AV 20th December 2014

SEE INSIDE ....

First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe

2014 in a nutshell See Pages 14-17

India, Russia ink new N-deal; Moscow to build 12 reactors See Page 25

Baroness Vadera: Breaking the Banking ceiling

See Page 6

VOL 43. ISSUE 32

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

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20th December to 26th December 2014

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In the bloodiest terror attack in Pakistan in recent years, at least 160 people, mostly children, were on Tuesday killed by heavily-armed Taliban suicide bombers who stormed an army-run school in Peshawar and took several hostages, a throwback to the 2004 Beslan school siege by Chechen rebels. Among the dead are 132 school children, 11 teachers and 9 terrorists.

A group of 9 Arabicspeaking attackers, wearing paramilitary Frontier Corps uniforms, entered the Army Public School on Warsak Road around 10.30 am (local time) and started massacre of innocents, spraying bullets indiscriminately, going

the insurgents had been killed.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack, one of the worst in recent years. The Taliban spokesman claimed that its 6 suicide bombers attacked army school, saying it was a revenge for the army's operation against militants in the North Waziristan tribal area close to Peshawar.

"We want them to feel our pain," the spokesman said.

World leaders united in condemning the attack as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif termed it a "national tragedy" and chaired a security meeting in Peshawar where he was briefed about the attack

from classroom-to-classroom. They also took several hostages using them as human shield. The death toll in the attack has reached 160 with a majority of them being students, official sources said. At least 122 others have been injured.

They said that so far eight militants have died four of them blew themselves up while others were shot dead by security forces. Twenty teachers, including the principal, and 34 students were hostages by the militants during the operation.

More than eight hours after militants entered the school compound, the military declared the operation to flush them out over, and said that all

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and operation. Sharif reiterated that military operation 'Zarb-e-azab' to flush out terrorists from the country's tribal belt will continue. “It's a sheer act of cowardice...the country should unite to combat terrorism," he added.

Army Chief General Raheel Sharif also reached Peshawar to monitor the situation. In one of the most gruesome attacks in recent years against children anywhere in the world, the militants went from classroom-to-classroom shooting indiscriminately at the shocked students, eyewitnesses said.

One rescued student

Continued on page 26

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Sophia Cannon, Social Justice Speaker, Political Commentator, Barrister

Sophia is an English barrister of Caribbean parentage, a single mother to mixed race, mixed sex twins, specialising in family law dedicated to child protection, having gone through the care system herself. She has appeared as a Family Law expert on programmes such as ITV’s This Morning, Alan Titchmarsh & Daybreak as well as on the BBC News Channel, Sky News and ‘This Day Live’ for Arise TV. In the High Court she dealt with subjects such as mothers, fathers, contact (access), residence (custody), child abduction abroad, fertility, child support agency issues, divorce, maintenance, childhood disability, postnatal depression, domestic violence, education appeals, grandparents and many other issues over a 10 year period. Sophia was educated at Queen Mary College, University of London, gaining a LLB Law degree with Honours followed by Brunel University where she obtained a LLM Masters in Child Law and Policy and ICSL (Inns of Court Law School) at The Temple. She was called to Middle Temple in 2001 and practised as a Barrister at Law in Tooks Court Chambers.

1) What is your current position?

I'm a broadcaster but a barrister by training. Due to the changes in legal aid, my old chambers went under four years ago, however, I had already established my portfolio career as broadcaster and was working with the BBC Academy. I could combine this whilst being a single mother of twins on maternity leave- working evenings and weekends.

I'm on currently on BBC training schemes for both radio and television.

I have approached to appear on BBC

Question Time next year having been established by monthly appearing on either BBC Papers or BBC Radio London.

I'm currently writing the eponymous UnderCoverMutha, Wifey and Skirt - social justice commentaries on mothers, marriage and women in work.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

Three law degrees, twin children, single mother.

3) What inspires you?

My careers advisor, laughed in my face when I said I want to

Poverty. Poverty of opportunity, expectations and resources countered by my circ u m s t a n c e s .

Thankfully, I have a wealthy of ambition, aspiration and achievement.

be a barrister. He didn't say you're black, you're poor and you're a woman but I knew what he meant. Just for that, I took two extra GSCE's to spite him, came top of the year and got a scholarship out.

He actually said, "Look at you! You're tall, you're slim, you speak French, you could be an air hostess! You could be a maid in the sky!" I have it written on the back on my three law degrees - Maid in the sky.

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

Father pays tribute to son killed of football injury A father has paid tribute to his 'amazing' son after he died from a football injury.Sugenth Jeyakumar, 14, pictured, was hit by a football in the stomach by a goal keeper during a PE lesson at his North London school. He was

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admitted to hospital and died in front of his laser specialist dad Arumugam a day later.

The teenager received the blow during a game at Whitmore school in Harrow last Tuesday and complained of feeling pain after having played on for a few minutes.

He was taken to nearby Northwick Park hospital but after a scan was transferred to the intensive care unit at St Mary's in Paddington on Tuesday evening, he died unexpectedly the following day. Mr Jeyakumar, 52, said: "He was the most amazing son, so kind and caring. He loved football and was a good player he was very strong in every way. I could tell when he was injured he was trying not to worry me."

He also said his son was a big Liverpool fan and wanted to be a professional but if he did not make it was thinking of being an engineer. He had also just won a place as a Barclays intern of which the family were immensely proud.

The family, originally from Sri Lanka had moved from France seven years ago for better educational opportunities for his children offered in Britain.

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

Helena Kennedy was as a child. I wrote to her asked her to come to my school. She did.

Doreen Lawrence.

Stephen Lawrence and I are the same age - his death during my A Alevels made me get up and get on with it.

All my female ancestors. I'm the first in six generations not to be a cleaner, housekeeper maid or a slave.

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

As a social justice and political commentator, I attend all the party conferences and digest the newspapers. I have made firm friends from the right and the left realising we are all passionate about this country but in different ways.

7) And the worst?

Notwithstanding the political and social commentary I provide, as a woman, you have to be good, sound good and look good - according to which publication or medium your political views appear in or on, the order changes.

8) What are your long term goals?

I'm looking for a career in politics or policy whilst studying for a doctorate in law or politics.

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

I would repeal the Fixed Term Parliaments Acts 2011. The Act has skewed the primacy of the first past the post system that makes our Parliament withstand extremism and nationalism and leads to 10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?

May I cheat? I would have the two masters of non-violent protest Martin Luther King and Gandhi with whom I would happily act as a maid and serve the tea listening to political discourse.

Hinduja brothers acquire Churchill's old war office in Central London

UK's richest and multi-billionaire Hinduja brothers have recently acquired Winston Churchill's Old War office in Central London, one of the capital’s most iconic properties. The building which has more than 1,000 rooms and two-and-a-half miles of corridors, had escaped largely unscathed even after being bombed eight times during World War II has been bought off by the Hinduja Group.

The site, situated on London’s Whitehall, was the scene where Winston Churchill coordinated Britain’s war effort against Nazi Germany.

The Hinduja Group in partnership with the Spanish investment firm Obrascon Huarte Lain Desarrollos, acquired this 580,000 square-feet British landmark on a 250-year lease arrangement for an undisclosed sum following a competitive marketing process.

Previously inaccessible to the public, the building at

Gopichand P Hinduja

57 Whitehall in central London will now be restored and redeveloped into a five-star hotel and residential apartments with a spa and fitness facility.

Srichand P Hinduja and Gopichand P Hinduja, on behalf of the company, reportedly said, "We will make every efforts to honour the heritage and restoration of this national monument, elevate its status and reconnect it with the public."

"We will forge a new

Srichand P Hinduja

future for the site, creating a vibrant and sustainable destination that retains and enhances the historical importance of the building. We are proud to be playing such a crucial role in this new chapter for the Old War Office.

This Grade II-listed building was built in 1906 at a cost of ÂŁ1.2 million. It was sold as part of the cost-cutting programme by the Ministry of Defence and once the redevelopment is complete is expected to be valued at more than ÂŁ1 billion.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

COMMENT

Putin visit a notable success

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India was a notable success on every count. The IndoRussian relationship has acquired the desired traction, hence is set to reach new heights of common endeavour. Prime Minister Modi (who spoke throughout in English) described his guest as a “leader of a great nation with which we have a friendship, based on mutual confidence, trust and goodwill. We have a strategic partnership that is unmatched in its content. The steadfast support of the people of Russia for India has been there even at difficult moments in our history. It has been a pillar of strength for India’s development, security and international relations…. Our partnership and the strong sensitivity that we have always had for each other’s interests will be a source of strength for both countries.” Despite the changing face of international politics, “the importance of this relationship and its unique place in Indian foreign policy will not change,” said Mr Modi. President Putin nodded in appreciation; he welcomed “the friendship, trust and understanding with our Indian partners.” Russia’s Ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, told reporters that President Putin’s talks with Prime Minister Modi were “extremely productive.”

Referring to the diversification of India’s procurement of defence hardware, Mr Modi said: “Even if India’s options have increased, Russia remains our most important defence partner.” He went on: “I am pleased that Russia has offered to fully manufacture in India one of its most advanced helicopters. It includes the possibility of exports from India. It can be used for both military and civilian use.” Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin confirmed that 400 Kamov Ka-222 T twin-engine helicopters would be assembled in India. Also, India’s armed forces would go to Russia for specialist training courses. An extremely significant deal involved nuclear energy cooperation, whereby Russia would construct two further 1,000MW reactors at Kundakulam to the two in operation, and another 12 across the country in the next two decades. ONGC, India’s state-owned oil and gas company will explore the Arctic region with its Russian counterpart for new sources of hydrocarbons. Of the 20 deals struck by India and Russia, 13 were between their private sector companies, including India’s Essar, Tata et al. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the new Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov and Gul Kripalani, Chairman of the Mumbai-based Pijjikay Group, part of the “IndianCrimean Partnership,” which Mr Aksyonov hoped would lead to a profusion of “long-term and mutually profitable cooperation in a broad spectrum of

areas – from machine building, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, tourism, IT, microelectronics and science parks.” In all, these private sector IndoRussian deals are a breakthrough in economic relations; they present a unique window of opportunity for both sides to take their hitherto dormant trade and investment to a higher cycle of development.

This is especially so in the light of the US and EUled sanctions regime against Russia, to which India is opposed. Finally, diamonds are forever, as an old James Bond film has it: Russia, the world’s largest producer of uncut diamonds, will be switching the bulk of its exports from Antwerp and Dubai to Surat in Gujarat, as it eliminates middlemen, hence would reduce the financial burden on Surat’s most vibrant industry. President Putin’s landmark visit to India and its likely impact on the India-Russia ties going forward could turn out to be gamechanger in regional and international politics.

Consider the minatory comment by Peter Eltsov, Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor at the College of International Security Affairs in the Washington-based National Defense University: “Modi is, in fact, the biggest man of mystery on the international stage today…..It’s not at all clear whether he’ll end up being, as advertised, India’s great reformer and America’s best buddy, or whether he will seek to turn the world’s largest democracy into a Hindu nationalist state… .allying with….a decidedly undemocratic leader whom Modi professes to admire: Vladimir Putin.”

America’s longstanding relationships with, say, Islamist autocracies, such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Sheikhdoms, military-ruled and terror-toting Pakistan and oppressive regimes elsewhere, not speak of the dismal record of shooting down African-Americans in cold blood, on the slightest pretext, and the CIA’s torture chambers in Poland, as revealed in the recent US Senate report makes Eltsov’s condescending strictures laughable – an exercise, surely, in low farce. India wasn’t cowed by the abuse and intimidation of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in 1971, by the high-tech sanction regimes imposed on it by Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, nor will it be by the brickbats emanating from others like them. However, this isn’t a Modi issue. President Putin had a friendly conversation with the opposition Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh in which their contribution to the Indo-Russian relationship was warmly acknowledged. Mr Putin invited the Congress leaders to build ties with his United Russia party. Mr Modi’s engagement with Russia is strengthened by a national consensus. Fighting him on the subject of Russia will be fighting India as well.

The smoking gun of popular Pakistani brand food packets, biscuits medicines and Pakistan ID cards, not to speak of assorted weaponry, were found on the bodies of six Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadi terrorists killed in a failed bid to storm an Indian Army base in the Uri district of Kashmir, points once more to Islamabad’s close involvement in such cross-border exercises. Indian intelligence sources said the dead men had infiltrated from Chakoti, having first undergone an intensive three-week training course called Daura-e-Sufa at specially constructed camps near Lahore. Eight Indian soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and three policemen were killed in the encounter. The goal of the jihadis was to disrupt or derail the State elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

The leader of the Kashmiri women’s separatist group, Dukhtaran-e-Millat ( Daughters of the Faith),Asiya Andrabi, hailed the jihadi attack, describing the dead terrorists as “martyrs,” as exemplars for Muslim youth. Despite this, and other jihadi assaults on Mumbai, the first in March 1993, the second in November 2008, and similar

attacks across India in which hundreds of innocent Indians lost their lives, a cabal of self-serving Indian peaceniks keep up a tedious litany on the need to placate Pakistan. Mahatma Gandhi tried to do so with the country’s founding Muslim League and its leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah, without success. He attempted a similar exercise with Adolf Hitler, and failed again. His grandson, Gopal Gandhi, has now taken up the refrain: Prime Minister Modi, he says in a newspaper article, should go to Islamabad for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee did just that in February 1999, when he undertook his famous “peace journey” to Lahore to meet the same Nawaz Sharif. Soon afterwards the Pakistan Army was in stealthy occupation of the Kargil heights in Kashmir; and it took weeks of hard fighting before the Indian Army and Air Force evicted the intruding force. Over 700 Indian soldiers died. For non violence to succeed, the parties to any exercise must have shared scruples and a shared moral sensibility. Period.

The recent mass reconversion of a poor Muslim community in the rural environs of Agra cannot be swept under the carpet after the uproar it caused in Parliament. The exercise was apparently carried out by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal and kindred elements belonging to the extremist fringe of the Sangh Parivar. Pressure to reconvert to the Hindu religion was apparently applied by the Hindu landlord whose tenants these hapless Muslims were.

A complaint has been lodged with the local police; the central government has assured MPs that issue would be thoroughly investigated. The symptoms of such fanaticism, however, are clearly on the rise. A front-pare report in the Times of India (December

12) carries the following headline: “RSS body seeks donations to fund Christian ‘conversions’ in Aligarh.” Where will this end? A BJP MP from Mumbai recently claimed that Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, “was a patriot.” True, he did apologize for his intemperate statement following a fierce against him in Parliament. Prime Minister, who enjoys unique political authority throughout India must step in and take the situation in hand before it gets out of control. National discord based on religious and caste lines is what India needs least today. The Indian Prime Minister must assert his authority over the lunatic fringe of his disparate party. Sooner rather than later.

Smoking gun, Pakistan terrorism

Blot on Indi’s noblest traditions

3 Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.

- Coco Chanel

Baroness Zahida Manzoor CBE of Knightsbridge

Equality in Education The other day I watched as Malala Yousafzai received her Nobel Peace Prize, she was awarded for fighting her corner on a very important issue, equality of education.

The premise that everyone should be given an equal start in life, the same opportunities to get ahead. Malala nearly died to uphold her views. She was shot for attending school, almost paying the ultimate price for a basic human right.

Malala’s story offers an extreme example of what can happen if people are not treated equally in education. It is very clear that parts of the world suffer because they withhold education. Her campaign, calling for all children worldwide be in school, helped lead directly to Pakistan’s Right to Education Bill.

The British Government is supporting her, and girls across the region by teaching local teachers.

In Pakistan we are now training 90,000 teachers a year.

Gender gaps in primary school enrolments have narrowed in many countries over recent years. Nevertheless, vulnerable and poor girls make up the most disadvantaged group in education. Despite the progress that has been made in recent years, poor quality of education, extreme poverty, structural inequality and violence against girls continue to jeopardize our efforts.

Getting this right is vital, not just for equality, but also for our economy and our society as a whole. If we don’t ensure that women and girls can access the same opportunities as boys and men then we are losing 50% of the world’s talent, 50% of people, one of whom might come up with the next great scientific breakthrough, become the next great world leader or produce the next great piece of art.

My Lib Dem colleague, International

Development Minister Baroness Northover, has been campaigning recently to make sure that disadvantaged people around the world have equal access to education.

She recently announced a new focus on tackling discrimination against people with disabilities in developing countries through foreign aid initiatives. This venture will see the UK ensuring that those with disabilities have equal access to schooling and are educated to as high a standard as their peers.

It is not just abroad that inequality disrupts education and this is why, in this government, we have worked towards building a fairer education system. I am proud that the Lib Dems have played a key role in this.

We’ve done an awful lot already, but there is still much more to do.

My Party, the Liberal Democrats, wants to go even further in the next Parliament to help young people attending school and college. One of the biggest problems for young people wanting to continue their education, particularly in specialist subjects, is actually affording to get to the school or college which teaches them. That’s why we have said we want to introduce a Young Person’s Discount Card, so that all young people ages 16 – 21 get an automatic 2/3rds discount of bus travel. If young people are discouraged from following their dreams because of the cost of getting to college then what hope is there of creating the next generation of doctors, engineers, scientists and mathematicians?

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of giving everyone an equal start in life. Whether it is here or abroad we must make sure that no one is left out of education. It is too damaging to us, children and our society as whole.

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4

Leicester MP calls for end to ban on mango imports from India MIDLANDS VOICE

Keith Vaz has said the time has come to end the controversial ban on Indian mangoes.

The Leicester East MP has been campaigning to get the European Union to drop the mango ban since it was put in place in May this year. The ban was introduced after pests including fruit flies were repeatedly found in hundreds of shipments into Europe. UK politicians backed the ban because they were worried the flies could damage this country’s £321 million tomato and cucumber industry. Mr Vaz described the ban as “Euro-nonsense and bureaucracy gone mad”.

Since May, the Indian government has introduced new monitoring systems and in September the EU’s own experts went to inspect the new systems.

The EU is currently discussing whether to lift the ban and a decision is expected in the coming days.

Mr Vaz said: “The investigation by the European Union Food and Veterinary Office has created an important opportunity to end this damaging and unnecessary ban, which I and others have repeatedly campaigned against. Businesses across the United Kingdom and India have been harmed

Keith Vaz

b y the decision to ban imports earlier this year, with costs from lost trade in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

“I am pleased to see recognition of the improvements made by India to guarantee these exports are safe, and strongly urge the European Union to once again allow this delicious fruit to be imported by member states.

Furthermore, I hope the UK government demonstrates their commitment to our relationship with India and

Celebrating 89 years together

A Bradford couple thought to have the longest marriage in the world have notched up yet another milestone.

Karam and Kartari Chand (pictured), of Girlington, have celebrated an incredible 89 years of marriage.

Friends and family gathered to help the pair celebrate only weeks after they held a joint birthday party for Mr Chand, 109, and Mrs Chand, 102. Their son Paul Chand said he was “very emotional”.

Asked whether they

were now looking ahead to a possible 90th anniversary next year, he said every day was a blessing.

He said: “We don’t know what’s going to hap-

pen tomorrow morning, so let’s enjoy what we have got.”

The couple were married in a Sikh ceremony in the Punjab in 1925 during the height of the British Raj. Their family now consists of four generations with a huge family tree stretching down from Mr and Mrs Chand and including some 30 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren.

Motorist found driving whilst banned

A motorist was allowed to drive for six years despite not having taken an extended retest after being banned from getting behind the wheel.

The case of Waseem Javed, of Morris Street, Glodwick, has exposed alarming gaps in ensuring banned drivers carry out the required checks before being allowed back on the road.

In 2003, Mr Javed was given an 18month community order and disqualified from driving for 12 months after being charged with driving without a licence or insurance, failing to stop after an accident and the subsequent failure to report it.

He was driving around Glodwick when he bumped his car against a

kerb and hit a parked car.

The father-of-three was finally able to take his driving test in 2008 and issued with a full driving licence.

All seemed fine and he had no idea he was listed as a disqualified driver

until the police pulled him over in July for a faulty light on his car.

When Mr Javed produced his licence, officers told him he would need to inform the DVLA and they would resolve the issue.

The DVLA said Mr Javed was disqualified from driving and would need to send back his licence so it could be endorsed.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

make representations to the European Union on this matter.”

Mr Vaz’s campaign to lift the ban has included a trip to Brussels to see the relevant EU commissioners. He also tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons, calling on the UK government to support the removal of the import ban, which affected alphonso mangoes, aubergines, taro plants, bitter gourd and snake gourd.

Maynesh Rayarel, director of Laxmi Enterprises GB Ltd, trading as

Fugitive Bradford rapist contests extradition from Italy Fugitive rapist Wakar Akhtar is set to spend Christmas and New Year in an Italian prison after choosing to fight extradition.

Akhtar, pictured, 21, was tracked down to the north of the country after fleeing Bradford halfway through his trial at the city's Crown Court. He was convicted in his absence and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment, along with three co-conspirators Tamseel Virk, 42, Azad Raja, 38, and Najeem Ul-Saeed, 31.

They were involved in a "despicable and inhuman plot" to abduct a vulnerable young school teacher.

She lost consciousness after drinking with friends in Leeds and was driven from Leeds to Bradford in minicab by Virk to be delivered to Raja and his nephew Akhtar who took it in turns to rape her in darkness in Horton Park.

She came round to find one of the men having sex with her on a park bench.

Akhtar drove to Dover,

Cases at Leicester Magistrates' Court Mohammed Shakir Manjra (38) of Thornville Close, Leicester, pleaded guilty to failing to give information relating to the identifica-

ATC Retail, in Melton Road, Belgrave, said he was looking forward to the ban being lifted as soon as possible.

He said: “We are still keeping an eye on the situation as this affects us a lot and we would very much like to see the ban lifted. There are no mangoes like Indian mangoes, so while this ban is in affect we’re not importing any at all. We sell to restaurants but they’re not interested in mangoes from anywhere else.”

tion of a driver alleged to have committed an offence on August 19 2014. He was fined £300 with £85 costs, £30 victim surcharge and

hours after giving evidence in his defence at Bradford Crown Court, and caught a ferry to Calais. He was arrested at a block of flats in the northern Italy town of Brescia after West Yorkshire Police circulated his description across Europe through Interpol.

The senior investigating West Yorkshire Police officer, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Snow, said that Akhtar had appeared before a High Court judge in Brescia for an initial extradition hearing, at which he was asked whether he consented to extradition or proposed to disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for six months.

Nimesh Odedra (33) of Brewer Close, Leicester, was proven guilty in absence of exceeding 30

challenge it.

Det Chief Snow said: "My understanding is he said he did not consent. I am led to believe he will next appear before an extradition court, which may decide he has no grounds to challenge extradition."

He said he had been in contact with prosecutors in Rome and it was hoped the next hearing would be held fairly quickly.

But Det Chief Insp Snow added: "It is highly unlikely he will be back in the UK before Christmas.

I am hoping he will be extradited early in the New Year. I am liaising with the Italian authorities. We have provided the information to demonstrate that there is sufficient evidence to extradite Akhtar."

Det Chief Insp Snow said that once extradition had been granted, West Yorkshire detectives would travel to Rome to execute the bench warrant issued by the trial judge, Jonathan Durham Hall QC. miles per hour on the A563 Colchester Road, Leicester, on March 25 2014. He was fined £200 with £85 costs, £20 victim surcharge and three penalty points were put on his driving licence.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Hindu Forum of Britain gets its first woman President

Rupanjana Dutta

Highways and Transportation and Mrs Trupti Patel has over 34 years becomes the first of experience in Hindu woman in the the field of UK to be appointed Highways, Traffic President of the a n d largest national Hindu Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n . organisation – The She has successHindu Forum of fully managed variBritain (HFB). ous divisions at The appointment Salford City marks the standing C o u n c i l , down of the current Manchester City Mrs Trupti Patel President Shree Council and Three Haribhai Halai who was Rivers District Council and now appointed after the demise of she is managing her own conthe previous President Shree sultancy dealing with projects Arjanbhai Vekaria. Speaking involving sustainable transport, about the new appointment, the environmental improvements, past President Mr Haribhai road safety, climate change commented, “It has given me issues and healthy living. huge pride to be the President Commenting on her of the HFB and to serve our appointment Mrs Patel told the community. I have enjoyed Asian Voice, “ have served on wonderful support of all my the HFB Executive as a regional peers and the community.

