AV 26th November 2016

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi shocked India when he announced the withdrawal of 500 and 1000 rupee notes on 8th November. What ensued was panic and utter chaos prompting the government to come up with supplementary notifications to ease the pain. Following the demonetisation of the higher denomination currency, Indians have exchanged and deposited over £54.40 billion worth of scrapped Rs 500 and 1000 notes at different banks till November 18.

Analysts estimate that the shock of the currency ban will shove 0.5 to one percentage points of India's domestic product growth in the current financial year assuming significantly more cash is pumped into the economy by the end of next month.

Another report said that growth will collapse to 0.5 per cent in the second half of the current financial year from 6.4 per cent in the first half. According to another economist, it would take two to three months before the cash in circulation gets back more or less to the level it was before. Until that time, there will be stress and not necessarily from guys who

26th November to 2nd December 2016

were hoarding ill-gotten wealth but for normal transactions.

Following the demonetisation, people are no longer able to make cash purchases of expensive products without the risk that they will be called by the income tax department inquiring where they got so much cash from, an owner of a retail chain said.

The Reserve Bank of India released a statement saying banks also disbursed £10.33 billion over the counter and via ATMs between November 10 and 18.

Following the announcement of withdrawal of legal tender status of banknotes of Rs 500 and 1,000, RBI has made arrangements for exchange and/or deposit of such

Fly One 4

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

notes.

"Banks have since reported that such exchanged/deposits effected from November 10, 2016 up to November 18, 2016 amounted to £544.57 billion. They have also reported that the public have withdrawn, during this period, £10.33 billion from their accounts either over the counter or through ATMs," the statement read. Long queues were seen the day on which banks opened after the announcement of demonetisation. The government made several exceptions to calm the frantic mass, allowing people to use invalid currency notes to buy petrol/diesel, rail and air tickets, payment of public utilities, taxes and gov-

ernment hospitals.

Just last week, the Indian Banks' Association said total deposit mobilisation by banks crossed £40 billion on November 14.

SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said a large part of the deposits would be withdrawn as depositors get back to spending. But 10-15 per cent of the money that citizens have been forced to deposit in banks should stay back, she said.

She said that SBI has done 110 million transactions since demonetisation and has collected deposits of £13.4 billion. Bhattacharya said the mechanism for exchange of notes was being misused and even though there have been issues with supply of ink, the talk of using indelible ink helped a lot. "I think about 75 per cent of the people were not doing their own stuff. They were being used by others to change money," she said. "The empty ATMs were associated with a cash shortage.

They did not realise that there are logistic issues and there's need to recalibrate the machines," she added.

The Reserve Bank of India, in the mean time, revealed that the amount

Continued on page 26

150 killed as Indore-Patna train derail near Kanpur

Death toll from India's worst train accident in six years hit 150 after rescuers lifted the last of

metal wreckage checking for bodies underneath. At least 200 workers Continued on page 26

The number of Indian students coming to the UK has halved in 4 years, while thousands choose to go to the US or other European countries instead, a study has revealed. Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that 16,500 Indians enrolled on degree courses in 2013-14 compared with 31,200 in 2009-10.

Study has also revealed the figures indicate that Indians made up of 6% of overseas enrolments in Britain last year, down from 14% in 2010-11.

Ministers have claimed that one of the

major reasons for a drop in Indian students coming to Britain in recent years is the closure of nearly 800 bogus colleges that enrolled international students but did not have the required infrastructure or standing.

The bogus colleges were mainly in the “further education” sector that provides vocational skills and certification.

They were closed after 2010, when Home Office evidence showed many Indian and other non-EU “students” enrolled with them were working instead of studying.

Continued on page 26

Indian students saga: Britain’s loss, others’ gain

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ONE ONE with Keith Vaz, MP

Asian Voice 26th November 2016

www.asian-voice.com

to

Nisha Agarwal

Nisha Agarwal is an accomplished public interest lawyer and a leading voice in immigration reform at the local and national level. Her tenure as the Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs is marked by her entrepreneurial drive and proven record of enacting pro-immigrant legislation.

She led the development and implementation of IDNYC, the country's largest municipal identification program, ensuring that all New Yorkers can have the peace of mind and security that comes from recognized identification.

Commissioner Agarwal received her B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School and was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University.

Nisha currently lives in Brooklyn.

1) What is your current position?

Commissioner, NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs 2) What are your proudest achievements?

Very proud of taking part in the design and launch of IDNYC, New York’s municipal identification card program, which is available to all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status. Tremendous to see that more than 900,000 New

Yorkers already participating in the program, less than two years after launch, and that it is making New York City more accessible to a broad range of its residents and serves as a symbol of inclusion and belonging.

3) What inspires you?

Community organizing & teamwork – in other words, when people come together to take action on issues they care about, on ways to make their lives and the lives of their neighbors bet-

One of UK's oldest female burglars jailed to ‘give public a rest’ A 57-year-old woman thought to be one of Britain’s oldest female burglars has been sent back to jail following four decades of committing crimes.

Jacqueline Pinkney was jailed for four-and-a-half years at Lincoln Crown Court and was Jacqueline Pinkney described by Judge John Pini QC as a “one-woman crime wave”.

Pinkney was locked up after the judge told her “the public needs a rest from you”.

Her latest string of offences came to the attention of police last summer when they connected a string of high-value burglaries in the Lincolnshire market town of Boston.

The court heard Pinkney burgled three houses in the Boston area during June and July, stealing thousands of pounds worth of jewellery, electrical items and documents.

The court heard Pinkney carried out her first house burglary back in 1971 and has continued committing raids on homes since then. She had 51 previous court appearances for a total of 136 offences, including 23 convictions for burglary, starting when she was just 12 years old.

The Judge told her: “You are a persistent repeat offender. It is time the public were given a rest from your activties.”

AsianVoiceNews

ment, so I am regularly invited to join people in the community, hear their concerns and ideas about life in the city, and potentially play a role in supporting their success in NYC. Without a doubt the best aspect of the job.

ter without causing harm to others. I find complaining and zero sum games to be dispiriting, and am inspired to be around others who, through collaboration, show that it’s possible to accomplish a bigger vision.

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

I feel extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had in my career. As the oldest child of immigrants, though, I had to figure out how things worked at every step of the way. How do you apply to college? How do you get scholarships or figure out ways to pay for higher education? How do you get jobs in non-profits, in the law, in government? Every step took a bit of hustle, but I also think that hustle has been enormously helpful to me too – I feel comfortable being thrown into new situations and “figuring it out.”

In fact, I would argue that’s one of the biggest assets I bring to my career.

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

My parents. I certainly learned about hard work from them. But perhaps most of all they always, always, always encouraged me

7) And the worst?

I have to wear suits or business attire a lot.

8) What are your long term goals?

I plan to stay in public service and social justice work.

to do what I loved and what mattered to me, and they reassured me that I had the ability to reach those goals. Even now when I have questions or concerns about my life, including my professional life, I turn to them for advice and encouragement.

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

My office is a bridge between NYC’s many diverse immigrant communities and city govern-

Aid convoy ‘used to smuggle funds to Syria’ British aid worker Alan Henning, who was beheaded by IS, travelled to Syria on a convoy linked to extremists, a court has heard.

IS executioner Jihadi John had beheaded Henning, of Salford, Greater Manchester, in 2014.

Henning had travelled to the Middle East in convoys with Syed Hoque and two other men accused of smuggling cash to Syria.

Hoque is one of the four persons being tried at the Old Bailey for allegedly sending thousands of pounds to his Mohammed nephew Choudhury in Syria so that he could buy weapons and other equipment.

The aid convoys were allegedly used as cover to deliver cash and equipment to terrorists, the court has been told.

Thirty-seven-year-old Syed Hoque is from Luton, Bedfordshire.

The court heard that Pervez Rafiq, one of the defendants, had told police that he had been on a convoy, arranged by a charity, with Henning in December 2013, and had taken part in an appeal for his safe return.

Hoque was allegedly aided by a 27-year-old ‘quartermaster’ Mashoud Miah and two

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Alan Henning

other men. The court had earlier been told that Hoque and Miah had been on an earlier convoy, organised by a charity called Children in Deen, and were carrying ‘substantial amounts of cash’ when they left the country.

Hoque faces three counts of funding terrorism after allegedly providing £3,000 and £1,500 on December 21 2013. With the three other defendants, he also faces a charge that they made material available with a reasonable cause to suspect it was for terrorism between December 1 2012 and May 31 2014.

Hoque, Miah from Mile End, 30-year-old Mohammed Hussain from Mile End and and 46-year-old Pervez Rafiq from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, all deny the charges and the trial continues.

9) If you were the President of the US, what one aspect would you change?

Of course our immigration policies – we need humane immigration reform at the federal level.

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

This is probably a really obvious answer, but Mahatma Gandhi – what an incredible & brilliant agent for social change.

Stop discrimination against disabled people Virendra Sharma MP visited a Guide Dogs event in Parliament on 16th November to show his support for taxi and minicab drivers receiving disability equality training when getting their licence.

A Private Member’s Bill that sought to introduce such training was debated on 18th November but was not voted on due to a lack of time.

At the event, guide dog owners told the MP for Ealing, Southall how taxi and minicab drivers refused to carry them because they had their guide dog with them. They explained that they had missed important appointments due to the refusals and how it had left them anxious and reluctant to use taxis and minicabs again.

Although the Equality Act 2010 makes it illegal for a taxi or minicab driver to refuse to carry an assistance dog, Guide Dogs research found that 42% of people living with sight loss were turned away by a taxi or minicab in the last year because of their guide dog. The research also

uncovered that 38% of assistance dog owners have illegally been asked to pay an extra fare for carrying their dog.

Guide Dogs is calling for disability equality training to be made a requirement for all taxi and minicab drivers to help them understand the rights and needs of disabled people and how to welcome assistance dog owners.

Virendra Sharma MP said:“It is shameful to hear from so many people who are illegally turned away from taxis and minicabs because they travel with an assistance dog.

I’m asking the Government to act to ensure all taxi and minicab drivers receive disability equality training so they are aware of the law and how to assist their disabled customers in the right way.”

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Asian Voice |26th November 2016

3

India shapes security architecture India’s ties with Japan and Israel are shaping its security architecture. The lomg awaited visit to Japan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and critical talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on a civilian nuclear accord was completed successfully.

Japanese technology, a vital cog in Western reactor manufacturing will now be made available to western companies seeking to build nuclear power plants in India. This clearance will benefit the American company Westinghouse and the French Ariva, both now able to enter in meaningful negotiations for the sale of nuclear reactors to India for fulfillment of its ambitious plan to install 30 nuclear power stations across the country by 2030. The package included an Indian undertaking to cease nuclear weapon tests. As there is already an Indian moratorium in place this was scarcely a sticking point, despite the song and dance of certain scribes who appeared to detect an undetected surrender of Indian sovereignty. One newspaper in India known for peddling the Chinese political line, displaying much patriotic ardor when opposing the Indo-US nuclear accord of 2008 with similar posturing, whilst China, simultaneously, was attempting slyly to sabotage the Indo-US deal in Vienna by lobbying certain smaller members of the International Atomic Energy Authority to oppose India’s exemption to the provisions of the Non Proliferation Treaty on the ground of nuclear proliferation.

A closer Indo-Japanese relationship has a strong

security dimension, but Japanese investments in India are set to grow exponentially, particularly in transport and manufacturing. Japan has also expressed its intention to partner India in infrastructure development of Iran’s Chabahar port on its west coast overlooking the Persian Gulf. Chabahar will be a communications and export hub for Afghanistan’s Herat province, and part of an ambitious rail network between Iran and Afghanistan. For India, the development of Chabahar has a broader purpose: it will be the hub for a rail and road network system, thereby facilitating the carriage of Indian goods and services to markets in Central Asia, thence to Russia and beyond.

With US President-elect Donald Trump promising to mend ties with Russia, a Russian-Japanese peace treaty for formal closure to the Second World War should be easier to reach as there would be less likelihood of American opposition to better RussianJapanese ties. With this settlement in place, Siberia’s enormous mineral wealth would be opened up for Japanese industry and consequently help the development Russia’s Far East. The Indo-Japanese talks might well be the magic key to unlock the door to new vistas.

It was no coincidence that, shortly after engaging with Prime Minister Modi, Prime Minister Abe flew out to meet Donald Trump in Washington, the first foreign leader to do so for one-to-one talks with the Presidentelect. We may be witnessing the incubation of a new global order. Watch this space.

Indo-Israel ties surge Prime Minister Modi returned home to welcome an important visitor and friend, President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, who had come to India on a weeklong trip. India and Israel have drawn ever closer since they established diplomatic relations in January 1992.

The gamut of their strategic relationship stretches to every area, from security, jihadi terrorism, defence cooperation, agricultural development – particularly water management - fields in which Israel, deservedly, has acquired unrivalled expertise, to education and culture.

There is also a free trade agreement that has been in the pipeline for far too long.

President Rivelin will be in Mumbai where he will, among other engagements, will attend a memorial service at the city’s Jewish Centre where a young Rabbi and his wife were murdered in cold blood in the carnage let loose on 26/11/2008 by jihadi killers from Pakistan.

Hopefully President Rivlin’s visit, reciprocal to President Pranab Mukherjee’s to Israel several months ago it is likely that Mr Modi will follow up with a trip to Israel, with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s returning the call by coming to India. The Indo-Israel relationship is the hub of their regional security architecture, now and into the future.

Trump’s pivots against jihadi terror Stephen Bannon, the principal strategist behind President-elect Donald Trump’s sensational victory in the recent presidential election, has been sharing a few thoughts with the media. What did his victory signify in the broader context?

The new political wave, he opined, whose climax was Brexit in the UK , followed by Trump’s road to the White House, started with Prime Minister Modi’s stunning rise to power in India in May 2014. This tidal bore could have further shocks for the European establishment when France goes to the polls next year, then Holland and Germany et al. The Richter scale movement of the tectonic plates might even lead to the demise of the tubercular European Union and its strangulating bu00reaucracy and myriad self-serving hypocrisies.

Timothy Garton Ash, the EU’s, Dr Goebbels, talks and writes brazenly of democracy, the rule of law and freedom of speech and much else, but avoids all mention of the disasters of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and the biblical exodus of displaced humanity from these parts to Europe. He makes no mention of the Bush administration’s ‘Extraordinary Rendition,’ the anodyne label for the hidden CIA torture chambers in Poland, Lithuania and Romania, not speak of those in Iraq. He cited German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the true light of the free world supplementing the effusions of President Obama, who thought little of having her telephone and office bugged by US intelligence services, with no embarrassing talk of the bugging of her telephone and office by the US intelligence services.

A postscript to Trump’s triumph come some revealing

facts. Approximately 500 US newspapers and magazines rooted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton. New Week was forced to withdraw some 100,000 copies of its election issue because it carried a cover picture Clinton as the winner and an article to go with in celebration of the nonevent. The New York Times has issued an open letter, to assuage widespread concern in response to the deluge domestic protests of its jaundiced anti-Trump reporting.

Media integrity has rusted from disuse in America and Britain, and in India too, one national broadsheet is prone to publish full-page paid advertisements of Chinese government special pleading policies relating to India.

While India media gurus were chanting their praises of Hillary Clinton in unison, having culled their wisdom from the syndicated columns of the New York Times and Washington Post, both hugely discredited in their own country, India’s former representative at the United Nations, the much respected Hardeep Puri, bet on Trump, not to please but to inform his readers. His book, ‘Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos,’ is well worth reading. He appears to be at one with the contention of US Lieutenant General Michael Flynn - reportedly Trump’s choice as the National Security Advisor - that it was the Obama administration’s policy on Syria that had laid the country to waste. Is it not curious that Clinton hasn’t blamed President Putin for her election defeat and, instead, pointed an accusing finger at the head of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for reopening her case of worms as Secretary of State. She’s not a Russian spy, is she?

Tejinder Virdee honours India Sir Tejinder Virdee, FRS, was honored with a knighthood not too long ago – in 2014, to be precise - was his work as one of the world’s top theoretical physicists. A professor at Imperial College, London, he is engaged in taking physics forward to the next stage following the discovery of the discovery of the elusive by Sir Peter Higgs bears his name, and for which Sir Peter won the Nobel prize. In July 2012, its existence was confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, by an experiment devised by a team led by Sir Tejinder. He is now looking to set up a more advanced experiment to

examine the origin of the universe some 13 or 14 billion years ago. Professor Virdee was in India delivering three lectures on his work. In Mumbai, at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, he addressed a an elite assembly of 180 scientists from 40 top instutions across the world.

‘There is great potential in India,’ he told a correspondent. It’s one of the few countries in the world that is increasing its abilities in research – hiring new faculty members and so on. So the Indian scientists can play a very significant role.’

It's never too late to be who you might have been - George Eliot (1819-1880)

Cllr Ketan Sheth

Councillor for Tokyngton Wembley Brent Council’s Chair of Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson launches 'exemplary' new local wheelchair services in Brent have an assessment at The newly-launched home. Not only that, but NHS wheelchair services repairs and other maintein Park Royal, Brent have nance work can be carbeen praised by the ried out in the wheelchair Paralympic gold medaluser’s own home – and list and disability rights there is a rapid response campaigner, The repair service, with outBaroness Greyof-hours support. This is Thompson DBE, and by in line with one of the NHS England, following service’s key principles: a redesign, which was to promote independcarried out with full input ence. from wheelchair users, The Baroness Greycarers and personal care Thompson, world recordassistants. holder and Paralympic There are two new gold medallist, services - one covering announced the official Brent, Barnet, launch of the two new Westminster, Kensington services and gave a mov& Chelsea and Ealing, ing speech about her and another covering childhood with a disabiliHounslow. Both of these ty. She praised the NHS services incorporate the in North West London core principles of Lady for "taking wheelchair Grey-Thompson’s camservices so seriously." paign organisation, the A local wheelchair Wheelchair Alliance, user Alex Cowan then which have been set out took to the stage with a publically in a document passionate speech about called the Wheelchair why repairs in particular Charter. The new services are so important for peowere launched at a speple to live independently. cial event in Park Royal Speaking from the podilast month. um, she said: "This servThe services are ice has a weekend service. designed to meet the It has an out of hours needs of people of all ages service and it has a rapid who have a long-term repair service. This servneed for mobility assisice understands that if tance in North West your wheelchair breaks London. They will prodown on a Friday aftervide an integrated care noon, you can't wait until model for wheelchair Monday for a repair." users. The priority for "It is great that the this redesign is to ensure voices of wheelchair users those with complex and have not just been lislong term conditions are tened to, but also acted able to access the right upon. Our views have wheelchair quickly and been incorporated right with appropriate inforContinued from frompage the 3beginning into mation and support. the procurement, mobiliPatients will be able sation and specification to access their local servof this new service." ice in one of five locations Wheelchairs provide in North West London, a significant gateway to including Park Royal and independence, well-being Wembley. However, not and quality of life for all wheelchair users will thousands of children need to attend one of and adults. these venues to access the service. In some cases it Continued on page 8 will be more suitable to Editor: CB Patel

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UK

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Birmingham PE teacher 'sexually abused former pupil at hotel' A PE teacher at a Birmingham school has gone on trial accused of sexually abusing a former pupil at a hotel. It is alleged Shakeel Ahmed, 45, also molested another student during football games.

Ahmed has denied two charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and sexual assault.

Rebecca Wade, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said: “The prosecution case is that the defendant abused the trust placed in him in his capacity as a teacher and ultimately abused two teenage boys.”

She said the victim had left school but later bumped into the defendant and they had exchanged numbers.

They met on a number of occasions when Ahmed would be “over familiar”, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek, said Miss Wade.

The court heard that on July 19 the defendant had allegedly offered to take the victim to Manchester for a football tour and to watch a film.

But Miss Wade said the victim was “surprised” that Ahmed had only booked one room with a double bed at their hotel. When they went into the room the defendant

Grinning axeman who attacked dad loses jail appeal A “grinning” thug who hit a school-run dad over the head ten times with an axe deserved every day of his 11year jail sentence. That was the verdict of a panel of top judges as Hassan Ali lost an appeal against his prison term.

The 24-year-old was part of a gang which savagely attacked motorcyclist Faheem Hussain as he rode to collect his daughter from school. The victim’s visor was smashed but he escaped with his life because of his helmet.

The savage attack took place outside a Spend and Save supermarket in Moseley, on March 23 last year.

The victim – who was targeted for his bike – took refuge in the shop before returning to his machine. But he was attacked for a second time and suffered a fractured finger when Ali hit him on the

hand, while another gang member swiped at his legs with a meat cleaver.

Mr Hussain fled back into the shop and the gang damaged his bike and smashed the supermarket’s windows.

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and also admitted causing grievous bodily harm and affray in relation to two separate incidents. He was handed an extended sentence for public protection – made up of an 11-year jail term and four years extra on licence – at Birmingham Crown Court in March.

Teenager, 15, raped boy, 5, months after arriving in UK A 15-year-old immigrant who raped a five-year-old boy in a bathroom and said he would ‘break him into pieces’ has been handed a rehabilitation order.

The teenager, who cannot be named, told the victim to perform a sex act on him just months after arriving in the UK from Europe to be with his father. He threatened the five-year-old not to tell anyone and then started crying in a bedroom immediately after committing the rape.

The victim told his mum what had happened the day after the attack in Derby on October 30 last year and the 15-year-old was arrested.

The teenager admitted rape but was spared jail when he was handed a threeyear youth rehabilitation order at Derbyshire Youth

Court.

Speaking through an interpreter in a police interview, the rapist admitted carrying out the sex attack and told officers: ‘I have been bad’.

The teenager was handed a six-month curfew confining him to his home address between 7pm and 6am each day for the first two months. He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order forbidding him to have unsupervised contact with anyone aged under 13 without their parent or guardian’s consent.

The youth was further handed a restraining order forbidding him from contacting his victim for five years. His father was also given a 12-month parenting order to assist him as he brings the boy up.

In Brief

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice |26th November 2016

began to take his clothes off and lay down on the bed and asked the victim to undress too, she said.

Miss Wade said Ahmed had then asked the victim about how he needed to practice how to kiss his future wife, before giving him a “pas-

sionate” kiss.

Miss Wade said they went into the city for a meal and to the cinema and Ahmed told the victim they were going to “practice” again when they got back to the room but the victim refused .

Miss Wade said the victim later told an aunt what had happened to him.

The court heard a second complainant later claimed Ahmed would mark him during football games in PE and touch him indecently.

When arrested and interviewed, Ahmed denied sexually abusing either of the alleged victims.

The case continues.

Father and son attack friend after turban knocked off one of their heads during row over money A father and son attacked a former friend, after a turban was knocked off one of their heads during a row over money, a court heard.

Jaswinder Singh, 54, whose turban was dislodged, and Jora Singh, 30, lost their temper in the street.

Jora Singh moved a wrist bangle over his hand to use as a knuckle-duster, whilst his father restrained the victim, Leicester Crown Court was told. The man suffered three cuts to his scalp needing stitches.

The defendants pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm on September 4 last year. They were both given eight month jail sentences, suspended for 12 months.

The father and son were each ordered to pay the vic-

tim £500 in compensation.

Kate Plummer, prosecuting, said the complainant went to the defendants' shop in St Saviour's Road at 4pm in relation to some money that was to have been sent or passed on to someone in India, which had not happened. Only Jora Singh was present and the man left the shop, but both defendants then approached him further down the street and there was a verbal argument.

During a struggle, Jora struck the victim numerous times whilst his father was holding the man, allowing his son to continue the attack. The victim's T-shirt was ripped and he was bleeding heavily on the ground.

Sisters celebrate parents’ lives

By Dhiren Katwa

Sisters Satya and Kshama Sachania and their families organised a remembrance event to mark the 30th death anniversary of their father, Karsanbhai Sachania. Held at the Shri Krishna Temple in Coventry on Saturday a fortnight ago, tributes were paid also to their mother Pushpaben, who died three years ago, and their aunt “mum’s sister” Jayaben and uncle “dad’s brother” Ramjibhai. Originally from Mtowambu, a village 120km from Arusha city, Tanzania, the Sachania’s arrived in the UK in the early 70’s and settled in Coventry.

The sisters, both now retired, recalled the remarkable journey of their grandmother Adibai Bhima who went from her native Gujarat, India to Mombasa, East Africa at the age of 13. She then went to Mtowambu where she died in 1972 at the

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Schaniaya’s first haircut raises £1,600 for charity

A girl has had her 26in-long hair cut for the first time to raise money for charity. Schaniaya Patel, 13, donated her long locks to the Little Princess Trust that provides wigs for children fighting cancer and other hair-loss diseases.

Schaniaya also raised more than £1,600 for the charity, smashing her initial target of £500. When she walked into George's Salon her hair reached her ankles. When she walked out it was waist-length.

Schaniaya had her hair cut in memory of her grandad, Dahyabhai Vallabhbhai Patel who lost his battle to cancer in 2013 when Schaniaya was aged 10. She saw him suffering from cancer and losing his hair through radiotherapy treatment.

A JustGiving page was set up to raise funds and is still open if anyone wishes to still donate.

To donate https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/TEJAL-PATEL10

Imam launches campaign to counter IS hate and propaganda

A Leicester imam is launching a campaign to try to counter the hate messages of Islamic State. Dr Ather Hussain al-Azhari will use Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid-e-Bilal, in Evington Valley Road, to commence a drive to tackle the propaganda and recruitment of the terror group.

Dr Hussain has produced a new guide for parents to help them keep their children safe and is promoting a leaflet for fellow imams to help them educate their communities more robustly against IS ideology.

Hundreds of publications will be distributed after prayers at the mosque and the nearby Pak Foods Supermarket so that as many members of the community as possible receive the message. The guides will be distributed in many mosques across Leicestershire.

At present, Iraq's army is making steady but slow process in operations to retake Mosul from IS, which has been losing territory under pressure from its various enemies in the region.

Student jailed after blackmailing schoolgirl, 14, with 'abuse' video

Satya, right, and Kshama

age of 99.

In 2012 Kshama, who lives in Rugby, was awarded an OBE for her 40-year service working for HM Revenue & Customs, most recently as deputy head of the Debt Management & Banking section. Satya, mum-of-one, Mona, and grandmother-oftwo, Sejal and Sachin, lives in Coventry and worked in the care sector looking after the elderly. In June this year she was elected as honorary secretary at the Shri Krishna Temple, Coventry, where she and Kshama are involved in the day-to-day running of the temple.

A student has been jailed for blackmailing a 14year-old schoolgirl into handing over family jewellery after threatening to release a video of her being ‘abused’ on Facebook. The young victim claimed she was targeted for sexual exploitation by Mohammed Luqman, 18, over a period of months.

The Birmingham college student allegedly recorded her being sexually abused and later threatened to release the videos on social media, unless she stole from her family for him. The terrified schoolgirl did hand over jewellery and her iPhone but later broke down and told teachers what had happened and police were called in.

Luqman was arrested in early 2015 and last month pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail, contrary to Section 21 (1) of the Theft Act 1968.

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Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

Rev Wilby believes the ISIL is the new Islam

Indian Commonwealth whistleblower was a suspect in fraud case Ram Venuprasad, the diplomat whistleblower who leaked allegations of extravagant spending at the Commonwealth secretariat, was suspected by India’s top investigating agency (Central Bureau of Investigation) of involvement in a fraud that cost Canara Bank 11 million pounds.

He had faced a 13-year probe over his alleged role in the fraud case.

Documents obtained

by The Times show that 43-year-old Venuprasad was required to obtain the

permission of the Indian courts to retain his passport so that he could leave the country to work in Britain.

Venuprasad, who is suspended from his post as deputy head of office to the Commonwealth secretarygeneral, had claimed that secretary-general Baroness Scotland of Asthal, QC, had called for the spending of 33,000 pounds on Farrow & Ball paint and ordered the 24,000 pounds renovation of a bathroom.

Venuprasad and his

company Exim Sales Corporation were named in documents submitted to a special court in Delhi in 2005 that alleged they were involved in diverting funds from an export shipment which should have ended up in Canara Bank.

