hearing Cairn Energy's plea against tax demand in May and the company filed its 'statement of claim' late last month.

The Indian government will file its 'statement of defence' by November and evidential hearing is expected to commence in early 2017, sources said. Income tax department had in January 2014 slapped a draft tax assessment of £1.02 billion on Cairn Energy on alleged capital gain it made when it in 2006 transferred its India assets to a new subsidiary, Cairn India and listed the firm.The British firm sold majority stake in Cairn India to Vedanta Resources in 2011 but still holds 9.8 per cent stake in the company.

Tatas refuse to give promises over Port Talbot steelworks With the verdict on Tata Steel's Port Talbot works hanging by the noose, potential bidders have begun to get desperate.

Adding fuel to the burning fire, senior officials of the steel giant have declined to give any comfort on whether they intend to keep the blast furnaces running in the future. Just last week it had announced it was halting the sale of the UK business and is looking into a joint venture with Germany's ThyssenKrupp.

Koushik Chatterjee, Group Director and Tata Steel's Executive Director for Europe, offered no guarantees when asked for assurances for Port Talbot.

He said Tata wanted to find a "sustainable solution of Port Talbot" and urged workers to "continue to work as hard as they always

do" but made no promises.

He said, "I think one needs to look at the global steel industry at this point in time. The vulnerabilities of the global steel industry are very significant in the context of massive over-capacity." Declining to give steady assurances about the UK operations, he said, "It's not about guarantees. It's about how do you make a business more profitable and sustainable for the future because there are a lot of stakeholders in this whole issue and we would like to find a balance in ensuring that we get the right outcome. I would say the board of Tata Steel has always been very responsible to all its stakeholders, whether it is the employees, communities, shareholders, lenders and suppliers and customers."

Indian-origin business-

man and one of the bidders, Sanjeev Gupta of Liberty House had expressed his frustration over reports of "pause". The firm released a statement that said, "This is sad and frustrating news for the UK steel industry because the sector needs a fresh start and we fear this decision will simply deliver more uncertainty over a longer period. In the short term we will continue discussions with Tata about the acquisitions of a number of important assets that fit well with our strategy." A Liberty spokesperson said, "From our point of view it's disappointing that, in the short term, we will not be able to apply our GreenSteel strategy on the scale which would have truly evolved and transformed Britain's steel and engineering sector."

CURRENCYVOICE

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

BoE expected to slash interest rate Currency Specialists.

UK Construction PMI figures fell to 46.0 in June, down from 51.2 in May, the seasonally adjusted figure dropped below the neutral 50.0 threshold for the first time since April 2013. The latest reading pointed to the weakest overall performance for exactly seven years, but the rate of contraction was much slower than seen during the 2008/9 downturn. Britain’s central bank announced plans to boost credit by up to £150 billion in a bid to control risks to the economy following the Brexit vote. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said there was the “prospect of a material slowing of the economy” and that the measures would help major U.K banks relax lending rules. His remarks came after the release of the Bank of England’s twice-yearly financial stability report, which said there was evidence that some post-Brexit risks had begun to “crystallize”. The announcement means U.K. banks must now stop building up a “rainyday buffer” and instead release £5.7 billion in funds until June 2017. The bank said this translated into £150 billion for lending to British households and businesses in the wider economy. In addition to this it is widely expected that the BoE could slash interest rates to zero percent as early as next week in another post-Brexit measure. Sterling hit a fresh 31-year low against the dollar

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Foreign Exchange

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on Tuesday, as investors worried about the economic and financial fallout of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Sterling did briefly inch higher after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s speech, but it then gave up those gains to trade down 1.1 percent. A survey of Britain's services sector showed that uncertainty in the runup to the referendum had slowed growth last month to a three-year low, and sent business expectations to their weakest since 2012.

Britain's finance ministry said on Tuesday that it made no interventions in the foreign exchange market in June, the month when the country voted to the leave the European Union, triggering a slide in the value of the pound. In a monthly statement, the finance ministry said the government's net foreign currency reserves rose by $1.6 billion in June to $39.6 billion.

Valuation effects accounted for all of the increase.

The fallout from Brexit continues to have a detrimental effect on demand for the single currency, with nearly all EUR exchange rates registering losses on Monday. One of the major concerns being that the UK’s decision to exit the EU has provided many European populist parties with a louder voice than before. Should several other EU members hold referendums of their own, the uncertainty alone could

lead to the demise of the EU and of the single currency. Italy is in talks with the European Commission to receive a bailout to prevent a financial crisis, but there are growing concerns that the process may take too long and that Prime Minister Renzi may have to use public funds to bail out the country rather than funds from creditors. The recent Brexit vote immediately sparked speculation about which country may be the next weak spot in Europe following on from the recent situation in Greece. And increasingly, it's clear the answer may be Italy.

Seventeen percent of bank loans in Italy are bad, which comes out to a combined 360 billion euros in bad debt, is more than three times the bank loans that were bad in the U.S. on a percentage basis during the height of the financial crisis.

Wall Street opened lower as investors sought shelter in safehaven assets amid a drop in oil prices and global growth worries. U.S. government bond yields were at an alltime low as weak data from China added fuel to the uncertainty stemming from Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Oil prices fell nearly 3 percent as a potential economic slowdown weighed on prospects of demand. Data from China showed that the country's services sector activity rose to an 11-month high in June, but a composite measure of activity including manufacturing fell

to its lowest in four months.

The US consistently runs a trade imbalance, importing more goods than it sells overseas, but as the dollar has continued to strengthen this has become more pronounced as imports are cheaper and exports less competitive. Overall, doubts surrounding the economic performance will continue, especially with weak business confidence, although the ISM data was notably more encouraging with a significant monthly improvement for June. The ADP National Employment Report showed private employers hired 172,000 workers in June, beating market expectations for a 159,000 gain. Private payrolls rose 168,000 in May. Last month, small businesses hired 95,000 workers, up from 84,000 in May. The services sector added 208,000 jobs last month, however manufacturing and construction lost a combined 26,000 positions. The Labour Department also stated that initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 16,000 to 254,000 for the week ended July 2 - the drop left claims close to a 43-year low of 248,000 touched in mid-April.

May's weak job gains and the pending Brexit referendum prompted the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged last month. Signs of strength in the US economy so far precede Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

We e k ly Currencies

As of Tuesday 12th July 2016 @ 3.05pm

GBP - INR = 88.11

USD - INR = 67.06

EUR - INR = 74.34 GBP - USD = 1.31 GBP - EUR = 1.18

EUR - USD = 1.10 GBP - AED = 4.82

GBP - CAD = 1.71

GBP - NZD = 1.80

GBP - AUD = 1.72

GBP - ZAR = 18.80

GBP - HUF = 371.68

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Sniper kills 5 policemen in Dallas Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

DALLAS: It has been a sad week for the United States, beginning with the murder of a black man at the hands of an ignorant police officer, followed by a similar case, and rounded off by the death of five Dallas police officers by a US military veteran.

In updates, authorities revealed that sniper Micah X Johnson had plans for a bigger assault and had improvised during the attack.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said Johnson used "shoot and move" tactics to gun down officers at a demonstration, which became the next deadliest day since September 11, 2001. He added that a search of Johnson's house revealed that the gunman had practised using explosives, and other evidence suggested he wanted to use them against law enforcement officers.

"We are convinced that this suspect had other plans," he said.

It is believed that the 25year old shooter had to "fasttrack" his plan after the fatal police shootings of two black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. Johnson is a black veteran who served in Afghanistan, and took advantage of a march that began to protest the deaths of black victims Alton Sterling

DEFIANCE AMIDST DANGER: This is a picture of peaceful protest or daring defiance or calm confrontation.

Perhaps taking a cue from non-violent leaders like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, 28-year-old nurse Iesha Evans very coolly stands against the riot police with her arms crossed looking them straight in their eyes during a tense day of demonstrations against police shootings, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (US). The black woman appeared to be kind of making a statement that 'we are not so black as we have been painted'. She was immediately arrested but was released later. The shooting of black man Alton Sterling has brought the US to a boil. and Philando Castile in two separate police attacks.

Brown said he saw a chance to use "high ground" to target the police. While the gunman was killed by a bombequipped robot, he was said to have sang, laughed at and taunted police officers, also saying he wanted to "kill white people" in retribution for police killings of black people. "He seemed very

much in control and very determined to hurt other officers," Brown said.

US President Barack Obama, in the wake of the shooting and the violence, said the nation still remains united. "As painful as this week has been, I firmly believe that America is not as divided as some have suggested." Speaking in a closing address to the NATO summit

in Warsaw, Poland, he noted that Americans of all races and all backgrounds are "rightly outraged by the inexcusable attacks on police."

He also said Americans of all races and backgrounds are also "rightly saddened" by the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and other black civilians at the hands of police system, along with the "larger persistent problems" of racially discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system.