Secretary since the day HFB “I take this opportunity to was established all those years congratulate Smt. Truptiben on ago and from 2005 as a Vice her appointment as the President. It is therefore an President. Truptiben has my honour and a privilege to be total support and that of the asked to serve the community whole HFB family. She brings at this level. I shall do my with her a wealth of experience, utmost to ensure that as a combeing with the HFB since its munity Hindus continue to inception, and is highly capable make a proactive contribution of steering our organisation to the life and work of our effectively over the next period. nation. In so doing it is equally “Under her guidance I am important to also ensure that certain that the HFB will make the wonderful Hindu communigood progress in all fields of ty is not only respected, but operation.” that our core values become the Truptiben is a fellow of the guidance for the whole of socieChartered Intuition of ty.”

A

UK

Downsizing of UK Visa and Immigration in Mumbai and Bangladesh

Rt Hon Keith Vaz

Mumbai is one of the largest cities in the world and a place of great importance to India and the British Indian population. Why then, has the staggering decision been made by the government to downsize and downgrade the visa operation there?

The majority of visa applications submitted in Mumbai will now be decided upon in New Delhi, 850 miles away, the same distance as the entire length of the United Kingdom.

The friends and families of British Indians depend on an efficient and quick visa service to visit the United Kingdom. In 2013 alone, there were around 360,000 visa applications submitted in India. Every year, Mumbai receives 70-80,000 applications a year, as many as New Delhi, and is one of the busiest visa centres in the world.

With these changes, people’s documents will be sent to another centre to be processed, without a proper interview and without any interaction.

People are rightly concerned that any problems with their application will take far longer to resolve.

The only people who will not be affected are those who use the ‘priority’ service, which costs an eye-watering £600! So far, 81,755 out of India’s 1 billion have applied for this service.

To make a decision like this, just to ‘cut costs’ is shortsighted and foolish. They are not worth the inconvenience hundreds of thousands of Indians and their British Indian relatives will suffer.

This is at a time when, both in the UK and in India, there are widespread calls for closer relations between our historically connected countries. The British government has declared a closer relationship with India to be one of their top priorities.

This decision will only harm that commitment and it must be revised.

Dhaka This is not the only case where short-sighted decisions are causing distress for South Asian communities.

In Bangladesh, visa-decision making powers have been removed altogether.

Applications made anywhere in Bangladesh will now also be processed in New Delhi.

Dhaka’s High Commission is also being downsized.

For the people in Bangladesh, and the 300,000 people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK, this is being perceived as the British government ‘downsizing’ the importance of our historical relationship.

Moving Forward In the Home Affairs Select

Committee session on the 15th December, I raised these issue with the Home Secretary, Theresa May, and she said the decisions would be looked at.

We need to keep the pressure up. I have tabled Early Day Motion 626 in the House of Commons, expressing my concern with these changes, and calling upon the government to review these decisions.

Please contact your MP and urge them to sign it.

I also fully endorse the campaigns launched by Asian Voice to rectify these changes, and the e-petitions which they have set up.

I have no doubt that the downsizing of the Mumbai visa service will severely inconvenience the tens of thousands of people who apply there every year. For the 1.4 million people of Indian origin in the UK, this is simply unacceptable.

Link to the E-Petition http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/ petitions/73054

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5

UK

Baroness Vadera: Breaking the Banking ceiling

6

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Comments from MPs, Peers & Community Leaders

Sunetra Senior Rupanjana Dutta

Baroness Shriti Vadera, who has served as life Peer and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, was awarded chair position at Santander UK. Making national history, she is the first woman to head a major British bank, reflecting not just a step forward for women but also the whole BritishAsian community.

Baroness Vadera

It is a timely accomplishment with comments being made just last week that females, especially of ethnic minority origin, had yet to break higher barriers. Speaking at the Indian Journalists' Association dinner for women's accomplishments in the workplace, Baroness Manzoor of the Liberal Democrats gave statistics that “only 17% (of women) in the UK can be seen as the equivalent of directors” and that “we can learn from India” who had “the first CEO of a financial institution.”

Vadera will take on a leading business-driven role at a time of both economic and personal hardship but as daughter of the Baroness' late predecessor Lord Burns, Ana Botin, has re-affirmed the Madrid-based international bank is 100% confident that the right decisions have been made: “We’re proud and excited to welcome Shriti Vadera to Santander,” announced Botin. “Her (Vadera's) deep expertise in UK and global economies as well

l Shriti Vadera has been a top person in the word of finale for a long time now. She helped Gordon Brown at a rival period during the finance criss. Her appointment by Santander is a fitting recognition of her abilities.

-Lord Meghnad Desai

Baroness Vadera being interviewed by Bina Mistry from SET Asia at the Asian Achievers Awards 2009

as her banking experience add to her credentials as a strong, independent nonexecutive chairman.”

Shriti has been referred to as 'the Shriek' by former colleagues, but this has been praised by female contemporaries as a necessary and commendable strength: making her a real competitor in a male-dominated industry, it is her sharp standards and no-fluff approach that have carried her to the top. Indeed, in her IJA speech, Baroness Manzoor went on to cite that “at the current rate of progress it would take 70 years to get an equal amount of females as there are males'” in the top position where the number of women who were also of an ethnic minority was “absolutely dire” on directorial boards. Vadera's fiery yet passionate spirit then, should only be encouraged. Her steely work ethic has also been noted by fellow male professionals, with Stephen Alambritis of the Federation of Small Businesses stating: “If the Civil Service is complaining about her, then probably more ministers should be like her; she gets things done.”

The daughter Nilamben and Vinod Vadera, an Indian immigrant family who previously owned a tea plantation in Kenya, but were forced to flee after a change in regime under the Ugandan

government, Shriti's formative years were by no means untouched by struggle. However both parents and daughter were able to overcome misfortune, eventually emigrating to the UK and seeing a young Vadera excel her way into Oxford.

The Baroness studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Somerville College before serving as Minister for Economic Competitiveness & Enterprise and I n t e r n a t i o n a l Development under the Labour Government from 2007 to 2009 and later appointed as the Advisor to the G20 Presidency.

After that she worked with investment bank UBS Warburg where she advised the governments of developing countries.

Already dubbed “Gordon Brown's representative on earth” for her close workmanship with the PM, the future is looking promising for Shriti's new high-power role. She is rumoured to be getting paid £650,000 a year for a contractual three-day week where only three of FTSE 100 firms have women at that level.

In her previous role as the Advisor to the G20 Presidency, she also attended the Asian Achievers Awards, organised by the Asian Voice as the Chief Guest. It was in fact the first Asian event, where Baroness Vadera made a public appearance.

Shrien Dewani: After the storm A stony-faced Dewani made his way back to Britain last Wed 10th, after being held at the Valkenberg psychiatric institute in Cape Town since April of this year.

Controversially cleared of the murder of his then wife Anni Dewani, his verdict has evoked a huge reaction from the public and media with Anni's uncle Ashok Hindocha stating that there are yet “holes to be filled” in the account of Anni's killing. Following news of the collapsed trial, vandals threw white paint all over the British billionaire's driveway at his opulent family home in Bristol, Westbury-on-

from grief since Judge Traverso of the South African High Court's verdict, are now moving to sue Dewani in a civil action suit. Anni's father, Vinod Hindocha, Shrien Dewani leaving Cape Town enquired about whether he could pursue legal Trym. The Hindocha famiaction against Shrien for ly have reportedly thanked the costs of the couple's German gay escort £200,000 wedding and for Leopold Leisser for giving the loss of his daughter on a detailed account on their 2010 honeymoon.

Dewani's bisexual From Dewani's side exploits, enlightening there are reports that he them to his secret doublecould sue for a 'malicious life; Leisser was treated prosecution' in which inti“like a long-lost son” mate details such as which according to his statement pornographic sites and to 'The Daily Mail.' sexual fetishes he preThe Hindocha family, ferred have been released who have been reeling irrevocably to the public.

l Shriti Vadera’s appointment as Chair of Santander is wonderful news, and she should be congratulated. She will be the first woman to chair a major British bank, breaking this glass ceiling at a time when only three of the FTSE 100 firms have women in the chair. This appointment is a step forward for equality and diversity, and the Asian community can also be very proud. Baroness Vadera has a strong track record, including during her time as a minister, and I wish her very well in her new role. I hope she will be the first of many.

- Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP l I am delighted to learn that an Asian woman and a colleague from the House of Lords, Baroness Shriti Vadera, has been selected to head Santander. This is fantastic news and I hope the appointment of an Asian women to such a post will now inspire many other companies to do the same. For far too long, there has been a sad omission of ethnic minority women from our FSTE boards.

Santander have been bold, and they are to be congratulated in breaking down barriers in such a way. I am sure that Baroness Vadera will inspire and enable others to follow in her footsteps and I wish her every success in her new role.

- Baroness Zahida Manzoor CBE l Research clearly indicates that having a diverse workforce, a diverse Board and diverse senior executives enhances the productivity and performance of an organisation. Strides have been made in recent times to ensure the more women than ever before are now sat around the Board Room - though still not enough, and certainly not enough in senior Executive roles - and certainly in respect of Black and Asian communities we have a very long way to travel. Let us hope that Baroness Vedera’s appointment signals a sea change.

- Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel OBE l I congratulate Shriti on breaking another glass ceiling, She is a very able person and will bring to the role a much wider perspective and a great deal of different experiences, given the varying positions she has held. It really is an event for us all to celebrate and for me in particular, it makes all those efforts that I am involved with, to get a much better balanced representation of women and people of minority backgrounds in senior board positions worthwhile. There remains a need to keep emphasising the importance of challenging archaic systems.

- Baroness Sandip Verma

l We should all be proud that Baroness Shriti Vadera has been appointed as Head of the Santander. I remember her career in the Treasury where she was a close Advisor to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. She had built up international contacts and was a driving force in promoting economic reforms in the Brown Government. Gordon Brown regarded her as a close colleague and ensured that she had a part to play in British politics. He appointed her to the Labour front Bench in the House of Lords what was then know as GOATS, Government of all talents. Her career in Parliament was short but she was a formidable speaker and a great credit to the Labour Party. She has advised a number of European Governments on their fiscal policies. It is not surprising that she now heads Santander. Her appointment comes so soon after the IJA Dinner last week, which lauded the progress of women in the British society.

- Lord Navnit Dholakia PC,OBE, DL l I congratulate Baroness Shriti Vadera on her appointment as Chair of Santander UK. This is excellent news – a well deserved appointment and a matter of pride for the Asian community. Shriti will be very well placed to address the challenges of Santander as well as play a significant role in the next stage of reform of UK banks and financial services.

- Seema Malhotra MP l Lohana Community is extremely proud that a fellow Lohana member has attained such a prestigious position in the corporate world. Her hard work and dedication has shown a progressive growth including an advisor to the treasury, Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State in the Department for International Development. Lohana Community is also very proud that she has been awarded a life peerage in 2007 as Baroness Vadera. This can only be an inspiration to all Lohana’s, particularly Young Lohana Members and women at large. On behalf of Lohana Community I want to extend sincere congratulation to the baroness on all her achievements.

- Vinod Thakrar, President, Lohana Community North London-LCNL l The appointment of Baroness Vadera as the new Chair of the fast growing Santander Bank is yet one more example of our community breaking the ceiling in the the British society we now live in. It also acknowledgement by the wider society that our community is recognised as making a notable contribution in UK economy and the society.

It is important that we also appreciate that we belong to the British society that has such values and openness to enable anyone to succeed. I personally wish Baroness Vadera continued success. As a fellow Uganda born and also a Lohana, this is a moment of great joy and pride to me.

- Subhash V Thakrar, V. President and Past Chairman, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

7

UK

Indian Journalists' Association hosts its gala annual dinner

8

The creme de la crème of the Asian community gathered at the Millenium Mayfair Hotel on 10th December to celebrate the Indian Journalists' Association annual dinner with the first woman President and Secretary team in the IJA history of 67 years. The theme of the evening was 'Women at Work: India and UK’.

The event was attended

by MPs, Peers, businessmen, professionals, artists, community leaders, ambassadors from foreign missions and journalists from British, Indian and ethnic media. Britain's richest businessman Gopichand Hinduja, was also present along with hotelier Joginder Sanger.

Business Secretary Mathew Hancock was the Chief Guest, and was accompanied by Lord Dolar Popat, Priti Patel MP and Shailesh Vara MP. Deputy PM Nick Clegg's representative Lord Navnit Dholakia, Leader of the Lib Dem party, House of Lords was also present amongst guests.

The evening started with networking over canapes and champagne, followed by a sit down dinner, catered by Ragasaan.

Aditi Khanna, President of the IJA started off with an introduction to the theme of the evening and main sponsor- Tata Consultancy Services, who were present there with their women team. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), one of the key sponsors, also had their key women leaders-engineers and heads of various

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Shailesh Vara addressing the guests

Keynote speaker Priti Patel speaking about Women at work

Baroness Manzoor speakiing at the event

Chief Guest Mathew Hancock at the IJA dinner

everyone in India exercising their right to democracy. We can learn from India leading the way in the (upcoming) elections...”

Secretary to the Exchequer Priti Patel, MP

August this year, he set out a vision of a peaceful, united, skilled, clean and prosperous country, but importantly a country in which women are safe and well respected. It is not a lot to ask for, it really isn't, but it is a lot to achieve and it can be a c h i e v e d through our united ties.”

S e e m a Malhotra, Shadow minister for preventviolence Yearbook 2014 Editor Parvathi Menon, IJA ing Secretary Rupanjana Dutta and President against women Aditi Khanna spoke on the number of inciwho was the keynote dents of violence reported speaker said, “Politics is against women last year in changing; it is about everyEngland and Wales. day issues and how we can “I believe we have to reflect that. For me it's fight this together across about freedom: the freedom the world. As members of to do a job, about the IJA you have an incredempowerment- so it's ibly important role... good to see JLR here “I was honoured to tonight because I do attend the 10th anniversary interact with you and of the Rugby association I see women where they have partnered excelling at such an with the white ribbon prounprecedented rate. gramme which encourages “I am fed up of men to play a part in tackpeople talking down ling the violence against to us in the profeswomen...” sional world. Women Baroness Zahida are contributing to Manzoor said, “Women the economic recovsuffer more from poverty, ery in science and in mental health problems engineering. These and gender based violence are the sectors that than men. have helped trans“3 million women and girls experience rape, Ash Mukherjee performing at the form our economy in what have been some domestic and other viodinner difficult years... lence. And as you are jourdepartments, present “If we look at Prime nalists, here is another factamongst the guests.

Minister Modi's speech on just 23% of reporters at a Shailesh Vara, Independence Day in national level in the newsParliamentary Under HE Ranjan Mathai speaking at the Secretary of State at the dinner from Indian perspective Ministry of Justice said, “The words that are uttered by industrialists, politicians, the leaders of our countries in whatever field they may be, it is you as journalists who articulate those words for the masses in their millions to read and I applaud the difficulty involved in the modern age of communication.

“It was a joy to see

Seema Malhotra addressing the audience

papers are women. No current editor of a national daily newspaper is a woman...”

The Indian High Commissioner HE Ranjan Mathai said, “The large number of women in IJA itself is a reflection of their huge success in breaking through barriers back home.

“Women voted for change and that is the message that PM Modi is championing. With regard to enforced marriage, FGM India has put in place legislation to empower women and we are talking about grassroots enforcement too. There are women from parts of India who are now participating in international sports events. Mary Kom is a boxer, and anyone thinking about enforced marriage, just try that with her...”

Business Secretary Mathew Hancock said, “I am a self-avowed feminist.

I am a great lover of India and the great relationship, past and future, between Britain and India and I love tolerance. The UK and India made women our Prime Ministers but really my love of India is more than economics and business, it is also about being part of the future of humanity, and I am proud of the diaspora. For centuries we have been a nation that combines identities- Scottish and British, English and British etc and I finish by saying this: there is a challenge to this view that we are greater together, but it is not patriotic to say that there should be no immigration to Britain and to say anything other than immigration has brought huge benefits to this country…"

This was followed by an exclusive interview of actor Meera Syal and director Gurinder Chadha, who came together after 25 years since Bhaji on the

As I See It

Indian Journalists' Association- Revamped IJA was the important Indian organisation along with the Indian League up and till the mid 1980s. With the advent of independence in 1947 those few far-sighted Indian Journalists based in London formed the IJA. Amongst the founding fathers were Dr. Tarapada Basu, Dr. Shevenkar, Iqbal Singh and others, who were outstanding correspondents from prominent newspapers based in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi.

Press Trust of India (PTI) and other newspaper agencies were able to provide yeomen services. The Indian High Commission under the guidance of Krishna Menon and then followed by Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit provided useful assistance.

The New Year Gala Dinner Reception of IJA then was the most important date for the Indian community and main political parties.

The Labour, Conservative and the Liberals were virtually vying with each other to sit on the top table of the IJA (Europe).

At that time the Indian Media, with limited resources was not represented in the mainland Europe.

In the mid eighties the Indian Community Organisations evolved and began arranging important events especially for British politicians, budding Indian entrepreneurs, professionals as well as increasing number of British Indian Community.

IJA events were ideal networking opportunities for the above mentioned groups. The British politicians were aware of the power of the pen especially those Indian correspondents whose reports formed the most important source for the opinion makers in India.

I recollect that at all IJA events till 1984, the Chief Guest and other VIP dignitaries would attend well on time, mingle with the audience, properly use the networking scope, capitalise on it and especially attend the events till formal part is over at about 10.30 pm when the Vote of Thanks used to be conveyed.

Recently I have noticed that the Chief Guest would come for an hour or so, deliver his speech and off he or she goes. Why? Who are they obliging by their sermons from the pulpit? Similar situations are also observed at the other events organised by some organisations. Such lacklustre participation from the so called VVIPs does not augur well for anyone.

IJA is reborn with the first time women on the top.

Both the President and Secretary are very capable women and in the committee are also very talented individuals.

For achieving the main aim of such a celebration and also for self esteem, the leadership of IJA must demand certainly minimum reciprocity from the invited guests.

In the olden days the message from the spokesman of IJA was to highlight the need or demands for better understanding of India and it's potential. In a way IJA happened to be the guardian of Indian interest in the most important Capital (from the historical perspective) for India abroad.

In those days the leadership of IJA was able to plan the proceedings and the sitting arrangement on the top tables without undue influence or the interference of outside individuals whosoever that may be.

With the New India rapidly rising to the horizon, the scope for the role and response of IJA has increased enormously. Members of Indian media representative can and should serve the justifiable interest of both India and British Indians without fear or a favour. The rebirth of IJA gives ample scope with hope and confidence.

- CB Beach, by Times reporter and author Sathnam Sanghera.

The vote of thanks was given by the IJA Secretary Rupanjana Dutta, followed by a brilliant dance performance by Ash Mukherjee. Ash interpreted Ravel's famous score of Bolero and Michael Jackson's iconic song, Man In The Mirror through Indian Classical Temple Dance.

Born in Kolkata, Ash trained in Bharatanatyam in the Tanjore vaani from Guru Smt Thankamani Kutti, and in Classical Ballet from Lady Londonderry Ms Doreen Wells. Ash was handpicked to represent India and dance a duet with Michael Jackson for This Is It! Ash then went on to work

closely with Jackson's producer Alif Sankey and choreographer LaVelle Smith Junior.

Ash's choreography has been featured on BBC1's So You Think You Can Dance, BBC 3's Move Like Michael Jackson, the Royal Festival Hall etc and most recently his ballet 'Salaam India' premiered at the Commonwealth Games Glasgow Festival 2014.

Ash Dance Theatre also works in close conjunction with numerous schools, universities and charities for underprivileged children throughout the UK. Ash is the first Indian National to be nominated for a Critics' Circle National Dance Award UK. photo courtesy: Raj Bakrania, Prmediapix

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

9

10

UK

Christmas Trees, waste of natural resources

Every year, British people spend £1billion buying Christmas Trees (CT) the most popular variety being Nordman Fir (NF) native of Balkans but widely grown in Scotland for British market. Overall Europe buys 100 million trees for festive season.

The average height of NF when harvested is 6 feet. It takes 7 years to reach this height, growing at 6 to 8 inches a year. This variety is popular, as it has attractive dark green, glossy needles which does not drop off readily, does not injure children as needles are soft and rounded off at the edge.

Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband first displayed CT in Windsor Caste in 1841, gift from German Royalty. The tradition became instantly popular with British people. few decades back plastic trees were replacing real trees, under pressure from nature lovers, Green Lobby. ( GL) But like plastic football pitches, the trends soon reversed back to natural home grown trees.

No wonder GL is horrified at the waste of natural resources when the land could be better utilised for agriculture, forestation to help feed the hungry and stabilise climate, as billions of acres worldwide are devoted to growing CT. Although CT gives pleasure to children and illuminates millions of homes, this is one tradition I hope will not be in ascendancy for the good of Mother Earth.

Kumudini Valambia

By Email

Hollow Victory

Indo-Russian relationship President Vladimir Putin of Russia has just completed his sixth visit to India.

Russia has been the most trusted and enduring supporter and friend of India since independence especially when India needed Russian support on Jammu and Kashmir at the UN Security Council. Considering the political pressure and economic sanctions of the West President Putin’s visit to India at this very crucial moment was a morale boosting event for Russia. Fortunately India is now being guided by the most able and foresighted political leader, Mr Narendra Modi. He fully understands the importance of the occasion and has given Mr Putin the kind of reception and support he needs and indeed deserves.

The recent trade and economic policy of the West with Russia has reduced Russian exports to Europe to a substantial level. This is a great opportunity for India to take its trade and economic cooperation with Russia to a much higher level than before. It will serve interests of both countries. To this end a large number of both short term and long term trade and business agreements have been signed. It will bring about economic investment, industrial development and employment opportunities in both countries. It will also provide hope and satisfaction to the people of Russia.

India and Russia together have a very good cultural relation.

Development and fostering of cultural relation is as important as that of trade and economic cooperation. In this respect India can make a huge contribution to Russian life. I hope Narendrabhai would also take step to further develop this aspect of Indo-Russian relationship.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Urgency of Security at LOC and LAC Borders

Bhagwad Gita and Sushma Swaraj

Recently I have read that China is Training the Pakistani soldiers, supplying Arsenal and Stealth Fighter Planes and also building roads in the North between Pakistan and China.

As per US Intelligence Pakistan is busy amassing lots of modern equips, ammunitions, guns and nuclear arsenal and planes for Intelligence and warfare The Pakistan Government, ISI together with Taliban and other terrorist orgs. have prepared for war, as such resulting in more frequent attacks at LOC border and also openly challenging India by abusive statements through Pak officials and Terrorist organisations! This way it wants to avenge for their defeats in 3 wars. On the other hand China is building new roads near LAC border and has also equipped with modern Planes, Arsenal and Intelligence. It's also wooing Sri Lanka financially by building Port, supplying Arms and Ammunitions, etc.

As India is advancing fast and building good relations with other Asian countries including Japan , China wants to get better of India by War. Instead of spending money on Chandrayan and Mangalyan and wasting time on other things Modi's India must immediately give priority to prepare herself with modern equipments for intelligence and warfare including drone and other fighter Planes. Jai Bharat.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is supporting the demand by some saints and Hindus to declare the Bhagwad Gita as a national (Rashtriya Granth) Book, which is very understandable. India is a Hindu nation in terms of culture and identity and more than 80% of the population are Hindus. Ramayana and Mahabharata represent Hindu cultural identity, and Gita is 5,151 years old and it is the oldest holy book in the world.

Mamta Banerjee and her cronies in her party have shown their ignorance by equating Indian Constitution with the sacred book Bhagwad Gita.

India is a democratic country and recently elected Indian government wants to promote Indian identity.

Secularism does not mean Hindus should not promote Hindu values and culture and they should encourage only minority religious communities. It is left to BJP to carry the mandate and introduce true secularism in India with respect to all cultures. It is daft to introduce German instead of Sanskrit which is a foreign language. Sushma Swaraj is taking the right step to carry out the mandate and she should be congratulated. We should write to the Indian High Commission supporting her suggestion and Sikhs also should have Granth Shaib as the national scripture.

Arun Vaidyanathan Via Email

Food for Thought

South African court dramatically cleared Shrien Dewani of any involvement, playing any part in the brutal murder of his wife Anne Hindocha, while on honeymoon. This is hollow victory, certainly not worth putting on lavish celebrations with their defence team, incidentally on Shrien's father's birthday. It is akin to rubbing salt on Hindocha family wounds.

Shrien was exposed as devious bisexual who visited male prostitutes on regular basis, the fact he hid from Anne who would have never married him if she knew his sexual orientation. Although Shrien's family stood by him for public consumption, he will never regain their trust, respect and love, will remain pariah, outsider for the rest of his life.