Venuprasad’s lawyer, Pramod Dubey, said: “There is no charge against my client by the CBI. Neither is he no bail.” The CBI had concluded the case after a 13year investigation, he added.

100 firefighters tackle huge blaze at West Drayton garden centre On Sunday evening, Londoners witnessed a huge plume of smoke, that could be seen for miles across London as firefighters tackled a blaze at a garden centre near Heathrow Airport.

Over 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines were fighting to extinguish the fire in West Drayton which began just before 4.30pm.

The tower of smoke could be seen billowing above the M4 motorway after the fire broke out at Ansells Garden Centre on Holloway Lane.

Most of the two-storey building over 6 acres was destroyed as the fire was

only brought under control just before 10pm, five hours after the London Fire Brigade was first called.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: "Around 100 firefighters are tackling a fire at a garden centre on Holloway Lane in West Drayton. Most of the two storey garden centre is alight and crews have put a

100 metre safety cordon around the incident.

"Around 20 people left the centre before the Brigade arrived and there are no reports of any injuries."

The Ansells Garden centre is owned by Paresh Raithatha and Dilip Raithatha. Paresh told Asian Voice, “The community has come forward to help us a lot. We are very grateful to them. The Firefighters have helped us too, so a big thank you to them.

“The fire has caused a lot of damage to the centre that we have been running since 2004.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rev Justin Welby stated that the recent series of terrorist atrocities in Europe pointed at a crucial need for understanding Islam, according to a report published in the Daily Telegraph.

Commenting on the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Welby said that Iraq and Levant’s claims that the attacks have “nothing to do with Islam” are unacceptable and not helping the efforts to combat and confront extremism.

Religious leaders should take the onus and responsibility for extremists operations who proclaim to follow their faith

and try to understand the motivation behind their actions. This will be the only way to combat terrorism.

A series of high profile figures have asked for the term Islamic state to be dropped - using ISIL, ISIS and Daesh instead. They claim that the violent strategies followed by these groups are against Islamic teachings and should be used to legitimise the group’s own campaign.

He called for a theological voice saying that religiously motivated violence cannot be treated solely as a political or security issue.

Religious leaders have to stand up and take part in

A 62-year-old Indian-origin woman in a drunken state assaulted her businessman husband in the street over his double life with a mistress, a court has heard.

Jaginder Singh is said to have hit her husband Narinder Singh because he spent part of the week at their home near Manchester and the rest with his lover.

Jaginder admitted assault by beating and was conditionally discharged for

12 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 20 pounds.

“We understand that you have spent two nights in custody. We do require you to get help immediately and to help yourself and your family,” Judge Belinda Krieke said at Manchester Magistrates’ Court. The couple had been together for 43 years but 12 years ago Narinder fathered two other children with another woman.

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Welby also urged the European countries to find the Judeo-Christian roots of their culture to understand the mass disenchantment which led to the BREXIT vote in the UK. He was in favour of UK to remain in the EU and he said millions Greeks were suffering because of the actions of European decision-makers. They urged Greece to join the euro on a false prospectus and ultimately turned to the country to become the biggest debtors in European history. The religious leaders have to get involved in resolving the socio-economic problems as well.

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According to the Daily Telegraph, the couple belong to a well-known Sikh family in the area and the row broke out last week when Narinder tried to usher his drunken wife inside their 1.4-million pounds home in Hale Barns, Cheshire, near Manchester. She grabbed his hair and slapped him in the face as their daughter confiscated a bottle of wine from her, the Manchester magistrates were told.

6

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Asian Voice |26th November 2016

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Remembering Indian Soldiers in World War 1 A packed Zoroastrian Centre in Rayners Lane was host to the Interfaith Week and centenary commemoration of the contribution of all Indian soldiers during the First World War on Saturday, 19th November 2016. The programme was organised jointly by Golden Tours Foundation (GTF) and the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe with sponsorship from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and was the first such attempt to bring together all faiths and communities in this remembrance.

The event was attended by dignitaries including Conservative Peer Lord Popat of Harrow, Air

Children from Sai School of Harrow

Muslim Council of Britan Dr Shuja Shafi, Chairman of Harrow Interfaith Jack Lynes who shared the paper by Author of Honours and Rewards in the British Empire Anthony N Pamm on Indian Jewry. The students from the Sai School in Harrow dressed in soldiers’ uniforms from the World War period marched their way into event and each child read out their thoughts and poems honouring the fallen.

A number of presentations, videos and personal stories were shared on the Zoroastrian/Parsi contribution, stories from the Trenches from Nepalese, Maratha communities, story of a cavalry man who rescued the Baha’I spiritual leader in the Great War and an account of the contribution of the Nizam of Hyderabad during the War were all shared.

President of Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe and the local host, Malcolm Deboo while welcoming guests spoke about the importance of Inter Faith week, “Now in its eighth year the Inter Faith Week reflects the diversity of our country and the

great importance of understanding each other and living well together.”

He added, “The First World War started on 28th July 1914, while Great Britain joined on 4th August 1914, and ended on

Tube users to be tracked through mobile phones

Harrow fell silent on Sunday November 13th to remember those who have died in conflicts defending their country, veterans and those serving today.

Thousands of people attended Harrow’s Remembrance Parade and Service to pay their respects to past and present members of the Armed Forces.

The parade led by the Glen Trew Pipe Band marched through Harrow town centre to the Civic Centre with members from the 131 Commando Squadron Royal Engineers, The Royal British Legion, Ghurka veterans, cadets, scouts, volunteers and other organisations.

The moving service saw the Act of Remembrance led by Reverend Mark Maloney.

There was also a prayer from Rabbi Kathleen de Magtige-Middleton, with all faiths represented by Harrow Interfaith Council, who led with the Interfaith Act of Commitment.

Director of Inter Faith Network for the UK, Mayoress of Harrow Councillor Rekha Shah and local Members of Parliament Bob Blackman (Harrow East) and Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) all

Armed Forces officers and Air Commodore Anil Sabharwal with hosts

Attache of the High Commission of India Air Anil Commander Sabharwal, Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar Chauhan MBE – Headquarters Regional Command Aldershot, Warrant Officer John Rock – The Royal Logistic Corps, Dr Air Commodore Fredoon K Amroliwalla, Jack Lynes – Chair of Harrow Interfaith, Dr Harriet Crabtree –

Tube commuters will be tracked through their mobile phones as they travel the London Underground network in a four-week trial that started on November 21.

By using signals sent from mobiles to the network’s free wi-fi, Transport for London (TfL) hopes to

of who lent their support to this great initiative.

Among the guest speakers and experts were renowned names such as the author of "I Can Never Say Enough About the Men – A History of Jammu and Kashmir Throughout their World War One East India Campaign" Prof Andrew Kerr, Genealogist, Historian and Founder of the BlackPoppyRose Selena Carty, Immediate Past Secretary General of

better analyse how people move through stations and interchange between services. This insight could be used to prevent overcrowding. Data from phones carried by people travelling through 54 stations within Zones 1 to 4 will be used in the trial.

At present, TfL can only

India Welfare Society Kavi Sammelan

India Welfare Society had organised a Kavi Sammelan/Mushaira (Poet Symposium) on October 22, 2016, at Kensal Club. The participants who recited their poems on the occasion included Ramesh Vaish, Mohan Gupta, Panna Mandavia, Dial Sharma, Haroon Rashid, Renu

Sharma, Dr Jamal Suri, Yunas Awan, Chaman Lal Chaman, Saathi Ludhianvi, Vinod Kataria and Suresh Gupta. The president of the Society Suresh Gupta welcomed all guests and introduced Hazrate Dil-Phenk Moradabadi (Ramesh Vaish) who compered the programme.

tell where people enter and exit the Underground network, but not the routes they take.

“This short trial will help us understand whether wi-fi connection data could help us plan and operate our transport network more effectively for customers.

“Historically, if we wanted to know how people travelled we would have to rely on paper surveys and manual counting, which is expensive, timeconsuming and limited in detail and reliability. We hope the results of this trial will enable us to provide customers with even better information for journey planning and avoiding congestion,” TfL’s chief technology officer Shashi Verma said in a report published in Ilford Recorder.

Some of the 54 stations included in the trial include Aldgate, Chancery Lane, Charing Cross, Holborn, Liverpool Street, Moorgate, Monument, Tower Hill and London Bridge

Bob Blackman MP giving a speech

11th November 1914. The First World War was for the first time in history considered a total war, because all of the population of the main nations

Lord Popat of Harrow

involved were called into service in one way or another. Multitude of communities from the Empire

Communities and their contribution to Great Britain was immense however, sadly much of their contribution has been ignored and forgotten.”

The event was supported by the National Army Museum and Armed Forces and highlighted the immense contribution and sacrifice made by countless South Asian, Black, Minority and Ethic volunteers from the British Empire and the Commonwealth countries who fought shoulder to shoulder.

Bob Blackman, MP of Harrow East reminded the audience of Harrow’s own local hero, “The noted war

Mayoress Cllr Rekha Shah, Navin Shah AM, Nitin Palam, Malcolm Deboo, Gareth Thomas MP and others

and Commonwealth volunteered to serve the King Emperor and Great Britain. Many who served were from the Black, Asian, Minority and Ethnic

hero Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson VC, who was born in South Coorg, in Karnataka South India, on 14th July 1895 died in Harrow on New Year’s Eve 31st December 1918.”

Harrow falls silent to remember war heroes

Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Rekha Shah led the wreath laying ceremony outside the Civic Centre and was joined by other dignitaries, including the great nephew of Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson VC. Mayor, Cllr Rekha Shah said: “It was fantastic to see so many people of different generations, faiths and communities all come together and remember those who gave their lives for our tomorrow – we will always remember them.

“Remembrance Sunday is a time for us to also reflect and honour

veterans, and serving members of our armed forces defending our country and our freedoms. I was impressed to see many young people participating in the parade alongside our veterans and serving members of the armed forces.

“Thank you to everyone who attended Harrow’s Remembrance Day service.”

Winning poems from the Mayor’s Remembrance Day poetry competition were also read out and both winners and runners-up were later awarded with certificates in the Mayor’s Parlour.

UK Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

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City University tabloid ban sparks controversy The City University's student union's vote to ban the Sun, Daily Mail and Express from its campus has shocked many journalists, especially those who have graduated from the same university, and have gone to work with country's most prestigious media outlets. A number of journalism students are also looking to pull out of the union in protest against the decision, which they believe harms the university’s reputation. Many graduates go on to work at the Sun, Mail and Express titles in some capacity.

At the annual general meeting on last Thursday, the university’s student union voted to ban the newspapers in a motion titled “opposing fascism and social divisiveness in the UK media”. The motion apparently said the titles have published stories that demonise refugees and minorities, have posted Islamophobic stories and “all actively scapegoat the working classes they so proudly claim to represent”.

It added that “freedom of speech should not be used as an excuse to attack the weakest and poorest

members of society” and that the titles publish stories that are “inherently sexist”.

While this motion is largely symbolic, it is

embarrassing for the university, which runs one of the UK’s top journalism programmes.

Less than 200 of the university’s 19,500 student population attended the meeting where the motion was passed to ban the newspapers “in their current form”. The motion added that the ban could be extended to other media organisations with the Sun, Daily Mail and Express titles “merely used as highprofile examples”.

The students’ union said there was “no place” for the papers on campus or university properties although it was unclear how the ban would be enforced.

Speaking to Asian Voice, an alumnus of the University and a working

journalist said, “The extreme left wing media can be just as bad in their opinions, but that's the point of press right?

“It's upto an individual to decide whether they want to buy a certain newspaper or pick it.

“Universities are places where students grow and they are meant to intellectually stimulate them.

Having the material there gives the students the choice to formulate their own opinion on politics etc.

Banning the papers don't make sense.”

Another alumnus, a senior Indian journalist, who did not want her name to be published, said, “How can you ban a newspaper from university premises?

It's a journalism school and this is an infringement on freedom of speech and expression.”

A student, who is planning to go on to study in that university told Asian Voice, “I am worried and thinking of alterantives for my Masters. I don't want my opinion to be tinged by anyone- let alone an educational institution. Freedom of thought and speech are more important than anything.”

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Welsh woman hitch-hikes from Hong Kong to Wales eating leftovers and going through bins for food A Welsh woman who has been travelling the world for seven months is trying to get home from Hong Kong without spending a single penny.

Rhinal Patel, pictured, is hitch-hiking her way across Asia and Europe, asking restaurants for leftovers and going through bins searching for food.

The 34-year-old had been travelling with a budget of between 50 and 100 USD per month (£40£80) but when she arrived in Hong Kong she decided

to donate her money to a charity called Goa Outreach, which supports children that live in the streets and slums of India.

With no money to pay for even basic necessities such as transport, food and accommodation, Rhinal has had to hitch-hike all the way from Hong Kong and is currently in Norway.

Eating has also been a challenge and she has often had to go dumpster diving - rummaging through waste - and asking people for food.

Owner of ‘safe storage for cars’ stole £50,000 Porsche while owner was abroad The boss of a vehicle storage firm that offers “a safe haven for cars” stole a £50,000 Porsche while its owner was abroad, a court heard.

Umair Bhatti, 30, pictured, took the black Porsche SPO Sports Model 912 from an underground car park near the London Eye and sold it to pay off his debts. The classic model had been left by its owner, businessman Arslan Khan, at Bhatti’s airport meet-and-greet firm Garaged.com. At Camberwell Green magistrates’ court, Bhatti pleaded guilty to theft of a motor

vehicle. Magistrates heard Mr Bhatti, a self-confessed “petrolhead”, rented out parking spaces in the car park and was employed by Mr Khan while the businessman was out of the country.

Mr Khan returned to the UK briefly

to move the car to another part of the car park, under County Hall, and alert the authorities — but Bhatti simply took off his handwritten note and had the car towed away.

After his arrest Bhatti initially claimed he had bought the car from Mr Khan for £20,000, then admitted he had been under pressure to pay off debts for building work.

A charge of fraud by false representation was dropped and Bhatti is due to be sentenced at Inner London crown court at a later date. He was freed on bail until the hearing.

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Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

CB Patel

As I See It “There is no duty so much underrated as the duty of being happy.”

- Robert Louis Stevenson Learning and teaching have no age limit, neither does happiness. I am privileged in life that I do what I love the most.

Even at the age of 79, I don't feel tired or bored of my work- which is to educate, energise and empower my readers, my friends and family. And often what you love the most may not bring you money, but it definitely offers you the luxury of making a difference.

Lucy Kellaway, a financial journalist, is a name known to many- definitely to all those subscribing to Financial Times.

After many years of an impressive and powerful journalistic career, at 57, she has now decided to leave her high-flying job, in order to teach Mathematicsinfluenced by her daughter, and impressed with the humility of the teaching profession. She accepts it's a huge risk, especially at her age, to take up a career that a graduate may, but in her own words, “there is a luxury of doing nothing, and there is a luxury of being useful.”

Kellaway had toyed with the idea of teaching for years. Her mother was a teacher at Camden School for Girls.

Kellaway thrived in Maths and she believes she struggles with anything that is very complicated. She does not aim for the privately educated children, but contribute to those who really need that helping hand.

Of course she is jittery about her age, what transferable skills she will take from her career of journalism to teaching, but again she thinks, “Life is finite, I must act quickly to fulfil my dream.

“No, more that life is very long. Dad

died at 90. I may live to 100. It is worth investing now in training again in something completely different.”

Doing what you like and when you like- defines happiness. It may be represented as elusive or fantasy metaphorically symbolised by unicorns and rainbows. It may seem completely out of reach for the even-keeled and more so for the depressed among us. In this day and age, when we have constant access to information, with so much of it being negative, it’s possible to doubt the idea of ever lasting happiness.

But then in Kellaway's words, if you are not happy working around the clock at McKinsey, then you don't carry on working around the clock. It is possible.

More so when you are in touch with your humanitarian side- very much like Lucy Kellaway- creating a trend of 'Sewa' among today's leaders.

After Brexit, here comes Tsunami through US President elect Donald Trump l Earlier on Tuesday he tweeted that Nigel Farage of the UKIP could be a more appropriate ambassador for UK. British government responded that there is no vacancy in 10 Downing Street. l Tuesday afternoon Trump proclaimed that the Trans-Pacific negotiations or agreements will have to be drastically changed to suit US interest. Not only UK but EU will face some challenges. l PM Modi’s campaign on black money is bringing some dividends. There are some individuals trying to cash in the fears or problems with old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. Beware.

- CB (Written with help from Rupanjana Dutta)

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Going childless Double Income No Kids Indian women born in the 80s prioritise their career and lifestyle; postponing childbirth or going childless Smita Sarkar A recent study in the UK found that almost one in five women are choosing to highlight their careers and enter their middle age childless. While women born in the 1970s had an average of 2 children, those born in the 1980s are going for a single child or none. In UK, this is mainly because of the costs of raising children.

This trend is in the rise among Asian women based in the UK; who are challenging the Asian societal norm of reproducing to have an heir to take the family name forward.

Asian Voice spoke to women aged between their twenties to forties on their views about being childless by choice.

Liberated women find nothing wrong with going childless because they are unprepared to take on the additional financial and emotional responsibility.

Not forfeiting their freedom, lifestyle and work hours is what they would rather do - than dedicating their finances and time to raise children.

Chumki Koley, an entrepreneur said “women across the board have to succumb to self-postponement once they have to bring up a baby. Most of us cannot ‘lean in’. I am therefore, pro choice.”

With the biological progression of the sexual union between a man and a woman residing in the woman, they are taking the decision on what to do with their bodies.

According to Ekta Singh a banker in London, not everybody feels a void in their life that only a child can fill. “I myself never felt any particular urge to have a baby. The world is over populated as it is. Human beings want to go on reproducing without a thought for how they are consuming natural resources. To be honest in today's day and age, people who choose not to have a child or choose to adopt are doing the planet a bigger favour,” she said.

Globally, to adopt, postpone or not have a child are still decisions of the educated class. This class also undergoes tremendous stress and lifestyle changes that lead to complications in conceiving and expensive fertility treatments when they

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson launches 'exemplary' new local wheelchair services in Brent

finally feel ready to have children sometimes closer to their middle age. This minimises their chances of having multiple children at a later age.

Some younger women are freezing their eggs to counter this, but many feel no urge to have children till much later.

“Someone once told me that children keep you young and I think they may be right. So don't think about whether you want children or not. Just let it happen while you continue living the rest of your life. Freeze your eggs until you're ready,” said Gayatri Desai in London.

Maintaining a worklife balance is key and paeTasneem diatrician Rupawala supports the trend. “Either one has kids voluntarily and spends quality time with the kids, or understands one's own limitations and not have kids who are raised by techno nannies, that often leave children psychologically maladjusted.”

Childcare is expensive in UK, and many first generation Asian women feel that a lack of grandparental support would make raising children expensive and difficult.

Whatever the reasons, having children are clear choices taken by Asian women and that seems to be the way ahead.

High achieving grammar school pupil found dead

A talented grammar school pupil believed to have jumped to her death on A-Level results day Continued from page 3 after she failed to get into her first choice university, an inquest heard on Tuesday. Harpreet They play a substantial role in faciliKaur Hallaith, 18, attended the prestigious tating social inclusion and improving life Wolverhampton Girls’ High School but had chances through work, education and started to get ‘stressed’ about her exams earlier social activities that many people who do this year. The ‘high-achieving’ girl needed two not need wheelchairs take for granted. Yet A* grades and one A from her subjects in order the wheelchair services provided by the to get a place studying Russian and history at NHS often fall short of meeting the needs Durham University. But an inquest heard she of wheelchair users. Too often wheelchair was left disappointed after finding out she had users find that their daily life activities are got one A and two Bs in Russian, Latin and not enhanced, but instead limited by the History on results day on August 18- enough to sub-optimal chairs that are supplied. get into her second choice of Edinburgh However, with the launch of new ‘co-proUniversity. However Hallaith left her family duce’ services in North West London, it home in Wightwick, Wolverhampton, a few will certainly transform a person’s life – hours later at about 2.30pm for a walk. Her building confidence and enabling indeworried parents Tersem, 48, and Avtar Hallaith, pendence, both at home and away from 50, reported her missing home. when she did not return hours later. Police found some of Miss Hallaith’s possessions 11 miles away at the top of a beauty spot in Bridgnorth, Vacancies for shift work in a residential home in Shropshire. The inquest heard Miss Hallaith wrote a Sidcup supporting individuals with learning letter confirming an ‘intendisabilities and challenging behaviours. £7.80 per tion to take her life’ which was found next to her jacket and hour for full-time SUPPORT WORKERS and phone at the top of the beauty WAKING NIGHT STAFF (31hrs) spot.It was a place Miss Hallaith liked to go to think.

Contact: Darshan Patel The following day police darshan@oakfields.net / 0208 302 8304 found the body.

VACANCY

UK Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

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Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Harpreet Sindhu; US Clothing Magnate April Cornell’s India Chief Background

Harpreet Sindhu

Harpreet was born in Dehradun, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. When she was young,her parents moved to Delhi, so the schooling was there.

College was at Miranda House,University of Delhi, where she majored in World History.

However,everything changed when she graduated.

She says; “After graduation like many young people who don’t know what to do, I joined by chance one of the leading women’s polytechnics to pursue a graduate course in Fashion Designing.� Luckily, by the end of the course she got a job in one of Delhi's leading export houses.

Talking about her father’s role in her achievements, Harpreet mentions: “I give a lot of that credit to my dad because he was visionary. I call him ‘visionary’ because in our genera-

During her long career, Harpreet mostly worked with medium based manufacturing companies, but there were upper – based firms too. These companies collaborated with international brands like 'French Connection', 'C&A', and 'Primark'. Harpreet was working with “Span India�, a company owned by Naresh Gujral, the son of one of the former Indian Prime Ministers. Naresh Gujral's company played a role in Harpreet's life as she learned a lot there and met her current employer and designer, April Cornell.

Harpreet's leading star

tion not many fathers were supportive, or encouraging for their daughters to be self – sufficient or educated, keeping careers in mind.’’ Unlike other fathers, Harpreet’s father was convinced that his daughters should build their own professional careers to be independent and always have the ability to be financially independant.

Building a career

Largely influenced by the envoirment at home, Harpreet did her post graduation in Fashion Designing. Her first work place was in one of the upcoming export houses, which are in fact manufacturing companies that manufacture fashion brands all around the world.

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The first time Harpreet met April Cornell was in 1987, the year when she got married. After that she joined Cornell's company which happened to be a great decision: “I joined her company in 1990, she has been a star in my life. We started the office with four people and I’ve just completed 25 years with her. We have 400 people now.�

April Cornell is an American designer and the owner of an eponymous brand. April and her husband started this company years ago by buying products out of Nepal and Afghanistan.

Cornell’s company produces soft home furnishings and a wide range of girls’ and ladies’ wear . The range is

9

manufactured in India with between India and Britain: the highest levels of quality “I think both countries control. Currently the comhave a great oppurtunity to pany works in an internado more business together; tionally approved factory. so London beckons me.

Harpeet feels the The UK business organisation is run opportunity beckvery professionally: ons the country “She visits the and because I USA often, oth- We started the have the erwise every- office with four opportunity , I thing is reported think this is people and we and collaborated one of my have over 400 newest goals on the phone now.� April and emails.We for 2017.� now work with Comparing Cornell India buyers apart from her home counChief our own brand, try with the UK, some in the Harpreet believes US,many now in that the latter has Europe: Spain, many advantages. The Netherlands, UK – these company she heads has the are the markets we want to highest international stanbe in. We had some success dards of quality control as and we have lots of marketwell as the social and ecoing initiatives set up for nomic parameters doing business in the UK.� required by International Audit agencies.

Getting into the UK market

Today Harpreet has more close links with London than just the business ones: her daughter lives here in South Kensington, doing an MBA at The Imperial Business School. “UK is a bustling place, very appreciating of fashion. London is pulsating, I love this city,� – admits Harpreet.

One of her biggest goals is to build connections here and start some business with UK brands.

Harpreet Sindhu believes there is a lot in common

What’s next

Harpreet has hopes for the future of her company, which according to her is a medium based top level firm. Sindhu recalls: "I know it is difficult to get the business as exporters and manufacturers are always looking for good buyers, but I am confident that good buyers are also looking for good manufacturers who have a strong background, a strong ethical standard of working and I think that’s where Cornell Overseas’ key strength lies.�

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READERS’ VOICE

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Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

Public life In the American elections several Indians have contested for Senate, Congress and other State legislature.

I have noticed some of them being elected and this raises a question in my mind regarding the reasons why the British Indians in the UK are not so much active in public life especially in the politics of this country.

Right from being a school governor, a public prosecutor or even in any elected position it is our civic right to stand up and be counted. I, for one, have almost decided to enter the public life and join the party of my choice.

Pratik Odedara Brent

Violence in Jammu and Kashmir

Two weeks ago I read with enormous distress and pain the news item about the burning of schools in the valley area of Jammu and Kashmir. Asian Voice also rightly criticised seriously the great Economic magazine. I have yet to read any voice of dissent or disnouncing of such criminal activities by any Muslim Lords, MPs or leaders of their organisations.

Why? Don’t they realise that thousands of youngesters who now have difficulty to go to the normal schools will suffer a lot? Never suffer in silence my Muslim brothers and sisters!

Raja Naik Surrey

Heritage and History

The recent edition of the ‘Heritage and History’ column in my favourite newsweekly Asian Voice has been very much welcomed by several of my other friends who also read regularly your publication.

My parents orignially arrived in the UK from Kenya and I myself am a third generation British Punjabi born and brought up in London, England. I was really impressed with the short but well written pieces about the various historical events in the freedom struggle and earlier in India.

Asian Voice must be praised for reinforcing our linkage with our ancestors, culture and background. I look forward to reading Asian Voice with more and more interest. As a subscriber I have received four colourful and informative magazines completely without additional charge in the last two months.

Your efforts to inform readers in our community organisations, health and treatment options in India , the fantastic Diwali issue and most recently a very informative magazine about the Indian billionaires globally is very enjoyable and we, as readers, are very grateful. Thank you and keep up the good work.

Ranjit Arora Hounslow

Oxford University to appoint Class Liberation Officer

Oxford University, Kings College and SOAS are to appoint Class Liberation officers. This is to stop working class students being laughed at and insulted!

Now I remember our Lords and politicians telling us that if there is even one case of caste discrimination it should be legislated.

If you look at the class system in the UK the working classes suffer right from birth. So why are our guardians not fighting tooth and nail for a law against Class discrimination?

Why do they want a law against Caste discrimination without any evidence? Why is there no worry for millions of working class people and so much concern for some vested interest groups trying to foist caste discrimination on this country. We need answers!

Nitin Mehta Croydon

Dear Letter Writers

Is cryofreezing justified?

The fourteen year old girl’s wish to be cryogenically frozen so that one day she could be revived, has caught imagination of the public. Although cryofreezing has been around for some time, it was a taboo subject until now, mainly due to court involvement who granted her wishes against family objection drawing public attention.

The science behind cryofreezing is still in its infant stage, iconoclastic scientist readily admitting that cryonics is wishful thinking, cryogenic business as “Hope Traders” that reviving may not happen for a century, if ever, although some body parts, especially long preserved embryos are successfully defrosted and implanted giving birth to healthy babies.

But brain cells deteriorate fast, even when frozen. The facilities are only available in America and Russia and only few dozen bodies are so preserved, one reason being exorbitant price tag, costing some £40k to preserve the body indefinitely.

Another morally disturbing question is even if it happens, is it worth it when everyone we knew would have long departed, technology advanced beyond recognition, one may feel like being an alien on another planet, life will not be easy or enjoyable.

Cryo-preservation is a fascinating subject that should caught imagination of AV readers, worth discussing, involving science, religious, moral and ethical sentiments.

The ball is now in readers’ court.

Kumudini Valambia By email

What do you think?

