AV 28th February 2015

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The British Sikhs, famous as a community for their gallantry and bravery, have welcomed the proposal of recreating a Sikh regiment- as suggested by the Head of the British army.

A Minister told the Commons on Monday that the Chief of the General Staff is examining the feasibility of a Sikh unit, including the possibility of a reserve company, and it “may well have merit”. He added that a new unit would acquire many of the “proud traditions of Sikh regiments” from the Army’s past.

Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Britain's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill has also called for the establishment of the new British Sikh regiment similar to those from India who fought during both World Wars.

Revival of the Sikh unit has been suggested several times in the past.

However in 2007 the Ministry of Defence of rejected it, amid fears that the move could be branded racist. But the British Sikh leaders backed the

The corporate espionage scandal in India got even bigger with police launching a probe into documents allegedly

stolen from the defence ministry even as the crime branch arrested Lokesh Sharma, a key

Continued on page 26

Rahul Gandhi takes leave from politics

Lance Corporal Sarvjit Singh (left) and Signaller Simranjit 'Sim' Singh, first Sikhs to guard the Queen

idea pointing to the Royal Gurkha Rifles - members of whom are recruited exclusively from Nepal.

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Numerous regiments were deployed by the British Indian Army during the Great War and World War II during which Sikhs awarded a record 14 Victoria Crosses.

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Historically the Sikh regiments were used to garrison India, particularly along the restive North West Frontier Province in what is now Pakistan.

Continued on page 13

Doubts over Rahul Gandhi’s political future deepened on Monday as the Congress party vicepresident decided to skip the budget session of parliament so that he could take time to “reflect” on the future of his battered party.

The budget session is considered crucial for the government of Narendra Modi, prime minister, as it seeks to push through pro-business legislation including a mining bill

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Rahul Gandhi and another to allow greater foreign investment in the insurance sector. The session is expected to see heated Continued on page 26

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Prof. Aldwyn Cooper, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of Regent’s University London

Aldwyn Cooper is a cognitive psychologist by background having studied and worked at London, Bristol, Stanford, Berkeley, the Open University, Henley Management College and the University of Glamorgan. He held a Harkness Fellowship for two years postdoctoral study at Stanford and Berkeley Universities. Back in the UK, he started the Open University on-line learning. At Henley he established its innovative distance learning programmes and was made Professor of Management Science and Managing Director of their learning company. He worked in television for ten years as managing director of Workhouse, and as a consultant on culture change and internal communications for many blue chip companies throughout the world. He has written and presented extensively on the use of technology to enhance learning and has been a member of the advisory board for the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education for more than ten years. He is a member of the Quality Assurance Agency ‘Advisory Committee on Degree awarding Powers (ACDAP), the Higher Education Funding Council ‘Leadership, Governance and Management committee’, the Universities UK ‘International Policy Network’ and the ‘GuildHE Council’.In January 2007 he joined Regent’s College – a private, not for profit, higher education institution with a very strong global commitment – with the remit to gain degree awarding powers and university title. Regent’s delivers British and American programmes at Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral levels, in Business, Management, Languages, Humanities, Arts, Fashion, Design, Social Sciences, Psychotherapy, Drama, Film and Media. The Privy Council granted the College Taught Degree Awarding Powers in July 2012 and Regent’s achieved full university title as ‘Regent’s University London’ in March 2013.

1) What is your current position?

My current position is Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of Regent’s University London, one of only two, non-state funded, charitable universities in the UK. Regent’s is focussed on internationalism and has the most diverse student body of any university in Britain with students from 142 nationalities. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to lead this project.

tion has grown over the past eight years. Our students have obtained outstanding employment or started entrepreneurial businesses all over the world.

3) What inspires you?

I am inspired by commitment to succeed and to use that success for the benefit not only of the individual but also a recognition of the society and communities in which they live. We work with the Desmond Tutu foundation and the Revd. Tutu talks about the Zulu philosophy, Ubuntu. Its core is ‘I am because we are’. Nobody can really succeed without understanding, and supporting their communities.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

My proudest achievement is to lead a committed and enthusiastic team to start, develop and grow a unique university in the heart of London. Our reputa-

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

Without any doubt the best aspect of my current role is to see the development of our amazing students during their time with us and to see the rapid rise in their careers back in their home countries or around the world once they have graduated.

obstacle in your career?

The biggest obstacle in my career has been my inability to grasp and benefit from the many opportunities that have been offered to me and to have formed even stronger relationships with the fascinating people that I have met.

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

It is difficult to single out one individual from all the inspiring men and women who have mentored me throughout my life. However, if it must be one it would have to be my father.

He came from a poor and problematic background and overcame this to contribute to the education of troubled young people in some of the poorer areas of London. He taught me honesty, values, understanding and the need to be engaged.

7) And the worst?

The worst is the need to struggle continuously against the flawed and inappropriate legislation that applies currently to higher education in Britain, in particular to policies on visas and immigration. While we must have reasonable controls to avoid problems of capacity and cost, we must continue to make politicians and the community as a whole aware fully of the enormous benefits that have been and continue to be brought to Britain by immigrants and the long term benefits to trade, influence and peace that come from welcoming international students to this country.

8) What are your long term goals?

My personal goals are to continue to lead Regent’s and to see us achieve the milestones on our journey to be recognised widely as the most internation-

ally focussed university. My own objectives are to continue to enjoy time with my wife and our children and to see them gain the success they deserve from their efforts.

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

Maintaining a strong economy must be the central focus for any Prime Minister in order to fund all the core services from health to infrastructure, support for the disadvantaged to education and the arts.

However, one of my clear priorities would be to restructure the education system in Britain from pre-school through to postgraduate and research to ensure that those most likely to benefit, no matter their backgrounds, can do so and make real contributions to society.

Britain used to lead the world with its effective and coherent system than we do now and also led to more social mobility.

This has been dismantled by various governments, particularly in the eighties.

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

It would have to be Plato. He continued the philosophical work of Socrates in education and developed a school of thought of his own. He was also supposed to be able to tell a good story.

If he isn’t available it had better be Howling Wolf. I could take lessons from him in playing my guitar and singing the blues and I would certainly have the blues on that island!

Baroness Warsi accused of recruiting radicals in Whitehall

According to a report published

by The Daily Telegraph, Britain's first female Muslim Cabinet Minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has been accused by a Muslim leader of handing out official posts in Whitehall to radical people linked to Islamist groups enabling them to enter the political system.

Until recently, Fiyaz Mughal was a former member of a “cross-Government working group on anti-Muslim hatred” set up in 2012 by Lady Warsi and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister.

The group, which directly

4) What has been the biggest

reports to the Prime Minister, includes officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, the Department for Education, the Foreign Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. It has continued to operate even after Warsi's August 2014 resignation from the government over Britain's policy on Gaza.

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Mughal has reportedly claimed that the 'radicals or former radicals and their allies' were given the official posts by Lady Warsi included a man involved in an “unpleasant and bullying” campaign to win planning permission for the controversial London “mega mosque” proposed by a fundamentalist Islamic sect.

Some members of the group are also accused of using their

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seats at the table to urge that Whitehall work with Islamist and extremist-linked bodies, including one described by the Prime Minister as a “political front for the Muslim Brotherhood”.

Others are said to have demanded the lifting of bans on preachers from entering Britain, including controversial televangelist Zakir Naik.

The Telegraph however reported that all members of the working group are not Islamist or radical sympathisers and there is no suggestion that any member is a supporter of violent extremism.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

COMMENT

Indian economy and the Budget

India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, will be the cynosure of all eyes at home and abroad on Saturday, 28 February as he delivers his Budget speech in Parliament, the moment corporate India and foreign investors will have waited for with hope and expectation. Let us be clear. No budget will or can fulfill everything expected of it, especially in as diverse a country as India with its multiple interest groups, calling for attention to their special needs.

The defining thrust and the larger picture are what will count with the captains of industry. That said, India’s economic performance over the past few months has been buoyant, encouraging investors to believe that the country is on the cusp of a sustainable economic growth cycle. Of the emerging BRIC economies, India has performed the best. Brazil is in the doldrums, Russia is facing US and EU-led sanctions, while China has been encountering a number of bumps and its growth has slowed. With the Indian stock market and rupee surging, multinational companies are looking to expand their Indian operations. Renewed optimism from foreign and domestic investors is spurring expansion across the country. Also, the dramatic fall in oil prices – long a drain on the public purse – has given the country a bonanza worth $50 billion, according to Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Taking a random sample of buoyancy, in Tiruppur, the hub of India’s yarn and textile industry, is in the middle of a boom.. “Most of the factories (there) are doubling or tripling their capacity, and these are

huge factories,” said Pritam Sanghai, the Director of Ajay Apparel Industries. Foreign Direct Investment caps in the insurance and defence sectors have been raised from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, while the rationalization and transparency is work in progress. The question is whether this momentum will be short-lived, or sustainable?

If one were to ask Mary Barra, the Chief Executive of General Motors, the answer would in all probability be positive. She visited Pune not so long ago to oversee the start of Chevrolet exports to Chile. She was also scouting for opportunities to expand the company business in India’s auto market, which GM predicts will be one of the world’s three largest by 2020. “All the circumstances have come together to make manufacturing and growth happen,” said Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman of MentorCap Management, a boutique investment bank in Mumbai.

Balancing these optimistic voices is Deepak Parekh, Chairman of the Housing Development Financial Corporation, who said recently that nine months after the inauguration of the Modi government, there is creeping impatience at the slow pace of economic reforms. Mr Jaitley has countered this with the argument, which is real enough, that course correction in an economy as large as India’s takes serious thought and time. Act in haste and repent at leisure is not what the Finance Ministry is about. Come Saturday, and we will know enough to make an informed judgment.

Birmingham Labour MP Khailid Mahmood was in characteristic form: asked what he thought of Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights, he replied that it wasn’t as bad as India’s - par for any PakistaniMirpuri course. Within comparative timelines Saudi Arabia beheaded 17 of its prisoners to ISIL’s 12, and it had a human rights Saudi blogger flogged in public for daring to call for more political freedom in the desert kingdom. The Indian High Commissioner, reacting angrily to MP Mahmood’s comic demarche, dispatched a strong letter of protest to Labour leader, Ed Miliband, whose emollient response reiterated his party’s wish to maintain the best possible relationship with India.

However, Labour’s historic relationship with India belongs now to the archives. The party’s old stalwarts, such as Michael Foot, Tony Benn and Julius Silverman, have departed and the shared affection of Time past is not nearly as robust in Time present.

As Labour is now wedded to its jihadi vote banks, should the UK’s Indian diaspora and Indian political establishment look elsewhere for partners

pursuit of Indo-British ties fit for 21st century purpose? Trade and investment, scientific, educational and cultural exchanges fit the bill admirably.

Meanwhile, Mr Mahmood has a duty to curb the practice of Pakistani-Mirpuri ‘grooming’ in the UK, which entails ensnaring white school girls in the northern cities into Pakistani-Mirpuri-owned cars driven by young bucks, who then transport their victims on guided tours of group sex, spiced with drugs and alcohol, a wholly Mirpuri-Pakistani experience, as the tragic facts on the ground appear to demonstrate.

The cover-up of such activities by the Labourcontrolled Rotherham Metropolitan Borough was exposed by Louise Casey, a civil servant with long experience of dealing with social abuses. It led to the dismissal of the council, with the administration passing temporarily to Whitehall. People of Indian origin bristle at the label Asian, which brackets them with the UK’s Pakistani-Mirpuri population.

One can see why. British Indian would be a suitable replacement for a badge that carries such shame.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words, in a Delhi church, on the need for religious tolerance, that hate speeches and displays of religious intolerance had no place in the political life of India were wise, timely and reassuring. In this context, it may be useful to highlight the Christian contribution to the life of the nation. The Christian community are broadly middle class in its social composition and mindset. Its footprint can be seen in the professions, media, science, administration, schools and colleges,, medical services, and in the armed forces, where their presence is most noticeable in the officer corps of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

One recalls the name of one Christian Army chief, two Air Force chiefs and three Naval chiefs. If you are prepared to die for your country you are surely entitled to the appropriate respect of your fellow citizens.

One of Mahatma Gandhi’s closest disciples, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, was India’s first health minister and a prominent Christian. During many of his visits to Delhi, the Mahatma stayed with the Principal of St Stephen College, Sushil Rudra, whose brother Major General Anil Rudra commanded a division in the southern front of the Indian Army’s Hyderabad operations of 1948.

Swami Vivekenanda and Subhas Bose, among others too numerous to mention, were educated in Christian institutions, in their case, Scottish Church College in Calcutta. The Jesuit-run St Xavier’s College, in the city, by common consent, has outstripped its rivals in the breadth and quality of its courses, the excellence of its teachers sand its exemplary all-round discipline. State Governor Tripathi made special reference to this in his convocation address. There are St Xaviers

Colleges in Mumbai, Patna and Ranchi. Reputable schools and colleges across India in the 19th and 20th centuries were, and still are, institutions of choice for most Indian families. The struggle to gain admission to them was, and is, intense. These have been, and are, a seedbed of the Indian middle class - the bedrock of a strong, emergent India.

The late M V Kamath, for long associated with the Mumbai-based Free Press Journal, while queuing at the immigration desk of a German airport, noticed a Keralite prest filling in his form: Name, Address, Kultur [German for culture] and Religion? The man duly entered the answers to first two answers in routine fashion, as Kamath expected. But next to kultur, he entered Hindu, followed by Christian as religion. Thereby hangs a tale. Michael Madhusudan Dutt, one of Bengal’s greatest poets, in a short life span of 49, wrote a letter to Rajnarain Bose a noted literary critic of his day and uncle of Sri Aurobindo, saying that, while he was a Christian, he drew his inspiraration from Hindu culture. Dutt’s mid-19th century contemporary,the Reverend Krishna Mohan Banerjee, was among the finest Sanskrit scholars of his generation, the author of the first Bengali encyclopedia, a polymath who spoke twelve languages, including Tamil, and chaired the first public meeting of the Indian Association in Calcutta, in 1878, one of the four regional organizations of that name that melded into the Indian National Congress in December 1985. It was the Congress that took India to independence in August 1947.

Closure should be applied to the recent events in Delhi and elsewhere targeting Christian places of worship. It is time to move on.

Getting things straight

Contribution of Christians to Indian development

3

Two roads diverged in a wood, and - I took the one less travelled by.

And that has made all the difference - Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Lord Dolar Popat

of Harrow, Government Whip and Lord-in-Waiting with responsibilities for Business and Transport

Britain’s election could have profound effects on India Britain is building itself up for one of the most important elections in its history. May 7th is polling day in which David Cameron’s Conservatives will wrestle with Ed Miliband’s Labour Party.

This is a profoundly important election; a fight for the soul of British identity. Are we to remain a pro-businesses and pro-enterprise country? Or are we to be follow the path of President Hollande in France and see profits and wealth as anathema to our country’s welfare?

Britain’s imminent election is far from the top of most minds in India. And yet, should Labour be successful, it could have a devastating effect on UK-India relations and Prime Minister Modi’s efforts to boost development in India.

David Cameron has revolutionised Britain’s relationship with India.

He’s visited India on four occasions; including his first overseas visit as Prime Minister and taking the largest trade delegation in British history.

Cameron was explicit at the G20 last year when saying that building relations with India was Britain’s top foreign policy priority. Our countries share a language, but most importantly we share a desire to trade on the global stage so that all of our citizens can benefit.

Yet all this could be at risk. Ed Miliband is threatening to undo decades of economic progress in Britain due to his ideologically antibusiness stance. Labour see business success as anathema to the society they wish to create.

Higher taxes, market intervention and nationalisation are back on the agenda.

A Labour Govern ment’s fight with British businesses could have a huge impact on Delhi.

Britain’s businesses are currently seen as steadfast trading partners in India. But a clampdown at home will make it increasingly difficult for British firms to focus on emerging markets like India.

Many of Britain’s strongest exports –energy, health, professional services- exactly mirror Prime Minister Modi’s priorities for his ‘Made in India’ drive. But it will all be at risk if Union-bankrolled Labour trash our most successful firms.

Prime Minister Modi is also unlikely to be predisposed to working with Labour. Alongside their decades-old relationship with the Congress Party, it was also the previous Labour Government that suspended diplomatic ties with Modi when he was Gujarat’s Chief Minister.

It was the Conservatives that overturned this suspension.

It is a Conservative Prime Minister that has personally invited Narendra Modi to visit Britain. And it is the Conservative Party that has made relations with India such an important part of Britain’s foreign policy.

Britain’s forthcoming election may currently be under the radar in India at the moment, but there should be no doubt that if the opposition gets in on May 7th, the development of both of our nations will suffer.

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Paedophile jailed after child sexual exploitation

A former factory worker has been jailed for raping a 14-year-old girl and abusing her 13-year-old friend in a sickening child sexual exploitation case.

Saham Amin, pictured, 21, plied the youngsters with booze before attacking them at his house in Stourbridge. He has now been jailed for six years and eight months after pleading guilty to raping the older girl and sexually assaulting her younger friend.

Wo l v e r h a m p t o n

Crown Court heard Amin preyed on the 14-year-old for around a year before the assault, when they came into contact through a mutual friend.

On September 24 last year he texted her and asked if she wanted to come round to his house for a “drinking session”.

The teen arrived with the younger girl and the pair were plied with two thirds of a litre bottle of vodka and given cigarettes

by Amin, who sexually assaulted the younger vic-

tim before raping her older friend. He initially denied the allegations but later admitted the offences in light of the medical evidence and the girls’ testimonies against him.

As well as being jailed, he will also be placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Man denies stabbing Quinton chip shop worker A 29-year-old Birmingham man has denied repeatedly stabbing a man in a savage Quinton fish and chip shop attack.

Leon McTaggart pleaded not guilty to wounding Narinder Sindhu with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

U n e m p l o y e d McTaggart further denied possessing an offensive weapon - a knife - in Hagley Road West.

Mr Sidhu was stabbed up to five times at Simply Fish and Chips in Hagley Road West on November 6 last year.

Judge John Wait sit-

Phoney travel licence alert for Hajj

Muslim pilgrims from Oldham have been urged to make sure they are protected if there are problems during this year’s Hajj and Umrah pilgrimmages. Council officers found three out of seven local travel agents displayed a fake ATOL licence - meaning customers would have no protection or refund if the travel company involved failed. Many Oldham muslims join what is for some a once in a lifetime pilgrimmages to Saudi Arabia for Hajj or to Mecca and Medina for Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage.

Other concerns raised included essential information, such as flight itineraries, and the hotel details and contact details of the company’s representatives at the destination, were not being given out in writing and prior to departure. Some agents also appeared unaware of their obligation to inform travellers of health requirements for entry to Saudi Arabia, such as meningitis vaccinations.

The businesses concenred have been told they will be formally investigated if they continue trade in its present form.

ting at Wolverhampton Crown Court further remanded McTaggart in custody for trial.

Mark Phillips, prosecuting, told the Judge that the trial - set to begin on June 6th - was expected to last for up to four days.

McTaggart, who appeared before the court via a video link from

HMP Woodhill near Milton Keynes, spoke only to confirm his name during the short hearing.

Michael Anning, defending, told the court a bail application could be made on behalf of McTaggart at a future hearing.

Mr Sidhu, who has made a full recovery from his injuries, was attacked in his shop as his 16year-old daughter peeled potatoes in a back room.

An appeal launched after the attack promised a £2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

A bogus spiritual healer who conned his victims out of hundreds of thousands of pounds was not an ‘isolated case’, officials have warned.

Mohammed Ashrafi, pictured, (50) tricked people into believing he was a holy man who could help them win the lottery – as long as they gave him tens of thousands of pounds. He was jailed for nine years last Saturday after he was convicted of 15 offences of fraud and one of blackmail.

The jury at Leicester Crown Court heard that Ashrafi – who went under the name Kamal-Ji – used sleight of hand and magic tricks to establish his credentials as a healer.

An unknown number of tricksters are operating in the city, advertising in

foreign language newspapers or by putting business cards through letterboxes or leaving them on car windscreens.

Inspector Ben Gillard, commander of the East Area Neighbourhood policing area, which is covered by Keyham Lane and spinney Hill Park police stations, said: “Our advice is: if you have money worries, talk to someone like the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, if you are concerned about your health talk to your GP or if you have relationship problems there are professional and accountable counseling services.”

Roman Leszczyszyn, head of regulatory services for Leicester City Council, said: “We are pretty sure this is not an isolated case in Leicester. Our advice is ‘don’t get involved’.”

Bogus faith healers under investigation

Man admits posting IS magazine link A 27-year-old man from West Yorkshire pleaded guilty to posting a link to an IS propaganda magazine on his public Facebook page. Hassan Munir, of Heaton, Bradford, admitted disseminating an electronic file of the terrorist publication on October 14 last year. Mr Justice Saunders

adjourned sentencing till a brief hearing at the Old Bailey. The charge stated that: "Hassan Munir, on the 14th day of October 2014 provided a service to others, posted on his publicly accessible Facebook profile that enabled them to obtain, read, listen to or look at a terrorist publication, namely Dabiq 4."

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Grocers closed by environmental health for poor hygiene A grocers was ordered to close after environmental health officers found evidence of rodents and poor hygiene.

Evergreen News, in Gipsy Lane, Northfields, was found to be covered in mouse droppings on its floors and on shelves next to food.

Food safety officers from Leicester City Council inspected the building last Monday and served its owner Rakesh Valand with an immediate order to close for public health reasons.

City council prosecutor Tanya Summers was at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to apply for a retrospective emergency prohibition notice - which was granted after she described what officers had found.

Food safety officer

Alison Lea also discovered excessive dust and debris on shelves and on fixtures and fittings.

During the inspection, Valand denied knowledge of any rodent activity in his shop. However, Ms Lea found traps and sticky boards which indicated he had known there was a problem.

The shop was allowed to open again last Wednesday, after health

officers visited it again and saw that the owners had addressed all the issues raised in the inspection.

Magistrate Peter Moore accepted that the initial emergency prohibition order was necessary, but that the store could reopen now it met hygiene standards. He also ordered that the owners of the shop pay £860 in court costs.

A teenage robber due to be locked up for biting a girl as he stole her phone fled from court to “say his goodbyes”.

Ahmed Mohammed went on the run after fleeing Birmingham Crown Court before he could be sentenced.

The brazen 19-year-old even returned for his coat before running away for a second time. He surrendered to police the following day and was sentenced

to a total of 16 months behind bars.

James Bruce, defending, told Recorder Keith Raynor: “He left to go and make arrangements and say his goodbyes. He had a bank card he wanted to give to his mother.”

Balvinder Bhatti, prosecuting, said Mohammed bit his 18-year-old victim in Phillips Street Park, Newtown, on June 9 last year. She said: “He stood in front of her and started

grabbing at her phone.

She pulled away and there was a struggle. Eventually he leaved forward and bit her hand, she released the phone and the defendant was able to run off.”

The girl was left with bite marks on her hand and had to take antibiotics for two weeks after the attack, the court heard.

But Mohammed was nailed by police who made a DNA match from saliva on his victim’s hand.

Teenage robber escaped to 'say his goodbyes'

Brum woman arrested by terrorist police

A woman arrested at Heathrow on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences is a 25-year-old mother from Birmingham who is a massive TOWIE fan, and who left the UK with her young son last year.

The woman is reportedly Tareena Shakil, from Sparkbrook, but is originally from Burton-uponTrent in Staffordshire.

West Midlands Police said counter terrorism officers detained a woman after she got off a flight from Turkey at about 9pm last Wednesday.

The woman, who the

Tareena Shakil

force said was travelling with her one-year-old son, was also arrested on suspi-

cion of child neglect and child abduction.

She was questioned by officers from West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, who said the arrest was pre-planned and intelligenceled, and released on bail.

Her son, Zaheem, is now subject to a police protection order.

Measures are being taken, in partnership with children’s services, to ensure his welfare, according to police.

£100,000 fraudster arrested in Birmingham An on-the-run fraudster who jumped bail while awaiting sentence for a series of frauds worth more than £100,000 has finally appeared in court after being tracked down to Birmingham.

Raja Shahzad, 32, of Reigate Avenue, Saltley, had been at large for more than seven years after pleading guilty to five charges of taking property by deception and one of conspiracy to defraud at Gloucester Crown Court.

Since committing the frauds, Shahzad had

moved to Birmingham, got married and now has a six-year-old daughter.

The Pakistani national, who came to the UK in 2003 and was finally sentenced after he was stopped by police for jumping a red light.

Recorder Adrian Palmer QC sentenced Shahzad to a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and imposed a six-month electronically tagged curfew, from 8pm to 7am.

The court heard that in 2006 Shahzad had opened

a bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland in the name of Kashmiri Handicraft Carpets. He was then passed details of customers who had paid – by either credit or debit cards – for food at the Everest balti restaurant in Cheltenham and for six months charged them identical sums to Kashmiri Handicraft Carpets.

RBS froze the Kashmiri Handicraft Carpets account and had to refund customers of the restaurant a total of £116,000.

5

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Full of malice

Can Tory’s cash Gandhi’s cheque?

On 14th March Gandhiji will arrive - if not in person then in another form - on Parliament Square. This is not according to the earlier plan of David Cameron on 9th January to take full advantage of the publicity for the General Election on 7th May. What would the old chap think? possibly….

“These people conspired to divide India and fired the flames of fear, anxiety, hatred, culminating in the partition of India. I did resist as much as I could but I did not succeed. I attempted to bring some dignity and honour in the closing chapters by insisting on the payment of RS 550 million to Pakistan.

I ended up paying the price

with my life.

“Now 67 years later, they wish to market me for some votes. That young chap Narendra Modi, was not so naive and gullible.

He did not come to London on 9th January.

Now Arun Jaitley will kindly oblige. You see, even now India needs the UK in some matters.

“Can David Cameron and his Tory party reap the harvest with plenty of votes from the British Indians and my admirers?

Lets see!