The trial raised more questions than answers for Anni's family who were visibly shaken at this unexpected verdict, acquittal. Perhaps South African justice was in the dock for poor preparation with untrustworthy witnesses with criminal records who got light sentences for agreeing to testify against Shrien, a legal bribery who would have been torn apart by the defence legal team on witness stand, the main reason for the judge to dismiss the case. It was a sad day all round.

I was sad to read in the Canadian newspaper about a racist remark made by District judge Peter Hollingworth to Deepa Patel, an Indian-origin woman while hearing her harassment case involving her ex-boy friend.

The judge's remark clearly shows his racist, narrow and prejudice minded attitude. Patels and other Indians who immigrated to different parts of the world, worked hard, well educated and due to their strong work ethics many holding high profile and very responsible jobs in any field – medicine, accounting, pharmacy, teaching, IT, banking, finance, engineering, politics at all levels of government, air lines pilot, sports like cricket/hockey, acting, charitable organization, business and list goes on.

Judge Peter Hollongworth and his like minded people must wake up. You are living in 21st century and not 18th century any more.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is reported as saying that the hunger crisis “stalking large parts of Britain” is more shocking than in Africa. The most Rev Justin Welby said that it is “astonishing” how much food is being wasted and left uneaten despite the number of people desperately resorting to food banks to feed themselves and their families. He is right.The price of our weekly shopping is escalating out of control. Where we used to get away with a trolly full of groceries from the supermarket in return for £50 or £60, we now see hardly any change from hundred pounds worth of notes. There is a huge hike in food prices, and they are rising at their fastest rate for last couple of years. The reasons are given as global demand from emerging markets like India and China. Global food prices have risen 83 per cent over the last few years. On top of the food prices, rises in electricity and gas prices are also creating a hole in the family budget.

So what could be done to meet this rise in demand for food? Perhaps the vast areas of land that are used to graze animals which are being reared for their meat can be put to alternative use for grain and vegetable production. After all, we do not need to eat meat. That must be one of the reasons why the Jain doctrines vehemently oppose the killing of animals for food.

Bhupendra Gandhi

By Email

Suresh and Bhavna Patel Ontario, Canada

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Dr Jatindra Saha

By Email

Senior Judge's racist remark

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Reader Dinesh Sheth of Ilford sounded a timely warning here last week to beware of bogus callers who appear at your front door claiming to represent various utility companies with the aim of entering and raiding the premises, not to mention attacking you in the process. These tricksters are especially active in the days before Christmas but are liable to strike at any time. Moreover how can one be sure that the identity card they produce is genuine and not something they knocked up on a computer? “Trust nobody” is a good motto to remember when a stranger is knocking on your front door.

Rudy Otter

By Email

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

From Court Room to Recording Studio …

Davinder Virdi has achieved great success in twin, seemingly unrelated fields; law and music.

His 10-year varied legal City history includes the Privy Council, MET police defence, parliamentary affairs and human rights work.

Davinder has worked in complex crime and serious fraud for most of his career. He has prepared, and participated, in many high cost cases involving government corruption, financial/banking fraud, missing trader and advance fee fraud, and terrorism. He specialises in contentious fraud and white collar crime involving figures in high authority.

Astoundingly, this sophisticate, now working with Noble Solicitors from their Luton wing, is also a critically acclaimed dance music producer who is known globally under the alias Qumulus. His international club DJ performances include Russia, Germany, Poland and Lithuania.

He has made a diverse range of high profile

Davinder Virdi

London appearances in venues like the Brixton Academy, the London Coronet Theatre, the Clapham Grand and a number of club residencies. Influences include soul, house, hip hop and a lifelong obsession with jazz. Presently, he is predominantly known for his drum and bass releases, with a record collection covering a multitude of genres.

His astute business approach and knowledge has also meant that he has

been called on to advise on the re launch of record labels, distribution deals and help set up club nights.

Davinder entered production several years ago and has released over a dozen 12” singles. He featured on CD compilations with Vibez, Zen and Vampire Recordings.

Broad influences include LTJ Bukem, Tom Middleton, and Robert Glasper.

Davinder is supported nationally by BBC Radio 1 and Radio 1xtra. His music also airs regularly on North and South American, European, Asian and Australian commercial radio. Aside from format releases, he has a rapidly growing digital release portfolio. He is signed to labels in Belgium, Germany, Brazil, USA, Canada and the UK.

Apart from solo projects, he collaborates with other producers. He has worked with artists in the USA, Brazil, Belgium and the UK. A keen remixer, Qumulus has “unofficially” remixed tracks by various stars that have generated critical acclaim.

Constructing questions for a binary success was a challenge.

Focusing on law, The Asian Voice asked Davinder Virdi about the current legal aid cuts.

He commented that they had affected the provision of quality criminal defence services.

“Providers are now forced to adjust their best practices to bring them in line with the cuts whilst also trying to provide a high quality and efficient service.”

Regarding challenges to his areas of expertise and his predictions on them, Davinder reflected that the legal climate is changing quickly and dramatically. With less funding available for expansion, “or investment into new talent, we have much less control over our economic development than we did 10 years ago. I’m confident that we can weather the storm by adaption but we need to stand firm as a profession and The Law Society must remain resolute in its approach to safeguarding the rights of the profes-

sion,” he commented.

Noble Solicitors’ Complex Crime Unit is a well established and respected team so it, and Davinder, often attract publicity. Recently there was a series; 24 Hours in Custody.

“Cases reach the public eye due to their international and politically

“Law gives a sense of satisfaction in that you make a tangible difference to someone’s life.

Making music is impacting someone’s emotions through your creative vision.” sensitive content.

Recently, the 24 hours In Custody programme was an interesting fly-on-thewall documentary giving an insight into what we do. I didn’t consent to being revealed in the footage when I attended as it was to do with a particularly sensitive domestic violence case and people commonly misunderstand our role.”

There are some marked qualities in Davinder, the lawyer. He possesses an intimate grasp of the law and its procedures, derived from working within the complex crime field for over 10 years. He’s self assured

11

and stands firm. This allows him to practice with confidence, gives clients the best possible support, and an understanding of the processes they are involved in. He is also approachable and easy to talk to.

Juggling full time employment and writing music has been an ongoing challenge for the past decade for Davinder. So what are his ambitions in each field, and what does each discipline give him?

He answers frankly; “I am enjoying my career at Noble Solicitors and hope to help our firm to continue to flourish.

Law gives a sense of satisfaction in that you make a real, tangible difference to someone’s life and, to a greater extent, society in general.”

Davinder says he makes music for his own enjoyment. He is not trying to start a sound revolution; he simply enjoys the gift of music.

“Musically, I hope to collaborate with more artists around the world in the New Year on new projects. Making music gives a different sense of gratification in creating something out of nothing and impacting someone’s emotions through your creative vision.”

You can hear Qumulus’s music at www.soundcloud.com/qu mulus

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MEDIA WATCH

The impasse in Parliament over Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti’s anti-Muslim remarks was resolved with Vice President’s Hamid Ansari’s appeal to Rajya Sabha MPs to put aside their differences and permit normal business to proceed. As a former diplomat, he couched his words with dignity, befitting also his calling as Chairman of the House. His emollient words had the desired effect. The errant Minister had issued an unqualified apology for her intemperance; she had been rebuked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That should suffice, said Mr Ansari.

Opposition demands that a resolution be passed condemning the minister should be withdrawn in the larger interest of parliamentary democracy.

Mumbai bomb blasts of March 1993, which claimed 300 innocent lives. Rauf’s network extended to the Pakistan port city of Karachi. Significantly, it was the recent bombings in Burdwan that put the NIA on a trail few suspected, one that straddles India and other countries of the subcontinent, and even regions beyond.(Times of India December 4,9)

Six Indian start-ups to help Intel

Vice President Hamid Ansari

Thankfully, his appeal fell on receptive years, and peace was duly restored and the work of parliament went ahead normally.

However, this should be a lesson for the BJP, remarked the Telegraph newspaper, for during its period in opposition, its MPs repeatedly derailed parliamentary proceedings, making it the least productive parliament in the country’s history. The then raucous scenes disfigured a key national institution and undermined public confidence in the political system. Worse, they set a pattern of behavior unworthy of the elected representatives of the people. MPs are expected to be role models for present and future generations. They are expected to debate issues and fight their corner robustly but fairly. Mr Ansari was an example to all, a role model for the young on how best to conduct oneself in the discharge of public duty (Telegraph, Times of India December 8,9)

‘Greater Islamic Bangladesh’

The arrests of three Bangladeshi Rohingyas, and a Rohingya from India, within the last month have led Indian intelligence agencies to the tip of an ambitious jihadi plan to create a ‘Greater Islamic Bangladesh’ across both halves of Bengal, including the West Bengal districts of Burdwan, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Nadia, Jalpaiguri, also parts of lower Assam. Maps and documents recovered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers from Bangladesh and Hyderabad [India], followed the detention of a Myanmar-based Rohingya named Khalid. (Times of India December 5)

Dawood aide arrested

Meanwhile, Bangladesh police have captured three suspected terrorists in Dhaka including Abdul Rauf Dawood, an aide of the notorious Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind behind the

US tech giant Intel corporation has invited six Indian companies to jointly work on its prestigious computing technologies to be launched next year. Perceptual computing, as this is called, uses gestures and image recognition to control a computer helps devices see, hear and feel the user. Intel is offering its hardware platform to these select Indian companies to develop software on a trial basis. A team from Intel’s Bangalore office is working with partners. “This is a complex form of biometric. It’s three dimensional and takes into account that the user is a living creature,” said Gordon Graylish, Intel Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group and General Manager, Enterprise Solution Sales. (Business Line December 4)

TCS digital solution

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched a digital variant for its ‘BaNCS’ suite of financial offering which allows banks to develop new applications for customers in quick time. “Being digital enabled has become a prerequisite for financial institutions to grow in a fast changing environment. TCS BaNCS Digital is a next generation solution that will help ‘Shift Digital’ and accelerate growth in the digital landscape, “ said N Ganpathy Subramaniam, President, TCS Financial Solutions (Business Line December 4)

Electronics, defence offset policy

The Department of Electronics and Information Technology wants the Defence Ministry to expand the scope of its offset policy for boosting electronics manufacturing in India. For its part, the Department of Electronics plans to set up Rs 10,000 crore to fund various start-ups, which will include electronics and IT companies. The Department will look to pick up stakes in venture capital firms. (Business Week December 5).

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

New satellite takes wing

India to race ahead: Goldman Sachs

India’s communications GSAT16 satellite, which took to the skies aboard Europe’s Arian 5 rocket from French Guiana last week, has 48 transponders, the largest number thus far on a

According to Goldman Sachs, the US investment bank’s chief India economist Tushar Poddar, India is on a new growth cycle, aided by healthier macroeconomics numbers, structural reforms being put in place by the government and higher investments.

This might make India the fastest growing major economy in 2016, overtaking China for the first time.

“We expect potential growth to rise from 6 per cent in 2014 India’s GSAT 16 satellite launch on to 7 per cent by Arianne 5 rocket 2018 due to rising productivity growth, in part due to increases in communications satellite built technology penetration, and by the Indian Space Research acceleration in capital spending,” Organization (ISRO). It will said a recent Goldman Sachs join a constellation of 10 satelreport (Mint December 5). lites that form the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system. Its transponders, operatPanel to decide Air ing in various frequency bands India’s future will provide much needed augmentation of the existing 188 Government is to set up a comtransponders on the INSAT mittee shortly consisting bankers, system that broadcasts televiaviation experts and technocrats sion programmes, provide eduto advise on the future prospects cational and tele-medicine of the loss-making national carriservices, carry telephone coner Air India, which has an accuversations and relay data. mulated losses of $5 billion in (Business Line December 9). addition to a total debt of Rs India’s largest GSLV-III rocket, 40,000 crore. “Air India is bleeddesigned to carry a 4-tonne ing the country,” said two senior satellite, will be launched from officials. The committee is expectthe Indian space station on ed to submit its report in three December 18. months (M Mint December 5)

IIT Madras joins CERN project

The compact Moon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, part of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, which attained fame for its role in the discovery of the Higgs Boson, is expected to start collecting data from March 2015. This time, the venture will include IITMadras, which has been accepted a full member of the collaboration and is looking forward to making the best use of the opportunity. The Institute’s PhD physics students and other members of the computing faculty will gain valuable experience. “Being connected to CERN can give many students a taste of the power of fundamental research,” said Dr Prafulla Kumart Behera of the Physics department (Hindu November 21).

Pinaka test-fired

An advanced version of of India’s Pinaka Mark II short-range battlefield rocket was successfully test-fired from a multi-barrel launcher last week. The tests were conducted from the Proof & Experimental Establishment Centre at the Chandipur firing range in Odisha.(Times of India December 10)

Landmark deal for farmers

West Bengal Chief Minister has been in the line of media fire recently, and rightly so, but it would be churlish to deny the good work that she occasionally does, whatever her default in good manners. She has ensured the passage of a bill allowing private investors to buy farm produce directly from farmers , run markets in blocks and develop them at district level. The West

Narendra Modi with President Putin - See comment page 3

Bengal Agricultural Produce Marketing Bill 2014 overcame its legislative hurdles to become law (Telegraph December 9).

Madan Mitra arrested

Meanwhile, West Bengal Transport Minister, Madan Mitra, has been arrested by the CBI for his involvement in the Saradha ponzi scam following the taped deposition of his conversations

West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra

with Saradha mastermind Sudipto Sen. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went ballistic with charges of a BJP conspiracy at the centre. The law will take its proper course, regardless.

(Telegraph, Television December 13).

Technical textile growth

India’s technical textile sector involving the production of tyre cords, fabrics, airbags, industrial textiles, furniture lining, tents, fire iservices equipment, bullet proof jackets and parachutes is poised to achieve 20 per cent annual growth. According to government estimates, its market share is expected to reach Rs1.50 lakh crore by 2016-17 from the current figure of Rs 1.40 lakh crore. Most of the registered technical textile units are Gujaratbased, with Maharashtra second.

This sector has the highest employment in the country after agriculture (Hindu December 10)

President Mukherjee 79

President Pranab Muherjee’s 79th birthday was celebrated amid a flurry of congratulations, most notably from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who referred to the warmth of their relationship and the counsel he had received from “Pranab-da [elder brother in Bengali] whenever this was sought He spoke also of the President’s unrivalled experience in government over many decades, and of his devotion to his country’s well-being. The Prime Minister hoped to draw on his President’s wisdom in the years to come.

Sonia Gandhi with President Putin See page 3

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Of Pakistan’s Price, the Peace Prize and the Partition of India

As over one hundred children are killed by the Taliban in Pakistan for wanting an education, I write to you having rewatched the movie ‘Gandhi’ on a flight from New York.

Nahari: I'm going to Hell! I killed a child! I smashed his head against a wall.

Gandhi: Why? Nahari: Because they killed my son!

The Muslims killed my son!

Gandhi: I know a way out of Hell.

Find a child, a child whose mother and father have been killed and raise him as your own.

Gandhi: Only be sure that he is a Muslim and that you raise him as one.

And this too is why we are here. To find a way out of hell. Each of us by feed-

ing a life, regardless of religion can find a way out of hell by raising and educating children as our own. After all Gandhi said, “I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you.�

A couple of years ago I visited the kitchens of Akshaya Patra – and Indian charity feeding school children who cannot by other means get the meals they need for a full stomach. Which will otherwise lead them choiceless and probably child labourers. After all, a child that cannot feed itself, has to earn the money for food when poverty is destitution. And that too is violence – the violence of poverty.

I was lucky, God shone his grace

Sardar Patel Nirvana Day marks the legacy of Sardar

upon me and I was born into a family that gave me an education – the best education in the world. But my fellow Indians are not so lucky. So I owe them a debt of honour. This is a debt of conscience. The debt collectors come every night at bedtime.

I will redeem that promise made long long ago to myself aged 12 – that I shall never be less deserving than all those left behind.

Coming top of my class, top (eventually) in every single exam, and winning prizes, was done because of the sacrifices of others. To repay a debt to them. Was done for all those left behind.

Years later as Co-Chair with Lord Bilimoria of Lord Loomba’s Charity, the Loomba Trust to educate the children of widows I’ve been able in small part to continue redeeming that promise.

We the fortunate few – all have a promise to redeem.

If you have a child who does not

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Mitesh Patel, C J Rabheru, Hardyal Luther and members from overseas BJP UK. It started with the lighting of Deepak & garlanding the bust of Sardar with prayers and devotional songs with floral tributes to celebrate the life of Sardar with opening Speech by the Convenor/Vice Chairman of SPMS UK - Mr Mahendrasinh Jadeja.

Chief Guest Shri Parshottam Rupala - Vice President of BJP ruling party was given a standing ovation for his tribute to Late Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel fondly

known as 'Sardar Patel" Sardar was one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India and played a leading role in the struggle for independence and guided its integration into a united independent nation.

Other speakers included Mr P G Patel, CB Patel and Jay Patel with lovely entertainment by Amit Kansara and his group.

SPMS UK observes' Rashtriya Ekta Diwas' the Birth Anniversary of Sardar on 31St October every year. "Run for Unity" has been pledged to mark India's first Home Minister - Sardar Patel.

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64th Nirvana Day of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was organised by Sardar Patel Memorial Society (SPMS) UK at Kadawa Patidar Centre, Harrow on Sunday 14th December 2014 to pay tribute and celebrate the legacy of the Iron Man of India.

The event was well supported by well wishers and sponsors of SPMS UK and attended from representatives of the community & dignitaries including Lord Loomba, Virendra Sharma MP, Onkar Sahota AM, Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Ajay Maru, Mayor of Brent, Cllr Kana, CB Patel,

study, does not appreciate all they have.

Bring them here. Show them this, this Christmas time.

Margaret Bourke-White: There's a sadness about him.

Mirabehn: He thinks he's failed.

Margaret Bourke-White: Why? If anything's proven him right, it's these last months.

Mirabehn: I may be blinded by my love for him. But I believe, when we most needed it, he offered the world a way out of madness. But he doesn't see it. Neither does the world.

I think of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to a Pakistani and an Indian last week; the Indian for educating school children, the Pakistani for campaigning against the violence against those wanting an education.

We realize as each day go by the price Pakistan pays for the Partition of India.

She will never know peace within her borders despite being a country of one faith.

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14

2014 IN A NUTSHELL INDIA January

• Common man Arvind Kejriwal becomes Delhi Chief Minister • Riots case verdict: A shot in arm for Narendra Modi • Chidambaram wants Congress to name its PM candidate • Sikh farmer on hunger strike for prisoners' release • Manmohan to step down, backs Rahul as successor • Narendra Modi promises to reform taxation system • Parsis take stock, exchange notes on World Zoroastrian Congress • India breaks into elite space club with GSLV-D5 launch • Pravasi Bhartiya Devas: Vara gets top award from Indian govt • Rahul ready for PM role • Modi, Salman celebrate Uttrarayan, Eid together • Pravasi Bhartiya Divas: Narendra Modi steals the show • Mysterious death for Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda • R-Day commemorates India's constitution • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be chief guest • Jains in India get minority status • Sydena, spiritual head of Dawoodi Bohras, dies at 102

February

• Expats, PIOs eligible for cooking gas connections • FIR filed against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal • 7 Gujaratis in Padma awardees list • India shows military might at R-Day parade • Hyderabad-born Nadella named Microsoft CEO • Chennai boy develops mobile app for women's safety • Sachin, CNR Rao conferred Bharat Ratna • Kejriwal up-in-arm against Ambani, Moily and Deora over gas prices • US envoy hails Modi's 'development model' • Lok Sabha passes Telangana bill • 'Lotus' to flurish in 16th Lok Sabha elections: poll survey • Sheila will not contest elections • Punjab CM calls SGPC chief a 'liar' • Direct taxes remain unchanged in India's interim budget • Modi's campaign over tea gets resounding response in 300 cities

on Indian workers' death • Skeletal remains of Indian Mutiny victims found in Punjab • Sahara chief Subrata Roy sent to Tihar jail • President signs Telangana bill • Author, journalist Kushwant Singh passes away to 99

April

• Congress manifesto promises six more rights • 3 projects by Bangalore students win Nasa prize • Bhullar escapes death sentence • Polls begin on high note in India • Modi will become PM: Advani • AAP manifesto bats for healthy market economy • Sonia files nomination from Rae Bareli • BJP promises to improve economy, end policy paralysis • UK honorary doctorate for 9-year-old Tamil Nadu girl • Gandhi v/s Gandhi: Priyanka slams Varun • Controversy erupts over Narendra Modi's marital status • BJP PM candidate files nomination from Vadodara • Poll panel chides Karnataka CM • Police colluded with govt during Delhi riots • No vengeful action against Vadra: Modi • Narendra Modi promises houses, power for all by 2022

May

• Two FIRs filed against Narendra Modi • Rahul told to stop using Bapu's name in electioneering • Punjab minister found guilty of religious misconduct • Vododara recorded highest jump in voting • Modi magic through hologram • Empty chairs greet Sonia in Guntur • 34 killed in Assam sectarian attack • Modi, Modi, all the way • The strategists behind Narendra Modi's poll campaign • World rejoices Modi's victory • Indians rejoice Modi at the helm • Icebreaking meet of Indo-Pak PMs • From chai wallah to Rockstar • Narendra Modi has made history with huge victory

March

• Madhusudan Mistry to contest against Modi • BJP drops Harin Pathak, gives ticket to Paresh Rawal • Karunanidhi expels Alagiri from DMK • BJP announces six-party alliance in TN • Times Now felicitates Indians across in world with NRI awards • Top India Mujahideen operative Tehsin Akhtar arrested • Modi to contest from Varanasi • Dead Indian guru in freezer for 'deep meditation' • Delhi High Court upholds death penalty to convicts in Nirbhaya case • Modi's tea party campaign 'chai pe charcha' becomes global • Vijayakanth to lead BJP campaign in TN • BJP gaining in UP, concedes Akhilesh • Jaya locks horns with Centre over release of Rajiv killers • Anna announces support to 'Didi' • Congress stood for ABCD of corruption: Narendra Modi • Paswan's LJP to join hands with BJP • Amnesty International demands details

• Karnataka HC rejects Jaya's plea • Anandiben takes oath as the first woman CM of Gujarat • • • • • • • • •

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014 • Jaya, Karunanidhi oppose Modi govt's 'use Hindi' directive • 3 Gujaratis travel from London to Ahmedabad for charity • Gujarat to host Pravasi Bharatiya Divas next year

July

• 29 killed in Chennai building collapse • Gurgaon students win gold medal at Olympad • India can be satellite launch service provider: NaMo • Modi asks BJP MPs to use social media • 46 nurses return to India from Iraq

• TDP sweeps civic bodies in AP, TRS in Telangana • Modi govt's first budget woos foreign investors • Dhoti issue rocks Tamil Nadu Assembly • Modi govt asks UN mission to vacate rent-free office in Delhi • Chinese President invites Modi for APEC summit • Narendra Modi to visit US in September • TN govt to enact law against dhoti • Haryana HSGPC: Badal asks Centre to intervene • BJP leadership now wants polls in Delhi • Euthanasia: SC seeks response from states • Morari Bapu starts his historic Ram Katha in Rome August

• Sania named Telangana's ambassador • 14 school children killed as train rams school bus • Now seedless Indian mangoes • Modi launches unique web platform to get citizens' ideas • India summons Lankan envoy over article on Jaya • My govt's first responsibility is towards poorest, Modi tells Kerry • Modi slams Pakistan for proxy war against India • Imam held for supporting ISIS jihadists • Clean chit to Narendra Modi in poll code violation case • India, US agree on arms deal, but technology transfer remains key • Family don't want Bharat Ratna for Netaji • Come, make in India, Modi tells investors

June

PM Modi begins with a bang Chinese PM congratulates Modi Telangana becomes 29th state of India Union minister Munde dies in road accident Naidu sworn in Andhra CM Vishwa Gujarti Samaj demands more international flights from Gujarat Modi magic charms Bhutan UK delegation holds talks with Haryana govt Modi effect, Gujarat gets clearance to raise Narmada dam's height

• India calls off talks with Pakistan over its envoy meeting J&K separatist • PM greeets Indians in 18 languages • Intolerance, violence a betrayer of democracy: President Mukherjee • Survey brings life to a standstill in Telangana • Delhi boy wins gold at Informatics Olympiad • Asian Voice revives campaign for London-Ahmedabad direct flights • B K S Iyengar who took yoga to world is no more

September

• Modi's Japan visit a grand success • Agreement signed to develop Varanasi

into smart city • PM offers prayers at ancient Buddhist temples in Kyoto • Japan to invest over $ 33.58 bn in India; ready to support Bullet trains • UK delegation meets Andhra CM to discuss investment • My full support for re-starting direct Ahmedabad-London flight: Anar Patel