"There is sorrow, there is anger, there is confusion about next steps, but there is unity in recognizing that this is not how we want our communities to operate," Obama said. "This is not how we want to be as Americans.

And that serves as the basis for us being able to move forward in a constructive and positive way."

There seems to be no end to the country's troubles as the world superpower finds itself tangled in a mess of faulty gun rights, impending terrorist attacks, domestic terrorist attacks, racism, and not to forget, the formidable prospect of Donald Trump winning the Presidential elections. US currently boils with peace protests, #blacklivesmatter campaigns, a collective call for justice.

Pak philanthropist Edhi laid to rest in Karachi ISLAMABAD: Pakistani philanthropist and humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi was laid to rest on the outskirts of Karachi in the first state funeral held since the 1980s.

The ceremony was attended by tens of thousands of people, with crowds breaking through the military lines at one point, to help carry his coffin which was draped with Pakistan's green and white flag and covered with rose petals. Pakistan's top military and civil leaders offered their prayers as the world mourned the loss of the 'Angel of Mercy'.

Edhi, 88, breathed his last after a long battle with kidney disease. He was laid in a grave dug by himself, in the clothes he was wearing at the time of his death, as per his wish.

Founder of the Edhi Foundation, one of Pakistan's largest public welfare organi-

born barely 60 km sations that runs one of from Gandhi's place of the biggest fleets of birth, Porbandar, in ambulances, dozens of 1928. Thousands of clinics, and orphanages Gujaratis migrated in the country, Edhi Abdul Sattar Edhi to the neighbouring spent his life helping country penniless, later conthousands of needy people. tributing to Pakistan's econoHe has been the recipient of my. It was his mother's strugseveral national awards for his gle with mental illness and undeterred service to humanparalysis without care, as a ity. His roots belong to poor refugee in the country, Gujarat's Kathiawar that became Edhi's motivaPeninsula. Born to a family of tion to help the despaired. He traders in Bantva, Gujarat, he started small, by begging on arrived in Pakistan in 1947 Karachi streets to collect after the partition. Edhi was

funds, later buying an ambulance for the first charitable clinic he started, in 1951.

The mission soon flourished, but, the humanitarian did not lose his head. He continued to feed abandoned children, and return their dignity back to outcasts through his foundation, all the while living himself with just two sets of clothes, a karakul cap in a windowless room with just a bed, a wash basin and a stove. Edhi married Bilquis, a nurse at the Edhi dispensary, and the couple had four children, two daughters, and two sons.

Edhi's service has earned him a place along with leaders like Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi. He ran his charity empire of 1,500 ambulances, shelters for the elderly, orphanages, maternity wards and morgues entirely on public donations.

Terror strikes Bangla again on Eid day DHAKA: In just a week after the country's deadliest attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery that saw the death of 28 patrons, suspected Islamists carried out yet another deadly attack at Bangladesh's biggest prayer service for the start of Eid. Explosions and gunfire marred the Sholakia Eid prayers, a prayer ground in Kishoreganj district where at least 25,000 people were participating a Ramadan gathering. "Two policemen, an attacker, and a woman who was shot during the

gunfight were killed," said national police spokesman AKM Shahidur Rahman.

"Nine policemen were also injured."

Another official said a group of at least three attackers had hurled hand bombs at police manning a checkpoint outside the main prayer ground.

Given the recent spate of events, nearly 1,000 police officers were stationed at the gathering the time the attack was carried out. "We responded with gunfire. A gunfight ensued and they

fired back and threw more hand bombs," said Tofazzal Hosain, the district's deputy police chief. While two attackers were arrested, a pistol and a machete were also recovered from the site.

B a n g l a d e s h ' s Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said the latest attack was designed to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government. "We don't know which group they belong to but they are suspected members of extremist terrorist group. They are against the

normal religious practices of the country. They are antiIslam, anti-religion, and anti-government. They have a political as well as a religious agenda," he said.

The region is quite versed in extremist-attacks and its growing wave since last year. With Hasina's government being in denial of international jihadist organisations gaining a foothold in the region, critics claim she is trying to exploit the attacks to demonise her domestic political opponents.

In Brief

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Indian-origin businessman jailed for fraud

WASHINGTON: A businessman of Indian-origin has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining contracts worth $6 million from a federal program. Tarsem Singh was sentenced by Washington Federal Judge Reggie Walton, who also fined him $25,000 and ordered him to pay $120,000 in restitution, officials said.

After his original company was counted ineligible for it, Singh set up a shell company to take advantage of the Small Business Development Program run by the Small Business Administration, and obtained over 25 federal contracts. He took elaborate steps to cover up the truth. Singh made up magnetic signs with the shell company's logos and had the original company employees use the other's emails and pretend to be its employees when working on the fraud contracts, officials said.

British-Indian boy freed from captive hell

MADRID: A 19 year old boy of British-Indian origin was freed last week by the police from his father's captive. Locked up in a building in the Rivas Vaciamadrid district of Madrid, the teenager sent an email to the officials asking them not to get in touch with him. "Rescue. Assistance. Help me. I am desperate. My father abuses me. I am held prisoner. Please, do not get in touch with me because he would kill me," the victim, identified as Prakash sent to a confidential police account designed to help people in family-related troubles. The Civil Guard police force later released pictures of the place and the squalid conditions in which British man Ghanshyam, had locked up his son. "The youth was suffering from emaciation, disorientation, and the physical effects of beatings by father," the Civil Guard said in a statement. The father was arrested and accused of unlawful detention, before being released on bail.

Lanka to create special court to probe war abuses

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka government plans to set up a special court by next year to hear allegations of abuses during the country's decades-long civil war, the foreign minister said. Mangala Samaraweera made the comments after returning from a UN Human Rights Council meeting at Geneva in which High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed concerns over the government's slow progress in implementing its pledge to investigate allegations of human rights violations and war crimes. Samaraweera said the government places high priority on reconciliation and is putting together a truth-seeking commission. A plan for the commission will be available for discussion by September and will then be presented to Parliament for approval, he said.

Former Lanka president Rajapaksa's son arrested

COLOMBO: Namal Rajapaksa, the oldest son of Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was arrested on charges of money laundering in the government's latest effort to prosecute members of the previous administration - many of whom have been under investigation since Rajapaksa's election defeat last year. Namal, who is a member of Parliament representing his father's home district of Hambantota, was placed in police custody on charges of accepting US$480,000 from a real estate company. During the last 18 months, several highranking members of the Rajapaksa family have been arrested on corruption charges. Namal is the third member of the former president's immediate family to be arrested. He was widely believed to be his father's heir apparent.

Typhoon batters China's coast, killing at least 6

BEIJING: Typhoon Nepartak that ripped through China's coastal Fujian Province, killed at least six people and left 8 missing. The first typhoon of the season, Nepartak first struck Taiwan, leaving two people dead and 72 injured. It later weakened into a strong tropical storm after making a landfall in Fujian, but kept pouring while workers continued rescue operations for residents trapped in submerged buildings. Chinese civil affairs ministry announced that six were dead and eight others were missing in the province. They did not give details.

INDIA - WORLD Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

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23

Want loan with no credit history yet? Approach InVenture AsianVoiceNews

Anand Pillai

How much you should know about a person before giving him a loan?

Normally we give credit to someone we know or trust. But mostly we won’t lend to a stranger unless we know something about him.

Banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions don’t know us on a personal level, but they have their own way of finding out our credibility – and that’s through our credit scores.

But there are 2.5 billion people (a third of the world’s population) around the world that don’t have a credit score. They don’t have a score because there are no formal public

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

records on them – no bank accounts, no credit histories and no social security numbers. And so they are not trusted. As a result, they don’t have access to credit or financial products that can lift their lives.

However, there is no need to lose hope.

Shivani Siroya, founder of InVenture, has brought a revolution by finding a way to build financial identities for those who otherwise would have none. She has found a way to build trust and to open up financial access for these 2.5 billion.

InVenture has created a mobile application that builds credit scores for them using mobile data.

At present, there are over one billion smartphones in emerging mar-

Shivani Siroya

kets. And just like any normal privileged user, these people are also texting their friends, looking up directions, browsing the Internet and even making financial transactions. Over time, this data is getting captured on the phones, and it provides a really rich picture of a person’s life.

InVenture customers give the company access to this data and the company captures it through its mobile application. It helps the company to understand the creditworthiness of people and issue uncollateralised loans to those who pass the algorithm’s benchmark.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the data range from mobile money spending patterns and calling and travel routines, to the way contacts are organised: for instance repayment of a loan is more likely by someone whose contacts are listed with both first and second names.

These data won’t be found on a paper trail or in any formal financial

record. But it proves trust.

InVenture’s credit scores have helped the company deliver over 200,000 loans in Kenya in just the past year. And the repayment rates are above 90%, which is in line with traditional bank repayment rates.