“The Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust began as a wife and husband affair and soon joined by some tycoons, politicians and bureaucrats. The Gandhi

Foundation of Lord Richard Attenborough and The Mahatma Gandhi Foundation (which has been active in the UK for the past 40 years and was previously established in Uganda, East Africa) have been active to keep the Gandhi flag flying. Mr D Tanna with support from the MGF collected several thousand signatures and presented them to the then London Mayor Ken Livingstone to invite me to Parliament Square. But this new Trust has completely ignored the hard work and dedication of such individuals and organisations. How typical!”

- Atomaram

The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK (HSS) has denied the allegations made against them through an ITV programme 'Charities Behaving badly' aired on Wednesday 18 February 2015 at 10:40pm.

In a statement, the offended organisation has stated that, “The depiction of us as anti any other religion is wrong and counterproductive to the positive work HSS has done in building interfaith relations.”

This came after ITV's undercover reporters spent an year infiltrating The Steadfast Trust, as well as Islamic charity The Global Aid Trust (GAT), where they reportedly witnessed a charity worker expressing his support for extremism and the Charlie Hebdo killers' mentor, and The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) UK charity where children at a summer camp were told Islam is the 'world's worst religion'.

In the documentary, Steadfast trustee Mr Hawke is apparently shown suggesting 'Burn the Mosques' as a name for a group in Chelmsford, Essex.

The documentary reportedly showed a leadership camp at a school in Hertfordshire, where

allegedly children are seen being told by a teacher: 'To destroy the Hindu history is the secret conspiracy of the Christians.'

And when a child asks Child: 'Do you think Muslims are the biggest problem for Britain?', a teacher responds: 'Yes. For everybody, for everybody.'

After the class he adds: 'See if it comes to Islam they are the World’s worst religion and they don’t have common sense to find out what is humanity and all that.'

A spokesman for the Steadfast Trust, which has now had its charity status removed, said: "The Trust does not share or support the offensive views expressed, some by people unknown to the charity.

"We cannot be held responsible for the views, actions or political affiliations of our supporters.

"The Steadfast Trust is not and has never been political in its aims and we are perplexed by the suggestion it has become the focal point of the far right."

On the other hand the HSS-UK has issued a national statement saying that they do not believe that this programme is a fair and accurate representation of their work or values.

Their official spokesperson in the UK

said, “HSS has been operating in the UK since 1966 and during this period, not a single member of the organisation has ever been formally or informally questioned/charged, warned, cautioned or sentenced by any of our authorities with holding, promoting or attempting to or carrying out any such action that is extremist or otherwise against any member of the public in the UK, simply because HSS does not promote or practice such views.

"In fact, HSS through its programmes over the years has always worked closely with authorities and different faith organisations. Therefore the depiction of HSS as anti any other faith is wrong, misleading and counterproductive to the positive work HSS has done in building interfaith rapport and community relations. We promote Hindu values that inherently are about cohesiveness and duty to society as a whole and our volunteers have always contributed positively to British society.

“Our residential leadership training event (at which the filming took place) is aimed at building character, based on discipline, respect, knowledge and selfless action. It is attended by a cross section of society.

HSS-UK denies allegations made by ITV documentary

Kapil’s

KHICHADI Follow me on Twitter: @kdudakia

Hindus under attack?

by Kapil Dudakia - email: kapil@abplgroup.com

People tend to talk of conspiracy theories; some of these make sense whilst others tend to challenge our current world view. I am not into conspiracy theories but believe having a look at various pieces of a jigsaw to see the bigger picture. We may not fully get the image right and it might probably not be in full focus either, however the impression gained from such an exercise can be very enlightening for those who wish to see the light.

So let me start with what you might recall were ‘anti-modi’ events supported by some Labour MPs in the House of Commons in the Spring of 2014. The ‘Avaaz’ report released at that time was not only anti-modi, but it also felt very much anti-Hindu. There was also an attack on some of our well known institutions such as RSS, HSS, VHP, NHSF and Seva Int. (and get ready for more such attacks). I brought this to everyone’s attention at the time and also asked Ed Miliband for clarification – of course none came.

During this period we witnessed one of the most treacherous acts by a political party against the Hindu community – yes, the Labour Party stabbed us in the back on the Lord Harries caste amendment. Remember they did not have to support the amendment. Most Hindu organisations told them to step back, but they took a decision to go against the wishes of the Hindu community. This year the British Courts have now concluded that the legislation that existed previously was more than adequate, and such an amendment on caste was not required. i.e. Exactly what we had told the Labour Party. So one has to wonder why Ed Miliband took such a stance that was so obviously anti-Hindu.

More recently the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has been in a crusade against David Cameron and the Tory Party. Talk about religion not getting into the political space just before an election, yet the good Archbishop broke all tradition and is giving a very one-sided rhetoric which many independent observers feel is designed to support Ed Miliband and the Labour Party. Now that’s a turn up for the books, who would have thought of that?

It could be the case that there is no correlation between the Labour Party supporting the Lord Harries (Ex Bishop by the way!) caste amendment and the sudden overt attack by the Church on the Tory Party. However I was reading the annual report of VODI (Voice of Dalit International) and discovered that they had been in discussions with Lambeth Palace over the caste legislation and it seems the Church was in line with such expectations. If you doubt this, then go to the We try to give all our volunteers an opportunity to discuss their opinions and understand all other views but that does not mean that HSS agrees with or promotes these viewpoints. We are investigating these alleged comments with a view to ensuring that those who made them are either better informed and/or prevented from making statements (in public or at HSS events) which may be interpreted as anti other faith or community.

Charity Commission website and download their latest report and read it for yourself.

Just as startling is news that a large proportion of the Christian community are poised to vote for Labour. Yes you did read that correctly. A survey of evangelical Christians showed that whilst there was a spread of voting patterns, some 31% will be voting for Labour (a large increase from 2010).

There will be a significant reduction of those voting for the Tory Party as a consequence. So evangelism, which is seen by many as a means of ‘compassionate’ conversion, also happens to be tied into a voting pattern that supports Labour, the political party that wanted the caste amendment which is exactly what some of the Christian groups wanted. Now is that coincidence? Or is it by design?

So now we have several more pieces of this intriguing jigsaw. We have got the Church that seems to be supportive of the caste amendment; we have got organisations that are involved in conversions of Hindus to Christianity also in this band of merry men. And then you have got the Labour Party that stabs the Hindus in the back and supports such an erroneous piece of legislation on caste.

What we have witnessed in the last few years is something that resembles a systematic attack on Hindus. Piece by piece, known and unknown forces are chipping away at the very foundations of our Dharma. And whilst this is taking place, we have got many in our community, so called leaders, people who are connected very well to political parties, and those who are contributing large sums to these parties, who are either totally ignorant of what is happening right in front of their noses. Or they have chosen to turn a blind eye to secure some sort of political privilege.

Over the past several decades I have observed that there is no limit to how far some of these well funded vested groups will go to achieve their aims.

They have powerful connections in very powerful positions. It says to me that the very nature of some of our political parties has changed. They are no longer what they used to be many decades ago. Therefore when it comes to GE2015, it is now important, nay vital, that our community begins to appreciate who their friends are, and to avoid the wolves that come to us in sheep’s clothing.

It is time to see the wood for the trees. When you have a political party that seems to be anti-modi, anti-Hindu and takes part in supporting legislation that is also anti-Hindu, what does that tell you about them? The writing is on the wall, all you have to do is read it and take the right course of action.

“As part of our own investigation and as a result of being notified of the allegations, in January we immediately informed and recently met with the Charity Commission who have our full co-operation in any investigation.

“The speaker who has been quoted in the documentary is not a trustee or office bearer of HSS. He was an invited speaker and we are now waiting for his response concerning the alleged com-

ments recorded in the aired programme as part of our own investigation.

“HSS will in future take even greater care to ensure that no views are expressed from its platform that could directly or indirectly promote interfaith discord.

“Our goal and indeed our actions over the last 49 years shows that HSS promotes more diversity and unity in British society based on our articulation of Hindu values of universal peace.”

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

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The Indian budget As I See It

how much of a big bang could it be?

India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will submit the first full budget of the Modi government to the Indian Parliament today (28th February).

Both in India and abroad enormous interest is focused on the strategy and measures contained within that budget. Naturally that is to be expected.

In the BRICS emerging markets, India’s economic performance could be much better if not enough to fuel - in whatever measure it could be - the world economy. Brazil is having serious problems. Russia - partly because of the drastic oil and gas price reduction coupled with the sanctions from the West is surely experiencing challenging circumstances. China - that great supplier for the entire world - is experiencing substantial slow down after 35 years of non stoppable growth. South Africa is facing its own problems which are getting more and more acute.

India, since the advent of the Modi government, is full of hope, expectation and confidence. Petrodollar shaikhs have presented India with a special bonus cheque of $50 billion in halving the price of their supplies. For a country which imports 80% of its energy, this is not a small gift. In the last nine months the Indian Stock Market is booming, the country's GDP has grown steadily (partly due to some different calculations), inflation has been reduced drastically and the National Exchequer Deficit has also come down surprisingly. Narendra Modi, the magician won bumper votes at the elections.

Arun Jaitley is equally capable to surprise people in and out of India with a more appropriate steps to take India on the growth path of over 7-8% a year for the foreseeable future.

The very well respected Deepak Parekh, Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation expressed his concern last week that the Modi government performance has not reciprocated to the public’s expectation. Arun Jaitley then replied in a very sensible and honest manner that it was not easy to move around such a huge ship especially in the turbulent waters of the world we live in.

Well respected media in the West, especially The Economist, Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal have recommended umpteen number of steps to Modi and his government to help lift India’s growth rate. Whilst that is indeed their duty, they are not only looking at India through a different prism but also from a very long distance geographically.

India is not China. Indian democracy is vibrant. The Modi government has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) but the opposition controlled Rajya Sabha (Upper House) which is not likely to play ball in a

favourable way. Then there are problems of land acquisitions. The act in force was framed by the Raj administration some 150 years ago. The only thing that does not grow or enlarge is land.

With India's population having increased by 800 percent in the intervening period, the demand of the agriculturalist and that of industry are very difficult to bridge for the betterment of India. Also the advice of the country's Western media friends on its labour laws as well as India's regional and international responsibility - in terms of strengthening its defence forces - has also to be seen from the availability of resources and the many fold demand on the national pot.

It takes 9 months for a baby to be born. Let us hope for a bouncy baby this year!

Some corruptions Those of us who live in Britain are very fortunate indeed - at least as far as the poison of corrupt practices is concerned. Hardly a news bulletin or serious column refrains from mentioning corruption in third world countries. Of course they will not normally focus on the friendly nations whether in the Middle East or elsewhere. But by and large Great Britain has succeeded in eliminating many corrupt practices in this country.

The problem is not caused by the common man on the London omnibus but it is with our politicians and the big banks who were supposed to be honourable and upright. We have now learnt enough about how the bankers behave.

Lets accept to a certain extent some aberration from the banks as they have to satisfy the rising demand of the shareholders, let alone the top bosses greed for bigger bonuses.

But people fail to understand the greed of the politicians. In the last few years how many exposures have we watched in which MPs fiddle? We now know about two former senior politicians - one from the Conservative party and the other from Labour - who appear to have offered to participate in scandalous and corrupt practices.

Thank goodness both have been suspended by their parties immediately!

The former Prime Minister Tony Blair should have set a more exemplary precedent by not going for that personal portfolio of some £20 million or more. How much more money do the Blairs need to live like Lords? Tony Blair's personal greed has completely overwhelmed his own needs. Such behaviour is surely not expected from those who were voted into power and were given so much respect and adoration.

- CB

New study reveals migrants improve British business Theresa May suggests 'British values' test for visitors

A research has found that migrant workers have brought various benefits to their employers that have led to productivity boosts and company expansion.

The report on the in-depth, qualitative study of the contribution and impact of migrant workers on 80 UK companies that carried out by the Department for Business has been published on Tuesday.

Benefits included: l The ability to train colleagues in new skills such

as IT techniques, leading to improvements in day to day working practices, and new innovations. l Knowledge and skills over and above those outlined in job specifications, such as management experience, language and IT skills. l Skills that are culturally unique and complementary, rather than directly applicable, to the job role. l An increased talent pool of potential applicants available to businesses.

Business Secretary

Vince Cable said: “Many British businesses rely on the skills of people from Europe and beyond to fill roles that are not being met

by British workers.

“This research demonstrates that foreign workers not only stimulate growth for British business by introducing new ideas and innovations, but bring their unique overseas networks and cultural knowledge to drive expansion for their company abroad.

“This report will pro-

Sikhs introduce mobile langars to help the UK's homeless

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Traditional langar at Gurdwara

The Sikhs are known for many qualities- the most common being valour and patriotism. While their kindness and charities are perhaps little-known to Britons, they come forward to help UK's homeless through their centuries old Sikh traditions of langars- a kitchen where vegetarian food is prepared by volunteers, and freely served to the community on a daily basis.

This concept originated in India, at a time of deep caste and religious divisions between Hindus and Muslims, when Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism called for equality for all and set forward this concept of Langar.

Thousands of free Langar meals are served every day in Sikh temples all over the UK. The Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Southall, thought to be the biggest Sikh temple outside of India, says it alone serves 5,000 meals on weekdays and 10,000 meals on weekends.

However Sikhs have now taken langars to a different level. Every Sunday evening 250 people receive a hand-out of hot soup, drinks, chocolate bars and other supplies from the Sikh Welfare and Awareness Team van parked up on the Strand in central London.

The Swat team, as they're known, park at the

same spot every week so a group of volunteers from the Sikh community can hand out vital supplies.

They told the BBC that they decided to take the concept of Langar outside its traditional set-

ting in temples and out onto the streets when they saw a growing homelessness problem in London. Randeep Singh who founded Swat said: "When you go to the temple, what's the message?

The message is to help others, help your neighbours. That's what we are doing."

Homeless people, who mostly are not Sikh, patiently wait in line to be served. For the volunteers handing out food there, this is more than just good charitable work. For them this is a religious duty enshrined by the founder of the Sikh religion over 500 years ago. In a recent BBC blog by Rajeev Gupta, John Davidson,

the economy. After the 2008 recession many Sikh temples reported an increase in the numbers of non-Sikhs coming in for the free meals. This has also included many South Asian students, especially those who got stranded in Britain, after discovering they were enrolled in bogus colleges, that were struck off.

Of course the Sikhs do not mind it. Surinder Singh Purewal, a senior member of the Southall temple management team said: "We don't mind it. As long as people show respect, are not intoxicated and cover their heads in line with our traditions, then everyone is welcome."

vide an important contribution to the debate around how foreign workers have a positive impact on UK businesses.”

Employers interviewed for the study valued the breadth of language skills migrants bring, and also the benefits of having a diverse workforce with a global outlook, which can identify opportunities and new commercial openings.

Significant benefits arose where migrants assisted business’ expansion by sharing insights and connections to new international markets, suppliers and client relationships.

Businesses were clear that

without migrants they would face much greater difficulties breaking into new markets and that often migrants helped secure business abroad. The report is divided into sections covering skills, knowledge sharing, innovation, training, migrants’ connections and integration. On the other hand the Home Secretary Theresa May is determined to make acquiring visas more difficult, and has suggested that overseas visitors seeking to work, study or attend business meetings in the UK would have to demonstrate the “British values”, under Conservative proposals to

make this commitment an integral part of any visa application. The plan which is supposedly aimed to fight extremism says, “We want to make clear to those seeking to visit, work or study in the UK, and those granted protection, that they need to abide by and respect British values throughout their stay in this country,” the document reads. “We will make British values an integral part of applying for a visa.”

However despite the aim, the plan will affect all immigrants traveling from similar parts of the worldwhich may discourage them to come to Britain altogether.

55, homeless said, “We come here because we get food... A hot meal. It's a luxury for me.”

In recent times it is believed that the Langar meal has acted as a barometer for the state of

The Swat team at Strand

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

A Parsi Zoroastrian Filmmaker with a Vision Oorvazi Irani is a young, Parsi Zoroastrian filmmaker. She is the director of her home production company “SBI Impresario Pvt. Ltd.,” incorporated by her father Sorab Irani in 1975.

The company has made many critically acclaimed documentaries and films for Channel Four and BBC London.

SBI was where she gained firsthand knowledge about filmmaking.

Oorvazi’s active involvement with the company began with “The Ramayana: A Journey” - a six part travelogue series produced by her company for Channel Four TV, London. She went on to produce and direct two independent short films; “Mamaiji”, a cinematic portrait of her grandmother with a surreal touch, and “The K File,” a hardhitting film written by Farrukh Dhondy dealing with Ajmal Kasab, the only live terrorist captured during the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Oorvazi Irani

Both these films were well received by audiences and film festivals.

Oorvazi is currently in London with her feature film, “The Path of Zarathustra.”

She hails from Mumbai, India, the home of the Parsi Zoroastrians.

She said, “We are a small but significant community

and are followers of a three thousand year- old ancient religion, Zoroastrianism. During the time of the British Raj in India, the Parsi community prospered and was the native elite.”

In 2006 in India, Oorvazi attended a Minority Commission meeting and was made

aware of the dwindling numbers of the Parsis.

“My dear community was on the verge of extinction.” She noted.

Her sensitive artistic spirit was perturbed and the seed for making a film on the subject was sown.

Last year the film was completed; as a 79 min feature in the magic realism genre.

Oorvazi said, “The form and structure of the film is challenging as it does not restrict itself to documentary or conventional plot - driven cinema. It draws from both forms and creates something refreshingly new which requires an active audience participation.”

Oorvazi is in London with her father Sorab Irani –both producers of the film- because she has close ties with the UK. “Farrukh Dhondy is the screenplay writer of the film and his collaboration takes the work to a different level of thought and execution which has not been attempted before on the subject. I am very keen to release the film in London as an art-house theatrical release. It’s relevant because of the close links between the British Raj and Parsis. London is an important world centre where you can find culture, history, ethnicity and art,” she explained.

Filmmaking is a family profession but Oorvazi

has also taught film and acting –these occupations happened by accident. She continued, “It all began with teaching film appreciation to acting students from a popular acting school in India. It trained stars like Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor etc. Many of these students were glamour struck and imbibing in them a taste for films like Satyajit Ray’s ones was quite challenging. But some students like Ranveer Singh (who happened to be in my first batch in 2007) were very receptive and were keen

"During the time of the British Raj in India, the Parsi community prospered and was the native elite.”

learners,” she said.

Oorvazi felt that in Bollywood, there was no attention paid to acting technique and the artist in the actor was therefore compromised.

“Acting involves transforming more fully during the process of creation and this could be dangerous or harmful if the approach is wrong.

I pioneer new ideas, so I introduced the Michael Chekhov acting technique to India. This technique is an approach opposed to the traditional ‘method acting’ very popular in

India. I feel method acting, where you immerse and become the character, could be regressive for an actor, and stunt his creative expression.

My technique empowers an actor with infinite possibilities. He uses a psychophysical approach to acting with useful tools that I provide. The actor becomes able to emote truthfully and transform into various characters beyond his limited personal identity.

The technique is inspired by Yoga and Rudolf Steiner and is more than just an acting technique; it’s a way of life.

It’s had a lasting influence on me personally and it is a popular technique worldwide. Others who immensely benefitted from it include Johnny Depp, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, and Marilyn Monroe….”

Apart from teaching the technique to young and professional actors, Oorvazi has produced a DVD, which has the endorsement of Joanna Merlin, President of the Michael Chekhov Association, New York, USA. Oorvazi says that as an artist at heart and an entrepreneur by spirit, she crosses boundaries to enrich each role.

She hopes to bring change through her worldview.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Poverty pay in football

Alabama assault

Write it right

Reincarnation

Despite the recent record breaking £5.14bn TV deal for English football, many elite football clubs in London still to refuse to pay many of their employees the London Living Wage. The fact this kind of poverty pay still exists in a multibillion pound industry is nothing short of a scandal.

Whilst the players are undoubtedly the stars, it’s the football club employees – from ground staff to suppliers – who undertake crucial work that fosters much of the match day atmosphere the English game is so famed for, and which makes it so lucrative and appealing to TV companies.

Many clubs pay weekly six-figure wages to their star players and spend hundreds of millions on the recruitment of talent. So, the fact that numerous clubs fail to pay some employees a living wage – worth £9.15 an hour – is as indefensible as it is unjust. Such comparisons really do bring home the stark inequality blighting the beautiful game.

Fortunately change appears within reach. Chelsea Football Club became the first club in the Premier League to sign up to pay the London Living Wage last year. This has thrown down the gauntlet to the capital’s other clubs. Over the weekend West Ham also announced they would pay the London Living Wage from June this year. By following their example London’s clubs have the opportunity to lead the way and put fairness back into football, resolving the ugly truth about unequal pay in the beautiful game.

An elderly Gujarati man, Mr. Sureshbhai Patel, was left partially paralysed due to an unfair assault by an Alabama cop on 6th Feb. This unfortunate incident happened during Mr. Patel's morning walk in the neighbourhood as he could neither understand nor respond to the cop's instructions due to his lack of English!

He just arrived in the US a day before to care of his son's 17 month old child.

Although the police officer who assaulted Mr. Patel is currently under arrest pending FBI probe, that's not going to make 57 years old Mr. Patel healthy as he was. Would Mr. Patel have understood what the officer asked him and have responded to the cop's instructions, this calamity wouldn't have happened at first place! No doubt the cop who conducted the assault needs to be punished.

However the point here is that before we question the neighbour who reported an unfamiliar man walking outside or the cop who assaulted him, I want to blame slightly his son and daughter-in-law as well. They should have made sure that they taught Mr.Patel basic English skills.

I don't expect him to be fluent in English but just basic skills to communicate and explain who he is and why is he there in the US for, etc.

Devang Bhatt, Goodmayes, London

Asian Voice frequently urges its readers to write shorter letters. This is good advice because it gives more readers an opportunity to air their views. During my 58-year career as a professional journalist I picked up a number of useful lessons on “tight writing” which I am happy to share with you. Here are just a few: Writing gets more interesting as it acquires precision, not length. The art of writing is the art of abbreviation. Be a miser with words. Write to express, not to impress. Nobody is obliged to read what you write - you have to earn their attention by being clear, concise, interesting.

Make your writing intensely readable.

Aim for simplicity. directness, clarity at all times.

Does this make me sound like a know-all? Goodness, I hope not!. Even the world’s best writers freely admit that they have a lot more to learn and never stop learning. When you think you know enough about writing, they remark, that is when you start going downhill. Always bear this in mind. Remember it was someone like that great writer Oscar Wilde who penned this immortal sentence to a friend: “Sorry for writing such a long letter but I didn’t have time to write a shorter one.” In other words, take your time to write shorter letters.

Mr Otter queries if reincarnation graduates a soul for existence on other planets.

Please note that Hindu dharma is way of life. Therefore obedience to laws of spatial habitat is more important than which planets one resides or qualifies for promotion. Laws on different planets may be different; obedience may be voluntary or forced. Our knowledge being confined to planet earth, talks about migration to other planets is plain conjecture.

But lives on non-earthly arenas are mentioned in Hindu scriptures e.g.

Bhoolok, Brahmlok.

Vishnulok, Swargalok, 14 Bhuvanas etc. Earthlings were not allowed on different arenas while living in forms made of earthly physical matter, (incident of Trishanku and Vishwamitra refers.)

Statement that beings from other planets guided earthly religions is hearsay and mere philosophy to push views diverging from mainstream and polarise followers towards new trends of thoughts. But Theosophy mentions brotherhood of elders, masters and perfected beings that influence religiosity and intervene during crises. Could various deities, prophets etc. be such beings?

There is no mention or proof / evidence for imaginary claims in any literature!

Jennette Arnold OBE AM Labour London Assembly Member for North East

Direct flights

Looking at this logically, it seems that even Modi government is not interested at present to give direct flights from USA/London to Ahmadabad. The adverts in Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar probably explain why.

Ahmadabad flights are at present about £60 more than Mumbai and Delhi. This probably explains that the people are unnecessarily paying extra fare.

If you remember the first person to meet PM Modiji was Mr. Praful Patel. It was he who withdrew direct flights to Ahmadabad. To finance improvement to Mumbai /Delhi airports he must have seen the cashcow in Gujaratis travelling to Ahmadabad to finance these airports.

Emirates flight directly from Middle East to Ahmadabad must have been given permission by Mr. Praful Patel on payment of hefty fees probably going towards the development of these 2 large airports.

The recent meeting probably was to warn PM Modi not allow direct flights to Ahmadabad as this would been one of the condition Emirates took on the route. So at least in the near future there probably is no chance of having direct flights to Ahmadabad. It looks like we the Gujaratis and NRIs have been and are taken for a ride and the present government does not want to change it.

Reform NHS now before it bleeds to death

Politician know and admit in private that NHS under present dictate is unsustainable, needs drastic overall, yet no one has courage to admit it in public. It is time we adopt French and German model most EU nations have implemented that gives first class service but slightly modified to suit British needs.

It is time to introduce small charge with insurance cover for visits to GP, A & E and admissions that will instantly stop “Health Tourists” with limited exemption to deserving patients.

British embassies issuing tourist visas overseas, especially in US, should insist on having medical insurance, as we would not travel even to EU countries without such policies, although we are entitled to free medical treatment under EU rules. But in reality, no one would touch us without medical insurance; the first document ambulance crew demand to see and would not hesitate to turn back if we fail to produce it.

With steep increase in ageing population that needs constant care, no amount of cash alone will ease pressure on NHS that could become bottomless pit, devouring billions without improving NHS. We need brave politicians ready to speak out of conviction, not convenience.

But in present climate, it would amount to political suicide, as we are brainwashed in believing that it should be free at point of delivery, yet we pay 85% of dental treatment privately, costliest in EU. It is time to set our priorities right.

Subscribe Today Vinu Patel Croydon

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Right way for Modi

In Indian politics if there is anyone most practical, pragmatic and dedicated to the motherland India it is Mr. Modi. The shock of Delhi election results may prove to be a blessing in disguise for him. He has enough time to assess the situation and take right measures to turn defeat into victory for the good of India.