• Parties close ranks to slam Musharraf's Modi remark • India on alert after al-Qaeda announces local wing • Over 200 killed in J&K floods; PM Modi offers Rs 10 bn relief • Modi, Sharif reach out over flood relie • Andhra capital to be around Vijayawada • All-party committee for direct flight formed under BJP whip Manshukhbhai • India, Australia seal nuclear deal • Time for India-China bonhomie • Ethnic tough to Xi's dinner meet with Modi • 15 Hyderabad youths who wanted to join ISIS apprehended • India firmly behind Modi's reforms, finds study • BJP suffers shock defeat in by-elections • Modi's historic US visit begins on Sept 26 • Border row spoils Modi-Xi rapport • PM to charm America's corporate elite • US senate designates Sept 30 as 'USIndia partnership day' • Tickets to Madison Square reception sold out • 3 MoUs signed between Gujarat and China • First Lady springs Awara surprise • Xi pays tribute to Gandhi

October

• Amma jailed for 4 years • India, US to 'Chalein Saath Saath' • India's Mars orbiter enters red planet's orbit • Panneerselvam takes oath as TN CM • Keeping a tradition alive, Xi meets family of Dr Kotnis • Modi invited to visit UK on January 30 • 9 civilians killed in Pak firing • Karnataka HC denies bail to Jaya • Modi attacks Hooda over Vadra-DLF deal • Modi wields broom to launch 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' • 25 killed in Andhra cyclone • Nobel peace prize for Malala, Satyarthi • Vince Cable seeks to boost business ties with India • Pakistan again asks UN to intervene in J&K • Modi launches 'Gram Yojana,' asks MPs to adopt a village • India set to enter global nuclear club

November

• Fadnavis to be sworn as BJP's first CM of Maharashta • Jaya returns home after 3 weeks in jail • Khattar sworn in as Haryana CM • Sardar Patel's birth anniversary to be celebrated as National Integration Day • India, Vietnam sign deals on strategic, defence partnership • Sikh diaspora urged to boycott Punjab CM • Modi hails Sardar Patel as Indira Gandhi fades away • 50 nations back Modi's call for international Yoga Day • Modi inducts 21 new faces in ministry expansion • Lankan Tamil CM hits out at Rajapaksa

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December2014 govt • Jaya disqualified for 10 years from contesting elections • WTO impasse broken as India, US reach food security deal • Medical Council of India probing graft charges against 300 doctors • Baroness Sandip Verma leads a business delegation to India • Obama to be chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations • Professionals join Modi ministry

• Afghan Taliban threaten to attack presidential poll • No problem with gay marriage, says Dalai Lama • China hikes military spending, Japan expresses disquiet • More bodies discovered from mass graves in Sri Lanka • Michelle Obama felicitates Indian acid attack victim Laxmi

December

• Changing face of India • Modi announces special package for Northeast • Moists kill 14 CRPF men in Chhattisgarh • Tight security for Obama, Modi on India's R-Day

• Mosi, Sharif break ice with handshake in Nepal • Shiv Sena to join BJP govt in Maharashtra • Modi's estranged wife seeks withdrawal of security guards

INTERNATIONAL January

• US to proceed with Khobragade's prosecution • Musharraf seeks forgiveness as treason trial looms in • Gay men, women face harassment in Uganda • Indian Mujahideen more lethal: US report • US company refuses to supply guns to Pak • Innocent Hindus attacked in Bangladesh • 7 Indians among 30 most admired people in the world • Sheikh Hasina sworn in Bangladesh PM • Dawood Ibrahim not in the country: Pakistan • Indian's device takes on US TV giants • Indian donates $ 1mn to University of Michigan • SA Hindus outraged by 'provocative' pictures

• More compensation to Rana Plaza victims • No motive found to explain disappearance of Malaysian jet • Famine stalks Sindh area in Pak, 160 dead • Sri lanka 'complicit' in torture to Tamils: Report • Lankan politician to be tried for killing Briton

April

• UN initiates probe into Lanka war crimes • Musharraf indicted for treason, faces death • Hindu temple set on fire in Pakistan • Pervez Musharraf survives assassination attempt • Indian-origin professor among top thinkers • UN asks Lanka to cooperate with UNHRC probe • Pulitzer prize for Bangalore-born Vijay Seshadri • Pakistan hid Osama Bin Laden from the US • Indian named US presidential envoy for global entrepreneurship • Abdullah leads Ghani in first partial results of Afghan vote • Nepal in talks to avert Sherpa strike • Hotelier Chatwal pleads guilty to US campaign contribution scheme

May

• Mark Shand, a friend of Asian elephants, passes away

February

• Obama's India-born critic indicted • Musharraf wants overseas treatment • US military eases rules on religious beards, tattoos • Rakesh Khurana named dean of Harvard College • India-born scientist wins technology 'Nobel' • Pak court issues arrest warrant against Musharraf in treason trial • Defence spending by Russia, China rising • Koirala sworn in Nepal PM • Unsafe Bangla factories still selling clothes to western giants

March

• 10 Indian-Americans in race for 2014 elections in US • Ukranian President voted out • US court permits Sikh group to summon Manmohan Singh • Corruption widespread in India: US report • Malaysian jet missing, 5 Indians among 230 on board

• Bhagat Singh's name not mentioned in FIR: Pak police • Hindu homes, temple attacked in Bangladesh • Boko Haram offers to swap kidnapped Nigerian girls for prisoners • Indian-American named dean of top US law school • Sikh protesters forcibly enter Pak parliament premises • Gunmen attack Indian consulate in Afghanistan

June

• 4 arrested for killing pregnant Pak woman • US Sikhs hire strategist • 34 killed as terrorists attack Karachi airport • Pakistan's Geo News TV's license suspended • In primaries, 2 PIOs score modest victories in California • Taliban kill 50 Afghan voters, cut off

2014 IN A NUTSHELL

fingers of 11 • Deadly riots flare up in Sri Lanka resort • Bangladesh court delays verdict on war crimes • Hindu spiritual leader takes his message of peace to Rome • 34 Indians evacuated in Iraq • Sikh group challenges immunity to Manmohan

July

• Pal army pounds main Taliban town • Delhi opens up to reach out to Dhaka • Pak family slits throats of young couple over love marriage • Australian govt gives temporary relief to Lanka asylum seekers • Ghani wins fraud-hit Afghan election: preliminary results • Pak parliament passes tough anti-terror law • Afghan presidential rivals reach deal to recount all votes • Pakistan army seizes most of key city from Taliban • Buddhist monk accused of promoting Lanka riots • Simple apology can smelt heart of victims • Bodies of Malaysian plane crash victims handed over • Lankan politician jailed for killing Briton

15

October

• Modi woos diaspora at giant New York rally • At UN, PM asks world leaders to work for genuine peace • Lifetime Indian visa for PIO cardholders • Hong Kong protesters vow to renew democracy call • Ashraf Ghani takes oath as new Afghan president • Lanka resumes train services to warbattered Jaffna • Gujarat-born Nadir Patel is Canada's new envoy to India

November

• 'Modi Express' to take PM's fans from Melbourne to Sydney • Musharraf rules out conflict with India • Hong Kong police clear protesters, barricades at key sites • Indian in US sentenced to death for killing baby, her grandmother • Pakistan using militants as proxies to counter Indian Army • Suicide bomber kills 62 on Pak side of Wagah border

August

• Kerry's India visit aims at building bridge with Modi govt • Former Pak CJ slaps libel suit on Imran Khan • Lankan asylum seekers detained in Australia • Indian family abducted in Libya • Modi wins hearts in Nepal

• Nawaz Sharif regrets Pakistan's troubled ties with India • Pak seeks tarrif protection to break MFN deadlock • India invited to join Lanka probe panel • Sikh man, his mother attacked in NY • BAPS opens stone temple in Robbinsville • Sharif's followers tried to kill me: Imran Khan • Nawaz Sharif rakes up Kashmir issue in I-Day address • Indian origin professor wins 'Nobel prize of mathematics' • Anti-govt protests continue amid deadlock over talks in Pakistan • Lanka bars entry of UN war crimes team

September

• Pak mulls selective use of force against protesters • Modi invited to address meeting at House of Commons • US mobilizes allies to widen assault on ISIS • Lottery to decide who will attend Modi's public reception in US • ISIS trying to expand in Pakistan • Paksitan protest groups upbeat on talks • India talks tough on One-China policy, says reaffirm one-India policy first • Pak HC orders release of protesters; Imran, Qadri mount pressure on Sharif • Taliban group in Pakistan gives up armed struggle • Aga Khan's museum of Islamic art opened in Toronto • Murder case registered against Sharif • Afghanistan claimants agree on unity govt

• 200 feared dead in Lanka landslide • 5 Indian fishermen sentenced to death

by Lankan court • Bangladesh Islamist leader sentenced to death for war crimes • Gurdwra vandalised in Australia's Perth • Bill Clinton campaigns for Ami Bera in electoral battle • 50 nations back Modi's call for International Yoga Day • 9 Indian-Americans win US election • Pak Taliban threaten to attack India • 44 held for lynching Pak Christian couple • FBI puts 'Lady Ttaliban' diplomat under surveillance • Ties with India top priority, Cameron tells Modi • G20 backs PM Modi's agenda on black money, tax avoidance • Modi pushes for pact to improve free trade agreement with ASEAN • PM Modi charms diaspora in Sydney • Norwegian envoy rejects Rajapaksa's allegation • Mumbai attack vistims seek $ 688 mn from Pak accused • ISIS flags hoisted near Islamabad • Obama's executive action gives succour to many Indians • 450,000 illegal Indian immigrants in US • Sharif seeks Obama's help to settle Kashmir issue • Lanka frees 5 Indian death row fishermen

December

• Sri Lanka candidate vows to scrap presidential system • Anni Dewani's parents plan to sue Shrien for not disclosing his sexuality • Imran Khan threatens to shut down Pakistan • Egypt erupts after Mubarak cleared of murder charges

UK

January

• Asian schoolboy,13, ranked in top 1% of UK's brightest • Hindus and Sikhs launch petition against 'Asian' label in grooming cases • Downing Street threatens 25 hate clerics with 'Asbos' • Ex-mayor Bhupendra Patel told to resign over benefit fraud • Well-worthy Asians top New Year's

16

2014 IN A NUTSHELL

Honours List • 3 Indians named Royal Pharmaceutical Society Fellows • AAA: a reputation of inspiring and excellence...

• Long term immigrants in UK unwelcoming towards the new • Surgeon makes history with operation on unborn baby • Britain prepares for Centenary commemorations of the First World War • Young jobless Asians on the rise • Sikhs demand probe into Thatcher link to Operation Bluestar • Asian men jailed for making £ 1.27m of counterfeit £ 10 notes • Khushwant Singh awarded Fellowship of King's College London • Alok Sharma MP appointed as new Cochairman of the Conservative Friends of India • Indian-origin student challenges UK universities on 'voluntary' gender segregation • Institute of Jainology celebrates 11th Ahimsa Day at House of Commons • NHS forced to recruit new doctors from India • Female foeticide amongst British Asians attracts severe criticism

February

• Birmingham salutes Mother India' • Brit-Indians organise 'Run for Unity' on India's Republic Day • Remembering the 'Mahatma' • Hague confirms Thatcher's involvement in Operation Blue Star • Indian High Commission hosts a gala reception to celebrate India's 65th Republic Day • Punjabi Circle International organises its first gala UK cultural awards in Hounslow • Indian diaspora denounce proposal to scrap OCI and PIO cards • Pakistani doctor successfully removes woman's 2 kg tumour • Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi apologises for comparing Gaza and Holocaust • Modi Tea Club, UK distribute free tea in Hounslow West • Asian Achievers Awards flaunts a new look • Scotland referendum may be a big blow for Cameron • Sikhs warn Conservatives of possible boycott • Britain's future King pledges to destroy ivory in palace • Lord Noon asks prominent invitees to empower UEL students

March

• Cameron to risk Indo-British relation to plug gap in UK budget • BBC gets its first Assistant Editor of Gujarati origin • Teenage victim of grooming gang raped by 30 men in only six hours • Shrien Dewani given more time to fight extradition over wife's murder • British Sikhs express disappointment in Lib Dems over 1984 massacre • Survey shows Britain has 56 sterling billionaires, including 7 of Indian origin • Dewani loses appeal against extradition to South Africa • Leading lights of the British Community Awards a gala ceremony at the House of Commons • UK calls for international probe into Lankan massacre • Report reveals fundamentalists aim to replace teachers with radicals • Indians in London come face to face with NaMo at the famous “Chai Pe Charcha' • Further changes to immigration rules announced • Rare sward of Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh auctioned on 18, March 2014 • Mittal Champions Trust dissolved after receiving complaints

• India's external affairs minister Salman Khurshid visits UK, creates controversy • Asian Voice Editor CB Patel to go behind bars in aid of St Lukes • Date set for Dewani extradition • High Commissioner of India presents his credentials to Queen • Royal Mail releases stamp on Noor Inayat Khan • 20th anniversary of the campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manoor celebrated in the Parliament

April

• Cameron under pressure for Operation Bluestar probe • Manchester Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan hosts Dr Kiran Bedi and Dame Asha Khemka • Osborne announces he will 'fight' for full employment in UK • PM David Cameron presents award at Sewa pioneers event • Asian Voice hosts successful 2-day inspirational youth conference • Cameron under pressure to expel jobless EU migrants • PM Cameron hosts fourth Vaisakhi at No 10 • Bangladeshi visa centre launched in Leicester • Conservatives appoint first Asian male in the cabinet • Life sentence for gay husband who killed wife to hide sexuality • Asians flurishing in all fields in UK • No 10 investigates Council's links to Islamic extremists • Son wins battle to deny his father share of his wealth • Launch of the British Sikh report 2014 • Young girl from Harrow set to be Labour's MP candidate

May

• Mayhem over Mango • Asian community grieves the untimely death of RAF officer • UK-based Indian to raise funds by walking from Kanyakumari to Delhi • London to host Vaisakhi in Trafalgar Square • India becomes polio-free nation • Indian doctors: why so many struck off?

• Asian accountant suffers savage attack outside popular restaurant • The changing face of Britain • Indian High Commissioner takes up student work visa issue • Indian troops played crucial role during Second World War • Jail for British girl who attacked Sikh pensioner • Lord Bilimoria appointed as Chancellor of the University of Birmingham • Amir Khan to build orphanage • Wealthy Asians bedazzle Britain • Prince Harry honours troops killed in Italy battle • Sutton loses his battle with bowel cancer

June

• AMGR reunion at Bedford • Hindu and Muslims could get Eid and Diwali bank holiday • OFBJP organises victory celebration in Harrow • Labour dominates as more Asians elected to Local elections • British Sikhs protest Operation Bluestar

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014 • British official agree to help India over mango ban • Asian community kickstarts summer with fantastic Anand Mela • Goans celebrate World Goa Day in London • Small increase in number of Asians granted titles • 4 Asians make it to Times Top 25 female techpreneurs list • Worrying number of British-born teen jihadists flock to Syria • Asian peers discuss issues raised in Queen's speech • Britain celebrates Noor Inayat Khan's centenary birthday • Priti Patel slams BBC over its dismissive response to Indian election coverage complaint

July

• London to host Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas • Priti Patel MP emphasises strong EssexIndia trade links • Midnight walkers turn Harrow pink for St Luke's • Speaker of the House of Commons hosts reception for the British Punjabis • Britain honours Overseas Heroes from the First World War • Britain one step closer to quitting EU • Gandhi statue to be erected outside Parliament • High Commissioner hosts reception to honour Indian community stalwarts • Anjool Malde Trust announces 2014 award winners • London to launch first legal guide dedicated to Hindus • Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities wait longer for kidney transplants • Exhibition on Sikh, Indian soldiers' role in 11nd World War • Gandhi an asset to the Parliament Square • A new South Asia Institute in London • British Imams condemn ISIS • Human Achievers Foundaton hosts first award ceremony in House of Lords • PM Cameron woos audience at CF India annual lunch • Church of England finally gives goahead to female bishops • History made as PM visits Indian business for the first time • DDO Solicitors host legends for Sir Ian Botham's Charity • Five Asian men who sexually assaulted teenage girl jailed for 23 years • High Commissioner of India hosts a reception for the Indian cricket team

August

• Brimingham welcomes first direct flight from China • Leading economist establishes Mahatma Gandhi Statue Trust • Indian student get £ 3,500 compensation for illegal detainment at Heathrow • Britain's Indian community lose estimated £ 132 m in banking fees every year • Miliband tries to present himself as a man principle • Doctors turning away millions of patients • Baroness Warsi resigns • Asia community left disheartened as Britain marks the Beginning of World War 1 • Labour Pary hosts its major Eid-ul-Fitr celebration • Pakistani Muslim community comes together to encourage peers to save more lives • British Sikhs demand a special monument to remember the fallen • Janmashtami at Bhaktivedanta Manorthe home of Lord Krishna • PM: We have to fight 'monstrous' ISIS jihadis or face mayhem on our streets • Celebration of Indian colour, music, dance and faith comes to Westminister

• Seema makes it to the Shadow Cabinet • Clegg visits India with a 40 strong trade delegation • Independenxce Day celebrated in London • UK's richest man calls for greater trade links with India • Temple raises £30,000 for local Hospice • More than 1,500 UK Muslims fighting for jihad

September

• Law minister Shailesh Vara visits India • British-Indian named as 'most romantic man in London' • Men jailed for 70 years for a horrific kidnap and torture • Sarat Bose remembered in London • Justice Minister Vara interacts with Indian MPs in Gujarat • British Indians split amidst Scottish tug of war • Priti patel explains her non-participation in Kashmir debate • London school makes Sanskrit compulsory • India-born baker named 'flavour queen' • Singer Arijit Singh receives Youth Icon Award from NISU UK • Teenager campaigning to become Nisa's chief executive • Leading French university rewards honorary professorship to Dr Lalvani • Tharoor talks about India's role in strengthening the Scottish union • Asian Achievers awards and the winners are...

October

• Manchester-India strategy commended by the Indian High Commissioner • Petrol station worker jailed for claiming false benefits • Family of dead grandfather demands PM's intervention • Sajid David: the first Asian Prime Minister?

• Britain joins war against jihadists • Shrien saga: the final chapter • Lord Noon amongst Labour Grandees up in arms • London celebrates Gandhiji's 145th birth anniversary • Secretary of State visits India to strengthen cultural ties • Joanna Lumley calls for Nepal to stop mass animal sacrifice • Diwali on the Square • Foreign Office to host major celebration of UK Indian diasppora

November

• PM Cameron assures multicultural Britain for Asian electorate • Swraj wins hearts of British Indian diaspor at the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas • Indian diaspora celebrates the first ever Dadabhai Naoroji awards • Prime Minister hosts reception at 10 Downing Street • Liberal Democrats host Diwali function at Admiralty House • Remembering the fallen heroes • Lord Loomba receives lifetime achievement award • Thousands celebrate Diwali at the Hare Krishna temple • Indian student's untimely death saddens community • Gandhi statue attracts donations from all across the globe • Labour Party to hold a special summit for Britain's self employed • Swaminarayan school judged as excellent in all areas • UK parliament commemorates the Sikh contributions to World War 1

2014 IN A NUTSHELL

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December2014 • World's oldest couple celebrate their joint birthdays • Dewani urged to explain himself on the witness stand • Child sex ring linked to politicians • Expats helping to fight ebola in West Africa

December

• Leicester chef wins second gold at culinary world cup • Six year old sacrifices dream to help Royal British Legion • Research reveals Indian Hindus have second highest salaried job in Britain • CB's 9-hour detention in 1986 at Mumbai airport- a Lurking Question • His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj's 94th birthday celebrated • Student vote could swing 2015 election, suggests study • Modi govt's policies will reduce poverty and caste discrimination in India, Lord Loomba predicts • Indian fighter pilot's statue unveiled in Kent

SPORTS January

• Australia power to 8-wicket victory over England • Cook calls on seniors to avoid Ashes whitewash • SA win by 10 wickets over India, clinch series • A perfect farewell for Jacques Kallis • Schumacher battles for life after ski fall • Another humiliating defeat for England • Kevin Pietersen rules out retirement, wants to win Ashes back • Serenea Willaims wins Brisbane International

• India down Pakistan in U-19 final • Henman to launch 'Road to Wimbledon' in India • Finch ton powers Australia to win 1st ODI • Zol to lead Indian colts in U-19 World Cup • Australia take 3-0 lead in ODI series • India lose first ODI to New Zealand by 24 runs

• BCCI chief Srinivasan to be next ICC boss • Yuvraj makes to India's World T20, Ishant axed • England give chance to Moeen Ali, Steohen Parry in World T20 • NZ score series win over India • India retain second plaace in ICC ratings • Yuvraj, Karthik go for record price at IPL auction • IPL may be shifted to SA due to elections

March

• IPL all set to shift to South Africa • Steyn leads SA to crushing win over Aussies • Murdoch wins Olympics medel in curling • England beat India in U-19 World Cup cricket • Virat Kohli to lead India in Asia Cup • Sehwag to captain MCC in match against Durham • England level ODI series with Windies • Darren Stevens cleared of corruption charges • India knocked out of Asia Cup • ITPL: Mumbai bag Nadal, Sania and Bopanna • Malinga, Therimanne help Lanka clinch Asia Cup • Australia clinch series against South Africa • Ronaldo becomes world's wealthiest footballer • India end Asia Cup campaign with victory over Afghanistan • Gavaskar wants India coach Fletcher sacked • First leg of IPL to be played in UAE • Saina Nehwal drops to world No 8 • Sachin Tendulkar named cricketer of the generation • England end T20 series with thrilling win over West Indies • SC asks BCCI chief Srinivasa to step down • India inch closer to semis in World T20 • IPL set for May 1 return to India • Pietersen named Delhi Daredevils captain

April

• India, Lanka, Proteas & Windies in T20 semis • Anand to challenge Carlsen again

• Manish Pandey guides Kolkata to second IPL victory • Gautam Gambhir returns to Team India for tour to England • Samit Patel knocks on England test door with unbeaten century • Pakistan women judokas to help India • Football fever grips the world • Virat Kohli again tops ICC player rankings for ODI batsmen

• Lanka win one-day series amid controversial run out • India win 1st ODI against Bangladesh • Germany mark World Cup century in style, US upset Ghana • Lanka clinch a draw against England in 1st test • India win ODI series against Bangladesh • India to play tests, ODI series in Australia before World Cup 2015 • 3 convicted for plot to fix English football matches • • • • • • • • •

• • Chennai street kids head to Brazil to play the World Cup • Gavaskar named BCCI chief for IPL • Sri Lanka thrash India to win World T20 title • Women's T320: Australia thrash England • Indian football goes IPL way • Best chance for Panesar to prove his worth • Wisden honours Shikhar Dhawan • IPL: Chennai crush Delhi • Jonathan Trott quits cricket following illness • Srinivasan, 12 cricketers named in match-fixing report

May

• Mumbai Indians qualify for IPL playoffs • ECB plans better engagement with the Asian community • Rajasthan Royals win a thriller • 2 Indian women cricketers in Rest of World team • A tough decision to accept England offer: Paul Farbrace • Victory for Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings

Khan Foundation

September

• India thrash England; take unbeatable lead • India number one in ICC ODI rankings

June

• • •

February

• Australia stun England; win ODI series 4-1 • BCCI decides to revive India-Pakistan cricket ties • Will the world of cricket dare let India walk away?