InVenture also forwards positive credit reports to Kenya’s Credit Reference Bureau to help people – many of whom have never been into a bank – secure longer-term loans.

InVenture is based in Santa Monica, California.

It operates in Kenya.

Siroya decided to focus on Kenya, because of its relatively high smartphone penetration, world-leading M-pesa mobile money plat-

form and the fact that it was English speaking. The FT report said the app was launched in early 2014, and now some 125,000 Kenyans previously considered uncreditworthy have Tala – the InVenture app’s new name – financial identities.

With more than 50 employees now, InVenture has issued over 10m pounds in loans to 100,000 people. The average loan size is about $100 with the median about half that.

Before InVenture happened, Siroya worked in equity research, and mergers and acquisitions, at UBS and Citigroup/Healthnet, and formerly worked for the United Nations Population Fund.

Indian infrastructure: hot new investment destination Before Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's China visit came to a hasty end, he did a good job of pitching for more investment in the country's infrastructure sector. On his arrival in Beijing, he met with Tian Guoli, Chairman of the Bank of China, and addressed a closed round table meeting of heads of sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and

Lord Hanuman’s tallest idol in North America was unveiled at Shri Vishnu Mandir, by Shri Morari Bapu, in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Standing at a height of 50 feet, the idol is installed near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue.

Nirma to buy Lafarge India cement assets Gujarat-based soap-tosoda ash manufacturer, Nirma Ltd, has agreed to acquire Swiss building materials company Lafarge India's cement assets for over $1.4 billion. The behemoth, built out of the 2015 Lafarge-Holcim merger, includes three plants and two grinding units with a total capacity of about 11 million tonnes per annum to Nirma, subject to approval by the Competition Commission of India.

Nirma's Managing Director Hiren Patel said, "With a strong platform like Lafarge's India business, we plan to take the cement business to the next level."

The Ahmedabad-based company currently operates a 2

MTPA cement unit. The additional boost will help it benefit from an expected surge in infrastructure construction as India aims to boost spending on the key sector to about 8.1 per cent of GDP by 2012-22, as per an IMF Working Paper.

Lafarge said the agreement was a key require-

ment for the company to win approval from India's competition regulator for the worldwide merger announced last year. "We are confident that we will meet our target by the end of this year," said Eric Olsen, CEO, LafargeHolcim. "With the proposed buyer we have found the right partner who will be able to develop the business further in the interest of all our stakeholders." The Zurich-based company will continue to operate in India through ACC Ltd. and Ambuja Cements Ltd. with a combined capacity of more than 60 million tonnes and a nationwide distribution network, making it the second largest cement player in the country.

Arun Jaitley

banks to promote investment in India's infrastructure sector. One of the positive outcomes of the tour is

the investment provided by a private equity fund managed by Goldman Sachs, to road infrastructure. The company's first investment in Indian roads, it has the potential of becoming one of the biggest private equity transactions in the space.

Also in the race is the Wall Street firm, which has made considerable investments in real estate, renewable energy and hospitality in India.

24

INDIA

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21 from Kerala suspected to have joined IS In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

T HIRUVANANT HAPURAM: Amidst reports claiming that a group Keralites have joined terror outfit, the Islamic State, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the Assembly that a total of 21 people have been missing from the state. Vijayan made it clear that extremism and terrorism has no religion and the government would not encourage anti-Muslim sentiments in the society.

"The missing persons from Kasargod included four women and three children.

Two women were among those missing from Palakkad," he said. The people had left their homes citing different reasons. However, according to media reports, they had gone to Syria and Afghanistan, and were in IS camps.

Addressing reporters, the

Pinarayi Vijayan

CM said one man, Firoz, has been taken into custody from Mumbai airport in connection with the development.

"The state government is

Kerala announces pension for transgenders

KOCHI: Kerala State Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac announced the first budget of the new Pinarayi Vijayan government, announcing a pension scheme for transgenders above the age of 60. "The LDF government is committed to protect the rights of all, including those in the transgender community. We will introduce pension for transgenders above 60 years of age," Isaac said.

While the amount for pension was not mentioned, the move in itself brings a sigh of relief to the 25,000member transgender community in Kerala. Several news reports have been published lately on the plight of the minority community in the

state. Following the pieces, Kochi Metro Rail Limited authorities came forward offering jobs to transgender persons in housekeeping, customer care and crowd management sections this week.

Kerala is the first state in India to bring out a Transgender Policy.

However, it hadn't announced any financial assistance to the marginalised section till date. At the same time, a major demand by the transgender community in the state - to offer free sex reassessment surgery (SRS) to align their biological sex with their gender identity in order to become male or female, did not find place in the budget.

AAP leader accused of hurting religious feeling CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashish Khetan has been accused of hurting religious sentiment in one of the latest controversies to hit the party in Punjab. Khetan, while launching his party's youth manifesto in Amritsar, compared the booklet with religious books like the Guru Granth Sahib and the Gita.

"This is our bible, our Gita, and our Guru Granth Sahib," Khetan said. The booklet also used an image of the Golden Temple, along with a smiling Arvind Kejriwal and the party's election symbol, the broom, further triggering objections.

Twitter directed their wrath at the Delhi Chief Minister, and it wasn't too long before

hashtags like #Kejriinsults GoldenTemple began to trend on the internet.

Following the backlash, Khetan later apologised, saying he didn't mean to disrespect the holy books. While state Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal called it an "act of blasphemy", the All India Sikh Students Federation said it was not enough and went to the police. Meanwhile, Kejriwal has accused Punjab's ruling Akali Dal of going after his party men out of insecurity ahead of the polls. The party, which rules Delhi, has turned the Punjab election, traditionally a direct contest between the Akali Dal and the Congress, into a triangular fight.

committed to take stern action against any kind of terror activities," he said. He also added the administration would not allow any vested

interest to exploit the situation. "There is also an attempt to put the entire Muslim community under the shadow of doubt. But it is well-known that majority of people in Kerala are against any kind of terrorism and extremism.

Only a very few people are showing tendencies to become part of this," Vijayan said.

Police say they have no proof to confirm any of them had joined the IS terror group or other extremist outfits in Syria or Iraq. However, substantial evidence points to their possible radicalisation in Kerala. Incidentally, all the missing youths are well educated and come from relatively well-to-do backgrounds.

Among those who disappeared are a doctor, four engineering graduates and two studying to be dentists.

Muslim woman performs last rites of Hindu man

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Madras HC refuses to ban book

CHENNAI: Upholding the freedom of expression, a bench of the Madras High Court refused to ban 'Madhorubhagan,' a fictional work by Perumal Murugan, an associate professor from Tiruchengode. Delivering the 134page judgment, Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana termed the state's attempt to resolve the issue by gagging the author as "akin to katta panchayats". "The choice to read is always with the reader. If you do not like a book, throw it away. There is no compulsion to read a book. Literary tastes may vary- what is right and acceptable to one may not be so to others. Yet, the right to write is unhindered," the verdict said. The book was dragged into controversy certain descriptions of events in Tiruchengode which was found objectionable by several sections of the local community.

7 lose eye sight after botched-up surgery

HYDERABAD: Seven patients at a government hospital lost vision in one eye after botched-up surgeries. Conducted at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, the series of mishaps cost four women and three men, all aged between 50 to 70, their eye sight. After an inquiry, it was found that the patients had developed a bacterial infection caused by superbug Klebsiella, which was found in the saline solution given to them during the process. "The doctors concerned are nowhere to be seen now to tell me just when I will regain vision in my left eye," said S Anji Reddy. Patients began to experience unbearable pain and puss formation in their eyes soon after the procedure.

A case under Section 338 of the IPC has been registered against the hospital.

Hyderabad man chops, sets afire wife over affair

WARANGAL: Final rites of a Hindu man who breathed his last during his stay at a senior citizens' home was performed by a Muslim woman in Warangal, Telangana. Yakub Bi, who runs an old-age home along with her husband takes care the needs of 70 seniors for free.

When K Srinivas, 70, was found at a bus stop two years back, partially paralysed, he told Yakub that he was abandoned by his family. It was only after his death that his son could be contacted.

However, he said he could

not follow traditional Hindu rituals for his father's funeral because he had converted to Christianity. While Yakub's husband was travelling, she decided to perform Srinivas' last rites of Srinivas as he was "like a father" to her.

Taking up the role, she walked around the funeral pyre an earthen pot on her shoulder, and lit the pyre, taking the spot that would traditionally go to the dead person's oldest son. Other members of the old-age home were present during the ceremony.

Punjabis obese, unhealthy, can’t care less NEW DELHI: A maiden survey of Non-Communicable Disease risk factors, have revealed that Punjab is neither eating, nor living healthy.

One-third of it is leading a sedentary life, two-third is obese and overweight, 41 per cent is suffering from hypertension, and 87 per cent is taking more salt daily than prescribed.