We want to know your views on this subject Write to: Asian Voice 12 Hoxton Market London N1 6HW or e-mail: aveditorial @abplgroup.com

Thank you for your letters to our ‘your voice’ section. As you may recall a few years back we made it mandatory that your ‘letters to the editor’ must not be more than 200 words. Despite that we have allowed people to write upto 250-300 words and have edited them as and when required.

However some letter writers continue to send letters worth 400-450 words. Our Editorial team has been editing them every week. However the team and the Editors have decided that from now on, if any letter is more than 250 words, we would unfortunately not be able to accommodate in the paper.

Please note: Letters must be written within 250 words. And can be sent via email to aveditorial@abplgroup.com by Monday 5pm or by fax to 020 7749 4080 or by post.

- AV

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Developing market share slowly and steadily

The world's biggest 76 national economies are matched by 110 multinational private conglomerates of the same size. In addition, 1 billion plus Chinese, 500 million plus European Union and 300 plus U S population produce 50% of world GDP. Their market share and the dominance of the U S Dollar and the Euro currencies in world trade, are here to stay.

Britain exported £508b and imported £582b worth of goods and services in 2015.

In 2011, 23% of exports included input that was previously imported. Also about half of what is exported from Britain is not final goods, but products and services that are further processed in another country.

Britain's share of world trade in 2013-14 was only 2.4%. So the loss of business in the EU could be more than offset by gain in the rest of the world post Brexit.

Both the EU and Britain, as an individual member, would have to renegotiate their trade and tariff treaties with the remaining 162 WTO members once we leave EU. However, regardless of this, Britain should get cracking on accelerating trade, FDI, exchange of technical knowhow and services with non-EU countries from now. This would help them eventually in striking more favourable trade and tariff agreements worldwide.

Nagindas Khajuria By email

Editorial par excellence

Most appreciated and widely read column among intellectuals is “Editorial Comments.”

This week’s editorial “Trump comes up trumps” was no exception. Views expressed there in and coinciding with Kapil’s KHICHADI and my letter on similar line are widely held views of intellectuals who are familiar with Clinton’s anti-India sentiments, rhetoric’s that held back close cooperation between these two vibrant democracies.

Hillary spent three times on her election campaign compared to her rival, mostly funded by Wall Street, Media and her overseas supporters, while Trump’s campaign fund came primarily from his own resources. Hilary’s raptorial vice presidential choice is well known for his anti-India tirade.

Perhaps scrupulously upright Bernie Sanders would have been better Democratic choice than fiduciary Hilary no one trusted.

US and European media were held bent on putting Hillary in White House, did not miss single opportunity, fusillade, malignancy, true or false, to criticise psychic Trump.

Fortunately American voters were not taken in by this tirade, propaganda and voted enemas for visionary Trump, believing in his promise to bring back jobs and make America great again.

With this victory, relations between US, UK, Russia, India, Japan and Israel will improve by leaps and bounds. Queen’s invitation already dispatched.

PM Modi will be welcome guest whose slogan “Ab Ki baar Trump Sarkar” he borrowed and addressed Indian Americans diaspora with gusto.

This could be golden era for cornucopia US India relations with Pakistan and China frozen out.

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

Making money out of misery

Following an investigation into companies’ financies, it has been reported that energy firms have been making more profits than they say.

Suppliers are said to be making six times the profit than what they admit to in public. The cost to suppliers is £844 per annum to provide fuel to one household but, the majority of families are paying as much as £1172, a difference of £328.

If VAT is removed, this would give a profit of £262 – a margin of around 24%. Now that they are making so much profit, would the suppliers return some of our money back? Say in the form of a rebate at Christmas?

If they did, that would be a welcome gesture. We need to have power, we need to use gas to stay warm in winter and cannot revert to using cow dung or wood for cooking and heating.

People who suffer most from the indiscriminate high prices are retired senior citizens who have nowhere to go during the day, and to avoid heating bills, they stay in cold and damp houses and suffer from depression and other illnesses and be a burden on the health service.

The solution is to nationalise the companies providing the indispensable utilities like gas, electricity and water and or subsidise the cost of these utilities. Instead of giving aid to foreign countries which in fact carry a chip on their shoulders against us, let the charity begin at home!

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Shocking events of the century

Your coverage of three shocking events of the century is good. It is most appropriate symbolism of the slogan “Hindu jagey to duniya jagey”. All three events have a global impact.

Please note that these events have shaken the world without any violence. Also note that while Brexit polarized Europe against Britain, President elect Trump polarized American whites against migrants, Modiji’s demonetization was all inclusive, cutting across all layers of Indian population. Brexit was accepted after runaway national referendum, President elect Trump was declared winner after runaway election, Modiji’s decision was also result of rampant runaway economic malpractices.

The world has accepted innocently and willingly, non-violent means to implement remedial measures both in East and West. This may be rightly considered as voice of destiny/ voice of human conscience. Thinkers attribute this to prophecy by Nostadamus. Theosophists may consider this as intervention by Great White Brotherhood of Elders of humanity.

Many opponents do not appreciate the good that may emerge from this upheaval.

They harp upon short term inconveniences and campaign to roll back the decisions.

But the fate has now been written, will not undone.

Cavalcade of goodness will proceed with many benefits in long run.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

EDUCATION

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Asian Voice |26th November 2016

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Can we look over UK kids showing signs of Working moms enable the pond to the US? becoming online addicts faster growth in kids The UK and the USA have two of the best education systems in the world, despite taking reasonably varied approaches to curriculums and examinations, with the main differences being particularly noticeable for students who are 14+.

In the American education system there is no national curriculum, and therefore schools do Selva Pankaj, CEO not prepare their students for Regent Group national examinations. Instead, students work towards a High School Diploma, the requirement for which is set by each individual state.

American students are continually assessed throughout the school year, including mid-term and final exams, class participation, and homework assignments, all of which then combine to create their GPA (grade point average), the results of which are available on their transcripts. While university applications in the UK are heavily reliant on GCSE and A-Level results, the American education system relies on GPAs and high school transcripts.

The UK and USA education systems do not vary as greatly at the primary/ elementary school level, with both systems having a relatively prescriptive curriculum.

American elementary schools provide the fundamental skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as history, geography, civics, crafts, music, science, health and physical education, which covers very similar topics to the UK’s Key Stage 1 and 2. Another similarity is that in the USA, students have to complete state exams for Grades 3-8, while UK children sit their Year 6 SATS. It is only from middle school onwards that the American education system becomes more flexible, while the UK system remains rigid.

The American system of continual and varied assessment avoids putting students under the immense exam stress they would face in the UK education system, but this does mean they have to be focused all year round.

However, this also means that universities and colleges in America can be sure that their applicants’ grades are representative of overall ability, and they didn’t just perform well or badly in one exam.

A disadvantage of the US education system is that there is no curriculum, meaning that GPAs and transcripts are not standardised, therefore universities have to evaluate the performance and prestige of the individual school, when deciding whether to accept a pupil, meaning the choice of high school is significant, rather than a means to an end. However, having no national curriculum does have the advantage of schools having more freedom, in which they can promote discussion and inquisitive thinking amongst students, as opposed to in the UK, where much emphasis is placed upon exam based teaching.

The UK examination process is currently undergoing significant change and A-Levels are reverting to their linear days of old. Little by little, the modular exams are being phased out. This means teachers will have more freedom to explore topics that interest their students, giving them a broader education as opposed to only teaching things for the sake of exams, a little more similar to the American way of doing things. This idea is echoed by Lucy Elphinstone, Head Teacher at Francis Holland School in London, who commented that, “It enables you to develop an academically curious student.”

However, the fact that A-Levels will now be wholly dependent on exams at the end of the 2 year course, moves further away from the US’s approach of regular and varying assessment of students.

Both the UK and US systems have merits, and both ultimately lead to success amongst their students, however one might surmise that a more rigid and controlled system, with a national curriculum and limited teacher freedom, leads to a better education, with the UK being ranked as the 6th best education system in the world in 2015/16, and the US coming 14th according to the MCB Times.

However, only time will tell whether the reforms the UK education system is currently undergoing, will have a positive effect, further increasing the success of the UK’s education system.

www.regentgroup.org.uk www.selvapankaj.com

This is something serious and a matter of worry – British children are showing signs of becoming online addicts.

Figures from broadcasting watchdog Ofcom found under-5 children are glued to screens for more than four hours a day.

Pre-school children are online for an average of 71 minutes a day. Daily screen time for these kids rises to over four hours when video games and watching TV are included.

The report says British children are switching off TV and heading online now. Children are leading “increasingly digital lives” with smartphone and tablet ownership on the

rise.

On average, schoolchildren between five and 15 years of age are online for about 15 hours each week – an hour and 18 minutes more than last year. TV time has taken a beating, with viewing times coming down to 13 hours and 36 minutes a week – a decrease of an hour and 14 minutes.

Less than a quarter of 1,362 parents asked said they were concerned about time spent in front of the TV, while 35% complained about internet use.

“Parents are more concerned with managing the smartphone, tablet or, for boys in particular, the games console,” the report said.

If your mother is working, it is not only good for her financial independence and running of the house but also it is good for the kids' growth.

A new study has suggested that young children whose parents both go out to work develop faster than those with stay-at-home mothers.

These young kids benefit from spending time at nursery or with grandparents while their mother goes to work, the study – carried out by academics from the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics – showed.

On the contrary, children of stay-at-home mothers tend to be less

COUNCIL NEWS

advanced at talking, social skills and everyday tasks like getting dressed.

Children are often exposed to more stimulating activities at nursery.

Attending nursery delivered a 10% positive impact on everyday skills, while more time with grandparents led to a five per cent boost in talking and 10% better social skills, according to the study.

Mayor raises over £1,000 for charities A visit to Syon House and Park hosted by the Mayor of Hounslow, has raised more than £1,000 for two local charities.

Councillor Ajmer Grewal, Mayor of Hounslow, welcomed fellow mayors, deputy mayors and consorts, plus other special guests to enjoy a tour of the historic stately home and gardens last week.

An afternoon tea in the Duke of Northumberland’s private dining room was also enjoyed as well as a

walk through the newlyopened Enchanted Woodland attraction.

Among those attending were Ruth Cadbury MP for Brentford and Isleworth along with the speaker, mayors, deputy mayors and consorts from Hackney, Barnet, Richmond, Havering, Camden and Waltham Forest councils.

Syon House, Brentford,

is the London home of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, Ralph Percy and was built in the 16th century on the site of the Medieval Syon Abbey.

The event raised money for the Mayor of Hounslow’s two chosen charities, Hounslow Association for the Blind and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Cllr Grewal said: “It

was wonderful to see so many of my fellow mayors and guests and to host them at such a stunning location as Syon House.

The walk through the Enchanted Woodland was simply magical.

“To have raised over £1,000 for my charities was fantastic and I want to thank all those who attended and contributed to two worthy causes.”

Khadija Sethi elected Newham's tenth Young Mayor

Last Wednesday 16 November saw the election of Newham’s tenth Young Mayor and a celebration of a decade of Young Mayors.

Khadija Sethi, 15 from Langdon Academy was elected has made Newham history by becoming the 10th young person elected to the Young Mayor post.

She said: 'I’m so happy and thankful that young people in Newham believe in me and trust me enough to vote for me. I’m here to represent and support them and that is what I will do. I’m really looking forward to fulfilling my manifesto promises of giving all young people in the borough more activities that bring them together and working with big business so they can provide more opportunities including work experience for the borough’s youth.”

Khadija will be in office for one year and will have a budget of £25,000 to spend on priorities identified by young people.

Join the fight to #BeatLeprosy

Today 51 children will be diagnosed with leprosy Children like Champa from Bangladesh, who discovered she had leprosy at just 9 years old. Luckily we reached her before leprosy could cause life-changing disabilities.

However, many more children are living with undiagnosed leprosy because they are unaware of the symptoms, and everyday it causes more damage, taking away their mobility, sight and hope.

It costs just £5 to screen an entire school for leprosy – helping us to find, diagnose and provide treatment to more children like Champa before leprosy takes hold.

Text LEPRA to 70500 to donate £5 Or donate online www.lepra.org.uk Text charged at £5 plus your standard network rate. Lepra will receive 100% of your donation. UK residents 16+ only. Obtain bill payer’s permission. Customer care number 01206 216700. Registered Charity Number 213251 (England and Wales) SC039715 (Scotland)

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MEDIA WATCH

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Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

It has been a difficult week for India. Few things come easy in this day and age, least of high-value currency demonetization which is a swap of one category of notes for another across the entire country to the last hamlet and outpost. In a cash-driven economy of a billion plus population entailing a subcontinent it turned to be something of a survival race, hence a grueling test of endurance it turned out to be. ATMs went dry as they required recalibration for the new notes and banks were swamped by the human swell desperate to change old notes for the new. The print and electronic media had endless stories to tell, the majority bad, some good, and of opposition political parties gearing up for the anticipated field days in Parliament, shouting and brawling as they bring proceedings to a standstill at the taxpayers’ expense. The ruling BJP, which in its time was as disrespectful parliamentary norms, did so as its counterparts on the opposition parties, having sown the wind are reaping the whirlwind.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading demonstration in Delhi

Unlike Britain, where the silly season occurs in midsummer, in India it follows Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wherever she goes. The Indian silly season can therefore appear anytime, anywhere. She has demanded the rollback of demonetization. Her projected grand alliance of opposition parties, including her bête noire, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, as it is popularly known, turned out to be a damp squib as a ragbag, Aam Aadmi, Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and Shiv Sena joined her Trinamool Congress mob in a march to Rastrapati Bhavan to present a petition to President Pranab Mukherjee, to roll back demonetization; the soul of tact, the President replied that he would into ‘look into the matter.’ The Shiv Sena broke ranks by presenting a separate petition, since it supported demonetization, questioning only the hardship to the public in its implementation.

A thundering nuisance and bore clearly is our Mamata, blissfully unaware of her warts.

Implementation falls short

The implementation of demonetization could have been better organized and some of the pain and discomfort of the ordinary citizen thereby reduced to a more tolerable level. Banks, for the most part, did their best to weather the crisis. Most were open through the entire weekend, with recalling retired staff to help out by coming in and dealing with overstretched counters lengthening queues of customers waiting to be served.

Hopefully the worst will be over by the end of the month and normal life fully restored thereafter. ((Hindu, Times of India, Business Line, Telegraph, Mint, TV networks November 12-20)

Demonetization windfall

Prime Minister’s biggest move against tax evasion and black money could result in a bonanza of $45 billion to the exchequer come the next national Budget.

This is no amateur forecast, but a serious prediction of the respected Mumbai-based brokerage firm Edelweiss Securities that the government’s measures to trawl high-value currency notes from the deepest pockets of the community of the corrupt and greedy will bring to the surface R 3 lakh crore or $45 billion of black money.

Utilization

‘This money can now be utilized for various economic reforms funding,’ said Edelweiss financial analyst Manoj Bahety. The central bank will be able now to reduce its liabilities.

Government can augment spending threefold on energy, defence and social schemes three-fold social expenditure, significantly increase and also reduce the fiscal deficit ‘As investments drive up the supply capacity of the economy, overall gross domestic product is expected to benefit in the longterm,’ said economist Dharmukirti Joshi at Cresil. In the short-term the impact was likely to be more negative than positive, he averred. (Business Line November 11)

Godrej take ofChairman Adi

Godrej was buoyantly optimistic on demonetization, saying it was a blessing that would destroy black money, counter terrorism and crime. ‘GST also makes it very difficult to evade indirect taxes Combined with this year’s good monsoon, it could catapult into double digit growth.’ Phew!

We had better wait and see.

(Business Line November 16)

Supportive Bill Gates

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, on a visit to Delhi, said that the government’s move to demonetize high-value notes was an important step to move away from a shadow economy to one that was more transparent. Gates said digital transactions over the few years would make India the most digitalized country in the world.

‘The world is looking to India not just to solve its problems but to address global challenges through its innovation ,’ he said during a lecture in the city (Times of India November 17)

Chandrababu Naidu for demonetization

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the high-value currency demonetization, saying the short-term pain would substantial longerterm economic benefits. He accepted the hardship caused to significant sections of society, but he said these would be temporary, and that ‘cashless transactions should be encouraged through mobile banking, internet banking and card transactions. This was the road to the future, he said (Business Line November 18).

Pakistani pain

The Pakistan military has admitted it is addicted to denying, that Indian counter-blows along the Line of Control in the Kashmir Valley is hurting. In a rare admission, a spokesman of the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate abjured the customary state of denial, saying that recent Indian shelling had killed seven Pakistani soldiers. The Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad, Gautam Bambawale, was summoned for a protest and a warning by Sartaz Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Foreign Affairs Adviser, that a ‘strategic miscalculation’ by India would lead to an effective response. Big words by Mickey Mouse has long been the name of the game (Telegraph November 15)

Minister Modi, approving the induction of first modern 155mm howitzers into the Indian Army.

India has signed a government to government deal with the US for the acquisition of 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers with the United States worth $737 million.

This weapon, ideally suited to mountain warfare, is now manufactured by BAE Systems, which now is the original Swedish company. BAE. Systems has chosen Mahindra & Mahindra as its Indian partner for its local assembly and production (Times of India November 17)

Reliance Defence Israeli tie-up

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd is to manufacture a Kalashnikov class of small arms for India’s armed forces in a joint venture with Kalashnikov Israel Company.

The manufacturing facility could be up in Pipavav shipyard owned by the Reliance Group, which will hold 51 per cent of the stake, with its Israeli partner hold the rest (Business Line Novemberr 15)

India-Bangla military ties strengthen

Indian Minister is to visit Dhaka shortly to chalk out a major upgrade in bilateral defence cooperation with Bangladesh.

This will include increased Indian military supplies, technology transfer, joint exercises and closer interaction on combating jihadi terrorism (Times of India NNNovember 16)

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

all officers must have at the minimum a B-Tech degree. Going forward the Navy plans to increase its present 138 vessels and 235 aircraft, plus 1 aircraft carrier to 212 warships, 3 aircraft carriers and 458 aircraft over the next ten years. Its operational perimeter extends from the Strait of Malacca in the South China Sea bordering the Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia to the Straits of Hormuz in the Middle East (Times of India November 12)

Indian students for US universities surge

With a 25 per cent jump in Indian students entering US universities in 2015-16, according to the Open Doors report released by the Institute of International Education working in tandem with the US State Department. There are presently 165,918 Indian students in US higher education institutions.

R.K.Chauhan, a former secretary to India’s University Grants Commi8ssion, said: the growth may have been powered by by the collaboration agreements and student exchange arrangements that many private Indian universities had struck with American institutions over the past two years.(Telegraph November 15).

Hi-tech degrees for Naval officers

The Indian Navy in its drive to create a first-rate force is building an armada of warships and submarines fit for purpose in the 21st century. To this it has added the qualification imperative that

Scientist Professor Tejinder Virdee in India. see comment page 3

Border post linked

Long years of grueling labour against insuperable odds have been rewarded at long last been rewarded at long last, with the opening of road linking the strategic military post on the Indo-China border in Uttarkhand with Malari, located 40 km away.

It was opened for vehicular traffic of the Indian Army and the IndoTibetan Border Police The route is 11,000ft high and the mountainous rock face presenting formiable obstacles for engineers and sappers. ‘It will now take us approximately three hours from to reach Rinkhim from Joshinath while earlier the time taken was almost two days,’ said an Army officer (Times of India November 11)

Narendra Modi paying respects to Japanese Emperor. see comment page 3

Moving on from Bofors

The spectre of the Bofors affair decades ago has finally been exorcized by the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime

Modi welcoming Israel President Reuven Rivlin with hug. see comment page 3

UK Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

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Duncan Lewis Solicitors' Jaswinder Kalsi receives Lifetime Achievement Award On Saturday, 19th November 2016, Family & Child Care Solicitor Jaswinder Kalsi from legal 500 'Top Tier' firm Duncan Lewis Solicitors received the Society of Asian Lawyers’ Prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) aims to promote and develop the legal profession in the Asian community within the UK. SAL’s prestigious flagship event, the Annual Awards & Ball 2016 took place on Saturday 19th November 2016 in London. At the heart of this night there are four awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award, Criminal Lawyer 2016, Commercial/Civil Lawyer 2016 and the Rising Star Award, which are presented to individuals that have been recognised to have excelled in their chosen fields. Their independent judging panel included HHJ Pegden QC, HHJ Mithani QC and DJ Mason CBA and Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ Jaswinder Kalsi was selected as this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jaswinder said of her

Jaswinder Kalsi

award; “absolutely surprised, humbled and honoured. I have carried out over 20 years of Legal Aid work with the most vulnerable of our society. I first volunteered at the Southall Rights Law Centre which was a first of its kind and led campaigns against police brutality, antiracism and National Front marches. I have been engaged Pro Bono work with CABs, voluntary advice line at the Rights of Women, advice clinics with Women’s Refuges and working closely with other charities. I have also assisted with organising fund raising with other local community groups and temples for victims of floods and food drives for

SWAT, who provide food and clothing for the homeless. This work has been a part of my life as well as having been lucky in representing some ground breaking cases before the family courts”.

Jaswinder works in the Family department and is based in the firm’s Harrow office.

She has over 20 years of experience as a Solicitor and has specialised in Family Law matters for 10 years.

Jaswinder was the founder of the Asian Women’s Lawyers Network and has throughout her career engaged in voluntary legal advice work with local CAB, Women's Group and the Rights of Women. Additionally, by being able to speak Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi, this has allowed her to help those in the Asian community that are unable to speak English. She continues to fund raise at the Sikh Temple and has previously taken part in charity functions including a Mount Snowdon Climb and annual food runs for a local homeless charity.

Airbnb Row in the spotlight: discriminative bias and squeeze to short-term stays

We are all familiar with Airbnb.

For those not familiar with it, Airbnb is in its simplest form, a peer to peer hosting site that enables a home Anthony Okumah owner called the host, to rent out his or her home to a guest on a short-term basis. Airbnb and other similar sites have led to the emergence of homeowners seeking to cash in on renting out their homes on a short-term basis and has also recently been the subject of its client’s reprimands.

The company has captured public attention in the UK as Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he "supports the right of people to benefit from renting out their homes for short periods" but this "must be balanced against the need to ensure that Londoners are not adversely affected". In a letter Mr Khan has written to MPs about "concerns" that the short-term rental service is reducing the availability of long-term rentals the mayor says that a change in the law may be required.

In the US, a similar situation is occurring. Airbnb is in the middle of a legal battle with the state of New York to combat a new law against short-term rentals. It follows a bill, recently signed by New York governor Andrew Cuomo that will fine tenants or landlords for renting out their apartments for less than 30 days. The aim is to prevent people from converting their apartments into hotels without paying tax.

San Francisco too has metaphorically put a squeeze on Airbnb. The city's Board of Supervisors recently

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ruled that hosts can rent out their houses and apartments on the home-rental marketplace for only 60 days per calendar year. This legislation comes after years of haggling between the city and Airbnb.

Airbnb has more than 2 million listings in nearly 200 countries, is waging battles with lawmakers around the world. Officials in other cities are looking to San Francisco to set an example of how best to regulate the eight-year-old start-up -this ruling could have a ripple effect.

Airbnb has also been at the centre of a bias row. A new “community commitment” was added at the close of October due to client testimonials concerning discriminating hosts. All users of Airbnb must accept an agreement that reads: “You commit to treat everyone – regardless of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age – with respect, and without judgment or bias.” Users who don’t agree must stop hosting or travelling with the site.

The tribulations of Airbnb provide a warning that discrimination is not only a matter of seriousness to the victims involved. Rival Airbnb-style companies have been launched recently as a means of offering travellers safe accommodation experiences.

Author Anthony Okumah is a Director and Head of the Duncan Lewis Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. He specialises in dispute resolution, also has an in-depth experience of boundary and neighbourhood dispute cases and additionally he regularly conducts his own advocacy in both the County Court and the High Court.

Sari-clad May pulled off desi look with panache

Recently British Prime Minister Theresa May turned heads when she wore a gold and green saree while visiting the Halasuru Someshwara Temple in Bengaluru on November 8. She pulled off the desi look with elan. She donned the sari to drum up trade for Britain during her India visit. Her impeccable sartorial sense just floored everyone.

Moreover, her wearing the sari was a polite way of affirming Indian customs and is no more incongruous than an Indian politician wearing evening dress at a similar event in Britain.

This is not the first time she had worn a sari. Jaws dropped when she appeared in a colourful sari at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in

British PM Theresa May wears a sari for a visit to a temple in Bangalore

London in 2010. In fact, May had made her first speech as the home secretary wearing a turquoise sari. Also, this is not the first time any UK politician or politician's wife had dazzled the world in an Indian outfit.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife Sarah Brown had worn an Indian

dress during an official visit to New Delhi in 2008.

Earlier in 2015 at the Wembley Stadium, Samantha Cameron, wife of former PM David Cameron, too had worn a crimson-coloured sari while attending visiting Indian PM Narendra Modi's reception at the stadium.

14

UK

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

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Southwark Hindu Centre celebrates Diwali

CELEBRATE this Christmas on a TRAVEL DIARY

SUNNY BEACH

Christmas and New Year celebration with friends and family have been a long standing tradition in most of the Western world, but people living in the cold climate and withstanding the rain and wind on daily basis, actually look for alternatives. After years of being bundled up during the winter days, one starts to wonder if there is any way to spend the holidays in a better way- especially if they are not worried about children's school holidays.

Those with resources could perhaps make a trip to Hawaii or a cruise in Jamaica, but there are many other countries or destinations that are warm and can be fantastic places to visit during these winter months.

Don't fret, you are late to book but not that late either. So quickly book your flights/tickets and hotels, check for visa and get set go.

Tickets may be more expensive than otherwise- but that's the price you pay to lie on a sunny beach, while we stay under layers of blanket, shivering in the cold, waiting for the sun at least appear once a week.

There are all kinds of research showing that the cheapest time to book flights and even research showing that hotel prices often drop a month or two out, but the key exception to both of those is around big holidays like Christmas. There are no last-minute deals on flights just before or after Christmas, at least to and from sunshine destinations.

BELOW ARE FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS-SUNSHINE BREAK:

GOA, INDIA

some research before choosing a beach hotel in Goa, because most of them may not suit you. Room rates are quite reasonable even during this busiest time of the year, although it’s important to note that the cheapest hotels in Goa (and all over India) could be disappointing.

PUNTA CANA/PUERTO PLATA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

hotels at great prices, and its two most popular resort areas are Punta Cana (on the eastern tip) and Puerto Plata (on the northern shore). Each has about 200 hotels to choose from, including dozens of all-inclusive resorts designed to keep you there for your entire stay. The weather and resort prices are similar in both places in late December, so either one would be a fine choice for someone looking for a cheap and warm place to spend a week.

• December temp: 21-33°C Goa has been a famous hippie hangout for tourists for decades now, but it’s also popular with families this time of the year, including many from elsewhere in India. Do

• December temp: 22-28°C The Dominican Republic has a reputation for its large all-inclusive

PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO

• December temp: 18-30°C On Mexico’s Pacific coast, Puerto Vallarta remains as one of the country’s tourism jewels. Not only has it avoided the safety problems that a few other resort areas have struggled with in recent years, but it’s also regarded as the most interesting and authentic of Mexico’s resort areas.

The weather during Christmas time is pretty much perfect for anyone wanting to escape the cold, and the large international airport also has good deals on flights from many North American cities as well. Hotels for well under £80 per night per couple are easy to find, although if you want a welllocated chain hotel you’ll be paying at least a bit more.

Southwark Hindu Centre celebrated Diwali on Sunday from 5-9pm, which was attended by around 150 people. Southwark which is home to 2% of London's Indian population, elected its first Indian Councillor and Mayor in Borough of Southwark- Cllr Sunil Chopra. Special guests at this event included Helen Hayes MP and Lord Roy Kennedy. Both appreciated the hard work of the Trustees and Members and

also mentioned about the importance of Diwali.

Cultural programme at the event included singing and dance by children.