Within a short time he has made an excellent start especially in foreign affairs by establishing very good relations with neighbouring states, Russia, Australia, America and now Sri Lanka. In his second visit President Obama has confirmed America’s support for India’s case for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Mr Modi is also taking steps to modernise and strengthen Indian defence.

These are mainly long term projects.

They hardly make any impact on the lives of ordinary people.

The most important things are national unity, employment creation and raising living standard. Security of a country is better assured if there is unity among all Indians and communal harmony.

Mr Modi, by his own example, can help raise personal, societal and national conscience. It will help reduce corruption, possibly eliminate it. He can create viable employment taking short term and long term national projects as he did in Gujarat. He should utilise expertise of business community and industrialists to create employment, for Govt. alone cannot do everything.

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Festival of Holi

Festivals are a source of great joy in India. Holi, the festival of colours, is one such important event. It is arguably the most fun-filled and boisterous of all Hindu festivals. However, it has been observed that residential societies waste a lot of water during Holi every year.

People should be asked to play only with dry colours. They should avoid colours which are mixed with harmful chemicals as these may lead to skin diseases and even cause blindness if they get into the eyes. Everyone should take care not to waste water while celebrating Holi. Every drop of water is precious, and costs money.

Jubel D'Cruz, Mumbai, India

World peace

The whole world desires peace. Mahatma Gandhi was a pioneer of peace with principles of non-violence. He was the messenger of peace.

All states should forget rule without ethics, science without humanity, wealth without health, without emotion of forsaking and sacrifice, invite misery.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Narendra Modi and other VIPs demand peace and protection of atmosphere by solar power and vegetation.

‘Co-operation of all, evolution of all’ are sure to succeed. The misguided terrorists must forget the terror and pray to Allah/God for their wise intelligence.

Dr Ratilal Patel By fax

Jatindra Saha By email

Kumudbala Valambia By email

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Foreign students 'vital for UK's prosperity' Business leaders have called for international students to be excluded from government immigration targets, saying they are "vital to the future prosperity of the UK." In an open letter to the Financial Times, senior figures – including John Fallon, CEO of Pearson, Baroness LaneFox of Soho and Simon Collins, UK Chairman and Senior Partner of KPMG – also said that there should be more opportunities for qualified international graduates to remain in the UK. The letter comes ahead of a new report,

YOUR VOICE

due to be published tomorrow by the AllParty Parliamentary Group on Migration, looking at the how visa changes have impacted local business, universities and international students.

According to an ICM poll, cited in the letter, 75 per cent of people think that international stu-

dents should be allowed to stay and work in the UK after graduating from our universities.

However, c u r r e n t l y, foreign students are counted in the immigration figures, meaning they feature in the Conservative's pledge to cut net migration to below 100,000. This is despite the fact that, according to Universities UK, international students contribute £7 billion a year to the UK economy.

Sliding down slippery road

Continued from page 10 The survey published in last week’s Asian Voice, titled “Survey reveals worrying prospects for Britain’s Muslim community” makes a grim reading. It should be timely reminder for lackadaisical Muslim community to prioritise real issues that is dragging this once thriving, hardworking, law abiding community down, putting it on slippery road to permanent decline, losing ground to other thriving ethnic minorities. Muslims are well down on education, especially with degrees, employment on professional front, home ownership but high on unemployment, prison population and household without earners. Even this figure does not paint true picture, as most educated professional, thriving Muslims come from their own fringe communities like Daudi Bhoras, Ismalis, Ahmedias, Kokni, Shia IthnaAsheris and Sufi Muslims.

Now their bright youngsters with university education prospects are pertinaciously radicalized, lured away to conflict zones in the Middle East thus depriving community of their future professionals, creating negative impressions in general public, especially among indigenous British people who unfairly view all Muslims as trouble makers.

It is time for them to go back to basics, stop being fossilized, not to be forlorn, remind themselves why they came here decades ago, what were their priorities then and try to integrate first with other ethnic minorities, then with the main stream but without losing sight of their principles and values. If we Hindus can succeed, so can they with determination, dedication and common sense.

Bhupendra M Gandhi By email

EDUCATION/COUNCIL VOICE

11

School 'imposter', 29, turns out to be pupil aged 14

Parents who feared a 29year-old impostor was attending their children's school have been told he is actually a 14-year boy from Afghanistan.

Police have refuted "unwarranted" claims made on a Facebook group set up by parents at Broad Oak Sports College, in Bury, Greater Manchester.

Bury Council bosses and school leaders said social media claims that an imposter pretended to be a year 10 pupil at the

school are "completely untrue".

Facebook posts alleged the "man" regularly attended lessons at the school dressed in a white shirt, black trousers and trainers.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed on Thursday he is in fact a "vulnerable" 14-year-old boy from Afghanistan who recently immigrated to the country.

Detective Constable Carolyn Morley: "We have

been made aware of reports of an older man posing as a student at a school in Bury.

“Detectives have undertaken enquires into this matter and assessments have been carried out by the relevant agencies, and we are confident that no offences have been committed. This young man is a vulnerable child, fleeing persecution in his country of birth, and this speculation is unwarranted and unhelpful."

Nick Clegg pledges free early years education for all Working parents will receive 15 hours a week of free childcare for all children aged between 9 months and two years, under Lib Dem plans outlined last week by Nick Clegg. This would save the average family over £2,600 per year, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Speaking in London, Mr Clegg set out the Liberal Democrat manifesto commitments on childcare, which also includes pledging to boost funding for preschool children from disadvantaged backgrounds and extending free early years education.

Currently, all three and four-year-olds in England,

are entitled to 15 free hours of early education a week – an entitlement that is also extended to the poorest two-year-olds.

However, Mr Clegg said that the Liberal Democrats will provide 15 hours a week of free early years education to every family with a two year old.

The speech follows warnings issued by the The Family and Childcare

Trust highlighting the rising costs in childcare in recent years.

According to the survey, the cost of sending a toddler to nursery parttime has risen by around a third since 2010, with many parents now forced to spend £6,000 a year on average, while those looking for full-time early years education could pay £11,000 a year.

12

MEDIA WATCH

Prime Minister Modi’s ringing words condemning the recent attacks on churches in Delhi and assuring the people that his government would crack down hard on those involved in hate crimes and violence be they from the majority or minority communities, were reassuring. Religious freedom was an inviolate clause for governments of any party, he said. He was speaking at the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, in New Delhi, on the celebration for the elevation to sainthood of Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Mother Euphrasia, the Prime Minister said: “We cannot accept violence against any religion on any pretext, and I strongly condemn such violence. My government will act strongly in this regard.”

“My government will ensure that there is complete freedom of faith and that everyone has the undeniable right to retain or adopt of his or her choice of religion without coercion or undue influence. My government will not allow any religious group to incite to hatred against others overtly or covertly. Mine will Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and be a government that Cardinal George Allencherry, the head of the gives equal respect to Syro-Malabar rite Catholic Church all religions,” he conaddressed without disturbance cluded. This unequivocal stateor fear of one. ment of intent was much appreciated by the congregation. It Working with Modi was also timely and should go a long way in assuaging concerns The Mufti didn’t know the presof the silent majority of India ent prime as well as he knew that fringe elements in the Vajpayee. However, “I respect Sangh Parivar were hijacking the enormous mandate that the political discourse to press Modi has got from the people of their agenda for the promotion India. It gives him a moral of exclusiveness in the public life authority. This was an opportuof the nation. Thankfully, nity to create an inclusive govFinance Minister Arun Jaitley, ernment reflecting India’s diveralso pitched in with a warning to sity,” he said. “Kashmir is part fanatics.”These attacks should of the body of India. It’s a part be regarded as unacceptable in a that is injured. And I want help society as liberal as India… to fix that part. That is why I am .those mischief makers will not here.”

(Times of India be spared,” he said. (Hindu, February18) Times of India February 18

PDP-BJP govt an historic opening

Trinamool traction in Bengal polls

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) are on the cusp of a political alignment that should lead to the formation of the next government in Jammu and

The Trinamool Congress Party emerged with thumping majorities in two critical by-elections, one for a Lok Sabha seat, the other for the state assembly. The results have relieved beleaguered Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of some of the pressure she currently faces from the Saradha scam. The BJP can take heart as its share of the vote went up significantly. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which led a Left Front government in the state for 34 years until its crushing electoral defeat in May 2011, limped in third, its share of the showing a steep decline (Telegraph, Times of India, HinduFebruary 17,18)

Mufti Mohammad Sayyed

Surat to acquire diamond city

Kashmir, with PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayyed as the State’s the new Chief Minister.

Negotiations between the parties on a coalition are almost done and dusted.

Mufti Mohammad Sayyed recalled to a reporter the previous BJP prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to the state and the public meeting in Srinagar which he

Cut or uncut diamonds will soon have an entire city as hub for its jewellery industry. Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Diamond Research and Mercantile City and the Surat Diamond Bourse , the country’s largest diamond trading hub will be operational within three years.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Infosys to buy Panaya The acquisition of the US-based tech provider for $200 million will be the biggest by Infosys, one of India’s top software and consulting firms. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March. The significance of the sale is in line with Infosys’ strategy, which aims to increase its competiveness by leveraging automation, innovation and artificial intelligence.

“Panaya is a mid-size acquisition which allows Infosys to onboard Intellectual Property and integrate with its own without major hassles . More important Panaya’s automation technology will offer differentiated advantage to Infosys for testing its services which continue to be a manual process for many service providers,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst Greyhound Research.(Business Line February17)

Cipla wins tender AIDS prevention

Mumai-based pharmaceutical major, Cipla, has won a significant tender worth $189 million from the Global Fund for AID control .The contract will last for three years. Cipla’s retroviral drugs for AIDS control have won international acclaim following its successful use in Africa. “Cipla has been committed to the cause ofHIV/AIDS for over two decades, and this tender offers us a great opportunity to make HIV/AIDS treatment accessible to more than 140 countries through the Global Fund, said Subhana Saxena, Cipla global CEO. The drugs will be manufactured at Cipla’s Indian facility (Hindu February14)

Boost for electronics manufacturers

In a bid to make domestic manufacturing attractive, the Indian government is to hand out production-linked subsidies to companies which commit significant capital in the manufacture of semiconductors and microprocessors and other hi-tech products. Manufacturers are to get a 10 per cent subsidy on the production turnover. The goal is to reduce India’s dependence on imports and curtail the heavy outflow of foreign exchange.

(Business Line February 18)

Tata-German tie-up

Tata Manufacturing Solutions Limited (TAL), wholly subsidiary of Tata Motors, has signed a $150million contract with Germany’s RUAG Aerostructures for the manufacturing and supply of aero-structural components.

Rajesh Khatri, CEO, TAL, said: “This contract will see us investing further in our state-of-the-art aerospace infrastructure at Nagpur and will uniquely position us as a supplier to two of the world’s most advanced and successful airplane programmes, the Boeing 787 and Airbus A320.”

(Business Line February 18)

Warming India-Lanka relationship

Modi with Sri Lankan President Sirisena

India-Sri Lanka ties have warmed considerably, more so after the visit to New Delhi by Prime Minister Mathripala Sirise, where he held talks with N rendra Modi. The civil nuclear deal they signed.

The deal initially involve in the training of Sri Lankan engineers in nuclear technology operation and is expected to go on from there to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Sri Lanka by India. (Hindu February 17).

Indian grapes sparkle

Israeli footprint

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe India’s seedless grapes are an Ya’lon made quite a splash. integral part of certain French Asked if this was a coming out sparkling wines and Australian party for the Indo-Israel relawines. India is one of the largest tionship, he replied, “That’s exporters of grapes . The true,” but it was India which Thompson Seedless variety, wanted that way, presumably for which are green in colour, and fear of not upsetting the Arab the Sharad Seedless with jumbo bloc. V.P. Menon, Sardar variety, coloured black, are exported mainly to the Netherlands.

From there, Indian grapes are distributed throughout Europe, with sizeable quantities directed specifically to France and Australia.”Exports of concentrated grape juice and even dried grapes have shot up from Nasik, Sangli, Ahmednagar to the Netherlands, the European Union,” said Sopan The Defence Minister of Israel Moshe Ya’alon Kanchan, Chairman with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Grape Growers Federation of India Vallabhbhai Patel’s principal (Business Line February 18) aide and confidant, wrote,

Aero India 2015

The India air show opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangalore had the usual fanfare and pageantry. India, together with a number of other countries, displayed their breathtaking skills in aerobatics, while their pavilions exhibited their latest cutting edge defence technologies with the aim of selling them directly to the hists or else marketing through joint ventures, fitting in nicely with the government’s projected Make in India brand. The Indian Prime Minister spoke of the need for greater indigenization of defence equipment and for more public-private sector partnerships, a vital necessity because of the ste-owned companies to match the needs of the armed forces or make deliveries within agreed timelines.

However, defence procurement procedures were being rationalized, something the previous defence minister A.K. Antony was unable to accomplish.

“Indian cannot be afraid of its own shadow”. Better late than never. The relationship is now out of its closet with Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN summit last year, when they agreed to take the ties between their countries a quantum leap forward. “We see continuing progress,” said Minister Ya’lon.

Ongoing cooperation

According to The Telegraph’s Spcial Correspondent, “The Israeli and Indian defence establishments have run the most secretive, and probably after the Russians, the most wide-ranging military technology cooperation programmes.” India is Israel’s biggest defence customer. Both sides have embarked on joint development weapon systems.

In selected Rafael’s Spike antitank guided missile over the American Javelin is a deal worth $525 million (Telegraph, Hindu February 19)

UK

Sikh Regiment on the cards for British Army

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

British interests compromised by former government officials

Former Ministers, and especially Prime Ministers should never ever be allowed to work for foreign agents. Pure and simple.

Otherwise they damage British interests.

Jack Straw’s involvement in the recently revealed ‘cash for access’ scandal underscores British Government’s continued failure to ensure politicians don’t exploit their positions for financial gains.

The former foreign secretary admitted he used his clout and charisma to benefit corporate entities. Mr Straw, perhaps in a self-destruct mode and unaware that he was being secretly filmed, boasted that he “operated ‘under the radar’ to use his influence to change European Union rules on behalf of a commodity firm which pays him £60,000 a year.” Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who manages Britain’s intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament, said he could arrange ‘useful accesses to every British ambassador in the world because of his status.

Britain has been grappling with the issue of influential politicians, both former and present, extracting financial benefits courtesy of their illustrious position and network. There is a grave need to scrutinise the opaque corporate finances of MPs and Ministers.

But what’s more worrying is documents revealed this week to me concerning not a former Foreign Secretary, but Prime Minister.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s race for cash since leaving office in 2007, with an opaque network of financial interests that stretch from the United Arab Emirates to Kazakhstan to America, has raised suspicions and various section of the political establishment believe everything might not be above board.

Latest documents supplied by an ex British intelligence official puts Tony Blair in the dock, yet again! He reportedly signed a fresh contract with UAE’s foreign ministry during the end of 2014. Using his exalted position as former Prime Minister, and the connections and network acquired during his time in office, Mr Blair has built an intricate empire simply on the basis of advising foreign Governments and large corporations. The latest country to fall under his sphere of influence is Serbia, a country Britain bombed on Mr Blair’s order in 1999 during the Kosovo war. But that was war, this is business, and Mr Blair apparently has no qualms about it.

According to a senior Serbian official, Mr Blair’s private consultancy firm, Tony Blair Associates, is being paid for by the United Arab Emirates. UAE, funding his role in Serbia, has been known to hire foreign Human Rights Groups and Trade

Union organisations to give credit to its international image and denting the image of Qatar which is known to have cold war with UAE. Global Network Rights and Development (GNRD), a pretentious human rights group, conveniently placed UAE amongst top 15 countries with excellent human rights record, a claim disputed

by United Nation’s human rights watch, which places UAE at a much lower rung of the ladder.

An ex intelligence officer also supplied receipts showing payments to GNRD from UAE. Mr Blair’s responsibility as a behindthe-scenes business and political broker in the Middle East has also attracted raised eye brows. Relationship between the UAE and the UK has not been friendly of late and Tony Blair advising UAE is likely to be seen as catering to UAE’s interests more than Britain’s.

According to an ex-British intelligence officer, there are strong indications that suggest covert attack on countries with which UAE has bad relations, such as Qatar. Qatar is a crucial ally of UK . The ex intelligence officer also revealed Labour party’s hostility towards Qatar, an act that can potentially sabotage the existing friendly climate. He indicated this could all be an orchestrated effort by UAE, which has clear differences in opinion on the role of Islam in the Middle East.

Simply put – former Ministers and especially Prime Ministers should be banned from being employed by foreign agents, because they can simply not always be in British interests. If they could and would not do it in office, they should not do it out of office.

Continued from page 1 A commemoration was held in September at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and it featured a re-enactment by 36 Sikh volunteers.

Sir Soames, who is a former Defence Minister, praised the "extraordinary gallant and distinguished service by Sikhs" to the UK and raise a Sikh regiment that would make up a "very serious gap" in the British military. He urged the government to do away with the "political correctness" that has hampered previous attempts to establish such a military unit.

His proposal received the backing of the Chairman of the Defence select committee, Tory MP Rory Stewart, who has requested armed Forces minister Mark Francois to look at the feasibility of setting up a Sikh company within the army's reserves to begin with. It is believed that the British Army is trying hard to engage more and more soldiers from the ethnic community and Prince Charles as also supported the idea.

Buckingham palace recently recruited its first Sikh guards, making Lance Corporal Sarvjit Singh and Signaller Simranjit 'Sim' Singh the first Sikhs to guard the Queen. The latest man-

Tiger population growth questionable, says Oxford university Research suggesting that India's Tiger population grown by a massive 30% in 4 years ending 2014, have been called into question by scientists at the University of Oxford as well as the Indian Statistical Institute and the Wildlife Conservation Society. They have claimed that the statistics were based on a flawed methodology.

The methodology used is one which has previously been tested by scientists around the world but has now been deemed "unreliable". Arjun Gopalaswamy, of the Wildlife Conservation

Research Unit at Oxford University's Department of Zoology and one of the scientists who tested the methodology, reportedly said: "Our study shows that index-calibration models are so fragile that even a Continued on page 30

13

Sikh soldiers in First World War

ning figures show that the Armed Forces have around 160 Sikhs in their ranks, including 130 in the Army.

Last year an official British Armed Forces Sikh Association was formed.

Lord Singh, Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, said a Sikh unit was something “that would be nice if it happened”.

However he warned that it had been suggested many times and had always proved difficult.

He further said: “There aren’t that many

Sikhs in the Army. A regiment needs a bit more.

There needs to be some enticement to go, but with all the defence cuts, the Army may not look that tempting.”

However the recent disclosure that former Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher may have advised Indira Gandhi over her 1984 Operation Blue Star in Amritsar's Golden Temple, have perhaps led to some bad feeling among Sikhs in Britain, though he suggested this would pass with time.

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UK

Dubey invites the Indian diaspora to come and watch 'Boiled Beans on Toast'

14

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Rupanjana Dutta

The gorgeous Lillete Dubey met journalists from the Indian Journalists' Association on Wednesday 18th February at India House, to discuss her upcoming play at Watermans, UK. Dubey who was in London for the 'orange carpet' premiere of the film Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2, spoke about her role in the film, her chemistry with Richard Gere, elaborate Indian wedding shindigs, and moved on to talk about her dear friend Girish Karnad's play Boiled Beans on Toast.

One of the finest playwrights of our time, Girish Karnad's plays present a critical sense of history, myth, and time. This new play by Karnad has a reference to the founding lore of Bangalore, in which an 11th century king was saved by an old woman who offered him boiled beans. The grateful king desired to name the spot

Prashant Pise, Head of Chancery, High Commission of India, actor and director Lillete Dubey and IJA President Aditi Khanna

'Bendakalooru', the place of boiled beans, which would symbolise hospitality and welcome for a weary traveller. However, over the period of time the place has emerged as Bangalore, India's 'Silicon Valley', now called Bengaluru.

The play is a sharp and witty observation of Indians living in a modern world. Set in Bangalore, the story follows the intertwining lives of six people and is an insightful sliceof-life portrayal of differ-

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ent classes of Indians coexisting under one roof.

Performed in English, the characters include a

– all life is there in this searing saga of a modern metropolis.

Director of this play,

grand-mother who discovers a passion for horse racing; a not very bright maid who learns to answer back; a bored-housewife who fulfills herself by undertaking charity work

Lillete Dubey, an acclaimed actress of theatre, film and television, had set up Primetime Theatre Company in 1991.

She has directed over 28 productions and several of

them have been presented at Watermans, London.

Discussing many facets of her career, Lillete told Asian Voice that acting in plays will always remain the closet to her heart, much more than films. She explained how she loved the challenges of working in a theatre, something she considered much more personal. While she called Lillete Dubey with Rupanjana Dutta, Associate Editor, Watermans her second Asian Voice home, she expressed her deep disappointment in concerns, consumerism Britain's Indian audience, etc, all laced with a great who do not make the deal of warmth and efforts to travel beyond humour. central London, to discov“As a director, I find it er the world of theatrical challenging to bring out wonders. the subtle nuances of his Speaking about Boiled work, and feel excited and Beans on Toast, she added privileged to premiere a with a smile: “Girish play that will remain a Karnad's plays of the last mirror of our times for decade are brilliantly years to come.” sharp, tongue in cheek The cast features the observations of a contembest talent from Indian porary India, infused with stage and screen - Joy an empathetic underSengupta, Meenal Patel, standing of the foibles of Deepika Amin, Avantika human nature.

Akerkar, Maneesh Verma, “Boiled beans on Toast Swati Das, Avnish Mehra is a deceptively simple and Gillian Pinto. play, that in a non linear Boiled Beans on Toast, narrative, lays bare the Written by Girish Karnad, aspirations and hopes of a Directed by Lillete Dubey, large mass of Indians Tuesday 10th March – today, but also subtly Sunday 15th March explores several modern 7.45pm. www.waterthemes such as urban mans.org.uk migration, environmental

Date set for Gandhi statue unveiling in London's Parliament Square

A statue of Mahatma Gandhi, the inspiration for the non-violent civil rights movement, will be unveiled in London's Parliament Square on 14 March, the Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Sunday 22 February.

The bronze statue will be the focal point for the commemoration this summer of the 100th anniversary of Gandhi's return to India from South Africa to start the struggle for self-rule.

The date for the unveiling has been announced as the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust has surpassed the £1 million mark in donations for the statue.

Indian Finance minister Arun Jaitley is expected to be the special guest at the ceremony to install the statue which will be the last one to up in the square alongside South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela and Britain's war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Mahatma Gandhi is an inspiration. His approach of non-violence will resonate forever as a positive legacy -- not just for the UK and India, but the world over. He was a man of great insight and many of his observations remain as fresh and relevant today as when he first made them - that we should be the change we wish to see in the world is timeless advice, well worth following.

The statue in Parliament Square not only marks his huge importance in the history of both our countries, but will enrich the firm bond of

friendship between the world's oldest democracy and its largest.

"Our ties with India have remained close throughout history and continue to go from strength to strength -through mutual respect as equals, through cooperation, trade, and of course through the one-and-a-half million Indian diaspora living in Britain today who bring our two nations closer, to the benefit of both."

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid, who chairs the Gandhi Statue Special Advisory Board said: "Gandhi is one of the most inspirational figures in history and the statue will be a fitting symbol to his teachings of non-violent, peaceful protests. It also highlights the strength of the relationship and friendship that Britain has with India today.

"I would like to thank Lord Desai and the work of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust for raising the funds to make this happen. It is right that Gandhi's teachings and work are not forgotten and the statue will keep his legacy alive and inspire many young people to learn his incredible story."

Lord Desai, Chair of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust said: "It is great that there will be a monument honouring Gandhi in London's Parliament Square, which was one of his favourite cities. He is the first Indian and the only person hon-

oured with a statue in the Square who never held public office.

"Generous donors have contributed sums from a pound up to hundreds of thousands of pounds from UK, India and around the world. On behalf of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust we thank all who made it possible for us to exceed our target of a million pounds within six months. As Gandhi said ' If the cause is right the means will come '."

Priti Patel, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and UK Indian Diaspora Champion said: "The statue of Gandhi will be an incredible symbol of democracy and celebrate the life of a man of true greatness.

"His story and work is one that the whole of humanity can learn from and be inspired by but it, of course, also has a special resonance with the Indian Diaspora community living in Britain today. The statue will be a lasting tribute to our strong ties with India."

The statue is being created by leading British sculptor, Philip Jackson, renowned for statues of the Queen Mother and Bomber Command. Jackson started work on the statue in July.

RUQSANA BEGUM www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

SPOTLIGHT

15

FROM A LITTLE SECRET TO THE WORLD-STAGE Sunetra Senior

Technology until the kick-boxing had, well, kicked off. “I carried on with a kickboxing class that I started at eighteen and just told my family I was going to the gym!

It wasn’t until I got picked for the England team in 2009 that I broke the news. At that point I knew I had a talent that was undeniable.”

You can tell this was an emotional milestone. Ruqsana lit up as she recalled it: “At first I thought ‘Am I just lucky? I knew I was good but I didn’t realise just how good.

When I won the European gold medal, I was just continuing to surprise myself. I didn’t have the same sort of resources as international athletes and I was really going against all odds. My training had never been professional, it was always a hobby and there I was, coming out on top.”

She has certainly done this. As we spoke there was modesty in her voice; that of quiet accomplishment – she has been named number 1 in the British Bangladeshi power list, and none of the doubt she mentions from former years: “obviously I’d had quite a traditional upbringing and there was always the question of whether what I was doing was right, whether or not I was offending people. But you soon realise that boxing is

‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’: British-Muslim kickboxer (Muay Thai) Ruqsana Begum lends a new meaning to this legendary Ali phrase.