• Taylor ton delivers series truimph to New Zealand • Indian women coast to 7-wicket win over Lanka • England end OZ tour with another defeat • India fail again against Black Caps • BCCI chief's son-in-law indicted for betting • Cameron takes up Pietersen's case with selectors • Indians spirited show not enough • Sachin, Warne to lead teams in Lord's bicentenary

• Busy time for Leicestershire county cricket club • Amir Khan seeks to fight with Mayweather • Jeetan Patel plays crucial role in Warwickshire's victory • MI beat Sunrisers by 7 wickets • Cricket rocked by new fixing evidence • Punjab stop Delhi, Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals

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July

Saina wins Super Series title India face uphill task at Trent Bridge Srinivasan takes over as ICC chairman England must aware fo India's new stars: Kevin Pietersen England selectors overlook Panesar Golf Society aims to raise money for charities Germany become world cup champions again India, England first test ends in draw Indian cagers win over China in Asia Cup India may accept umpire review system Hystoric win at Lord's Saina Nehwal pulls out of Glasgow CWG Philippines halt India's dream run in Asia Cup Basketball

August

• India on 5th position at Commonwealth games • How India aided South Africa's return to international cricket • BAPS organises sports tournaments • Moeen puts India in a spin as England level series • Amir keen to start boxing academy in Punjab • Anderson, Jadeja not found guilty • Disgraced Indian officials set free for lack of evidence • Humilitating defeat at Manchester • Lanka beat Pak by 7 wickets • Indians win 5 medals at archery world cup • India-Pak test series to resume from Dec 2015 • Mithali leads Indian eves to victory over England • England rout India; win series 3-1 • India beat Pakistan 1-0 in football match • Jayawardene ends test career on a high • BCCI puts Ravi Shastri in charge of ODI series • Turban ban: BFI lodges official complaint with Fiba • Boxer Amir Khan launches The Amir

• Indian pacers to train under McGrath • Sachin's autobiography releasing on Nov 6 • IPL not good for cricket: Iam Botham • England clinch 3-run victory in T20 • Cilic wins US open for 1st Grand Slam title • Serbia beat India 3-2 in Davis Cup World Group play-off • Ravi Shahstri backs Duncan Fletcher • Saqlin to help Ajmal correct illegal action • Asian games: India's medal tally 11 on day 4 • Turban row: Fiba puts the ball in BFI's court • Boxer Manoj Kumar to finally get Arjuna award • Dhoni leads team out of hotel over home-cooked biryani

October

• Sania, Seema clinch gold, India maintain 9th place • Pujara slams maiden hundred in county cricket • Shastri to continue as team director till 2015 WC • Banning doosra a great loss: Moeen Ali • India end Asian Games with reduced medal tally • Mohammed Shami shines in India's 2nd ODI voctory over West Indies

November

• Kohli to lead against Lanka; Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar rested • No cricket with West Indies, says BCCI • Sania Mirza-Cara Black pair wins WTA Finals title • Ishant, openers power India to 169-run win over Lanka • Pak win first test series against Australia in 20 years • BCCI demands $42 mn in damages from WICB • Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan take India to series win • Injured Dhoni to miss Brisbane test, Kohli to captain • Virat, Mithali on ICC awards list • Kohli makes it 5-0 for India against Lanka • Indian shuttlers made history in China • Terry Walsh quits as chief coach of Indian hockey team • Anand's gamble backfires as Carlsen defends crown • Australian cricketer Hughes critical after being hit by ball

• England to take on Sri Lanka in Oneday series

December

• Adelaide to host first India-Australia test • Indian shuttler Sindhu retains Macau Open title • India women beat South Africa by 16 runs in one-off T20 • Indian-origin Israeli cricket umpire dies ofter being hit by ball Compiled by: K.K. Joseph

18

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Dear Financial Voice Reader, I write to you from New York, just as the US loses it’s crown as the world’s largest economy this week.

Over the past 2000 years there have only been four countries which have held the title of ‘world’s largest economy’. The title does not switch often. So this is a rare time in our lifetimes.

Those four countries in chronological order are: India, China, United Kingdom, USA, China (again from 2014).

What does this mean for power and fortune for us?

Well the American’s power was at a peak probably in the 1960s. The United States represented 38.69% of the world's economy in 1960 (highest point), and was at its lowest point at 21.42% in 2011.

The EU is just about the world’s largest economy if it were one country – but it’s economic power is weak as measured by share of world GDP: The European Union represented 34.6% of the world's GDP at 1980 (highest point), and was at its lowest in 1985 at 25.01%.

China’s achievement today as the world’s largest economy is tempered by the fact that it peaked in terms of share of the world GDP in 1820 – at 32.9%. That’s a level it took to reach 1,820 years after India had the same share of world GDP in 1AD. (The World Economy by Angus Maddison) According to Angus Maddison the United Kingdom produced 9.1% of the world's economy in 1870.

The poor Russians, as the Ruble tumbles alongside their pride, the Soviet Union represented 14.31% of the world's economy in 1969 (highest point) and at the year of its dissolution (1991) only produced 3.58% of the world's economy (lowest point).

So how are things forecast for 2015 and how do we make money from all this? Well if we follow growth then investing in the stock market indices of China and India makes sense as they are expected to grow the fastest and that’s a safer bet than trying to pick the right individual company to bet on.

For 2015, China will be number one – about 2.5 times bigger than India. It is 8 UKs. India is 3 UKs. But that quickly tells you when you compare UK and India that what matters in terms of power is the ability and willingness to project power globally and having the resources to do it, and in terms of wealth what matters is how much per person you produce. In that regard UK and US still lead most of the world’s countries.

Apple plans to launch 500 stores in India

Apple, the world's most admired electronics brand that sells devices such as the iPhone, iPad tablet and iPod media player - plans 500 stores in India in its first major push that will include moving into smaller towns and cities.

The company, which recently topped $700 billion in market cap in the US, has been in India since 2011, but not been a mainline brand here like many other overseas markets, including China. This is in contrast to its Korean rival Samsung that dominates the Indian phone market.

"All this will change now. The company is finalizing plans to become a serious player in India, which is being seen as a strategic and one of the most promising markets globally," a top company source said. The company sold around one million phones in India in the year ending September 2014 and expects the volume to treble this year and top 3 million. "And, it will only strengthen from here as the expansion starts and picks

pace," another source added. Apple currently operates in India through two key distributors Redington and Ingram, who in turn supply the products to regional distributors, multi-product trade channels and Apple premium re-seller stores and Apple authorized reseller outlets. Redington is one of the biggest partners for Apple in India and accounts for nearly 70% of its sales. Puneet Narang, who heads Redington's marketing of iComm Strategic Business Unit, however, did not comment on Apple's plans. Sources said the company feels that there is "very high" potential for its products, including in smaller towns and cities. Currently, the company is big in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai. "We are amazed at the purchasing power in smaller towns. The primary objective is to give a better and proper experience with adequate product demonstration," another source added.

India's inflation hits zero, lowest in over 5 years

Wholesale price inflation in India hit a zero level in November, the lowest in about five and half years, on account of decline in prices of food, fuel and manufactured items. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was at 1.77 per cent in October and 7.52 per cent in November 2013.

As per data released by the government on Monday, the food inflation fell to nearly three year low of 0.63 per cent. Food inflation is on decline since May. This is probably the first time when WPI inflation has hit exact zero level. The last time WPI was lower than this was ()0.3 per cent in July 2009.

Onion price contracted 56.28 per cent as compared to a contraction of 59.77 per cent in October.

contracted by 4.91 per cent, as against 0.43 per cent inflation in October.

The sharp drop in WPI inflation, which fell for the sixth month in a row, came at the back of retail inflation declining to a record low of 4.38 per cent in November.

The decline in both retail and WPI inflation for November coupled with contraction of industrial production to 4.2 per cent in October, will put

pressure on RBI to lower interest rates to boost growth.

The Reserve Bank of India has maintained a status quo in interest rate since January. The RBI factors in retail inflation while formulating its monetary policy. Finance minister Arun Jaitley too on several occasions had nudged the RBI to cut rates. The issue also figured during a debate in the Lok Sabha last week.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has emphasised that interest rate cut by itself would not lift the economy. Industry has been demanding easing of interest rates to boost growth, which has slumped to 4.7 per cent in 2013-14. The economy is estimated to grow in the range of 5.4-5.9 per cent this fiscal.

growth in the current fiscal ending March 2015 would be between 5.4 and 5.9 per cent. The growth had slumped to sub-5 per cent in the earlier two consecutive fiscals.

It also projected that corporates would see improved cash flows on account of acceleration in manufacturing activity.

However, Moody's outlook on the banking system remains negative as it expects poor asset quality to require continued provisioning and strengthened capital buffers.

"Our outlook for the Indian banking system remains negative, reflect-

ing high leverage in the corporate sector that will inhibit any meaningful recovery in asset quality, notwithstanding a moderate rebound in economic growth," it added.

India can achieve 89% growth rate: Manmohan Singh Meanwhile, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said India could achieve a growth rate of 89 per cent provided there is a "national consensus" on methods to take advantage of globalised world.

"I think that even though many other emerging economies are not doing too well, India has

an opportunity to move towards a growth rate of 6-7 per cent and thereafter to 8 per cent," Singh said while delivering a lecture at Ficci. He said the country is poised to take advantage of globalization and engage in trade to finance its imports through exports.

"Today we cannot grow in isolation... India is well placed to take advantage of this situation provided we evolve a meaningful national consensus to move ahead," he said.

Except for India, other emerging economies are not doing well, Singh said, adding the country is poised for a 8-9 per cent growth. There are opportunities, there are risks.

India is currently at least poised to create a milieu in which the growth story of India can be another worthwhile chapter in the evolving global economies," he said.

ernment and the central bank to narrow the current account deficit and the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have sparked a sharp turn-

emerging markets.

The volatility in global markets is now bound to test India's appeal at a time of high hopes the Reserve Bank of India would cut interest rates as early as at its next policy review in February.

Russia sharply increased its benchmark interest rate on Monday, raising concerns about the global economy at a time of sliding oil prices and a weakening China economy. "If the rupee weakness sustains for long, then we could see a delay in rate cuts," said Hari Chandramgethen,

head of foreign exchange trading at South Indian Bank.

The partially convertible rupee was trading at 63.37/38 per dollar by 1040, versus its Monday close of 62.94/95.

Traders said the rupee was also hit after data on Monday showed India's trade deficit widened to an 18-month high in November, in part due to surging gold imports.

Although the RBI has recently been intervening to smoothen volatilities in the rupee, traders said the central bank had not stepped in so far.

In case of vegetables, the contraction was 28.57 per cent. However, prices of protein rich items rose during November at 4.36 per cent, while inflation in potato stood at 34.10 per cent.

Inflation in manufactured products, like sugar, edible oils, beverages and cement, fell to 2.04 per cent in November as against 2.43 per cent in the previous month. Prices in fuel and power segment

India may grow between 5-6% in 2015: Moody's

Indian economy is expected to pick up pace in 2015 and grow in the range of 5 to 6 per cent, helped by strong domestic demand, rating agency Moody's said. "India will have stronger GDP growth in 2015, which we forecast at 5-6 per cent, up from around 5 per cent in 2014," Moody's said in a report titled - 2015 Outlook-Global Credit Conditions.

The country, it said, has benefited from a strong domestic demand base and diversified export markets that give protection from the effects of a slowing Chinese economy and muted growth in the euro zone and Japan.

"Employment and consumption are likely to rise in India, and the fall in global commodity prices will help to lower high inflation in the country," Moody's said. As per official estimates, economic

Indian rupee hits 13-month low

The Indian rupee hit 13month lows and bonds fell sharply as markets in the region tumbled on fears about the global economy, raising doubts about whether India can afford to cut interest rates given risks that such a move could trigger foreign outflows.

The rupee's session low of 63.46 on Tuesday was its weakest against the dollar since Nov 13, 2013, when India was in the midst of its worst currency turmoil since the 1991 balance of payment crisis.

But efforts by the gov-

around: foreign investors have purchased a net $43.4 billion in shares and bonds this year, allowing India to outperform most

REAL ESTATE VOICE

Time is of the essence

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

19

We closed a deal in St John's Wood last week, it's a freehold property located just off the famous Abbey Road. Abbey Road is famous for the recording studios where the Beatles recorded many of their hit songs, including ‘Let it be’. At any time of the day you are guaranteed to find tourists taking pictures against its graffitied studio walls.

The property was advertised as attracting offers in excess of £2.85m. The property comprised of two flats and came with the benefit of planning permission for a mansard extension on the roof.

Planning permission has been applied for, but not yet granted, to turn the whole property back into one dwelling. It is envisaged this will be granted. Once the property is converted back to one house it will consist of 3350 sq. ft. and we expect a selling price, once decorated to a good standard, of £4.2m.

This deal was extremely time sensitive, understandably given it was keenly priced.

We had all of 24 hrs to do the exchange. Everyone was circling this deal like ants to honey.

T h e p r i c e wa s a g re e d a t £ 2. 6 25 m a n d t h e c o n t ra c t s we re s e n t o v e r t o o u r l aw y e r s , a s p ro m i s e d w e p ro m p t l y e xc h a n g e d o n t h e d e a l .

Prices for property can be ascertained by comparables, local knowledge is also required as comparables can be deceptive.

Comparables are actual sold prices, however these could have been agreed three to six months ago. So by the time you see them they could already be out of date, especially in a fast moving market like St John's Wood.

In this situation we had a comparable which couldn't have been closer, it was next door.

This house was 3150 sq. ft. and was sold on the 7th August 2014 for £3.9m, valuing each sq. ft. as £1238. If we apply this number to our property you get £4.148m. Prices have nudged up since this time therefore it is allowable to assume an end value of £4.2m minimum.

We're comfortable in the market in this area and are reasonably confident of reselling this property too prior to completion. We expect to achieve £2.9m - £3m within 2 months, thereby making an exceptional return in a short space of time, with little money used in the deal. The money used will be doubled within a couple of months.

T h e re a s o n w h y w e w e re a b l e t o c l o s e t h i s d e al v e r y q u i c k l y w a s b e c a u s e we h a v e a t r a c k re c o rd w i t h t h e i n v e s t o r s w h o c a m e i n t o t h i s d e a l . O n e p a rt i c u l a r p a i r o f i n v e s t o rs a re a re t i re d c o u p l e w h o c a m e t o u s t o f i n d a p ro p e r t y t h e y c o u l d i n v e s t i n a n d h o l d o n f o r t h e i r re t i re m e n t i n c o m e . We m a n ag e d t o s h o w t h e m t h e re a re m o re a g g re s s i v e w ay s t o m a k e m o n e y b y t r ad i n g a n d f l i p p i n g c o n t r a c t s , t h e y w e re o p e n t o t h i s i d e a a n d t o o k c o n s u l t at i o n f ro m t h e i r c h i l d re n w h o h a d a g o o d b ac k g ro u n d i n p ro p e rt y. O n t h e f i r s t d e a l t h e y e a r n e d £ 9 3k , o n t h e s e c o n d £ 4 0k a n d t h i s i s t h e t h i rd d e a l t h e y h a v e e n t e re d i n t o w i t h u s w h i c h I' m s u re w i l l e a rn t h e m a goo d lump sum.

We h ad p re v i o u s l y d o n e a n o t h e r d e a l o n a f re e h o l d h o u se i n t h e are a , t h i s p ro p e r t y w as i n C h a r l e s L an e , NW 8. We p u rc h as e d i t f o r £ 1. 81 m a n d m a n a g e d t o re s e l l i t f o r £1 . 9 2 5m p ri o r t o c o m p l e t i o n . We m a d e ro u g h l y £1 0 0k o n £ 18 0 k wi t h in a couple of m ont hs.

This property came with some bad press. It had originally been sold for just £1m by a 88 year old pensioner. The sale was made to an agent, who had asked what the pensioner wanted for the property, he innocently replied £1m would be great. The agent was on the property like a rash and arranged the lawyers for the seller as well to ensure the deal would be done quickly.

Rumour has it, that once the property was exchanged upon, it was resold for £1.6m to another party. But what burst the agent's bubble was when the pensioner mentioned to his neighbour - who happened to be a solicitor of all things - that he had sold the property for £1m. She was understandably livid and took matters into her own hands and managed to have the contract rescinded. In the meanwhile the poor seller passed away and so the property was later sold to us at the far more agreeable price of £1.81m as a probate sale which we still managed to profit from.

They were very surprised when we told them they had earned £93k within two months on their first deal, and they actually did not believe us, until the money had hit their bank account.

Of course the past is the past and there is no guarantee this will be achieved - until it is. Therefore its prudent to prepare for the ‘worst case scenario’ which means completing the deal and doing the works.

This sometimes means you can sell the property for a fuller price. There are only two types of buyers in the market one is the investor the other is the end user. When we sell prior to completion we are very clear who we are aiming for, it's the investor. Why? They will see and understand the deal quickly, will understand the necessity for quick movement and will have their funds in place.

The deals are time sensitive and therefore we will sell for less than the market value to get the deal done quickly. However once we complete the time pressure has been removed and we have the leisure of seeking the highest price possible, we also open the door to the end user who is likely to purchase with more emotion and not logic, although take longer in completing the transaction.

The Real Deal

Marylebone, London, NW8 Purchase Price: £570k l You get the discount, you get growth and you get good income!! l Large four bedroom flat l Close to Little Venice and the amenities of St. John’s Wood and Marylebone l Long lease l Properties are being sold for around £600 per sq. ft. in this location and this is coming in at around £490 per sq. ft. l Very good buy and hold opportunity l Nearly 20% discount from market value Call us now to secure this deal!

T h e o p t i o n o f c o m pl e t i n g t h e d e a l an d d e v e l o p i n g t h e pro p e r t y ( w i t h o u t g o i n g i n t o t o o m u c h d e t a i l ) i s a l s o a g o o d p ro po s i t i o n . S i m p l y s p e a k i n g t h e re i s a wi d e m a r g i n b e t w e e n £ 2. 62 5 a n d £ 4. 2m , a b o u t £ 1 . 5 m .

Completing the deal will of course mean additional costs, for example stamp duty and arrangement fees. There is one saving grace in this deal, a quick look at the HMRC website shows multiple dwelling relief is still applicable to transactions. Here we are not purchasing one house, we are buying two flats therefore the stamp duty payable will be at the rate applied to one unit. In other words the percentage applied to £1.3125m will be applied to the whole property, not the rate applied to £2.625m. Using this relief will decrease the cost on this deal and will be a welcome relief given the recent hikes in stamp duty designed to milk higher value properties.

0207 993 0103

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Tips of the Week l Rather than selling a property and paying Capital Gains tax; it might be better to extract the increase in value of the property by just remortgaging it.

l When investing in a property, most of the money will be invested by the bank not you, remember they will always do a valuation to check their investment is secure, this is an additional check for you, the investor.

20

BUSINESS

RBI chief sounds caution on ‘Make in India’ plan

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

valued exchange rate, simply because it is unlikely to be as effective at this juncture," Rajan said in his Bharat Ram memorial lecture, titled "Make in India Largely for India," and made it clear that he was not advocating export pessimism.

"I am also cautioning against picking a particular sector such as manufacturing for encouragement, simply because it has worked well for China.

India is different, and developing at a different

time, and we should be agnostic about what will work," he said while applauding the broader objective of the drive launched by the government.

Rajan said slow growing industrial countries would be much less likely to be able to absorb a substantial additional amount of imports in the foreseeable future. "Other emerging markets certainly could absorb more, and a regional focus for exports will pay off. But the world as a whole is unlikely to be able to accommodate another export-led China," he said.

The former chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said if external demand growth is muted then the country will have to produce for the internal market and called for creating the infrastructure to support

this, including introduction of the Goods & Services Tax (GST).

"We are more dependent on the global economy than we think. That it is growing more slowly, and is more inward looking than in the past means that we have to look to regional and domestic demand for our growth to make in India primarily for India," he said.

"A well designed GST Bill, by reducing state border taxes, will have the important consequence of creating a truly national market for goods and services, which will be critical for our growth in years to come," he said.

Rajan, who has been under pressure from the government to cut interest rates to help boost growth, said a central bank has to pay attention to financial stability in addition to inflation.

Vistara, Tata Sons fullservice carrier joint venture with Singapore Airlines, received its air operator permit (AOP) or flying licence from the industry regulator, paving the way for the passenger carrier to begin commercial operations.

According to the airline, it received the AOP from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after completing the mandatory test flights and other regulatory obligations.

The airline said that it would soon make announcements on the start of sales, routes and schedules. Over the last few months the airline's team has been focused on complying with regulatory requirements for all procedural checks.

On Dec 6 Vistara completed the mandatory test flights process which is a mandatory safety audit before an airline is issued an AOP.

In a move that could revolutionise transportation in India's business capital, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has planned a 450 km long network of metro rail corridors for the city and surroundings - the third largest in the world, a top official said.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which comprises Mumbai and parts of adjacent Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts, is aimed to get metro rail connectivity which will be next only to Shanghai and Beijing.

"The MMRDA has proposed to build 450 km of metro rail and another network of monorail corridors which would offer efficient, convenient and environment friendly transportation system over the next 810 years," said MMRDA M e t r o p o l i t a n Commissioner U P S Madan at the Third Regional Dialogue, Mumbai, leading to the

upcoming 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit scheduled in February. Madan said that the government is working towards designing a transportation system that would ensure sustainable and smart mobility in the MMR. He pointed out that given the changing income levels of the citizens, nearly 75 per cent of the MMR population relies on public transportation against 80 per cent population which was dependent on it earlier.

"Trains are cheap, ecofriendly and fast mode of transport - the people of Mumbai must be encouraged to use this mode by enabling better quality of services," Madan said.

Mumabai Rail Vikas

Corporation Ltd chairman Rakesh Saksena said that Mumbai and surroundings with a population of 22 million pose a major mobility challenge. "Over 53 per cent of the population relies on the railways for modal transporation. It is densely occupied with nearly 7.6 million commuters commuting daily.

The city has to focus on continuous capacity creation to meet the demandsupply gap," he said.

For achieving this, a comprehensive rollout of metro rail, monorail and suburban trains is required, for which political and bureaucratic ownership of the projects and sustained government funding is the need of the hour, he said.

Ratan Tata has invested in an affordable healthcare services startup - Swasth India - as for-profit social ventures catch the attention of high net worth individuals (HNIs) and top industrialists.

Tata, who recently invested in e-commerce startups Snapdeal, Bluestone and Urban Ladder, has invested Rs 20 million in Swasth India in his personal capacity.

Swasth India provides affordable healthcare services to low-income people.

The Tata Sons chairman emeritus is said to be keen on pursuing such investments which have a social impact, the sources added.

With such enterprises, 'socialpreneurs' eye twin objectives of creating a positive impact on society and generating profits. The concept of investing personal wealth with a financial as well as social bottom line is generating many 'likes' if investments

by HNIs and industrialists like Harsh Mariwala and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw are anything to go by.

Swasth India, to which Tata has provided second round of funding, was founded by Ankur Pegu and Sundeep Kapila - both 2001 IIT Bombay graduates, who prior to chasing a common dream of providing affordable healthcare to

the common man had

XCyton, has provided modest seed funding to Myhealthmate, a social venture founded by Rahul Batra and Shwetank Verma. While Tata and Mazumdar-Shaw are not new to the growing breed of socialpreneurs, the number of investments they are making in this space is certainly rising.

Mariwala, chairman of Marico, on the other hand, has made a debut in this space with a joint personal investment along with his son Rishabh, in Unitus Seed Fund, a $20 million seed-stage fund based in Bangalore and Seattle that invests in startups innovating for the masses in India.

With his former boss Manmohan Singh by his side, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan had some words of caution on the government's "Make in India" initiative, saying the focus should be on domestic demand against the backdrop of slowing global growth.

The Narendra Modi government has unveiled the "Make in India" drive to make the country an industrial hub like China, boost the share of manufacturing in the economy to 25% from the current 15-16% and create millions of jobs.

The plan is the centrepiece of the government's efforts to revive sluggish growth. "Instead, I am counselling against an export-led strategy that involves subsidizing exporters with cheap inputs as well as an under-

Vistara to start operations soon

Raghuram Rajan

Mumbai to get world's third largest metro rail network

Healthcare start-ups now attracting Indian tycoons

Ratan Tata

worked as management consultants in KPMG and McKinsey for 7 years.

Usually, it is philanthropy or charity most industrialists are associated with, but "impact" investment has begun to attract them as well.

Mazumdar-Shaw, in addition to her investment in diagnostic company

10 things to know about the changes in pensions The British government has made changes in the pension scheme.

Following are 10 things you need to know about the changes 1. The single-tier state pension will be set just above the basic level of means-tested support (the Pension Credit standard minimum guarantee is £151.20 a week in 2015) 2. It will be available only to men born on or after April 6, 1951 and women born on or after April 6, 1953.

3. If you were born before these dates, you will not be able to defer your state pension age to qualify for the new singletier pension.

4. The number of qualifying years of national insurance (NI) contributions or credits needed for the full new state pension will rise from 30 to 35.

5. The rules for marriage, divorce and bereavement will end.

Spouses and civil partners will not be able to claim state pension based on a partner’s NI contributions. Widows and widowers will no longer be able to inherit a partner’s pension. Divorcees will not be allowed to substitute their ex-partner’s NI record for their own.

6. With few exceptions, no one can build up more than the full single-

tier rate before they reach state pension age, even if they continue to contribute to NI for longer than 35 years. In the long term – by 2040 – the full single-tier rate will be the maximum payable for all.

7. The “flat-rate” pension will not be paid to everyone, after new arrangements begin in April 2016. People with a starting entitlement higher than the rate of the single tier from a combination of the old basic state pension and the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme will receive the higher amount. Others who previously “contracted out” may receive less than the full rate.