Fahad, a renowned singer entertained the audience with his melodious Bollywood songs. President of the organisation, Cllr Sunil Chopra welcomed the guests. The present VIP Guests lit candles at the begining of the programme and vegetarian dinner was served to all the guests.

Make sure you get the best deals this Black Friday

TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN

• December temp: 16-22°C Tenerife is the most English-languagefriendly of Spain’s Canary Islands, which are just west of Morocco (and about the same latitude as central Florida). It’s not nearly as hot as you would like it to be, but it’s still damn nice so it’s very popular among Europeans looking for something warmer.

Partly because it’s not really a great beach season, hotels in Tenerife are still quite cheap during the Christmas holiday period. Most everything else is quite affordable as well. Especially if you are looking for a place with reasonable airfares from elsewhere in Europe, this could be a good choice. The area around Los Cristianos and Playa de la Americas is the easiest for English speakers, and it has the most consistent warm weather as well.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

• December temp: 16-26°C One of the most unusual and luxurious destinations anywhere, Dubai is a huge and booming city with a few nice beaches and an extremely busy airport. The period in late December is one of the nicer times of the year, so it can get pretty crowded during the holidays. The main activity here is shopping at enormous malls filled with all ranges of goods at reasonable prices.

Desert safari by the Arabian Nights is well recommended.

(Ref: www.priceoftravel.com)

Black Friday is the new boxing day. The preChristmas sales bonanza that we have inherited about 5 years ago, from our friends in the US, isn't supposed to begin until Friday 25 November- the day after Thanksgiving.

However retailers have already started offering deals ahead of the date.

Black Friday was originally an American tradition, dropping on the day after Thanksgiving each year. Retailers offer massive discounts on a masses of products in an attempt to persuade you to spend your hard earned in the run-up to Christmas.

But UK retailers have jumped on the bandwagon in recent years so bargain hunters over here get the chance at some festive deals.

Top tips to making sure you get the best deals this Black Friday: Which? Has explained that shopping online, shops must guarantee a 14-day returns window for non-faulty goods, however on the high street your rights can differ from store to store.

If you change your mind about something you buy, it’s important you know how to find out about your consumer rights and how to exercise them. According to a report in Mirror, here's some top tips from

Which? to get you started: • Your return rights may be stronger if you shop online - you are legally entitled to a full refund for a non-faulty, online purchase if you change your mind within 14 days of delivery, but this may not be the case if you bought it in store.

• The delivery period may be way longer than usual- so if you are shopping for Christmas, expect the risks involved.

• Be aware of online scams - it’s always best to double-check the domain name of the website you’re buying from and beware of unusual payment methods, like bank transfers.

• Your return rights for non-faulty products may vary from store to store whilst some stores may choose to offer a full refund for a product you no longer want, others may disappoint consumers by offering a credit note, an exchange or nothing.

• If you’re shopping on the high street, make sure you check the individual return policy, warranty/guarantee policy at the till.

• Not all products will be the cheapest on Black Friday itself - research found that only 8% of the Black Friday deals we checked from last year were cheapest on Black Friday itself.

UK Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

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Conservative Friends of India celebrates Diwali

Lord Jitesh Gadhia, Ranjit Singh Baxi, Paul Scully MP, Robert Courts MP, Shailesh Vara MP, Michael Ellis MP, Rishi Sunak MP and Mike Wood MP

Conservative Friends of India recently celebrated Diwali at a reception at the Mint Leaf restaurant in the Haymarket. The event was hosted by Shailesh Vara MP and Ranjit Singh Baxi, the two Co-Chairmen of the group.

The event focused on young professionals and the other speakers during the evening were Rishi Sunak MP and Robert Courts MP. In the case of Mr Courts, it was his first engagement since recently being elected the MP for Witney, where he replaced former Prime David Minister, Cameron.

Rishi Sunak spoke about minority engagement in British politics and abroad while Robert Courts commented on the importance of family and the bond between Britain and India.

Shailesh Vara MP, Co-Chairman of CF India spoke of the increased number of British Indians giving their support to the Conservative Party and why it is important for the community to become more involved in public life - as local councillors, school governors, Magistrates as well as standing for Parliament. He added, "Diwali is an important

festival which is celebrated throughout the world and it was good to celebrate it with so many of my fellow Parliamentarians and CF India members. It was certainly a very enjoyable evening."

Mr Ranjit Singh Baxi spoke of the strengthening of UK-India ties, particularly in terms of stronger and better trade relations.

Others attending the event included Michael Ellis MP, Amanda Milling MP, Paul Scully MP, Mike Wood MP and Lord Gadhia together with over 100 CF India Members.

15

IN SUPPORT OF PHARMACY As we stand on the precipice of uncertainty caused by the imposition, we must describe our own future more clearly. However, I encourage all involved in community pharmacy to access the PSNC website for a comprehensive explanation and illustrative figures; as there are still contractors who have not absorbed what has finally come to pass.

However, the continuing inconsistent message that community pharmacy is receiving from Govt makes strategic planning extremely confusing as its policy requires reconfiguration and savings, and seems to want both tomorrow. Whilst this may be understandable given the NHS’s rush towards economic oblivion, the leap of faith to deliver service redesign whilst also saving money seems bold.

The problem for pharmacy will be to continue to offer a high, and more importantly, safe level of service, whilst having little insight into the shape of a future network.

The reality of our position is that logic and planning, at least so far as pharmacy has been concerned, have been abandoned due to economic pressures. I might add hastily, it seems to me that the economic pressures are not within or caused by pharmacy per se are but elsewhere within the NHS. So the logical response given the lack of clarity or discernible logic of the Dept’s actions may be, because this is not the endpoint, must be to reduce costs accordingly.

The opportunities to extract cost are really all around staff and here is the paradox – reducing staff reduces service. But service is the arena within which we all compete so it will be important that services are costed accurately in the future, not offered as bait to attract volume as has previously been the case.

For years the supply chain and generics

margin has kept pharmacy and a significant proportion of the NHS afloat and whilst contractors were both able and willing to give excess margin back by way of services, e.g.

MDS and delivery, this compact is now broken. Peter Cattee, Community As a distracting signal Pharmacist for Govt, purchasers of PCT Healthcare pharmacy’s goodwill do not seem to have grasped these simple truths yet they considerably misunderstand and undervalue the risk associated with the coming changes – but they will grasp it at some point.”

The Minister David Mowat has talked of scaremongering, but he himself is now playing chicken with contractors' economic futures and the safety of patients as pharmacy services will buckle rather than simply close. After all with their liabilities of lease, staff and debt, what else can they do but carry on to dysfunction rather than surrender?

The other part of the response is to increase retail and non-NHS sales, and one would have hoped that with support from the NHS, pharmacy would have been Govt’s primary opportunity to support patients towards increasing self-care – surprisingly this aspect seems to have been almost completely ignored.

I would ask you now to consider a final question – who is your customer?

Pharmacy seems an unusual business to me, as the patient - our “customer”- is a proxy for the payer, who is a monopsonist Govt. Our true customer currently seems to be the treasury – when we can understand their plans for pharmacy we should all be in a better position to judge our future.

SPECIAL

SPECIAL Asian Voice |26th November 2016

First female Indian Barrister Cornelia Sorabji's 150th birth anniversary celebrated www.asian-voice.com

Asian Voice |26th November 2016

Rani Singh & Rupanjana Dutta

The High Commission of India in the UK organised an event to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Cornelia Sorabji, the very first woman of any nationality to study law at Oxford, and also the first female Indian Barrister. The event was organised in collaboration with Somerville College, Oxford, where Ms. Sorabji did her law studies.

T

he event was very well attended with participation of senior judges, legal practitioners, faculty and students from law schools, representatives from some of the most eminent legal firms in the UK, entrepreneurs, historians, writers, editors and media personnel.

Some of the key atten-

of Wards, serving sequestered women, and their families, fighting for their education and legal rights.

The event also highlighted the postgraduate law scholarships for Indian students launched this year at Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development Somerville College, in mem-

AsianVoiceNews

and the audience had moved over to the Nehru Hall for a sumptuous dinner, Acting High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Dinesh K.Patnaik stood outside the halls in the central area on the first floor and spoke to us. He said, “We were talking about a personality who opened doors in the world.

She was a first woman lawer to study in Oxford. In India, she fought against things when everybody tried to stop her. She got a scholarship to come here when the UK wanted to deny her a scholarship, she got to study in Oxford and Oxford refused her. So she is somebody who always has broken values.

But today was not a celebration of the woman Cornelia

Acting Indian High Commissioner HE Dinesh Patnaik addressing the gathered audience

dees and speakers included British Indian entrepreneur and life peer Lord Bilimoria (who is also the nominated representative of the Government of India for the Indira Gandhi Scholarships at Somerville College), Dr Alice Prochaska (Principal, Somerville College), Prof.

Anne Davies and Prof.

Timothy Endicott Deans of Oxford Law Faculty, Lady Hazel Fox, QC, Judge Rabinder Singh (the first full-time high court judge from Asia), Judge Deborah Taylor, Malcolm Deboo, (President of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe), Prof. Sir Richard Sorabji (official biographer of Ms. Cornelia Sorabji) and Dr Kusoom Vadgama, historian and editor of 'An Indian Portia: Selected Writings of Cornelia Sorabji'.

The Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Dinesh K. Patnaik and other speakers spoke in detail about the exemplary life of Ms. Sorabji who overcame all odds to become the first woman to study at Bombay University, where she won first-class honours. She came to Oxford with the help of a subscription raised by members of the British liberal establishment and later became the first woman of any nationality to study Law at Oxford. Cornelia Sorabji went on to serve as legal advisor to the Bengal Court

ory of Cornelia Sorabji.

The nephew of Cornelia, Sir Richard Professor Sorabji told Asian Voice, “Well, I think it’s so important that Indian lawers are now being given scolarships to come to Somerville which has such a tradition in law and in women lawers. I think Indian law is extremely interesting, I think it’s constitution is very impressive. I think it’s amazing how much British law they were willing to accept but reinterpreted. So this came out very differently, in effect.”

Lord Karan Bilimoria was smiling as ever, and spoke to this paper after the speeches were over.

Standing close to the bright lights with Gandhi also smiling down on him, he said, “Today for us to celebrate Cornelia Sorabji’s 150th Birth Anniversary on international students’ day, 17th of Novermber, when I am speaking at the House of Lords in a debate on international students, when I have hosted an event as the chair of the all Party Parliament Group of international students. It’s ambiguity beyond belief. There is somebody who broke all the glass ceilings with what she did, when she did it in India.

In Britain being the first woman to study law at Oxford ever. And she was an Indian woman.”

Once speeches were over

Sorabji; it is the celebration of womanhood, it is a celebration of never ending, of keeping striving, fighting; and also the fact that in today’s world we need role models. We need role models that we can look up to for the younger generation, for everybody else.”

Dr Alice Prochaska, Principal of Somerville seemed rather happy. She said: “We are very proud to

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Somerville in future as we do already to our Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development. And of the things really great about our scheme is that we expect our scholars to return to India.

So we’ve had the support of the government of India and we are looking for more support for people in India with the expectation that what the students do and learn in Oxford will go back to India and help to develop law, to develop society there as well.”

Dr Kusoom Vadgama, speaking to Asian Voice said, “Lived with this woman for 30 years.

She decided to go to the most deprived people and help them in a way only she could. She has shown her c o u r a g e against all odds. She always used to say,’my heart beats with two pulses; once for India, once for Britain.”

The Cornelia Sorabji Law Programme

Cornelia Sorabji, the first female law student at Oxford in 1889 continues to provide a pioneering link between India and the University of Oxford. Cornelia Sorabji was not only Somerville College’s first Indian student, but was also the first Indian woman to study at any British University.

On her return to her home country, Cornelia Sorabji became the first

Divya Sharma

Oxford University announced the launch of a new scholarship in September to support Indian students studying law at the world-famous institution, celebrating Sorabji's 150th birth anniversary. On her return to her home country, Cornelia Sorabji became the first woman to practice law in India and worked on behalf of women living in purdah. Her lifetime’s work as a social reformer centred on support for the poor and for women at every level of society.

The scholarship covers up to 50% of the entire cost of the degree, which is usually around £36,000 includ-

Divya Sharma, Dr Alice Prochaska, Lord Karan Bilimoria and Navya Jannu

be continuing the great tradition of pioneering Indian women by establishing the scholarship for Indian law students at Somerville College. I very much hope that we will be able to bring many more Indians to

woman to practice law in India and worked on behalf of women living in purdah.

Her lifetime’s work as a social reformer centred on support for the poor and for women at every level of society.

Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, Prmediapix

16

ing tuition fees and lodging.

The first awardee of the Cornelia Sorabji Scholarship in Law, Divya Sharma from Chandigarh, who has taken up her Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree- thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends of Somerville.

Divya graduated from the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, in 2012 palcing first in a cohort of 85 students. Before Somerville, Divya was practicing corporate law in India for four years and after completing BCL, Divya intends to return to India to resume practising as a transactional lawyer.

“Cornelia Sorabji is a celebrated figure in India. She is a source of inspiration for many young lawyer, including me. Many of my Indian friends and seniors from college have studied in Oxford and a majority of them are from Somerville. I had heard wonderful stories about the College from them and was very excited when I got an offer to study here. I want to go into academia and am hoping that this course will gear me with the requisite knowledge and skills that I need to become a good academic.

“I have wanted to pursue a career in Law from a very young age. I hail from a family full of lawyers and judges and was especially inspired by my grandfathers- one was a lawyer and the other was a High judge in India. As I grew up, I became more determined to follow their legacy.”

Navya Jannu

Through the generosity of Mr Hemant Sahai of New Delhi, the College has also launched the HSA Advocates Award to another Indian BCL student, Navya Jannu, under Cornelia Sorabji law programme.

Navya graduated from Jindal Global Law School in August 2016. She wanted to become a lawyer from a very young age and has had a diverse array of internship experiences in the Indian law sector. After the BCL, Navya aspires to become a practioner and legal academic in India in the area of public, energy and environmental law.

“In the first semester of my undergraduate year, the first book I picked up was Cornelia Sorabji's autobiography. To now be studying at her alma mater and on a law programme in her name is very special to me. India's first female lawyer and first female prime minister came from Somerville and to be a part of that legacy of strong Indian women is something that is really encouraging and inspires me.

“I feel that India is at a stage where it needs intellectual leadership to inform the development of laws, in particularly in the realm of renewable energy. Here the energy-environment binary,

Navya Jannu talking to Dr Kusoom Vadgama

as true in most developing countries, depicts a collission between aspirations of an ambiguous government, anxieties of vulnerable groups and environmental concerns flagged by social agents. Law plays a balancing role in this chaotic paradigm. I am grate-

ates to follow in their footsteps.”

The college is now campaigning for it to eventually become a fully-funded endowment to support bright Indian students who often win admission to Oxford University but are unable to

ful to Mr Hemant Sahai for his support in realising my aspirations and remain encouraged by our shared interest in the same law.”

bear the high costs associated with it. To be successful, the applicant will be expected to demonstrate not only exceptional academic merit but also a commitment ultimately to return to India to put their skills and experience into practice.

While the scholarship is open to any high achieving Indian student, female students will be especially encouraged to carry on Sorabji's ideals. The finalist is

Launch of the programme

Prof Alice Prochaska, principal of Somerville College during the launch of the programme said, "Cornelia Sorabji was a woman of tremendous spirit and

The initiative is backed by Dr Kusoom Vadgama, historian and editor of 'An Indian Portia: Selected Writings of Cornelia Sorabji'.

The Cornelia Sorabji Law Programme is housed at the Oxford India Centre and provides a thriving postgraduate and postdoctoral programme for talented Indian graduate students who seek to lead change on their return to India. The holder of the scholarship will belong to the Faculty of Law and the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development at Somerville College.

The Centre was established three years ago as a result of a grant of 3 million pounds from the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development, matched by Somerville College and the University of Oxford.

It offers five permanently endowed scholarships for Indian graduate students and six students have already benefitted from those scholarships since they started in 2013.

From its inception in 1879, Somerville College, founded as one of the first two institutions at the University of Oxford to admit women, had been dedicated to inclusion, explicitly welcoming students from all social backgrounds, any kind of cultural and religious beliefs, and all nationalities.

Cornelia Sorabji actually came to Oxford with the help of a subscription raised by progressive British men and women including Madeleine Shaw Lefevre, the first Principal of Somerville.

At graduate level there are currently 26 law students from India. Each year, a significant number of India students who meet the high standards for entry to Oxford to study law do not take up their places because of lack of funds.

HE Dinesh Patnaik, Timothy Endicot with a guest

courage and someone who paved the way for many Indian students, including (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi at Somerville.

India is a key part of our college and this scholarship will pave the way for more gradu-

chosen by the college from a list of Indians offered admission to the university and on the basis of a 500-word essay on how they plan to make use of the Oxford law degree in their professional life.

The College is actively seeking funding support for future recipients of the scholarship. For further details please contact Development Director Sara Kalim at Sara.Kalim@some.ox.ac.uk.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

17

Lord Karan Bilimoria Co-founder and Chairman, Cobra Beer

Cornelia Sorabji 17th November was International Students’ Day and how serendipitous it was that, on that very day, the Indian High Commission hosted an event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Cornelia Sorabji’s birth.

Cornelia Sorabji was an Indian Parsi student who became the first woman ever to read law at the University of Oxford, studying at Somerville College. She graduated in 1892, the same year that Dadabhai Naoroji, another Parsi, became the first Indian to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Westminster. I was so proud to follow in his footsteps as the first Zoroastrian Parsi to enter the House of Lords, a little over ten years ago.

Cornelia Sorabji’s story is truly inspirational. She shattered glass ceilings and opened doors, against all the odds and prejudice at the time. Her story is one of determination, it was ten years after obtaining her law degree that the British Government finally allow her to become a Barrister, and she never gave up, representing and taking up women’s causes in India.

This event wonderfully highlighted the links between Oxford University and India. Somerville

College is of course famous for being Indira Gandhi’s College, as well as Margaret Thatcher’s, and perfectly highlights the links between the UK and India. The links showcase the huge importance of international students to the UK. Not only do they bring £14bn to UK economy, they enrich the experience of domestic students and help develop generational links – I am the third generation, on both sides, of my family to be educated in the UK and now my son is studying at a British university – the fourth generation. The bridge that Cornelia Sorabji built over a century ago has inspired so many Indian students, and Indian women, to study in Britain, to the benefit of both of our countries.

SPECIAL

SPECIAL Asian Voice |26th November 2016

First female Indian Barrister Cornelia Sorabji's 150th birth anniversary celebrated www.asian-voice.com

Asian Voice |26th November 2016

Rani Singh & Rupanjana Dutta

The High Commission of India in the UK organised an event to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Cornelia Sorabji, the very first woman of any nationality to study law at Oxford, and also the first female Indian Barrister. The event was organised in collaboration with Somerville College, Oxford, where Ms. Sorabji did her law studies.

T

he event was very well attended with participation of senior judges, legal practitioners, faculty and students from law schools, representatives from some of the most eminent legal firms in the UK, entrepreneurs, historians, writers, editors and media personnel.

Some of the key atten-

of Wards, serving sequestered women, and their families, fighting for their education and legal rights.

The event also highlighted the postgraduate law scholarships for Indian students launched this year at Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development Somerville College, in mem-

AsianVoiceNews

and the audience had moved over to the Nehru Hall for a sumptuous dinner, Acting High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Dinesh K.Patnaik stood outside the halls in the central area on the first floor and spoke to us. He said, “We were talking about a personality who opened doors in the world.

She was a first woman lawer to study in Oxford. In India, she fought against things when everybody tried to stop her. She got a scholarship to come here when the UK wanted to deny her a scholarship, she got to study in Oxford and Oxford refused her. So she is somebody who always has broken values.

But today was not a celebration of the woman Cornelia

Acting Indian High Commissioner HE Dinesh Patnaik addressing the gathered audience

dees and speakers included British Indian entrepreneur and life peer Lord Bilimoria (who is also the nominated representative of the Government of India for the Indira Gandhi Scholarships at Somerville College), Dr Alice Prochaska (Principal, Somerville College), Prof.

Anne Davies and Prof.

Timothy Endicott Deans of Oxford Law Faculty, Lady Hazel Fox, QC, Judge Rabinder Singh (the first full-time high court judge from Asia), Judge Deborah Taylor, Malcolm Deboo, (President of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe), Prof. Sir Richard Sorabji (official biographer of Ms. Cornelia Sorabji) and Dr Kusoom Vadgama, historian and editor of 'An Indian Portia: Selected Writings of Cornelia Sorabji'.

The Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Dinesh K. Patnaik and other speakers spoke in detail about the exemplary life of Ms. Sorabji who overcame all odds to become the first woman to study at Bombay University, where she won first-class honours. She came to Oxford with the help of a subscription raised by members of the British liberal establishment and later became the first woman of any nationality to study Law at Oxford. Cornelia Sorabji went on to serve as legal advisor to the Bengal Court

ory of Cornelia Sorabji.

The nephew of Cornelia, Sir Richard Professor Sorabji told Asian Voice, “Well, I think it’s so important that Indian lawers are now being given scolarships to come to Somerville which has such a tradition in law and in women lawers. I think Indian law is extremely interesting, I think it’s constitution is very impressive. I think it’s amazing how much British law they were willing to accept but reinterpreted. So this came out very differently, in effect.”

Lord Karan Bilimoria was smiling as ever, and spoke to this paper after the speeches were over.

Standing close to the bright lights with Gandhi also smiling down on him, he said, “Today for us to celebrate Cornelia Sorabji’s 150th Birth Anniversary on international students’ day, 17th of Novermber, when I am speaking at the House of Lords in a debate on international students, when I have hosted an event as the chair of the all Party Parliament Group of international students. It’s ambiguity beyond belief. There is somebody who broke all the glass ceilings with what she did, when she did it in India.

In Britain being the first woman to study law at Oxford ever. And she was an Indian woman.”

Once speeches were over

Sorabji; it is the celebration of womanhood, it is a celebration of never ending, of keeping striving, fighting; and also the fact that in today’s world we need role models. We need role models that we can look up to for the younger generation, for everybody else.”

Dr Alice Prochaska, Principal of Somerville seemed rather happy. She said: “We are very proud to

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Somerville in future as we do already to our Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development. And of the things really great about our scheme is that we expect our scholars to return to India.

So we’ve had the support of the government of India and we are looking for more support for people in India with the expectation that what the students do and learn in Oxford will go back to India and help to develop law, to develop society there as well.”

Dr Kusoom Vadgama, speaking to Asian Voice said, “Lived with this woman for 30 years.

She decided to go to the most deprived people and help them in a way only she could. She has shown her c o u r a g e against all odds. She always used to say,’my heart beats with two pulses; once for India, once for Britain.”

The Cornelia Sorabji Law Programme

Cornelia Sorabji, the first female law student at Oxford in 1889 continues to provide a pioneering link between India and the University of Oxford. Cornelia Sorabji was not only Somerville College’s first Indian student, but was also the first Indian woman to study at any British University.

On her return to her home country, Cornelia Sorabji became the first

Divya Sharma

Oxford University announced the launch of a new scholarship in September to support Indian students studying law at the world-famous institution, celebrating Sorabji's 150th birth anniversary. On her return to her home country, Cornelia Sorabji became the first woman to practice law in India and worked on behalf of women living in purdah. Her lifetime’s work as a social reformer centred on support for the poor and for women at every level of society.

The scholarship covers up to 50% of the entire cost of the degree, which is usually around £36,000 includ-

Divya Sharma, Dr Alice Prochaska, Lord Karan Bilimoria and Navya Jannu

be continuing the great tradition of pioneering Indian women by establishing the scholarship for Indian law students at Somerville College. I very much hope that we will be able to bring many more Indians to

woman to practice law in India and worked on behalf of women living in purdah.

Her lifetime’s work as a social reformer centred on support for the poor and for women at every level of society.

Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, Prmediapix

16

ing tuition fees and lodging.

The first awardee of the Cornelia Sorabji Scholarship in Law, Divya Sharma from Chandigarh, who has taken up her Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree- thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends of Somerville.

Divya graduated from the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, in 2012 palcing first in a cohort of 85 students. Before Somerville, Divya was practicing corporate law in India for four years and after completing BCL, Divya intends to return to India to resume practising as a transactional lawyer.

“Cornelia Sorabji is a celebrated figure in India. She is a source of inspiration for many young lawyer, including me. Many of my Indian friends and seniors from college have studied in Oxford and a majority of them are from Somerville. I had heard wonderful stories about the College from them and was very excited when I got an offer to study here. I want to go into academia and am hoping that this course will gear me with the requisite knowledge and skills that I need to become a good academic.

“I have wanted to pursue a career in Law from a very young age. I hail from a family full of lawyers and judges and was especially inspired by my grandfathers- one was a lawyer and the other was a High judge in India. As I grew up, I became more determined to follow their legacy.”

Navya Jannu

Through the generosity of Mr Hemant Sahai of New Delhi, the College has also launched the HSA Advocates Award to another Indian BCL student, Navya Jannu, under Cornelia Sorabji law programme.

Navya graduated from Jindal Global Law School in August 2016. She wanted to become a lawyer from a very young age and has had a diverse array of internship experiences in the Indian law sector. After the BCL, Navya aspires to become a practioner and legal academic in India in the area of public, energy and environmental law.

“In the first semester of my undergraduate year, the first book I picked up was Cornelia Sorabji's autobiography. To now be studying at her alma mater and on a law programme in her name is very special to me. India's first female lawyer and first female prime minister came from Somerville and to be a part of that legacy of strong Indian women is something that is really encouraging and inspires me.

“I feel that India is at a stage where it needs intellectual leadership to inform the development of laws, in particularly in the realm of renewable energy. Here the energy-environment binary,

Navya Jannu talking to Dr Kusoom Vadgama

as true in most developing countries, depicts a collission between aspirations of an ambiguous government, anxieties of vulnerable groups and environmental concerns flagged by social agents. Law plays a balancing role in this chaotic paradigm. I am grate-

ates to follow in their footsteps.”

The college is now campaigning for it to eventually become a fully-funded endowment to support bright Indian students who often win admission to Oxford University but are unable to

ful to Mr Hemant Sahai for his support in realising my aspirations and remain encouraged by our shared interest in the same law.”

bear the high costs associated with it. To be successful, the applicant will be expected to demonstrate not only exceptional academic merit but also a commitment ultimately to return to India to put their skills and experience into practice.

While the scholarship is open to any high achieving Indian student, female students will be especially encouraged to carry on Sorabji's ideals. The finalist is

Launch of the programme

Prof Alice Prochaska, principal of Somerville College during the launch of the programme said, "Cornelia Sorabji was a woman of tremendous spirit and

The initiative is backed by Dr Kusoom Vadgama, historian and editor of 'An Indian Portia: Selected Writings of Cornelia Sorabji'.

The Cornelia Sorabji Law Programme is housed at the Oxford India Centre and provides a thriving postgraduate and postdoctoral programme for talented Indian graduate students who seek to lead change on their return to India. The holder of the scholarship will belong to the Faculty of Law and the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development at Somerville College.

The Centre was established three years ago as a result of a grant of 3 million pounds from the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development, matched by Somerville College and the University of Oxford.

It offers five permanently endowed scholarships for Indian graduate students and six students have already benefitted from those scholarships since they started in 2013.

From its inception in 1879, Somerville College, founded as one of the first two institutions at the University of Oxford to admit women, had been dedicated to inclusion, explicitly welcoming students from all social backgrounds, any kind of cultural and religious beliefs, and all nationalities.

Cornelia Sorabji actually came to Oxford with the help of a subscription raised by progressive British men and women including Madeleine Shaw Lefevre, the first Principal of Somerville.

At graduate level there are currently 26 law students from India. Each year, a significant number of India students who meet the high standards for entry to Oxford to study law do not take up their places because of lack of funds.

HE Dinesh Patnaik, Timothy Endicot with a guest

courage and someone who paved the way for many Indian students, including (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi at Somerville.