Feminine yet powerful, respectful and independent, Begum’s is a story of inner strength alongside the physical prowess. As we talked about an unlikely East London beginning, the multiple projects she has going on, and the immense ISKA (International Sport Kickboxing Association) World Title she is set to contend for this month, we came to see that Begum is already in a league of her own.

The key to Ruqsana’s success is the sharpness of her focus.

With an outlook as grounded as her bare feet on the ring, she has taken home the title of British atom-weight champion (2010), sports. It will be about community gone on to conquer Europe wincohesion, self-confidence and ning the gold medal in the Club opportunity.” Ruqsana also Cup championship in Latvia stressed the resistance she has (2011), and currently stands capfaced as a female in a typical male tain of the national Muay Thai sport: “when I started the boxing, team: “Ever since I could read I it wasn’t so was looking at kick-boxing adverts much in fashin the paper” she gushed. “I have ion either; always enjoyed sports, and even in it’s a proper the gym my attention is always on combat training. This includes drills up to sport. But six times a week, strategizing and I’m happy to basic gym work. It’s not about see that it is socialising or going out to make a lot more friends. Those are all secondary appealing for me. ” This may come across now. You see it a little severe, but there is a advertised more vulnerability to the sentibecause of celebrity fitment. Fighting out of ness and personal train"Boxing is Ilford in Essex – and ers in the women’s maganow Tower Hamlets in zines.” simply a sport, London - Ruqsana’s Toned, balanced and about fitness early boxing allowed determined, Ruqsana is only her to escape from climbing the peak of life at thirand discipline, and the roughness of her ty-one years of age. It seems the there is nothing surroundings: “I am World Title final, for which she the prime example of qualified in 2013, is coming up at wrong with growing up in East exactly the right time: “I’m that."

London, not having the really pleased about it” she simsame opportunities as beamed. “I’ve been training ply a many of my other oppohard; building up combinasport, nents. I am so grateful to the tions and getting really about fitsport for the life skills it has given sore, but you must be ness and discime. It’s a huge part of the values I mentally prepared too. pline, and there is nothing wrong live by, and also what I teach othThe sport is both psychowith that. And it’s not just respect ers. I run youth programmes that logically and physically that you learn. Faith is a huge part demanding.” She elaborated, “I emphasise the value of being of going into a fight too. I always shaped as a person as well as the also work part-time as a sciturn to God for courage. I don’t sport itself.” The projects are simence technician and it really know where I’d be without it.” In ilar to the work Ruqsana has complements the Muay Thai. fact, she added excitedly, “I am done with the charity Fight for You don’t want it just be actually working on a project crePeace: “my role as the coach physical, physical, physical. You ating a sports hijab for Muslim there drew on the same principle: must detach, do something comwomen to train. It will be safe and pletely different and then come giving youngsters something posibreathable, and suitable for all tive to focus on, keeping them fit and happy, and basically out of trouble.”

Coming from a traditional Bangladeshi-Muslim family – her mother hailing from the quaint village of Shylet balagonge – Ruqsana has had to overcome another personal hurdle too: that cultural liberation that many mixed-heritage generation children must reconcile with the respect they still want for their parents: “Because kick-boxing is a male-dominated sport, I knew it would be hard for my dad to support me. I kept it hidden from my Ruqsana Begum, received the Gold Award For Sports Personality of the family for their sake.” Despite her Year at the prestigious Asian Achievers Awards 2013. In photograph love of the gloves, Ruqsana purwith Lord Kamlesh Patel and Rajesh Agrawal, Chairman and CEO of sued a degree in Architectural Rational FX and Xendpay

“It’s not how many times you’re knocked down, it’s how many times you get up.”

back. Because then you perform better. If you just do one thing consistently it tires you out. It’s about that stability.” This dismantling of the mind/body divide also relates to Ruqsana’s unfortunate ME or chronical fatigue syndrome. From emotional acceptance to instilling a solid daily routine, she explained how much of the treatment is cognitive: “at first I denied it was happening, but then for every day I was pushing harder, I lost a whole week. A lot of the preparation for my fights is about managing my sleep together with my training patterns so that I preserve the vital energy.”

Ruqsana sounds like a charac-

https://www.facebook.com /britishmuaythai?fref=ts

ter straight out of a feisty cult film. Bend it Like Beckham – she told us how her coach helped her explain the boxing to her parents – meets the gritty Sundance festival’s Girlfight, but without all the romantic entanglements. And this makes sense, because the reason Ruqsana is a real-life warrior is her selflove and reliance: “it’s not how many times you’re knocked down” she concluded, “It’s how many times you get up.”

W begum.com/

http://www.ruqsana-

Upcoming World-Title Ruqsana Begum, weighing in at 48-50k, will f ight opponent Nathalie Maurel at 50.5k on the 14th March for the ISKA Ladies World Title. The event will take place at ILEC Conference Centre at Earl’s Court in London. Having been

postponed since 2013, this highly anticipated match is the underground sports event of the year.

As our Asian Achievers’ sports personality of the year she has our backing. Come and show your support!

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GENERAL ELECTION 2015

NHS & Healthcare: What the parties are offering their voters

One of the most talked about issues amongst ethnic voters, in the run-up to this general elections is health, as spending becomes a major political fight between parties, that are competing to offer answers to the huge challenges the NHS faces in England. A report published in last October warned that the health service in England could face a £30bn annual shortfall by 2020.

With more and more PCTs being shut down, the locals face several problems. As the older population suffer more, in order to travel longer and further to see a doctor, severe benefit or financial cuts lead to increasing problems like uncontrollable mental health illness amongst youngsters, that the NHS fails to address in absence of adequate funds.

According to a guide published by the BBC following are the spending plans for NHS in the next five years by the five main parties: The Conservatives

•The Conservatives have promised to ring-fence and assist the NHS budget, so spending would increase in line with inflation.

• Chancellor George Osborne, in the 2014 Autumn Statement announced that in the beginning of 2015/16, an extra £2bn a year will be allocated for frontline health services across the UK. However they were severely criticised after it emerged that the £2bn sum actually included £700m of the money underspent that was already allocated to the NHS budget.

• The extra £2bn a year is for the whole of the UK and includes £300m funding for the designated nations to be allocated under the Barnett formula. The Tories have said that an extra £2bn would be spent every year of the next parliament but haven't specified where the money for the years beyond 2015/16 would come from.

• The party has also specified that £300m of the £2bn will be spent each year for four years by modernising GP surgeries across the UK, paid for through fines imposed on banks after the Libor rate-rigging scandal.

The Labour Party

•Labour says its extra NHS funding would pay for 20,000 more nurses and 8000 extra GPs. • Labour has promised to keep the NHS ring-fence and spend an extra £2.5bn a year over and above the Conservative plans - across the UK by the end of the next Parliament, paid for by a mixture of its mansion tax, tax avoidance measures and a windfall tax on tobacco companies.

• The party was criticised after it became clear that the promised £2.5bn would not be available in the first year of the new parliament, Labour has clarified that it would take time to raise the new revenue and there are suggestions it would not be available until 2017-18.

• The proposed tax avoidance clampdown involves stopping hedge funds avoiding hundreds of millions in tax on shares, closing the 'Eurobonds' loophole which is being exploit-

A march took place through Ealing to Save Ealing Hospital. At the march and speaking at the rally were 3 leading Labour politicians

ed by some large firms to move profits out of the UK and stopping 'umbrella companies' being used to avoid tax and national insurance.

• The mansion tax would be levied progressively on properties over £2m, with "protections" for people who do not have a high income but happen to live in an expensive property. Labour estimates that the mansion tax would provide £1.2bn of the promised £2.5bn.

• As with the Conservative pledge, a proportion of the extra money would be allocated to the devolved nations under the Barnett formula. Labour's leader in Scotland, Jim Murphy, provoked a row by announcing that 1000 extra Scottish nurses would be funded from Scotland's proportion of the money raised by the mansion tax.

• Labour leader Ed Miliband told the party's 2014 conference: "We will transform our NHS... we need doctors, nurses, midwives, care workers, who are able to spend proper time with us, not rushed off their feet. So we will set aside resources so that we can have in our NHS 3,000 more midwives, 5,000 more care workers, 8,000 more GPs and 20,000 more nurses.

And in order to pay for it we won't borrow an extra penny. Or raise taxes on ordinary working families. " • Labour also says it wants to bring health and social care together but has not specified details of how it would do this, when it might do this or what it might cost.

The Liberal Democrats

• The Lib Dems say their NHS plans will be funded from the proceeds of economic growth.

• The Liberal Democrats have promised to meet "in full" the £8bn extra the NHS managers say is needed by 2020.

• The plan is broadly based on the economy recovering in line with current projections made by the Office for Budget Responsibility, and would go alongside continued efficiencies and reforms in the NHS. • Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said: "The big, big difference between ourselves and Labour and the Conservatives is that we have said that once we have dealt with the structural deficit, once we have dealt with it in 2017/18, we will link the amount of money going into public services including the NHS - to the growth of the economy." In the shorter term, the party has set

out some commitments to extra spending.

• The Lib Dems are promising an extra £1bn a year above Conservative plans from 2015/16 - to be funded from reducing tax relief, increasing tax rates on share dividends for high earners, and repealing the Conservative policy of allowing businesses to offer shares to workers in return for giving up their employment rights. Half of this £1bn would be spent on mental health services, a Lib Dem priority.

The Lib Dems' timeline involves: • Baselining into the budget of the NHS the additional £2bn announced in the Autumn Statement for 2015/16.

• Investing a further £1bn in real terms in 2016/17, as outlined above • Assuming the deficit is tackled by 2017/18, they would then increase health spending in line with growth in the economy.

• The party also says it will ring-fence the NHS budget and pool the health and social care budgets.

UKIP

• Nigel Farage has suggested health spending should not be ring-fenced • UKIP is currently the only main party not pledging any extra cash to the NHS; it is instead committed to reprioritising what the NHS does.

• The party has made no commitment to keep the NHS ring-fence and has in fact hinted that they would get rid of it.

• UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said the idea of replacing the NHS with an insurance-based system is "a debate that we're all going to have to return to".

Specific policies include: • Keeping the NHS free at the point of delivery • Ensuring all migrants and visitors have NHS-approved medical insurance as a condition of entry to the UK, saving an estimated £2bn per year • Spending £200m of this saving on ending hospital car parking charges Green Party

The Green Party says health spending should be "maintained at around the average in the European union".

The party says an NHS tax, earmarked to increase direct funding of the NHS, would be introduced as part of general income and other taxation.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Coalition betrays youngsters with mental health problems

According to a latest report, the most stimulated generation of young people in history are struggling with an epidemic mental illness that the NHS is failing to control. Teenagers who bare their hearts and souls online are self harming, becoming severely depressed and suffering from anxieties.

In some of the cases they have taken their own lives as well.

In the Asian community the problem is certainly more complex, as elders have a tendency of pressurizing youngsters to attain their parents' unfinished dreams or goals, putting a lot of emphasise to do well at schools, universities and jobs. They are also more rigid and closed to free discussions about problems related to teenage life and finally they try the most to hide existing issues under pretext of cultural differences or in fear of stigma.

The problem is of course not new. Awareness that is key to ethnic minority communities is hampered by the failing promises by the Coalition.

Funding for child and adolescent mental health services fell by £49m in the first three years of this Parliament and except a few small exceptions, due to delays, specialist care has not happened. But pressure from parents (especially in BME communities), schools, peers and social media continues to increase, worsening the odds of teenage stress leading to serious sickness.

In South Asian communities, the issues are more complex. The Warwick University conducted a study that explored attitudes to and experiences of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) among families of South Asian origin who are underrepresented as service-users in an area of a Scottish city with a high concentration of people of South Asian origin. Six community focus groups were conducted, followed by semi-structured interviews with families who had used CAMHS and with CAMHS professionals involved in those families’ cases. Lastly, parents of children who had problems usually referred to CAMHS but who had not used the service were interviewed. Qualitative analysis of transcripts and notes was undertaken using thematic and logical methods.

Participants consisted of 35 adults who identified themselves as Asian and had children; 7 parents and/or the young service users him-herself; 7 health care profession-

als involved in the young person's care plus 5 carers of 6 young people who had not been referred to CAMHS, despite having suitable problems.

Focus groups identified the stigma of mental illness and the fear of gossip as strong disincentives to use CAMHS. Families who had been in contact with CAMHS sought to minimise the stigma they suffered by emphasising that mental illness was not madness and could be cured.

Families whose children had complex emotional and behavioural problems said that discrimination by health, education and social care professionals exacerbated their child's difficulties. Families of children with severe and enduring mental illness described tolerating culturally inappropriate services. Fear of gossip about children's ‘madness’ constituted a major barrier to service use for Asian families in this city. Given the widespread nature of the concern over the stigma of children's mental illness, it should be considered in designing culturally competent services for children's mental health.

Half of all those who suffer mental illness first show symptoms before the age of 14, and three quarters by 18. The number of young people admitted to hospitals for self harming rose by 25% last year.. The number of admitted to A&E departments with symptoms of mental illness generally rose by 85% between 2010-14.

One in 5 children suffer from depression or anxiety of some sort. They are more likely to smoke than others and require costly psychriatic treatment later in life, if not treated early. Two thirds of children who need mental healthcare receive none at all.

The Coalition promised extra funding, but the reality is due to severe cuts, local authorities don't have enough specialist clinicians to diagnose and treat young mental illness patients properly. Many of them, almost 236 last year, ended up in police cells for want of beds in psychiratic wards.

There is an urgent need for more beds in adolescent psychriatic wards, training for teachers to spot warning signs in teenage, better communication between schools and health professionals to make sure ones who need help get it quickly and more emphasis on resilience for teenage themselves.

GENERAL ELECTION 2015

Labour woos ethnic voters at One Nation in One Night Diversity Dinner

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Rupanjana Dutta

With the upcoming elections, Britain's Opposition party made their stand clear to the ethnic voters, at a gala diversity night dinner on Wednesday 18 February in London's prestigious Riverside Park Plaza. It was attended by the party leader Rt Hon Ed Miliband, MPs, Peers, PPCs, business and community leaders, professionals- many of who belonged to the BAME community.

The international guest for the evening included Mr Jose Zapatero, the former Prime Minister of Spain.

Present MPs of Asian origin included Keith Vaz, Seema Malhotra, Virendra Sharma, Shabana Mahmood, Sadiq Khan, Rushanara Ali amongst others.

The party took pride in awarding Lord Gulam Noon of St John's Wood KT MBE, a renowned British Indian businessman and entrepreneur, who was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award 2015. Lord Noon who has founded and operated a number of major food production companies, was elected President of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2002, and was the first non-white President in 126 years. He is the Chairman of the Noon Foundation which supports a wide range of both national and

Lord Gulam Noon with his grand daughter receiving the Lifetime Achievement award from Mr Jose Zapatero and Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP

Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP addressing the audience

Mr Jose Zapatero the former Prime Minister of Spain speaking about his experience

international causes, including PrincesTrust, CARE International UK. He is also the Chancellor of University of East London.

The evening started with a networking session over drinks and canapés by Madhu's, followed by a sit down dinner. Each table was dedicated to a certain constituency, while volunteers went around, trying to sell raffle tickets.

The band playing had a

Rt Hon Ed Miliband, MP, Leader of Labour Party and Her Majesty’s Opposition addressing the guests

mix of Indian folk and pop music, adding a diverse angle to the background music.

The event was compered by Brit-Indian actor Nina Wadia, who is best known for playing Zainab Masood in BBC's soap opera EastEnders.

Addressing the audience, Rt Hon Keith Vaz, the party's most prominent Asian MP, for over 25 years said, "We are fielding 45 BAME candidates for the

Pre-Election Muslim Manifesto launched

by Lord Nazir Ahmed in Parliament

Rani Singh

A Muslim Manifesto was launched at a House of Lords conference on 23rd February 2015, following a nationwide community consultation.

Lord Nazir Ahmed hosted the meeting which was attended by Muslim representatives of over 400 Sunni and Shia mosques. The Muslim Manifesto is a statement of policy recommendations aimed at British elected representatives for the 2015 General Election.

The Institute for Muslim Community Development is the driving force behind the manifesto. Mohsin Abbas, Director of Arts Versa and one of the main pioneers of the manifesto, led a group of social scientists, academics, community professionals, and clerics. Among the speakers were Lord Qurban, Shabbir Rizvi, David Ward MP, Labour Party Bradford East, Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith, and Ibrahim Taghouri, a Lib Dem PPP. There were articulate lady speakers like the first Pakistani woman aeronautical engineer, Hina Malik.

Lord Ahmed said that it was a historic moment for British Muslims as in his 35 years in politics, this was the

first time that a long term plan and manifesto had been created.

He further said that inequality and injustice against Muslims in the UK are increasing alarmingly, and that the manifesto is a wake up call for Muslim leaders.

He felt it gave parliamentarians a clear idea of the commitments Muslims expect of them. He praised the manifesto organisers for doing an amazing job in putting the document and consultation process together.

Mohsin Abbas said he felt that the mainstream media focused too much on the “Symptoms” of the community's problems. He claimed that his manifesto was solution-focused, and asked the question, “What is the British Muslim vision for a more ethical Britain?” He said the manifesto is a working draft document and further community consultations would lead to a final manifesto by March 2015.

The Muslim population was estimated at 2,786,635 in the 2011 census. Muslims make up around 4 % of the population. 40 constituencies may soon be determined by a Muslim swing vote. Muslims are the fastest growing population in the UK.

Some statistics concerning Mohsin Abbas, were; • 63% of Britons worry that an increase in the Muslim population will weaken the national identity (up from 48% in 2003) • 14% of prisoners are Muslim • The number of Muslim prisoners has risen 200% in the past 15 years • 46% of Muslims live in the 10% most deprived wards • 28% of Muslims occupy social housing • 50% of Muslims live in poverty One of the briefing documents contained a 33- point statement of intent.

It “Asked our parliamentary friends to defend the right to a Muslim way of life.”

Some “unethical foreign policies” and Islamophobia were two issues that were mentioned as being important to British Muslims as they were twice as likely to be victims of these, Mr Abbas commented.

Mohsin Abbas finally said that the reason for the manifesto was that he and his colleagues wanted to create models and institutions that would help Muslims to develop an aspiration for excellence.

elections on May 7. There are over 99 constituencies in UK where over 25% of voters are from the BAME community. Around 3.3 million of London's population is BAME. Over 300 languages are spoken in schools in London."

“Tonight we are able to celebrate with our leader Ed Miliband, whose personal commitment to diversity is unshakable. We are also delighted to welcome members of the

17

Shadow Cabinet including Yvette Cooper, Chuka Umunna, Sadiq Khan, Gloria DePiero, Mary Creagh and many other BAME MPs. Their attendance is a marker of just how far ethnic minorities have come.

“Next year will mark an important benchmark for ethnic representation in Britain. Already we, the Labour party have selected 30 BAME candidates to stand for Labour at the next election and we still have many more selections to increase this number further. This should be applauded, we are one step closer to making Westminster truly representative of the people they are elected to serve...”

Labour's Prime Ministerial candidate Ed Miliband who proclaimed at Labour's One Nation Diversity dinner on Wednesday night - the last before the 2015 general elections - that he was a son of an immigrant, said, "Our diversity is our strength. Every person in our country is a wealth creator. We are a stronger, richer and a fairer country due to immigration.

“In Britain today, realities are tough for so many people, with wages not rising, and prices going up.

We have a plan to turn that around, to build an economy made by the many...

“One Nation Labour is changing to make sure that we always listen to all

of Britain. Rooted in every community, on every kind of workplace...”

YouGov survey on last Wednesday put Labour on 34%, narrowly ahead of Conservatives on 33% with Ukip on 15%, the Greens on 7% and Lib Dems on 6%.

Votes from the Indian diaspora are expected to be a major swing factor in the upcoming general election. Almost 4 million voters - about one in 10 of the entire electorate in England and Wales - have been found to be born abroad. Indians are the largest chunk in this foreign born electorate. As many as 615,000 Indians will vote in the upcoming election.

Records show the Commonwealth migrant communities (in particular from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and South Africa) along with the Irish Republic will have the highest numbers of potential voters in May 2015. The migrant electorate is heavily concentrated in London - 19 of the 20 seats with the largest migrant voter shares are in Greater London. Migrants would constitute over a third of the electorate in around 25 seats across England and Wales in 2015 and at least a quarter of the electorate in over 50 seats.

The migrant electorate could have decisive power in at least 70 seats.

show the Mayor that this project is important for the

body to have a fair crack of the whip; everybody in

people of Harrow. Boris also posed for photograph with the campaigners and joined them in shouting slogans, before going around with Hannah to talk to local people.

He said: “Harrow is particularly a happy and lucky area because it is so diverse. Whenever I come to Harrow, I see there is an amazing atmosphere, and real friendliness on the streets. I think it comes from having a large and diverse immigrant population.”

The Conservative party’s aggressive policies on immigration have not gone down well with the large ethnic minority population in the UK and it has been increasingly seen by many as an electoral disadvantage. To make his party’s stance on immigration clear, he said: “London is a great city built on immigration. Our plans are to enable every-

London has to be given a chance to make most of their lives and that applies to every community.”

He added: “However, we got to make sure you don’t have people abusing the immigration system or coming here illegally. It is also important to make sure that the local councils are able to cope with the numbers and you don’t want people coming here and just using the system.”

Hannah David backed him by saying that their conservative policies are for everyone and she would like to see more MPs from the ethnic minority communities.“It is important that ethnic communities get engaged within the process and are encouraged to be interested in politics,” added Hannah.

The crossrail, she said, is an attempt to bring in more investment and business opportunities for the local people in Harrow.

Boris believes Tories are here to stay

Samiksha Pattanaik

In a sharp vocal attack against the opposition party, Boris Johnson has asked voters to think if they want to go “backward under Ed Miliband or forward under David Cameron.”

Speaking to Asian Voice, he said: “We are going to win. Things are moving in our direction.

We can never be complacent but I think everywhere we go, in London at the moment, people notice that economies are turning around, there are more jobs and homes, and they don’t want to see us going back to the Labour which was a disaster.”

“The choice between Ed Miliband and David Cameron is very simple.

You go backward under Miliband and forward with competent, Conservative government under Cameron.”

The London Mayor was in Wealdstone on Friday to support Conservative candidate from West Harrow Hannah David’s campaign for bringing crossrails to Harrow. He was greeted by a group of local activists who had turned out braving the cold and wind to

18

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Dear Financial Voice Reader, Speaking on Economic Times Now TV in Delhi I’m asked about the Indian Budget I made clear that whatever happens India as a long term investment is clear. But it really needs in order to get NRI investments like the ones reading this paper to protect minority shareholder rights, and improve commercial courts, so Indian companies who have NRI money are fearful that their breach of contract is going to be enforced.

India needs lots of capital, more than it has, to build infrastructure. To get that it needs foreign capital. Britain is vital to that relationship if India’s Sensex is to continue hitting new highs.

Tapping diasporas and personal relationships – for business, for countries is vital.

In politics personal, as in business relationships are underestimated sometimes and underutilized almost all times. Rapport matters. Just look at ObamaModi.

The Finance Minister of the fastest growing economy in the world, Minster Jaitley, will represent PM Modi at the unveiling of the Gandhi memorial in Parliament Sq in London on March 14th. Remember this against a backdrop where no other Western Government has managed a State visit from the PM of India since his election. Yet the Indian Finance Minister visits as personal representative of PM Modi barely two weeks after his budget speech and a couple of months after a major surgery. So how do you get such coups?

Thanks to the personal relationship of British Indian Minister Baroness Verma who went to meet Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in person and ask for his attendance at the unveiling of the Gandhi memorial in Parliament Sq, London on 14th March (I was there in the room, when the offer was made and accepted). Add the close links between the Conservative Party and BJP - she was the only British Minister at the swearing-in of PM Modi as a Conservative Party representative.

PM Cameron has been clear of the importance he places on UK's relationship with India and also the importance the Indian Diaspora and their personal relationships play in that. This is proof of it – without Minister to Minister personal rapport this could not happen. It could not happen at anything lower than Ministerial level, and anything less than a long-standing mutual respect between peers.

So to recognize the Indian diaspora worldwide, the power of its relationships, I’m privileged to be host at an event Minister Verma will be supporting; the NRI Foundation dinner with Finance Minister Jaitley as guest of honour prior to the unveiling of the Gandhi memorial; bringing together and celebrating successful nonresidents from across the globe – because personal relationships make all the difference for countries and companies.

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India must fulfil reform:S&P

India must boost growth, cut its fiscal deficit and fulfil promises of financial and fiscal reforms in order to justify an upgrade in a credit rating, currently lodged one rung above junk bond territory, rating agency Standard & Poor's said.

S&P raised India's credit rating outlook to 'stable' from 'negative' in September, citing the prospect of reforms. The agency, in a news release, listed what it needed to see to upgrade India's sovereign debt credit rating from 'BBB-minus'.

Entrepreneurship in India – its evolution and way forward

The India Business Forum (IBF) was founded in the year 2002 under the guidance of Late Prof.

Sumantra Ghoshal. IBF aims to further the role of India in the global business and academic community. With London Business School as the platform, IBF is a confluence of business leaders, leading academics, financiers, entrepreneurs and students to discuss and debate pertinent issues relating to doing business in and with India and its overseas community. The core activity of the IBF is to host an annual summit where the most dynamic thought leaders from India and Europe engage in diverse audience mix with insights on current business trends related to India.

Entrepreneurship in India – its evolution and way forward: Before 1991, Indian business success was a function of ambition, licenses, government contacts, and an understanding of the bureaucratic system.

Liberalization, however, changed the very nature of entrepreneurship in India. Post liberalization, businesses succeeded because they were customer focused and professionally managed. The old, family-managed businesses, which formed the backbone of the economy, needed to evolve and become more institutional, if they were to extend their life cycle.

India saw unprecedented growth from 2004 to 2011, but the successful Indian growth story appeared to suffer in more recent years.

Expectations of an investment-led economic turnaround after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory have brought in copious amounts of capital, sending the total value of the Indian stock market to over $1.5 trillion, for the first time.