Conducted by PGI, Chandigarh, the study is the first of its kind across the country. The 2014-15 study, spread over 15 months, has recorded every district in the state. It studied six established NCD risk factors in depth; low fruit and vegetable intake, low physical activity, obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, and harmful alcohol use.

"Around 72 per cent peo-

ple said they were not engaging in vigorous activity at all," said PGI's JS Thakur, principal investigator of the study.

He said only 1 per cent of the participants were free from all six risk factors, while 60 per cent had at least one.

"There is an urgent need to implement evidence-based interventions to lower the consequences and costs of these conditions," the survey said., published in US-based journal Public Library of Science.

"Body mass index is a major benchmark for obesity.

We found 28.6 per cent of participants overweight with BMI of more than 25 kg/m2, the cap WHO recommends.

Around 12.8 per cent are obese with BMI above 30 kg/m2," Thakur said.

HYDERABAD: A stockbroker has been arrested on charges of butchering his South Africa-born wife. Rupesh Kumar Agarwal, 36, cut up victim Cynthia's body into pieces and attempted to burn it after he found out about her love affair with a Frenchman over Facebook. The couple had married in 2008 and had a 7 year old daughter. The deceased was a club dancer in Congo before she married Rupesh and moved in with him to Hyderabad. Hyderabad police said Rupesh confessed during the interrogation, and gave gory details on how he throttled her, cut her body up, and stuffed the pieces into a suitcase.

No compromise on river waters, says Sukhbir

FAZILKA: Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has reiterated his government's resolve to protect the river waters of the state and pull out all stops to ensure that the interests of Punjab are not adversely affected on the SYL issue. On day 2 of the two-day tour of his constituency Jalalabad, Sukhbir said not a single drop of water would be allowed to go out of the state, adding that the pledge is an article of faith with the state government. The statement came after he addressed grievances of residents from across more than a dozen villages. He also announced the construction of a minor canal to meet the irrigational needs of farmers of about six villages.

Quran desecration: AAP MLA booked

NEW DELHI: Times are tough if you are an AAP MLA. In yet another case relating to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, a party MLA from Delhi, Naresh Yadav was named in an FIR related to a recent case of alleged desecration of the holy Quran in Punjab. The state's Sangrur police have booked Yadav after the alleged mastermind in the case, Vijay Kumar told the police that he had "desecrated" the book on orders from Yadav. He further said he was offered ÂŁ100,000 to do the job. The case comes right ahead of Kejri's three-day visit to the state. Yadav is an AAP MLA from Mehrauli constituency.

INDIA Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Kashmir boils over killing of Hizbul poster boy Jammu and Kashmir has been boiling for the past few days with violence claiming 32 lives including that of a policeman.

Officials said the agitation spread to north Kashmir from centre Tral, in south.

Pro-Pakistan and antiIndian slogans were chanted from loudspeakers of almost all the mosques across the region. People, especially the youth, were openly incited to fight against the security forces in an appeal to join "jihad against India".

The clashes followed the killing of 22 year old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, in an encounter three days ago. Consequences included an angry mob pushing a police vehicle into the Jhelum, drowning its driver Afroz Ahmed, militants firing at police constable Abdul Gani, and four CRPF jawans narrowly escaping a grenade attack.

Most of the incidents occurred in Pulwama and Qazigund areas, were despite curfew, constant clashes were reported between security forces and protesters. More than 350 persons, including over 115 security force personnel, have been injured

Swamy continues his tirade

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP, Subramanian Swamy has unrelentingly made digs at top financial ministry officials, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramaniam, and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das. However, this time, he hit a little too close to home by provoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing a US report on India's GDP and comments of eminent economist Joseph Stiglitz.

"Lutyen journos silent on US State Dept stating growth rate over-estimated and Stiglitz says growth more important than controlling inflation," he tweeted. In a veiled criticism of the Modi government, Swami talked about a report released by the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs of the US department of State. It said India has been "slow to propose other economic reforms that would match its rhetoric." This isn't the first time Swamy has raised a question about India's GDP growth and the new calculation methodology.

"If I apply SamuelsonSwamy Theory of Index Numbers to India's GDP calculation or RBI interests rates, media will scream anti party activity!" he had tweeted.

Burhan Wani

in clashes and militant attacks in the current cycle of violence.

Kashmir's largest rebel group Hizbul Mujahideen has been fighting against Indian rule since the 1990s, in the disputed region. Wani's encounter took place in Bumdoora village of Kokernag, after a joint team of police and the Army launched a search operation on the basis of specific intelligence inputs regarding the presence of militants. The dead militant often tweeted propaganda material, mostly graphic pictures of violence in Kashmir. He would also post anti-India and antiModi content. The youth had joined HM when he was just 15 after Army soldiers reportedly assaulted his brother in 2010. Over the years, Wani gained a

cult following on social media.

Striking the iron while its hot, neighbouring country Pakistan used the unrest to its benefit, calling the encounter as an "extrajudicial killing". In a statement released by the Pakistan foreign office, it said, "The extra-judicial killing of Kashmiri leader Burhan Wani and scores of other innocent Kashmiris is deplorable and condemnable. Such acts are a violation of fundamental human rights of Kashmiris and cannot deter the people of J&K from their demand for realisation of the right to self-determination." However, New Delhi refused to click on the bait and has refrained from responding to the statement.

Back from his 4-nation visit to Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately chaired a high-level meeting of top officials to review the situation.

Home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, defence minister Manohar Parrikar, NSA Ajit Doval, and foreign secretary S Jaishankar were amongst present.

HUMOUR CORNER A man left for work one Friday afternoon. Instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend hunting with the boys and spending all his wages. When he finally got home on Sunday night, he was confronted by his very angry wife.

After two hours, she stopped nagging him and said, "How would you like it if you didn't see me for two or three days?" he replied, "That would be fine by me." Monday went by and he didn't see his wife. Tuesday and Wednesday came and went with the same results.

Thursday, the swelling went down just enough for him to see her a little out of the corner of his left eye. *** Two Englishmen, two Scotsmen, two Welshmen and two Irishmen were marooned on a desert island. The two Scotsmen got together and started a bank; the two Welshmen got together and started a choir; the two Irishmen got together and started a fight; The two Englishmen never spoke to each other - they hadn't been introduced!

We are looking for countries the Prime Minister hasn’t visited yet.

25

Bhajan evening organised at Mahakaleshwar Temple in Bhadran

(Left) Mayaben Dipak singing Bhajan (Right) People attending the function

A bhajan event was organised on 9th July at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Bhadran village, Anand.

The spiritual evening was made a grand success by the perfect blend of Mayaben's soulful voice and Tushar Joshi's captivating compèring, the temple grounds were packed to the rafters with guests and localites.

The first thing that would strike any visitor who steps foot into the village is its cleanliness and the way people living there have maintained it. A developed rural area where the residents treat the entire region like its own and work collectively, not a stray leaf in sight, Bhadran is without any doubt a stark example of harmonious rustic living. The occupants used latest technology, phones and study in English medium schools

and colleges. Several locals fondly remembered CB Patel's father, Babubhai Patel and the Maharudra and Atirudra yajnas he had organised years ago at the same temple.

The prayer ceremony was organised on the inner whim of ABPL is publisher and editor CB Patel, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. Being a native of Bhadran, the temple and the place carry an emotional significance to him and the ABPL group. With an orderly coordination and delegation of work, with the help of his Ahmedabad team was able to put together a beautiful and rather transcendent evening. The ceremony was supported by an agreeable weather, and the pro-active help forwarded by the village localites, who worked for the event like it was their own and helped put it

all together. An estimated audience of some 500 was gathered, including invitees Bhupatbhai Parekh and wife Sarlaben, Jaysukhbhai and his family, CB Patel's sister-in-law Anilaben Patel and her daughter and Natubhai Amin.

Locally well-known leaders were honoured before the ceremony came to an end. They included, Hiten Patel, Hitesh Patel, Sanjay Patel, Pranjivan Patel, Bimal Patel, Jitu Patel, Mahesh Patel, Naresh Patel, Darshit Patel, Rajesh Patel, Pikesh Patel and Jagdish Patel. The aarti was commenced by Pujari Jagdishbhai after which others participated and took turns to greet the Lord. The final end to the evening was conducted with the distribution of the Mahaprasad where people sat down together to break bread.

INDIA

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India and Africa: Towards A New Dawn AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

by J K Chande

It is believed that in 1498 when Vasco da Gama after journeying to Mozambique and Kilwa passed through Zanzibar on his way to India he took with him a couple of Gujaratis to help in the journey. They navigated him to Calicut.

India since its independence has played a meaningful role through the United Nations in helping African countries to achieve their independence. The most famous Indian who lived in Africa is Mahatma Gandhi, whose political activism began in South Africa where he was practising as a young lawyer. His philosophy of satyagraha inspired many, including Nelson Mandela.

Africa is regarded as the second fastest growing region in the world.

According to the 2015 World Bank report six of the 10 fastest growing economies of the world emanate from Africa. India

“With the gun, you can make the earth red; but if you have a plough, you can make the earth green.”

Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister I have had the privilege of attending banquets hosted by Tanzania’s Presidents in honour of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh and now Narendra Modi.

Each Prime Minister when visiting Tanzania and other African countries has emphasized the fact that Africa and India are neighbours separated by the Indian Ocean. As mentioned by all visiting Prime Ministers, India’s trade connections with Africa began in the 10th century with emphasis by Modi when addressing Indian Diaspora in Tanzania that “the first immigrants came from my State, namely Gujarat.”

and Africa have a plethora of areas in which they are collaborating.

These include the trade and investment, development, technology and education, maritime security and counter terrorism which are detailed later.

For the first time India organized an Indian-Africa Summit in October last year in order to build closer relationship with Africa.

The successful Summit was attended by majority of African Leaders. IndiaAfrica bilateral trade is estimated to be around US$90 billion and is annually increasing. Indian firms have invested USD$18 billion. Indian Diaspora in Africa consists of nearly 3 million and there are 50,000 ethnic African Diaspora in India who descended from Bantu people of Southeast Africa.

Nearly 4,500 Indian soldiers are on the ground in Africa under various UN peacekeeping missions, including a fully formed

to visit Mozambique in 34 years. "My Africa tour, aimed at enhancing ties between India and Africa will begin from Mozambique in a brief but key visit," Modi tweeted.

He was given a ceremonial

energy, food, security, trade, maritime cooperation, and diaspora interactions on his agenda, the PM touched down at Maputo International Airport, becoming the first Indian head of government

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that objective in mind India’s new Africa policy dovetails, as I mentioned earlier, three substantial interests. One is economic: India’s economic relationship is more diversified than ever before. Much of the investment is private sector-driven and in nonresource areas like telecom and consumer products.

The second is the development partnership in order to provide Africans better access to technical education and healthcare. In this, India is sensibly targeting the hearts, minds and pocket books of the 100 million plus African middle class that have arisen in the past few decades.

Third is a nascent security relationship that conflates common concern about terrorism including maritime terrorism.

Prime Minister Modi said in Pretoria, South Africa, “India is a bright star in the global economy.

We are being seen as the engine of global growth.”

In a time of global growth slowdown, India managed to achieve a 7.6% increase in GDP growth.

Prime Minister Modi in his closing remarks when addressing the guest at the State House banquet said “Furahayakonayanchiyako nifurahayetunafurahaya India.”

This desire expressed by Modi is meant for the rest of Africa.

On a personal note – visits to all four countries (four countries in five days) although tight were successful. Modiji always looked relaxed and ready with meaningful response.

At the State House he suggested to the President that they both go and play on the drums. When the Principal and his colleagues from the Indian School who were on the stage with the students who sang the two National Anthems, tried to get next to him at the time photograph was being taken, he politely said “Bachoko ahi anedo!”

Modi's 4-nation Africa visit a grand success

Continued from page 1 mainland as the Indian Prime Minister, Modi stopped over at Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya.

Mozambique: With

ADDRESS

Indian female police unit presently in Liberia. India annually offers 900 scholarships to African Students and is currently spending US$7.5 billion on infrastructure projects in 40 countries in Africa.

Barefoot College International of India, which provides training to the rural illiterate and semi-literate women, in fabrication, repair and maintenance of solar lanterns and household lighting scheme.

Additionally, this nonprofit organization provides basic services and solutions to the challenges facing rural poor communities for more than 40 years with the objective of making them self-reliant.

It is the only India based NGO whose programs are exported throughout Africa and in many other developing countries.

The human connection is the foundation in Modi’s plans to create a strong presence in Africa and with

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welcome at the Presidential Office, after which he held a restricted meeting with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.

Talking to the media after, he said both the countries were stepping up their partnership in food security as India signed a long-term pact for the purchase of pulses from Mozambique.

"In Mozambique's march towards economic prosperity, India will walk every step of the way. We will be a trusted friend in your development," Modi said.

Other programmes on his agenda included a meeting with Veronica Macamo, President of the National Assembly, and a visit to the S&T Parkm where he interacted with students. He also addressed the Indian community in the country.

South Africa: Modi arrived in South African capital Pretoria, on July 8th and met with President Jacob Zuma to discuss ways to boost investment and trade. The country holds significant importance to India, with a historical connect, and Asian rival of China's growing foothold with SA. "Indian companies hold strong business interests in South Africa. About one fourth of our investment in Africa are in this country and there is potential to expand our business ties," Modi said at a press briefing before he attended a business summit held between both the countries.

Unfailingly talking to over 11,000 people of the Indian community in an address to the diaspora in Johannesburg, Modi thanked them for their support and mentioned Mahatma Gandhi. "It was in South Africa that

Mahatma Gandhi conceptualised his politics. This is the birthplace of Satyagraha. South Africa transformed Mohandas into Mahatma." Modi also took a train journey in Pietermaritzburg to commemorate Gandhi, who was thrown out of train compartment.

Tanzania: Received at the airport by Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa and Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Membe, Modi later met with President John Pombe Joseph Mgufuli, and both the sides signed a total of five agreements, including one for providing a line of credit of $92 million in the water resources sector.

"Our in-depth discussions on global and regional issues reflected our considerable convergence on issues of common interest and concerns," Modi said at a joint press conference.

Other agreements included an MoU on water resource management and development, an MoU for establishment of vocational training centre at Zanzibar, an MoU on visa waiver for diplomatic/official passport holders and an agreement between the National Small Industries Corporation of India and the Small Industries D e v e l o p m e n t Organisation, Tanzania.

He also met with a group of 30 'Solar Mamas' from Tanzania and other African countries, who demonstrated their skills in fabrication, repair, and maintenance of solar lanterns and household lighting systems.

Kenya: After his talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, NaMo announced extension of a

concessional Line of Credit of $44.95 million to the country. India will also build a cancer hospital in Kenya to provide quality and affordable healthcare.

"The multifaceted development partnership is a key pillar of our bilateral relationship," Modi said at a joint media interaction after the talks. The Prime Minister Kenyatta and he "agreed that terrorism and radicalisation are common challenges for our two countries, the region and the whole world. We have agreed to deepen our security partnership including in fields of cyber security, combating drugs and narcotics and human trafficking." The MoU on Defence Cooperation signed will see staff exchanges, expertise sharing, training, cooperation in hydrography and equipment supply.

Modi also said the two countries shared common interest in the security, including in maritime security, since they were connected by the Indian Ocean. He noted that both India and Kenya had young populations and both cultures value education. "Now is the time for skill development," he said, quoting a Swahili proverb "Elimubilaamali, kamantabilaasali," which means "knowledge without practice is like wax without honey."

NaMo paid homage to first president Jomo Kenyatta, and also addressed students at the University of Nairobi before he returned back home.

The main theme of the visit remain focused on three distinct features.

Food security, Terrorism, and Modi's Make in India programme.

What does your stomach pain signify?

What causes it: Inflammation (appendicitis or colitis) Stretching or extension of an organ, blockage of a bile duct by gallstones or swelling of the liver with hepatitis, loss of the supply of blood to an organ or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

When seeing a doctor remember to give him the exact location of where the pain first started and what is the severity of the pain. Also mention how frequent they are and whether they increase or decrease after meals.

Acute pain post meals: They are mostly due to excessive gas in your digestive system. They can be treated easily using over-the-counter medications. It may also signify an ulcer.

Everyone passes gas on a daily basis, but sometimes gas pains might be mistaken for gallstones and heart disease.

Causes: It may happen due to swallowing air when you eat or drink, or certain ingredients in food that cause the formation of gases when they interact with bacteria in the colon, like dal, dairy products, whole

grains and pulses. The food elements that cause gas formation include sugars, starches and fibre.

How to avoid it: Eat small meals and do not overeat. Eat slowly and chew food properly. Do not eat when you're in a hurry, upset or anxious because stress can interfere with your digestive system.

Abdominal pain on the left: Pain on the left indicates that there is serious trouble. Our stomach is above our waist, on the left side of our body, and this pain is not in the abdomen but down below your waist. It could indicate a problem in the descending colon. Cancer or inflammation of the descending colon can affect the wall of the abdomen. It is this irritation that causes the abdominal pain on left side. It can hint at Cancer of the Colon. Where the pain is not very distinct colonoscopy plays an important role. Your doctor gets to see the inside of your colon empty. The pain can also be diverticulitis. It is an inflammation of the pockets that form along the path of the large intestine.

Crohn's disease can cause diarrhoea and bloody discharge in your stool. A careful diet plan can help you. Older adults may need surgery.

Pain on the right Right side abdominal pain point to a few specific diseases and conditions.

Kidney stones: In most cases, the pain will start to the back and move around to the front, though with small stones the patient might not feel it until it has wound around to

Antidepressant drug use in England has doubled

F

igures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre reveal that over 61 million prescriptions for antidepressants were filed in 2015 in England, including citalopram and fluoxetine.

Gillian Connor of the Rethink Mental Illness charity said, "The reasons for this increase in antidepressant prescriptions could include a greater awareness of mental illness and more willingness to seek help. However, with our overstretched and underfunded mental health services, too often antidepressants are the only treatment available."

The new numbers show an increase in the use of antidepressant drug

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...

I

the right side of the abdomen.

Appendicitis: Pain in the lower quadrant points to appendicitis. In some cases, the pain starts around the naval area and tracks right down the stomach, but in either case the condition is serious.

Stomach Ulcers: If the pain in the right is accompanied by pain in the chest, and is concentrated in the upper quadrant, you might be suffering from stomach ulcers. The pain is sharp and repetitive after intervals and worst on an empty stomach. This condition is not serious if caught in time and remedied with adequate healthy eating and lifestyle habits.

ndians love their tea, especially when out for a drive. That one cup of tea, especially if a slice of ginger is added to it, wakes you up, while the gentle warmth soothes your soul.

The mystery of ginger Ayurveda believes in the fact that herbs when ingested or applied bring changes in the bioenergies of the human body. Human body is regulated by balanced existence of three main bioenergies namely – Vata (this energy regulates all the macro/micro, voluntary/ involuntary movements of the body), Pitta (regulates all the conversion processes) and Kapha (regulates stability/structure/growth/repair work).

Herbs and food with their unique taste, after taste and specific therapeutic action, affect these bioenergies by aggravating or pacifying them.

How ginger change the bioenergy of the human body?

Ginger is a revered herb in ayurveda for many ailments.

It has pungent and sweet taste, and pungent after taste.

It has hot potency. All these properties of ginger make it highly capable of balancing aggravated Kapha and Vata. Ginger tea has its benefits in almost all the health problems arising from these doshas (bioenergies).

Health benefits of ginger tea

Other conditions It can also end up being an underlying cause for some other condition like pancreatitis or ectopic pregannacy. Pancreatitis can start as pain in either the lower left or lower right quadrant of the abdomen. Women experiencing an ectopic pregnancy often experience right side abdominal pain. The best way to diagnose your condition is to see a doctor immediately for treatment.

Inflammatory bowel disorders generally occur in young people.

Ulcerative colitis is also common in young people. It is usually a pre-cursor to colon cancer.

We all display traits of autism, says study

A

of 57.1 million in 2014 from 29.4 million in 2005.

While UK guidelines say people should be offered antidepressants as a first treatment option for moderate depression, critics have constantly argued saying it would be better for people to take therapies.

Vicki Nash of a charity called Mind, said that while talking therapies are becoming more widely available, they still aren't available to everyone who needs them. "It is also likely that some areas of the country with particularly high prescription rates simply don't have other forms of treatments as readily available," she said.

What makes ginger tea healthy?

www.asian-voice.com

new study has found that all people, including those who have not been diagnosed with a condition on the spectrum, show symptoms of autism in them.

Researchers from the University of Bristol, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and Massachusetts General Hospital investigated the genetic relationship between autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and ASD-related traits in people not considered to have ASD. They found that genetic risk for ASD exists in all people, but we display symptoms associated with the condition to “various degrees.” According to the study, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a class of neuro-developmental conditions affecting about one in 100 children.

The disorders are characterised by social interaction difficulties and communication and language impairments, as

well as stereotyped and repetitive behaviour.

These core symptoms are central to the definition of an ASD diagnosis but also occur, “to varying degrees”, in unaffected individuals and form an “underlying behavioural continuum.”

Ginger tea is a very popular cure for cold and cough. It helps drying up runny nose and expels phlegm from respiratory tract.

This is a hot favourite on a rainy day and a favourite with mothers to cure your cold. Ginger is known to soothe common cold to make it bearable and perhaps even speed up recovery. It helps those people who have very low appetite as ginger's hot potency ignites digestive fire and initiates release of digestive enzymes. It improves digestion and helps in proper assimilation of food.

Regular intake of ginger tea helps in alleviating constipation and expelling stagnated undigested food ('ama') or toxic gases from the digestive system. This is a great solution after indulging in rich festive food.

Ginger tea can ease your system, making you happy. But don't expect miracles. The most it can do is calm an upset stomach, not cure it.

During winters, it warms you up as it increases your body temperature. It boosts your circulatory system due to its hot potency. It is a detoxifying herb which helps in removing accumulated toxins in the body.

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bdominal or stomach pain can arise from the tissues of the abdominal wall, such as skin and abdominal muscles or pain originating from organs within the abdominal cavity. These organs include the stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, gallbladder and pancreas. Occasionally pain may be felt in the abdomen even though it is arising from organs that are close to but not within the abdominal cavity. For example, the lower lungs, the kidneys and the uterus or ovaries.

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Manirathnam's AD is hero and heroine becomes AD

Former Kerala CM to make acting debut Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

F

ormer Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan will showcase his acting skills in Malayalam film 'Campus Diary'. The 92 year old will play the role of a person supporting the students in their struggle against a multi-national drinking water supplier. Director of the movie, Jeevan Das said, "The movie is about a students' movement which addresses several issues; environmental concerns being one of them. There is no one better that VS who can speak on this." The movie also features Sudev Nair, Joy Mathew, RJ Mathukutty, Gauthami Nair, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Mamukkoya. The film is expected to be released in September this year.

Nayanthara's next is a horror movie

Nayanthara is set to act in yet another women-centric movie after her last year's super hit 'Maya'. The upcoming is a horror, directed by Dass, former associate of director Sarkuman who will be producing the project. The film has been titled 'Dora', an inspiration of the popular television cartoon character. Other actors are Thambi Ramiah and Harish Uthaman in important roles. While Dinesh will handle the cinematography, Vivek-Mervin will give music.

Hot heroine may become Simbu's mother

Simbu’s new movie ‘Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan’ directed by Adhik Ravichander is all set to begin shooting. Simbu plays triple roles in the film and one of them is a middle aged antagonist, while it is still unknown what the other two characters are. The team of ‘AAA’ had approached Trisha to play the pair for the middle aged character and she reportedly rejected the offer. Now the buzz is that Shriya Saran, the hot heroine of ‘Sivaji’ and ‘Kandaswamy,’ is on the verge of signing the film. Meanwhile, Yuvan Shankar Raja is busy composing the tunes for the film, which is produced by Michael Rayappan.

Maniratnam is all set to commence his next project reportedly titled 'Kaatru Veliyidai' and will shoot a song and few of the important scenes in Ooty and other parts of the Nilgiris. The film will show Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari and the lead with RJ Balaji in a pivotal role. ActorDirector Parthiban’s daughter Keerthana is working as an assistant director in the film and the interesting fact is that as a child artist, she was the heroine (central character) of Manirathnam’s ‘Kannathil Muthamittaal.’ Similarly Karthi assisted Mani in ‘Ayudha Ezhuthu.’ The film has the ARR-Vairamuthu combo on board with Ravi Varman cranking the camera.

'Madaari'

A social thriller that walks us through the current day politics in the country.

'Great Grand Masti'

A comedy featuring Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Aftab Shivadasani.

29

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

Salman angry with Sonakshi

Hell hath no wrath like our Bhaijaan scorned! Salman Khan has once again shown who's boss by plugging actress Sonakshi Sinha's role in the third instalment of the 'Dabangg' franchise.

Reports claim 'Dabangg 3' may not feature Sonakshi at all. The move comes after an alleged friction between both the actors.

The media report said the tiff started after Sonakshi turned down Arbaaz

Khan's production 'Dolly Ki Doli'. Both of them even had a face-off at Salman's sister Arpita's wedding in November 2014. "Salman is not keen on working with Sonakshi. So, the producers are looking out for another actress. Nobody has been finalised yet," the website quoted a source as saying. Sonakshi not only made her acting debut with 'Dabangg', she even received a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Rohini Hattangadi coming to UK

Sunny Leone Katrina Kaif practising turns fitness freak singing

Sunny Leone recently shared a photograph of herself standing in front of a mic in a music studio, sparking rumours of her singing for a movie.

However, the 'Jism 2' actress denied them saying she is just rehearsing for a big event. "Just so you know, was not singing for a movie. Was rehearsing and practising for a big event I am attending where I must sing for real. Very nerv-

Award winning actress Rohini Hattangadi is coming to the UK with her emotional Gujarati drama 'Baa Tane Hun Kya Rakhu?' A sentimental roller coaster about a septuagenarian and how her sons neglect her, Rohini brings a relatable story that keeps you hooked till the end. With skills that have only gotten better with time, and a performance that will make you reach for the tissues, the 'Gandhi' actress does justice to BTHKR. With a message calling for acceptance and actors with exemplary timing, 'Baa Taney Hun Kya Rakhu?' is a must watch.

Sidharth Malhotra has revealed something about his 'Baar Baar Dekho' coactor Katrina Kaif. In a promotional interview, the actor said, "Katrina is a fitness freak. She works post pack-up as well when all of us are just exhausted. She is also extremely careful about what she eats and is super dedicated to her fitness and diet routine."

In other news, the actress will reportedly promote her upcoming 'Jagga Jasoos' with former beau Ranbir Kapoor. Post a not-so-pretty break up, rumours were that both the actors will not promote the film together. However, film producer Siddharth Roy said, "They are complete professionals and they will do everything that it takes to promote 'Jagga Jasoos'." The movie was slated for a 2014 release, however, prior commitments of the actors pushed the release date. "We are in the last leg of shooting. Last few days of shoot is remaining. As soon as the shoot is over, we will announce the release date," Siddharth said.

Alia wants to keep her personal life private

ous!" she tweeted.

Last seen in 'One Night Stand', Sunny added, "In order to get all the words correct and pronunciation correct, I had to hear what I'm singing.

Been practising on my own all month." Work-wise, she will soon be seen in a song for Shah Rukh Khan's 'Raees' and is said to be a new take on 1980 chartbuster 'Laila O Laila'.

The original track featured Feroz Khan and Zeenat Amaan.

Bubbly and vibrant, Alia Bhatt believes in keeping her personal life away from the limelight, as she does not want to be the focus of attention because of it. In a recent interview, the 23 year old said, "Keeping my personal life away from the public glare just saves me from any further damage. It's more a way of caution rather than getting hurt. I feel when you start talking about it, your entire life revolves around that." She added, "I admit that it does happen by default but I am here to work and be known as an actor and not someone who has a happening personal life." Alia will soon be seen in Karan Malhotra's 'Shuddhi' opposite Varun Dhawan.

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Asian Voice |16th July 2016

Najma Heptullah, Siddeshwara quit Modi govt

Najma A. Heptulla

GM Siddeshwara

Union ministers Najma Heptullah and Gowdara Mallikarjunappa Siddeshwara on Tuesday resigned from the Narendra Modi cabinet.

Their resignations were accepted by the President.

Minister of state Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been given independent charge of ministry of minority affairs. Babul Supriyo has now been given the charge of the ministry of heavy industries and public

enterprises. Supriyo has been relieved of the charge of minister of state in the ministry of urban development, and minister of state in the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation.

The resignations come a week after Modi carried out a major expansion and reshuffle of his Cabinet on July 5. The exercise saw induction of 19 new faces and changes in key portfolios of several ministers.

Fundraiser Event A Bollywood-themed fundraiser dinner and dance event has been organised to mark the 47th anniversary of Ellora, one of solihull's oldest Indian restaurants. The evening will include a fivecourse meal and live entertainment performed by some of Midlands’ top artists. All funds raised will go towards Macmillan Cancer Support, the national cancer charity.

The event will take place

on Wednesday, 21st September 2016 from 7pm onwards.Founded in 1968 – the year in which for the first time in history humans orbited the Moon (Apollo 8) and revered leaders Martin Luther King Junior and Robert F Kennedy were assassinated – Ellora prides itself on its exemplary cuisine and its loyal customer base.

For tickets and more information visit www.elloraknowle.co.uk

Braveheart wins Prime Minister's Points of Light Award Bhavini Makwana has been living with a condition called R e t i n i t i s Pigmentosa for 19 years and is registered Blind. Despite this she has volunteered for RP Fighting Blindness and raises money to find a treatment and a cure for this disease as well as raising awareness for the eye condition.

On 28th June 2016, Bhavani Makwana was awarded the Prime Ministers Points Of Bhavini with Samantha Cameron Light Award at 10 the O2, doing a 6 and 15 Downing Street by mile Carrots Nightwalk Samantha Cameron, in and recently taking part in recognition for her outthe Vitality 10k and as well standing volunteering for as organising charity charities. Normally, these fundraisers, and is currentawards are sent out in the ly in the process of organispost, but for Bhavini, she ing another one in was invited to 10 Downing September. Among others Street and was given this she organises information award in person. days combining speakers Bhavani is currently with activities such as raising awareness within Bollywood dancing. the Asian Community, as Bhavini also founded these are the people who ‘Social Eyes’, a support often hide away due to fear group with a difference of rejection from their famwhich gives people with RP ily and friends/society and an opportunity to socialise live in denial and lack of and have fun together. In awareness and support out addition she regularly there. staffs the ‘RP Fighting Her Just Giving page is Blindness’ charity helpline filled with her fundraising and organises fundraising activities such as climbing events.

Air Force Museum Cosford.

This year’s flying theme will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the Spitfire. For more information, visit www.rafmuseum.org/cosford

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your 5th house of romance and creativity, you should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people of your own calibre and pursue any romantic liaisons that might present themselves. Work is still an ongoing matter, some of you will move and others reassess different options around them.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 It seems that the winds of change begin to gather momentum and put a strong focus on domestic matters. The outlook remains optimistic and the way forward will bring you a sense of real achievement. However, this is not likely to be an easy-going week because demands on time and energy are going to be heavy.

The pace of your life may be

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 a bit hectic now, and if

you're not used to it, this could also be a time of mental restlessness. You are more inclined to seek a broad understanding of people and of your immediate environment.

Concentrating on listening, connecting, communicating, and learning is your best bet now.

You will meet with chances now to improve your income and status. Be ready to capitalize on opportunity when it strikes. You will be sowing the seeds today for a future success. However, don't expect immediate results. Be patient and allow sufficient time for your efforts to reap the rewards. Remain positive and the pieces of your puzzle will begin to fit soon.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

It's time when experience will enable you to enrich your inner mind and personality. You are moving into a new phase of life which will bring wider scope for developing your unique qualities and talents. You are likely to move around more than usual. Life will become very lively and there will be a lot of social interactions.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 while Mercury and Venus transit the twelfth house of your solar chart, your mind is focused on private matters. This is a time when you are searching for answers. This is a good time for research, quiet contemplation and meditation. You are likely to require a certain amount of solitude in order to get your thoughts together or to be mentally productive.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 Career-wise you cannot go wrong provided you do not act in a way that threatens other people's egos. An ambition that you have been striving for over the past year is likely to come to fruition which could mean promotion and a boost in status and reputation soon. Play your cards right and you can pull strings in you favour.

Air show at RAF Cosford An air show in miniature is set to entertain thousands of aviation and modelling enthusiasts this weekend (16-17 July). The popular family-friendly annual event will take place at the Royal

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 With Venus and Mercury in

The pace of everyday life will gather momentum and there may be times when you find it hard to keep your act together. Any obstacles that have stood in the way should melt into the background soon. Your self-confidence will be extremely high and this will be helped by various encouraging events.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad.

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 Saturn continues its journey through your sign, lending its support for you to redefine your sense of self. It’s an exciting, expansive time, when you should find it easier to be who you are and do what you want : you may be surprised by just how far you can go. This is a tremendously exciting time for you.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 You will need to handle both business and personal relationships gingerly now.

A close tie may be quick to take offence or could take something you say in the wrong way. Innovative moves are favoured in business. You'll make decisions about the use of joint assets. Follow through on commitments made to others and don't promise more than you can deliver.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

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.

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.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

SPORT

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Mishra shines in drawn India- West Indies match AsianVoiceNews

Spinner Amit Mishra shone with four wickets but the Indian fast bowlers were far from impressive as their twoday warm-up match against West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President's XI ended in a draw in Basseterre on Sunday.

Shai Hope's unbeaten century was the highlight of WICB President's XI innings on the second and final day of the opening practice game. WICB Board President's XI were 281 for seven when play was called off.

Hope, who has so far played six Tests for the West Indies, spent 355 minutes at the crease while facing 229 balls.

The 22-year-old's knock at the Warner Park featured 15 fours. Amit Mishra finished with figures of 4/67 at the end of the second day's play.

Leg-spinner Mishra was only bowler to have impressed, returning figures of 4/67, after India declared at their overnight score of 258 for six. Due to overcast sky and intermittent showers, the opportunity was there for the Indian seamers to exploit the conditions, but they let it slip with their inconsistent showing.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami, returning to competitive cricket after a long injury lay-off, began the proceedings on the right note. Kumar managed to get the ball to swing both ways and dismissed WICB Board President Leon XI skipper Johnson.

On the other hand, Shami worked up good pace and tested the batsmen outside the offstump. However, suddenly, the Indian bowlers seemed to have lost their plot and looked direction-less. They bowled too wide outside the off stump, and the batsmen Hope and Rajendra Chandrika had no hesitation in leaving them.

Balls straying down the leg were easily knocked off for runs, prompting captain Virat Kohli to introduce Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

Both the bowlers were inconsistent and could not get a breakthrough, though Umesh bowled one beautiful delivery that jumped and jagged back at the batsman from short of length.

As soon as he was brought in for a short three-over spell before lunch, Mishra got good purchase from the slow pitch and troubled the batsmen by bowling the googly sporadically.

He nearly had Hope in front and after lunch, induced an edge off

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Chandrika, which fell short of the first slip.

The home team batsmen were in doubts — whether to play the legspinner on the front or backfoot. And Mishra took advantage of that, having Chandrika stumped in the second session. In the next ball,

Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

Amit Mishra

Mishra sent back Jermaine Blackwood in the same manner, leaving him in with a hat-trick chance.

Mishra got two more wickets, while the seamers Kumar, Shami and Umesh picked up a wicket apiece. Ishant was the only bowler to go wicket-

less. The two teams will play another warm-up game at the same venue from Thursday to Saturday before India take on the West Indies in the first Test to be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, from 21 to 25 July.

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Asian Voice | 16th July 2016

Murray does it again

Andy Murray has made the Britons proud by winning the Wimbledon title for the second time in 36 months by beating Milos Raonic of Canada. After winning the match Murray simply slumped into his chair and sobbed into a towel relieved to have ended a 36-month search for a third grand slam title with victory over Raonic.

That barren stretch had included coming off second best in this year's Australian and French Open finals to his nemesis-in-chief, Novak Djokovic. While the world number one's shock thirdround departure from Wimbledon elevated Murray to the title favourite during the second week of the championships, he also knew that one false move could leave him with the dubious dis-

Andy Murray

tinction of becoming the first man in the professional era to lose the finals of the season's first three grand slam events.

"I've had some great moments but also some tough losses and this win feels extra special because of the tough losses," Murray said moments after spotting his name on the gilded surface of the Challenge Cup. "I'm proud to get my hands on the trophy again," added the 29-year-old, who beat Raonic 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2).

With the 15,000strong crowd, which included greats such as

Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, roaring their approval, there was one man on Centre Court who maintained a poker face throughout the jubilant celebrations. A month after rekindling his coaching relationship with Murray following a twoyear hiatus, it was job done for Ivan Lendl as Murray's win-loss record during the grasscourt season stood at 12-0.

Lendl has now proved that when it comes to Murray, he is the coach with the Midas touch. In Lendl's absence, Murray had reached three major finals but each time Djokovic had proved to be a recurring nightmare that simply would not go away.

However, after winning only two of his previous 10 slam finals, the world number two hopes

Sunday's victory and his reunion with Lendl will put him on the path to readdressing that imbalance.

"Last time (in 2013) I was so relieved ... There was so much stress and pressure, I didn't really get a chance to enjoy it as much," said Murray after he won his first major since getting married and becoming a father.

The Canadian, a nuts and bolts kind of player, didn't quite have the tools for the big stage. “This one will sting,” the 6 ft 5' Raonic said. “I'll do whatever I can as these courts are green for another chance. It has been a phenomenal two weeks, I work very hard to improve and I'll continue to do that and hopefully be back here next year.”

Murray, the older and sufficiently seasoned pro, kicked off the mind games even before the first ball was served. Raonic almost charged out on court as soon as the umpire called play, but Murray fiddled with his bag, taking his time. As the Canadian stalked the baseline, the Scot ran through his notes, letting the younger man stew.

Portugal stun hosts France to win Euro 2016 title Portugal, which had never won any major soccer tournament title, upset hosts France 1-0 in the extra time of the breathtaking Euro 2016 final on Sunday night, that too without the services of star striker Ronaldo.

In the history-making triumph, it was substitute forward Eder, who rarely scores for the national team, took a pass from Joao Moutinho in the 109th minute, cut onto his right, and unleashed the perfect strike towards the near-corner. France keeper and captain Hugo Lloris made a stretch but still failed to touch the ball.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the talisman of the Portuguese team, got an injury only seven minutes into the game when French midfielder Dimitri Payet put in a challenge on him, and

caught him with the followthrough, bringing play to a halt. Although Ronaldo continued playing for some time, he had to be replaced

by Ricardo Quaresma in the 25th minute.

The injury cast a shadow over the match. France were back in possession.

Midfielder Moussa Sissoko made several flash runs, as he injected a sudden burst of pace to send himself

through.

Besides Sissoko, playmaker Antoine Griezmann who had scored six times to take the Golden Boot of the tournament, made huge threats to Portugal's defence. However, luck was not on his side.

The statistics showed that France gained the upper hand with 56 per cent ball possession and 7 on-target shots.

But

Portugal keeper Rui Patricio performed brilliantly to deny the hosts' willingness to win the battle in 90 minutes.

The tough duel witnessed six yellow cards for Portugal and four for the hosts.

This is the fourth meeting between Portugal and France in a major tournament. France have won the previous three, all in semifinals - Euro 1984, Euro 2000 and the 2006 World Cup. Portugal put in a defensive masterclass to deny the French the trophy on home soil. Fernando Santos' side, who have developed a flair for the dramatics, win their third match of the tournament in extra-time, after playing out to a sixth draw in seven games at Euro 2016.

Pele marries the 3rd time at a private ceremony

Brazilian football legend Pele and his girlfriend got married in a private religious ceremony before family and a small group of friends this weekend in Brazil, media reports said. The 75-year-old, now in his third marriage, and his bride, who is 25 years younger to him, tied the knot on Saturday, reports said. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known universally as Pele, married Marcia Cibele Aoki, a businesswoman of Japanese descent, at an upscale banquet hall in Guaruja, a city on the coast of Sao Paulo state, before 100 guests and away from news photographers and television cameras. Pele told reporters that he met his bride at a party in New York in 1980 and they reconnected after bumping into each other in the elevator of the luxury Sao Paulo building where they lived.

New technology in tennis

Tennis coach Philip Hofmeyr created Topspin Pro and began selling it during Wimbledon last year and made over £125,000 in a year's time. He claims to have invented a device to teach the most deadly move of tennis, the perfect spin. The Topspin is regarded as the game’s most elusive techniques which involves hitting the ball that it loop higher over the net and then dipping down on the opponent’s side. The gadget uses a tennis ball to racket height which is hit by players continuously, if he ball spins around they are recreating the perfect topspin by brushing rather than hitting the ball.

Hofmeyr, raised £14,000 on Kickstarter, reaching his target in just four days. He raised another £30,000 by selling shares to family and friends. The Topspin Pro can be found in Virgin Active gyms along with Sir Richard Branson’s tennis courts in Necker Island.

Hofmeyr said Wimbledon is “critical” for his business, “I don't want to reply on an annual torment”. He has turned to YouTube and tennis coaches to promote Topspin, paying them to use a portion of the sales if they post videos of them using the gadget. He said “Tennis coaches are my natural market. At Virgin Active they use the gadget in tennis lessons and cardiovascular workouts.

The King of Silverstone

This weekend Lewis Hamilton became the undisputed king of Silverstone. He won the only Formula 1 driver to win the British Grand Prix 4 times. Hamilton broke the previous record of 3 win on the race circuit set

by Nigel Mansell (1987, 1991 and 1992) and Jim Clark (1963, 1965 and 1967). His win comes despite the British weather creating tricky conditions for the drivers. The Formula1 Season continues, with the next race at the Hungarian Grand Prix, 22nd-24th July.

Shah Rukh Khan set for foray into football Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's wish of owning a football team could come true as the star is understood to be in talks with Indian Super League (ISL) to buy a Kolkata-based franchise. Khan is co-owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders and could seize the opportunity when the ISL expands to 10 teams and becomes a top-tier league in 2017. Dempo Sports Club famously came

close to roping in the Bollywood star as co-owner in 2012. Dempo chairman Shrinivas Dempo held several round of talks with Khan but the move fizzled out. Next year, though, it could be different as Khan prepares to partner another iconic football club -East Bengal- and that too in a city of his choice. Khan has always made it clear that should he decide to invest into football, it would only be from Kolkata and, inci-

dentally, was handed lifetime membership by East Bengal during the promotion of his film Dilwale last year. According to sources, IMG-Reliance, marketing partners of the AIFF, will expand the ISL to 10 teams next season with three existing I-League teams set to move up the ranks. The two new teams will be chosen based on a set criteria and indications are that apart from Bengaluru - a new venue - the ISL will make

space for a second franchise from Kolkata. Defending ILeague champions Bengaluru FC are tipped to win the race for the Bengaluru franchise, leaving East Bengal and rival Mohun Bagan in the fray for potential tie-ups that will help them make the grade.

Kolkata has space for just two franchises and indications are that one of the giants will have to join hands with Atletico de Kolkata. Sources say Mohun

Bagan, who are in talks with a French company, could step on to the ISL platform after a tie-up with Atletico de Kolkata, for which talks are underway. Atletico de Kolkata co-owner Sourav Ganguly, a long-time supporter of Mohun Bagan, is learnt to have been advised by the state chief minister Mamata Banerjee to look into a possible tie-up. East Bengal, of course with backing from Khan, could be the other franchise.