India is a key part of our college and this scholarship will pave the way for more gradu-

chosen by the college from a list of Indians offered admission to the university and on the basis of a 500-word essay on how they plan to make use of the Oxford law degree in their professional life.

The College is actively seeking funding support for future recipients of the scholarship. For further details please contact Development Director Sara Kalim at Sara.Kalim@some.ox.ac.uk.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

17

Lord Karan Bilimoria Co-founder and Chairman, Cobra Beer

Cornelia Sorabji 17th November was International Students’ Day and how serendipitous it was that, on that very day, the Indian High Commission hosted an event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Cornelia Sorabji’s birth.

Cornelia Sorabji was an Indian Parsi student who became the first woman ever to read law at the University of Oxford, studying at Somerville College. She graduated in 1892, the same year that Dadabhai Naoroji, another Parsi, became the first Indian to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Westminster. I was so proud to follow in his footsteps as the first Zoroastrian Parsi to enter the House of Lords, a little over ten years ago.

Cornelia Sorabji’s story is truly inspirational. She shattered glass ceilings and opened doors, against all the odds and prejudice at the time. Her story is one of determination, it was ten years after obtaining her law degree that the British Government finally allow her to become a Barrister, and she never gave up, representing and taking up women’s causes in India.

This event wonderfully highlighted the links between Oxford University and India. Somerville

College is of course famous for being Indira Gandhi’s College, as well as Margaret Thatcher’s, and perfectly highlights the links between the UK and India. The links showcase the huge importance of international students to the UK. Not only do they bring £14bn to UK economy, they enrich the experience of domestic students and help develop generational links – I am the third generation, on both sides, of my family to be educated in the UK and now my son is studying at a British university – the fourth generation. The bridge that Cornelia Sorabji built over a century ago has inspired so many Indian students, and Indian women, to study in Britain, to the benefit of both of our countries.

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FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

Dividend worries hit Mitie

Ruby McGregor-Smith

Baroness Ruby McGregorSmith is set to signal a dividend cut at Mitie as she stepped down after nine years at the helm of this FTSE 250 company.

Baroness McGregorSmith announced she was stepping down just weeks after she unveiled a September profit warning that knocked 30% off the company’s shares, The Sunday Times has reported. She was due to present the interim results, before she hands over her role to Phil Bentley next month.

The former chief executive of Cable & Wireless Communications is expected to shake-up the company that employs more than

60,000 people who manage care homes, provides security, cut grass and even run prisons.

McGregor-Smith, 53, transformed Mitie into a FTSE 250 company, but it has been allegedly dogged by concerns over its accounting methods and growth sustainability.

RBC Capital Markets reportedly slashed its price target for the company and cut its forecast for the £42m annual investor payout. The bank reportedly said: “While the interim dividend could be held, given the current direction of earnings, it is difficult not to envisage a cut to the final dividend.”

Iran overtakes Saudi Arabia as top oil supplier to India

Iran crossed rival Saudi Arabia as India's top oil supplier in October as seen in shipping data. Once India's second-biggest oil supplier, Iran's oil exports to India shot up this year after Western sanctions were lifted in January. In October, they grew more than threefold as compared with the same month last year, rising to 7,89,000 barrels per day.

Ship tracking data and a report compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts collected data said, however, over the whole January to October period though, Saudi Arabia still holds India's top supply spot at an average of 8,39,000 bpd versus Iraq's 7,84,000 bpd and Iran's 4,56,400 bpd.

Iran's jump to the first spot is partly due to less available crude from Saudi Arabia, which has increased its capacity to refine oil instead of just extorting more

crude. Ehsaan ul Haq of the United Kingdom-based consultancy KBC Energy said, "Saudi Arabia's refining capacity has increased over time and so it is not in a position to increase its exports further, whereas Iran is better placed to raise its output and sales to India."

Iranian price discounts have also contributed to the surge, attracting purchases from India's programme to build up its strategic petroleum reserves. India took in 2 million barrels of Iranian crude for the SPR stocks last month, and another 4 million barrels is expected to be shipped in November.

The country produces almost 4 million bpd of oil and exports 2.4 million bpd.

Tehran's exports dropped to 1 million bpd during sanctions, down from a peak of almost 3 million bpd in 2011, before tougher Western sanctions were implemented.

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ED to send LRs for attaching Mallya’s foreign properties AsianVoiceNews

The Enforcement Directorate is all set to send letters rogatory to the US, the UK, and Europe, requesting competent foreign authorities to assist it in attachment of over 10 foreign assets belonging to Vijay Mallya in connection with a money laundering case. The move came after a special court in Mumbai that declared Mallya a proclaimed offender on November 10, refused to pass orders for attachment of Mallya's foreign assets citing jurisdictional issues.

A source familiar with the development said, "The agency has identified over ten foreign properties of Mallya and will use the LR route to attach these properties. The agency has already prepared the LRs." A letter rogatory is a formal request to a foreign court seeking judicial assistance in probing an entity in another country. Mallya, who currently lives in the UK, owns properties in London, New York, California, J o h a n n e s b u r g , Mediterranean islands off the French Riviera among others. For now, the agency has attached assets of both, Mallya and Kingfisher in

Vijay Mallya

India worth £966.10 million under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the agency expanded its probe into the case.

The agency registered a fresh case against Mallya and Kingfisher for a loan default of £602.7 million on August 23. The new case is based on a complaint filed by a SBI-led consortium with the CBI. In June, it had sought the proclamation notice to be issued against Mallya as it said he had "multiple" arrest warrants pending against him, including a non-bailable warrant under the PMLA, and that the agency wants him to join the probe "in person". Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently said in Rajya Sabha that a write-off of loan does not mean the bank is not going to pursue the bad debt. "Bad loans

write-off doesn't mean we won't pursue it. NDA government has inherited a legacy of bad loans," he said.

CBI moves extradition request: Two weeks after Indian government discussed with UK Prime Minister Theresa May extradition of Mallya, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday moved a court with an extradition request for the former liquor baron, who fled to London on March 2 this year. The agency has secured nonbailable warrant against Mallya, following it with an extradition request from the special court in Mumbai.

The extradition request will be sent to ministry of home affairs and ministry of external affairs and then to competent authorities in the United Kingdom, said sources.

Transform railways with new speed, progress: Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indian Railways employees to try and change the organisation with "new speeds, progress and new capacity." Inaugurating the three-day brainstorming session Rail Vikas Shivir via video-conferencing, Modi said, "This is a technology-driven industry where innovation is essential. So, the Railways has to be about both gati (speed) and pragati (development)."

Making jibes at past practices, the PM said that earlier rail budgets were all about populist measures aimed at gathering

Narendra Modi

the maximum applause and political agenda. "I could have also gone for more applause. I have taken the courageous decision of keeping myself free from the love of political gains," he said.

Remembering his child-

hood days when he sold tea at a railways station, Modi said, "The century has changed, so the railways should also change.

There should be new speed, progress and new capacity," he said. He also underlined the need to make the sector financially strong, which he believes would bring benefits for the country and particularly for those working for the transporter.

The PM visited the event on the concluding day on Sunday.

Vodafone doubles losses in India British telecom major Vodafone posted over twofold increase in losses in 5billion euro in the first half of the fiscal ended September due to impairment of non-cash assets of Indian arm following tough competition. The company reported a loss of 2.34 billion euro in the same period last year.

Releasing its financial statement, Vodafone said, "We recorded a non-cash impairment of 5-billion euro, net of tax, in the period relating to our Indian business. This was driven by lower projected cash flows within our business plan as a result of

increased competition in the market."

It added that the group's operating loss was 4.7 billion euro, compared to an operating profit of 1.1 billion euro in the prior period, due to the 6.4 billion euro gross impair-

ment charge recorded in respect of the group's investment in India and lower EBITDA. India's three main players, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have a tough competitor in Reliance Jio.

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Sebi to auction Sahara group's land parcels

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has lined up as many as five land parcels of beleaguered group Sahara for an e-auction next month at a total reserve price of over £13million. Earlier 13 properties were put on the block in October with a combined reserve price at about £140 million. Before that, 58 properties were auctioned in July with a collective reserve price of nearly £ 500 million. In separate notices, the regulator said SBI Caps would auction three properties on December 28 at a reserve price of about £10.2 million, while HDFC Realty will auction two properties on December 27 at a reserve price of over £2.9 million.

After recieving directions from the Supreme Court for sale of certain Sahara assets to recover money, Sebi has now mandated Capital Markets (SBI Caps) and HDFC Realty for auctioning a total of 61 land parcels.

HDFC Realty has been roped in to auction 31 land parcels at a reserve price of £240 million, while SBI Caps has been asked to auction 30 land properties with an estimated market value of about £410 million.

Pankaj Patel will be new FICCI president

Pankaj Patel

Pankaj Patel, Chairman and Managing Director of Zydus Cadila, has been elected President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry for the year 2017.

Actively involved in various educational institutions, Patel is on the advisory committees and academic councils of several institutions, including the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, IISER, Kolkata, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Patel is Executive Chairman, Vice President and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society, and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute. He will take over from Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman of Ambuja Neotia Group during the FICCI AGM scheduled to be held on 16 and 17 December 2016.

REALESTATEVOICE

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TRIPLE UPSIDE AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

One of the ideal ways to make money out of property is to cherry pick a house knowing that the surrounding area is going to go up in value as a result of its regeneration.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

We have pulled in a deal in the vibrant and flourishing district of King’s Cross which is currently undergoing one of the most exciting regenerations anywhere in Europe. 67 acres of central London is being transformed into a holistic, cutting edge and highly desirable place in London to live, work and play.

Google have just committed to developing a major headquarters in the heart of this district with the capability of supporting 7,000 jobs.

This is just one of many new buildings and investments in this historic quarter of London. The googleplex will be designed

by Olympic cauldron designer, Heatherwick Studio, so it is likely to become a major landmark.

Not only could you make

Asian Voice |26th November 2016

money while you are sleeping as multiple developers transform the area close to the property we have secured, but the property itself is seriously under market value by today’s prices and has some exciting development potential to increase its rental yield.

It is rare to find a property with all this upside.

We started negotiating on the deal about several months ago, and in the end we have managed to secure the deal on our terms, at the price we are happy to pay which equates to just £780 per sq. ft.

To put this price into perspective you have undesirable areas in Wembley now selling for £600 per sq. ft. And properties in the vicinity of this house are fetching £1,100 to £1,200 plus a sq. ft.

And this does not even factor in the regeneration upside.

MONEY WITHOUT THE HASSLE Crowdfunding has been around for a few years now. For the smart property investor, crowdfunding is a great tool for taking the hassle out of the investment, avoiding the aggressive tax changes being introduced and escaping the hidden fees charged by property funds.

Aside from the normal hassle of finding a tenant, making sure they pay and keeping a property in good order, the regulator (the FCA) and the government, seem to be working together to make the property investor work harder.

The FCA is introducing new rules due to start on 1st January 2017. The interest rate for calculating rental cover for BTL mortgages will be 5.5%

instead of around 4% unless the product is a five year product in which case there is not a requirement for the lender to apply this new rate.

There is also a move to increase the rental cover from 125% to 145%. This means if your mortgage is £1,000pm your rental needs to be £1,250, with many lenders this will increase to £1,450pm.

What this means is that property investors will be able to borrow less and will need larger cash deposits in order to buy a property.

These changes have been introduced to ensure the landlords remain cash flow positive, in the light of the coming tax changes which will start to be introduced from 2017 in phases and

will be fully implemented in 2020.

The changes will mean mortgage interest relief will be restricted to 20%, meaning higher rate tax payers will be affected.

This is an unfair and ridiculous tax. Landlords are almost being taxed on rental income and not profit. Yet again the government is dipping its hand into the property honey jar. It has done this too many times in recent years.

In the box there is an example of how this will work. It could raise your tax bill by 75%!

While the property market has proven resilient to the adverse changes in stamp duty, it remains to be seen whether it will withstand

19

This is a freehold property which comes arranged as two separate dwellings.

This reduces the stamp duty costs through multiple dwelling relief.

The prices per sq. ft. in this location are circa £1,100 per sq. ft. You’re coming in at a 20% discount from day one.

This is an area which is still rising.

The plan for this property is to split it into several smaller units, our initial estimates are this property can be split into 8 smaller units.

The effect of this will be to increase the rental figures and to reduce the void periods as well as increase the price per sq. ft. these properties can be sold for in the long term.

The property comes in a rentable condition and therefore can be rented from the day of completion. The strategy would be to rent this property immediately for a 6 month period, this would this new tax.

My feeling is it will evolve and keep moving forward in a different shape, after all we are talking about a 500 year old market. It’s certainly not going to disappear in a hurry.

This is where crowdfunding comes into play.

Crowdfunding provides you with the opportunity to invest directly into a single property from as little as a £1,000 investment and avoid this punishing tax regime.

When crowdfunding you are usually investing directly into a single entity which owns the property.

As this entity does not pay income tax, the mortgage interest can still be set off against income and taxation remains calculated on profit.

Unlike property funds, you

ensure the mortgage is being paid, during this time the builders and permissions can be lined up so that the buildings work can be started as soon as the property has been vacated.

The price of this property is £1.5m and we would expect around £750k cash is required to close this deal. This is a buy and hold deal, rather than a buy and sell. Buy to hold ensures the investment will benefit from the local regeneration which is taking place.

This does not mean your money is trapped in the deal, as you can refinance also know which property you are investing in and this gives you more choice and feeling of control as to where your hard earned money is going.

This removes the hassle from direct property investment if you’re a high rate tax payer. It may also make you a higher net return.

Codeinvesting is a leading property crowdfunding site,

Example You are a landlord paying a higher rate tax payer rate of 40% Currently your BTL property is rented out for £25,000 a year and the interest-only mortgage costs £15,000. Tax is due on the profit. You pay tax on £10,000, meaning £4,000 for HMRC and £6,000 for

the property post development to extract the original capital or at least a large chunk of this amount.

To recap, you will be purchasing a property which is as at least a 20% discount from current market value, the location is undergoing a major regeneration, which means the property will rise in value strongly, and thirdly there is the potential to increase the rental yield and decrease the voids.

The contract is with us now and there a deal to be done for the quick investor.

Get in touch now, before it gets snapped up! www.codeinvesting.co.uk and it currently includes an opportunity for you to invest directly into a single property located in the heart of London with as little as £1,000. No hassle. And no crazy tax bills.

It is a rare opportunity to be able to participate in a property in a desirable location such as St John’s Wood, near Regent’s Park and with central London on your doorstep. you.

From 2020 tax is due on your full rental income of £25,000, less a tax credit equivalent to basic-rate tax on the interest.

You will pay 40% tax on £25,000 (£10,000), less the 20% credit (20% of £15,000 = £3,000).

HMRC gets £7,000 and you get £3,000. Your tax bill has gone up by 75%.

20

FINANCIAL VOICE

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Babar Afzal, the disruptive pashmina shepherd of Leh AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

Smita Sarkar

He introduces himself as an activist, an artist and a shepherd. It is easy to be misled by his down-toearth demeanour and warm, shy, man-next-door smile. But, 41-year-old Babar Afzal from India was in London on serious business; to share a platform with the world’s greatest disruptive minds, in Wired 2016 held at the London Tobacco Dock recently.

Babar has won a fellowship and an Award for being among the top global geniuses who abandoned their comfort zone to explore future trends.

A recognised Pashmina activist in India, Babar shared a platform with prodigies like Thor Bjorgolfsson, Mustafa Suleyman and Taavet Hinrikus by showcasing his art, highlighting core issues of pashmina, the environmental hazards of climate change in the Himalayan region of LehLadakh and the threats of fake pashmina being smuggled by China.

“I help individuals, designers, brands and organisations source the finest and purest pashmina fabric and art to the world; save a specie (exotic pashmina goats) and community (shepherds), their culture (weavers, artists) and the eco-system of the Himalayas,” says Babar.

“There is a great demand for luxury products globally. And with the Make in India campaign, we see that pashmina is the only true luxury product of India,” he adds.

Babar quit his comfortable Silicon Valley career as a Technology Analyst,

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• Pashmina comes from the Persian word ‘pashm’ that means wool. Real pashmina wool comes from Changthani goats in the Himalayas and dates back to the 14th century.

• Napolean’s 18th century French Campaign in Egypt brought pashmina to Paris.

• Princess Josephine started wearing pashmina style shoulder shawl and it continues to be a fashion statement in elite circles in France.

Business Consultant and Information Security Architect in McKinsey six years ago, to start his life with the pashmina goat shepherds and nomads in a remote village in Changthan, nearly 400 kilometres away from Leh. Spending time with them was a catharsis for him and he took up art to fight for their cause and work for their upkeep and preservation.

Over the years he held several impactful conferences, dismantled pashmina nexus, sued over 150 fake pashmina dealers and challenged Indian corporate honchos like Kumaramangalam Birla for airing misleading adverts on pashmina.

His work won him five National Awards, including the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Excellence, Dr BR Ambedkar and the Bharat Gaurav Awards. He has also been profiled by the BBC, TIME magazine, CNN and Bloomberg Global for using art as a centrepiece to reposition pashmina on the global platform.

London gave him an

opportunity to showcase traditional Indian art on a global platform. “I have been approached for partnerships to exhibit in Europe and the US, but I will only partner with people who are sensitive towards the welfare programmes for the community because mine is a social enterprise, not a business,” says Babar.

“My wife Henna and I are the co-founders of this

retail industry.

“We have worked out a simple format of association at this stage. We are supplying purest pashmina to our partners against a security deposit and our share of profits comes after the sale happens.

“We have created a standard layout and model for the retail spaces 500 / 1,000 / 5,000 Sq.ft. with standard operating procedures. Anyone who wants

“We are working on building the Management Team comprising a former creative head of Facebook, an Investment Banker from the UK, an International Journalist and Communications Specialist, a Harvard Alumni and Business Strategist and a Luxury Retail Expert” project. My wife and I registered a not for profit organisation with the name ‘KASHMIRINK Foundation’.”

Through this organisation, the Afzals are looking for forward thinking entrepreneurs as retail partners across India and over 20 countries; comrades who are excited to be a part of the luxury and fashion

to partner in a particular territory can contact us.

Every product sold by our partners would carry a three-tier authentication certificate for purity and all the pashmina sold will be Cancer Free,” he says.

Because of the fascination with this fibre and the craft, Babar spent years learning the intricate sozni (sui or needle) work on

pashmina. “With my background as an abstract artist, I now paint in pashmina with needle work.

Becoming a shepherd was the first challenge and then learning the intricate sozni work on pashmina was the next. I am happy that I have built the foundation for my long term role in this industry.”

That is a lot of work to take on for a single person, but he is willing to do so because he firmly believes that the Himalayan community is the original stakeholder in the Global Luxury and Fashion Industry and is making powerful attempts to link these communities and their work to global industries and the fashion elite.

“I want to become the sourcing point for authentic pashmina by reaching out to top global designers, clothing brands and retailers. The market is being bombed by fake products that are directly affecting the centuries-old art form and the community at large.” Some of his art pieces have been unofficially rated to fetch around £90,000 in the UK market. These were pieces that took nearly a decade for the weavers to complete.

An authentic pashmina shawl (depending on design and workmanship) could cost around £40,000 in the UK. According to him, the symbolism of the

Himalayan shepherds and nomads hold the secret of handling the most important aspects of life – money, health, relationships and happiness. It was this belief that made him start the Pashmina Goat project www.pashminagoat.org.

The core idea of the project is to fight for justice and enhance the lives of 50,000 shepherds, over 3,00,000 craftsmen and 2,00,000 pashmina goats by creating a retail fair trade platform.

“We are linking the Shepherds and Nomads and Weavers directly with the Luxury and Fashion Industry of the world so that they get their due share/stake in the industry,” says Babar.

He lives away from his family in Jammu and like a doting father, misses his 11-year-old daughter Alhana, proudly declaring that she is extremely aware and conscious about the hazards of global warming and he hopes “she turns up to be a good citizen of the world”.

He signs off philosophically, stating that the world needs to move towards spiritualism to survive the turmoil it faces.

“We all have a right to seek and discover. For when we seek, we embark on a journey into our soul or through this world, or both. And it is our journey that defines our life.”

EU fears grow as India Cyrus Mistry's exit won't impact JLR: CEO sits on extending Dutch trade deal It seems India has arrived on world stage in trade negotiations if the tough line New Delhi has taken on extending an investment deal with the Netherlands is anything to go by.

While the investement treaty between India and the Netherlands will expire on November 30, New Delhi has so far refused to extend the Dutch agreement.

Consequently, European officials are warning this could threaten business ties with the rest of the EU. E u r o p e a n Commission investment commissioner visited New Delhi recently to persuade the matter, but Indian ministers have dug in their heels.

According to a report in Financial Times, people close to the talks say there has been no communication from the Indian government since that visit.

India is looking for more favourable terms.

Kavaljit Singh, director of New Delhi’s Madhyam think-tank, in the FT report said: “The Indian government is not very keen to renegotiate the existing treaty. They want to let it lapse and force the Europeans to come and negotiate for future ones.”

Letting the agreements expire suggests India has come of age in trade deals which stems out of New Delhi’s increasing confidence towards trade negotiations.

Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover has said that the sacking of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons will not impact the company's business within the diversified conglomerate. Speth, who was appointed to the board of Tata Sons along with TCS CEO & MD N Chandrasekaran, said that focus will continue to remain strong on JLR and new products so that it contributes strongly to the group.

"We continue to focus on JLR, we drive the brands to the very best. At the end of the day, we also want to contribute to the Group and Tata Sons," Speth said.

When asked whether there would be any negative impact on the company's operations, the CEO gave a firm "No". "We do our business in a very professional way... I don't speculate at all, I don't know what will happen. It is an internal issue." He said he was hon-

Cyrus Mistry

oured to be nominated on the Board of Tata Sons. "It is an unbelievable honour to be on the board of Tata Sons, and that is something sensational. May be, I am the first non-Indian on the board. Is it not fantastic?"

Speaking about JLR, he said one of the ways forward for the company is to work on new products and technologies, especially hybrid and electric. The company had launched an electric concept, the I-Pace, saying it would hit the roads in 2018, and will also see a launch in India. "At the end of 2020, we will have 40 per

cent of our vehicles carrying elements of autonomy, connectivity and also electrification. We will have a portfolio of electric and hybrid.

We see a tipping point at the moment, though so far carmakers only developed vehicles to just meet regulations. That time is gone.

The customer is going in the direction of electrification.

Though, it is quite clear there is a shift."

Addressing the Brexit issue, he said the company wants to have tax-free and free trade between different countries. "It is important that we get tax-free, duty

free, fair and free trade.

That's it. You can expect a good worldwide growth for the brands... We have very good products in our drawers, so we are confident...

We are cautiously optimistic that we will continue to grow on a sustainable and a profitable basis."

Meanwhile, sacked Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry took his first legal step in the board room battle, sending a legal notice to the Tata Global Beverages Limited. In his letter, he called his removal illegal, also terming statement sent to exchanges inaccurate and illegal and claiming that no voting took place in the board meeting. A media report suggests Tata Sons may also move to the Company Law Tribunal soon. Sources said it was shocking that newly inducted Tata Sons board members backed Mistry's ouster, adding the new directors needed a deep understanding of the entire group.

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Ami Bera re-elected to US Congress for third consecutive term AsianVoiceNews

WASHINGTON: Ami Bera, 51, has been re-elected to the US House of Representatives for a third consecutive term in a close election, making the number of Indian-Americans elected to the Congress to a record five. This is the first time the House would hold four Indian-American members. Bera would be joined by three first-time Indian American lawmakers in the US House of Representatives; Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Pramila Jayapal from Washington State, and Ro Khanna from California. Bera, who was the only IndianAmerican in the Congress in his previous term, defeated

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Ami Bera

Republican Sacramento County sheriff Scott Jones.

Bera was projected to be declared elected after Sacramento County Registrar of Votes announced the latest update of its counting of ballots. According to this, Bera's lead over his Republican rival

Scott Jones grew to more than two per cent, with 129,064 votes to 123,056 in the Congressional Seventh District of California. With the win, Bera ties for the record for the most consecutive terms served by an Indian-American in Congress, held by Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, who served three terms from 1957-1963.

"It has been my honour to serve this community first as a doctor, and for these past four years as a member of Congress. I am incredibly thankful for the hundreds of volunteers who knocked doors and made phone calls during this campaign because they

WORLD Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

believe in standing up for women's access to healthcare, protecting Medicare and social security and ensuring all of our veterans receive the benefits they have earned," Bera said. He added, "After months of a divisive national election, our job now is to bring our country back together."

Meanwhile, an Indian-origin woman won a key local election in the US state of Maryland. Raaheela Ahmed, 23, a Muslim-American woman won the school board race, defeating a long-time system administrator by an impressive 15 per cent vote difference.

Dalai Lama preaches in Mongolia, risking China's fury ULAANBAATAR: The Dalai Lama preached to thousands of followers while on his visit to Mongolia. He addressed followers at the Gandantegchenlin monastery and spoke about materialism, starting a four-day visit which the host country has vouched will be purely religious in nature and won't include meetings with officials.

The trip comes with its cons, as China hasn't taken it too lightly. The communist country counts the Dalai Lama as a separatist seeking to split Tibet from China and staunchly opposes all countries hosting the monk.

Merkel to run for fourth term

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced her intentions of running for a fourth term in next year's crucial national election. Stressing on the complex challenges she will face and "absurd" expectations Germany could take a world leadership role once Barack Obama leaves office. "I have spent an unending amount of time contemplating this, as to stand as a candidate for a fourth time after 11 years in power is anything other than a trivial decision, neither for the country, for the party, nor for me," she was quoted assaying in a press conference. She asserted she wanted to serve Germany ever since she first took up the post in 2005, adding she has tried to orientate herself according to this principle.

The Dalai Lama, left, speaks at the Janraiseg Temple of Gandantegchinlen monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Chinese Foreign Ministry strongly urged Mongolia to deny the Dalai Lama a visit for the sake of a "sound and

steady" development of bilateral ties. His visit comes at a time when Mongolian leaders are seeking a US $4.2 billion

loan from Beijing to help the deep recession.

Mongolian Buddhism is closely tied to Tibet's strain and many in the heavily Buddhist country revere the Dalai Lama, who made his first visit in 1979. Mongolian religious figures say the visit could be the last for the 81year-old spiritual leader, and some of his followers travelled hundreds of miles to see him while braving the coldest November temperatures in a decade. The Dalai Lama chanted special sutras at a large sports facility built by Chinese companies through Chinese aid.

Indian American couple indicted CALIFORNIA: An IndianAmerican couple have been indicted by a grand jury for forced labour and conspiracy to commit forced labour as announced by the Department of Justice.

Satish Kartan, 43, and wife Sharmistha Barai, 38, were also charged with additional charges of fraud in contacting foreign labour and benefiting from forced labour.

As per court papers, between Feb 21, 2014, and Oct 3, 2016, Kartan and Barai hired workers from overseas to perform domestic labour in their homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Stockton and elsewhere in the US. The defendants, in their advertisements seeking workers on the internet and India-based newspapers,

made false claims regarding the wages and the duties of employment. Once the workers arrived, both Kartan and Barai forced them to work 18 hours a day with limited rest and nourishment.

They didn't pay, instead using force, physical restraint and coercive conduct to get them to perform labour and services.

Announced by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and Acting US Attorney Phillip A Talbert of the Eastern District of California, the indictment alleges that Kartan and Barai struck one worker on multiple occasions, including one incident where the former grabbed

her hands and caused them to be burned over the flames of a gas stove.

It also alleges that the defendants failed to pay another worker and told her that they would call the police if she tried to leave.

Both the accused were arrested on October 21, 2016, on a criminal complaint and were released on bond with special conditions that prohibit them from hiring any non-relatives to perform domestic services or child care work for them.