What will it take to bring more entrepreneurs forward? How can India break the perception that its entrepreneurs lack what it takes to achieve

scale and go global?

The theme for IBF 2015 is ‘Entrepreneurship in India – its evolution and way forward’. The theme is pertinent to the efforts of the new Indian government to promote ease of doing business in India. This exciting journey will see them engaging with businessmen, government officials and entrepreneurs from different generations and bringing them, and their stories, to London Business School.

IBF said that a set of stellar entrepreneurs have agreed to speak at the conference. Three confirmed keynote speakers at this year's conference are: • Dr. Preetha Reddy (MD, Apollo Hospitals) One of the most high profile CEOs and a second generation entrepreneur of the most famous hospital chain in India, Dr. Reddy will shed light on the evolution on Indian entrepreneurship across decades.

• Mr. Kishore Lulla

(Exec Chairman, EROS) The person single-handedly responsible for exporting the multi-billion Bollywood to the globe. A very fascinating story from a very eloquent speaker!

• Mr. Rana Kapoor (Founder, CEO - yes Bank) - A professional entrepreneur, Mr. Kapoor led the private banking revolution in India by starting the Yes Bank.

There could be no person better than Mr. Kapoor to comment on finance services based entrepreneurship in India and the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Besides this there are also a number of exemplary speakers across Dharma Life, Shell Foundation and 500 Startups. The IBF 2015 will be held on March 6, 2015 at the iconic Church House, Westminster (London) from 10 am - 6 pm. For more details please visit IBF website http://clubs.london.edu/I ndia/rsvp?club_url2=Ind ia&id=23051

mons and request for information to an HSBC company in India".

The bank's group chairman Douglas Flint said that the recent disclosures about historical practices at Swiss bank "remind us of how much there still is to do." Last week, the Swiss police conducted raids at HSBC's Geneva offices in connection with their probe into suspected money laundering operations.

Besides India, HSBC said, various tax administration, regulatory and law enforcement authorities around the world, including in Belgium, France, Argentina and Switzerland, are conducting investigations and reviews of HSBC Swiss Private Bank in connection with "allegations of tax evasion or tax fraud, money laundering and unlawful cross-border banking solicitation".

The bank said that HSBC Swiss Private Bank has been placed under formal criminal examination by magistrates in both Belgium and France.

"Our Swiss Private Bank customer base and the countries we serve are now both about one-third of the size they were in 2007," Flint said, while adding that HSBC was already taking various measures to foster greater transparency.

"We cannot change the past. But, looking to the future, we can and must reinforce controls and provide demonstrable evidence of their effectiveness. This forms part of our commitment to Global Standards, to ensure that we will never knowingly do business with counterparties seeking to evade taxes or use the financial system to commit financial crime."

HSBC chief had £5mn in Swiss bank account Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of HSBC who publicly apologised over claims that its Swiss subsidiary helped clients evade tax, held £5 million there in a Swiss bank account. He was also a client of its Geneva-based private bank, amassing a $7.6 million credit balance by 2007, according to documents.

HSBC gets summons from Indian tax dept; fears significant fines

Facing a multi-nation probe for "alleged tax evasion, money laundering and unlawful cross- border banking solicitation", global giant HSBC on Monay said it has been served summons by the Indian tax department.

The bank said it was being probed by tax authorities in many other countries as well with regard to alleged irregularities by its Swiss banking unit and there could be "significant" amounts of fines, penalties and/or forfeitures imposed on it.

Separately, the UKbased bank said it has also received "subpoenas and requests for information" from the US and other authorities with respect to certain US-based clients of an HSBC company in India.

This case relates to some NRIs facing investigation in the US for alleged violation of the American tax laws. A leaked list of over 100,000 account holders in HSBC's Swiss banking unit, including 1,195 Indians, recently became public, prompting authorities in India and many other countries to launch their investigations to ascertain whether these accounts had illicit money stashed abroad.

Giving an update on

the case in its annual report, HSBC said it was cooperating with the relevant authorities, while adding that it was possible that other tax administration, regulatory or law enforcement authorities would also initiate or enlarge similar investigations or regulatory proceedings.

"Based on the facts currently known, there was a high degree of uncertainty as to the terms on which they would be resolved and the timing of such resolutions, including the amounts of fines, penalties and/or forfeitures imposed on HSBC, which could be significant," it added.

With regard to India, the bank said earlier this month a public prosecutor in Switzerland commenced an investigation of HSBC Swiss Private Bank, and "the Indian tax authority issued a sum-

REAL ESTATE VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

19

Making Property Digestible Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

Last week we closed a deal for £2.85m in Molyneux Street W1, the property is a freehold consisting of 2,657 sq. ft., if you include the vaults out in the front of the property. This strictly speaking should not be included, as it is not liveable space and is external to the main property.

However we have plans to integrate this into the rest of the house and there exists a precedent further up on the same street hence we are confident of the permission. By doing this we will increase the sq. ft. by about 150. This will involve digging down into the ground to increase the height of the vaults this could then be used as a study, or a bathroom.

This property has been purchased for £1,073 per sq. ft., which is cheap. Ex council properties in this location are now going for £1,000 per sq. ft., the going rate is circa £1,600.

We w i s h t o e x t e n d t h e p ro p e r t y f u r t h e r f ro m t h e re a r t o a d d a n o t h e r 2 0 0 s q . f t .

T h e l i k e l i h o o d o f g e t t i n g a m a n s a r d o n t o p o f t h e p ro p e r t y i s s l i m a c c o rd i n g t o o u r p l a n n i n g c o n s u l t a n t s , a s i t c o n s i s t s o f a r o w o f f o u r s i m i l a r p ro p e r t i e s .

E ith er si de of th is b l ock of four th e floors ha ve been extended. T here is one w a y, w h i c h i s i f w e g e t a l l f o u r o w n e r s t o a p p l y f o r t h e p e r m i s s i o n s s i m u l t a n e o u s l y a s o n e u n i t , t h e n t h e c h a n c e s o f i t b e g i n g r a n t e d a re s t ro n g e r. T h i s w i l l a d d a f u r t h e r 4 0 0 s q . f t . o n t o t h e p ro p e r t y w h i c h s h o u l d a d d a ro u n d £6 50,000 t o t h e va lue o f t h e h o us e, so i t ’s wi th p ursui ng.

There is also the option to convert this unit into two flats, there is a strong likelihood of this being granted. This is because the lower ground property already has a kitchen in it and it has been paying council tax since 1999. Once it has been chopped into two flats it becomes easier to rent and to resell. Smaller properties are more digestible to the market, very little square footage will be lost in the conversion, we anticipate only 40 sq. ft. will be lost to communal space. Normally the loss of net sellable area can be as much as 20% of the total square footage. At an end value of £1,600 per sq. ft. preserving each square foot is very important.

This is especially true in the current environment where the threat of mansion tax is hanging over property. Splitting this into two properties means it will come under the expected threshold of £2m. The other factor is this will be share of freehold, therefore even if there will be an annual fee payable at some point in the future it is not likely to kill the investment.

ceding one has been granted, this then doesn't overwhelm the planning officer in the council. It needs to be packaged so it’s easy for them to approve.

Fair play to the investor who surprisingly decided to fund the whole investment single handedly. He has already tasted blood from the first deal he did with us in Kilburn, where we have had a distribution of funds. The cash used in this transaction is in the region of £1.4m which will cover all the costs including the developing cost once the planning has been approved.

I mentioned it would be worth refinancing the family home for this in order to bring the cost of borrowing lower, the amount of borrowing is fixed, we need this set lump of money, the question is where is the cheapest place to get it from? The answer most often is from the residential property as this is a cheaper source than BTL rates. You can also get several overdraft mortgages on this basis which means you can pay back and borrow whenever you wish, only paying interest over the duration you borrow.

P la nning ta ke s ti m e, ine v it ab ly h o we ve r muc h t im e yo u al lo w f o r i t , it al ways s e e m s t o t a k e e v e n l o n g e r. S o i t w o u l d b e u n w i s e t o l e a v e t h e p ro p e r t y v a c a n t , t h e p ro p e r t y i s c u r re n t l y i n g o o d c o n d i t i o n a s i t h a s b e e n l i v e d i n . S o t o r e n t it wit h so me mi no r w or ks do ne at l eas t wo ul d b ring so m e m o ney i n t o c o v er the m ortga ge p ayments ti ll all th e ducks ha ve been lined up on the planni ng side.

There are a number of work streams which are going to be pursued and this may take some time to come to fruition. Planning is generally better done in bite sizes, meaning preparing separate applications and then submitting them one by one, once the pre-

The Real Deal

T h e re e x i s t s a c o m m o n i l l u s i o n t h a t b y r e m o r t g a g i n g th e fami l y h om e you al l of a s udden p ut i t under threat – whi ch of cours e you do - b ut the point i s y our fami ly h o m e c o m e s u n d e r t h re a t w h e n e v e r y o u t a k e a B T L mortgage too. When you take a BT L m ortgage you giv e a p er sonal guara ntee that if th e lender does not recov er t h e i r l o a n f r o m t h e s a l e o f t h e p ro p e r t y i n t h e e v e n t o f d e f a u l t t h e y w i l l p u r s u e y o u f o r t h e r e m a i n d e r, t h i s coul d m ea n your fam il y h ome a s wel l .

Fitzrovia, London, W1 Purchase Price: £640k l A beautiful first floor flat in a much sought after location l These properties hardly come onto the market l Massive potential for capital growth l Long lease l Low service charges l Close to Regent’s Park l Moments away from UCL and Westminster l Perfect BTL investment, with low outgoings Call us now to secure this deal!

You as a person are liable for the loan regardless of which property the charge is registered under, so it makes sense to get the funds from the cheapest source possible. The difference between a personal loan and a mortgage is a mortgage is a personal loan which also has a charge on your property, you are still liable for it.

The aim of this investment is never to sell, this is a long term buy and hold. Once the flats are done we will refinance each property with the aim of trying to extract as much money as possible so it can be used to buy further properties and replicate this again and again.

0207 993 0103

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now:

Specialists in

Central London Property Sourcing

info@sowandreap.co.uk

www.sowandreap.co.uk

55 Bryanston Street, Marble Arch Tower, London, W1H 7AA

Follow us online:

Sowandreapuk

SowandReapProperties

Tips of the Week l Pooling funds with other investors not only spreads risk – it also boosts your buying power, opening up opportunities to own a share in a trophy asset with a relatively small outlay. l A property crash is not like a stock market crash, you cannot lose all your money as the property is tangible, it doesn’t disappear.

20

BUSINESS

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

How to earn more on your savings

The savers in Britain are in dilemma. The banks and building societies are not keen to have your money.

Even the Chancellor's Isa reforms are of much relief. Since the banks have been flooded with savers' cash, they have slashed the interest rates. But they offer attractive rates if you are willing to put your money in certain type of accounts. Following tips will help ensure you beat the banks at their own game.

1. Ditch your Isa for a high-interest current account. Forget the idea that Isas were meant for savings and that current accounts pay nothing. The top rate on an easy access Isa today is a miserly 1.5pc, but savers could earn up to 5 pc with a current account. These rates come with certain caveats.

Nationwide's FlexDirect account, for example, offers 5 pc on balances up to £2,500 for the first 12 months only. After this time the rate falls to just 1pc. Lloyds Bank pays 4 pc on balances between £4,000 and £5,000, but account-holders will have to fund the account with £1,500 a month, or be charged a £5 monthly fee.

These stipulations are relatively easy to overcome. And the result is a substantially higher annual income.

Putting £15,000 in the top easy access Isa (1.5pc) will accrue interest of £225 a year. Putting the same amount into Santander's 123 current account (3 pc) will earn interest of £336 a year, after basic-rate tax and a £2 monthly fee is deducted. Higher-rate taxpayers would earn £246.

Some ingenious savers are boosting their incomes by opening several current

accounts and feeding the money through each one to make up the monthly deposit requirements. This requires a considerable amount of time and effort, but only in the early stages. Once the accounts are opened and a series of regular payments is set up, you should be able to sit back and count the interest as it trickles in.

2. Put cash into NS&I’s three-year pensioner bond and then take it out after just 12 months.

National Savings & Investments’ “65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds” pay the highest rates on the market for those who are aged over 65. The one-year bond pays 2.8 pc and the threeyear bond pays 4 pc. But the drawback is that these pensioner bonds pay interest only at the end of the term, so savers who want the 4 pc rate must wait three years before they see any returns on their cash.

There is a sneaky way of getting around this, that will mean savers earn slightly less than 4pc but will still receive more interest than they would on the one-year bond.

It works like this. If you invest £10,000 into the three-year pensioner bond, in the first year you would earn £320 after basic-rate tax is deducted.

Withdrawing this money after 12 months will incur a penalty of 90 days’ loss

of interest, which equates to £79. If you deducted this, the total interest earned would be £241.

That is equivalent to a rate of 3.01pc, before tax, and so still beats the rate offered on the one-year bond. After 12 months, the one-year bond would accrue interest of £224.

This is £17 less than the three-year bond.

3. NS&I pensioner bonds: you can get monthly income If 12 months is still too long to wait to see a return on your cash, then income seekers need not worry.

With a little effort, you can get 4 pc with NS&I's three-year pensioner bond, on the majority of your savings and still receive the monthly income you need.

What you do is split your savings into four pots. The first goes into an instant access account to meet your monthly income needs in the first year. The second pot is invested in a one-year bond; this is then available to provide the income you need in the second year. You repeat the process with a twoyear bond (or Isa) for the third year. The final pot – the largest – is simply invested in three-year pensioner bonds and is not called on to provide any of the monthly income. It sounds complex, but our guide here takes you through the plan in detail.

4. Build a rolling fixedrate bond portfolio Typically, a fixed-rate account will pay more interest than an easyaccess account.

In exchange for a higher rate, banks will ask you to tie up your cash. Generally, the longer you give up access, the higher the return. But why wait five years for your income?

Take out one five-year bond now, another next year, and another the year after. Keep doing this and you’ll have a rolling fixedrate bond portfolio consisting of different fiveyear bonds maturing in consecutive years. In the past, when NS&I was still selling index-linked certificates, this is how many canny savers chose to invest.

5. Use a regular savings account in tandem with a top-paying easyaccess account "Regular savings" accounts offer unbeatable rates, but the accounts come with a list of conditions that mean many forgo opening one. First Direct and M&S Bank, for instance, pay 6 pc to those who pay in at least £25, and no more than £300, each month.

But customers who open a regular saver with either bank must also hold or open a current account with the respective provider.

Moreover, the rate is typically offered for the first 12 months only, after which the money will be transferred to a low-interest account. Customers can, however, take out another regular saver after this time and start the process again. Regular savers used in tandem with a top-paying easyaccess account can be highly profitable.

After decades of low-margin work like server maintenance, India's information technology services firms are moving upscale in search of lucrative contracts for driverless cars and other advanced projects as online innovation changes clients' needs.

Companies from Tata Consultancy Services Ltd to Wipro Ltd are all joining Infosys Ltd in investing in new, high-end technology, industry watchers say.

Earlier this week Infosys bought US automation specialist Panaya Inc for $200 million.

Triggering change is a wave of invention allowing machines to talk to each other online, dubbed 'the Internet of things'.

Customers are ramping up: from about 5 per cent now, strategy advisor Offshore Insights estimates automation and artificial intelligence work

will grow to 25 to 30 per cent of an IT outsourcing market seen by the national industry association as worth $300 billion by 2020.

"We're in the midst of a new wave of software, and IT services companies really don't have a choice," said R Ray Wang, principal analyst and founder of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research.

India's third-largest IT services exporter Wipro is building computing systems designed to mimic human decision-making abilities, where machines can understand and react to what human beings say to them.

HCL Technologies, meanwhile, is using robotics to do away with manual testing of hardware.

Though carrying higher profit margins, the new business lines are not as big-ticket as traditional

large-scale outsourcing projects, meaning revenue may be reduced in the short term, analysts say.

Infosys and peers may also find themselves competing in some cases with global majors such as Google Inc, now developing artificial intelligence business and working on projects including self-driving cars.

But industry watchers see plenty of business openings for players like Tech Mahindra. Its engineers are busy testing consoles for cars that can monitor driver fatigue and predict signs of heart attacks, as well as working on a technology for driverless cars.

"The larger point here is Internet of things," said KS Viswanathan, vice president of industry initiatives at the National Association of Software and Service Companies. "If

you look at any automobile today, 25-30 per cent of what goes in is electronics."

"Tech Mahindra will take (its technology) to its global clients...A Volkswagen cannot suddenly change all cars to be software-driven like a Google car is, they have to work with what they have and use technology that fits." Indian companies are looking to collaborate with startups to jointly develop solutions for clients and in some cases are also eyeing takeover opportunities to get access to skills needed to win these contracts, said industry officials.

"The catchwords today are digital, analytics, robotics," CP Gurnani, chief executive of Tech Mahindra said. "It is a small part of business, we are still not at the inflection point. But we are laying down the roadmap."

Indian IT firms eye robotics, driverless cars for next round of growth

No letup on reforms despite Delhi debacle: Arun Jaitley

The Modi government will press ahead with reforms despite an election defeat in Delhi for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, finance minister Arun Jaitley said. Eight months after winning the strongest national mandate in three decades, Modi's government is struggling to adopt an economic agenda to boost investment and jobs, because it lacks a majority in the upper house of parliament.

A crushing reversal for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party at the hands of an upstart anti-corruption party in Delhi has damaged an aura of invincibility he had acquired through several prior state election wins.

"The fact that four elections have been won, and one has not, is absolutely no ground for believing that there will be any slowdown on the path that we have taken," Jaitley told a news conference after talks with his US counterpart, Treasury

Secretary Jack Lew. The government is determined to pursue economic reforms, added Jaitley, who is due to present his annual budget to parliament on Feb. 28. He gave an upbeat outlook, saying that India's $2.1 trillion economy is now "poised to take off at a much faster pace".

Jaitley spoke after India revised the way it calculates gross domestic product. The exercise has led to big upward revisions in the rate of economic growth while slightly reducing the estimated size of Asia's No.3 economy.

New Delhi expects the economy to grow an annual 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal year to the end of March, exceeding an earlier assessment of 5.5 per cent by the Reserve Bank of India. Jaitley's 2015/16 budget is likely to be based on an assumption that the economy will grow at a rate of 8 per cent or more, a government source said.

The State Bank of India (SBI) UK branch has launched a new remittance campaign to thank loyal customers. SBI has been in service in the UK since 1921 and has helped NonResident Indians (NRIs) transfer money to their loved ones back home for decades. These customers know that their money transfers are in good hands

winners to watch Shreya Ghoshal or Arijit Singh, famous Bollywood singers, in concert at the Royal Festival Hall or Wembley Arena during the summer 2015. To enter into the draw, customers must remit £500 or more through SBI UK branches or via their online account during the competition period.

with India's largest banking network and that they are getting good value for their sterling.

As a way to thank these customers for their loyalty, as well as to raise greater awareness of SBI’s attractive rates and efficient service, the bank is offering customers a chance to win Bollywood concert tickets in London.

Between 16th February and 31st May 2015, SBI will have a prize draw every fortnight to identify the lucky winners. Tickets will be presented to the

Anil Arora, Head of Marketing for SBI UK said, “We are excited about this campaign to firstly thank our customers and secondly to highlight our remittance service features to everyone. SBI UK offers very competitive rates for remittances and now there is an added incentive to transfer your money through us.”

The competition details are available on the SBI UK website (www.sbiuk.com) along with the terms and conditions of participation.

SBI launches new remittance campaign to thank loyal customers

CURRENCY VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

21

Foreign Exchange

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Earnings including bonuses rose at a faster pace Currency Specialists.

The UK unemployment rate hit 5.7% which is a new six year low, showing the labour market in the UK is healthy and more jobs are being filled. Average earnings, excluding bonuses also rose by 1.7% year-on-year in the last 3 months of 2014. Earnings including bonuses rose at a faster pace, up 2.1%. This is good news for the general public in the UK because the gap between inflation (0.3%) and wage increases is growing. This means that people in the UK have more disposable income in which to spend on goods and services.

UK retail sales fell 0.3% in January from the previous month, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. The decline in sales follows a 0.2% rise in December 2014. The January figure was a 5.4% rise on a year earlier. UK High Street shops have been reducing their prices in an effort to attract customers, the figures indicate. Average store prices were 3.1% cheaper than last January.

This was the largest year-onyear fall since consistent records began in 1997. On-line sales in

January were also up 12% compared to January 2014.

Greece's government prepared reform measures on Sunday to secure a financial lifeline from the euro zone, but was attacked for selling "illusions" to voters after failing to keep a promise to extract the country from its international bailout.

Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has insisted Greece achieved negotiating success when Eurozone finance ministers agreed to extend the bailout deal for four months, provided it came up with a list of reforms by Monday. A government official said the reforms would include a crackdown on tax evasion and corruption.

Greeks reacted with relief that Friday's deal averted a banking crisis which fellow euro zone member Ireland said could have erupted in the coming week. This means Tsipras has stood by one promise at least to keep the country in the

Eurozone.

The Brussels deal opens the possibility of lowering a target for the Greek primary budget surplus, which excludes debt repayments, freeing up some funds to help ease the effects of 25 percent unemployment and pension cuts. It also avoids some language which has inflamed many Greeks, angered by four years of austerity demanded by foreign creditors.

The Eurozone private sector expanded at the fastest pace in seven months led by rising new orders but firms are still cutting prices, suggesting the ECB will

have a tough time spurring inflation.

The jump in activity will provide a glimmer of hope for policy makers who have struggled to steer the monetary union toward growth with modest inflation, but may also support the European Central Bank's decision to buy sovereign bonds.

The Dollar has remained relatively flat despite fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, showing the labour market is making progress. Employers are holding on to workers amid gains in household purchases, the biggest part of the economy. The improvement in the job market, coming off its best year for hiring since 1999, was noted by Federal Reserve policy makers at their January meeting as they debated when to begin raising interest rates.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 24th February 2015 @ 5pm

GBP - INR = 95.78

USD - INR = 61.98 EUR - INR = 70.25 GBP - USD = 1.54 GBP - EUR = 1.36

EUR - USD = 1.13 GBP - AED = 5.67

GBP - CAD = 1.95

GBP - NZD = 2.07

GBP - AUD = 1.98

GBP - ZAR = 17.82

GBP - HUF = 416.45

www.rationalfx.com

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

23rd February 2015

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22

WORLD

Governor apologizes for police treatment of Indian man

Birmingham, Alabama: Govrnor Robert Bentley apologized to the Indian government for the treatment of an Indian man who was roughed-up by police, calling the case one of "excessive force" in a letter made public.

Bentley's office released a letter to Indian general consul Ajit Kumar a day after the two men met to discuss the case involving 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel, who was hurt in a confrontation with Madison police while visiting relatives earlier this month.

Audio and video recordings released by police show Patel was slammed face-first to the ground by an officer responding to a call about someone walking in a sub-

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

expressed Bentley's "sincere apology for this tragic incident to your government, Mr. Patel, and the citizens of India who reside and work in our state."

"I deeply regret the unfortunate use of excessive force by the Madison Police Department ... and for the injuries sustained

by Mr. Patel," wrote Bentley.

The Madison police chief apologized during a news conference last week. Bentley said the state would investigate the confrontation alongside the FBI. Bentley's letter came as officer Eric Parker pleaded not guilty to assaulting Patel during a confrontation in the north Alabama city on Feb. 6.

Parker is being fired, and

he faces an April 29 trial.

An attorney for Parker, Robert Tuten, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about Bentley's letter.

A lawyer for Patel, Hank Sherrod, said the man has left the hospital and is now in rehabilitation for injuries that include partial paralysis of his left leg. "He has a long, difficult, and uncertain rehabilitation process ahead of him, and he and his family deeply appreciate the outpouring of prayers and support he has received," Sherrod said in an email. Donors have given about $185,000 on a gofundme.com to pay medical expenses for Patel, who Sherrod said does not have insurance.

500 Indian men as guest workers to repair oil rigs and facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to plaintiffs. The workers paid $10,000 apiece to recruiters and were promised good jobs and permanent US residency for their families, according to the suit. When the men arrived at Signal shipyards in Pascagoula, Mississippi, they discovered that they would not receive promised residency documents.

Signal also charged the

men $1,050 per month to live in guarded labour camps where up to 24 men lived in single 1,800square-foot (167-squaremetre) units, according to the suit.

An economist who reviewed Signal's records for the plaintiffs estimated the company saved more than $8 million by hiring the Indian workers.

"The defendants exploited our clients, put their own profits over the lives of these honourable workers, and tried to deny

them their day in court," plaintiffs' attorney and Southern Poverty Law Center board chairman Alan Howard said in a statement.

The centre identified plaintiffs as Jacob Joseph Kadakkarappally, Hemant Khuttan, Andrews Issac Padaveettiyl, Sony Vasudevan Sulekha and Palanyandi Thangamani.

Most of them are from Kerala.

Signal said in a statement that it is weighing an appeal.

"Signal strongly disagrees with rulings from the court in the case which impacted its ability to present defences and is disappointed with the verdict," the company said.

Separately, a suit brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that Signal retaliated against its workers is slated for trial in June.

Sheikh Hasina.

At least 87 people have died since early January when the leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called on supporters to blockade roads, railways and waterways to force Hasina to call new polls.

Justice Obaidul Hassan, head of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), handed down the sentences, saying the 79-year-old leader would be "hanged by the neck until his death".

"He was found guilty

of six out of nine charges. As a leader of Jamaat, he collaborated with Pakistan army and he carried out in the name of Islam," prosecutor Sultan Mahmud told reporters.

Subhan is the 17th person and the 12th and the last Islamist to be convicted by the court, which is a domestic tribunal set up by Hasina's government without any international oversight.

Prosecutors said Subhan was the head of Jamaat and a proPakistani militia in the northwestern district town of Pabna and he actively took part in the murder of hundreds of innocent villagers and minority Hindus in the 1971 conflict when the

then East Pakistan seceded from Islamabad.