8. Contracting out will end, including for people in occupational pension schemes. They and their employers will no longer receive NI rebates.

9. Those who contracted out of the state second pension will have a deduction from their new single tier, as their state pension entitlement will be delivered through a private scheme instead.

10. It will still be possible to delay claiming a state pension and thereby boost it. But the terms will be less generous. The rate of increase for deferring a full year of the single tier will fall from 10.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent.

The option to receive a cash lump sum will end.

3 Kerala cos have more gold than Sweden, Singapore

Three gold loan companies in Kerala have more precious metal in their vaults than the gold reserves of some of the richest nations. Muthoot Finance, Manappuram Finance and Muthoot Fincorp hold nearly 200 tonnes of gold jewellery, which is higher than the gold reserves of Singapore, Sweden or Australia.

India accounts for approximately 30% of the global demand for gold, a true-and-tested source of insurance for millions of families that have little access to other forms of social security. What is true for India is even more so for Kerala, where 200,000 people are employed in the gold industry. The metal's fungibility makes it an ideal collateral for over-the-counter loans.

Muthoot Finance holds 116 tonnes of gold as security for its loans; Manappuram Finance has 40 tonnes and Muthoot Fincorp, 39 tonnes. The trio's combined holdings are 195 tonnes. To put things in global perspective, Singapore’s gold reserves are 127 tonnes, Sweden's 126 tonnes, South Africa's 125 tonnes

and Mexico's 123 tonnes.

Muthoot Finance, the largest of Kerala's gold loan companies, holds more yellow metal in its vaults than the reserves of Greece (112.4 tonnes), Australia (79.9 tonnes), Kuwait (79 tonnes), Denmark (66.5 tonnes) and Finland (49.1 tonnes).

India, according to the World Gold Council, has the 11th largest gold reserves, with 558 tonnes.

The US heads the pack with 8,134 tonnes, while Germany and IMF come next (3,384 and 2,814 tonnes, respectively).

“Historically, Malayalis have excelled in financial services as an ethnic group. The size of these companies reflects their innovative skills. Gold loan business also reflects Malayalis’ hunger for gold and the strong dowry system which feeds gold and gold loans,” said CJ George, founder and managing director of stock broking firm Geojit BNP Paribas.

It was even better a couple of years ago.

Muthoot Fincorp, which has a gold loan portfolio of Rs 85.50 billion, then had 41 tonnes of gold in its vaults.

CURRENCY VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

21

Foreign Exchange

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Steady British economic growth Currency Specialists.

GBP UK manufacturing output unexpectedly fell for the first time in five months in October, highlighting the risks to the economic recovery.

Output dropped 0.7 percent after rising 0.6 percent in September with total industrial production falling to 0.1 percent. An increase of 0.2 percent was predicted.

British economic growth held steady at a quarterly rate of 0.7% in the three months to November, on track for a robust end to the year, an estimate from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research showed the NIESR said Growth for 2014 as a whole remains robust and consistent with our most recent quarterly forecast.

The Figures for the UK trade balance were released it shows that Britain’s trade deficit narrowed to a seven-month low in October, as the country imported less oil and exports climbed. The trade deficit dropped to £2bn in October from £2.8bn in September, the lowest since March.

The Office for National Statistics said exports rose by £200m between September and October to £24.3bn, mainly owing to higher exports of erratic items, notably silver exports to India. Imports fell by £700m in October, driven by lower oil imports from countries outside the EU, returning to more normal levels after September’s high, the ONS

Tuesday 9th December 2014

said.

The report showed growth rates were lifted by London and the south east. “After a temporary hiatus in at the highest risers of the property market, growth has rallied again in the capital – with values in prime spots such as Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham surging 5.3 per cent over the course of the month, hitting new price records along the way,”

EUR Not much data was released within the Euro zone, the main topic was around Greece who brought forward their presidential elections after a two-month bailout extension was agreed and they now have until February to pay back lenders. This slightly weakened the Euro again as it weakened consumer confidence in Europe especially as Greece had recently been publishing positive data.

Earlier last week we had figures from Germany regarding their trade balance which came in much better than expected. The reading is a balance between exports and imports of total goods and services. The figure increased to €20.6bn from €18.6. It was actually expected to come out lower at €18.5 which is a good reading for Germany considering its recent publications.

Greece recorded its biggest one day fall since 1987 following a surprise decision to bring forward a

Monday 15th December 2014

presidential vote to next week which could trigger early elections if Prime Minister Antonius Samaras fails to get his candidate chosen.

Furthermore Greek 10 year bond yields jumped above 7% to stand at 7.729%, 7% is considered a danger zone level where a country’s borrowing costs are not affordable.

The second allotment of the targeted long-term refinancing operation came in at 129.84 billion Euros ($162 billion), according to the bank, narrowly missing economist’s median expectations of 130 billion Euros. The news was regarded as being euro positive as it indicates that there may be a delay to any quantitative easing (QE) program.

USD In the US there was a small speech held by the Federal president of Atlanta (Dennis Lockhart) who said the US Federal Reserve should be on track to raise interest rates in the later half of 2015. He suggested that with the recent improvements in the economy, including the jobs market, it was a concern that inflation had not yet picked up. Also, the way the economy is going at the moment he can see the US normalizing interest rates in 2015.

This slightly weakened off the Dollar after it had gained some momentum it mainly due to the much better than expects non-farm payroll readings.

US had figures showing home

Tuesday 9th December 2014

mortgage approvals which rose last week due to both purchase and refinancing applications increasing by 7.3% in the week ended Dec 5 according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Dollar lost ground against the Pound despite positive retail and unemployment figures being released after Federal Reserve disagreements over the budget surfaced. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a three-week low as an improving economy limited dismissals, showing companies are retaining staff and hiring at the strongest pace since 1999 as they try to meet stronger demand for their goods and services.

Retail sales rose in November by the most in eight months, indicating continued labour market progress is bolstering confidence and spending prospects during the holiday-shopping season, another report showed.

A last-ditch revolt against Wall Street efforts to overturn key banking reforms is threatening to derail passage of the $1.1 trillion US budget through Congress just hours before funding for the federal government is due to expire U.S. consumer sentiment rose in December to a near eight-year high on improved prospects for jobs and wages and on lower oil prices, figures released.

Monday 15th December 2014

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 16th December 2014 @ 6pm

GBP - INR = 100.52 USD - INR = 68.83 EUR - INR = 79.90 GBP - USD = 1.57 GBP - EUR = 1.26

EUR - USD = 1.25 GBP - AED = 5.78

GBP - CAD = 1.83

GBP - NZD = 2.02

GBP - AUD = 1.91

GBP - ZAR = 18.37

GBP - HUF = 393.38

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

Tuesday 9th December 2014

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22

CHRISTMAS

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Christmas in London: Let's do this!

Sunetra Senior

London is of course a vibrant and bustling city, but come the festive season and it is transformed into a magical metropolis with more happenings than there are people. That's we've taken the time to put together a recreational menu of the very finest. Have a peek:

Winter Wonderland: Every year, the majestic Hyde Park is host to this family friendly replication of Santa's hometown in Lapland (well, a contemporary version anyway!) Lose yourself in the wondrous stylings of a deluxe ice kingdom, skating rink and ice bar – frosty glasses includedand if you want to warm up there is always the invigorating 'Zippos Circus', a hit spectacle in Britain and main feature of 'Wonderland', always a blast for parents and children! Watch the bright and mind-bending performances of acrobatics, comedy and silky airborne fabrics. This year 'Zippos' also has a new 'thrill show' Mechanika with gravity-defying motorbikes. The park is open pretty much 24/7, 10am-10pm daily.

Christmas Markets: In addition to the Bavarianstyle shopping and chalet shaped stalls that can be found in 'Wonderland', there are many seasonal markets popping up throughout the city.

Southbank, within walking distance of Waterloo and Embankment underground stations, has one of the most treasured. As well as an array of priceless little knick-knacks, including vintage books and jewellery, the food stalls are, ironically, to die for. Sample an array of fresh British favourites such as organic burgers, cheeses and

Dining

Outdoors

falafels, and to drink there are fruit juices or expertly brewed mulled wine available on tap.

Brixton and Spitalfields markets are also alternative crowd favourites.

Oxford Street shopping and lights: If you are looking for some bulkier purchases hit the famed consumer temples of Oxford, Bond and Regent's street, all within close range of each other.

These places also have some of the most spectacular light displays so you can shop in the spirit. The area is scattered with great break cafes and quick dining options

for those boasting longer shopping lists.

Trafalgar Square Ambling: Mix city and rural spaces when you travel to this historic spot. Find the biggest Christmas Tree near Nelson's Column and the free-entry National Portrait Gallery nearby.

Wrap-up warm and nestle a hot chocolate in your gloves as you watch the carol-singers and take in the city space. Or, if you are craving natural beauty, adjacent are large arches that lead to the whimsical greenery of St James' Park.

Buckingham Palace can be seen through the trees and water-life which come together to create a fairytale retreat in the heart of urban London.

Ice Skating at the Millennium Wheel: EyeSkate, another Southbank wonder, offers a spacious skating ring situated just in front of the iconic Millennium Wheel and the River Thames; a dazzling time for you and the kids!

Dishoom: Offering up a 'Christmas Feast' on the menu this Indian and vegetarian friendly restaurant, known for its delicious black dahl and exciting desserts, will be serving seasonal specialties such as spicy mulled wine. Nearest tube stations are Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

Sofra: With locations in Mayfair and Covent Garden, this Turkish restaurant offers a touch of exotica this Christmas. The establishment has excellent dishes and an affordable lunch menu. Bond over the Meze sharing plates, including spinach and mixed-cheese pastry parcels,and spoil yourself with a lavish main course.

Rooftop Dining; Babylon and London Oxo Tower: With a flamingo garden and luxury 'British cuisine' on the roster, Kensington-based Babylon is worth the lavish splash out. Take in the brighter than usual city from a priceless viewpoint, quite literally, as the restaurant allows free visits if you just want a picturesque experience.

London's Oxo Tower is very similar with one major difference: The Thames!

Enjoy being at the heart of a festive metropolis while you tuck into select dishes.

The suave establishment has the feeling of a first-class airport lounge; George Clooney might pop up at any moment,an Espresso in hand.

Christmas Gift Ideas/sources

Head Massager: This ever popular and highly affordable gift, is fit for stressed out mums and dads and little people who still have to take exams! These can be ordered easily via Amazon.

practical, these outlets never fail to provide hundreds of quality choices. I'll be heading for the scarf section myself...

Clothes: Topshop, Monsoon, ASOS (online), Forever 21 and H&M (kids range available): All the above have a range of wonderful winter-wear for both sexes. Whether you're looking for something lumpy and warm, sparkly and stylish or just plain

Gadget Stores: Want something more out of the box? Hit gadget stores such as Hawkins Bazaar for some quirky choices.

Get a real-life melting Dali clock or the 'Blow Light' candle is a particular cutie for Christmas- flickering and extinguishable just like the real thing.

Perfume from The Perfume Shop: You can't go wrong with The Perfume Shop who are boasting “£10.00 off selected lines” with dozens of fragrances for Him and Her. From J LO Glo to Iceberg Twice there is a signature scent for everyone.

Christmas Cupcakes: Available from any bakery, in mini or regular size, you can make family and friends glow on the inside this St. Christopher's day!

Lola's cupcakes have a particularly inspiring range.

THEATRE AND FILM

There will be an exciting run of shows everywhere you look this Christmas, from the West End onwards but here are some special front-runners: Phillip Pullman's Grimm Tales: Taking place at the Bargehouse Oxo Tower Wharf, this performance is marketed as a 'world-wide exclusive.'Based on the work of successful fantasy writer Phillip Pullman, already bewitching characters are brought to life through your interaction with the stories.

The immersive experience is aimed at both young and old viewers and has been described as “vivid and unfussy — true to the stories’ visual clarity and taut plotting, while also evoking their dreamlike qualities” by London newspaper The Evening Standard. Showing from 21st Nov to 15th Feb 2015 Beauty and the Beast: Taking place at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, this musical number will take you through the classic tale of the yellow-gowned Princess Belle. Showing from the 29th Nov to 17th Jan 2015 It's A Wonderful Life: The heart-warming black and white film starring James Mason will be showing at Southbank's British Film Institute this Christmas.

Miracle on 34th Street: It's Winter Wonderland again! The beloved tale about an ordinary man who claims to be the real father Christmas will be screening at their forest themed cinema: a showing guaranteed to bring out the child in you!

Showing from the 21st Nov to 4th Jan 2015

A Last Minute Getaway Iceland (of course): Have a look at www.lastminute.com for hundreds of other deals and destinations, but Iceland is by far the most enchanting. Gaze at the Aurora Borealis (or colourful Northern Lights), this time of year being the most likely you will catch it, or enjoy peach-pink champagne in the open and natural hot springs of an imperial snowy landscape.

WORLD

3 killed as police storm Sydney cafe to end hostage siege

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

In Brief

UN declares June 21 as 'International Day of Yoga'

United Nations: Less than three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the idea, the UN general assembly on Thursday last adopted an Indialed resolution declaring June 21 as 'International Day of Yoga', recognizing that "Yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being." The resolution was introduced by India's ambassador to UN Asoke Mukerji and had 175 nations joining as co-sponsors, the highest number ever for any general assembly resolution. It is also for the first time that such an initiative has been proposed and implemented by any country in the UN body in less than 90 days.

Pakistan 8th most dangerous country in the world

Washington: Pakistan is placed eighth in the list of the most dangerous countries in the world which is led

by Iraq, according to a US-based intelligence think tank. Afghanistan, the only other South Asian country in the list, is placed fourth in the Country Threat Index (CTI) compiled by IntelCenter, a washington-based company working for intelligence agencies. The rankings were prepared after examining the volume of terrorist and rebel alerts, messaging traffic, videos, photos, incidents and the number of killed and injured in a country over the past 30 days. The other countries in the top 10 are Nigeria (second), Somalia (third) followed by Yemen (five), Syria (six), Libya (seven), Egypt (nine) and Kenya (10).

Verma confirmed as next US envoy to India

Washington: The United States senate confirmed, by a voice vote, the nomination of Richard Rahul Verma as the next US ambassador to India. Verma, 46, is the first Indian-American to be the US ambassador to India and is expected to be sworn in shortly. He will arrive in New Delhi ahead of the India visit of US President Barack Obama who will be the chief guest on this year's Republic Day. The very fact that Verma was confirmed by a voice vote in a bitterly divided senate with more than 50 ambassadorial nominations pending, signify the bi-partisan support to India-US relationship.

US Senate confirms Vivek Murthy as surgeon general

Washington: The 37-year-old Indian-American physician Vivek Hallegere Murthy has been confirmed as the 19th surgeon general of America by US Senate.

He is youngest person and first person of Indian-origin to hold the post. The upper house of US Congress confirmed Murthy's nomination by 51 votes to 43 more than year after President Barack Obama had nominated him to this top administration post on public health issues in November 2013 which saw a strong opposition from the powerful pro-gun lobby National Rifle Association (NRA). The final voting came soon after the Senate invoked cloture - a procedural hurdle - by same numbers (51 to 43 votes).

US unhappy over Putin trip to India

Washington: The US is unhappy over India doing "business as usual" with Russia, but it will have no effect on President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to India which remains an "important partner." "No. India remains an important partner," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters when asked whether deals reached during Russian President Vladimir Putin's just concluded visit to India would change Obama's plans. "Obviously, our economic relationship is a big part of what we continue to work on," Psaki said while repeating its caution to "allies and partners" that it was not time for doing business with Russia following its intervention in Ukraine.

The US, she said had seen reports about India and Russia signing agreements in oil exploration, infrastructure, defence and nuclear energy including construction of 12 Russia-built nuclear units in India over the next two decades

Sydney: Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed terrified hostages held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16hour siege in which two captives and the attacker were killed. Two Indians were among the hostages rescued by the police.

A police source named hostage taker as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh known for sending hate mail to the families of Australian troops killed in Afghanistan. He was charged last year with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife but had been free on bail.

During the siege, several videos were posted on social media apparently showing hostages inside the Lindt cafe in Sydney's

Pakistan govt, Imran's party to hold talks

Islamabad: The negotiating teams of Nawaz Sharifled government and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) are scheduled to meet in Islamabad soon to find an amicable solution to the ongoing political crisis.

In their previous round of talks, both sides exchanged initial proposals and demands regarding formation of a Judicial Commission to probe the alleged rigging of 2013 general elections, Radio Pakistan reported.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who represented the government at the talks, said it was serious about resolving the current political stand-off through dialogue. He hoped that both sides would reach a consensus to resolve all issues amicably.

PTI leader Jehangir Tareen expressed the hope that the talks would prove result-oriented.

Meanwhile, Irfan Siddiqui, special assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said negotiating teams of the government and PTI have decided that they would not disclose the details about the dialogue until a final agreement.

He added that any leak of the talks could trigger a public debate and sabotage the dialogue process.

central business district making demands on behalf of Monis. The gunman, whom hostages referred to as "brother", demanded to talk to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the delivery of an Islamic State flag, and that media broadcast that Australia was under attack by Islamic State.

Abbott said the gunman was well known to authorities and had a history of extremism and mental instability. Police

are investigating whether the two hostages were killed by the gunman or died in the crossfire, said Andrew Scipione, police commissioner for the state of New South Wales.

Cafe manager, lawyer killed: Police said a 50year-old man, believed to be the attacker, was killed.

Television pictures showed he appeared to have been armed with a shotgun. A man aged 34 and a 38-year-old woman

23

were also killed, police said. The man was the cafe manager, and the woman was a mother and lawyer, Sydney media reported. At least four were wounded, including a policeman hit in the face with shotgun pellets.

Among the wounded was a 75-yearold woman who was shot in the shoulder, police said. Two other pregnant women who were among the hostages were taken to hospital for assessment.

All were in stable condition. Medics tried to resuscitate at least one person after the raid, a witness said. Bomb squad members moved in to search for explosives, but none were found. So far 17 hostages have been accounted for, including at least five who were released or escaped on Monday.

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INDIA

Bengaluru man who operated ISIS Twitter handle arrested

Bengaluru: Bengaluru police on last Saturday arrested Mehdi Masroor Biswas, 24, from his Jalahalli residence in North Bengaluru, for handling a pro-ISIS Twitter handle.

"Mehdi Masroor has confessed that he was operating the ISIS Twitter account, @ShamiWitness," Karnataka DGP Pachau said. The DGP said that his Twitter handle had become a source of information for new recruits of ISIS. He was in touch with the English speaking terrorists from the Chennai: Talks are on with several persons, including politicians, to join the party in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah during his December 20 visit to Tamil Nadu, party's state unit said.

BJP president Amit Shah will address his maiden public meeting at Maraimalai Nagar after taking over as party chief on December 20.

He would also chair a brain storming session of party workers on Dec 21 at party headquarters "Kamalalayam" here. A top party state office-bearer confirmed that efforts are on to rope in prominent citizens with a clean image from several walks of life, including politics.

"We are, however, not in a hurry. We want persons with a commitment to probity in public life to strengthen the hands of Modi in Tamil Nadu," he said. Talks are on with "several persons," including noted functionaries of rival parties, he said, but declined to divulge fur-

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

terrorist group, thereby abetting them.

"Although many of his posts on Twitter were translations from Arabic tweets, but there were some original tweets which we are investigating," the DGP said. The cops, however,

said that he has not facilitated any recruitment or even ever travelled outside India.

Hailing from Gopalpur in West Bengal, he worked with an MNC here from 2012 with an annual package of Rs 538,000 and had just been confirmed in March 2014. Mehdi, police said, had an internet package of 60GB which he used extensively to read about Jihadist activities in the Asiatic region and post material that were pro-terror

organizations. An FIR has been registered against him under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and of the IT Act. Although the cops accused him of abetting terror organizations, police said they've found no evidence to link him to any terrorist organization or of him being a sympathizer.

"Investigation has revealed that he was translating posts in Arabic language had that's what it is," police said, adding that he has done nothing about any terror activity in India.

ther details.

Party workers from all 32 districts are expected to turn up for the meeting to make it a "grand success."

As part of its growth plans, the state BJP is chasing an ambitious target of one crore membership as decided in it's general council meet here last month, State vice-president M Chakravarthy said. "The party has crossed 1000,000 membership," he said. The Saffron party, in its meet, also fixed a target of winning "122 plus" seats in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls to storm to power in the state.

Though it has high ambitions, BJP in Tamil Nadu has a long way to go as its organisational presence is comparatively strong only in Kanyakumari, Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts.

BJP witnessed its first setback after the Lok Sabha polls with MDMK chief Vaiko walking out of the alliance on December 3.

Madurai: A day after some MDMK cadres were detained by the Andhra Pradesh police who wanted to protest against the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Tirupati, party leader Vaiko said black flags would be shown to Prime Minister Narendra Modi whenever he visits Tamil Nadu as the party believes that Modi has acted against the interests of Tamils.

"Whenever Modi comes to Tamil Nadu, we will show black flag to him. Modi is the one who brought Rajapaksa here. Even then, Andhra chief minister should not have allowed him to visit Tirumala Venkateswara Temple.

Rajapaksa destructed around 1,500 temples in Sri Lanka constructed by the Sri Lankan Tamils," he said.

Tamils should protest against Modi and not against Andhra people and

Mahinda Rajapaksa the AP government for allowing Rajapaksa visit the temple, he said. The Andhra Pradesh police detained MDMK cadres and some journalists last week while they were protesting against the visit of Rajapaksa to the temple. Later some of the detained were released.

"We don't demand the release of MDMK cadres.

But the journalists who were arrested by the Andhra police should be released.

Severe action should be taken against the police for their excess against Tamils and the journalists," he said.

BJP plans big in Tamil Nadu

Haryana to enact law to curb cow slaughter

Chandigarh: Haryana would soon enact a new law to check cow slaughter in the State, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced. Khattar, while addressing a meeting in Yamunanagar, said his government would present a Bill to check cow slaughter in the next session of Haryana Assembly. The issue of cow slaughter is closely linked to cattle theft in many parts of Haryana and often leads to tensions between communities. Be it the areas bordering Uttar Pradesh or parts of southern Haryana, the issue of cattle theft has often been flagged by the residents as a major crime that results in social strife. In early November this year, three youth were arrested by the Delhi police for their alleged involvement in cases of theft of cattle in Delhi and Haryana.

Nizam, Zuber and Md Ajeem were arrested by the police and a country-made pistol and two live cartridges were recovered from them.

Often the stolen cattle are transported as far off as

Manohar Lal Khattar

Maharashtra for sale.

Recently in September, the Nashik police arrested five men from Haryana while they were carrying stolen bulls in a tempo.

Police sources said most of these gangs of cattle thieves are from Mewat in southern Haryana. They move around in modified tempos and steal cattle either for sale or cow slaughter. These men are often armed. Incidentally, even in the sensational Dhaula Kuan gang rape case of Delhi it was alleged by the police that the victim was assaulted by a gang of cattle thieves who had entered the Capital from Mewat with the intention of stealing cattle.

Cattle thieves also seldom shy from firing if their attempts are resisted.

MDMK plans protest against Modi over Rajapaksa visit

HC adjourns hearing on Ashutosh Maharaj's case

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court last week adjourned till December 11 hearing on the plea by the ashram of Ashutosh Maharaj, who was declared clinically dead on January 29, seeking a 30day extension on the deadline given by it to perform last rites of the self-styled 'godman'. As the application came up for hearing before Justice M M S Bedi, the court asked the petitioner to put on record any court law wherein he could stay his own verdict. The court also put question mark over the maintainability of the petition filed by the ashram before adjourning the case for December 11.

Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan had moved a petition in the high court, saying they want a month's time to challenge the single judge bench order, which had directed on December 1 to conduct the last rites of the godman within 15 days, before a division bench.

On December 1, the court had directed constitution of a committee under the district magistrate to

Ashutosh Maharaj

look into the matter and asked the DGP and chief secretary to monitor the situation. The court had also observed that religious sentiments of the followers should not be hurt.

On January 29 last, ashram doctors had declared Ashutosh alias Mahesh Kumar Jha clinically dead, after which the management had kept the body inside a deep freezer, stating that the spiritual head had gone into 'samadhi' (deep state of meditation). One of the petitioners, Dalip Kumar Jha, had moved the high court in April, seeking the release of mortal remains of "his father" to him for performing last rites and also a probe to ascertain the cause of his "mysterious death".