They were also prohibited from directly or indirectly contacting any of their prior domestic workers. If convicted, each defendant will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Ford set to sell made-in-India Eco Sport in US In a first, where an American automaker will be using India as a sole sourcing base for an individual model, Ford Motor Co has decided to import made-in-Chennai Eco Sport SUV to the US from 2018. Eric Loeffler, chief engineer for the Eco Sport said, "The compact SUV market in the US is on fire, and we plan to take on the incumbents with the India-made Eco Sport."

Ford has been exporting the India-made Eco Sport compact off-roader to a vari-

ety of countries across the world, but exports to the highly-evolved American market is definitely an extra feather in the hat for the Chennai plant. Maruti just recently had begun the export of India-made Baleno hatchback to Japan. The compact SUV market in the US is led by models such as Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, and the Chevrolet Trax, and the segment has recorded considerable growth over the last few years. "The current size of this category is around

300,000-3,50,000 units annually, and we expect this to double by 2018," an official said.

Shipments to the US are likely to begin from early 2018 and a variety of changes have been made through a facelift in line with the requirements of the market.

"It is not the in-thing in the US to have a spare wheel on the rear, and this is rather seen as outdated," a company official said. Loeffler said that as the India unit will begin exports to the US, it will dis-

continue shipments to western Europe. "The European markets will be serviced by operations in Romania." Eco Sport was launched in 2003 in Brazil, and was primarily targeted at emerging markets. Since its global launch in 2003, the company has sold nearly 1.3 million units across the world. Apart from Chennai, the Eco Sport is also manufactured in Brazil, China, Romania, Russia (through a joint venture) and Venezuela (through completely-knocked down kits).

In Brief

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26 hurt after man sets fire to Oz bank

MELBOURNE: A man set fire to a bank in Australia, critically injuring at least 26 people in the process. Police said the man entered the busy Commonwealth Bank branch in the Melbourne suburb of Springvale with flammable liquid and doused himself with it. The horrifying incident left several people, including toddlers and elderly customers, badly hurt. Witnesses say the man who started the blaze had picked up a plastic drum outside a shop minutes earlier. Inspector Jacqui Poida said, "He had some sort of accelerant with him. A container, not sure what he had. And somehow that accelerant was lit inside the bank." While the motive remains unclear, several sources believe he is an asylum seeker from Myanmar and may have been reacting to his welfare payment being rejected. The 21 year old believed to have set fire to himself is also said to be a part of the Rohingya community.

Sikh youth mistaken for Muslim, abused at US store

BOSTON: A 22 year old Sikh Harvard Law School student was allegedly abused and harassed at a store near the campus. First year law student, Harmann Singh said he was shopping in a store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when a man walked in and said to the clerk, "Oh look, there a $*#& Muslim." He said the man began following him around the store, harassing him, and asking where he was from. From Buffalo, New York, Singh said he tried to ignore the man and continued talking on the phone with his mother who could hear the man questioning Singh. The owner of the store said he was going back and forth between the back and front of the shop at the time of the incident that took place on November 11 and saw the man who spoke to Singh come in. "I don't know where that guy came from and I hope I don't see him again," the store-owner said.

President of Oregon Institute of Technology

OREGON: Dean at the University of Toledo, Nagi Naganathan has been chosen to be the next president of the Oregon Institute of Technology. OIT announced the hiring made by the board of trustees on November 16. The Indian-American is slated to earn a salary of $300,000. "Oregon Tech has so many unique and high value assets and opportunities at this point in its history. Engaging with everyone to take the university to its next level of excellence is a venture I can't wait to begin," Naganathan said. A graduate of the National Institute of Technology in Tiruchirappali, Clarkson University and Oklahoma State University, earning a bachelor's, master's and doctorate, Naganathan has led the college of engineering as dean since 2003. He has also served as the founding chairperson of the mechanical, industrial, and mechanical engineering department between 1995 and 2000.

He will assume his Oregon Tech post in spring.

Pakistan bans two militant outfits

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has banned two more militant outfits for their involvement in terrorist activities across the country. The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Lashkar-iJhangvi Al -Alami were proscribed following recent attacks on sectarian grounds in different parts of the country. Confirming the development, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said the decision was made a few days ago. A senior official in Sindh's security establishment said, "The two organisations were added to the banned outfits' list on Nov 11. The latest addition came after series of investigations led to the fact that the two militant groups were actively involved in the terrorism activities mostly on sectarian grounds.

Karachi has also witnessed a recent surge in attacks on sectarian grounds executed mostly by the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Al-Alami."

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India opposes UN resolution for moratorium on death penalty Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

UNITED NATIONS: India has opposed a UN resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, saying it goes against Indian law and the sovereign right of countries to determine their own laws and penalties. Mayank Joshi, a counsellor at India's UN Mission said, "The resolution before us sought to promote a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. My delegation, therefore, has voted against the resolution as a

whole as it goes against Indian statutory law."

Explaining New Delhi's stand on capital punishment, Joshi said, "In India, the death penalty is exercised in the rarest of rare cases, where the crime committed is so heinous as to shock the conscience of society." In the last two years only three executions, all of them terrorists, have been carried out in the nation of 1.2 billion. An independent judiciary hears the cases where death penalty can be

imposed and appeals are permitted at several levels, Joshi added. He also said that the Supreme Court has decreed that "poverty, socioeconomic, psychic compulsions, undeserved adversities in life" should be considered as mitigating factors in imposing the death penalty.

The amendment about the sovereign right of nations to have their own legal systems was introduced by Singapore with its delegate saying the original resolution was one-sided

and tried to impose the values of one group of countries upon others.

The resolution was adopted by the General Assembly's committee dealing with humanitarian affairs by 115 votes to 38 with 31 abstentions after an acrimonious debate and the adoption of an amendment to recognise the sovereign rights of nations to determine their own laws. The amendment passed by a vote of 76 to 72 with 26 abstentions.

GOPIO pays tributes to Indian soldiers PARIS: The Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin meeting in Paris that took place over the weekend, paid tribute to Indian soldiers. Over 4,700 Indian soldiers laid their lives fighting with the British.

Convention delegates led

by GOPIO Chairman Dr Thomas Abraham visited Indian soldiers memorial at Neuve Chapelle in Richelbourg, France, on November 11, Armistice Day and laid flowers at the memorial. The convention also passed a resolution requesting UNESCO to recognise

GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham (holding the Indian flag in the middle) leading GOPIO Europe Convention delegates to the memorial of Indian soldiers at Neuve Chapelle in Richebourj. To his right is Dr. Satyapal Singh, MP and to his left is Dr. Pradip Sewoke, Convention Chairman

this memorial as a World Heritage site. Inaugurated at the Intercontinental Hotel by Indian Ambassador Mohan Kumar, the meet was addressed by Dr Satyapal Singh, MP and Raj Purohit MLA, Chief Whip of the Maharashtra Assembly. Chief Guest at the inauguration was Ericka Bareights, Minister of Overseas Affairs of France.

The convention also passed a resolution in support of demonetisation of the higher end Indian currencies so as to curtail the black money and terrorism funding.

Balvant Jani gets life-long Muslim girl's hijab ripped achievement award off in US

LONDON: The Ismaili Khoja community's Association for the Study of Ginan recently organised an event where well-known writer Dr. Balvant Jani was honoured with a Life-long Achievement award by association chairman Pyarali Jiva and vice-chairman Mohammed Moledina.

Speaking on the occasion, secretary Parinbanu Somani stated that Dr Jani has been rather contributory

to the incorporating Ismaili ginan literature to medieval Gujarati literature. Moledina praised him saying he truly believes that the Ismaili community is dispersed across the globe and sings the hymns every day. The event which was anchored by Anisha Mahesh, also saw a performance by world famous ginan singer Taufeeq. Ginans are devotional poems recited by Shia Ismaili Muslims.

CHICAGO: The latest in a series of assaults and threats reported in the US following Donald Trump's win, a Muslim student's hijab was allegedly ripped off and her hair pulled down by a classmate at a school in Minnesota. The incident that took place at Northdale Middle School in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, prompted Anoka-Hennepin School District to launch an investigation into what is being called an assault, by the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR's Minnesota branch released a statement following the attack, expressing concern over the school district's response to the incident. It alleged that the school district did not respond to the incident until the week after. "School officials must take immediate actions to ensure that all students, regardless of their faith or ethnicity, are provided a safe learning environment," CAIR-MN executive director Jaylani Hussein

said. He added, "It should not take days to respond to an apparently bias-motivated assault on a student." The district soon confirmed the incident and is working to find out where the breakdown of communication between the parent and the school took place. District spokesman Jim Skelly said officials have reached out to CAIR. The district released a statement saying the CAIR's description of the incident is "inconsistent with the district's understanding." "The preliminary findings of the investigation indicate that this was isolated and not motivated by bias. However, the concerns of the family reflect similar concerns around the metro and align with the need in our communities to find ways to talk about race and culture constructively and respectfully," the statement said.

Following the election results, a slew of intimidation and assaults have been reported across the country against hijab-clad women.

Drug that could put an end to repeat doses Is it possible to have a pill that continues to release the daily dose of a medicine one needs for the next week, fortnight or even longer? Well, in 21st century, everything is possible. Experts from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and their collaborators from the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology have developed a long-acting drug delivery capsule that may help to do just that in the future.

Experts are hopeful it could help people stick to inconvenient drugs regimes, particularly the elderly or those with dementia who struggle to remember to take

their medicine.

The capsule looks like a pill but when swallowed it opens up into a star shape so that it does not pass through the stomach. The pill lingers in the stomach and releases its contents over a span of two weeks. So far it has been tested with the malaria drug iver-

mectin. This breakthrough could boost the fight against malaria and other diseases.

The research is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is scheduled to move into human trials next year. The results of this work are published in Science Translational Medicine.

In Brief

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PIO attacked after bandana taken for hijab

SAN FRANCISCO: A 41-year old Indian-American woman was attacked in California after a bandana tied on her head was mistaken to be a hijab. Nicki Pancholy was on her 'peace walk' when she found her car window shattered, her purse gone, and a note calling her a "Hijab wearing b****". A Rajasthani by origin, Pancholy has been diagnosed with Lupus, which causes hair loss, which is why she puts the bandana on her head to protect from the Sun. The police has launched an investigation as a hate crime and auto burglary.

Sikh student killed in US, motive unclear

SAN FRANCISCO: A 17 year old Indian-origin Sikh boy was shot while he was on his way home from work, in California. Gurnoor Singh Nahal was in his garage on Kandinsky Way when he was shot.

His grandmother found him lying on the floor and said he cried for help but then it was too late. His uncle Tejinderjit Singh said, "We cannot imagine it. We are lost. She heard it and it was very loud and she came out and then she saw him." A police investigation has been prompted as the victim's family say they did not know the reason behind the murder. Neighbours said such incidents never happened in their neighbourhood.

27 killed in suicide attack at Shia mosque in Kabul

KABUL: A suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Kabul resulted in the death of at least 27 people and wounded 35 others. Senior police official Fridon Obaidi said, "It was a suicide bomber who blew himself up among worshippers inside the mosque." Police cordoned off the area around the Baqirul Olum mosque in the Afghan capital.

Worshippers had gathered in the place of religion to mark the Shiite ceremony of Arbaeen, which comes 40 days after Ashura. Earlier this year, a powerful blast targeting the community during Ashura took place in northern Afghanistan, killing 17. No group has claimed responsibility for the recent attack. A witness said, "I was in the mosque, the people were offering prayers. Suddenly I heard a bang and windows broke. I had no idea what had happened. I rushed out screaming."

Indian-American jailed for trying to join IS

NEW YORK: A 21 year old Indian-American man was sentenced to over three years for trying to fly overseas to join terrorist outfit the Islamic State.

Mohammed Hamzah Khan gave no reaction when the judge at a federal court in Chicago handed down the 40 month sentence. District Judge John Tharp said Khan had faced up to 15 years behind bars, he'd instead been given a second chance.

"Instead of the public beheading, you've been given a public trial proceeding. The enemy government has not tried to kill you. It has tried to help you," Tharp said. Khan has already been in custody for two years, and with good behaviour he'd be eligible for release in August when he plans to enroll in college. However, in addition to the prison time, the judge has also ordered Khan to remain under court supervision for at least 20 years after his release.

Arrest warrant against Khaleda over her controversial birthday

DHAKA: A local court has issued an arrest warrant against Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia over her controversial birthday celebration on August 15, observed as National Mourning Day in the country. Observed in memory of the assassination of founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members in 1975, Zia's birthday celebration hurt the eye of the ruling Awami League since she began celebrating it in 1996. "(Zia) was summoned by the court but she did not appear during three previous hearings... So the magistrate issued the arrest warrant in line with legal procedure," a court official said. He added that her "defiance" prompted the prosecution to seek the arrest warrant. Complainant Gazi Zahir had filed a case earlier this year questioning the genuineness of the birthday. "I have submitted copies of all these documents before the court as none of those suggest that she was born on August 15," Zahir said.

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A future bromance brewing between Modi, Trump?

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MUMBAI: US Presidentelect Donald Trump recently showered praises on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work during his meeting with his Indian business partners. Trump met Atul Chordia, Sagar Chordia and Kalpesh Mehta at Trump Tower, New York and the discussion mostly revolved around the Indian economy and Modi.

"He was praising Modiji as always and added that he is doing a great job," said Sagar Chordia, director of Panchshil Realty. He added that the new President of the United States expects to strengthen and expand US relationship with India.

Trump currently has five luxury projects in the Asian country, including a Trump Tower, a 46-storey apartment block with Panchshil Realty in Pune, and an under-construction 300-apartment project in Mumbai's Lower Parel with Lodha Group.

They are not equity joint ventures, the billionaire has lent his name to the projects in return for payment. Mehta said Donald Trump Jr, who was also present at the meeting, expressed satisfaction with the pace of Trump Organisation's India business and showed interest in expanding it further. "We didn't get a chance to talk about currency demonetisation with Trump. But, his kids knew about it and they termed it as an incredibly bold move."

Also, in an informal chat at a dinner hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Modi had said that he is looking forward to working with Trump and feels that the new administration will be well inclined towards India. He said there was no reason to fear any major change.

Throwing in a wild card as a potential candidate for secretary of state, Trump has tapped South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for the important post in his administration. If he makes it happen, she would become the

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WORLD Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

In Brief

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Employees scared for safety: Nooyi

NEW YORK: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi has office on January said that Donald Trump' victory has left her 20, has been mardaughters, gay workers, employees, basically ried three times and every one who isn't a white devastated as there has five children, was "serious concern" among them about their plus eight grandsafety. "I had to answer a lot of questions from children. His first my daughters, from our employees. Our marriage with Czech employees were all crying. The question that fashion model Ivana they are asking, especially those who are not Trump in 1977 bore white 'Are we safe', women are asking 'Are we him three children; safe', LGBT people are asking 'Are we safe'," Donald Trump Jr., Nooyi said. She added, "The first thing that we Ivanka Trump, and all have to do is to assure everybody that they Eric Trump. All are safe, nothing has changed because of this three work as the election. We will all come together and unify executive vice presithe country." A staunch Clinton supporter, dent of the Trump Nooyi also extended her wishes to the presiOrganisation. His dent-elect. second marriage Donald Trump meeting Atul Chordia, Sagar Chordia and Kalpesh Mehta, with Marla Maples Indian real estate developers, days after his victory in 1993 bore Tiffany Trump, his youngest discussed how to rescue the first person of Indian origin daughter who recently graduagreement if Trump withto be a cabinet principal.

MELBOURNE: Australia has announced ated from the University of draws.

Haley, 44, was scheduled to changes to the '457 visa' programme for skilled Pennsylvania. His third and The Trans-Pacific meet the president-elect at foreign workers to limit their ability to look for current partner Melania, a Partnership (TPP) is a 12Trump Towers last week, as another job after their official employment Slovenian-born model, will nation trade pact that aims to confirmed by his transition ends. The move will adversely affect Indians become the First Lady of the liberalise the flow of goods team. While several names working in the country as foreign workers on United States. among countries in the have sprung for the secretary the programme will now only be able to stay in Ivanka's husband Jared Pacific Rim. The product of of state post including Rudy Australia for 60 days after their employment Kushner has made it to the more than seven years of Giuliani and John Bolton, ends, instead of 90. Immigration Minister news following Trump's win negotiations and a signature picking Haley would be an Peter Dutton said, "From November 19, the as he is believed to be one of achievement of Barack indication that the businessperiod that a subclass 457 visa holder may the major forces behind the Obama's presidency, the TPP man will not only convict to remain in Australia after their employment Trump campaign. His first would cut tariffs on thoupleasing white conservatives ceases will be reduced to 60 days. The change noteworthy political point sands of items and attempt to who were instrumental in his is expected to assist in ensuring that the 457 was the drafting of Trump's unify copyright laws across its victory. programme met its intent of acting as suppleaddress to the America Israel members.

Donald issued a video on ment to, rather than a substitute for, Australian Public Affairs Committee. If “The TPP would be meanTuesday, drafting his policy workers apart from reducing the vulnerability speculations are to be ingless without the United plans for the first 100 days in of 457 visa holders who were only permitted to believed, Kushner might just States,” Abe said, after Japan office and vowing to issue a work for an approved sponsor and were not elibe the right heir to Trump's and other TPP countries had note of intent to withdraw gible for unemployment benefits, from entering unorthodox reign. discussed the agreement on from the Trans-Pacific into informal employment arrangements." the sidelines of the Partnership "from day one".

Apec summit in Lima In the brief clip, he said that at the weekend. "our transition team is workMeanwhile, Trump ing very smoothly, efficiently, confirmed that the and effectively" as opposed to soon-to-be first lady media reports that talk of Major Commercial Property Auction Melania Trump won't chaos with Trump struggling be shifting to the to build a team.

Thursday 8th December 2016 White House with He said he was going to him. He said his wife issue a note of intent to withOn behalf of Aviva Investors, LaSalle, Investment Management, Hansteen Property Investment, and youngest son draw from the TPP trade Valad Property Group, Major Funds, Trustees, Major Property Companies, LPA Receivers & Barron would move deal, calling it a "potential Administrators at CBRE, Moorfields, Alix Partners, introducing agents a JLL amongst others. "right after he finishes disaster for our country", and 91 lots to be offered, including: school."

His stating that he would instead spokesman Jason "negotiate fair bilateral trade HIGH STREET RETAIL BROMLEY BR1 1JQ BANBURY OX16 1RJ Miller has earlier said, deals that bring jobs and INVESTMENTS 119 High Street, Thomas House, Beaumont "There's obviously a industry back." The stateGreater London Road Industrial Estate, sensitivity to pulling ment came hours after STEVENAGE SG1 1DN Let to CEX Limited, Oxfordshire 37 Queensway, their 10 year old out of Japanese Prime Minister VAT-free investment.

Let to AAC Cyroma Limited Hertfordshire Rent £95,000 p.a.x. school in the middle of Shizo Abe's warning saying Guaranteed by Versarien Plc. Prime Pedestrianised Town Centre 30,000 sq ft Industrial Building. a school year. A more the deal would be "meaningBOLTON BL1 1BU location, opposite Primark.

Rent £162,000 p.a.x. formal statement will less" without US participa2 - 10 Market Street, Rent £48,000 p.a.x.

Greater Manchester BANK INVESTMENT be coming in the tion. Speaking to an array of YEOVIL BA20 1LX Let to Sportswift Limited future." Trump, who reporters, Abe conceded that SUNDERLAND SR1 3JH t/a Card Factory.

48 Middle Street, will be sworn into other TPP countries had not Rent £60,000 p.a.x.

Yorkshire Bank, 31 / 32 Somerset

Oz cuts stay of `457 visa' holders, Indians to be hit

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48 London Street, Norfolk Let to Costa Limited and Adecco UK Limited on a new 10 year lease.

Rent £74,000 p.a.x.

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46b High Street, Hampshire

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29 Gallowtree Gate and 65-69 Market Place, Leicestershire 6 retail units and office accommodation. Tenants include Ladbrokes, Timpson, Harvey & Thompson and Sk:n.

Rent £226,000 p.a.x.

INDUSTRIAL/WAREHOUSE INVESTMENTS

14 Cheapside & 79 Market Place (Part), Leicestershire New 10 year lease to Crawshaw Butchers Limited (No breaks).

Rent £45,000 p.a.x.

MARYPORT CA15 8NF Units 2, 3 and 5 Solway Industrial Estate, off Main Road (A596), Cumbria Substantial Secure site of approximately 2.29 Hectares (4.12 Acres) with 82,000 sq ft of buildings.

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Entirely let to Clydesdale Bank Plc (t/a Yorkshire Bank) 5 year lease renewal (subject to option).

Rent £51,200 p.a.x.

MOTOR TRADE/PETROL STATION INVESTMENT

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87 High Street, Essex Majority let to Cancer Research UK on a new 10 year lease.

Rent £50,000 p.a.x.

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Eric Trump, Lara Yunaska Trump, Donald Trump, Barron Trump, Melania Trump, Vanessa Haydon Trump, Kai Madison Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Donald John Trump III, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Tiffany Trump pose for photos on stage after Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency

Blandford Street, Tyne & Wear

Let to Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited.

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Chrysler Garage, Bayes Street, Northamptonshire Let on a 15 year lease until 2029 (No breaks), Operated as a Petrol Filling Station for over 21 years.

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EASTBOURNE BN22 0AU Co-operative Convenience Food Store, Lindfield Road, East Sussex Let to The Southern Co-operative Ltd until 2029 (no breaks).

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INDIA

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Big, fat wedding of mining baron's daughter In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

BENGALURU: The extravagant wedding that estimated to have cost over £10 million has brought former BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy in the bad books of the national political party. The elaborate celebrations conducted for his daughter Brahmani saw some 50,000 guests. However, it is learnt that the Bharatiya Janta Party had asked its leaders to stay away from the function.

Concluded at the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, amongst those in attendance included Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, State Home Minister G Parameshwara, Energy Minister DK

Mine baron Janaradhan Reddy with wife and daughter Brahmini at Palace Grounds

Shivakumar, Rural Development Minister HK Patil and former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa. The lavish wedding also attracted the

Chennai on the verge of severe water crisis CHENNAI: Chennai is on the verge of severe water crisis as the four reservoirs supplying water to the city has water for only 25 days. The TN public works department has approached its counterpart in Andhra Pradesh to release 4tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of Krishna water at the earliest, while Metrowater has drawn up a contingency plan, that includes use of agriculture wells in Tiruvallur district to quench the thirst of the city with eight million.

This day last year, there was enough water in the reservoirs at Chembarambakkam, Red Hills, Poondi and Cholavaram to serve the city for nine months. On Monday, there was less than one month's supply left in the reservoirs. If the northeast monsoon does not revive fast and the water managers were unable to ensure water from the Krishna river, the problem will only intensify.

"At least 30mcft [million

cubic feet] is drawn by Metrowater a day and the existing storage may not last a month. The state PWD is requesting AP to release four tmcft and restrict the inflow to ensure the farmers along the route don't pump out water for agriculture use," said a senior government official. As per the agreement between the two states, Andhra Pradesh has to supply 12tmcft of water from the Kandaleru reservoir to Poondi, but has supplied only 0.340tmcft since October 18. There has been a fluctuation of inflow between 110 cusecs and 385 cusecs (cubic feet of water per second) during the last few days.

Water managers hope the neighbouring state will maintain the required level. "Our requirement is 1tmcft a month for Chennai. If we get 1tmcft a month of Krishna water, it should be more than enough to maintain the current level of supply.

Haryana seeks status quo in SYL canal in SC NEW DELHI: Haryana Government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a status quo in the Satluj-Yamuna Link canal issue. Hearing a petition filed by a lawyer on behalf of a non-governmental organisation for criminal contempt of court against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, and son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Tirath Singh Thakur decided to take up the matter in due time.

As per the petitioner, both, father and son said on record that they will not follow the apex court order on the issue. The court had termed the law passed by Punjab in 2004 to terminate the SYL canal water sharing agreement with neighbouring states "unconstitutional". A constitution bench of the court had ruled that Punjab could not have taken a "unilateral" decision to terminate the agreement with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and

Chandigarh to share of the Ravi-Beas river water.

Sukhbir, in response to the order, had said that Punjab would not share water with any other state. "A decision taken at an emergency meeting of the Punjab cabinet said that Punjab Government would not allow the SYL to be built at any cost nor a single brick would be allowed to be laid for its construction by any agency," he had said.

Badal added, "As far as legal steps are concerned, advocates will advise us on what can be legally done. Our main aim is to not let the water go, and we will do anything for that. We want to assure people of Punjab that only we can do this, and resignation in Congress is just a drama."

The Punjab government had denotified the land acquired for the canal from farmers and gave it back to them, last week. All 5,378 acres were returned free of cost. This was the second time in seven months that the land was denotified.

attention of income tax officials who are now set to question Reddy. Sources in the department said officials have already studied the costs

incurred, and further investigations would soon be carried out. The venue was designed to look like a scene from the Vijayanagar empire, designed by a film art director on 35 acres of land. Guests were taken to the main venue in bullock carts. The Reddys have claimed the total cost at about £3 million. The evening saw performances by Telugu stars like Rakul Preet, comedian Brahmanand, and Kannada star Yash. The wedding came at a time when a better part of the country is struggling because of the government's decision to withdraw 85 per cent of hard currency.

Kerala politician told she can't make speeches TH IRUV AN AN sions or late night THAPURAM: In a events." He added that women "were stark example of welcome to speak sexism, a leader of to a specific audithe Muslim ence like a delegaL e a g u e , tion, but must not Kamarunissa address public Anwar was told gatherings." Haji she could not make also furnished a a speech as she is a picture of another woman. The 60 year old president Kamarunissa Anwar prominent woman leader of the party of the political addressing a delegation with party's women's wing was on him on stage, in a bid to prove the dais along with several he wasn't against the gender. male leaders of the party Kamarunissa has been when state secretary MC working for the political party Mayin Haji told her, "it's not for the last 20 years and said, in the League's tradition for "she did feel sad". Out of the women to speak to men."

140 MLAs in Kerala, only The incident came to light eight are women. The after an audio recording of Opposition led by Congress the conversation was leaked. has no women legislators in Also, Haji stood firm on the the current Assembly. statement saying, "Women Muslim League is an impordo not address public gathertant ally of the Congress in ings. Women are given much Kerala and has 18 MLAs in more respect than men, the the Assembly, but not one reason why we don't encourwoman. age them to be part of proces-

It'll be Sukhbir vs Mann in Jalalabad BATHINDA: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that his party MP Bhagwant Mann will contest against Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal from his Jalalabad constituency in Fazilka district in the forthcoming assembly elections.

Kejriwal said this during a rally in Jalalabad, publicly asking Sangrur MP and comedian Bhagwant Mann to contest against Sukhbir.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) responded by saying that Kejriwal should have himself contested against Sukhbir. Kejriwal also asked Mann to follow Sukhbir if the SAD chief decided to fight the polls from any other seat instead of Jalalabad. Mann had won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Sangrur with the highest margin in Punjab, routing SAD's Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa by 211,000 votes.

Mann, who has often expressed his desire to take on Sukhbir politically, immediately accepted the challenge.

“I will follow my leader Arvind Kejriwal's words. He

had dared to take on threetime chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, and defeated her. I will make history by defeating Sukhbir with the help of common people.

Sukhbir will have to pay for looting Punjab,” he said.

Kejriwal said, “The people have asked Bhagwant to contest against Sukhbir. But it will not be his election. It will be the election of every Punjabi. As AAP has no money and much manpower to contest the elections, the people should contribute to the party's kitty and every volunteer should take along 100 workers to defeat anti-people SAD-BJP combine and Congress.”

Kuldeep Kaur Tohra, a Congress rebel who contested the Khadoor Sahib by-poll at a time when the party stayed away from the contest, has made it to the fifth list of the Aam Aadmi Party. Daughter of Akali stalwart Panth Rattan late Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Kuldeep will contest from Sanaur, and is the only woman on the list along with 11 men.

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Jaya shifted to private room from critical care unit

CHENNAI: AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was on Saturday shifted to a private room in a ward of Apollo Hospital after she was admitted in the critical care unit on September 22, party spokesperson C R Saraswathy said. AIADMK workers distributed sweets and danced outside the hospital premises, after hearing the news.

Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. She was put on a comprehensive line of treatment, including antibiotics, respiratory support and passive physiotherapy. A team of doctors of Apollo, Dr Richard from a London hospital and speciality doctors from AIIMS, Delhi attended on her.

Bengaluru school to donate Rs 5000,000 to soldiers

BENGALURU: Students, teachers and the administration of a city school came together to pitch in Rs 5000,000 to donate to the Army Welfare Fund. Chairman of the New Horizon Educational Institution Mohan Manghnani will hand over the money to Major General KS Nijjar, general officer commanding, Karnataka and Kerala sub-area. Manghnani said, "After getting inspired by PM Modi's #Sandesh2Soldiers call last month, we decided to carry on with our mission in supporting our armed forces. This is our humble contribution."

Puducherry CM wins by-poll

PUDUCHERRY: Congress candidate and chief minister V Narayanasamy won the Nellithope by-poll defeating the AIADMK candidate Omsakthi Sekar by 11,144 votes. Narayanasamy polled 18,709 votes while Sekar managed to get 7,565 votes. He had to win the by-poll and become an MLA to continue as chief minister.

Right from the beginning Narayanasamy maintained a steady lead. He polled 6,779 votes in the first round, 6,137 in the second and 5,791 in the third and final round as against Sekar's 2,819 votes in the first, 2,560 and 2,185 votes in the second and third round respectively.

Two TN fishermen injured in firing by Lankan navy

PUDUCHERRY: Two fishermen from Tamil Nadu were injured when Sri Lankan navy opened fire at their boats off Kodiakarai coast in the state. The injured, identified as Balamurugan, 21, and Aravind, 22, were part of a large group of fishermen from Nagapattinam district. "We were fishing off Kodiakarai coast when they (Sri Lankan Navy) reached the spot and ripped our fishing nets and questioned us why we came to the region. They pelted stones at us and opened fire.

Godwoman goes on shooting spree at wedding, kills one

CHANDIGARH: A woman was killed, and three others seriously injured when a selfacclaimed godwoman and her private security men went on a celebratory shooting spree at a wedding in Karnal. The incident took place at Savitrii Lawns marriage palace, 140 km Chandigarh. The victims were attending the wedding where Sadhvi Deva Thakur and her accomplices fired several rounds, the police said. The accused have been booked for murder and other sections of the Indian Penal Code, and the Arms Act.

Trio burns holy books; booked

FAZILKA: The police have booked three people for setting religious books ablaze and hurting the sentiments of the Valmiki community.

Sources said Gurmeet Singh, priest of the Valmiki temple at Jandwala village, informed the police that three people, identified as Malkeet Singh, Rajinder Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, allegedly took away three religious books, including the Ramayana, to Malkeet's house and set them on fire there. The three have been booked by police. Investigating officer Davinder Singh said the reason behind their action is yet to be known.

HERITAGE - HISTORY Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

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25

The untold story of the Indian Constitution AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Illustrations of Rama, Akbar, Shivaji, Tipu, Gandhi and Subhas Bose incorporated in it; Sandwiched Sanskrit leaves the country without any National Language Dr Hari Desai India has the longest written Constitution of any sovereign country in the world. Even experts like Dr Subhash Kashyap would say that the Indian Constitution, adopted on November 26, 1949, and made effective from January 26, 1950, was copied down nearly 75% from the Government of India Act, 1935.

The Constituent Assembly first met on December 9, 1946, and was boycotted by the Muslim League of Mohammad Ali Jinnah before Partition. It

had 11 sessions and sittings for 165 days, of which 114 days were devoted to consider the draft Constitution. The finalised Constitution had 395 Articles in 22 Parts, 12 Schedules. It has special provisions for various Indian States, including Jammu and Kashmir. The first amendment was brought by the Jawaharlal Nehru government in 1951 for Backward Classes (OBC) reservations and others. The last amendment was brought in September 2016 by the Narendra Modi government for Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Unlike many other neighbouring countries, India is not known for frequently changing the Constitution, though she has effected 101 constitutional amendments. Most of the amendments were made “in the interest of general public” but some time the constitutional amendments were carried out “to safeguard the interest of the person in power” or “to nullify the court judgments” like it was done

The Nehru Cabinet, five non-Congress Union ministers, including Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Dr B R Ambedkar

Nandalal Bose (1883 – 1966)

t o i m p o s e Emergency in 1975 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Later the Morarji Desai governmentreversed it.

Unfortunately, not many people talk about how secular or religious the

Rama, Sita, Lakshmana

Constitution is. The first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was always considered secular, opposed to orthodox Hindu traditions, a follower of Fabian socialism, unlike other religious leaders of the freedom movement.

Even the Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Patel was not known for visiting temples for Darshana, though he got the Somnath Temple rebuilt since it was considered to be the symbol of self-respect of the nation.

Even among the 141 members of the Constituent Assembly, there were members both religious as well as atheist, and following various religions.

Not many people know that the original Indian Constitution carries the illustrations of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Nataraja (the Lord of dance), etc. by Nandlal Bose. The framers of the Constitution signed three copies of the Constitution on January 24, 1950. The 479page calligraphic edition of the Constitution, one each was written in English and Hindi, with borders designed following Ajanta caves paintings. The third copy of the Constitution was a printed one.

The Indian Constitution carries the paintings of the scenes of the Himalayas, the desert and the Ocean. Some heritage illustrations are also there. Apart from Rama, Lakshmana and Sita, it has Mughal Emperor Akbar, Chatrapati Shivaji, Tipu Sultan, Jhansi Queen Lakshmibai, Guru Govind Singh, Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March and Noakhali visit, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's and other paintings which make India proud. The calligraphic work was done by Byohar Rammanohar Sinha who put his signature below the Preamble as “Rama” and Nandlal Bose in line-drawings and goldwork as “Nanda”.

The meaning of being “Secular” does not mean anti-religious but following Sarva Dharma Sambhav.

The Indian culture accepts equally the believers as well as atheists in Hindu traditions and respects Islam and Christianity as well.

The first person to sign the Constitution was Nehru and last one was President Dr Rajendra Prasad, who signed in Hindi on top of Nehru’s signature. Sardar Patel, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Jagjivan Ram and Dr B R Ambedkar, the chairman of the Drafting Committee, put their signatures on the second page. The last page

carries signatures of Ramnath Goenka, a newspaper tycoon, followed by Feroze Gandhi, Nehru’s son-in-law. The last signature on the tenth page is of Sundar Lall, who wrote the two-volume Bharat men Angareji-Raj. One would be surprised that there was a move to make Sanskrit, the language of common man’s communication for 1,000 years, the national language. The then Law Minister, Dr Ambedkar, along with many other members, including T T K r i s h n a m ac h a r i , Naziruddin Ahmed, Mrs G Durgabai, Mrs Dakshayani Velayudhan, Dr B V Keskar, Deputy Minister for External Affairs, put forward the proposal but most of the North Indian members, including Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Union Industry Minister, insisted for Hindi being the national language. The South Indian members objected to it and opted for English.

The rift between Hindi and English has deprived India of a National Language even today!

Some time history takes unexpected turns. Dr

Ambedkar who was opposed to the idea of the Constituent Assembly itself was invited to be the Chairman of the Drafting Committee.

As Dr Narendra Jadhav states in “Ambedkar: Awakening India’s Social Conscience”, “Dr Ambedkar regarded it as a most dangerous project, which may invoke this country in a Civil War.” Of course, his warning must be considered seriously: “It is not that India did not know what Democracy is.” Throwing light on the responsibities, Dr Ambedkar says: “By Independence, we have lost the excuse of blaming the British for anything going wrong. If hereafter things go wrong, we will have nobody to blame except ourselves.”

(For the original Constitution of India Web link : https://www.wdl.org/en/i tem/2672/view/1/1/) Next Column : Aurobindo: From Cambridge to Pondicherry via Baroda (The writer is a Sociopolitical Historian. E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com)

26

INDIA

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BJP, Trinamool win key by-elections Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

The Bharatiya Janta Party and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress won crucial by-elections, with BJP gloating over the support they received despite the demonetisation move.

The BJP scored impressive in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, bringing major relief amid concern. The national party retained the Lok Sabha and assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, however, its winning margin for the Lok Sabha seat was down from nearly 250,000 to 60,000 despite a 5 per cent increase in voter turnout.

In Assam, the BJP retained the parliament seat vacated by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and gained an assembly seat.

Union Minister Ananth Kumar said the victory proves that "the people of India are with Narendra Modi" as the opposition has united in parliament to suggest the opposite, claiming that there is public outrage over the cash crunch.

Following the results, Modi tweeted, "I thank people for the continued faith in BJP and in the BJP's unwavering focus on development and good governance."

In Arunachal Pradesh, Desingu Pul, wife of former chief minister Kalikho Pul, won his assembly seat as a BJP candidate. The BJP backs the state government after Chief Minister Pema Khandu broke away from the Congress. In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress retained two Lok Sabha seats and one assembly seat, winning all three by-elections in the state.

Banerjee said, "People have

revolted. This is symbolic, it is a vote against demonetisation. In a democracy, people vent their anger through votes."

In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK retained all three seats that were decided.

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy of the Congress has won the Nellithope Assembly seat.

Narayanasamy is a Lok Sabha lawmaker and needed to become a member of the state assembly within six months of being sworn in as Chief Minister in May. Tripura's ruling CPM has won both assembly seats for which by-elections were held, retaining one and wresting the other from the Congress, which fared very poorly in both.

Demonetisation move fetches £54.40bn bonanza for banks Continued from page 1 exchanged and deposited is less than 10 per cent of what has been rendered illegal by the government.

In the same period people deposited the money, banks pumped £10.33 billion into the system through withdrawals by account-holders and, another £3.30 billion in exchanging old notes.

While new notes have come in and are already in circulation, they are only a seventh of the estimated requirement. What has helped the shortage of currency is the growth of electronic transactions that are currently at three times the usual amount. If the banks

Withdrawal limit for marriages hiked

The government has announced relaxation in the withdrawal limit for farmers and families celebrating weddings. In a statement, the Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said, for wedding ceremonies, up to Rs 250,000 (approx £3000) can be with-

drawn from the bank account which are Know your customer (KYC) compliant. This comes as a breather for many families during this peak wedding season as those organising weddings were in a fix while paying the various vendors involved in the ceremonies.

keep pumping in new notes as they are now, it would still take seven more weeks to meet the requirement of £100 billion.

Economist Saumittra Chaudhuri said the November 8 decision helped impound about

£165.8 million Rs 500 notes and £66.80 million 1000 notes, which is a total of 23.26 billion pieces of currency notes worth £150 billion. He added that the timeline to replace the existing stock of the Rs 500 notes will run into May

2017. Despite the difficulties, many economists and even ordinary Indians believe Mr Modi’s shock therapy will yield longterm benefits. Mahesh Rewaria, who sells phone accessories from a tiny stall, says his sales fell 60 per cent after the ban and yet to recover fully. Yet he supports Modi’s move. “It’s only those who were not paying taxes and stealing from the government that have to worry. I am included in that,” he told the Financial Times. “I would have always wanted to pay my taxes fairly, but then I would think why should I, when other people are so corrupt."

Indian students saga: Britain’s loss, others’ gain

Continued from page 1 But Ministers have told Parliament this week that after the crackdown on bogus colleges, the number of Indian students going to universities – instead of further education colleges – had gone up.

According to the Hindustan Timres, responding to a debate on international students at Westminster Hall, immigration minister Robert Goodwill said: “The proportion of Indian students coming to study in the UK at a university increased from around 50% in 2010 to around 90% in 2015.

“This trend of smaller volumes of students with greater concentrations in higher education is likely to reflect the recent policy changes to clamp down on immigration abuse by nongenuine students and bogus colleges.”

The same figures were cited by minister of state for home Susan Williams in the House of Lords at the end of a debate that included a forceful intervention by Lord Karan Bilimoria, who regretted that official rhetoric about student visas was adversely affecting a successful export sector.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Ashish Jain, a student in India, preparing to study abroad told Asian Voice, “Indians automatically want to go to the UK for higher studies. We can call it a colonial hangover.

But the UK government has completely misunderstood our intention and why we are choosing Australia, US, France and Germany over the UK. “A reason for the drop in Indian students going to the UK was the closure in 2012 of the post-study work visa, popular among self-financing Indian students, who have used it to gain work experience after their courses and to recover some of the cost of their study and stay. If you are paying a wopping £30,000 tution fee, you obviously would like to work in the UK- not only to gain experience, but also to earn back some of the money you have spent.

“Not everybody is super rich and we often take bank loans to go and study abroad. One must understand the need of the time. I am not saying I want to stay back illegally, but after spending thousands to study abroad, we must have that room to gain interna-

tional work experience and earn some money back, that was invested in our education.”

By 2025 India will have world's largest population of 18-22 year olds, according to a British Council report. Claire McNulty, the British Council's acting Education Head told The Times newspaper, “International students bring benefits both in economic and terms and in terms of the benefits that UK students and universities gain from exposure to talented people with different backgrounds and experiences.

“We need to consider carefully how to continue to attract students from India and elsewhere.”

A report by Open Doors, in partnership with the US Departmnent of State, said that Indian students contributed $5billion (£4 billion) to the US economy and that India was the second highest contributing country after China. But after Donald Trump has been elected as the US President, it's likely the Indian students will choose Canada, Germany, France or even Australia and New Zealand over the US.

Canada aiming for Indian students Canada has announced new immigration measures that are likely to prove beneficial to international students in the country, a fair percentage of whom are from India.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada department has outlined changes to the Express Entry programme, which enhance the process of granting permanent residency to highly skilled immigrants and students who graduate from Canadian institutions.

The changes has been implemented from November 18. UK government offer scholarships to woo Indian students The UK government is offering scholarships of one million pounds in 2017 to attract Indian students.

Debanjan Chakrabarti, director of British Council East India, said the new 198 scholarships under the ‘Great’ campaign are in subject areas ranging from art and design to engineering, law and management, according to a report by PTI. A total of 40 UK universities are participating in this programme.

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AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Portugal PM to be chief guest at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Antonio Costa

Indian-origin Prime Minister of the Republic of Portugal Antonio Costa has accepted the invitation to be the Chief Guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention to be held in January, as informed by a foreign ministry statement. Costa will participate in the inaugural session of the PBD convention on 7 January and address the delegates on the 8th. The statement

Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin

also said that Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin, vice president of the Republic of Suriname will be the special guest at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. He will address young overseas Indian delegates at the inaugural session, along with Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel.

150 killed as Indore-Patna train derail near Kanpur

Continued from page 1

to lift coaches from the tracks. The last of the cars were lifted by Monday. were busy clearing the While the reason for the tracks and checking for crash is under investigation, damage to the rail line hopsome railway officials said ing to resume traffic they believe faulty tracks to through one of the country's be the culprit. "We haven't busiest railway junctions seen an incident like this in near Kanpur, said railway Indian railways for a long official Amit Kumar. time. There must be a fault The Indore-Patna in the track as 14 bogeys Express which was in the have derailed, and this hapmiddle of its 27-hour jourpened despite regular ney between Indore and Patna, slid off the tracks at checking of the tracks," said 3:10 am on Sunday, with an minister of state in the railimpact so strong, one of its way ministry Rajen Gohain. coaches landed atop anothAs hospitals in the vicinity and nearby towns er and flung passengers off began to fill up to their capacity, several nongovernment organisation, guest houses, and dharamshalas in the A relative trying to console a woman whose area took in brother died in the accident the injured, said director-general of their beds. Over 226 people health Sunil Kumar were injured in the tragedy Srivastava. Doctors visited including 14 coaches of the them and shifted the seritrain, near Pukhrayan staously injured to the Kanpur tion, 60 km from Kanpur. medical college and other Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu visited hospitals government facilities. where the injured were Srivastava also said that a treated. "High-level orders cold storage owner had are being given to probe the offered to store unidentified accident," he said, adding bodies for three days. "We that the Railway Ministry will preserve the DNA samhas collaborated with the ple of the dead passengers Uttar Pradesh government whose relatives do not turn to provide all necessary up." he added.

Several doctors, with help. Also at the accident private practice, lent a hand site was Minister of State to doctors in government for Railways, Manoj Sinha. hospitals.

Some even He promptly ordered offiopened the doors of their cials to increase the pace of nursing homes and relief operations and better arranged blood donors for treatment to the injured. those in need of surgery, a "Strict action will be taken against those responsible health official said. While for the disaster," he said. accidents are relatively There was a joint effort common on India’s sprawlof rescue workers, soldiers, ing rail network, the derailand members of the central ment of the Patna-Indore disaster management force, Express Train is among as they used cutting torches India’s deadliest in at least six years. to pry open cars and, cranes

HEALTH&WELLNESS

AsianVoiceNewsweekly| Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

AsianVoiceNews

Lack of sleep may make you eat more FOOD

A

new study has found that sleep deprivation may make you munch on more calories the following day, potentially leading to weight gain and obesity.

The study found that sleepdeprived people consumed an average of 385 kilocalories per day extra, which is equivalent to the calories of about four and a half slices of bread.

The study, led by researchers at King's College London, combined the results of 11 studies with a total of 172 participants.

T h e analys i s included

FITNESS

studies that compared a partial sleep restriction intervention with an unrestricted sleep control and measured the individuals' energy intake over the next 24 hours. They found partial sleep deprivation did not have a signifi-

LIFESTYLE

cant effect on how much energy people expended in the subsequent 24 hours.

Therefore, participants had a net energy gain of 385 calories per day.

The researchers also found there was a small shift in what sleep deprived people ate - they had higher fat and lower protein intakes, but no change in carbohydrate intake. "The main cause of obesity is an imbalance between calorie intake and expenditure and this study adds to accumulating evidence t h a t sleep deprivation could contribute to

this imbalance," said Gerda Pot from King's College London.

"So there may be some truth in the saying 'early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and wise'," Pot said. "This study found that partial sleep deprivation resulted in a large net increased energy intake of 385 kcal per day," she said.

"If long-term sleep deprivation continues to result in an increased calorie intake of this magnitude, it may contribute to weight gain," she added.

"Our results highlight sleep as a potential third factor, in addition to diet and exercise, to target weight gain more effectively," Haya Al Khatib, PhD candidate at King's College London.

Healthy recipes for hangover cures T

he morning after the wild celebrations, you have to deal with a splitting headache, known as the Hangover.' There are two ways to cure a hangover your way and the right way.

Following are some hangover cures.

Try a curry with rice.

Popular as an end-of-theevening comfort food after a round of binge drinking, a curry with rice is just what you might crave at the end of a long hungover day. Eat a greasy burger.

It's a common perception that a greasy meal, more specifically a greasy burger, will 'wipe up the remaining alcohol' from your body.

This isn't corroborated by science, but plenty of hangover survivors swear by it.

A nutritious meal will work excellently to replenish your body with nutrients.

Nutritious fibre will also help you regain normalcy in bodily functions like digestion. This will help you get rid of toxins and excess baggage.

Go for a brisk walk. Get your blood circulation back in action with a light, but brisk, walk or jog. This will wake you up and get rid of the sluggishness. Pop some vitamins. This helps regain some nutrients in your body, especially since you've depleted them with alcohol the night before. A couple of standard issue multivitamins will do the trick. Make sure to drink a lot of water along with popping these multis.

Some swear by this and perhaps rightly so - an

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...

energy drink might give you that extra kick.

However, this is not recommended as a natural hangover remedy since the energy drink could potentially raise your heart rate, causing more harm.

Chilled fruits do two things - they'll help get rid of the hangover as the freshness and cold temperature will refresh your taste buds instantly, they'll also give you important nutritional benefits. This helps as you are experiencing weakness due to depleted nutrients.

Take plenty of rest and sleep, this will make you recover normal body functions. On the morning after, one can take a hot water bath as this opens the skin pores to release the alcohol toxins. Try to eat starchy foods to slow down the alcohol absorption and limit your self to less than 1 drink per hour.

Stick to non-carbonated drinks as carbonation can speed up the alcohol absorption.

Never drink on an empty stomach. Food delays absorption of alcohol and aids the body in digesting it faster. Mixing drinks can cause hangovers, so avoid cocktails. Be sure to choose drinks with

low levels of cogeners (light drinks such as white wines, gin, and vodka) - these are additives that are found in alcohol that increase your risk of a hangover. Darkcoloured drinks (such as red wine, bourbon, and rum) have higher levels of cogeners and should be avoided in case one is prone to severe hangovers.

Try to avoid sweet drinks (and sugary foods) while you drink. The sweet taste of the drink can make it difficult for you to judge how much alcohol you're actually consuming.

Alcohol consumption can irritate your stomach lining so avoid aspirin and ibuprofen since they may only serve to increase this irritation. Aspirin is not well tolerated by some people and may cause stomach bleeding. Take vitamin C,

as it may increase the rate of alcohol breakdown in the body. Try lime juice with a teaspoon of sugar in some water and drink slowly. Taking some honey can also help in the breaking down of the alcohol.

Lemon tea is known to be good for hangovers.

Lemon tea will flush out the toxins from your stomach. You might also want to mix some fresh lemon juice in cold water to get relief from a hangover.

This can even control the level of sugar in your blood.

Drink fresh fruit juices like orange, tomato juice, if possible.

Have some orange juice because vitamin C speeds up the metabolism of the alcohol by the liver and accelerates the burning of the alcohol still in your system that morning. Drink plenty of water or have oral rehydration fluids as alcohol causes dehydration. Try to alternate your alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic beverages such as water.

Also drink lots of water before you go to bed.

Eat a high protein breakfast in the morning to replenish most of the damage done by alcohol the previous evening. Do not have an alcoholic drink in the morning as a cure for a hangover. Another drink does not help and may only make your hangover worse.

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Pessimism raises risk of death from coronary heart disease R

esearchers found that people with high levels of pessimism to have a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)induced mortality.

Optimism and pessimism focus on people's attitude towards their future whether or not they generally expect a greater number of desirable or undesirable things to happen. Dr. Mikko Pänkäläinen, lead author of the study said: "High levels of pessimism have previously been linked to factors that affect cardiac health, such as inflammation, but data on the connection between risk of death from CHD and optimism and pessimism as personality traits are relatively scarce."

Dr. Pänkäläinen added: "Levels of pessimism can be measured quite easily and pessimism might be a very useful tool together with other known risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension or smoking to determine the risk of CHD-induced mortality."

This is the first study to examine CHD mortality and its association with optimism and pessimism as independent variables.

Previous research that treated optimism and pessimism as opposites on a continuous scale rendered conflicting results, particularly regarding associations between optimism and CHD-related deaths.

The researchers found that the 121 men and women who died from CHD during the study's 11-

year follow-up period had been more pessimistic at baseline than people who were still alive at followup. However, there was no difference between the groups in optimism, suggesting that pessimism alone mediates the effect on CHD mortality.

Comparing the highest and lowest quartiles of pessimism, people in the highest quartile had a 2.2-fold higher risk of dying from CHD than those in the lowest quartile.

Observational studies like this one can show possible links between risk of death from CHD and pessimism, but they cannot show cause and effect because other factors may play a role. While this prospective cohort study investigated a randomly selected group of people with even numbers of both sexes and representatives of all invited age groups across a long follow-up period, it may be limited by its use of self-reported data which may have caused inconsistencies between people's answers and the reality of some physiological risk factors such as smoking habits or use of medications.

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Huge expectations Popular young actress joins Dhanush's on Rajini’s 2.0 first 'Power Paandi' look launch

Asian Voice

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D

hanush's m a i d e n directorial 'Power Paandi' has roped in young comedianne Vidyullekha Raman. Daughter of veteran character artist Mohan V Raman, Vidyu has worked in 25 films including 'Veeram' and 'Vedalam' with Ajith, 'Jilla' and

H

ow much is too much when you are Rajinikanth?

The first look launch event of Thalaivar's '2.0' is being chalked out and it is supposed to be the biggest film event of 2016. Budget of the film itself stands at a whopping amount of more than £35 million.

Scheduled to take place on the weekend, the makers will unveil the first look of Rajini, and Akshay Kumar who plays the antagonist in the sci-fi.

The event will be held at the prestigious Yash Raj Studios, at a cost of £600,000- which is ironically the average cost of making two Tamil films.

The hour-long event will be hosted by filmmaker Karan

Johar, and arrangements of the evening will be overseen by event management company Wizcraft.

Rajini sent Twitter in a frenzy last week after he tweeted the first poster of the 'Enthiran' sequel. A first look launch event is a new trend. No filmmakers, not even producers of 'Baahubali' have planned such an elaborate function for a reveal. A teaser poster of the movie heightened the curiosity of the fans with most of them anxious about what to expect from the first look launch.

Adding fuel to the existing fire, Kumar tweeted, "What awaits, no one knows!!! Sit tight... just few days to go. Are you ready?"

Madhavan's simplicity charms Shraddha Srinath

ctress Shraddha Srinath, who will be teaming up with R Madhavan in upcoming Tamil gangster drama 'Vikram Vedha' was awestruck by the actor's simplicity. "I'm super excited. I have already met him once and we hung out socially. I was awestruck by his simplicity and totally charmed by his persona," she said. Also excited about sharing screen space with Vijay Sethupathi, she said,

"I recently caught up on some of Vijay Sethupathi's films and since then I have been waiting to work with him too." She added that she believes it as "a great opportunity to work with Pushkar and Gayatri who make a great director duo and they compliment each other so well."

The movie also stars Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar and Kathir, and will be set against the backdrop of North Chennai.

'Puli' with Vijay, and 'Mass' with Suriya.

'Power Paandi' stars Rajkiran in the lead, with Prasanna playing his son.

Dhanush and Madonna Sebastian will be seen in extended cameo roles. Also to be seen is Chaya Singh of 'Thiruda Thirudi' fame.

Mani, ARR and Vairamuthu complete a song in 8 hours

B

usy shooting his upcoming 'Kaatru Veliyidai' featuring Aditi Rao Hydari and Karthi, Director Mani Ratnam took some time to also work on song composing sessions with his regular partners Isaipuyal AR Rahman, and Kaviperarasu Vairamuthu.

Confirming the report in his latest tweet, the lyricist said the three have completed composing the fifth

song for the film. Detailing about the session, Vairamuthu said they sat for the discussion at 4 PM on Wednesday (November 16) finalized the tune at around 6 pm and lyrics at 8 pm. At 12 am the next day the song has been recorded.

The film's crew is expected to soon fly to an European location to shoot a few aircraft related sequences.

Kollywood's top heroine in Anirudh's debut flick

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A

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

26th November 2016

eerthy Suresh has confirmed she will be playing the female lead in director Trivikram's upcoming movie featuring Pawan Kalyan. Announcing the news on micro-blogging website Twitter, Keerthy said, "Very happy to announce my next Telugu film with @PawanKalyan sir Director #Trivikram sir, P r o d u c t i o n @HaarikaHassine @anirudhofficial."

With three big releases this year and a movie with superstar Vijay, the 'Nenu Sailaja' actress seems to be

on a roll. She has three hits to her name including 'Ring Master', 'Rajini Murugan' and 'Remo' in her kitty. In fact, Keerthy just completed four years in the industry last week, and took to her Twitter handle to share her joy. "This day marks the beginning of my 4th yr in Cinema. I thank everyone for Ur love & support. Pls keep supporting for all future endeavours" she wrote.

Meanwhile, Trivikram has completed the script for the movie and is currently busy finalising other cast and crew for the movie.

Vijay SethupathiSamantha display their passion

F

i l m m a k e r Thiagarajan Kumarraja has begun shooting his 'Aneethi Kathaigal' after almost five years of delivering the path breaking 'Aaranya Kaandam'. It is reported that actors Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha, and

other cast members have agreed to do the film for a fraction of their market value. At an age when box office is the boss, we certainly feel what the actors have offered to do speaks a lot about the willingness of the stars to sacrifice their pay for good cinema.

'Dear Zindagi'

Watch Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt weave magic in this Gauri Shinde directorial.