Defence lawyers said they would appeal the verdict as the charges against Subhan were "false and baseless".

The war crimes court has mostly focused on the trials of the Jamaat leaders who opposed the break-up of Pakistan and saw the liberation war by Bengalis as a conspiracy by majority-Hindu India.

Previous death sentences handed down against Jamaat leaders, including its supreme and spiritual leaders, plunged Bangladesh into its deadliest unrest in 2013.

Thousands of Islamists clashed with police in nationwide protests over the verdicts and other issues and some 500 people were killed.

Suresh Patel

division in the town, a bedroom community of Huntsville.

Patel suffered injuries including partial paralysis in his legs, and his attorney said he now is in rehabilitation after leaving a hospital. The man has filed a federal lawsuit over his treatment.

The governor's letter

Indian workers win $14 mn in US labour trafficking case

New Orleans: A New Orleans jury awarded $14 million to five Indian men who were lured to the United States and forced to work under inhumane conditions after Hurricane Katrina by a US ship repair firm and its codefendants.

After a four-week trial, the US District Court jury ruled that Alabama-based Signal International was guilty of labour trafficking, fraud, racketeering and discrimination and ordered it to pay $12 million. Its co-defendants, a New Orleans lawyer and an India-based recruiter, were also found guilty and ordered to pay an additional $915,000 each.

The trial was the first in more than a dozen related lawsuits with over 200 plaintiffs that together comprise one of the largest labour trafficking cases in US history.

Signal recruited about

Bangladesh orders death of another Islamist

Dhaka: Bangladesh's war crimes tribunal ordered the execution of a senior Islamist leader after convicting him of atrocities during the country's 1971 independence war, triggering violence outside the court.

Three Molotov cocktails thrown by suspected anti-government activists exploded outside the courthouse in central Dhaka as Abdus Subhan, a vice president of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, JamaatIslami, was found guilty of murder, genocide and torture.

The verdict is expected to further inflame tensions in Bangladesh where an alliance of opposition parties, including Jamaat, is trying to topple the government of Prime Minister

In Brief

Religious groups warn animal rights lobby

London: Religious groups have warned animal rights groups that their repeated calls for a ban on the religious slaughter of animals would damage wider community relations. Jewish and Muslim leaders have accused animal welfare lobbyists of campaigning against the non-stun religious slaughter of animals to the exclusion of almost all other welfare issues.

British mum staging legal bid to become pregnant

London: A 59- year -old British woman is staging a desperate legal bid to become pregnant with her own grandchild – using her dead daughter’s eggs.

The woman and her husband would claim it was their daughter’s dying wish that her eggs be fertilised by donor sperm and implanted into her own mother’s womb. It would be the couple’s only chance to become grandparents after their daughter, an only child, died of bowel cancer four years ago while still in her 20s. She chose to freeze her eggs in the hope that she could have children in the future, but tragically lost her battle with the disease. No UKbased clinic has agreed to treat the mother, who is now hoping to export the eggs to New York, where a clinic is lined up to provide fertility treatment.

Al-Shabaab calls for attacks on Oxford Street, Westfield centres

London: Somalia-based terror group Al-Shabaab has threatened to attack London’s Oxford Street and the Westfield shopping centres in the latest jihadist threat to the UK. A video released by the terror group called on its followers to “hasten to heaven” by attacking some of the country’s busiest shopping areas. It also threatened venues in America and Canada as well as “Jewish-owned” centres.

Sir Malcolm, Jack Straw suspended by Tories London: The Conservative Party has suspended Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw, two former foreign secretaries, in the wake of the 'cash for access' scandal. They were accused of offering to use their positions as politicians on behalf of a fictitious Chinese company in return for payments of at least £5,000 a day. Shortly after the announcement that he had been suspended, Sir Malcolm said: "I do also want to have the standard of living that my previous professional life should entitle me to have."

Chanting 'Om' will soothe the brain, confirm scientists

Lucknow: scientists have now confirmed that chanting of “Om” really does soothe the brain. The finding emerged from a study in which 21 men listened to the mantra while lying in a scanner that monitors brain activity. Researchers found that, as the chanting progressed, the parts of the brain used in day-to-day activity slowed while those involved in emotional awareness took over. “Listening to the ‘Om’ sound . . . activates areas of the bilateral cerebellum, left middle frontal gyrus and right precuneus,” said Uttam Kumar of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, India. “Listening to ‘Om’ recruits neural systems implicated in emotional empathy,” Kumar said. To make sure “Om” was the key sound, the researchers also played recordings of people chanting “Tommmm” - and found this did nothing to relax the 21 men. Om is regarded as a a divine word

by Hindus and Buddhists, who believe it can open the mind. Ideally, the subjects should have chanted it themselves but the vibration made it hard to scan their brains. Kumar said the next step was to repeat the research with people from other cultures to see if the sound is “universal and independent of culture or belief.”

Fire deaths suspect arrested after global manhunt

London: Shahid Mohammed, a suspect in the the murder of eight members of a family in a house fire in Birkby, Huddersfield, in May 2002, has been arrested after a global manhunt. Five children and three adults from the Chishti family died in the fire and one man was convicted of murder and two of manslaughter following the attack. However, Mohammed failed to answer bail and has been sought by police ever since - with numerous appeals made for his whereabouts. Reports say he has been arrested in Pakistan. Police said his re-arrest came after close work between authorities in the UK and those abroad and they are working on bringing him back to this country.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

In Brief

Bishop who fights for poor enjoying lavish life

London: Reverend Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, who helped the church to launch an attack on the government’s approach to the poor enjoys pay, perks and allowances worth more than £250,000 a year, according to official documents. He was a prominent supporter of last week’s letter to David Cameron condemning the welfare cap. The bishop had earlier criticised the prevalence of food banks, opposed the decision to limit benefit increases to 1% and worked with Labour to back an amendment to defeat the welfare reforms.

Fat Americans urged to diet

Washington: A panel of experts said that Americans should consider the health of the planet as well as their bulging waistlines when deciding what they eat. Beef, in particular, has been identified as harmful to the planet, producing more greenhouse gases per calorie than chicken or pork. The proposed government guidelines also recommend a tax on sugary drinks and snacks as a way of coaxing Americans into eating better.

Family lawyers seek urgent reforms in divorce laws

London: Family lawyers sought urgent reforms to divorce laws and said that the present one is outdated, inadequate and unfair. They call for the scrapping of fault-based divorce, in which spouses accuse each other of unreasonable behaviour, creating bitter court battles.

At present, spouses must apportion blame unless they have lived apart for two years. In 2012 there were more than 72,000 divorces in which adultery or unreasonable behaviour were cited.

Steep rise in childcare costs in just five years

London: The Family and Childcare Trust Survey has found that despite the government spending more, the childcare costs have skyrocketed in five years. Nurseries have been accused of profiteering after costs rose by a third to as much as £11,000. With the economy recovering, nurseries are now choosing to dramatically put up prices that were kept down during the recession, the report said.

Miliband wants to ban MPs from having paid directorships

London: Labour leader Ed Miliband has written a letter Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to ban MPs from having paid directorships or consultancies in the wake of the latest "cash for access" allegations. Miliband said he would ban his own MPs from paid consultancy roles and will consult on barring MPs from earning more than 15 per cent of their salaries in private roles. More than five years ago, David Cameron warned that lobbying was the "next big scandal" and promised to tighten the rules - a pledge which has not been fully enacted. Since taking office, Cameron has increased the period in which ministers cannot lobby the government after leaving office from 12 months to two years. The Coalition has also brought in legislation for a statutory register of consultant lobbyists. However, the register itself has yet to be implemented and critics say it is not enough.

3 per cent minimum wage rise recommended

London: Business Secretary Vince Cable said that an independent body that advises the government on the minimum wage is to recommend an increase of 3%. He said the wage rise in the adult rate from £6.50 to £6.70 an hour would be the biggest since 2008, worth £416 a year to a full-time worker. Each year, the Low Pay Commission submits recommendations on the future level of the minimum wage. The increase, yet to be accepted by the government, would apply from October.

A 3.3% increase - from £5.13 to £5.30 - is recommended for 18 to 20-year-olds, along with a 2.2% increase to £3.87 for 16 to 17-year-olds.

Maths prodigy enrols on degree course

London: Esther Okade, one of the UK's youngest university students, is studying for a maths degree with the Open University. She enrolled three weeks ago and is already top of the class, scoring 100 per cent on a recent test. Esther, from Walsall, in the West Midlands, isn't the only member of her family with a talent for numbers - her six-year-old brother Isaiah is already taking an A-level in maths. Her mother, Efe, said applying to the university was "an interesting process because of her age." She said: "We even had to talk to the Vice Chancellor. After they interviewed her they realised that this has been her idea from the beginning.

From the age of seven Esther has wanted to go to university. Finally, after three years she told me, 'Mum I think it is about time I started university now."

US teen indicted for joining ISIS

Washington: A US teen has been indicted on charges of joining the ISIS, the terrorist organisation that has captured a large part of Syria and Iraq and has threatened regional peace.

Hamza Ahmed, 19, is at least the fourth person from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis charged as a result of an ongoing investigation into individuals who have travelled or are attempting to travel to Syria in order to join a foreign terrorist organisation, said US Attorney M Luger.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, Ahmed and three companions, travelled by bus from Minneapolis to New York City's John F Kennedy International Airport. The four men were each booked on international flights scheduled to depart JFK on November 8, 2014.

Ahmed and one of the unidentified individual were booked on the same flight from JFK to Istanbul, Turkey.

IndianAmerican appointed special envoy

Washington: IndianAmerican Rashad Hussain has been appointed as Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Countert e r r o r i s m Communications to expand global engagement and partnerships of the US to counter violent extremism, the state department has said. The 37-year-old Hussain is currently the Special Envoy of the US to Organisation for Islamic Countries (OIC). He will also serve as Coordinator of the Center for Strategic Counter-terrorism Communications, established at the direction of President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010 to coordinate, orient, and inform governmentwide strategic communications focused on violent extremists and terrorist organisations.

Before his role in OIC, Hussain was Deputy Associate Counsel to US President Barack Obama, focusing on national security, new media, and science and technology issues. He has also served as Director for Global Engagement at the National Security Council (NSC) and as a Special Assistant US Attorney in Washington, where he prosecuted criminal cases.

WORLD - INDIA

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Woman escapes prosecution for dating scam as reporter loses appeal

A newspaper reporter who tried to expose an alleged serial conwoman has been left with a harassment record while the woman has apparently escaped prosecution over an alleged dating scam, on the ground that she is already in jail and has no assets to seize.

The Metropolitan police has reportedly upheld a complaint by Neelam Desai, a convicted criminal, that she was harassed by a Croydon Advertiser reporter who asked questions about the dating fraud, said to amount to tens of thousands of pounds.

The police were accused of an intrusion on press freedom last April, after three officers allegedly visited the newspaper’s offices in Redhill, Surrey, to threaten Mr Davies with arrest and issue a “prevention of harassment” notice. They

allegedly said that the reporter's approaches by email and in person at Desai’s home had left her “feeling intimidated and persecuted”, and warned that any further contact could result in prosecution. Desai had admitted a £230,000 fraud the previous month and is serving a 30-month sentence.

She denied involvement in the dating scam during a phone conversation with Mr Davies.

The newspaper has claimed that she tricked men out of tens out thousands of pounds through

online cons, which included pretending she was raising money for a sick child. After they exposed she was arrested on suspicion of ten counts of fraud by false representation.

This month the Met rejected Mr Davies’s complaint about their actions.

Inspector Claire Robbins reportedly concluded that “the contact made by Mr Davies towards Ms Desai did go beyond what is reasonable”.

However Mr Davies reportedly said the crime report of his actions contained errors, such as stating that he allegedly visited Ms Desai’s house more than once. The Met also allegedly accused him of sending Desai “repeated text messages” but he said he never contacted her that way.

Man stealing 120 Apple iPhone 5s appears in Court

Deep Adhiya, 20, a courier who stole 120 Apple iPhone 5s worth more than £51,000 has appeared in court. He pleaded guilty to theft of the batch of gold-coloured smart phones belonging to Apple on December 12, 2013.

Leicester Crown Court was told the phones were taken after Adhiya took delivery of them in Hinckley. He was supposed to be transporting them to London.

Adhiya from Northfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty on the basis that another person traveling in the delivery van with him took the box of phones, saying it was in lieu of an £800 cannabis

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debt Adhiya owed him.

Kate Plummer, prosecuting, said in relation to the basis of plea: “The value of the phones was £51,123 which greatly exceeds the value of the drug debt.

“He says it was the other male’s idea and he

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let him take the phones to settle the drugs debt between them.”

The defendant, a self-employed courier with no previous convictions, refused to provide the police with details of the person he claimed took possession of the phones.

The hearing is adjourned until March 10, for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Releasing Adhiya on bail, Judge Robert Brown said: “This case crosses the custody threshold and the fact you’re getting bail shouldn’t be taken as to any indication of what the sentence will be.”

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24

INDIA

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

TN girl inches closer towards settling on Mars

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): Nineteen-year-old college student Shradha Prasad is ecstatic about inching closer to her dream of settling down on Mars after clearing the third round of the 'Mars One' mission.

'Mars One' is an ambitious initiative by a Netherlandsbased non-profit organisation by the same name, which hopes to send four people on a one-way trip to the Red Planet in 2024. Prasad is one of the three Indian candidates to have qualified for the fourth and the final

round of the mission.

However, out of the three Indian candidates shortlisted so far, Prasad is the only one based in India.

The other two Indians include Taranjeet Singh Bhatia, who is studying at the University of Central Florida and Ritika Singh, who is settled in Dubai.

Speaking about her feat, Prasad said living on two planets in one lifetime was something that she had only dreamt of so far, but now it will soon be a reality. "I came to know

about this mission first in July 2013 and back then, when I wanted to apply to the mission, there was a lot of pressure from all sides, asking me not to apply because this seemed [to be] a very dangerous mission. I went ahead with it anyway and once I did, I crossed all the rounds. I feel very happy that I have made it this far," she said.

She added that her parents were initially reluctant of her move but now are proud and happy at her achievement. The fourth round of selection will comprise of dividing the candi-

Narendra Modi, Vajubhai Vala and Manohar Parrikar can transform the manufacturing sector in India," he said.

Besides Modi, India's defence minster Manohar Parrikar, Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, Chief Minister Siddaramiah, central and state cabinet ministers and defence ministers from countries such as Britain, France, Germany, Israel and Russia participated in the event with high-profile delegations, officials and chief executives.

Modi and Parrikar also attended a Global CEOs Conference and an Investors' Meet on defence production in India at the venue.

Chennai: A supporter of AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa nailed himself to a cross on Monday to pray for the return of the 66-yearold politician as Tamil Nadu's chief minister.

Jayalalithaa had stepped down from the chief minister's post after a Bangalore court sentenced her to four years in jail last year for holding Rs 530 million in unaccounted cash and property. The Supreme Court granted bail to the politician a month later after her lawyer said she was in poor health.

On Monday, Jayalalithaa's supporter Karate expert Shihan Hussaini - was assisted by aides as he nailed himself to a cross and remained on it for a 6.7 minutes. The duration of the act was designed to mark the former CM's upcoming 67th birthday. Hussaini's aides hammered .6-inch nails

Modi flags off South Asia's biggest air show

Bengaluru: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off South Asia's biggest air show in Bengaluru last week. The 10th Aero India show reflecting India's air prowess, was based on the theme 'Make in India'.

Speaking at the event, Modi said a nation with a strong defence would be secure and would have good economic growth. "We are focusing on developing India's defence industry with a sense of mission.

This is why it is at the heart of Make in India programme," Modi said.

Modi said the government is aiming at building a defence industry that would have room for everyone public sector, private sector and foreign firms. "We must ensure that our tax system does not discriminate against domestic manufacture in comparison to imports. Our defence industry will succeed more if we

Punjab municipal polls pass off peacefully

Chandigarh: Polling to Punjab's six municipal corporations on Sunday passed off peacefully as an estimated 70 per cent of nearly 800,000 electorate sealed the fate of 1,263 candidates in the hustings. “The polling passed off peacefully...There was no report of major violence from anywhere...All EVMs functioned properly", State Election Commissioner S S Brar said. He said that as per initial reports, an estimated 70 per cent polling has taken place.

However, reports of minor incidents, including scuffles had been reported from Pathankot, Bathinda and Patiala. The results will be announced on February 26.

The polls are assumed as litmus test for SAD-BJP combine which have been ruling the state for more than seven years. In most of corporations, the Independents projected them to be of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) followers even as the party is not contest-

ing the elections.

The polling was held for municipal bodies of Phagwara, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Mohali, Bathinda, Moga and byelections to two wards of Patiala Municipal Corporation and one ward of Jalandhar Municipal Corporation.

Elections were held for 50 wards each of the corporations of Bathinda, Mohali and Moga, 49 wards each of Hoshiarpur and Pathankot and 47 wards of Phagwara.

Four candidates have alady been elected unopposed on three wards of Phagwara and one ward of Hoshiarpur, Brar said.

The key players in the field are ruling SAD-BJP alliance candidates, opposition Congress and contestants of Peoples Party of Punjab (PPP).

dates into teams and testing their endurance for settlement conditions on Mars.

This initiative by Mars One aims at setting up a human colony on Mars. As a part of this mission, around 40 people will eventually be sent to settle down on the planet permanently. Starting in 2024, crews of four people will be sent every two years, with the first unmanned flight slated for lift-off in 2018. This search for potential astronauts began in April 2013 and 202,586 applications were received by Mars One from across the world.

Man nails himself to cross to pray for Jaya's return as CM

into his hands and feet for the act. A team of doctors and an ambulance were standing by during the selfcrucifixion.

Several Jayalalithaa supporters attempted suicide after a special court in Bangalore announced her sentenced in September.

Television reports had also showed her supporters clashing with police in Bangalore and Chennai.

Jayalalithaa acted in several movies before joining politics and has a huge fan following. She endeared herself to millions by distributing free laptops, grinders and fans to voters over the years.

Probe demanded into missing statue of Sardar Patel

Jalandhar: BJP and Congress leaders here are trading charges over a bronze statue of Sardar Patel, which went missing last year from the store room of Jalandhar Municipal Corporation.

Congress leaders alleged that BJP raised the issue during the Lok Sabha polls and later forgot and demanded a probe.

On demand of forming a committee to probe the incident, Jalandhar Mayor Sunil Jyoti said, "There is no point in forming a committee now as the statue is missing for more than 15 years before I became Mayor. Where would we search for it now?"

Senior Congress leader of Punjab, Virendra Sharma

alleged that the BJP "hijacked" Sardar Patel for political gain but the leader is being insulted now. He also said that no FIR has been lodged in this case.

Sharma demanded that state government should not only form a committee to probe the incident but an FIR should also be registered. The statue was installed at the railway station in 1950 after Patel's death. But on railways' opposition it was reinstalled in the DC office of Municipal Corporation.

When they faced difficulties there too, the statue was removed and had been kept in the storeroom since then, before it was found to be missing in November 2013.

South Brief

TN priest back after 8 months in Taliban custody

New Delhi: Jesuit priest Fr. Alexis Premkumar Antonysamy from Tamil Nadu, who was released from captivity eight months after he was abducted by the Taliban at Herat in Afghanistan last June, reached Delhi on Sunday. Officials said details of the efforts that led to his release could not be shared. “God has saved me, I thank him first. It is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that I am back in India,” Fr. Premkumar said, emerging out of the Delhi airport. The external affairs ministry said Fr. Premkumar’s release was secured after it was “pursued by our leadership, including at the highest levels [by] the Prime Minister.”

Tamil Nadu Governor draws flack for praising Jayalalithaa

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah faced fire from various opposition parties for praising former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. In his customary address to the state assembly, Rosaiah appreciated Jayalalithaa for her efforts in securing the rights of Tamil Nadu in various inter-state water disputes. "It is only because of her perseverance and courage that the state could secure a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court over Mulla Periyar dam," he said.

Telangana all set to follow vaastu norms

Hyderabad: Telangana is all set to become a vaastu-compliant state with an expert taking charge as an advisor to the government. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao appointed his trusted vaastu consultant Suddala Sudhakara Teja as an `advisor on architecture' to the government. Besides, Teja will also advise the government on issuing project clearances, notify the exact time of signing files and where should an officer sit during meetings.

North Brief

Modi presents Krishi Karman award to Badal

Chandigarh: It was a red-letter day for Punjab when Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the prestigious Krishi Karman Award for the year 2013-14 to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal at a special presentation ceremony held at Suratgarh in Rajasthan. Punjab became the best performing state in overall foodgrains production in the country. To felicitate the agrarian state for achieving this feat, Modi presented Badal the national award, comprising a trophy, citation and cash prize of Rs 50 million.

HC scraps 816 Haryana teachers' selection

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court quashed the selection of 816 arts and craft teachers appointed by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda's Congress government in 2010, terming the criteria of recruitment as "tailor-made to ensure selection of particular candidates." In January 2014, the high court had scrapped the selection of 2,800 Junior Basic Teachers (JBT) made in 2000 during former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala's regime. Chautala and his son were convicted and sentenced to jail for the scam. "Apparently the objective of the art and craft teachers' selection was to select the candidates who were not meritorious. Actions of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission suggest that merit was to be compromised," held the court.

Heroin worth Rs 30 mn seized

Jalandhar: Border Security Force (BSF) seized heroin weighing 580 gram, worth around Rs 30 million in the international market, from near a border out post at the international border, a senior official said. BSF's Jalandhar-based Punjab frontier Inspector General Anil Paliwal said that during the routine patrolling, BSF personnel found a pair of slippers and a packet containing the narcotics from the Amritsar sector of the international border. The weight of recovered heroin is 580 gram and its worth in the international market is around Rs 29 million, he added. BSF has so far recovered around 39.8 kg of smuggled heroin in Punjab, he said.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Leisure Tourism in Tamil Nadu

Dr S Bakthavatchalam

Tamil Nadu is one of the largest state in India and represents the heart of Dravidian culture with a rich tradition of centuries old art and literature. Situated on the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, it acts as the gateway to explore the South.

Tamil Nadu excites every visitor with clean and unspoilt hill stations, beautiful beaches, magnificent temples, waterfalls, historical monuments, art, culture, heritage and much more. It is perhaps for this very reason that Tamil Nadu offers more in terms of leisure tourism than many other places. One may wonder as to why indulge in leisure tourism.

Unlike business travel where one needs to be formal all the time, leisure tourism is informal and fun. It offers an opportunity to take a break from the rigours of everyday life and put your mind at ease.

Hills: Some of the specifics of these offerings include pristine hill stations such as Yercaud, Udhagamandalam and

Kodaikkanal.

Beaches: With over 1,000 km of coastline, Tamil Nadu offers several beach resorts. Marina Beach and Mahabalipuram Beach are major crowdpullers. Other popular beaches are at Kanyakumari, Rameshwaram and Covelong. Rameshwaram is one of the most popular pilgrimage centres of South India. On the tip of India is Kanyakumari which is unique for it's confluence of Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Tourists also get a breathtaking view of the sunrise and the sunset. Covelong Beach suits those who want to be away from the hustle and bustle of the crowded Chennai city.

Relaxing at beaches does not end with the above mentioned sites.

Take for instance Thoothukudi beach which is known for chunk and pearl beds or the Gulf of Mannar which is famous for coral reefs. Studies reveal that the ozone content at the Tharangambadi or Tranquebar in Nagapattinam district is amongst the highest in the world.

Among other enthralling experiences that await tourists in Tamil Nadu are the numerous waterfalls - Courtallam, Hogenkkal; mangroves at Picchavaram in Cuddolore and Pulicat, the second largest salt lake in Thiruvallur district. If you want to explore architecture, religion, rituals, spirituality or are on a soul-searching mission, Tamil Nadu offers it in plenty in its living temples built thousands of years ago and festivals across the state every day.

Similarly, extensive forests across the state also offer diverse wildlife. In the Nilgiris foothills are the dense forests of Mudumalai hills and is home to elephants, chitals (spotted deer), gaurs (Indian bison), tigers, panthers, wild boars, sloth bears, otters and crocodiles which inhabit the Moyar River.

Well connected by road, rail and air travel and lodging and boarding facilities to suit every class of tourists, Tamil Nadu offers freedom to explore, recreation, fun, games and a holiday all at the same time. Come and explore!

Anna Hazare launches protest against land acquisition ordinance

"anti-farmer ordiVeteran social nance." activist Anna The 77-year-old Hazare has Hazare, who is famous launched his protest for hunger strikes, said at Jantar Mantar in that he would not New Delhi from launch one this time.

Monday against the "No more hunger ordinance on Land strikes for me, I will Acquisition Bill. fight by living," he said.

Hazare slammed Hazare said he would the ordinance, callspend the next four ing it anti-farmer. months spreading Earlier, he had called for the Land Anna Hazare showers his blessings on word about the ordiOrdinance Bill to be Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal nance and if the governand Manish Sisodia ment did not scrap it, taken back, adding would launch a "jail bharo widespread political oppothat the government andolan (fill prisons camsition to the changes it is should instead look out for paign)" at Delhi's sprawling seeking to make in the law ways to improve the condiRamlila Maidan, where he on land acquisition for big tion of the farmers. His agihad sat on a hunger strike projects, it also has to tation has drawn thouin 2011 for the anti-corrupcounter Hazare's protest sands of farmers from all tion Lokpal law. against what he calls the over the country to Delhi.

Hazare had earlier lashed out at the BJP-led government for removing provisions which provided Alliance sought from well settled taking the farmers' consent before acquiring their land. professional British Asian male, Kejriwal shares stage with Hazare: Delhi Chief non smoker, age cohort 35-45 Minister Arvind Kejriwal for beautiful female, slim, led all his 66 legislators and other leaders of the Aam cultured, 36 year solicitor and Aadmi Party to Jantar Mantar on Tuesday in a big PhD researcher. show of support for Contact : jaiganesh91@hotmail.com Hazare. It's a reunion that hundreds of people have flocked to witness. Hazare and Kejriwal were the two most famous faces of the Lokpal movement in 2011.

They later fell apart over Gujarati male aged 37, Kejriwal's decision to educated from a cultured launch a political party.

Kejriwal bowed to family background seeks a Hazare as he walked into hindu from a similar the venue followed by leaders of his party. He background for matrimonial. later joined Hazare on Please write to stage and sat next to him.

As the BJP-led central govhilltop462@yahoo.co.uk. ernment grapples with

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25

Maharajah Bhagwatsinhji of Gondal is a role model

Amratlal Kataria

His Highness Maharajah Bhagwatsinhji who ruled Gondal (a state with an area of 1,024 square miles and a population of 2,55,846 with Hindus, Muslims, Jains and others) is a role model. He ruled Gondal from 1884 till his death in1944. He was pragmatic, progressive and loved by his subjects beyond call of duty.

It was a trend for Maharajahs to indulge in inane and extravagant hedonism at the cost of tax payer’s money. But Maharajah Bhagwatsinhji lived a very frugal life and insisted such thrifty lifestyle on Princes, top ministers as well as all the staff. Princes were educated and staffed as servants of state on fixed salary. Under the reign of Maharajah, annual income of Gondal rose from Rs 140,000 to 790,000 yet he did not ask for increase in his remuneration.

He encouraged women’s education by awarding Rs 500 to girls passing Metric examination, uniform style of schools, conservation of environment, 24 hour availability of drinking water to all villages, underground cables to supply electricity, care to

see that no humans and/or animals starved during famine, built strong embankments along rivers to stop flooding etc. He met persons who intended to present report or complaint.

Besides his duties as Maharajah, he compiled dictionary of colloquial Gujarati under title of Bhagwadgomandal.

He travelled to many countries and compiled his reactions from perspective of Indian patriotism and dignity. He studied Medicine at Glasgow, acquired degree of M.D. Later he got fellowship of Royal Society of England. This showed his scholastic ability. His administrative skill was displayed by personal supervision of construction of roads and public buildings like schools, hospitals etc. Wide road, tree lined avenues and trendy massive buildings survived for many years, thanks to the farsightedness of the

Maharajah.

He was stern with any shirkers and even towards Princes who indicated profligacy or disloyalty. Yet his philanthropy knew no bounds. He donated to disaster areas as far as Quetta, Orissa and Africa. He planned to avoid imposing new taxes, reduce existing ones or abolishing burdensome ones. He expressed joy if monies remained in homes of citizens rather than in state kitty.

He donated funds to educational institutes in England. He donated funds to Ferguson College of Puna against seats reserved for 10 students from Gondal to study without paying fees; invested in trams running in Bombay and audited accounts every year.

He was conferred G.C.I.E. by Queen Victoria. His spending acumen did not spare British officials, Governor General and Viceroy, to whom he sent bills towards their stay beyond period of invitation or agenda of meeting. He deducted money from salary of Prince who discarded his present and got dress stitched on personal preference. His administrative skill moulded himself and also citizens to get best results from his endeavours.

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INDIA

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

BJP, PDP seal deal to form govt in J&K

Jammu & Kashmir will get a government soon with the BJP and PDP sealing a deal on government formation in the state. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti met BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday. After their meeting, the two addressed the media and formally announced an alliance between the two parties.

Addressing reporters, Amit Shah said, "In a few days, Jammu and Kashmir will get a PDP-BJP alliance government. The deadlock that existed on some issues, has been broken," Shah added.

"After several rounds of discussion a common minimum programme has been arrived at," he said.

Mehbooba Mufti also said, "keeping in mind, the development and aspirations of J&K people, we have formulated an agenda of alliance between BJP-PDP".

"This alliance is not for power sharing but to win the hearts and minds of people of J&K," she added. The swearing-in ceremony of the new government headed by PDP chief Mufti Mohammed Sayeed is likely to take place on March 1, sources

privy to the talks said.

Sayeed had earlier headed a coalition government with Congress for three years from 2002. In the assembly polls held in December last year, PDP emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats while BJP got 25 seats in the 87-member House.

Both parties have kept under wraps the details of the common minimum programme (CMP), particularly with respect to the Article 370 and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the two issues over which the two parties have completely opposite

views. The CMP needs to be read in totality and not in bits and pieces, leaders from the two parties said.

The two sides are understood to have agreed on formation of a committee which will go into the AFSPA issue and suggest areas from where it could be revoked.

On Article 370, while BJP has given no written assurance as demanded by the PDP, the CMP is expected to say that both parties will respect the aspirations of the people of the state within the Constitution, the sources indicated.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's blue pinstriped suit with his name etched on it went under the hammer for Rs 43.1 million. He wore the suit during US President Barack Obama’s visit to India last month.

Bids went as high as Rs 5 million but were rejected as they came in two minutes after the auction closed at 5 pm, said District Collector Rajendra Kumar.

Ending the three-day scramble for the controversial suit that had the prime minister’s full name, Narendra Damodardas Modi, woven into the fabric as stripes, Laljibhai Patel, a diamond merchant in Surat, placed

ishing firm, Dharmanandan Diamonds.

Starting as a small partnership firm in 1985, the firm has grown to employ 3,800 skilled workers Laljibhai Patel standing near now and exports Narendra Modi’s pinstriped suit diamonds.

Modi used to the winning bid. Patel told auction his possessions the media that he would when he was the chief put the suit on display in minister of Gujarat, too, his factory and had paid to raise funds for welfare such a hefty sum for “a schemes. Those, however, social cause”. The prowere relatively low-profile ceeds from the auction of events, cumulatively the suit, along with 455 fetching a little over Rs other items belonging to 900 million. the prime minister, will go The prime minister to one of his pet projects, was criticised for wearing the Clean Ganga Mission. the allegedly Rs 1000,000 Patel runs a diamond pol-

suit, in contrast to the humble “chaiwala” (tea vendor) image he had projected during the Lok Sabha polls that brought him to power last year.

Bidding for the pinstripe bandhgala suit started on Wednesday last, with the first bid for Rs 1100,000.

Not just wealthy diamond merchants and local traders, but even two children, Vedant (seven) and Siddhant Karnavat (13) bid for the suit with their pocket money. The bidding intensified on Thursday when a Suratbased diamond trader offered Rs 14.8 million and left behind a Bhavnagar businessman who bid Rs 14.1 million.

Continued from page 1 player in the espionage case, and questioned eight others. In what will have implications for the country’s security, police interrogated a defence ministry employee for more than six hours on Monday, highly placed sources said.

He has been identified as Virender, who is suspected to have leaked classified documents from the highly sensitive ministry and was in touch with some of the accused in the case.

With classified defence documents coming into the probe ambit, cops are likely to invoke the official secrets Act. Defence is the fourth ministry, after oil, coal and power, to enter the list of compromised departments. Meanwhile, police arrested 33year-old energy consultant Lokesh Sharma, who worked for Noida-based firm Infraline Energy and was leaking documents from the petroleum, coal and power ministries. Police are looking for the firm's owner.

Cops believe Sharma not only supplied leaked documents to his company but also to other accused, including Santanu Saikia and Prayas Jain, and earned multiple profits in the

operations. Saikia and Jain have been arrested earlier and hunt is on for other receivers.

Cops have registered a second FIR under similar sections in the case against Sharma and others and are analyzing the nature of the documents that were leaked from these ministries. A team led by additional CP Ashok Chand and ACP K P S Malhotra has been assigned to further probe the case.

Sharma was taken to Shastri Bhawan around noon where he led the cops to the rooms of employees he was in touch with to obtain government papers. Seven of them were picked up for questioning and were asked about their frequent contacts with Sharma.

Police are seeking to establish the money trail before arresting some of these employees, sources said.

Reliance employees arrested Employees of some of the conglomerates controlled by four of India's most prominent tycoons, including billionaire brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani were also arrested. Two officials from Reliance Industries and

Modi's suit sold for Rs 43 mn

Corporate espionage racket busted in India

Reliance Power, which are owned by Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani respectively, were brought before a court in New Delhi following their arrests. Three employees working for other energy sector businesses also appeared in court, including the Essar conglomerate, which is controlled by Ruia family, and Cairn India, the oil exploration division of billionaire Anil Agarwal’s London-listed Vedanta Resources.

India’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan promised a full investigation into the scandal, which emerged last week.

This followed a police sting operation which led to the arrests of a series of middlemen on suspicion of illegally obtaining and then selling documents to the companies involved.

“This government will not permit anyone to breach the system or bend the rules.”

Reliance Industries and Essar said they have launched internal investigations into the arrests of their employees.

A spokesman for Reliance Power said it would “ensure full co-operation with the investigative agencies”. Cairn India declined to comment.

Sad Demise

It is with deep regret that we announce that Mrs Sulekhaben Navin Shah (fondly known as Baki) passed away peacefully in the presence of her loved ones on Sunday 08 February 2015 in London, UK. She was the mother of Nishma and Visesh Satish Gosrani.

Familes of missing girls appeal for their safe return

The families of three teenagers who are believed to be making their way to Syria spoke with the media at New Scotland Yard and made direct appeals to the girls to come home on Sunday, 22 February.

Abase Hussen said his 15-year-old daughter Amira Abase, told him she was going to a wedding on the morning she travelled to Gatwick Airport to fly to Turkey, and had been behaving in a normal way.

He said: "She said 'daddy, I'm in a hurry', there was no sign to suspect her at all."

Mr Hussen said the family had asked her about a fellow pupil at Bethnal Green Academy in east London who fled to Syria in December. She said: "I'm sad for that little girl."

"It's completely different now," Mr Hussen said.

"We are depressed, and it's very stressful. The mes-

sage we have for Amira is to get back home. We miss you. We cannot stop crying. Please think twice.

Don't go to Syria."

He added: "What she's doing is completely nonsense. Remember how we love you. Your sister and brother cannot stop crying," and that his wife has a "broken heart."

Speaking of her younger sister, Shamima, Renu Begum, 27 said: "Mum needs you more than anything in the world. You're our baby. We just want you home. We want you safe."

She added: "Her family love her more than anybody else in this world can. If anyone is telling her they're going to love her more than us, they're wrong. We're hoping she wouldn't do anything that would put her in danger."

Sister of Kadiza, Halima Khanom said: We want you know that we all miss you and we love you.

mother and parents - for four generations and which appears to be slowly imploding under his halfhearted and erratic leadership.

“It seems an incredibly irresponsible and goofy thing to do,” Siddharth Varadarajan, a senior fellow at Shiv Nadar University, said. “It’s awful timing. It just shows that neither he nor the party is prepared to do what it takes to be a fighting force.”

While many Congress activists privately grumble about Rahul and his lack of leadership abilities, rival factions have long looked to the illustrious NehruGandhi dynasty, often referred to as the party’s “high command”, as the only unifying force capable of preventing the party from splintering.

It seems an incredibly irresponsible and goofy thing to do. It’s awful timing. It just shows that neither he nor the party is prepared to do what it takes to be a fighting force Siddharth Varadarajan Rahul was 14 when his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, then prime minister, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, and 19 when his father, former

prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was killed by supporters of Sri Lanka’s LTTE, a Tamil separatist group.

Although he entered politics a decade ago, Rahul, a 44-year-old bachelor, has often seemed uncomfortable in his public role, quoting his Italianborn mother, who described power as “poison”.

During the past decade of Congress rule he repeatedly refused to take any cabinet or ministerial role despite pleas from Manmohan Singh, then prime minister. Gandhi said at the time that he wanted to focus on overhauling Congress to make it more open and democratic and to end its dependence on his family.

His efforts brought few results. In May he led the party to its worst parliamentary election battering, which saw it winning just 44 seats, down from 206 in the previous legislature.

The campaign was personally bruising. Rahul was mocked by Modi as “shahzade” (crown prince), amplifying already widely held perceptions of the young Congress leader as someone who had risen by virtue of his bloodline.

Rahul Gandhi takes leave from politics

Continued from page 1 debate on business-friendly amendments to a Congress-designed land acquisition law, which Modi wants to push through to make it easier to acquire land from farmers for mining and industry.

But according to reports, Rahul, who was absent as the session got under way on Monday, had asked Sonia Gandhi, his mother and the Congress president, for permission to take a few weeks’ leave of absence “to reflect on recent events and the future course of the party.”

Sonia declined to elaborate.

Rahul's decision to skip the crucial session excited ridicule on social media.

“Does anyone know where Rahul Gandhi is going on holid . . . I mean ‘leave of absence’ to deeply contemplate the future of Congress?”

Sadanand Dhume, the writer and fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, tweeted to his nearly 60,000 followers.

His absence has given rise to deeper questions about Rahul's judgment and his role in a party that has been led by members of his family - including his great-grandfather, grand-

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

HEALTH WATCH

Indian spices can help fight high BP

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he search for an affordable drug to treat hypertension without side effects has led scientists to the Indian kitchen. Some spices and condiments commonly used in Indian soups, curries and rasam, when taken in a specific proportion with white lotus petals, can bring down blood pressure, say scientists after an animal study done in Chennai.

Researchers found that Siddha drug `venthamarai chooranam,' a mixture of cardamom, ginger, cumin seeds, long pepper (thippili), dill (sada kuppi), licorice (adimadhuram) and white lotus petal could bring down blood pressure in rats during laboratory experiments.

Excited by the finding published recently in science journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, doctors at the Sri Ramachandra University are now gearing up for a larger animal study and clinical trials of the Siddha drug.

Genetically predisposed to hypertension, one in four Indians in cities suffer from the disorder.

The incidence is about 15% in rural population.

Cardiologist Dr S Thanikachalam, who led the research, said: “Every time I see a patient's case

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sheet, I underline four causes - smoking, diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

People with hypertension are mostly treated with allopathic drugs, but dropouts are high because many find the drugs expensive and some suffer from side effects. So, we decided to look at the ancient Indian medical literature for answers,” he said.

Scientists first tried the Siddha powder on rats and found it effective. “When we gave this chooranam for 63 days, the blood pressure dropped,” said C Saravana Babu, a toxicologist who was a part of the

research.

Pathological reports showed the drug had made healthy changes in the genes, tissues and blood vessels, he said. The herbal medicine will be put to further animal and human test, before it can be given to humans, Dr Thanikachalam said.

During the study , the doctors divided the rats into three groups -for the first the abdomen was cut and closed, for the second and third the scientists partially blocked blood supply to one of the kidneys. Two months after the surgery , most rats became hypertensive and developed problems in the

blood vessels, kidneys and heart. Scientists then measured blood pressure in rats' tails.

While the second group was fed with a placebo, the third was orally fed venthamarai chooranam at a dosage of 400g per kilogram bodyweight for 63 days. “We started noticing changes from the third day . At the end of two months, the blood pressure was almost normal,” said Saravana Babu.

But what surprised scientists was not just the change in blood pressure, but other actions as normalization of the carotid arteries and kidney.

0.01 per cent of capsaicin in the total high fat dietprevented high-fat-dietinduced weight gain in trials with wild type mice, but not in mice that genetically lacked TRPV1.

Developing a natural dietary supplement as a strategy to combat obesity can be easily advanced to

human clinical trials, according to the researchers.

The group's strategy to counteract obesity is expected to form a major focus of future healthcare priorities for both the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defence.

Chili peppers may help you prevent weight gain

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cientists have found that adding capsaicin from chili peppers to a diet may help to prevent weight gain. Researchers at the University of Wyoming conducted a study on mice, keeping them on high-fat diet found promise in the potential of capsaicin as a diet-based supplement.

The researchers from the laboratory of Dr. Baskaran Thyagarajan will soon describe how dietary capsaicin may stimulate thermogenesis and energy burning by activating its receptors, which are expressed in white and brown fat cells.

This may help to prevent and manage obesity and other related health complications such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases - though this effect has not yet been demonstrated in carefully-

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...

Fitness tips for working women

controlled clinical trials.

Vivek Krishnan, a graduate student working in Thyagarajan's laboratory, explained that obesity is caused by an imbalance between calorie intake and energy dissipation. In our bodies, white fat cells store energy and brown fat cells serve as thermogenic (heat produced by burning fat) machinery to burn stored fat. Eating calorie-rich food and a lack of physical activity cause an imbalance in metabolism that leads to obesity.

While pursuing a strategy for obesity management, the group's laboratory data revealed that dietary capsaicin, a chief 'agonist' of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel protein, suppresses highfat-diet-induced obesity.

High-fat-diet obesity and dietary capsaicin -

Neeta’s Herbal Clinic for Hair & Skin Care

Coventry Now Open

A traumatic experience when one is balding or suffering from hair loss If you have been one to watch in despair as your luscious locks disappeard down the plug-hole everyday, then there is hope to save your crowing glory!

While lustrous, healthy hair is a source of pride for men and women alike, many are forced to battle with hair problems.

There are many reasons why a person can start losing their hair.

Research has shown that stress plays a vital factor in determining hair condition. Poor hair care, environment, lifestyle and diet too has its effect on hair growth.

It is very important to ascertain what kind of hair you have and then look after it accordingly.

Hair loss falls into two categories, where it is distributed over the whole scalp and where hair loss is limited to localised areas. Hair loss is often more than a beauty problem. In some cases of alopecia, the condition is caused by bacteria or other infection or may even indicate a severe systemic disease. In the case of Hair loss, the hair follicles loose the capacity to initiate new growth.

Neeta’s Herbal offers a safe and natural solution to combat hair and skin problems.

For Free Consultation:- Please call Coventry North London West London 317 Foleshill Road, North Finchley Hounslow Coventry, CV1 4JS. 0208 446 7020 0208 577 6821 Tel: 02476 681 649 www.neetasherbaluk.com

one are the days when women were simply home and kitchen bound. This scenario has changed completely and women not only handle home and a career but manage a complete overall personal growth. Due to this role reversal, many of the women lately are a victim of obesity and poor fitness regime. Due to the stress of juggling a home and career, many women are facing a lot of difficulties associated with their health due to lack of exercise and proper physical workouts. But complaining isn't the solution as finding a balance between personal and professional life with fitness, diet is crucial if not easy.

Following are some fitness tips for working women to stay healthy and happy.

Stay active throughout the day: Walk and talk with a hands-free as much as possible, stand up maybe during meetings, or keep standing while working. Take a short walk during your lunch break, take short breaks every half hour where you walk around for a minute and then get back to your desk. The options are there, you just have to make up your mind and do it.

Store your house with healthy snacks: Even if you have the habit of snacking throughout the day, healthy snacks will come to your rescue, instead of harming your health. So, stock up with all the healthy snacks to stay away from various lifestyle diseases.

Create an effective exercise pattern: Choose an exercise pattern according to your own convenience. Try adapting to strength training, for at least 20 minutes at least twice a week or interval training like walking or running which will help to tone your entire body.

Eat a good breakfast: Working women should also maintain a proper diet with the workouts in order to stay healthy.

Include lots of fresh fruits in your breakfast, as fresh fruits that contain glucose will help to keep sweet cravings at bay.

With fresh fruits you can also include some dry fruits in your breakfast for energy.

Turn on the magic of treadmill: Just do a 10 minutes treadmill session along with holding a 3-5 pound dumbbell in each hand. Set the speed to brisk walk. Do one-

minute set each of biceps curls, triceps extensions, side laterals, and standing triceps one after another as you walk. This exercise will tone your upper body as well as pump your heart smoothly.

Crunches technique: Most of the times, women tend to use their neck muscles more than their abs when they do crunches. This practice is completely a waste of time.

Instead focus back to your abdominal muscles by pressing your tongue flush against the roof of your mouth before starting your crunches.

Drink lots of water: Enough water is very essential for the proper functioning of your body.

Keep drinking water at regular intervals, so that you don't de-hydrate yourself.

Chart your progress : To stay focused and motivated, make a fitness report card for your own reference. Jot down the subjects as various workouts you will be trying out, and grade yourself as you progress. This will help you to be motivated and will help you to notice various improvements.

Reduce refined carbs intake: Limit your refined carb rich foods like cookies, chocolates, honey and white rice. When you eat a refined carb rich food, it will spike your blood sugar level and further will produce more insulin which will increase the fat in your body.

Never overdo anything: Women need not more than an hour of health and fitness training. Hence, never over do any form of exercise as doing extra exercises or spending more time in the gym, will just make you tired and exhausted.

Hence, focus on limited exercises within a certain time frame to make your training session fun and effective.

Carbs are important:Carbs are very important, as they fuel your body with energy.

Hence, up your intake of fruits and other high fiber crackers. Also include some protein in your diet, so that the carbs break down more slowly.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Actress mesmerised by Vijay's moves T

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layathalapathy Vijay is busy with his next movie "Puli". It is a Chimbudevan directorial. This movie is a fantasy commercial genre and boasts of a star ensemble of yesteryear diva Sridevi, Hansika, Sruthi Hasan, Sudeep, Prabhu, Iman Annachi and Sathyan in it. Devi Sri Prasad is scoring music and Natraj is the cinematographer. Vidyulekha Raman, who

aims at reaching Aachi Manorama's place is very excited to be a part of this movie.

She took to social media to share her excitement. She said she was thrilled to watch Vijay dance and dancing with Vijay will be an unforgettable experience for her.

This movie is expected to hit the screens in June or July this year and is expected to be a pucca entertainer.

he queen of Ktown, Nayanthara got loads of projects under her sleeve and her services are highly sought after in the neighbouring states as well. The 'Billa' girl has finished the talkie portions for 'Idhu Namma Aalu' and flown to the sets of 'Baskar The Rascal', starring Mollywood S u p e r s t a r , Mammotty. The film is directed by Siddique. Meanwhile, Nayanthara's immediate release would be 'Nanbenda' which is scheduled to release on April 2nd and 'INA' will be a summer treat. Like 2014, 2015 too will be Nayanthara's.

Varalaxmi's love letter

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aralaxmi is not just the heroine of Bala's “Thaarai Thappattai,” but also the assistant director. For scenes which don't require her to stand in front of the camera, Varalaxmi is assisting the National Award winning filmmaker.

When asked in a recent interview as to whether she had written love poems so

'Dum Laga Ke Haisha'

“Dum Laga Ke Haisha” is an upcoming Bollywood drama film directed by

Sharat Katariya and starring Ayushmann Khurana and Bhumi Pednekar in lead roles and featuring Kumar Sanu in a cameo. Bhumi is making her debut in acting through this film.

The filming took place in Haridwar and Rishikesh. Italian composer Andrea Guerra composes the film's background score. His other credits include Hollywood films like “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “Letters to Juliet.”

'Ab Tak Chhappan 2'

“Ab Tak Chhappan 2” (English: So Far Fifty Six II) is an upcoming Hindi crime

far: Varu's reply was: “No, I haven't. But I had penned love letter. However, I can't disclose the details now." The actress, who is also a trained dancer, has shed weight thanks to strict diet regime.

"Those who are seeing me after a gap are getting surprised. And I am happy," she smiles.

film produced by Raju Chada and Gopal Dalvi.

The film is directed by Aejaz Gulab and scripted by N i l e s h Girkar. The film stars Nana Patekar in the lead role. It also stars Gul Panag, and Ashutosh Rana.

The film is a sequel to “Ab Tak Chhappan.” The story revolves around Inspector Sadhu Agashe (Nana Patekar) from the Mumbai Encounter Squad. It is inspired by the life of Police sub-Inspector with Mumbai Police force Daya Nayak.

'Hey Bro'

“Hey Bro” is an upcoming Hindi Comedy Action Drama film directed by Ajay Chandhok, produced by Vidhi Acharya and Music by Nitz 'N' Sony (Nitin Arora & Sony Chandy) Lyrics by

Nayanthara bids adieu to 'INA'

Sri Divya replaces Samantha

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alayalam Super hit entertainer 'Bangalore Days', which has set the cash registers ringing at the box-office, is going to be remade in Telugu and Tamil.

'Bommarillu' Bhaskar will direct the film and it will be produced jointly by Dil Raju and PVP. Samantha and Siddharth were supposed to play one of the pairs in the movie. But they opted out of the project and the makers are looking for actors

Pranav Vatsa. The film stars Ganesh Acharya, Maninder Singh, Nupur Sharma and Hanif Hilal.There were special appearnce by Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgan, Ranveer Singh, Prabhudeva and Avi Khairnar. It is a movie about a guy name Gopi who just found out who had a twin brother who was a policeman and the story goes on.

who are familiar with both Telugu and Tamil audiences to replace them. The latest update is that Telugu girl Sridivya, who acted in films like 'Manasara', 'Bus Stop' etc and later became popular in Tamil, has been chosen as a replacement for Samantha. A few days back there were rumours that Sharwanand replaced Siddharth in the project. But there is no official confirmation.

Kunal Kohli takes fitness lessons from Mahesh Bhatt's son

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ilmmaker Kunal Kohli, who is gearing up for his acting debut with the film “Phir Se....” is taking fitness lessons from none other than Mahesh Bhatt's son Rahul Bhatt, known for his good physique.

Kunal took to a micro-blogging site to share the same. He posted along with the picture, “in the gym with Rahul Bhatt my trainer." “Phir Se..., starring Kunal Kohli and Jennifer Winget, produced by Shiv Kumar's Bombay Film Company Ltd, is jointly being directed by Kunal Kohli and Ajay Bhuyan. It is said that the movie deals with the complexities of a new romance and a second attempt at a happily ever after. Mainly shot in London, the film is scheduled to hit the screens in May 2015.

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Kareena to work with ex-beau Shahid Kapoor

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ollywood actress Kareena Kapoor will soon be seen in “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” opposite Salman Khan and Shahid Kapoor in “Udta Punjab.”