South Brief

SC rejects Jaya's plea for advance hearing in assets case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India rejected former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's plea to advance the hearing of her appeal against her conviction and sentence in a disproportionate assets case. Jayalalithaa, who is currently out on bail, was sentenced to four years in jail by a trial court in Bangalore for amassing assets vastly exceeding her income. The top court, while granting her bail in October, had asked the AIADMK chief's lawyers to ensure all paperwork for her appeal was completed by December 18, or her bail could be cancelled.

Former MP's daughter racially abused in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The IT capital of India, Bengaluru, is fast becoming notorious for incidents of racial abuse and assault on people from North-east India. In the latest incident, the fifth in the past three months, the 34-yearold daughter of retired top cop and former Bengaluru North MP H T Sangliana was racially abused and assaulted by two burqa-clad women at a supermarket. Sangliana, who was police commissioner of Bengaluru city, retired as Karnataka Director General of Police in 2003. After retirement, he joined the BJP and represented Bengaluru North in the 14th Lok Sabha. Later he joined the Congress, but could not retain his seat. The incident occurred recently when the victim, Rachel, who is of Mizo origin and a mother of two, was shopping at a supermarket in Adugodi, south Bengaluru.

TN govt told to pay compensation for girl's death

Chennai: The Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 500,000 as compensation to the family of a 13-year-old girl who died in 2006 due to medical negligence by three doctors at a government hospital. "This is an unfortunate case of medical negligence which has resulted in the loss of a precious life of a young girl, hardly aged 13 years," Justice Nagamuthu said, while underlining that the fundamental right to life was at the heart of the Constitution. The prosecution case was that Sudhasini was brought to the hospital in July 2006 with stomach pain and diarrhea. There were three doctors on duty, one of whom attended on her and diagnosed it as amoebic diarrhea. The girl, however, breathed her last a few hours later.

North Brief

Badal goes to school on his birthday

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who turned 87 recently chose to celebrate his birthday with school students.

The birthday events for the octogenarian chief minister were held at his native village Badal and Gidderbaha town, both in Muktsar district of Punjab. After meeting and receiving greeting from villagers and Akali leaders, Badal went Malwa Public School, Gidderbaha where enthused students and the school authorities had organised a special programme to celebrate his birthday. "I want to tell you that you should work hard and sincerely to achieve success in life," Badal told the students, who got themselves clicked with him.

Woman tries self-immolation outside Badal's residence

Chandigarh: A woman was admitted to a government hospital here with over 20 per cent burns after she set herself ablaze outside the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, police said. Gurpreet Kaur, who hails from Gurdaspur district, came to the chief minister's residence and wanted to meet him. Unable to meet Badal, she poured kerosene on herself and set herself ablaze, a police officer said. Security personnel at Badal's official residence tried to douse the fire and the woman was rushed to the government hospital in Sector 16. A report said that she was trying to meet the CM for the last few days before taking the extreme step.

TRAVEL - INDIA

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

India, Russia ink new N-deal; Moscow to build 12 reactors

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Towards this objective, the Indian side agreed to expeditiously identify a second site, in addition to Kudankulam, for the construction of the Russiandesigned nuclear power units in India.

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26

PAKISTAN - UK - WORLD

MERCILESS MASSACRE

Continued from page 1 told reporters that the attackers had long beards and they were wearing 'shalwar kamiz'. He said they were speaking Arabic and looked like foreigners.

About 500 students and teachers were believed to be inside the school when the attack started.

Mushtaq Ghani, provincial information minister, said the militants entered through a graveyard which is adjacent to the school.

The school is close to Saint Mary High School which has also been under threat since the last couple of days.

A heavy contingent of police and security forces have blocked the roads leading to the school, taking control of the entire area. The army had launched the massive military operation 'Zarb-e-Azb' in June following a brazen militant attack on Karachi's international airport and the failure of peace talks between the government and the Taliban negotiators. The military has said more than 1,300 militants have been killed during the operation in North Waziristan and adjacent tribal region and it will continue till militancy was completely wiped

out of Pakistan.

Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, whose party rules K h y b e r - Pa k h t u n k h w a province, termed the attack as an act of "barbarism". In the wake of the attack, Khan postponed his plan to shut down the entire country that was planned for December 18.

Shagufta, who lives near the school said she heard two explosions, a smaller one followed by a huge bang. A student who identified himself as Shuja said they were taking examination when firing started.

They were told by the teacher to lie down on the floor. He said they remained on floor for about one hour when army soldiers came and told them to go out. Several students escaped through the back gate. One of students who escaped said that fourth period was in progress when they heard firing. "First we didn't know what has happened.

But late an army officer told us to escape through back gate," he said.

Defence minister Khawaja Asif said in a statement, "We are deeply fragmented today as a nation. For the sake of the children martyred today

Malala, Satyarthi get Nobel peace prize

Oslo: India's Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 jointly for their work on promoting child rights in the troubled sub-continent, where millions are Malala Yousafzai and deprived of their Kailash Satyarthi childhood and educathe Nobel medal which is tion. Malala is the 18 carat green gold plated youngest ever Nobel lauwith 24 carat gold and reate. weighs around 175 grams.

"Satyarthi and Malala Noting that violence are precisely the people and repression cannot be whom Alfred Nobel in his justified in any religion, will calls 'champions of Jagland said Islam, peace'," Chairman of the Christianity, Judaism, Norwegian Nobel Hinduism and Buddhism Committee Thorbjorn protect life and cannot be Jagland said in his speech used to take lives. "The before awarding them the two whom we honour prize. stand very firm on this "A young girl and a point. They live according somewhat older man, one to a principle Mahatma from Pakistan and one Gandhi gave expression from India, one Muslim, to. He said: 'There are the other Hindu; both many purposes I would symbols of what the world have died for. There are needs: more unity and frano purposes I would have ternity between the killed for'," Jagland said, nations!," he added. invoking Mahatma Satyarthi, 60, who Gandhi. gave up his job as an elecSatyarthi's NGO trical engineer to run an Bachpan Bachao Andolan NGO for rescuing chil(Save Childhood dren from forced labour Movement) prides itself and trafficking, and 17on liberating over 80,000 year-old Malala, who surchildren from bonded vived a near-fatal Taliban labour in factories and attack two years ago with workshops across India. determination advocating According to the education for girls, were International Labour named by the Nobel Peace Organisation (ILO) there Prize Committee for the are about 168 million prestigious award on child labourers globally.

October 10. They received

and our children fighting the enemy for our existence, we must have one message for the enemy (that) we shall overcome inshallah and rid our land of this scourge. Zarb-e-Azb to continue with full force and (our) Armed forces remain undeterred."

Modi condemns attack: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the chorus of Indian statements with posts on Twitter which said, “strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack at a school in Peshawar”.

“It is a senseless act of unspeakable brutality that has claimed lives of the most innocent of human beings - young children in their school,” Modi said.

In his Twitter post, home minister Rajnath Singh described the school attack as “dastardly & inhuman” that exposed the “real face of terrorism.” India's foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said in a statement, “The Government of India strongly condemns this barbaric crime against humanity. Our prayers are with the families and loved ones of all those who lost their lives or were injured in this barbaric incident.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

We hope the almighty gives them the courage and fortitude to bear their irreparable loss. There never has been, nor will there ever be, a justification for terrorism.” The Congress, too, denounced the attack. “This barbaric act has caused universal outrage and painfully underscores the threat posed by organized terrorist groups to humankind,” Congress President Sonia Gandhi was quoted as saying in a statement.

Malala heartbroken: Malala 'heartbroken': Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, said she was "heartbroken" by "the senseless and cold blooded" killing of scores of children by Taliban militants.

"I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable." Seventeen-year-old Malala, who now lives in Britain, became a global icon after she was shot and nearly killed by the Taliban in her native Pakistan in October 2012 for insisting that girls had a right to an education.

CIA falsely claimed to have thwarted British terror plots

Washington: The CIA had falsely claimed to have thwarted eight terror plots, including three relating to Britain, because of intelligence gained from its enhanced interrogation programme, a Senate reports said.

Dhiren Barot, aka Issa al-Hindi, an al-Qaeda operative who planned to kill thousands in the UK and US, was sentenced to life at Woolwich crown court in 2006. The CIA repeatedly claimed that intelligence gained while interrogating the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, had led to Barot’s arrest in the UK. Under questioning, Mohammed revealed the identity of a jihadist known as “Issa” based in the UK, the CIA claimed.

The information gleaned from Mohammed was “otherwise unavailable” and “saved lives”, the agency claimed.

“These representations were inaccurate,” the Senate report says.

“The operation that resulted in the identification of a UK-based ‘Issa’, the identification of ‘Issa’ as Dhiren Barot, Dhiren Barot’s arrest, and the thwarting of his plotting, resulted from the investigative activities of UK . . . authorities. Contrary to CIA representations, Mohammed did not pro-

Dhiren Barot

vide the first reporting on a UK-based ‘Issa’, nor are there records to support the CIA representation that reporting from CIA detainees subjected to the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques resulted in Dhiren Barot’s arrest.”

The reports suggest much of the intelligence for Barot’s arrest came from plans found on a computer seized during a raid on a house in Pakistan in July 2004.

The shoe bombers Saajid Badat, as sentenced to 13 years in jail in 2005 for plotting to kill passengers on a transAtlantic flight with fellow jihadist Richard Reid, using explosives in his shoes. Reid went ahead with the attempted plot, but Badat did not go ahead in the end.

His identification and capture was another key case cited by the CIA to justify its methods.

British leaders condemn Pak killings

• This is an absolute tragedy; I feel so incredibly sad for those children and my heart goes out to those families who have suffered. There is never a justification for attacking a school and the people responsible are barbaric; the very worst of mankind.

- Lord Popat

• Our prayers go to the friends and families of children and others killed by insurgents in a school in Peshawar. This is an atrocity of the worst kind. Irrespective of what political views we hold, terrorism of this kind cannot be tolerated. This is a national tragedy for Pakistan but all democratic nations of the world must condemn such actions. Children have a right to education and a right to enjoy their childhood. Over 130 families have lost their loved ones. If their is a grain of humanity amongst the insurgents then they should stop the massacre of the innocent. Children are the future of all nations. We must, irrespective of our values and beliefs, stand together with those who have lost their loved ones.

- Lord Dholakia • This attack on school children in Pakistan is one of the most reprehensible crimes we could have possibly imagined. At least 126 people, most of them children, have been killed. The Taliban, who are responsible, are one of the vilest groups on earth, and this attack should reinforce our determination to target this organisation and other extremist groups like it. This is an appalling tragedy, and our thoughts are with victims and families at this most difficult time.

- Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP • I am appalled by news of a terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar and the tragic loss of life. I send my deepest sympathy to the victims and their families.Nothing can justify such an horrific attack on children going to school. The UK continues to stand shoulder to shoulder with the government and people of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

- Philip Hammond, British Foreign Secretary

• As the son of Pakistani immigrants, with family in Pakistan, and as a father, I am deeply disturbed by reports the brutal murder of innocent children and their teachers in Peshawar.

Sadly we are again reminded of the tragic battles fought by children simply for going to school. As a country it is important that we stand together with the Pakistani government - to condemn this attack, and defend children’s right to education all over the world. My thoughts are with all the families of the children lost today.

- Sadiq Khan MP, Shadow Justice Secretary

Enchanting Journeys: Kerala in Ahmedabad

Stellar International Art Foundation will present a selection of work by acclaimed artist Paresh Maity at the Hyatt Ahmedabad for the 2015 Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

Maity is a constant traveller and his journeys are a crucial part of his life and the inspiration for his art.

He takes on the flavour and language of every new place from Venice to China, Rajasthan to Japan.

The works exhibited here are from the artist’s acclaimed Kerala series, which are the result of a commission from the Kerala Government to do his own visual interpreta-

tion of the region – documented in An Enchanting Journey. He is only the second artist after MF Husain to have received such a honour.

These intimate watercolours show not just the colour of the region but also it’s luminosity. More than just a master of colour Maity is a master of light. Born in Tamluk, historical town in West Bengal in 1965, Maity received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata, followed by Master’s Degree from the College of Art, New Delhi.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

HEALTH WATCH

Sushma’s Health & Beauty Blog

Go to bed early to keep off worries A

good night's sleep can help you stay positive as researchers have found that people who sleep for shorter period of time and go to bed often late experience more negative thoughts than others.

"Making sure that sleep is obtained during the right time of day may be an inexpensive and easily disseminable intervention for individuals who are bothered by intrusive thoughts," said Jacob Nota from Binghamton University in the US. The findings also suggest that sleep disruption

may be linked to the development of repetitive negative thinking. Intervention focus on getting enough sleep could lead to new

treatment for people who are at risk of developing a disorder characterised by such intrusive thoughts, the researchers said.

"If further findings support the relation between sleep timing and repetitive negative thinking, this could one day lead to a new avenue for treatment of individuals with internalising disorders," said Meredith Coles from Binghamton University.

"Studying the relation between reductions in sleep duration and psychopathology has already demonstrated that focusing on sleep in the clinic also leads to reductions in symptoms of psychopathology," said Coles.

hypothyroidism, there were 495 incidences of low thyroid-stimulating hormone (119.7 per 1000) per year compared with 322 in the normal group

(4.5 per 1,000).

Researcher Dr. Laurent Azoulay, from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, said that the results of this longitudinal study confirmed that the use of metformin was associated with an increased risk of low TSH levels in patients with treated hypothyroidism.

Azoulay added that given the relatively high incidence of low TSH levels in patients taking metformin, it was imperative that future studies assessed the clinical consequences of this effect.

lackheads are dirty, tiny black spots that make home on the skin of your face, especially your nose. These are mostly the result of dirt, bacteria and dead skin cells, which clog the pores of the skin through which it breathes.

Here are a few home remedies that can help you prevent or control or remove blackheads: 1. Wash your face: Don't be too harsh on your skin. But do wash it twice or thrice with a good facewash. Use a scrub at least thrice a week.

2. Exfoliate: Use gentle exfoliaters on your face as too rough a use can harm

your skin too. But do use them once a week to remove blackheads.

3. Steam bath: Taking steam on your face loosens the blackheads, making it easier to remove them.

4. Take a mixture of lemon, honey and add some sugar to it. Rub it gently on your skin till the sugar melts on your face and acts as a natural scrub.

5. You can also use a mixture of ground oats with a tiny pinch of salt and olive oil. While applying both these solutions, keep them for about 10 minutes and then rinse with lukewarm water.

ifteen minutes of vigorous exercise every day could cut the risk of breast cancer by one fifth, Oxford University research has found. The study of 125,000 post-menopausal women found that those who did the most physical activity had a far lower chance of developing the disease than those who did the least exercise. Women who did between 15 minutes and 35 minutes of vig-

orous exercise, such as running, every day were one fifth less likely to develop breast cancer, compared with those who took no vigorous exercise. The study also found that women with the most body fat were 55 per cent more likely to develop the disease than the leanest women. But being physically active helped reduce the risk of breast cancer regardless of a woman’s weight.

Diabetes pill may increase heart disease risk

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new study has claimed that a common diabetes pill can radically raise the risk of heart disease and other health complications. The study suggested that metformin, which is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, can increase the risk of people with an underactive thyroid suffering from low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.

The researchers surveyed 74,300 patients who received metformin and sulfonylurea, another common diabetes drug, over a 25-year period

where 5,689 had treated hypothyroidism, and 59,937 had normal thyroid function.

The study demonstrated that in the group with

Tips to maintain good oral hygiene

B

rushing twice daily up to four minutes using a good fluoride toothpaste will help keep the enamel of your teeth and maintain your overall oral health. Here are a few things to remember: Drink plenty of water.

Eat nuts, dairy products alongside certain fruits like bananas and food like potatoes/cucumber/carrots/broccoli that help raise the pH level in the mouth and decrease the level of acidity.

Flossing fosters healthier teeth and gums.

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...

Flossing technique Wrap about a foot of floss around your index fingers, keeping about two inches between your fingers to work with. Unroll a fresh section of floss for each tooth, and keep the floss tight against the tooth to break up plaque while leaving your gums in good shape. Do not use force while flossing.

Use the right toothbrush Brushing technique Brush with soft bristles and with the right technique. Once you notice the bristles are bent, it's time to replace the brush.

However, even a straight bristle tip can become blunted instead of rounded and cause injury to the teeth and gums. Hence it is recommended that you replace your brush every two months.

Get rid of blackheads with home remedies B

15 minute workout could cut breast cancer risk F

How To Protect Hair In Winter

In cold weather, extra care is needed to prevent hair loss and breakage. In order to keep your hair healthy and shiny during those cold months, follow the tips below.

Cover your hair properly. Woolen caps and scarves (or garments made of other rough materials) can rub against your hair and cause hair damage.

Sushma Bhanot Pharmacist, Ayurvedic and Ideally use silk or satin Homeopathic Consultant, lined caps or those which Lecturer and Author. Heads do not pull the hair or Research and Development cause it to go static. at Coolherbals

The lack of moisture in the winter also results in a dry scalp especially indoors when central heating is on most of the time. The scalp will produce less sebum, which may lead to dandruff. An itchy scalp can be quite irritating. Use a shampoo that contains soothing ingredients such as Tea Tree Oil. During the cold season, we may also lack vitamins and minerals essential for healthy hair since many of us tend to eat fewer fruits and vegetables in winter. To have healthier hair in winter, eat more carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, spinach, broccoli and kale. To prevent hair loss, you may wish to include raspberries, avocado, and cauliflower in your diet. The lack of sunlight during those cold months results in vitamin D deficiency as well. Vitamin D is found in fortified milk, orange juice and cereals. Other benefits include hair growth as well as hair and scalp hydration. To prevent nutrient deficiencies, take a hair supplement such as Nutrigro Male and Female Hair Food Capsules or Nourkrin.

Do not over wash your hair. We would advise washing hair twice weekly.

Wash your hair with lukewarm water. Hot water may strip the natural oils from the hair and scalp.

Even rough pillowcases can make your hair dry and cause hair damage. Silk or satin pillowcases would therefore be the perfect choice.

Drink more water because water keeps your hair hydrated from the inside out.

Include a hair mask into your weekly hair care routine. There are a few on the market Coolherbals Spa Hair Masque or a L’Oreal Hair Mask are a couple of examples.

Towel dry your hair first to rid of any excess water.

Cold weather and friction interfere with the natural structure of the hair. This damages the hair cuticles, which in turn leads to brittle, dull-looking hair. Deep condition your hair. There are different products in the market. I would recommend using herbal based alternatives in order not to cause even more damage to your hair and scalp.

As I say regularly in my articles use the Nutrigro Hair Plan. Focus on Nutrition for great hair –email us for a diet sheet. Use non harsh chemical hair products, Train or exercise even if it is indoors, Routinely massage your scalp, Imagine the hair you want to give you Growth of hair.

Please email us your hair problem sushma@coolherbals.com

Answer to my hair problems?

Nutrigro

Coolherbals Ltd. 386 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex, IG3 9JU

www.coolherbals.com

Tel: 020 8597 9039 Email: info@coolherbals.com

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Amy planning to shift to Mumbai

Priya Anand and Santhanam join hands

Rajni surprises Jeyapradha

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ctress Jeyapradha and Superstar Rajnikanth have acted together in “Ninaithale Inikum” and more films and though she moved away to Bollywood, these two have remained good friends throughout the four decades or so. Recently, Jeyapradha met Rajni on the sets of “Lingaa” and had shown him the trailer of her upcoming film “Uyire Uyire.” Rajni had praised her on her work and said that he will release her trailer along with the launch of his film “Lingaa.” She was shocked to hear this, no man would share his day and limelight with a friend, especially in a field as competitive as this. “Uyire Uyire” film stars Jeyapradha's son Siddhu and Hansika Motwani while AR Rajsekar directs it. Whether it was screened along with the film or not, go watch “Lingaa” in the theatres to find out!

fter a marvelous debut with 'Madarasapattinam' that released in 2010, British born beauty Amy Jackson has been longing for a success to carve a niche for herself in the film industry.

But the vikram starrer “Thaandavam” and Bollywood debut “Ek Dheeewana Tha” did not do any wonders to strengthen up her position in the film industry.However the actress’s future seems only great. While she is expecting her next film “I” directed by Shankar which is scheduled to release on Januyar 9, the actress has also signed one film each with Dhanush and Udhyanidhi Stalin.

These films and especially “I” are expected to give the much needed break in her career.

Meanwhile, Amy who has been residing in London so far has planned to relocate to Mumbai. She has been scouting for houses in the Bollywood capital, sources say. Whether the move will fetch her more Bollywood offers will have to be seen.

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run Prasad, an erstwhile assistant to 'SMS' 'Boss' fame Rajesh, will be making his directorial debut soon. This film is expected to go on floors during the last week of this month.

Santhanam, 'Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya' fame Sethu, P Vasu’s son Sakthi along with Priya Anand are playing the lead roles in this yet to be titled flick. Mahesh Muthusamy, who had worked in movies like “Kutti Puli” will be wielding the camera.

Rest of the cast and crew are expected to be announced soon.

Modi greets Superstar Rajini D

ecember 12 was a special day and also a day of celebration for fans of Rajinikanth all over. His “Lingaa” has hit the screens and fans are literally lapping it up and also the Superstar's birthday.

While everyone is wishing the Superstar on his birthday, the icing on the cake appears to be the wish from the Honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. PM took to his twitter page to wish not just in English but also in Tamil.

"On his birthday, I

'PK'

“PK” is a comedy-drama film directed by R a j k u m a r Hirani, produced

by Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Siddharth Roy Kapur, and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi. The film stars Aamir Khan in the title role, with A n u s h k a Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, and Sanjay Dutt in supporting roles. Hirani has stated that the film will be a satire on "God and godmen." When the shoot of the film was going on in Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, an FIR was lodged against makers of the film for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in October 2013. The objection was regarding a scene in the film where a man dressed as the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva pulls the rickshaw with two burqa clad women as passengers.

extend greetings to the lege n d a r y Rajinikanth ji.May he remain in the best of health & have a long life. @superstarrajini" It has to be recalled that Modi and Rajini share a good rapport and recently the two met and shared a few moments of bonhomie, which gave rise to a lot of political speculations.

‘Roy’ was challenging for me: Jacqueline

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ri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez, who will be seen in a double role in her upcoming film “Roy”, says performing with actors like Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal made her experience tougher. “It was a fantastic experience for me. It was a very difficult and challenging movie and I am very excited for its release”, Jacqueline said. Directed by debutant Vikramjit Singh, “Roy” is a love triangle in which Ranbir is playing a role of a thief. It is slated to release Feb 13, 2015.

Bipasha Basu happy with ‘horror queen’ tag

B

ollywood actress Bipasha Basu, who has done a string of horror and supernatural films, is happy with the tag of “horror queen” as long as audiences watch her films and get entertained. “I think I have done 60 films and almost equal number in horror genre but off late I have done lot of supernatural and horror films. There was no plan that I wanted to be a horror queen. It’s fine if you call me horror queen,” Bipasha, who has been part of horror films like “Raaz”, “Aatma” and “Creature 3D”, said. “I am good with it as long as you watch my films and get entertained,” she added.

I am not doing any South films: Asin

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ollywood actress A s i n T h o t t u m ka l has rubbished rumours that she is returning to South films.

The a c t re s s , whose last Bollywood release was 'Khiladi 786', clarified that she had no plans to return to South after the news was posted on a fake handle in Asin's name on Twitter. "I am not on Twitter and I'd appreciate it if people checked with me before publishing rubbish put up on fake handles.

I'm am not doing nor looking at doing any South projects currently. I am currently not taking up any projects at all.

Hope that clears it," she said in a statement. Asin, 29, made her Bollywood debut opposite Aamir Khan in 'Ghajini'.

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Salman gifts Shah Rukh made Kajol Paris Hilton a emotional and teary-eyed diamond studded T neckpiece

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ollywood actress Paris Hilton had quite a gala time during her visit to India. She was mightily happy in the prized company of ‘Dabangg’ Salman Khan as she took to Twitter to express her thought over the meeting.

Pop singer Mika Singh has also taken to Twitter to give his views into the star studded birthday bash of the owner of Venky’s. Now, for all we know Salman Khan is known for his generosity and the expensive gifts he bestows his loved ones with. So, how could Paris Hilton be an exception to this?

Salman and Mika gifted Paris a diamond studded Khanda and also helped her in wearing it. The ‘Khanda’ is symbolic of Sikhism and its rituals. Mika also posted a video on his official Youtube channel which shows how Salman ensured that Paris wears the neckpiece properly.

The video shows Paris Hilton swaying to some English tunes, while Salman and Mika help her wear it.