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I don't have any regrets, says Sonakshi

S

onakshi Sinha is all prepped up for her upcoming 'Force 2' opposite handsome hunk John Abraham. Following her debut in Salman Khan's 'Dabangg', the actress has certainly come a long way, and holds no regrets. "I have grown with every film. I learn something from every person I work with. I really believe in learning from experience. I have had a really eventful and fruitful journey since I started. I don't have any regrets in

my career," Sona said in a recent interview.

She added, "When you start with films like 'Dabangg', you are automatically put in that commercial bracket. I was picked up for my looks.

Those were the kind of films that were offered to me. I was happy to be a part of these films. These films gave me a chance to work with the best people in the industry." The 29 year old said she is now in a zone where she just wants to do roles that push her limits. "I have made a decision that now I want to do roles that push my limits. I want to show something new from me to the audience. Next I am playing a journalist in 'Noor' and then I am playing a character with a grey shade in 'Ittefaq'. There are a lot of interesting things happening."

Her latest release 'Force 2' sees her in taking up on the action genre. "I love action films in general," she said. "I didn't like boys having all the fun. I feel it is a great time for actresses as action roles are being written keeping them in mind. The kind of feedback I am getting in action genre has been very positive and I would love to do more of such projects."

Priyanka aiming to work around the world

P

riyanka Chopra, or as fans now call her, Alex Parrish, has stated that she aims to work around the globe and not just one country.

Currently busy shooting for the second season of American TV show 'Quantico', Priyanka said, "I'm still doing it (Bollywood). Two continents. I'm not okay with just one country. I want the world."

The actress has gathered applause for her outstanding roles in Hindi films like 'Fashion', and 'Mary Kom'. Now playing a CIA agent in the US series, Priyanka said it was tough shifting to America and choosing to work there.

"Leaving my country and coming to a completely different country, that's always difficult. I'm alone, my family is not here, my friends are not here, though my cast always tries to make me feel really comfortable whenever, we have Diwali or any of our holidays. They always try and make it really festive for me." She added, "Their hair and make up trailer is decorated, because everyone knows I am away from

Alia Bhatt embraces her flaws

I

n a brand new video for Culture Machine, internet troll fodder Alia Bhatt has urged young girls to take online negativity with a stride.

Usually called out for her "low IQ" and childishness, the 23 year old speaks out in the clip titled 'I Heart Me' and explains how even she is subjected to trash on social media.

A source said, "In the video, Alia embraces her flaws, telling her gal pals tha t it's important to believe in yourself. The

idea is to tell women that they should give priority to themselves over people who point out their flaws in pictures or their online crush who mistreats them because you will be judged anyway, no matter what you do." This won't be the first time the actress features in a video talking about her online trolling.

She appeared in a video titled 'Alia Bhatt Genius of the Year', made by a popular comedy collective in 2014, where she took a dig at herself.

Daler and Mika to perform live

Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

A

fter a sellout concert with Arijit Singh, Rock On Music, Vijay Bhola and Nalin Patel are all set for yet another smashing event. Double Dhamaka!

Brothers Mika Singh and Daler Mehndi will be in London on 27th November to set the stage on fire with their live in concert in the SSE Arena, Wembley.

Performing together for the first time, the badshahs of bollywood pop, both Mika and Daler promise a night to remember with their energetic performances.

Song writer and singer, Daler is

I’m nothing without you guys: Hrithik tells his fans

T

home. But that was hard and television is a huge commitment. So, you know leaving your country, coming here, I wasn't sure."

PeeCee's huge Hollywood debut in a negative role is also on its way, with 'Baywatch' where she will share the big screen with Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Talking about the Pamela Anderson-starrer, Priyanka said, "It was massive in India. I think more than David Hasselhof, everyone knew who Pamela Anderson was.

Definitely did! And the show, people loved watching the show. I guess it was the representation of the great American dream at that time."

known for his dynamic dance performances and a voice that could move your soul. Instrumental in the acquainting the world to authentic bhangra music, Daler's style is old school as compared to a spirited Mika. The "party toh banti hai" singer, Singh is no stranger to sold out shows and is best known for rocking a stage. The event will also feature a dance segment by Bollywood Queen Group, along with several top musicians and vocalists. For tickets, call Videorama: 020 8 907 0116. For information, refer to the advert on Page 17

urning up for a promotional event at a mall in Noida, actor Hrithik Roshan made his fans swoon with his characteristic charms and Greek God-like good looks. As people thronged the place to catch a glimpse of the actor, people screamed his name while others sang 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'. A selfacclaimed fan of Hrithik's Ariba said, "I was here to watch a movie with friends, but then heard that Hrithik was here. So we all ditched our movie plans and came down to catch a glimpse. He has been my favourite ever since I can remember."

Overwhelmed by the turnout, Hrithik said, "I don't have words to express what I'm feeling right now. Thank you for this love! You guys are the best! Thank you for the love and support. I am nothing without you guys!"

However, there was major commotion too as despite bouncers, mall security, and the police, people pushed and

shoved to get near the actor. There were some shoppers who remained unimpressed by Hrithik causing them inconvenience.

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UK

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Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

Veganism should be the way of life Rishi J Patel I wrote this on my Facebook page on my 21st birthday in which I reflected on my life thus far and the regrets that I have as a 21-year-old man.

I am ashamed of the 21 years of my life in which along the way I have contributed to unimaginable animal suffering and torture at some point through eating dairy and eggs, buying wool and leather, going to zoos and other entertainment venues which imprison animals and buying products without a second thought to whether an animal had to go through a lifetime of suffering in a testing lab for it to be made.

I am ashamed of the times that I didn't speak up for animals because I was too much of a coward or worried about what others may think. Ashamed of the times when I didn't have the guts to speak up for

Rishi J Patel

what's right. Ashamed of the times that I sat in a restaurant with cheese/yoghurt/butter on my plate without knowing about that mother who lost their baby so I could eat food with that babies' milk in it.

For years I thought that being a vegetarian was enough and that I wasn't causing any misery or pain but how badly wrong I was.

When I found out the truth and learned about the suf-

fering I was causing a few months ago, I changed instantly. The biggest regret of my life is that I did not make the change sooner and that it took me 20.5 years to realise my wrongdoings.

I now realise that veganism is not only related to your diet but it is a lifestyle.

It's not eating meat, fish, dairy, eggs, not buying leather, wool, suede and not paying to watch animals being used for entertainment. It is not buying products that have been tested on animals who have been enslaved in laboratories their entire lives.

I can't do anything about the 21 years that have passed but I can speak up and fight for the animals that are suffering now and that will suffer in the years to come.

I am not religious and so have no one to ask forgiveness from. I hope to be able to forgive myself one day when I know that I

have truly done all I can for those that I and that the majority of us have wronged in the most horrific way, albeit unknowingly, the animals.

The only birthday wish I will ever have is for someone to think about anything I have said and to start taking steps or continue to move in the right direction in their life toward helping to stop the suffering of innocent animals. They are being subjected to the most heinous and despicable crimes from being castrated without anaesthesia to having their young ones stolen from them to being gassed to death. We have to help them.

I hope this inspires you to work even harder for animals and to promote veganism as best as you can.

[Rishi J Patel works for the accountancy firm 'EY' (Ernst & Young) in credit control.]

Leicestershire businessman Sabir Tayub killed in crash on M45 in Warwickshire A businessman from Rothley has died in a car crash on the M45 in Sabir Warwickshire.

Tayub, who was in his 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Mr Tayub was the managing director of Sert UK in Nottinghamshire and was the son of Rashid Tayub, who set up Crown Crest food distribution in Kirby Muxloe, which owns the Poundstretcher chain and is now run by Rashid's brother, Aziz, and his family.

Earlier this month, Aziz

Tayub and his family were featured in the Leicester Mercury's Rich List. They were ranked 11th with a value of £250 million.

Uday Dholakia, a former chairman of Leicestershire Asian Business Association, said the accident, which happened on Tuesday, was a tragedy for the family.

An inquest into Mr Tayub's death was opened on Friday in front of Warwickshire coroner Sean McGovern and adjourned so that Warwickshire Police could

Sun continues to transit ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 The 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

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 he fiery planet Mars, continues

to occupy your Solar 10th sign for some time to come. It’s influence will help you to maintain a high energy level and achieve anything that requires drive and initiative. If you are involved in a fairly competitive field of activity, you will be the one who comes out on top.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Although all kinds of opportu-

nities are coming your way, there are many obstacles between you and the fulfilment of any of these. As you clear your path you will get closer to achieving your dreams. Relationships and romance are both under scrutiny by the presence of Saturn in your 7th house - this will teach you to be patient and re-assess your position.

If your ambitions have been undefined, don't worry as from now on, you understand exactly what kind of impact you need to make on the world. Saturn in your work sector rules your daily life. All those little details should run perfectly, without you constantly worrying. That means you can focus on matters that are important to you. Health-wise you will be more

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

conduct further inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

The only information released about the collision so far is that it happened on the eastbound carriageway of the M45, near Rugby, about 1.30pm. Mr Tayub's grey Mercedes coupe left the road and hit a tree.

Police are trying to trace the driver of a white or silver BMW who was in the area at the time.

Mr Dholakia added: "This resonates with the business community fol-

Sneh Joshi LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

lowing the death of the grandson of Gurmail Sadhra, of GS Fashions, in similar circumstances two years ago."

Mr Sadhra's 19-yearold grandson, Danveer Singh Sadhra, crashed into a tree in Bradgate Road, Cropston, in September 2014.

Officers investigating the incident on the M45 would like to hear from anyone who witnessed it or saw the car, and the manner in which it was being driven, before the collision occurred.

Want quality of life?

Settle in Cambridge Cambridge has added another feather in its cap after it emerged that the place – famous for its colleges and punting – is also the most vibrant place to live and work in England.

According to a new study from Grant Thornton UK LLP, Cambridge was judged to have the best balance of economic growth, innovation, social equality, health and happiness.

The Vibrant Economy Index – which looks at 324 local authorities across England – measures how towns and cities in England compare on a range of factors from prosperity to health, wellbeing and happiness, and inclusion and equality.

It discovered economic output, earnings and business turnover do not correlate in any significant way with other measurements of per-

The UK’s leading Vedic writer and TV personality

disciplined than ever before.

The Sun and Mercury illuminate your fifth house. After a period of “nesting”, you are coming out of your shell, ready to perform and to express yourself creatively. You are feeling inspired creatively and romantically. At this time, you instinctively know how to place yourself in the best light in order to make a good impression on others

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 Saturn, Sun and Mercury transiting your solar 4th house creates a lot of activity in the home.

This could be in the form of negative energy and loose ends to tie up. You are likely to find tension in your family connections and experiences. Re-assessment for home improvements and renovations are also favoured.

Fortune smiles on the romantically inclined with Mars transiting your solar 5th house. Not only are you likely to experience a highly satisfying phase in respect of amorous desires but you may even find yourself in the flattering position of having more than one admirer. For Librans dissatisfied with their current status, now is the time to do something positive about it.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

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.

This is a good time to plan your future investments carefully to maximise your profits. This is a time when "comfort zones" are more important to you than usual--you value the familiar.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

l Chha Gam Nagrik Mandal All Chha Gam candidates, and Charotar Patidar candidates are invited to a evening of mingling and getting to choose their life partner Event: Matrimonial Introduction Event Venue: National Association of Patidar Samaj Hall 26b Tooting High Street, Tooting Broadway, London SW17 0RJ, Timings: 2.00 PM to 5.30 PM Date: 27th November, Sunday l Chinmaya Mission UK Attain tranquility and acquaint yourself to the authentic you. Event: Two-day Retreat Venue: Chinmaya Vidya Nagari, Bramble Grange, Hanney Road, Steventon, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX13 6AN. Timings: Saturday 10AM to Sunday 5PM Date: Beings 26th November Contact: Amit Majithia 07775 576 533 l Nehru Centre, Enjoy a variety of colourful dances and music and experience Indian culture and its diversity. Event: A Kaleidoscope of Indian Music and Dance, Venue: Nehru Centre, Timings: Begins at 6.30 PM, Date: 25th November, Friday

formance, such as health, equality and opportunity – that is efforts that solely focus on improving the economic performance of a place do not always translate into creating a healthy, happy place to live, or one in which individuals feel part of their community.

Oxford was second, judged to be wealthier but lacking in the dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of Cambridge. Richmond upon Thames came third.

Its residents were judged to be among the healthiest and happiest in the country.

Cambridge tops the most vibrant area list followed by Oxford, Richmond upon Thames, South Cambridgeshire, Guildford, Wokingham, Windsor & Maidenhead, Vale of White Horse, Winchester and Reigate & Banstead.

020 8518 5500

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 Saturn continues its journey through your sign, lending its support for you to redefine your sense of self, in a way that will give you a greater understanding of yourself. Relationships and romance are both under scrutiny by the presence of Saturn in your solar 1st house. The Sun also transits your first house and this affects your personal identity, appearance, outward behaviour, and self-expression.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 You are endowed with a level of determination that others sometimes find formidable.

Once you set your mind on a goal you stay the course no matter what obstacles you encounter. Your ruling planet Saturn is placed in your Solar 12th house which often denotes a phase of restriction, sometimes frustration, in one's life. This is a favourable time for getting away from usual routines and seeking a retreat for a few days.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 The Sun illuminates your sector of friends, social gatherings and group activities. You will be in constant demand and will be in a position to network with newfound friends who will promote your cause. Personal relationships are also to the fore and some of you might even find true love. This is a time to follow your dreams and ideals PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 The fiery planet Mars is the moving force in regard to amorous experience, giving more than just a hint that links between lovers will be rather intense and passionate. Your attitude to material interests is likely to undergo some deep change. On a material level the trend greatly favours anything geared towards establishing greater financial stability.

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Sindhu creates history, wins 1st super series title AsianVoiceNews

Three months after her fantastic show at the Rio Olympics, 21-year-old P V Sindhu claimed the biggest title of her career with an amazing victory against Sun Yu of China in the final of the $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier in Fuzhou on Sunday. Ending her long wait for the super series title, Sindhu got one better when she clinched the Premier in commanding fashion, winning 21-11, 1721, 21-11 against the world No. 9. In badminton, a super series premier is the highest crown after the Olympics/World Championships.

On Sunday at the Chinese Badminton Association hall, the Hyderabadi girl silenced the hostile crowd, who vociferously backed Sun, by dishing out a dazzling performance. The lanky lass has always troubled Chinese shuttlers, much more than Saina Nehwal.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

P V Sindhu

“I am extremely delighted today. I always wanted to win a super series title and even came close last year,” Sindhu said after the win.

“Many a time, I felt bad about not being able to win a super series. Now I am

relieved.“ Chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who still maintains that Sindhu is yet not a complete player, said he always believed a super series was around the corner. “Sindhu used to feel bad about not winning a super series but I know she could do it easily. She is only 21 and can win many more. The manner she handled different situations is quite impressive,” said Gopi, adding that he is happy Sindhu has started winning even when he is not accompanying her.

The Chinese may have denied a visa to the Indian badminton manager, who is from Arunachal, but failed to stop the rampaging Sindhu. On her way to the title, Sindhu defeated two exciting Chinese youngsters, one of whom is being compared to the great Lin Dan. This is the third China Open title for India. In 2014, Kidambi Srikanth and Saina

Nehwal won the singles titles.

Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen became the first European men's singles shuttler to win the China Open when he shocked Olympic and World champion Chen Long of China 22-20, 21-13.

Sindhu looked in great shape and razor sharp on the court. Despite playing an energy-sapping semifinal on Saturday, Sindhu looked quite fresh on Sunday even as her rival showed signs of fatigue.

The long wait is over for Sindhu.

The only Indian shuttler to win an Olympic silver and two World Championships bronze medals has added the Super Series Premier crown with the China Open triumph. Despite achieving so much in such a short span of time, Sindhu is not satisfied yet and she wants to win more titles.

Disqualify BCCI office bearers, Lodha tells SC The Lodha Committee has in its latest report reiterated that office bearers of the Cricket Board BCCI should be sacked and has suggested that former home secretary GK Pillai be appointed as an observer to supervise the board's administration.

It has said Pillai as observer should conduct the crucial task of appointing auditors for awarding BCCI contracts like that for media rights for future editions of the Indian Premier League or IPL. The committee, which was appointed by the Supreme Court after a betting scandal in the IPL to suggest reforms in the running of the BCCI, has been at loggerheads with the board, which is the world's richest cricket body.

The BCCI says it will be impossible to implement all the panel's proposals,

ised to do that.

Contempt notice to Shirke: The Hyderabad high court has issued a contempt notice to BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait has asked Shirke to either comply with the previous order of this court in a week's time from the date of the receipt of this order or appear in the court. Justice

Kait also directed the high court registry to send the notice to the BCCI secretary.

“The court has taken a serious note of the issue and in its mind, a prima facie case of contempt has been committed,” said Mir Masood Khan, counsel for the petitioner Bharat Cricket Club represented by its secretary T Shesh Narayan.

The case relates to the financial audit of the state associations done by Delloitte on behalf of the BCCI. On May 31, Shesh Narayan had written to the BCCI asking for a copy of the audit report. He had also sent a legal notice to BCCI. But the BCCI failed to respond to his request.

An aggrieved Shesh Narayan then moved the high court.

ranked player in Paris, but the secondranked Serb could have regained the No 1 position by winning Sunday at the O2 Arena. And M u r r a y seemed vulnerable heading into the final, especially after playing three sets against Milos Raonic in Saturday’s semifinals. He started against Djokovic with a pair of double-faults in the opening game, but it was soon his opponent that

was struggling with his serve as the unforced errors piled up.

“There was no serious chance for me to win today’s match,” Djokovic said. “From the very beginning we could see that. He was just a better player all in all.” Normally so steady with his ground strokes, Djokovic found himself missing easy shots time after time, finishing the match with a whopping 30 unforced errors and only 13 winners. Murray had 15 unforced errors and 13 winners.

In the first set, Djokovic had a routine smash that he whacked wide. And in the second,

Ajay Shirke and Anurag Thakur

which include an age and tenure cap for top officials and a one-state-one-vote.

The court had last month given BCCI president Anurag Thakur and the 13 state associations in the country till December 3 to implement the reforms proposed by the Lodha Committee, putting on hold disbursal of funds to state associations till they prom-

SPORT

Kohli surges to careerbest fourth Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

India's Test captain Virat Kohli has moved to a career-high fourth place in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen. Kohli's scores of 167 and 81 played a huge difference in India's win over England in Visakhapatnam -his total of 248 runs was two more than the margin of victory - and saw him earn 97 points to break past the top ten mark for the first time in his 50-Test career. In crossing the 800point mark for the first time, the 28-year-old has become the 11th Indian batsman to do so. Should Kohli - ranked No 1 in T20Is - continue his strong form in the third Test in Mohali starting Saturday, he could close the gap on the top spot. Ahead of Kohli at second is England's Joe Root with a lead of 22 points. Other members of India's Test squad to make upwards movements are Cheteshwar Pujara, whose 119 in the first innings in Visakhapatnam helped him move from tenth to ninth; pace bowler Mohammed Shami who gained five places to reach a career-best 21st place; and Ravindra Jadeja who moved up one spot to sixth.

Mahela replaces Ponting at Mumbai Indians

Two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians announced that former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene would succeed Ricky Ponting as the head coach at the franchise.

The announcement came less than 48 hours after Rod Marsh quit as Australia's chairman of selectors.

Ponting, one of Australia's greatest cricketers, is a top contender to replace Marsh, alongside his predecessor Steve Waugh. For the record, Ponting's two-year contract with the Mumbai Indians was coming to an end and the only way forward for the franchise was to either extend the Australian's term for another season or bring in a new hand. Ponting is learnt to have conveyed to MI that he will not be in a position to continue. The 41year-old, Australia's most successful run-getter, is expected to accept a bigger responsibility back home.

Batra promises hockey revolution in India

Narinder Batra, the newly elected chief of International Hockey Federation (FIH), said India would get to host more major international tournaments in the coming two years. “India was earlier hosting only one big tournament. But now that I will move out as Hockey India chief and take on my new job, India will host at least two FIH tournaments every year. We have men's Asian Champions Trophy and the World Cup in 2018 and the Hockey World League final next year. Along with that we will be hosting the qualifiers for five-a-side under-17 Youth Olympic Games for both men and women. FIH's international congress (2018) will also be held in Delhi,” Batra, who succeeds Spain's Leandro Negre as FIH chief, said. As part of his new responsibility, Batra aims to popularise the sport and increase its reach worldwide.

Murray beats Djokovic, ends season as No 1

Andy Murray will be the No 1 player for the rest of the year as he beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 to earn his first title at the ATP finals, and make sure he remained in the top position until next season.

The Wimbledon champion needed to win the final match of the season to ensure his place at the top. And he did it, rather easily.

“I would like to try and stay there, obviously. It’s taken a huge effort in the last five, six months to get there,” said Murray, who took over the top ranking two weeks ago and has now won 24 straight matches. “I’m aware that’s

Andy Murray

going to be extremely difficult because I had a great year this year. I only managed to do it by one match.”

Murray replaced Djokovic as the top-

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he netted a basic forehand volley. It never got much better for the 12-time Grand Slam champion, who was trying to win a record-tying sixth title at the season-ending tournament and finish the year as the top-ranked player for the fifth time.

“I didn’t do much from my side. Every time I would get an opportunity, I would miss,” said Djokovic, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open this year. Murray is the first man other than Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to finish the year as the No. 1ranked player since Andy

Roddick in 2003.

On Sunday, he capped a long stretch of playing some of the best tennis of his life, and the best tennis in the world. “I was solid enough when I needed to be,” Murray said, perhaps understating his accomplishment. “You never beat a player as good as Novak if you don’t play well.”

Sunday’s match was the first time since 2000 that the year-end No. 1 ranking was on the line in the final match of the season. Sixteen years ago, Gustavo Kuerten beat Andre Agassi to give the Brazilian the top ranking ahead of Marat Safin.

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Asian Voice | 26th November 2016

India crush England, win second test

Ravichandran Ashwin and Jayant Yadav shared six wickets between them to guide India to a 246-run win over England on the fifth and final day of the second Test at Visakhapatnam, thereby securing a 1-0 lead in the five-match series on Monday. Chasing 405, England crumbled to 158 all out just four overs into the second session in a dominant performance by the home spinners, led by Ashwin who finished with match figures of 8/117 with debutant Jayant Yadav picking up 3/30 in second innings.

England, who lost their first two wickets in 60 overs, capitulated under sustained pressure on the final day, with Indian bowlers picking the remaining eight wickets within 37 overs. A sorry collapse followed a defiant opening stand from Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed who blunted the Indian attack, sowing seeds of a spirited fight in their chase of 405. Monday morning extinguished those faint hopes with the hosts landing quick blows, picking five wickets within the first session and then completing the formality in just fours overs into the second with Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin wiping the tail to extend India's unbeaten run to 16 Tests at home.

England's best hope for survival rested on the shoulders of Joe Root who had Ben Duckett, a walking

England to drop Duckett and recall Buttler

wicket, for company. And soon, Duckett added another chapter to his wretched tour of the subcontinent, caught by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha off Ashwin for a 16ball duck. Unlike Day 4, when India had to wait for over 50 overs for their first scalp, they had an early success, taking 33 deliveries to make the first strike.

Jadeja, as usual, was quickly going through his overs, not allowing the batsmen to settle in with a probing line. Moeen Ali was the new man in and Jadeja got one to pitch on the rough from where the ball bounced, took the shoulder of his bat and flew to man of the match Virat Kohli who completed the catch standing at backward short leg.

Root was beaten on several occasions and might just have thought it's going to be his day when he was reprieved by Kohli on 9 when he failed to hold on

to a sharp catch at backward short leg and then successfully reversed a caught behind decision. In between, he struck three boundaries, all against Ashwin. Ben Stokes, who scored a fighting 70 in the first innings, was done in by an excellent delivery from Jayant Yadav as he got one to turn sharply that beat the left-hander and crashed on the off-stump.

England had lost half their side and Mohammed Shami hastened their collapse with the big wicket of Root, who unsuccessfully reviewed an lbw decision, departing for 25. Shami then removed Adil Rashid (4) to take India closer to victory.

Jonny Bairstow, who partnered Stokes in the first innings for a defiant stand, remained positive, sweeping and punching to collect seven fours either side of the lunch break and cut a sorry figure watching the inevitable remaining

unbeaten on 34.

Brief Scores: England 158 (Cook 54; Jayant 3/30 Ashwin 3/52) and 255 lost to India 204 and 455 by 246 runs India equal second longest unbeaten home streak: Virat Kohli's side has drawn level with the second longest streak by any Indian cricket team at home, winning the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam to make it 16 consecutive matches without defeat in India.

The record is 20, and with eight Tests remaining in what is Indian cricket's busiest home season ever, it is a very real possibility that Kohli's India break it.

Since Alastair Cook's visiting England beat MS Dhoni's team at Eden Gardens in December 2012 to take an unassailable 2-1 series lead, India have played 16 Tests at home without defeat, winning 13 and drawing three.

Ben Duckett

Jos Buttler

England captain Alastair Cook gave enough indications that out of form Ben Duckett will be dropped and Jos Buttler will be recalled for the third match which is starting at Mohali on Saturday (November 26). Duckett was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin for the third time in as many innings on this series.

Starting the final day on 87 for two in their second innings, the tourists lost Duckett early on before being swept aside in 38.1 overs to go 1-0 down in the series with three Tests to play. The Northamptonshire batsman averages just 15.71 after four Tests and he is now likely to be taken out of the firing line for the third match.

That would see Buttler return to the team for the first time since he was dropped for the final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah a year ago. Asked if Buttler now comes into

contention for Mohali, Cook said: “I think he does yeah. It’s certainly something which the selectors will have a look at.�

On Duckett, England’s No4 batsman, Cook admitted: “It’s hard cricket at this level. The difference I think is quite stark from playing at Northampton. Suddenly every innings is scrutinised, that’s just the nature of the beast. No doubt that kind of scrutiny affects guys. Ben is a very talented cricketer. I’ll think we’ll see a lot more of him in an England shirt. Whether he plays in Mohali or not, the selectors will have to make a call on that.�

Cook is confident his side can fight back in Mohali, saying: “We’ve managed to put India under pressure at certain stages in these first two games. In the end it doesn’t change: we’ve got to win a couple of games to get back into the series.�

Indian women complete whitewash against West Indies Veda Krishnamurthy hit a strokeful 50 before leftarm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad returned with impressive figures of 4-34 as Indian women defeated West Indies women by 15 runs in the third ODI to complete a 3-0 series whitewash in Mulapadu (Andhra Pradesh) last week.

Indian women first reached 199 for six and then bundled out West Indies women for 184 in 49.1 overs. Sent into bat, Indian women did not

Vaidya remained unbeaten on 32 off 45 balls, while senior pro Jhulan Goswami made a 16-ball 18. Other notable scorers from Indian women were opener Deepti Sharma (23).

Chasing the target, West Indies women toporder made a decent start before losing the plot against Rajeshwari. The visitors were also hampered by three run outs.

Kycia Knight (55) topscored for the visitors followed by notable contribu-

have the best of starts and found it difficult to rotate the scoreboard. They were soon reduced to 52 for three in 20.5 overs.

Krishnamurthy (71) and Harmanpreet Kaur (19) then shared 51 runs quick runs for the fourth wicket to give some momentum to Indian eves' innings.

Krishnamurthy gave the much-needed boost to Indian women innings as she scored her runs off just 79 balls with the help of 10 boundaries.

Debutant Devika

tions from Hayley Matthews (44) and wicketkeeper Merissa Aguilleira (22). The series is part of the ICC women's championship and, thus, the 3-0 series whitewash gave Indian women two points.

Brief Scores: Indian women: 199 for six in 50 overs (Veda Krishnamurthy 71; Chedean Nation 2/21).

West Indies women: 184 all out in 49.1 overs (Kycia Knight 55, Hayley Matthews 44; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 4/34).