Everyone curious since Kareena will be working with none other than former flame Shahid Kapoor in “Udta Punjab.” But, Kareena clarified that the duo will not exactly share screen space in the film which also stars Alia Bhatt and Ayushmann Khurrana. “Ya, I know everyone is saying we are back but the movie is like American Hustle. Everyone has different tracks in the film and we aren’t going to be sharing screen space. But yes, good to

be working with Shahid, he has really evolved as an actor,” said Kareena. On being asked about reuniting with “Bodyguard” costar Salman Khan, Kareena said, “People are excited to see me and Salman but the catch here is Kabir Khan. You would see Salman in a never before role and honestly, I am as excited as the audience.” Kareena, who was in New Delhi, stayed clear off the whole All India Bakchod controversy. When asked if she had watched the AIB roast of Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, she said, “Oh no please, I really have no interest in watching it.” She further added, “India has better and far more important things to worry about than AIB.”

Farah Khan all set to don the apron

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ilmmaker Farah Khan is all set to don the apron for her new cookery show “Farah Ki Daawat”, which she says will break the common misconception that celebrities can’t cook.

The show will feature several of her Bollywood friends, including Abhishek Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Malaika Arora Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Kapil Sharma, Riteish Deshmukh and Karan Johar among others. “The guest list of the show has been decided by me. The show will feature a lot of my celebrity friends, who will share with the audience their recipes and cook them with me.

It is a very entertaining show which will give the viewers informed recipes,” Farah said.

“People normally have this notion that celebrities can’t cook and don’t enter the kitchen. This

show will in a way break that myth. You will get to see Boman Irani making traditional Parsi dish Dhansak…. There will also be food related challenges,” she added.

The choreographer-turneddirector is no stranger to the

small screen having been part of shows like ‘Indian Idol’, ‘Jhalak Dikhlaja’, ‘India’s Got Talent’ and the latest ‘Bigg Boss Halla Bol’. Farah said being part of this show was very natural for her as she loves everything about food.

“I am a lover of food. I love cooking, I love eating, I love shopping for food, I love watching food shows. So, it was an obvious decision for me to be a part of this show. I was in talks with the makers for almost two years. In fact ‘Hall Bol’ was a surprise for me,” she said.

The director, who is a mother-of-three, said that there is a special section on the show dedicated to healthy recipes and she hopes to take away some of them to her own kitchen. The show will be on air from February 22 on Colors.

Curtains down on DDLJ after 20 years

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he romantic moments between actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, portrayal of a strict father, revelry around Indian wedding and a fun train journey in "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (DDLJ) will be missed by movie goers as the iconic movie made its final curtain call on Thursday last at famous Maratha Mandir in Mumbai after two decades.

Manoj Desai, owner of G7 Multiples and Gaiety Galaxy and the managing director of Maratha Mandir said: "Yes, it's true that we have pulled down the show. Today (Thursday) morning show was the last show of DDLJ at Maratha Mandir." "The morning show which was the last show of DDLJ had an audience of 210," he added. The film, which won 10 Filmfare Awards, including best film, best actor, best actress and best director at the 1996 edition of the ceremony, had

Link-up report with Hrithik shoots with Yuvraj Singh irks Preity ‘Fast & Furious’ director

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ctress-producer Preity Zinta has never refrained from speaking her mind, so it did not come as a surprise when she took to micro-blogging site Twitter to shun link-up reports with Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh calling such comments as “sexist”. “Comments like these are sexist & reek of cheapness at my place of work. Pls refrain from writing that Yuvraj & Preity were in a relationship,” the actress tweeted. “Dear media (Specially International Business Times) how many times do I have to say that I have never dated or intended to date Yuvraj Singh?,” she added. The actress, who uses the digital platform to connect with her fans, was last seen in the 2014 release “Happy Ending”.

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t can be nothing short of fireworks when action heartthrob Hrithik Roshan and Rob Cohen, director of films like “The Fast and the Furious” and “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” come together.

The duo worked together recently on a commercial for a fizzy beverage in the deserts of Dubai. A behind-the-scenes video has been released featuring Rob Cohen doing what he does best, while Hrithik takes direction. Last year, Rob Cohen dined with the Roshan family during his visit to India. Hrithik was last seen doing some high-flying action stunts in ‘Bang Bang’.

been running uninterrupted at this cinema hall at its usual playing time slot of 11.30 am.

The film, which was first screened at Maratha Mandir in October 1995, was undergoing its 20th year of uninterrupted run at the iconic cinema hall. It also holds the record of the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema. When asked about the reason behind closing the shows of the film, he said: "Earlier

Priyadarshan to make Bollywood return soon

A

ce director Priyadarshan is all set to make his Bollywood return after a gap of two years. “I have lined up two projects in Bollywood … one is with Akshay Kumar and the second one is for Arjun Kapoor,” he said. The last film that he did in Bollywood was “Rangrezz” released in 2013. Sharing the reason for staying away from Bollywood for so long, he said: “Yes, then came personal problems which disturbed me. Moreover, my stars also were not that favourable.” “Now, I think, there has been a change in that and hence I decided to get back to full-time work,” said the ace director. In a career that began in 1978, he has by now done 88 films in various South Indian languages and also in Bollywood.

we had lots of audience to watch this film that included people from abroad. Now there is hardly any audience coming in. We have 1,105 seats in one screen and out of which hardly 100 to 200 seats used to get occupied so it doesn't make sense to run it any longer."

“The normal tickets cost of this film was Rs 20, 17 and Rs 15 at the hall, drastically lower than what the multiplexes charge.

However, he says now the other fresh films will get extra screens.

"Earlier because of DDLJ, other films does not used to get all the screens now it will be a benefit for fresh films which now can occupy the shows which was earlier occupied by DDLJ," said Desai.

Produced by the late Yash Chopra, the film marked Aditya Chopra's debut as a director.

The film was termed as a refreshing change for cinema lovers with all ingredients of a Bollywood masala potboiler - love, romance, comedy, action, melodrama, thrills, songs and dance - put together cohesively to tell a story of the victory of true love.

Sonam Kapoor injures her ankle

S

onam Kapoor, who was recently hospitalized for respiratory infection, was back on her feet in no time and travelled to Karjat to shoot a special Rajasthani song for “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.” Unfortunately the actress who was shooting for the special puppet themed song for 3 nights in Karjat, met with an accident resulting in a bad injury. Apparently, while performing the track Sonam slipped and fell and ended up hurting her legs and bruising her ankles. What’s more is that the song sees Sonam in a typically voluminous Rajasthani lehenga, with heavy silver jewellery which was exhausting in itself.

However despite the injury, Sonam decided to continue shooting for the song so that the cast and crew could wrap up on time.

30

UK

Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to pay tributes to Octogenarians in Leicester

After showing our tributes to the Octogenarians in 2011 and November 2014, in events with ‘Sangat Centre’ and in January 2015 with the ‘Lohana Community South London’, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will once again pay a tribute to all the people aged eighty years or above with cooperation from Shree Sanatan Mandir, Leicester on Saturday, 21st March 2015 at 2.30 PM to 7PM at Mahatma Gandhi Hall, Shree Sanatan Mandir, Weymouth Street, Off Catherine Street, Leicester LE4 6FQ. Welcoming and honouring elderly people is a matter of privilege for us and we believe we will truly be blessed by their presence on this occasion.

During this get-together, we will enjoy Bhakti Sangeet by Chandubhai Mattani and group followed by real vegan delicacies. There will also be vital information available regarding healthy lifestyles for the elderly.

If there is anyone aged 80 years or above in your family or amongst friends,

please send us their short bio-data and photo via fax on 020 7749 4081 or via email to kamal.rao@abplgroup.co m or by post to Kamal Rao, Gujarat Samachar, Karmayoga House, 12, Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW on or before 17th March 2015.

The elderly are welcome to bring friends and family along.

Please let us know how many people will come to the event for catering and other purposes.

Date: Saturday, 21st March 2015 Time: 2.30 PM to 6.30.

PM Venue: Mahatma Gandhi Hall, Shree Sanatan Mandir, Weymouth Street, Off Catherine Street, Leicester LE4 6FQ. For more information call Ramanbhai Barber MBE DL, President, Shree Sanatan Mandir – Tel: 0116 266 1402 E mail: sanatanmandir@hotmail.co.uk and Kamal Rao: 020 7749 4001 Mobile: 07875 229 211.

Coming Events Holi Festival

Thursday 5 March 2015, 6pm. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, 105-119 Brentfield Road, NW10 9LD. Contact 020 8965 2651 Thursday 5 March 2015, 6pm. Shree Shakti Mandir, 30 Talbot Road, Wembley HA0 4UE. Contact: 020 8903 6100 Thursday 5 March 2015, 7pm. NAPS (South London), 26B Tooting High Street, SW17 0RG. Contact: 020 8767 8240 Sunday 8 March 2015, 4pm. Hare Krishna Temple, Watford, Herts WD25 8DT. Contact: 01923851 000 Thursday 5 March 2015, 7:30pm. Apple tree centre- Sanatan Mandir, GHU. Contact: 01293530105 l Jasper centre celebrates Mother's Day concert 13th March, 8pm till late.

Contact: 020 8861 1208 l SPA Birmingham presents Dinner and Dance, 7 March, 6:30, The saffron Suite, B'ham B12 0BS. Contact 0121 745 1769 Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Freelance Correspondent: Rudy Otter Chief Operating Officer: Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 Email: george@abplgroup.com Chief Accountant: Akshay Desai Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email:accounts@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Business Development Managers: Rovin J George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Sales Executive: Daxa Gami - Email: daxa.gami@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4089 - Mobile: 07875 229 111 Graphic Designers: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Ragini Nayak Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad.

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Wembley man who groomed underage girls avoid jail A ‘dangerous sexual predator’ from Wembley who victimised underage girls into stripping and performing sex acts on webcam after grooming them on Facebook has avoided jail.

Mohammed Sarang, 19, pictured, of Pembroke Road, befriended the girls after he remotely hacked into the social networking site account of one of his victims’ friends and created a fraudulent account in the name of ‘Nicola Hay’.

He used the guise to pretend to be a modelling agent and led them into believing he could find them jobs but they would need to take part in a webcam audition and asked them to undress and perform sexual acts.

Sarang’s identity was revealed when the mother of one of his victims contacted the police after she

discovered an online conversation her daughter was having with someone called “Nicola”.

At Harrow Crown Court, Sarang admitted inciting a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity, taking indecent photographs of a child under 16 and causing or inciting child pornography.

He was given a twoyear suspended sentence, a supervision order for two years, a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and was ordered to attend a 60-day training programme

Tiger population growth questionable, says Oxford university

Continued from page 13 10% uncertainty in detection rates severely compromises what we can reliably infer from them.

"Our empirical test with data from Indian tiger survey efforts proved that such calibrations yield irreproducible and inaccurate results".

Dr Ullas Karanth, a member of India's National Tiger Conservation Authority, reportedly said: "This research exposes fundamental statistical weak-

nesses in the sampling, calibration and extrapolations that are at the core of methodology used by the government to estimate India's numbers, thus undermining their reliability. We are not at all disputing that tigers numbers have increased in many locations in India in last eight years, but the method employed to measure this increase is not sufficiently robust or accurate to measure changes at regional and country wide levels".

The prevailing astrological trend indicates increasing vigour and stamina, both mentally and physically. At an ordinary everyday level you can expect this to be a pleasant time, indulging in the good things of life and taking a much needed break.

At a deeper level, however, there does appear to be a new energy stirring within you. Romance will have its pleasant surprises.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 You will feel energetic and confident as the week begins. New beginnings are favoured around now, as long as you do not bite off more than you can chew. Your thinking is inspired, so listen to your thoughts. This may be a time of expansion and improved opportunity and it would be unwise to let yourself become complacent. Affairs of the heart are likely to flourish.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 You will experience some tension in close relationships - take careful stock of things, especially your own attitude.

Developments during this week are likely to make you feel rather restless, perhaps because you have allowed yourself to fall into a routine that is now becoming jaded.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 Not only will the general pace of everyday life gather a speedier momentum but there are liable to be a few unforeseen problems along the way. It is only if you try to cram too much into the day that you will come a cropper or damage your health, so be warned. Be prepared to shoulder certain responsibilities.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 It is a particularly favourable time for dealing with financial interests with a long-term basis, such as investments, insurance and pension schemes, legacies and all jointly held resources. There may be a certain amount of unfinished business to be dealt with. Therefore you will need to adopt a fairly flexible policy in order to accommodate the odd twists and turns of everyday life.

At home, be at your diplomatic best and try not to tread on anyone's toes. Passions will run from hot to cold, and relationships may suffer. Even the most strong-willed Virgoans will be more open to compromise to keep the peace. Plan your spending and set sensible budgets to reach your financial goals.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

A great time to meet and interact with people.

Whatever your present interests you are likely to find that new doors open and the way ahead offers increased scope for expressing your real self. Don't get too carried away and lose sight of little things that mean a lot to you.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 The Sun illuminates 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 and you express your loving feelings quite openly now. At this time, you instinctively know how to place yourself in the best light in order to make a good impression on others.

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 With Venus traversing your sign of leisure for some time to come, it will put you in the right mood if you intend to indulge your pleasure-loving instincts. Venus, the planet of love and romance throws a pleasing light on affairs of the heart. Existing emotional differences can be easily sorted out now. Your creativity is riding high and you should make the most of this phase.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

You may find yourself hard at work behind the scenes, although that may not be apparent to others. You may find yourself caught up in a whirlwind of activity, with opportunities to advance on both the inner and outer level. There is likely to be a powerful incentive to do what remains to be done and tie up loose ends.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 You will have the distinct feeling that everything is moving ahead at a very satisfying pace. Indeed, you will be in a forward-looking mood, more inclined to reflect on the future and its potentials. The power of destiny is very much in your own hand and any major decision you make will have a profound effect on your future.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

Financial and business affairs are unlikely to give rise to any major problems this week. The gentle influence of Venus ensures that most things run smoothly and that your cash-flow remains viable.

Domestic and career interests are likely to come into conflict - try to aim at a more balanced pattern of life and remember that work is not always a virtue.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Kumble inducted into ICC

Former India captain Anil Kumble and Australian legend Betty Wilson have been inducted into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Kumble is just the fourth Indian to be included in the elite group, joining Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Bishan Bedi. "It's an honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame," Kumble said. "Indeed, it will be a great moment of pride to receive it during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. "I deem it as a great privilege to join the list of great cricketing luminaries."

The 44-year-old played 132 Tests for India, capturing 619 wickets and became the second man in history

31 SPORT WORLD Hall of Fame De Villiers fined for slow over-rate commitment, endurance

to take 10 wickets in an innings when he dismantled Pakistan in 1999 to finish with figures of 10-74. "Anil was an outstanding international cricketer, a very wellrespected opponent, a great statesman for his country

and a role model for millions of aspiring cricketers," said ICC Chief Executive David Richardson. "He played hard but within the spirit of the game. His performance and record speak volumes for his tenacity,

and service to the game."

Alongside Kumble, Wilson becomes the second Australian woman in the Hall of Fame behind champion batter Belinda Clark.

Wilson, considered one of the greatest female cricketers of all-time, played 11 Tests between 1947 and 1958, scoring 862 runs at an average of 57.4 and claimed 68 wickets at 11.8 runs apiece. In 1957 against England, Wilson became the first cricketer, male or female, to take score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test. "History shows that Betty was an inspiring cricketer, one of the pioneers of women's cricket and immensely respected because she always put cricket first," Richardson said.

mercial interests in the cricketing body’s events, including Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team owner and BCCI president-inexile, Srinivasan, from contesting.

A Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and Fakir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, in a detailed judgment in the 2013 IPL betting and spotfixing case, held that the disqualification of people donning both caps of cricket administrator and IPL team owner will continue until they choose to shed one of

them. This means that Srinivasan, who is the Managing Director of India Cements, the company which owns the Chennai Super Kings, has to shed his equity in the CSK to be eligible to contest the BCCI elections. As a prelude to this direction, the Bench held the February 2008 amendment to rule 6.2.4, which allowed cricket administrators to become team owners, as “void and ineffective”, while observing that the amendment “perpetuates” conflict of interest in the running of the popular game.

It asked whether the BCCI, which it held as conducting a “public function” and amenable to writ jurisdiction, can live with the idea that the game is being played to cheat the public.

The court said people will

lose interest if it is found that the game is run by a few business interests.

The Bench however, gave Srinivasan a clean chit on allegations made against him that he had misused his official position in the BCCI to cover-up the misdeeds like betting and spot-fixing indulged in by team owners and officials during IPL games. It said these were mere “suspicions” and “difficult” to prove.

The court further confirmed the Justice Mukul Mudgal probe committee’s findings by holding Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, part-owner of Rajasthan Royals IPL team, guilty of betting. It dismissed claims made that Meiyappan was no team official but a cricket enthusiast.

SC unhappy with Srinivasan’s participation in BCCI meeting

The Supreme Court of India on Monday expressed unhappiness over N Srinivasan’s participation in a BCCI meeting on February 8. The apex court said “Srinivasan should not have done this, we have certainly found that there is a conflict of interest”.

Srinivasan said the apex court had disqualified him only from contesting elections and not holding post as BCCI president. The court posted the case for Friday after senior advocate Kapil Sibal said he would take instructions from Srinivasan. On January 22, 2015, heralding an overhaul in the Indian cricket administration, the Supreme Court allowed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to hold elections in the next six weeks, but barred persons holding com-

Ray's book on Cricket praised by President Mukherjee

'Cricket World Cup: The Indian Challenge', a book written by veteran journalist Ashis Ray has been very well received by Indian and Australian readers, reports reveal. Ray's work was specially applauded by the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Manika Jain.

On Saturday 14 February, the President of India Pranab Mukherjee formally received a copy of the recently released book at a brief ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's House). The presentation was made by Madan Lal, one of the heroes of the Indian side that won the 1983 Cricket World Cup, in the presence of the author. The President commended the author for providing a history of the World Cup from an Indian perspective.

He also thanked Madan Lal for triggering a "turning point" for India in cricket by

Former cricketer Madan Lal (right), formally presenting a copy of the book Cricket World Cup: The Indian Challenge by author Ashis Ray (middle) to Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India, at Rashtrapati Bhavan Author Ashis Ray said, famously dismissing Vivian "It is a great honour to be Richards, the West Indian granted an audience by the master batsman, in the President of India.

World Cup final at Lord's in Therefore, I consider 1983. myself fortunate that he did Mr Mukherjee recalled so and formally received a Indira Gandhi, then India's copy of my book. I hope the Prime Minister, phoned kind gesture on the part of him late a night Indian time the President encourages after India's 1983 victory to people to read the book and share the good news. He encounter or relive for was then the Union themselves India's history Finance Minister.

in the Cricket World Cup." The Acting High Commissioner of India to Australia, Manika Jain who launched Ashis Ray’s book in Melbourne on Saturday 20 February, congratulated him on writing the book and Bloomsbury for publishing the work. “I have great pleasure in launching this book in Australia,” said Jain.

Bloomsbury Publishing hosted the launch in conjunction with Pitcher Partners and with support from Air India.

About the book: Cricket World Cup: The Indian Challenge is the most comprehensive offering on the subject; as eminently readable as essential reference. It covers all 10 previous World Cups in detail from an Indian perspective, highlighting the 1983 and 2011 competitions, which India won. The book has a guide chapter to the next World Cup, which started on 14 February 2015.

South Africa skipper AB de Villiers was fined 20 per cent of his match fee for a slow over-rate during South Africa's 130-run loss to India at the MCG and is on the verge of being suspended for one match during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. ICC match referee Jeff Crowe ruled that South Africa were behind by one over after time allowances were taken into consideration. Each member of the South Africa team were fined 10 per cent of their match fees. If South Africa are fined for a slow over-rate for the second time in this tournament, then de Villiers will be suspended for one match. This was de Villier's second over-rate offence this year, having been fined during the first ODI against Australia in Perth in November 2014. However, the ICC

decided to wipe the slate clean before the tournament and thus the South Africa skipper will not miss the team's next match against West Indies in Sydney. A statement from the ICC said, "For a captain to be suspended during an ICC event, he must commit two minor over-rate offences or one serious over rate offence during the event. Therefore, if De Villiers is found guilty of one more minor over-rate offence during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 while acting as captain, he will receive a one-match suspension during the event.

World Cup 2015 Results

Date

Teams

18 Feb Bangladesh v/s Afghanistan BAN won by 105 runs Brief scores: BAN 267/10 (50 overs); AFG 162/10 (42.5 overs) 19 Feb UAE v/s Zimbabwe ZIM won by 4 wickets Brief scores: UAE 285/7 (50 overs); ZIM 286/6 (48 overs) 20 Feb England v/s New Zealand NZ won by 8 wickets Brief scores: NZ 125/2 (12.2 overs); ENG 123/10 (33.2 overs) 21 Feb Wes Indies v/s Pakistan WI won by 150 runs Brief scores: WI 310/6 (50 overs); PAK 160/10 (39 overs) 22 Feb Afghanistan v/s Sri Lanka SL won by 4 wickets Brief scores: SL 236/6 (48.2 overs); AFG 232/10 (49.4 overs) 22 Feb India v/s South Africa India won by 15 runs Brief scores: IND 307/7 (50 overs); SA 177/10 (40.2 overs) 23 Feb England v/s Scotland ENG won by 119 runs Brief scores: ENG 303/8 (50 overs); SCO 184/10 (42.2 overs) 24 Feb West Indies v/s Zimbabwe WI won by 73 runs Brief scores: WI 372/2 (50 overs); ZIM 289/10 (44.3 overs)

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Teams

Match Won Group A New Zealand 3 3 Australia 2 1 Bangladesh 2 1 Sri Lanka 2 1 England 3 1 Afghanistan 2 0 Scotland 2 0 Group B India 2 2 West Indies 3 2 Ireland 1 1 South Africa 2 1 Zimbabwe 3 1 UAE 1 0 Pakistan 2 0

Lost

Points

0 1 0 1 2 1 2

4 4 2 2 2 0 0

0 0 0 1 2 2 2

6 3 3 2 2 0 0

32

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015

Dhawan ton sets up another win for India

India showed just why no one was writing them off even after they had spent two-and-a-half months in Australia without a win.

They might not be the strongest team in the field, but on big days in limitedovers cricket they stay calmer than most. In a match to potentially decide who finishes top of their group, India sat back and saw South Africa work themselves up into a frenzy, get too funky and wilt under the weight of their own mistakes. This was India's first win over South Africa in a World Cup match.

Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli began slowly, made sure India had a solid platform before they began to accelerate.

Dhawan went on to score 137, his first century in three months spent in Australia - his personal best and also the highest score against South Africa in a World Cup match.

Kohli fell for 46, but Ajinkya Rahane scored 79 off 60 to help Dhawan along. India kept the defence simple too: bowl as few bad balls as possible, and once again under pressure South Africa imploded.

Dhawan and Kohli attacked South Africa with proper attacking shots, and not scoops and reverses. They added 127 in 24.2 overs with Kohli taking the back seat to Dhawan's positive approach. It could have gone better for South Africa.

Dhawan had looked in good touch in reaching 53 off 73, Kohli had just about got over a slow start, but South Africa were offered an opportunity to halt the assault.

Dhawan cut Parnell to the right of Amla at point, a regulation catch by modern standards, Amla got both hands to it, but dropped it.

Dhawan and Kohli

made 53 off the next seven overs. Parnell was their main target but even the return of Steyn didn't slow India down. Nor did the fall of Kohli - against the run of play and to a long hop from Tahir - slow them down. Rahane and Dhawan flowed smoothly, building up to a crescendo towards the Powerplay, which brought them 44 runs with no loss of wicket. Rahane and Dhawan added 125 in 16.3 overs.

Chris Gayle's 215 flattens Zimbabwe: West Indies batsman Chris Gayle scored a double century against Zimbabwe and created a string of records- highest score in World Cup history, highest

individual score for West Indies, the fastest double hundred in ODIs, most sixes in an ODI innings, and a lot more. For West Indies, it could not have come at a better time in ICC World Cup 2015.

Marlon Samuels' 8th ODI ton understandably became a footnote amidst Gayle's stunning 215 but he played an important part in the world-record partnership as West Indies powered to 372/2. As with most of Gayle's best knocks, the pacing of the innings was splendid. He got his fifty off 51 balls, his hundred off 105 balls but then exploded to score his next hundred off just 33 balls! However it was a far cry from how his and West Indies' innings started.

After opting to bat first, West Indies' opener Dwayne Smith was castled off just the second ball of the match by Tinashe Panyangara. Gayle could have been dismissed for a golden duck as well but Umpire Steve Davis turned down a close LBW call. What looked plumb to the naked eye was refuted

by DRS, which supported

the umpire, and Gayle survived, and later thrived.

The staggering stand sent Zimbabwe on a leather hunt. The pressure of Gayle's onslaught showed on the Zimbabwe bowlers who had been very disciplined until the 35th over. Once he turned it on, Zimbabwe simply crumbled. They conceded 207 runs off the last 15 as the screws came off.

England crush Scotland by 119 runs: England completed a clinical 119-run victory over Scotland in their cricket World Cup Pool A match at Hagley Oval on Monday to record their first win in the tournament. After they were crushed in their opening games by co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, England posted 303 for eight after being asked to bat then dismissed Scotland for 184 from 47.2 overs on a day which began under dark clouds and concluded in bright sunshine.

Moeen Ali (128) produced a stream of delightful drives to reach his second one-day international century and shared a 172run opening partnership with Ian Bell (54) to give England a grip on that

match they were never to relinquish.

Although wickets fell regularly after their departures, captain Eoin Morgan at last found some form to strike 46 with four boundaries and two sixes and guide his team past the 300 mark.

Left-hander Ali was in prime form from the outset, driving the ball fluently through the off-side and punishing any shortpitched deliveries with some booming pulls.

West Indies defeat Pakistan: A revitalized West Indies cashed in on a sensational Pakistan batting collapse to notch their first victory of the World Cup by 150 runs at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday. The Caribbean cricketers scored 310-6, with 115 runs coming in a swashbuckling final 10 overs involving Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell and Darren Sammy.

Pakistan in reply crumbled to their second straight defeat when they were all out for 160, failing to recover after the top four wickets fell in the first four overs for just one run, the worst start in one-day international history.