The reactions to this budding friendship between two stars have been pouring in and certainly pointed that fans want to see the Hollywood beauty with Salman once in a movie. Only time will tell whether their wish will be fulfilled.

he grand “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge's” 1000 weeks celebration will be one unforgettable moment not only for the fans and admirers but also for Raj and Simran, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol!

The most admired on-screen pair Raj and Simran, who were present for the DDLJ 1000 weeks celebration at Maratha Mandir recently, made it memorable for everyone present by recreating the magical DDLJ moments.

Not only did Shah Rukh oblige the fans with most of their requests, but also made Kajol teary-eyed. With an emotional touch he expressed, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" wouldn't have been possible without Adi, Yash Chopra Ji and you'll, but, for me, whenever I have heard this story, because it was a very modern take of everything that happened and this is a 20 year old film, the whole film revolved around only one character. We all were trying, not only to woo, but to respect, love and actually make a point through that one character and it would not have been possible if that character were not played by Kajol. The film was about Simran and will always remain about Simran."

"Her simplicity and unaffectedness, is not just acting, that's the way she is. Not only as a friend not only as a co-actor, not

Salman scolds me a lot: Sonakshi

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ctress Sonakshi Sinha, who made her acting debut opposite Salman Khan, says the Bollywood superstar, scolds her alot and she does not like it. "I don't like one thing about him and that is sometimes he scolds me a lot," Sonakshi, 27, said.

When the 'Rowdy Rathore' star was asked what she dislikes about Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, the actress said, "I can't answer that because I don't know them well. On-screen they both have done some wonderful characters. Shah Rukh is the ultimate romantic hero of Bollywood."

Sonakshi hailed the three superstars of Bollywood and said it was extremely difficult to reach their status. The actress said that audience's accessibility to stars has increased, which has reduced their exclusivity. "Actors like Shah Rukh, Salman are stars in true sense. Stars are ones, who are far from you and it is difficult to reach them. During their time there was not much media. Now there is social media and hence accessibility has increased. I feel that is a factor which will make it difficult for us to achieve that kind of stardom," she said.

Sonakshi said that rivalry between con-

Freida, Dev Patel split Asha Bhosle receives DIFF lifetime achievement award after six years of dating

T

he octogenarian Asha singer Bhosle was presented with the prestigious DIFF award for her decades of dedication to Indian cinema.

After receiving the award, Bhosle treated the audience to an impromptu performance of her most memorable renditions.

The singer has recorded more than 12,000 songs and is known for her versatility as a singer be it folk songs, Indian classical music, pop songs, ghazals and bhajans.

Acclaimed Egyptian actor Nour El-Sherif was also presented with the DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on over 100 films, in a career spanning nearly five decades. El-Sherif and Bhosle joined previous winners including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Daoud Abdel Sayed, Youssef Chahine, Rachid Bouchareb, Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai among others.

only as Ajay's wife, not only is she the mother to her children, not only as a daughter to her mother, I am saying something very personal, she may be a little awkward about it, but, I'll say, her acting in the film is not acting, this is the way she is. She is purity personified. And the films purity and beauty comes from her," added SRK. After saying this, he made sure he makes Kajol laugh.

Looking at her he gushed, "I have praised her a lot and now I request her to praise me a little." Indeed, the King of Romance is just apt for you Shah Rukh!

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ollywoodbased Indian actress Freida Pinto and her longtime boyfriend Dev Patel are reportedly no together. longer “Dev and Freida have broken up.

They have been done for a while,” a source said. The brunette beauty celebrated her 30th birthday without Patel (24) in October. “The Immortals” actress was, instead, spotted hanging out with Siddharth Mallya, aspiring actor and son of businessman Vijay Mallya. “Freida is single and happy. Friends are setting her up,” the source added. Freida and Patel met on the set of Danny Boyle’s 2008 critically-acclaimed “Slumdog Millionaire” where they played an on-screen couple.

Before dating her co-star, Freida was engaged to her former publicist Rohan Antao. They called it off in January 2009.

temporaries that has long existed in Bollywood has reduced with time because the current generation of actors are friendly and cordial to each other. "Our generation is brought up in a way that we are friendly with everyone. If you ask me about some other actress, I will not hesitate in talking.

Rivalry between actors is something which we don't talk about but is generally written in media. It is true that my closest friends are not from the industry but I am cordial to all other actors, whenever I meet them. We are colleagues at the end of the day, we watch each other work. We tell each other if we like or dislike, that closeness is there," she said.

I’m single and very happy: Sonam Kapoor

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o l l y w o o d actress Sonam Kapoor, who essays the lead role in ‘Dolly Ki Doli’ is not ready to settle down in the near future, and says she’s confused about her idea of Mr Right. Since Sonam will be seen as a bride in the Arbaaz Khan production ‘Dolly Ki Doli’, she was asked about her real-life wedding plans. “There is lot of time for that…I am single and very happy. I think I am very confused. I don’t know what kind of a guy I need,” she replied.

For now, the actress wants to explore the comedy space on the big screen. “I think comedy is the toughest genre. I would love to be called as comedy actress,” said Sonam, whose past releases included ‘Khoobsoorat’ and ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.

Varun Dhawan and my chemistry is real: Shraddha Kapoor

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ctress Shraddha Kapoor is happy to share screen space with actor and her childhood friend Varun Dhawan in ‘ABCD 2′ and says their on-screen chemistry is natural. Shraddha and Varun are starring together for the first time in choreographer-filmmaker Remo D’Souza’s sequel to his directorial debut ‘ABCD: Anybody Can Dance’ (2013).

“Our chemistry is real. We know each other since our childhood and our dads worked together. So actually for the first time I am working with a friend and it is a lot of fun. Varun is very focused and driven,” Shraddha said.

The actress praised Varun’s look in the trailer of his upcoming thriller ‘Badlapur’, which is directed by ‘Johny Gaddar’ helmer Sriram Raghavan. “I loved Varun in Badlapur teaser. It is nice to see him in an intense role. He pushes himself beyond the boundary,” said the actress, who gears up for the Las Vegas schedule of ‘ABCD 2′.

The 25-year-old actress said she is looking forward to bringing in the new year with the cast of the film as she has bonded well with them. “We have shot for 50 per cent of the film. And our bonding is strong so I would love to spend new year with them. I have not made any plans about exploring in Vegas. Remo sir is the captain of our ship. So he will decide where to go and what to do,” she said.

Guards stop SRK from shooting outside his house

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ollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was manhandled by the security guards of his own house Mannat. Yes, it's true.

However, it was during the shoot of his upcoming film “Fan.” Shah Rukh is playing a double role, a common man and a superstar, in the film. The film has been directed by Maneesh Sharma of “Band Baaja Baaraat” fame. The common man of the story was trying to meet the superstar in the scene shot outside Mannat, Shah Rukh's actual house.

Shah Rukh was sporting his old hairstyle in the scene which reminded onlookers of his early Bollywood days.

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UK

News in Brief

Drunken driver who attacked woman paramedic jailed A drunken driver punched a woman paramedic in the chest, fracturing her sternum, as she tried to help him after he had overturned his car in a crash. The Leicester Crown court heard that the victim was off work for 12 weeks and left emotionally traumatised by the attack, Leicester Crown Court was told. Patel was jailed for a total of 22 months and banned from driving for three years. He pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to the paramedic, on December 10 last year.

Knives given up in memory of a dad of 4 A knife bin has been installed in Sparkbrook in August following the death of Ikram Ullah Khan the previous month. Community campaigners said a total of 23 knives had been deposited in the bin – provided by the Word4Weapons charity – since it was fitted at an Aldi store in Stratford Road.

Birmingham’s Lord Mayor Coun Shafique Shah and West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson helped with the unveiling of the bin.

Pupils from a Saturday school donates goods to the Harrow FoodBank Pupils from a Sai school of Harrow donated half a tonne of goods to the Harrow FoodBank, a local newspaper reported. The donation drive, which included pupils past and present as well as staff, was part of the build-up to the school’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

Cable welcomes plans to increase ethnic diversity on FTSE 100 boards Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable has welcomed a business-led drive to recruit more diverse executives to the boards of Britain’s biggest companies. The private sector initiative, called The 2020 Campaign, has set a target of no all-white boards amongst the FTSE 100 by 2020.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Black and ethnic minority representation on UK FTSE 100 boards is currently at around 5%, which is much lower than we would expect if company boards reflected the population of this country. We need to encourage businesses to disclose and record the ethnicity of their executives while making sure they nurture talent from all backgrounds and are truly meritocratic about progression to the top.”

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

NOTICE

Asian Voice will not publish Newspaper on 27th December 2014 as we will be closed and on a holiday for Christmas.

Regular issues will resume from 3 January. We take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

CALENDAR 2015 Paid subscribers of Asian Voice will receive a brand new 2015 calendar with their 3rd January issue.

This year the calendar has been sponsored

by Levenes Solicitors.

The Sun continues to transit your solar ninth house now. In this period you seek to expand your experiences and awareness, whether through philosophical thinking, travel, or simply activities that take you away from your mundane routines. It's an excellent period for looking at your life from a different perspective.

The Sun continues to transit your solar eighth house. Personal transformations and intimate matters fulfill you most during this period. There may be a strong focus on other's money, such as the resources of a partner, inheritance, banking and loans, or taxes. You are more in touch with the deeper and even primal elements of your own personality.

Coming Events

l An important an eye opening community awareness seminar: Protecting our children and sisters, Slough Hindu Temple, Slough SL1 2XU, Sun 21 December. 5:30-8pm. Contact: 01753 790 135 l Hari Aum, 108 hanuman chalisa, Shree Sanatan Mandir, 8am-5pm, contact: 07592 799 377

Baby to be placed under grand parents A judge has ruled that a baby girl from Harrow who was abducted by her drug-abusing parents and taken to Spain in defiance of a High Court order should be placed in the care of her maternal grandparents. Farah Afzal, who is 12 months old, was taken away to Barcelona in January by parents Zainab Rasul, 30, and Mohammed Afzal, 32, sparking an appeal by Harrow Council. The family were eventually traced and flew back to Britain. Rasul and Afzal later admitted child abduction at Harrow Crown Court on April 11 and were sentenced on May 9 to identical 18-month jail terms, suspended for two years, with supervision and drug rehabilitation requirements.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

The Sun continues to transit your solar seventh house--your partnership sector. This can be a time of much learning in your close relationships.

It's not the time to push your personal plans forward; rather, it's a cycle in which you give back to a special someone, and compromise in order to find some balance in your life.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

The Sun puts a spotlight on your solar sixth house.

This is a period that finds you tending to many different details of your daily existence--your work, daily routines, and health matters. You may be in the position to take charge in your work, or to take charge of your health and diet. Do not be hypercritical of yourself.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 The Sun continues to put a spotlight on your solar fifth house. This is a time when pleasure-seeking and creative activities come into focus and grab much of your attention.

You are particularly personally charming and ready to perform and to express yourself creatively. It is also a good time for romance and connecting with children.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

The Sun continues to transit your solar fourth house. This is a period for getting in touch with your innermost feelings and spending more time and energy on home and family.

Use this energy to find ways to improve your family relations and your home environment. A good time to explore your inner needs so that you can nurture yourself and others.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 The Sun continues to highlight your solar third house. A time in which you are most likely to be busy communicating.

Used well, this could be a period in which you come up with solutions to a number of problems. You will be proud of your intellectual accomplishments, ability to socialize and make connections.

Police in Hounslow have warned people to beware of a Lottery scam after two elderly victims were conned out of a total of £16,000, a local newspaper has reported. In both cases, one of a pair of Asian men driving a silver saloon pretended to have a winning ticket but said he could not claim the winnings as he was an illegal immigrant. The crooks reportedly persuaded the pensioners to withdraw huge sums to buy a share of the ticket so they could cash in instead.

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TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

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The Sun’s transit continues to put a spotlight on your solar tenth house. Satisfaction and fulfilment during this cycle comes from being professionally responsible and contributing to the world in practical ways. You will get a lot of support from authority figures during this transit. Avoid the pitfalls by being confident and positive.

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 The Sun continues to transit your solar second house. This is the most "financial" period of the year for you. You have an increased interest in your own possessions, during this period. You are more attracted to objects and possessions that give you a sense of comfort, status, or luxury now. Careful with your extravagant spending habits.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 The Sun transits through your solar first house. You experience a renewal of energy and vitality now, and it's a strong time for increased personal confidence. The emphasis is on self-expression. You are more decisive and forward-looking now, and you put more faith in your own abilities.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 The Sun continues to transit your solar twelfth house. This is the time to listen to your intuition, to take a break from the hectic pace of your life, and to reflect. You might naturally retreat a little and take more private time for yourself now. Time to take stock of your projects now and not start anything new for a while.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 The Sun continues to put a spotlight on your solar eleventh house. You will benefit from networking in this period and you might find some great ideas through others now.

Working in a team will also benefit you. You are more attracted to that which is progressive or unconventional during this cycle.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Amir Khan brightens his chances to meet Mayweather

British fighter Amir Khan last week won a lopsided 12-round decision over former champion Devon Alexander in a welterweight matchup thereby improving his chances for a possible fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Khan (30-3) won round after round using the same formula, jabbing at Alexander and following it with right hands that found their mark more often than they missed.

The British fighter didn't knock down Alexander (26-3) and never seemed to really hurt him, but was impressive enough to solidify his spot in the lineup for a possible fight next year with Mayweather.

Khan's quickness was too much from the opening bell as he kept the southpaw Alexander on the outside and was first with his punches in most exchanges. Khan pitched a shutout on one ringside scorecard, winning 120108, while the other judges scored it 119-109 and 118-110.

Amir Khan "I didn't call Floyd Mayweather out with total confidence before, but now I feel I proved to everyone I deserve that fight," Khan said.

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya said it was a fight he would love to make, if Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao can't come to terms for a bout next year.

Mayweather said he wanted to fight Pacquiao, but immediately put conditions on negotiations for what would be the richest fight ever. "He almost had a perfect fight with a southpaw, which is very complicated," De La Hoya said. "He has proven him-

Fuchs scored his fourth goal of the tournament.

Fuchs made good use of the gaps in the Pakistan defence and sounded the board three minutes from the close.

The German side came into the tournament with a very young side and failed to impress in the group stages after they won their opening tie against India.

But the team kept improving and first beat England in the quarterfinals before upstaging world No. 1 Australia in the semifinals.

Their performance in the final was also far from satisfactory but it was more than enough to beat the world No. 11 side.

Despite being one of

Sachin Tendulkar added another feather in his cap of laurels when he was honoured by the Guinness Book of World Records to commemorate the completion of its 60 years. The organisation has honoured about 60 athletes with a certificate and a medal of its 60th anniversary, which is also their recognition of the achievements of the sports personalities.

"I'm delighted to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records 60th anniversary celebra-

tions. I'm extremely proud of what I was able to achieve throughout my career in cricket and to be recognised alongside so many other greats feels very special," said Sachin Tendulkar when asked how it felt to be honoured by Guinness.

Tendulkar represented India in 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and 1 T20I. He has the most runs in both Tests (15,921) and ODIs (18,426) along with the most number of hundreds (51 in Tests and 49 in

31

Anand beats Michael Adams to win London Classic

knockout to pull out the fight. Still, there were scattered boos from the crowd of 7,768 at the MGM Grand in the final round.

The stakes were high for both fighters on a night where top welterweights jockeyed for position on two different cards on the Las Vegas Strip. Timothy Bradley, who lost his last fight to Manny Pacquiao, drew with Diego Chaves in an HBO fight down the street at the Cosmopolitan.

Khan was a 3-1 favourite against Alexander, a former champion who has held titles at 140 and 147 pounds. The British fighter was offered a chance to fight Alexander for a title at this time last year, but declined the fight because he thought he would get a bout with Mayweather instead.

Mayweather, though, picked Marcos Maidana as his opponent, and this time Khan didn't really have a choice but to fight Alexander.

Five-time chess world champion Viswanathan Anand won his maiden London Classic title after defeating British Grandmaster Michael Adams in the fifth and final round on Monday. Having drawn the first four games of the six-player round-robin tournament, Anand had to win to stay in contention for a podium finish and he was duly assisted by Adams who fought it out instead of going for a dull draw with white pieces. The victory confirms Anand's presence in elite chess for some time. Just two weeks before the London Classic, Anand had suffered defeat against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the world championship match at Sochi and the quick recovery here shows that there is more to expect from the Indian on the chequered board. Anand scored seven points in all under the Soccer-like scoring system that gives three points for a win and one for a draw. With his sole victory apart from the four draws, Anand matched Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Anish Giri on points and then has the superior tie-break to clinch the title.

The London scoring system favour the player with victories with black pieces and both Giri and Kramnik had won only with white earlier in the tournament.

the top sides, Germany have had a bad year.

In the World League Finals, they finished seventh and in the World Cup they came sixth.

This gold would have made up for the disappointing year. As expected, the fans in the stands during the final kept shouting slogans against the Pakistan team and cheered the German side whenever they got the ball. When the hooter finally went off, the 7,000-strong crowd erupted in joy as if India had won the gold.

FIH suspends 2 Pak players: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) suspended two Pakistan players for one match each and reprimanded another for making obscene gestures after their victory against India in the semifinals.

The two players who have been suspended are

Amjad Ali and Muhammad Tousiq while Shafqat Rasool has been officially reprimanded. As a result of the one-match suspension, Amjad and Tousiq had to sit out their team's final against Germany.

According to a statement issued by Champions Trophy tournament director Wiert Doyer, there was a Level 1 breach of the Code of Conduct by all three players and all of them had accepted it during the hearing. The statement further added that the decision was taken after pictures and video footages surfaced in the social media overnight.

Interestingly, Doyer had carried out an investigation into the matter and had said `no further action is warranted'.

According to sources, Hockey India's threat of not hosting any FIH event in the future made the world governing body reverse it's earlier decision of just letting the players with official reprimand.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting will take over as head coach of Mumbai Indians from the upcoming IPL season. Ponting will replace former India and New Zealand coach John Wright, who has been given a new role of talent scouting in addition to creating a youth development organisation to be run by the franchise. Ponting, who retired from international cricket in 2012, was bought by Mumbai in 2013 for a base price of $400,000. He was appointed the captain immediately but decided to step down mid-way into the campaign owing to a poor run of form: 52 runs from six matches. Despite a weak first phase, Mumbai bounced back to win their maiden IPL title that year under Ponting's successor - Rohit Sharma. However, Mumbai retained Ponting in an advisory role in IPL 2014 when he travelled with the team for a few matches. Mumbai finished fourth last season.

In a press release, the franchise also said that former India captain Anil Kumble has been "elevated to the Owners Group and shall oversee the implementation of the Vision for Reliance Sports that currently has interests across multiple sports including Football, Basketball and Cricket."

ODIs) in both forms of the game. Speaking on the feats achieved by the legend, Craig Glenday, the editor in chief of Guinness Book of World Records said, "Sachin Tendulkar is India's most famous multiple

record-holder. He's also an inspiration to millions of people, not just in India but around the world, and we're extremely honoured to recognise him in our anniversary year."

A list of the Guinness World Records held by Sachin Tendulkar: Most runs scored in One-Day Internationals in a calendar year (male); Most runs scored in an international career (male); Most playerof-the-match awards won (international career); Most One-Day

self over and over again.

You can see the determination in Khan's eyes that he wants Mayweather."

Khan never seemed to hurt Alexander but was in control throughout. His dominance was shown by ringside stats that had him landing 243 of 563 punches to 91 of 461 for former two-time champion.

"I'm getting better with age," the 28-year-old said.

"The Mayweather fight didn't happen last year, but I now believe I've earned it this year." Alexander pressed forward through the fight, but never seemed able to solve the speed and accurate punching of Khan. "I was having a hard time catching him," Alexander said. "I tried to follow the game plan but something just wasn't right." Late in the fight, Khan started opening up more, throwing flurries of punches to Alexander's head. Alexander kept advancing, but didn't throw nearly enough punches and landed even fewer even as he needed a

Germany beat Pakistan, lift Champions Trophy

Germany made good use of the new format of the Champions Trophy to win their 10th title at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday last. After coming last at the group stage, they played some great hockey in the knockout stages and eventually beat Pakistan 20 in the final on goals from Christopher Wesley and Florian Fuchs.

This is the first time they have won the tournament since 2007 while this has been Pakistan's best finish in the tournament since 1998, when they had come second after losing to the Netherlands in the final.

It was three minutes into the second quarter that the Germans took the lead after Wesley flicked in Jonas Gomoll's shot into the right of the net. They had innumerable chances throughout the match but were unable to convert most of them. However, they did score in the dying moments of the game as

SPORT WORLD

Ponting to coach Mumbai Indians

Sachin honoured by Guinness Book of World Records International runs scored in a partnership (career); Most Test hundreds scored in a partnership (career); Most matches played in a One-Day International career (male); Most international hundreds scored in a partnership (career); Most hundreds in a Test match career (male); Most Test runs scored in a partnership (career); Most centuries scored in international cricket; First player to score a double century in a One-Day International; Most runs scored in a One-

Day International career (male); Most runs scored by a player in an ICC World Cup tournament (male); Most runs scored in an ICC World Cup career (male); Most hundreds in a OneDay International career (male); Highest partnership for any wicket in a One-Day International (male); Most Test matches played in a career (male); Most runs scored in a Test match career (male); First player to score a double century in 50-over internationals

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SPORT

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 20th December 2014

Australia take 1-0 lead despite Kohli ton

Despite a brilliant century by debutant captain Virat Kohli, India lost their last eight wickets for just 73 runs in the last session of the final day at Adelaide Oval to hand Australia a thrilling 48-run win.

On a day where the Indian batsmen dominated for the most part, offspinner Nathan Lyon bowled a nagging line perfectly while using the roughs on the pitch and finished with career-best match figures of 12/286 to break Indian hearts. After first two sessions of 105/2 and 100/0, India, needing 364 to win, were well placed at 242/2 when Lyon trapped Murali Vijay for 99, and from there on things changed dramatically for India. Ajinkya Rahane was given out incorrectly to Lyon and Rohit Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha failed to keep Kohli company, leaving him to carry a flagging innings. That he did quite superbly until he pulled a short ball from Lyon straight to Mitchell Marsh at deep midwicket, and from there the tail gave

way.

His was an excellent innings - he became the first Indian and second batsman overall to score twin centuries in his first Test as captain - but alas this 141 will go down in history as having come in another India defeat - and the 14th overseas one since the tour of England in 2011. For India, Rohit and Saha have a lot of introspection to do. On a last-day pitch, the target was anyway going to be

tough to get but a bit more caution and responsibility on their part would have given India a first 1-0 lead in Australia.

Rohit turned Lyon to leg slip for 6 and Saha, having just swatted two fours and a six, charged out to the last ball of the over and was bowled to give Lyon his 11th wicket.

The end was swift from here, India bowled out for 315. It was a far cry from the situation at tea, when India were 205/2 and

needing 159 in a minimum of 37 overs with Vijay on 85 and Kohli on 82.

The pair had come together at the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara for 21, edging Lyon to give Brad Haddin his second catch, and began their uphill task with plenty of promise. Kohli was alert to scoring opportunities and drove handsomely off the front foot, while consciously looking to offset Lyon by sweeping the ball not a shot that comes naturally to him. Kohli's six off Lyon early in the second session best summed up India's approach in the tough chase. Lyon suddenly erred in length and send down a short ball, which Kohli rocked back and went aerial to, clearing cow corner comfortably. That six was a big statement of intent from the debutant Test captain.

While Kohli maintained that attacking mode, Vijay was circumspect yet no

less attractive and completed his second fifty of the match off 131 balls. To nullify Lyon, Vijay used his feet very well and frustrated the bowler.

Ultimately, however, Lyon had his say by dismissing both batsmen en route to the Man-of-theMatch award. Going to back to the Auckland Test in February, chasing 407 to win, India were on course at 324/6 with MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja well set but eventually the team lost the match by 40 runs. Such defeats are often hard to accept but Kohli has proved he is a man who puts his money where his mouth is. In the build-up to the series, he many times said that his team meant business in Australia and the Indians, despite being on the losing side, manifested that attitude in both innings. The second Test starts at December 17 at Brisbane.

Brief scores: Australia (517/7d & 290/5d) beat India 444 & 315 (Kohli 141, Vijay 99; Lyon 7/152) by 48 runs

Steven Smith to lead Australia

Steven Smith, 25, was named Australia's new vice captain but will lead the side for the rest of the four-match Test series against India after a hamstring injury ruled out regular skipper Michael Clarke for an uncertain period.

Smith whose talent and temperament saw him earmarked as a future leader almost from the time he cemented a place in the national team, will have wicketkeeper Brad Haddin as his deputy in the remaining three Tests, Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement.