AV 2nd august 2014

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India on 5th position at Commonwealth games

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First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe

Leading Economist establishes Mahatma Gandhi Statue Trust

Bonds between UK and India are as much personal, as they are political: ED Davey

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London Trafalgar Square to celebrate Eid

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PM launches unique web platform to get citizens' ideas

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London celebrates UK Goan festival

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Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

VOL 43. ISSUE 13

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2nd August to 8th August August 2014

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After the brief visit to the Modi government made by Chancellor George Osborne and the then Foreign Secretary William Hague, it is now the turn of British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who is set to make his first trade mission to India in end of August. He will be visiting Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, focusing on aerospace, retail and education sectors and will also be accompanied by Dr Vince Cable, and some other MPs and Peers from the Lib Dem party. Continued on page 16

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DPM Clegg addressing guests at Whitehall

Kerry’s India visit aims building bridge with Modi govt US Secretary of State John Kerry’s the three-day visit from We d n e s d a y (July 30) is aimed at building bridges with the new government in Delhi led by a man Washington abhorred for nearly a decade. Following the landslide victory of BJPled NDA under Narendra Modi’s leadership, America changed its policy, that include important decision to invite the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the United States.

Identifying this as “a potentially transformative moment in our partnership,� Kerry said that the Obama administra-

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tion is determined to deliver on the strategic and historic opportunities with India as he embarked on a visit to New Delhi for the annual strategic dialogue between the two countries.

Having presided over damaging US processes on the Modi visa issue and the diplomatic fiasco involving an Indian Foreign Service official, Kerry ramped up talk about a “new set of opportunities, new possibilities� with the new government. There were several other laudatory references in his speech to Modi's vision and Continued on page 26

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fear was a very proud moment.

Rishi Choudhury

Rishi Choudhury from a very young age discovered his love and passion for music. He spent his early teenage years creating acoustic tunes on the guitar and creating his own Pop and R&B melodies on his keyboard.

Only just two years ago, he embarked in the journey to fulfil his dream as a successful professional performer, vocalist and musician and his friends and family are supportive throughout his journey.

Since then, Rishi has had the opportunity and pleasure of working with leading producers like ShaeToneDef, Rishi Rich and Dan Dare. They have also worked on productions and alongside top musicians like Jessie K, Rizzle Kicks, Drake and Jay Sean. Rishi has also spent time in the studio working alongside some of the music industries top song writers including: Richard Derbyshire, Steelo1 and Toby Faulkner to name a few and dancing alongside London's leading choreographer Aaron Black of Flawless.

Rishi is destined and quoted by established musical friends as being "one of the new Pop and R&B teen superstars to arise from the UK." To date, he has been occupied in many public appearances, featured in multiple online fashion blogs and will be on tour performing to his increasing followers of all ages at nationwide festivals, concerts and also a radio tour across the UK. With many exciting and fun collaborations in his busy schedule and teaming up with various key people in the music and entertainment industry, Rishi's much awaited music launch is finally coming to light and those can only expect the finest outcome to emerge from UK's youngest music artist.

2014 is looking to be an exciting year for this talented young musician who embraces each day with a passion for reaching the top.

1) Please tell me about your current position?

My current position is that I am currently working on my album which will be hopefully be finished quite soon.

I will also be going on a tour to perform at schools

around the country in the coming months.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

So far, my proudest achievement to date is probably overcoming stage nerves in my first

3) What inspires you?

I would say that I am definitely inspired by the greats: Michael Jackson, Elvis etc.

However, what inspires me the most is any person with a talent that makes me want to go home and improve my skills.

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

My biggest obstacle will always be myself. I believe that whatever I want to do, I can achieve, I must just overcome whatever it is in myself that is stopping myself from achieving it.

ever live show. I have been an artist, or even a singer at all, for about 2 years now. When I started off on my journey, I wasn't the most talented person with any experiences performing in front of even the smallest crowd of 2. Overcoming that

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7) And the worst?

The worst is that it is very hard work but I don't mind because I enjoy it anyway and could happily do it for a very long time.

8) What are your long term goals?

My long term goals are to see myself in a few years' time as an established award-winning artist delving into other areas of my career whether it be business or film.

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

Politics is definitely not one of strongest fields. If I were Prime Minister, I would spend my best efforts to try to eliminate unemployment in the UK. 10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?

I think I would like to of spent my with Jesus. I think I would learn a lot from him.

The new Mayor of Harrow Cllr Ajay Maru officially opened the Summer Fayre at the Krishna Avanti School on Camrose Avenue. The fair was all about raising funds for a new minibus for the school and a great time was had by all.

Avanti's Got Talent!

schools to start university this autumn. It revealed that 31% of white teenagers applied –compared with 61% of Chinese, 45% of Asian and 39% of black.

An inquiry by the Commons Education Select Committee last month called for radical measures to help reverse the ‘eal and persistent’under-performance of poorer

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

The best aspect about my current role is that I can make music and improve my craft knowing that it is in preparation to be able showcase it to the world.

Spotlight on Krishna Avanti School

Figures show white teenagers least likely to apply to Universities Recent figures have revealed that white teenagers are the least likely group to apply to universities after being overtaken by pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Rising numbers from all ethnic groups are setting their sights on a degree but white teenagers are less likely to apply than black, Asian or Chinese pupils.

The statistics also show that pupils on free school meals due to family poverty are half as likely to seek a place as their more privileged peers. Just one in seven schoolboys on free meals is aiming for University.

The analysis from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service examined applications from 18year-olds at England’ state

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

My biggest influence to my career to date is actually my mentor Steelo. He has taught me many things that have helped my career: how to analyse music stylistically and culturally, the art of recording music and aiding me in improving my singing ability. He has been my biggest believer only second to my

father.

white pupils, including longer school days to help children complete their homework.

It called for further research on the role of poor parenting and the ‘ffects of historical funding and strategies’ UCAS revealed that this year has seen the second highest total number of university applications submitted on record.

The Head of Harrow Council Cllr David Perry got a taste of the life of Simon Cowell this week when he officially opened the "Krishna Avanti's Got Talent" show.

The Krishna Avanti School, on Harrow's Camrose Avenue, staged a talent contest for the school children and Cllr David Perry thoroughly enjoyed his first visit there where he met children, staff and governors alike.

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Children of Krishna Avanti school along with the Head of the Parents Association, Mr Shah, the Headteacher of the School, Usha Sahani and the Harrow Mayor's chaplain, Srutidharma das of the ISKCON Hare Krishna temple

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COMMENT

Congress makeover necessary for Indian democracy

It isn’t in the interests of Indian democracy that the Congress Party should languish as a rump. It is, after all, the party that led the country’s struggle for independence and governed it for most of the subsequent six and a half decades and more, constructing its industrial and science platforms and defining its foreign policy paradigm. In opposition the Congress should have a constructive role in keeping the country’s political system robust and relevant.

India’s political giants, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, C. Rajagopalachari, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and pre-independence figures such Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak et al belonged to the Indian National Congress. But that is history. Depressingly the Congress cupboard is now bare: bereft of ideas, its leadership is largely anonymous. Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, the party’s public face, has diminishing credibility with the Indian public, his cliché-ridden speeches and statements intensifies the gloom among the party faithful. Time, surely, for a shake-out, for introspection and fresh faces and rejuvenating ideas. These need to be coherent and include the big issues of the day. Economic development, and best way forward inclusively; public-private partnerships in industry, agriculture, science and technology and education should be fleshed out with well structured detail.

How best to energize the largely slack judicial and administrative system, strengthen the rule of law,

stimulate freedom of thought and expression should be at the heart of the Congress discourse, reflecting in the best traditions of the nation’s cultural pluralism. Vote bank politics should be relegated to the dustbin, where it truly belongs. It breeds cynicism and destroy hope. It represents a debilitating past and annuls the present. It divides society, not heal its discords. It violates moral probity and common sense; it derails the prospect of national fulfillment.

There is little sign, thus far, that Congress is ready for such soul-searching. Jogging along as before has few rewards in public esteem, rather it invites public contempt. To start a new chapter, a party in the doldrums needs new wine in new bottles, in other words, bring in younger people in to the top party echelons eager and willing to embrace a brave new world. Ritual hullabaloos in Parliament are symptoms of nullity. As a starting point, Congress should tell the country of its plans (if it has any) to tackle the malaise of social inequality, insufficient empowerment of women, enhance economic modernization, fine-tune an educational system capable of delivering skills and knowledge, and throwing overboard rote learning fit for regiments of clerks in an already over-weight bureaucracy that clogs the administration, seeds corruption and makes bribery a way of life. The Congress Party has an opportunity to renew itself by accepting the challenge of change, by becoming its articulate voice.

Else, extinction looms.

Indian troops, frequently pressed into service in defence of the British Empire along the North West Frontier of the subcontinent and in Africa, had acquitted themselves well. The First World War or the Great War, as it is also known, was a sterner challenge. Here, in the snow, slush and trenches of European battlefields, they were to encounter the formidable army of Imperial Germany. In the heat and dust of the Middle East they took on the Ottoman Turks. Originally a Balkan conflict, the clash of arms spread to the European heartland, and from August 1914 became a World War, including in its periphery parts of East Africa and South West Africa and the German coastal possession of Tsingtao in China. The Indian Expeditionary Corps that was shipped to France held a significant portion of the British line in the opening year of hostilities until Britain was fully mobilized. Indian troops disembarking in France were given a warm welcome by the French public, but how they would stand up to German firepower and disciplined assault was as yet unknown. But not for long.

Indian troops, much to the surprise of the German enemy, held their own in valour and skill and became a force to be reckoned with in the First Battle of the Marne and in subsequent battles in France and Belgium, at Gallipoli, in Iraq, Syria and Palestine. In the French city of Neuve Chapelle stands a statue of Naik Darshan Singh Negi, one of the first Indians to be awarded the coveted Victoria Cross. More is the pity that the French public today is generally unaware of the Indian contribution to the defence of France a century ago. Philip

Mason’s masterly work on the British Indian Army, “A Matter of Honour,” should be required reading for students of twentieth century history. It relates a story that begins with the East India Company in the mid-eighteenth century and ends in 1945 with the Allied victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, in which Indian troops distinguished themselves in every theatre of conflict, from Italy and North Africa to South East Asia.

Apropos of the First World War, Indian nationalist leaders, from Mohandas Gandhi to Bal Gangadhar Tilak, from Sarojini Naidu to Motilal Nehru and Tej Bahadur Sapru et al called on Indians to enlist on the calculation that the display of loyalty to the Crown would be rewarded with political concessions on Indian self-rule in the peace to come. Tilak advised his compatriots to “Purchase war debentures, but look to them as the title deeds of Home Rule.” Nehru and Sapru, looking farther ahead, wanted Indians to acquire experience of modern warfare in preparation for the day when a free India would be responsible for its own security. Which is what came to pass, as one tradition moved seamlessly into another. The men who fought in two world wars deserve greater public recognition in UK as well as in India for their achievements and sacrifice than they presently receive. Reflexive immiigrant number game or anti-colonialism is a juvenile malady in contemporary conditions. We need to rid ourselves of thin skins that simply itch but do not assure us of peace of mind, leading only to bunkered mindsets.

Born Shabnam Ahmed, now Shabnam Ramaswami, is a story of a blissful childhood, of a house of mirth of a family of a army doctor in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Educated at a Convent in Asansol and at La Martiniere school in Calcutta on the insistence of a maternal grandmother, keen that she learn English, Shabnam’s life was that of a carefree, fun-loving, sporty adolescent. Followed the nightmare of an arranged marriage to a psychopath, who beat her black and blue from bouts of drinking and womanizing. Four of her children died in infancy, two survived. Incarcerated in a rigidly orthodox Muslim household, Shabbana was thrown out on to the street after a particularly savage assault from her husband. There was no going back to this hell and begging for mercy. She left with breast-fed baby and daughter, arriving at Sealdah station in Kolkata and lived there for two months under a tarpaulin. Then came the trudge through city streets looking for work. Her education helped. She started making her way in life. Her children grew up. After getting a divorce, she travelled to Delhi and put her chil-

dren to school, before finding her feet as a professional in a welfare organization. Shabana met and married Jugnu Ramaswami, a journalist making a documentary for UNICEF. That was in 1990. She returned to Bengal in 2000 with her husband and bought a plot of land in a poor conservative Muslim neighbourhood in the environs of Murshidabad and set up a school. The local maulvis and maulanas were dead set against her subversive project. Four men were hired to kill her. Undaunted, Shabana took her campaign for education and women’s selfhelp from village to village, armed with a loudspeaker and chair. Her Jagriti public school - with English an integral part of the curriculum - is a flourishing institution today. Her chauffeur and bodyguard – Man Friday - was one of her would-be assassins.

His daughter is a pupil in the school. Shabana’s husband Jugnu Ramasawmi died of a heart attack.

She told her interviewer, “See I held life by its collar, pushed it to the wall and said ‘you live according to me and not me according to you.” Sweet are the pleasures of adversity.

Remembering India’s Glorious Dead in the Great War

Battered wife who stood tall and shines

3 It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again - Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

Sarah Teather MP Liberal Democrat MP for Brent Central

The long wait for peace Five and a half years ago, I wrote a piece for Asian Voice in the immediate aftermath of the Gaza War. That conflict, which last 22 days, saw the deaths of over 1,000 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed, along with many of Gaza’s schools and hospitals.

As the conflict wore on, I distinctly remember the utter horror I felt as I watched images of the bombings on television.

In the last few weeks that feeling has returned with reports of the indiscriminate killing of innocent men, women and children. Having visited Gaza on a number of occasions, I have seen first-hand the devastating physical and emotional impact that living in a land under siege has had on Palestinians. It is hard to comprehend that the situation there has taken yet another turn for the worse.

The recent kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June was appalling.

The firing of rockets by Hamas across the border into Israel is unacceptable, and remains a significant barrier to peace in the region.

However, the Israeli government’s response has been far from proportionate. I firmly believe that there is no justification – morally or in international law – for collective punishment. The deaths of so many children in the recent bombardment is particularly appalling.

the Whatever provocation, the killing of innocent people and the destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure is not acceptable. Anger at the Israeli government’s response has been expressed around the world. Earlier this month in London, 100,000 people marched in protest at the violence.

This anger is understandable when you consider that more than 1,000 Palestinians have now been killed.

As this goes to press, the humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly, with medical supplies stuck at the border and rescue teams unable to operate safely in Gaza due to the constant shelling. 150,000 people have been displaced and are now living in shelters.

I visited the Middle East shortly after a ceasefire ended Operation Cast Lead in 2009. Having visited Palestine again last year, this latest violence brings with it a terrible sense of déjà vu. As conflict peaks yet again, I understand better than ever the overwhelming sense of hopelessness felt by many of the Palestinians I met.

So now is the time for a ceasefire to be agreed between the two sides. This is obviously a fast moving situation, but only an urgent and peaceful settlement can put a stop to the unimaginable suffering of innocent civilians.

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MIDLANDS VOICE

Thieves raided pensioner's home as she lay in hospital with cancer

Burglars ransacked a 71year-old woman's home as she lay in hospital with terminal cancer.

The intruders stole Naseem Moghal's £50,000 collection of family heirloom jewellery and a substantial sum of cash, and left her Wigston home in disarray. Her horrified family has offered a £5,000 reward for the jewellery's safe return and information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the burglars.

Mrs Moghal has not been told about the breakin as she is so poorly. Her family said the news would "destroy" her. Her son Tariq Malik said his mother, a refugee from Idi Amin's Uganda in the early 1970s, has myeloma, a form of blood cancer.

She was admitted to hospital four months ago.

Until then, she had carried on working at Leicester's Bradgate Bakery.

Mr Malik, 41, said: "Mum was diagnosed with myeloma five years ago and she has still been working despite us all trying to persuade her to

stop. Everything Mum has, she has worked for with her own sweat, blood and tears. She has never given up."

He continued: "Mum witnessed carnage in Uganda and had everything taken away from her and had to rebuild her life far away from home. Her experiences from Uganda never left my mum and as a consequence she has always stashed savings and valuables in the house in case we needed to make a speedy getaway again.

"The past few months have been a nightmare for our family, watching Mum suffer such immense pain and still remaining stoic and still worrying about us more than herself.

"We had been hoping to get Mum home with the help of round-the-clock nursing, but that will not be possible now. We have started to clean up in

Naseem Moghal's home was ransacked by a burglar and gold jewellery were stolen

between hospital visits – just what you need when you are in such a raw state anyway. It has taken eight hours to clean up the carnage left in one room.

"We want people to appreciate that this is not something that can just be cleaned up and everything is okay. They have robbed my mother of all her labours and also robbed her of the opportunity to return to the home she has worked so hard to build. I would ask whoever did this to have some human kindness and return my mother's jewellery. This can't be replaced and is so important to her."

Teachers suspended over Trojan Horse plot Teachers accused of involvement in the Trojan Horse plot have been suspended, the Government confirmed Monday.

Education minister Lord Nash made the announcement in the House of Lords. It came 48 hours after the Birmingham Mail exclusively revealed the news. Lord Nash said teachers had been suspended for causing harassment amid allegations of a plot by hardline Muslims to seize control of Birmingham schools. A Governmentordered inquiry into the allegations, led by former anti-terror chief Peter Clarke, concluded there had been “co-ordinated, deliberate and sustained action” by a number of individuals to introduce an “intolerant and aggressive

Leicester’s Muslim community celebrate Eid and remember loved ones Leicester’s Muslim community have raised £100,000 for the relief of victims in the Gaza and Syria conflicts.

The money, collected in Leicester to mark the end of Ramadan, will go towards work carried out for the global charity Human Appeal.

Leicester Ramadan Festival, which raised the money, ran from Thursday to Sunday at The Spinney, in Spinney Hills. Thousands of people attended.

Festival director Abdul Osman said: "Various charities made a tremendous effort in raising more than £100,000 for humanitarian efforts. A special auction was held by Human Appeal and that one event raised £52,000.

"Leicester is the only city that holds a Ramadan festival of this

Muslims saying prayers for loved ones at Saffron Hill cemetery

kind. It marks the uniqueness of Leicester's diversity and cultures."

On Monday, Muslims celebrated Eid-al-Fitr following the month-long fast. Traditionally, Eid consists of prayer in the morning, and a family meal in the evening.

After dinner, Muslims go to cemeteries to pay their respects to loved ones

who have died.

Hundreds of people gathered in Saffron Hill cemetery. Among them was Shaheerez Choudary, 35 who said: "After we sat down for a meal with the family, we went to the cemetery to pay our respects to family who are not with us any more. It's about unity."

Birmingham welcomes first direct flight from China

Monzoor Hussain and Razwan Faraz

Islamic ethos” into some city classrooms.

The Birmingham Mail revealed last Saturday that Park View School acting principal Monzoor Hussain and Nansen Primary deputy head Razwan Faraz had both been suspended.

The two schools were run by the Park View Educational Trust – described by Mr Clarke as

“the incubator for much of what has happened and the attitudes and behaviours that have driven it”.

Park View, Nansen and a third school in the Trust’s portfolio, Golden Hillock, were among five Birmingham schools placed in special measures by Ofsted as a result of the Trojan Horse claims earlier this year.

Six-month suspension for doctor A doctor who worked at Leicester's hospitals has been suspended from the medical register for six months.

Dr Jayaprakash Gosalakkal, a consultant children's neurologist, was found guilty of misconduct by a panel at the Medical Practitioners' Tribunal Service.

It related to allegations that guidelines coauthored by the doctor for a test known as video EEG telemetry, which videos patients who have seizures while recording brainwave activity, were "not fit for purpose" and that he failed to recognise safe staffing levels when the

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

test was carried out.

The panel also heard that Dr Gosalakkal, who worked at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) from January, 2002, to October, 2011, did not co-operate with investigations by the trust and that he inappropriately contacted the parents of a patient in 2011 after he was excluded from UHL. An allegation that Dr Gosalakkal did not provide good clinical care to patient D in March, 2009, was found not proved.

Dr Gosalakkal was also cleared of three allegations of not providing good clinical care to two

patients. Accusations that he had prescribed some medications to the three patients which were not needed were also found not proved.

The suspension will take effect in 28 days unless Dr Gosalakkal exercises his right of appeal.

Lord Popat welcoming Birmingham Airport’s first direct flight from China, with Paul Kehoe the Airport’s CEO and Mr Ren Jun the Vice President Caissa Travel.

Last week Birmingham Airport welcomed the UK’s first direct flight from China into a nonLondon airport. The airport also inaugurated the use of its recently extended runway as the service departed for its 5,000 mile journey back to Beijing.

The flight was welcomed by Lord Dolar Popat, the Government Transport spokesperson in the House of Lords, along with the UK’s Tourism Minister Helen Grant MP and other dignitaries from Birmingham.

The China Southern A330-200 aircraft, operated by Chinese tour opera-

tor, Caissa Travel Management Co Ltd, arrived into Birmingham Airport fully laden with 248 tourists venturing into the UK on organised package tours. Speaking at the inaugural reception, the Airport’s Chief Executive said, “This is a historic day for Birmingham, and indeed the Midlands region.

Never before has a commercial airliner touched down on a runway outside of the Capital from China and we are enormously proud to be the first to make this happen.”

Lord Popat was at the

Airport to welcome the arrival of this historic flight and to greet the passengers, including Mr Ren Jun, Vice President of Caissa Travel Management. Lord Popat said: “I welcome this inaugural flight from Beijing to Birmingham Airport. As the first direct flight from Beijing to a UK regional airport, this is a very significant moment. This is great news for Birmingham, the West Midlands and the UK, and underscores the role our regional airports have in generating growth as part of the UK’s long term economic plan.”

Pub landlord caught without a TV licence is fined by magistrates A pub landlord caught without a TV licence has been ordered to pay £155 by magistrates.

Surinder Rura, landlord of the Fox Inn, in Main Street, Thorpe Satchville, Melton, was fined £135 at Leicester Magistrates' Court. He

was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge Speaking after the hearing, East Midlands TV Licensing spokesman Mark Whitehouse said any business showing TV programmes, whether for customer use or in staff areas, must be covered by a

licence."We appreciate these are tough times for businesses, but to be fair to the majority who do pay the licence fee, we have to take action. Those businesses who do try to get away with it might find the price of being caught to be higher than just a fine. We

would rather businesses think ahead and check if they need a licence. A licence costs £145.50 and can be bought in minutes online," he said.

Business which have a TV without a valid licence risk a fine of up to £1,000 per offence, plus costs.

5

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Lord Loomba CBE pays tribute to BBC World Service and British Council in India Spriha Srivastava

IJA hosts summer reception with Indian High Commissioner and Israeli Deputy Ambassador

Left to right: Aubrey Rose, IJA Founding Co-Chairman; Mike Whine MBE, IJA Founding Trustee; Mr Eitan Na’eh, Israeli Deputy Ambassador; Peter Chadha, IJA Executive member; HE Mr Ranjan Mathai, Indian High Commissioner; John Levy, IJA CoChairman; Ajay Aggarwal, IJA Executive member

The Indian Jewish Association hosted a reception at Bank Leumi (UK) last week and explore the rich culture and similarities between the two nations – India and Israel. The chief guests of the event included the Indian High Commissioner to the UK Mr. Ranjan Mathai and Mr Eitan Na’eh, Israeli Deputy Ambassador, who stood in at the last moment for the Ambassador, HE Mr Daniel Taub, who was accompanying the newly appointed British Foreign Secretary, Mr Philip Hammond on a short trip to Israel.

The Bank’s Chief Corporate Finance Officer, Jonathan Watson, and fellow senior executives welcomed over 80 guests to their London offices off Oxford Street.

Having served as India’s ambassador to Israel at an earlier stage in his career, Mr Mathai spoke of his experiences there, including playing cricket against the Israel national team, of which one third were former Indian Test cricketers who had migrated to Israel. He went on to discuss the growing strategic and commercial links between the two countries, a theme that was taken up by Mr Na’eh, who spoke about new advanced Israel bio technology engineering schemes in India.

Mr. Mathai also spoke about his wonderful experience as Ambassador to Israel for three and a half years and spoke of various similarities between the two nations. Israel is currently in the middle of a crisis with Gaza and that’s impacting its economy and politics.

Mr Eitan Na’eh, Israeli Deputy Ambassador talked about the crisis his country was facing currently and also said that Israel is ready to

accept ceasefire proposed

by Egypt but was rejected

by Hamas.

IJA’s CoThe Chairman, Mr John Levy, explained the 20 year history of the association which seeks to bring leading members of the Indian and Jewish communities in Britain together to share experiences, and to work together on political and social issues which confront both migrant faith communities.

Members of the association include some of Britain’s leading entrepreneurs, bankers, lawyers, medical scientists and journalists as well as leaders of The Hindu Forum, Indian Journalists Association, National Sikh C o n s u l t a t i v e Association, National Congress of Gujarati Organisations, Confederation of Indian Industry, National Asian Business Association and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

The Indian Jewish Association is an organisation that aims to draw together the most creative personalities in two immigrant communities, to share thoughts and ideas on contrasting cultural and historic experiences, and jointly forge new prescriptions for helping these communities maintain their vibrancy, whilst contributing positively to mainstream life in the UK. Since 1980 members of the Indian and Jewish communities in Britain have developed close relations and an interest in each other’s cultural heritage. Subsequently the two communities realised that both can benefit from sharing their experiences as important minorities permanently settled in this country.

By 1995 it was felt that the links between the Indians and Jews

should be put on a more permanent basis. On 28 April 1996, at a meeting at the Hillel House Jewish Centre, attended by over fifty representatives from both communities, the Indian Jewish Association UK was established, and since then we have held a variety of events involving and distinguished renowned speakers.

The event was held at the classy offices of Bank Leumi in the posh Bond Street area. Bank Leumi (UK) is a first-class boutique bank offering a wide range of corporate and private banking services to UK-based and international clients.

Founded over 110 years ago in London, the Bank operates through its head office in London, its northern office in Leeds and in Jersey via its subsidiaries Bank Leumi (Jersey) Limited and Leumi Overseas Trust Corporation. There is also an award-winning office in Brighton - assetbased lender.

With a reputation for true relationship banking, Bank Leumi (UK) activities include commercial finance, trade finance, commodity finance, financing Israeli related business, media finance, property and hotel finance, and asset based lending (via Leumi ABL). The Bank also specialises in UK and international private banking and wealth management, offering an extensive range of deposit accounts, investment services, structured products, and foreign exchange and hedging facilities. It is a subsidiary of the Bank Leumi le-Israel Group.

The Group has a significant share of the domestic Israeli banking market as well as an established overseas network of 60 offices in 17 countries around the world.

Let us know what you think.

Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Lord Loomba highlighted the important work of the BBC World Service and the British Council in India, and asked the Government whether there had been “any focused research on how far the BBC World Service is responsible for educating listeners about British culture and British values”.

He spoke primarily on efforts in education and cultural exchange. Lord Loomba was contributing to a debate introduced by Lord Alton of Liverpool, seeking the Government’s assurances of support for both the BBC World Service and the British Council in promoting British values and interests abroad.

He referred to the BBC’s “Learning English” programme which provides free language resources to those learning English in India, while also stressing the importance of the BBC World Service coverage of British current affairs, in both English and Hindi. He stressed to the House that the awareness this creates

“contributes to the cultural interaction between India and Britain.”

Lord Loomba, pictured, also paid tribute to the efforts of the British Council in this area, developing connections between universities and industries in India and the United Kingdom through the UK-India Education and Research Initiative.

He described this work, and that of the BBC World Service, as “a vital tool in promoting Britain to the rest of the world and... invaluable in shaping the way in which Britain is viewed.”

Lord Loomba also celebrated the importance of BBC World Service news

and documentary programmes in spreading British values and influence, particularly in benefitting efforts in international development. This is an area in which Lord Loomba has great experience, as founder of Loomba Foundation, a UN accredited NGO, which has been working to support widows and their children in India since 1997. The Loomba Foundation has educated more than 9,000 widows’ children and has launched a project to empower 10,000 widows through vocational training and employment.

In her concluding remarks, Baroness Warsi, the Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, answered that there is ongoing surveying by the BBC of their specific language programming. She also joined Lord Loomba and other members of the House in describing the BBC World Service and the British Council as “important partners and assets in the UK’s approach internationally.”

Moeen Ali banned from wearing wristband The International Cricket Council has announced that the England Batsman Moeen Ali has been banned from wearing wristbands with slogans ‘Save gaza’ and ‘Free Palestine.’

British-Pakistani Moeen has been helping raise funds for charities working with those affected by the three-week conflict with Israel.

Though Moeen was backed by the England

and Wales Cricket Board but was told by match referee David Boon to remove the wristband and not wear them again while playing for England.

Risking disciplinary action under the ICC Code of Conduct, which forbids players wearing, displaying or conveying messages through arm bands or other items on clothing or equipment without prior approval, wore the wristbands on

Monday’s second day of the third test against India at Southampton.

Britain may make drinking alcohol a criminal offence Britain may soon make pregnant women drinking alcohol a criminal offence.

Children born to alcoholic mothers may also be legally allowed to demand compensation from his or

her parent for the injuries inflicted of deformities due to alcohol consumption.

Civil organisation Birthrights and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS)

have initiated a court case against such a legislation, which one believes could seriously undermine women’s autonomy while pregnant and their freedom to make decisions for themselves.

Are Asian values helping couples to stay together?

A report has revealed that almost 400,000 children in England and Wales now divide their time between two homes because their parents have separated or divorced, though this number is much less in areas with large concentration of Asian settlement.

Analysis of findings of the 2011 census shows that 386,000 children under 16 have two home addresses, not counting those at boarding school or whose parents have a second home in the country.

However, Tower Hamlets in east London,

with a large number of ethnic minorities, has the lowest concentration of children who alternate between two households, less than 1% of all dependent children in the borough.

The picture was similar in other parts of the capital as well as Birmingham and Manchester, which also has a large Asian population.

The report probably points at the ethnic mix in those boroughs- especially the conservative Asian values acting as a glue between couples or families.

By contrast, almost 6% of children growing up in Ribble Valley, one of the wealthiest parts of Lancashire, have two family homes – the highest proportion in the country.

The ONS cited that Tower Hamlets, which is the only local authority in the UK in which more people list themselves as Muslim than Christian.

“This may relate to the higher proportions of the population reporting Asian ethnicity in these areas, reflecting different cultural attitudes towards marriage, divorce and cohabitation,” it noted in a commentary.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Leading Economist establishes Mahatma Gandhi Statue Trust

Leading economist Meghnad Desai has established a charity trust in order to raise about one million pounds for the statue of Mahatma Gandhi to be installed at Parliament Square next year.

The Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust has been registered with the UK’s Charity Commission and will launch next week for people to begin contributing funds.

At an event organised by the Asian Business Association of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently, Desai reportedly said, “We want as many people to contribute whatever little

Meghnad Desai

they can from any where in the world. This is a people’s statue. There have been lots of offers to fund the statue but I don’t want it to be done exclusively

by any billionaire. We are not here to play with this.

It should be everybody’s property.”

Ex-foreign secretary William Hague and Chancellor George Osborne, on their visit to India, announced the new Gandhi statue for Parliament Square alongside those of Britain’s wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Desai reportedly said that the plans are to unveil the new statue of the Father of the Nation on Martyrs’ Day - January 30, 2015 and hopes that it will be done by PM Narendra Modi.

Mother of ‘missing’ Mikaeel admits to beating him to death A major investigation was ordered on Monday 25 July, after it was revealed that social services had decided to stop monitoring three-year-old Mikaeel Kular a month before the boy was beaten to death by his mother.

Horrific details of the injuries sustained by the toddler were heard in the court after 34-year-old Rosdeep Adekoya, 34, admitted to killing her son and beating him at the start of this year.

Adekoya, who is a mother of five, sparked off a major public search when she reported her son missing in January. She was charged with murdering Mikaeel but admitted a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

She admitted to repeatedly punching her child on the head and

body after he was sick following a trip to a restaurant. She inflicted lifethreatening injuries to her son over the next 24 hours and refused to seek medical help. Mikaeel died on Tuesday 14 January following the injuries.

The court heard that Adekoya, from Fife, had a number of mental health problems and was closely monitored by social services as she struggled with being a single mother of

five children all under the age of ten.

Police examined her phone and discovered a number of internet searches, which reportedly included “I find it hard to love my son”, “I love all my children except one” and “I always feel angry with my son”.

The court heard that just over a month before Mikaeel was so badly beaten by his mother that his bowel ruptured, Fife Social Services had stopped monitoring Adekoya and her children.

She had moved her family to Edinburgh several months earlier.

Fife council and the city of Edinburgh council announced that they are launching a case review following Adekoya’s admission. She will be sentenced next month.

Couple found dead by son in pool after both suffer heart attacks A well-respected and inspirational elderly couple were found dead in their swimming pool by their son, after they both suffered fatal heart attacks, on Tuesday 15 July.

Nayyar Siddique, 77, collapsed during her regular exercise session in the pool of their garden at their £625,000 four-bedroom detached house in Thorpe Bay, Essex. Her husband Aqeel, 79, a retired surgeon, attempted to save her - but then also suffered a fatal heart attack.

Their son Haroon Siddique, 49, found them both later that day and called the police at around 7.45pm.

Mr Siddique reportedly said, ‘My father dedicated his life to helping people and he died trying to help my mother. We are very proud of everything they achieved and that

UK

Indian student gets £3,500 compensation for illegal detainment at Heathrow Indian native Swathi Palisetty, who attended the University of Bedfordshire in Luton, has won £3,500 pounds compensation for her illegal detention at Heathrow Airport, reports say.

Ms Palisetty, a failed ex-student of Computer Studies, was held for 17 hours by suspicious UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials at Heathrow upon her return from a trip to India in December 2011. She was later flown to Hyderabad in India after the detention ordeal.

A British high court heard that the agency had reportedly wrongly concluded Palisetty was not registered at her university college, and that she was entering the country to work.

Palisetty sued the Home Office over her detention, saying she had been blocked from Britain on the mistaken basis of working as a nanny.

The judge issued the verdict in her favour and told the British Home Office to pay £3,500 in damages. The Home

Office was also ordered to pay £568 for the cost of her flight back to Hyderabad.

Palisetty’s lawyer said that the Border Agency’s assumption that she had been working was reportedly ‘unjustified’ and that its officers did not check the visa database or make direct inquiries with the university.

Throughout the court hearings, the Border Agency maintained that Swathi was not able to provide agency officers with details about her course modules.

The student also could not speak English well when she tried to return to Britain from India, the report stat-

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ed. Her visa expired at the end of July 2012.

The University of Bedfordshire removed her from its register after she was allowed back in Britain late 2012. The University informed the Home Office that they were not confident about Palisetty’s ability to continue the course and therefore did not readmit her.

Palisetty was flown back to Britain ‘at public expense’ in March 2012, so that she could take her exams. She also claimed that her detention had contributed to her failure to get her degree but the high court rejected her attempt to recover the course fees, the report said.

Shotgun robber who threatened brave shopkeeper spared jail

A teenager, who threatened a shopkeeper and her seven-year-old daughter with a sawn-off shotgun during a terrifying armed robbery, has avoided jail because he is “young an impressionable.”

Jack Phillips, 18, burst into the store with a mask on, waving the 2ftlong loaded weapon at Ranvir Bassi, 35, at around 8.20pm on November 4 last year, demanding money while her daughter hid at her feet.

CCTV footage showed the brave mum fighting

Brave shopkeeper Ranvir Bassi and robber Jack Phillips

off the raider with just her hands before chasing him out.

However, despite admitting the attempted robbery, a judge gave Phillips, now 18, two years’ detention, suspended for two years.

Ranvir has contested

the “ridiculous” decision.

She said, “He terrified my family – my daughter still has nightmares. I don’t feel like justice has been served.”

He was ordered to carry out 240 hours’ community work and given a curfew.

Asian meat company faces investigations over contamination gives us some solace. They were amazing people and were amazing examples to follow.’

The couple, who were both born in India, married in 1960 and first moved to England in 1962 so Mr Siddique could train as a surgeon. He qualified in 1965 and went on to Lesotho, where he became the country’s only surgeon in 1969. He was only supposed to be there on a year’s placement, but the couple’s passion to help

improve the lives of the country’s 1million citizens saw them stay.

As a couple they developed a strong friendship with the royal family of Lesotho King Moshoeshoe II and his sons - the current king King Letsie and Prince Seeiso.

Mr Siddique also developed many new medical services to help residents especially in the more remote areas of the country.

Whistleblowers have launched an emergency investigation following recent claims that contaminated chicken is being supplied to high street stores and restaurants like Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Marks & Spencer and Nando’s.

The Daily Mail newspaper reported that the public is being put at risk because of suspect practices at two of the largest UK poultry processors, the 2 Sisters Food Group and Faccenda. 2 Sisters Group is owned by billionaire British Indian tycoon

Ranjit Singh, popularly known as the “chicken king”.

He has an estimated personal fortune of £840 million shared with his wife Baljinder Boparan and the couple are ranked the fifth richest British Indians in the UK. An undercover reporter for the Guardian found evidence that chickens that fell on to the factory floor at two factories were put back into the food chain and that feathers, guts and offal were left to pile up for hours while production continued at a

factory in Wales.

As well as allegations of poor hygiene at its factories, the company is also facing claims about poor working conditions and low wages.

Sisters Food operates factories around the UK and employs a staggering 24,000 people.

However, the allegations, which first appeared on The Guardian website, are denied by the companies, while the supermarkets all insist that their own audit systems ensure that the meat reaching the high street is safe.

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

The Glasgow Games: Showcasing the Commonwealth’s strengths

Foreign Office Minister for the Commonwealth, Hugo Swire This week, 6,500 worldclass athletes from 71 nations gathered in Glasgow for the start of the 20th Commonwealth Games. Over the next week and a half, hundreds of millions of spectators will watch these athletes display their skill, strength and endurance in seventeen different disciplines.

As I watched the opening ceremony, I was proud of the attention the Games are drawing to Glasgow, the third largest city in the United Kingdom and the biggest in Scotland. It was also a chance to reflect on the bonds which hold us together – in the United Kingdom of course, but also within the Commonwealth. What is it that unites us? And how can we make these links even stronger?

The Commonwealth is an astonishing group of nations. It is home to a third of the world’s population, over half of whom are under the age of 30. It is diverse. It includes some of the world’s largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries, and stretches across every continent.

Some 31 of its members are small states, many of them island nations. Its terrain includes high mountains, Arctic islands, shifting sand dunes, coral reefs, tropical rainforest and green rolling hills.

As a voluntary association, it is a constant reminder that what brings nations together in the 21st century is common interests and common consent.

The fact that we choose to work together in this way, and that others seek to join us, is because the Commonwealth has been a force for good for over 60 years: it helps us to learn from each other, enables development, promotes democracy and the rule of law, and helps to create jobs and growth. We have shared values, and we use those values to create peace and prosperity. This spirit of co-operation is what makes the Commonwealth tick.

But we cannot be complacent. Our organisation needs to remain relevant.

The rapid technological boom of the past few decades has brought with it many opportunities, and made the world we live in much more interconnected.

It’s important in these circumstances that we spread these benefits between all of our members. Working to increase prosperity is a vital function of the Commonwealth. Where we can help one another to develop the skills to thrive in a modern commercial environment or make more effective use of new means of communication, we

must.

The United Kingdom is a passionate supporter of free trade. We will do our utmost to expand trade and investment across the Commonwealth – for instance, by using our leverage in other bodies, including the EU and the World Trade Organisation, to open up more markets to Commonwealth countries who, together, account for a fifth of the world’s economy.

But we will also push to make the Commonwealth relevant in other areas, promoting the values and aspirations that unite us, which are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter signed last year by Her Majesty The Queen. These values – democracy, human rights and the rule of law – are fundamental to what the Commonwealth stands for. And the UK will continue making the case for these values to be upheld.

In particular, we will continue to press Commonwealth countries to recognise that the LGBT community deserves the same protection as all others.

Next year, the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta gives us an opportunity to work out a plan of action for how to put these values into practice.

Importantly, this summit comes at a time when we start working towards a new set of international development goals. I believe that the Commonwealth can make a significant contribution here: development is a first order priority.

This is hard, serious work, and rightly so. But it is necessary to keep the Commonwealth in good shape for the years ahead.

This week, I hope to see at least a few of the events.

I wish the organisers and the teams every success. To me, these Games epitomise the great strengths of the Commonwealth - how with energy and enthusiasm, we can work together with a common purpose and achieve world-class results.

And I will return from Glasgow to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office determined to step up our work, alongside other Commonwealth nations, to increase the security and well-being of the 2.2 billion people that we collectively represent.

Launch of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Indian Traditional Sciences On Wednesday 23 July, an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Indian Traditional Sciences was formally established by Lord Patel, Lord Rana, Baroness Uddin, Lord Hussain, Lord Stone, Lord Ahmed and Virendra Sharma MP for Ealing Southall in the House of Lords.

Amarjeet S Bhamra, a long time champion of Complementary and Alternative Medicines and a Lecturer on Ayurvedic Sciences called representatives of all natural healing and medicinal traditions, along with Lord Patel promoted and facilitated informed discussions on issues concerning all Indian Traditional Sciences (Ayurveda, Ghandharav, Jyotish, Siddha, Unani, Vastu, Yoga and etc.) in Britain within the Parliament by providing a forum for cross party Parliamentarians, senior policy makers, academics, leading community figures, and other interested parties.

The meeting was also addressed by Ashish Sharma - First Secretary (Visa) Indian High Commission London, Richard Johnson Maharishi Foundation, Svamini Hamsananda Giri - Hindu Forum Europe (Italy), Dr Venkat

(L to R) Svamini Hamsananda Giri (Hindu Forum Europe), Lord Stone, Lord Patel, Baroness Uddin, Lord Hussain, Amarjeet-Singh Bhamra, Dr Godagama (Ayurvedic Medical Association UK)

Joshi College of Ayurveda UK, Dr Vijayendra Murti AyuWave, Haribhai Halai – Hindu Forum GB, Dr Prathima Nagesh Ayurvedic Medical Association, Gordon Brennan British Association of Vedic Astrologers, Satya Minhas - Hindu Council UK, David Balen - Balens Insurance, Desiree National Shelley Institute of Medical Herbalists, Satish Sharma - National Council of Hindu Temples, Dr Rob Verkerk ANH International, Ms Anosiya Aparau (Int’l Human Rights Lawyer), Philip Abraham - Kerala Link, Ravi Bhanot Ayurveda

Institute of Europe, Kirith Ahluwalia City Sikh Network, and Dr Geoffrey Clements in the company of nearly one hundred participants.

Mr Virendra Sharma MP said, “It’s an honour to be here at the launch of the APPG – Traditional Sciences. I am glad that he asked me to join this discussion. As an Indian brought up in an environment where we know the value of these medicines, we have had experience about using these medicines ... we have seen that it has worked, on many many people for many years. We feel proud that our ancestors have given that medicine to the world and we are still

using it. Therefore, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to show my support.”

After the event, Amarjeet Bhamra said “Representatives from all faculties of Indian Sciences agree that we do need the support of as many MP’s and Members of the House of Lords to help in improving the health of the nation through more preventative measures and complementary treatments.”

The meeting was supported by Ayurvedic Medical Association, College of Ayurveda UK, Quality Foods Southall, Surjeet Herbals Southall, Cool Herbals, Sira Cash and Carry Southall.

Charity fundraiser organised at John Lyons School, Harrow on the Hill Two brothers from Harrow, London, Aditya Rajan (yr 9) and Aryan Rajan (yr 3) organised a charity event on 19th July 2014 at The John Lyon School, Harrow on the Hill, to raise funds for Chinmaya Jagriti Patiala, a branch of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide.

Chinmaya Jagriti is temple under construction in India for teaching the principles of Vedanta for

personnel spiritual development through Chinmaya Misssion.

Chinmaya Mission is a highly intellectual Spiritual organisation having more than 300 centres all over the world. The Mission is serving the humanity all over the world through various Spiritual, Educational, Medical and Social activities. The boys performed brilliantly on drums along

with other artists including Dr Limci Gupta (Neha Gupta, Consultant Histopathologist), Kasem Sehouja and his band (Rock Band Player), Mrs Binu Sood (professional singer), Nibedita from Chinmaya Mission U.K (Indian classical dancer), Dr Sukhwinder Randhawa (a surgeon) and Mr Manoj Puri (from PhytaOptikz). They raised £5,150 from the concert.

Aditya and Aryan Rajan

Virendra Sharma MP raising awareness of Hepatitis C Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall, and The Hepatitis C Trust hosted an event on Monday 28th July 2014, outside Southall Town Hall for World Hepatitis Day. The aim of this event was to raise awareness of Hepatitis C and the Hepatitis C Trust carried out free testing onsite.

A nurse was also available onsite for any positive testing in order to connect people with a local care pathway.

Virendra Sharma MP and the Hepatitis C Trust have been working closely to raise awareness of the disease, specifically amongst Black, Asian and Ethnic minority groups.

HCV Action’s recent report on Health and Wellbeing Boards &

Hepatitis C showed that Ealing falls within the top 10 worst performing areas of England for Hepatitis C. Despite a high local prevalence rate, HCV Action found low prioritisation of the virus by

Ealing Health and Wellbeing Board in its JSNA. According to Public Health England data, Ealing has 2,183 cases of Hepatitis C. Virendra said: ‘Hepatitis C is an extremely important

health issue that often goes undetected and of which the r i s k s increase with time. I have been involved with groups that work closely on r a i s i n g a w a re n e s s , testing and offering support to patients who have been affected by this disease. I hope that hosting this event in my constituency will contribute to raising awareness in the local area and will continue to support this cause.’

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Leading Lights

Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

“My Love for Radio and the Stage;” First Indian BBC Hindi Head Kailash Budhwar was the first Indian head of the BBC Hindi Service, a position previously also held by Sir Mark Tully.

Kailash worked at the BBC’s World Service for 22 years.

Kailash had an illustrious career away from the BBC, too. He was studying for an MA in History at Allahabad University where he also held the celebrated post of the General Secretary of the Dramatic Association when Prithviraj Kapoor, the founder of Prithvi visited.

Theatres, Kailash’s dramatic prowess led to Kapoor offering him a staff writer/performer position at Prithvi Theatres when Mr Budhwar later moved to Mumbai, then Bombay.

Kailash travelled with the troupe all over India.

“Prithvi Theatres was an academy at that time because there was no National School of Drama, no Film Institute,” he told me in the conservatory of his home in Harrow. “It gave you an entry into stage and film.

to do. He joined All India Radio Delhi twice, but though jobs were offered, the promised newsreader posts never materialised because of “the old story of getting jobs in India,” Kailash explains, musing about how and why he was not offered the job which he was twice selected for by the central panel.

But the BBC World Service, then broadcasting in 42 languages (now 27), came calling and Kailash started a long and difficult set of entry tests which took a year and a half. “First of all we had home tests, where we had to prepare lots of essays and questions,” Kailash narrated. “And after completing those home tests, we were invited for formal tests; for auditions, for voice tests, and finally, for an appearance before a board of selection, which had flown from London to Delhi. You were interviewed, and of course there were hundreds of applicants. It was tough competition. After I was selected it took me six months to decide to come here as I did not want to leave the country. Once, when I did not proceed with my response for a while, the senior personnel officer wrote to me asking if I was serious about joining the BBC. But having reached here, I

have never regretted it.”

Finally, he succeeded Mark Tully, Evan Charlton (former chief editor of the Statesman) and Towyn Mason to become the Head of Hindi- and Tamil.

His audience reach at that time was estimated at around 35m regular listeners, larger than the total audience of all the channels in the UK put together. Kailash travelled to Tamil Nadu as well to

“My biggest challenge was, without fear or favour, to find out the truth for listeners and to broadcast the truth.”

Kailash Budhwar.

Kailash Budhwar

When I joined, 13 producers had been trained there, big names like Ram Gangooly, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor. Shashi Kapoor was a newcomer, a school student, but he used to come and perform on the stage with me,” he commented.

After Bombay, Kailash became Senior House

Master and Head of Department at boys’ public schools in Ranchi and Karnal, though during that period he sat twice for All India Radio national entrance competitions and was awarded the top entry level grade, known as the “C” category, each time.

This was for newsreaders, something Kailash wanted

Prem Rawat presented his Message of Peace Wembley Arena on June 29th 2014

"The cloudy days do not take away the importance of the sun. The sun does, and always will have, its importance. It is the giver of light.

I, too, need that sun in my life — the remover of darkness. To bring light into my life every single day so that I can see, so that I can understand, this life that I have."

- Prem Rawat, Wembley London. June 2014.

International Ambassador of Peace Prem Rawat attended an event in Wembley where over five thousand people attended. This was the penultimate event in the European tour. He had already addressed audiences of several thousand people in Lisbon, Madrid, Athens, Las Palmas and Barcelona as part of his European tour. After London, events have been scheduled for Dublin and Canada and USA.a Whilst in London he attended two events in Westminster. The first was at the Houses of Parliament where Prem Rawat presented the Pledge to Peace to the UK Parliament. The second event was The Water and Food Award (WAF), at Westminster Hall. WAF has presented Food and Humanitarian award to organizations that have initiated the most innovative, sustainable and replicable projects globally to provide food and water to those people most in need. Prem Rawat was invited as the keynote speaker at this special occasion. He was also the Patron of the 2014 award along with HRH Princess Basma Bint Ali of Jordan.

Earlier this year, in India Prem Rawat attended nine events, one was particularly groundbreaking, a Youth Peace Festival held in New Delhi. The Times of India Foundation and The Prem Rawat Foundation cosponsored this event to promote a culture of peace and wellbeing for young people in the city. Prem Rawat was invited as the keynote speaker. He addressed a live audience of over 185,000 people, with a further estimated reach of 6.5 million through TV, radio, online publications and newspapers.

For further information :SONY SAB TV: SKY 816 – Watch: “Words of Peace” in Hindi, every SUNDAY at 08.00am.

In English: Tuesday 8.00pm on SKY 212 and FREESAT 401, repeated Saturday 5:30pm

UK Info Line: 08450 76 77 78 Hindi: 0845 387 0009;

www.wopg.org www.tprf.org

meet listeners, editors and leaders, as he did in the Hindi speaking states.

While at his desk or at home, any time of the day or night, he was constantly, he told me, “consulted and asked to give an opinion about the Indian Subcontinent, which I do even now.”

Kailash’s BBC highlights are many, but he has three top ones.

“I was lucky to travel to India and Nepal with Prince Charles when he was on a three week tour.

Even after I had retired I was asked to accompany

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John Major when he was the chief guest on 26th January. I met eminent leaders, writers, musicians, politicians...like before Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister, I was able to interview him and have a long chat.

The biggest challenge was keeping the faith of the listeners; making sure that the news was never twisted. The news department has lots of intake [stories] lots of PR companies, lots of people who want to set the news in their own way. So news is a very tricky area. People can make the news sound totally different to what happens. But I know the reality cannot be hidden from people. So my biggest challenge was to find out the facts, not let them be twisted by any side, any wing, or any pressure. My biggest challenge was, without fear or favour, to find out the truth for listeners and to broadcast the truth.”

And a final reveal that unforgettably binds Kailash Budhwar and me.

The BBC bought an episode of Thunderbirds to dub into Hindi and asked me to be the voice of Lady Penelope. And guess who they asked to be Lady Penelope’s trusted driver and confidant, Parker?

Kailash Budhwar, who also transformed the whole episode from English into Hindi!

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YOUR VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

India’s caste system

Flying the silver bug

Mr Jhalla, thank you for supporting me on the negative role of single faith schools. However, I need to say something about the caste system.

I am sure that you're absolutely right in the historical aspect of caste but I am much more concerned with the present day practice which now has been going on for a very long time. The learned explanations of what was or was not intended do not help us today because we see the terrible effect of caste discrimination every day.

Population increase in India is due to ignorance and insufficient effort by the government to provide information and contraceptives.

But I want to point out that in Africa the Catholics have very strong influence and the Bishop of Uganda has told his priests to tell everyone what a sin it is to practise contraception. Between 8 and 9 million children die every year before they reach the age of 5. Philippines has the same problem because it is a Catholic country.

I was surprised that you mentioned China. Through one child policy China has stopped 4 million potential births.

They would certainly not have made the progress they have if they had not controlled their population.

Malaysian Airline plane, flight MH17, which was a scheduled international flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was recently shot down killing all 298 passengers who were on board, while their flight MH370 (which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing) is still missing with no trace of any survivors.

It is distrubing to know that air travel nowadays is not as safe as it used to be.

We non-residential Gujaratis (NRGs) and NRIs travel from London to Bombay or London to Dar-es-Salaam to see our friends and relatives. These incidents will now put us off from frequenting our former places of abode. We also make extensive use of air trvel to go on holidays.

I remember the good old days when we used to travel from Dar-es-Salaam to Bombay by ship like SS Amra, SS Karanja and The State of Bombay to name but a few. We would take coconuts with us as offerings to appease the sea Gods when crossing the rough waters at mid sea. It used to take us eight to twelve days to reach the destination but we enjoyed the long journeys. There were hardly any incidents of these ships going under!

Should we now revert to that practice and offer coconuts to the air-Gods? I have flown by Malaysian Airlines to and from Kaula Lumpur and have found it to be the most comfortable with the cabin crew being very helpful indeed!

Baroness Shreela Flather By email

Paans - a cultural heritage

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Mogul dynasty in India

I read the recent comments about the ban on mangoes and paan. It is interesting to note the concerns that paan eating is not only a traditional custom but considered as cultural heritage.

The concerns about salmonella in paan is not new as concerns were raised by the Food Standards Agency in 2011.

It is not just salmonella in paan that is an issue, but also the fact that betel nut [sopari] is also a known carcinogen, and tobacco is not only a carcinogen but also addictive.

The fact is that the combination of all salmonella, betel nut as a carcinogen and tobacco as a carcinogen, make paan a lethal health hazard. Furthermore, the habit of spitting paan on streets is creates health and safety issues, and is unsightly.

A number of local authorities have now taken the step of banning spitting on the streets for precisely this same reason.

The Indian community is wise enough not to follow cultural traditions blindly but is able to adapt and change to improve the health of its community.

Many Indian states have also now banned paan and ghutka because of the high rate of oral cancer in India. The attached article maybe helplful.

What is so surprising is that the Indian community in UK has not yet been proactive in highlighting these concerns about Paan, and out community needs to work collectively to raise awareness of these health hazards.

The Asian Voice should proactively raise awareness of these issues to improve the health of our community.

Mr Dhiraj Kataria’s data about the Mongol invasion of India is shallow and confined to very narrow time period.

Prior to the Moguls India was invaded by Arabs, Greeks, Turks, Afghans, Persians, Changez Khan, Shakas, Huns, Ghori and Gazanavi. These invaders were from lands bordering India. Their raids were punitive or for plundering treasures from temples and palaces. They had no imperial ambitions, as they had home lands to return, where they transported the loot, children, women and slaves.

Moguls were nomads from central and eastern Asia popularly known as Mongolia. They moved to fresher pastures when pushed out by stronger enemy. On finding India a secure haven, and as they had no homeland to retreat, decided to strike roots in India. Data prior to 1526 can be labelled as Mongols’ struggle to ward off invaders from bordering countries and establish a safe domain in India.

Mogul dynasty was irreversibly terminated by British rule. Indians struggled for independence for more than 90 years.

But yoke of Mogul soul destroying tyranny and British mind bending brainwashing is still alive in India’s subconscious mind which was sustained by incumbent governments.

History was made in 2014 election where all Indians united to overthrow decadent UPA rule.

Jayam Dalal By email

Ramesh Jhalla By email

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Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma

Shri Kapil Dudakia, your Khichadi tasted very nice when I read your article on Swami's Galore of the 12th July. My wife and I always like to read AV and GS every week for the last few years serving us with varied and comprehensive India, UK and International news. Some times we do like to write about our Voice, Views and Appreciation!

I am very upset when I read and hear on BBC and everywhere about only Islam and Christianity despite Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma being the most ancient with its invaluable preaching and teaching! Hence, I minutely studied Bhagwat Gita quite a few times, which is its basis, and put in my head, heart and soul to write an article on 'Light on Hinduism and Bhagwat Gita' quoting Gita Chapters and Shlokas' Nos. and spread its philosophy and intrinsic human values all over the world!

As such I was very pleased to read in your Kapil's Khichadi that BBHS has been established under the auspices of NCHTUK and some well known Swamis, Gurus, Conservative MPs and other celebrities are busy working for Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma. God Bless them with Success!

Upendra Kapadia

By Email

Hell-holes of India

Reader Nagindas Khajuria, in a recent letter to Asian Voice, commented that the Indian government should consider allocating more funds for urban enhancements such as better footpaths, pedestrian crossings, bicycle lanes and public toilets to "improve the quality of life in every city".

I agree, especially with the need for better toilets which are filthy, foulsmelling hell-holes spattered with stagnant faeces and urine. Moreover western visitors find those squat toilets awkward to use as they are unfamiliar with the Indian custom of sitting on one's haunches. I heard of an English guy who lost his balance while attempting to squat over a "hell-hole" and fell backwards, soiling his trousers with other people's carelessly discharged waste.

Once, while travelling by coach through a sweltering Maharashtrian night, our driver made a comfort stop at a remote hotel. My bladder bulging, I asked the receptionist for the nearest toilet and hurried there, only to find a western-type sit-downer brimming with unflushed poo. Holding my nose and retching, I ran outside the hotel and in desperation let rip behind a tall bush.

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appointment of staff on merit.

However, the Islamic schools are not prepared to accept these democratic norms. In fact all of us are not able to appreciate what Islam stands for. Their women are not allowed to be seen without a veil except by very close family members like parents or other siblings mainly women, even adult male cousins are excluded. You will never be able to force English traditions on them.

Islam is convinced that all non Muslims are on the wrong track - that only Islam is the true religion! It has been 1,500 years since Islam was born and yet they have not moved one inch from their old position. Although three semitic religions viz Judaism, Christianity and Islam are very closely related in their original beliefs only the first two have moved with the times and accept Eastern religions in some respects.

Islam is so convinced that sooner rather than later they will prevail over all the world and there will be only one religion left - Islam. So where is the question of listening to you? All this talk of interfaith harmony is a sham!

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Continued on page 11

The views expressed by Baroness Flather are very timely. The British media is giving mixed messages. In their view faith schools should continue with the proviso of no segregation of the sexes, comparative study of various religions and the

Karma Yoga House substantial reduction in 12 Hoxton Market London N1 6HW

Diwali is now three months away. The New Year is knocking at the door waiting to bring in colours and light to our lives with fervour of joy and ever lasting happiness.

Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar as every year will be publishing the ‘Diwali Special’ Magazine for our fabulous and supportive readers like yourself. This year in the English section, we are doing something special for our young readers. l If you are between 7-25 years of age, write an article in English on 'how you celebrate your Diwali every year' or 'your most memorable Diwali with friends and family' or 'how you celebrate Diwali in your school' in no more than 700 words, along with a suitable photo. l if you an organisation, which has a youth wing or support youth activities, tell us how your young members or youth wing celebrates Diwali in 500-600 words with 2 pictures (in no less than 300dpi).

Last date of entry is Sunday 20 September 2014.

Please email your article to aveditorial@abplgroup.com with your full name, age and contact number.

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Great British Bake Off gets its 5th Asian contestant

The BAFTA award winning British Television baking competition this year has yet another Asian contestant. Chetna Makan, from Kent, is a fashion designer, who started her own fashion label in India after moving to Mumbai for university. The 35-year-old met her husband at college, where he was training to be a doctor, and they moved to the UK in 2003. Chetna runs a social curry club every week, and likes to combine her mum’s traditional recipes with British bakes.

Though Asians have contested in this so called amateur baking endeavour since the beginning, sadly no one has won it till now.

In 2010 Jasminder Randhawa, Assistant Credit Control Manager from Solihull was the first Asian participant in the first series, but she got sent home at the end of the fifth round. She

Continued from page 10

Jasminder Randhawa

Urvashi Roe

Manisha Parmar

Ali Imdad

was followed by Urvashi Roe, a Marketing Head, from Enfield Chase who went onto become the first Asian finalist, though could not win the series.

In 2012, it had Manisha Parmar a nursery nurse from Leicester, who was the youngest female in the series and the fourth season (2013) had the British Pakistani Ali Imdad from Saltley,

the first S o u t h Asian male contestant in the series.

Started first in 2010, the series has gained popularity immense amongst viewers especially as it gives a reinvigorating interest in baking throughout the UK, giving winners a career on bakery.

Your voice

Is notoriety a blessing in disguise?

With every criminal act of notoriety, indecency and abuse, hurting feelings of decent people, celebrated artists, actors and architects, likes of Rolf Harris benefit in one way or another. Their works, paintings and demand for their services appreciate beyond belief.

Late huckster F. M. Hussain who took some twisted pride in painting nudity, not peccadillo misdeeds but serious, serial offender, hurting feelings of millions of Hindus was the prime example with Indian billionaires, sponsoring and buying his sordid paintings as an investment, chasing that elusive pot of gold, fame and fortune, show-off that would offend most decent people with conscious.

Then these arrogant, out of touch tycoons living in their filthy “Ivory Tower” with demeaning and presumptuous charade could not care a hoot for ordinary people, blurring difference between makebelieve and reality who could not differentiate classic literature from graffiti, Gandhi from Hitler, without an ounce of penitent.

With prosecution and conviction of serial pertinacious philander Rolf Harris, untouchable pervert of the worse type who even painted Queen and so many prominent personalities being locked-up; the last boorish bastion of privileged few is surely coming to an inglorious end!

Lets’ hope Harris’ heterogeneous work, no doubt a brilliant artist, will depreciate rather than appreciate in value.

Then again we do not live in a sane world where greed over-rides decency.

Bhupendra M Gandhi By email

Religious schools

I fully and wholeheartedly agree with Baroness Flather’s view (AV page 3, July 19) on whether there should be a plethora of religious schools. The examples of religious beliefs she has cited are hundred per cent correct. She has expressed such an opinion because of her concern for the consequence of teaching religious beliefs to young minds. Young boys and girls of today are the future leaders of to-morrow.

If they are indoctrinated with rigid beliefs and if such beliefs are taken as God given, the consequence could be dangerous.

11

Organ scarcity that threatens lives

National Transplant Week, as reported in AV, highlights extreme shortage of organs.

It adversely affects BAME community more than indigenous population. Human nature is unbelievably selfish and suspicious. Although we know, consciously or subconsciously that once we die, life comes to an end. Yet instead of donating our organs, ultimate gifts that would save precious lives, we let them go to waste.

There are 9000 patients on waiting list and 3000 die before organs become available, especially kidneys and livers. As usual, this country is light years behind progressive nations in reforming our laws that would make difference.

Some hide; shy away under outdated, misguided, half-baked social, religious, cultural and personal beliefs and encumbrance that would be in abundance from bleeding-heart politicians. Yet they are the first to jump queues if in need of transplant. Most popular, effective and enforceable scheme in operation is that when we register with GP, it should be obligatory to sign legally binding document that one could not be recipient without being donor, without exception.

But we need luminaries, to endeavour, encapsulate, educating people with liaison, mass advertising to make them aware of consequences of opting out. Our obsessed politicians are too gutless, ignorant and selfish to offend, to be at loggerhead with their political vote-bank. They are so often pawns in the pocket of ethnic minorities. In any case they enjoy 5* treatment under NHS. Kumudini Valambia By email What has been happening in some parts of the world today is a direct example of what religious beliefs can do to the humanity. The most important tool of education is to enable them to discriminate between good from the evil, right from the wrong and fact from the fiction.

Rigid religious beliefs could act as natural impediments to advancement of knowledge and civilization. It is something the mankind must endeavour to refrain from at all costs.

Dr. Jatindra Saha By email

Chetna Makan

Asian Voice would like to congratulate Alpesh Patel and Aekta Mahajan on their wedding. Wishing you both a wonderful journey ahead as you build your new life together

Petitioners win bid to expose Tower Hamlet Mayor The controversial mayor of Tower Hamlets is to face a High Court trial over claims of electoral fraud. It has been reportedly alleged by four petitioners that Mr Lutfur Rahman (pictured) promised electorates council houses if they voted for him.

Rahman’s team allegedly used a “variety of forms” of fraud when he won the mayoral ballot by 3,000 votes in May. High Court judge Mr Justice Supperstone, sitting with Mr Justice Spence, granted the petitioners a trial after

Mr Rahman’s legal team failed to get their case thrown out. Mr Justice Supperstone said that, “further particulars of the allegations in the petition” should be supplied by 18 August and declined to fix a trial date, saying: “In any event, a commissioner will now be appointed to hear this petition and the commissioner will fix the date of the hearing.”

The court refused an application to have the case heard outside the Tower Hamlets area. The petition-

ers had claimed that “loud and intimidating” supporters of the mayor intimidated witnesses. They also alleged that voters were given lollipops and led to believe they would not be good Muslims if they did not support Mr Rahman and his Tower Hamlets First party. Mr Rahman’s legal team had applied to have the entire petition dismissed, claiming that it was “flawed and insufficiently detailed”.

Mr Rahman denies any wrong-doing.

12

MEDIA WATCH

Government has given approval for six new airlines to take to the skies during the current fiscal ending 31 March 2015. Tata Sons joint venture with AirAsia is already operational, while Tata’s joint venture with Singapore Airlines will be ready for launch in October. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in the past month has issued no-objection certificates in all long pending applications from these airlines.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Congress-NC Alliance ends The Congress-National Conference Alliance in Jammu and Kashmir has ended in slow death. With the former reduced to a skeletal dinosaur picked over by taxidermists, the valleybased National Conference has been compelled to cast around for new, credible help-mates by the dynamics of national politics. The present CongressNational Conference Alliance will, however, see out its term before the Assembly elections take place later in the year. The decks have been cleared for alternative alignments. The BJP is the irresistible force in Jammu, but Congress has ceased to be the immovable object in Ladakh, opening the door for a possible alignment between the BJP and some local Ladakhi grouping.

AirAsia aircraft

They include Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd, Zexus Air and Premier Air, which seek to a national reach. Joining them for limited geographies are Turbo Megha, Air Carnival and Zav Airways.

The Civil Aviation Ministry’s goal is to stimulate competition improve connectivity. and Unlike the practice of the previous government of picking and choosing applicants. India’s six operating national airlines are: Air India, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and Air Costa.

Returning to the new applicants mentioned above, Air One, with a reported paid up capital of Rs 90-100 crore, is being promoted

by Alok Sharma, former head of the erstwhile Air Sahara. Zexus Air is expected to be Delhibased, while Premier Air, promoted by non-resident Indian Umapathy Pinaghani, will operate from Bangalore. Turbo Megha, which operates charter flights out of Hyderabad, will continue to be based there for its new venture. Air Carnival is to concentrate on South India and Zav Air will make North East India its hub. An exciting era in Indian aviation is ready for takeoff. Fasten your seat belts, please. (Mint, Hindu July 22, 23)

BJP takes-off in West Bengal

West Bengal has never been a happy hunting ground for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – it has only two MPs in Parliament

– but the party appears to be on the cusp of a breakthrough, with its vote base registering exponential expansion. The State’s next Assembly elections are expected to reflect the party’s burgeoning influence, the latest evidence being the defection of the youth wing of the Forward Bloc, a longstanding constituent of the Communist-led Left Front, which was ousted from power in a Trinamool Congress landslide in May 2011.

Economic uncertainties

Musical chairs defections include Communist and Congress members of the Legislative Assembly transferring their loyalties to the ruling Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.

Chief Minister Banerjee, responding to the shift of these tectonic plates, appealed to Left Front affiliates to join her party in what was projected by her, at a monster public meeting in Kolkata, as a grand alliance against the BJP, a clear sign of anxiety about its swelling ranks and outreach.

Economic uncertainties, including labour indiscipline fomented

by Trinamool cadres and the consequent lack of big ticket investments in the state and the slow pace of its industrialization have tarnished the Chief Minister’s image, although the Trinamool Congress presence in the rural hinterland remains formidably visible (Hindu, Telegraph July 22)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressing a rally in Kolkata

Omar Abdullah

Congress is now committed to contest the Assembly polls on its own. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, a ghostly figure these days, is fast becoming a political nonentity (Hindu July 21)

China lauds Pakistan’s ISI

Those prone to clutch at the straws of anodyne rhetoric on a new, unfolding Sino-Indian relation based on trust and mutual good will (following the Modi-Xi Jinping talks on the sidelines of the recent BRICS summit in Brazil) should think again.

China’s newly appointed special envoy for Afghanistan, Sun Yuxi (a former ambassador to India) has praised the role played by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate in combating terrorism. Rejecting accusations that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate and elements within the Pakistan military were fanning jihadi terrorism in the neighbourhood, particularly in Afghanistan, Mr Sun, speaking in Beijing, claimed that the ISI “has been effective in fighting against terrorism.” The jihadi attack on the Indian consulate in Heart was something, he said, he was unaware of, since he hadn’t kept abreast of regional politics.

Hopefully, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who pointed an accusing finger at Pakistan after the Herat attack, will share his information on the incident with Mr Sun. The Chinese envoy said he looked forward to working with Pakistani and Indian officials on security issues in Afghanistan (Hindu, Times of India, Telegraph July 22)

Gaza debate Parliament’s debate on the Gaza situation turned out to be a damp squib. The Opposition, at sixes and sevens, sought through to make a case for the jihadist Hamas, but its contrived sound and fury, didn’t make the

Sushma Swaraj

desired impact. The low farce ended with the predictable Opposition walkout. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj presented a cogent case of foreign policy continuity: India would not jeopardize its relationship with Israel, nor would it deviate from its longstanding support for a sovereign Palestinian state as part of a credible two-state solution to the overall Middle East crisis.

Period. Violence could not be a solution to the present Gaza imbroglio, argued Ms Swaraj, who pointed out correctly that it was Hamas that had started the conflict by firing salvoes of rockets into Israel. The Israeli response had to be proportionate. She could have mentioned the total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza a decade ago (Hindu July 22)

Limits to Indian power

Thankfully, India has neither the power nor the political will to enforce a settlement of its choosing on the warring parties. Only America has the necessary economic and military heft to do so.

Let Washington face up to its responsibilities in the region, assuming it has any conception of what this should be. Its policiess in the area as a whole – in, Iraq, Syria, Libya - have led to murderous anarchy and jihadi violence, notwithstanding President Obama’s Nobel Peace prize and vacuous pieties.

Facilitating Goa’s Russian tourism

Moscow flights. “As a member of the Star Alliance, Air India hopes to attract flyers, as the benefits of flying with an alliance member are manifold.

This is especially true for business class travellers,” said a Delhi-based agent. (Times of India July 23)

Cracking wheat genetic code

Agricultural scientists - with funding from the government’s Department of Biotechnology from three Indian institutes in collaboration with the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium have deciphered the cereal’s genetic blueprint, which is expected to help breeders produce better quality crops. Scientists at the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and Delhi University South Campus have collaborated with the International Wheat Consortium and have published a chromosome-based draft sequence of the bread wheat genome. Wheat breeders will be able to produce superior wheat varieties at an accelerated pace to meet the demands of a growing world population. Earlier Indian scientists helped crack the genetic code of rice and tomato and of the chickpea (Business Line, Hindu July 21, 24)

Modi pitch for nuclear energy

At a classified briefing with scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), near Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised them to keep to targets that would triple India’s nuclear power generation by 2023. The private sector would have a role since “nuclear energy must be commercially viable and competitive with other sources of clean energy in the long run,” he said. The Prime Minister’s speech indicated the government plan to go full steam ahead with its nuclear energy programme (Hindu July 24)

Fast Breeder Reactor

The final stage for the commissioning of India’s 500MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, Chennai, in early 2015, is undergoing the necessary preparation.

Announcing that all the electrical systems were operational and all steps to full production

Goa has for long been a favoured destination for Russian tourists in search of sunshine, inviting beaches and exotic cuisines. Now, Air India has started a direct service from Moscow to Goa, making it the only one-stop connection between the cities. The bother of changing planes is done with. “Scores of Russians flock to Kalpakkam nuclear plant Goa every year and they even come with chartered were being put in place, a senior planes. We will extend the Delhiscientist at the site expressed Moscow service to Goa shortly full confidence in project. India to tap into this market,” said an leads the world in fast breeder Air India official. Air India has nuclear technology. (Hindu July recently restarted its Delhi18).

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

13

Britain’s Indian community lose estimated £132m in banking fees every year

FX startup challenges banks and brokers Ex-Skyper launches international money transfer platform

India needs to protect global Muslims – because Muslims won’t Thousands marched in London against the deaths of Muslims in Gaza. But why not against the killing in Syria? There is not the same outrage. It was the West, not Turkey or Saudi Arabia that backed action in Syria. Or what about Muslim deaths in Bosnia – it was Nato jets protecting Muslims then.

An England cricket player wears a protest band on his wrist against what is happening in Gaza, but not in Syria.

Truly the concept of Islamic Brotherhood can be so so much more greater than this, to enforce the peace, that ‘Islam’ means around the world.

I recall my recent trip to a mosque where I wrote these words: I prayed to a Hindu God today in a Mosque.

I prayed for the children of Syria being murdered and slaughtered and exterminated and eradicated by fellow Muslim Assad. Prove me seditious for praying to another God on behalf of the children of Islam, because their God has deserted them.

I prayed, that the Muslim God, who my faith teaches me is my God too, listens to me in your Mosque, because He does not listen to His own children in their mosques – because surely as they are being murdered their parents pray for salvation – and none comes.

I prayed to Shiv, the destroyer, in your Mosque, that He may become death and the destroyer of worlds…the world of Assad.

(Forgive my impertinence, I confess, my God also fails to listen to the cries of His children in His mandirs.)

I prayed that Islamic blood boils with

anger and the wrath of the Lord flow through your veins and you strike down with a mighty vengeance those who harm your children.

What relevance that I am Indian?

More Muslims reside in India than any other secular State – so it is that India has a responsibility to the world’s Muslims to show them secular liberal democracies will be their defender. It is a duty and opportunity both countries have yet to grasp. China has more Muslims than Syria, yet China fails to protect Syrian Muslim children. Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined – yet Russia too fails to protect Syrian Muslim children. So it is surely left to India.

So show us non-believers, ‘the evidence of truth, that you are all over the world and that it is not enough thy Lord is witness over all thing’s’ – but that you will save the children of your greater God. When Pope Benedict visited this same Mosque I was in he said, ‘May all believers identify themselves with the one God and bear witness to true brotherhood.’

Tonight I bore witness as a believer in God, make me a believer in Islamic brotherhood.

Muslims outside Syria – you are your brother’s keeper. A Catholic has told you – a Pope no less, a Hindu commoner has told you – both from inside your own Mosque – when will the brotherhood of Islam tell you?

Alpesh Patel www.PoliticalAnimal.me

Lord Loomba receives Honorary fellowship from Northampton University Lord Raj Loomba CBE has been bestowed with an Honorary Fellowship by the University of Northampton at this year’s Summer Graduation Ceremonies.

Inspired by his late mother, who became a widow at the early age of

37, Lord Loomba has dedicated his life to helping the plight of 245 million widows in the world through his charity, The Loomba Foundation, supported by Cherie Blair QC CBE as President and Sir Richard Branson as Patron-in Chief.

On being awarded his Honorary Fellowship, Lord Loomba told Asian Voice, “When I found out I was going to be honoured by the University of Northampton, I felt very humbled and I’m grateful to the University for considering me.”

TK Maxx stores removes boxer shorts with Lord Ganesh images from display TK Maxx has now removed men’s boxer shorts with Lord Ganesh images or motifs from display, after outraged Hindus of the country made a formal complain to their customer head.

The offensive boxer shorts made by freegun.com sold at TK Maxx stores in the UK. On receiving several complaints from his community, Mr. Jit Jethwa Vice President of Hindu Forum of Britain contacted TK Maxx and Freegun to express the anger and shock felt by decent Hindus around the country.

Replying to his letter,

Head of European Customer Service, TJX Europe told Mr Jetwa, “We have strict guidelines on the type of products sold in our stores but we acknowledge that with each store stocking as many as 50,000 items and weekly deliveries of 10,000 new and different products, an error can be made, as in this case.

“We take matters of this nature extremely seriously and are very sorry that this mistake was made. As soon as the offending product was brought to our attention, we initiated an urgent stock review and immediate removal from sale.

“Please accept my assurances that it is never our intention to cause offence. We believe that all customers should be treated with dignity and respect and have a long history of valuing diversity.”

Taavet Hinrikus, cofounder of international money transfer startup TransferWise, on how the business got started.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am the co-founder of TransferWise, an international money transfer platform. Prior to this I was Skype’s director of strategy until 2008, starting as its first-ever employee. I helped take the business from an idea on the back of a napkin to a multi-million user business.

What is TransferWise?

International money transfers are more expensive than meets the eye – even when they claim there are ‘no fees’. Many banks and brokers take as much as 4 percent of the money being sent to India, for instance. They do this by using an unfair exchange rate.

TransferWise uses technology developed by the people who built Skype and PayPal to cut out traditional banking fees altogether, giving customers access to the real mid-market exchange rate (that’s the rate published in the newspapers, not one invented by the banks).

TransferWise charges just 0.5 percent to send money from Britain to India. It presents all its cost transparently before you make a transfer.

The business was founded in 2011 and since then our customers have already transferred more than £1bn - an approach that has put over £45m back in their pockets.

Is this a global problem?

It is indeed. Roughly $510 trillion of money transfers are sent every year.

According to a World

Taavet Hinrikus

Bank report £3.76bn is sent from the UK to India every year. This means that Britain’s Indian community lose an estimated £132m in banking fees when they send money home.

How easy it is to use TransferWise?

It’s simple. All you have to do is go to the website www.transferwise.com, type in your’s and the recipient’s details and how much you want to transfer. You can then either type in your debit card details or use internet banking to send the money to TransferWise.

Then you’ll receive a confirmation email when we’ve received the money and another when it’s been paid out to the recipient. The whole process takes only takes 1-2 working days – it normally takes banks and brokers twice as long.

How did you come up with the idea for TransferWise?

TransferWise came about as a solution to a problem that me and my friend Kristo faced when we both lived in London as expats. I had been working for Skype in Estonia, so was paid in euros, but I lived in London and most of my expenses were in sterling. Kristo on the other hand worked in London and was paid in pounds, but had a mortgage in euros back in Estonia.

We found that we had

the opposite currency requirements so instead of transferring money through the banks, which cost us about 5% for each transaction, we started exchanging money among ourselves. Every month I put euros into Kristo’s Estonian account, and Kristo put pounds into my British account. We used the official mid-market exchange rate rather than the invented one offered by the banks. We managed to save thousands of pounds by doing this and thought that surely there must be others like us. That’s why we decided to set up TransferWise.

Who is your typical customer?

We don’t have a “typical customer” since we dramatically reduce the cost of international money transfers for anyone who wants to send money abroad. That said, there are several broad groups we’re particularly popular with. These include: any expats who live and work abroad, freelancers who get paid in a different currency, international students who have to pay tuition fees, pensioners who retire abroad.

One of our Indian customers is Kaushal Maru, who’s an IT consultant living in London.

He started using TransferWise to send money home to his mum this Diwali: “It’s so refreshing to use a service that’s easy to use and transparent about its costs. I used to use my bank and found it very confusing and a complete nightmare - the charges were unclear, it took ages and it delivered a terrible service. TransferWise is twice as fast and only charges me 0.5 percent.

What better way to celebrate the festival of light!”

Domestic violence to become criminal offence?

PM David Cameron has said that his government needs to do more on domestic abuse in Britain and make the justice system more “sympathetic” to victims.

Backbench MPs have called for a tough US-style law that would make domestic abuse a specific offence carrying up to 14 years in prison. They want a legal framework for domestic abuse allowing police and prosecutors to examine of an offender’s course of conduct over a period of time, not just an individual incident.

Mr Cameron also said the Government is making efforts to ensure that people are able to give evidence to courts in a more sympathetic way.

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St. Moritz Art Masters focuses on India's Greatest Artists

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ART&CULTURE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

© Charles Shearn

and several of his Within this proThis year, for the seventh works have never been gramme Stellar time, the unique setting of seen before in public.

International Art the Engadin hosts St. This is what makes the Foundation will be Moritz Art Masters 2014. presentation of some presenting a group This annual arts and culof these paintings and exhibition of works tural festival, taking place drawings at St Moritz of Modern Art from from August 22 to August so important, almost India. The exhibi31, 2014, will focus on guaranteeing, as it tion will be presentIndia, promising diverse were, his presence ed to the public for artistic positions from the amidst this hallowed the first time and contemporary Indian art gathering”. will feature works scene, which ranges from Artist Jayasri

by M F Husain, young to established Burman, born in Paresh Maity and artists presenting a Kolkata in 1960, has Jayasri Burman. diverse range of art from held many solo shows The Stellar site-specific interventions in the past which International Art to Indian Classical Jayasri Burman (b. 1960) include: ‘Gazing into Foundation was Modernism. In addition to Enlightenment I, 2011 the Myth’ at Visual Art established in 2008 a high-profile program of watercolour, pen and ink on board Center, Hong Kong in and took as its basis 90 x 90 cm.

Indian, national and inter2014; ‘Fables and the private collec- Copyright Jayasri Burman, Courtesy national contemporary Folklore', presented by tion of the Stellar International Art Foundation art, the St. Moritz Art Art Musings at Choudhrie family.

Masters festival stands Mrs Anita Choudhrie, Stellar International Art Foundation Jehangir Art Gallery, Currently the out with special exhibitionships with some of Mumbai in 2010; ‘A tion sites and India’s most important Laureate Rabindranath Mythical Universe', organthe Walk Of contemporary artists Tagore at NGMA Delhi ised by Art Alive A r t . including those in the and Mumbai in 2011. He Gallery, New Delhi at Sculptures present exhibition. At has participated in several Lalit Kala Akademi, and artistic the point the prestigious shows in India New Delhi in 2010 works in priFoundation was creatand aboard. ‘A Mystic along with a release vate and pubed, the collection of a publication on Journey’ an exclusive collic spaces and changed direction to her work and life. lection of his watercolour unconvenfocus on Western and On her works, works was shown with tional venues A m e r i c a n Jayasri said, “I dream the works of American feature artContemporary Art, and paint the harmophotographer Steve works from a selecting important nious existence of McCurry, as a part of the new perspecworks by the most the divine, humans, festival “India Calling! tive, beyond important contempoanimals and nature. I 2010” at Chicago Tourism the usual rary artists working feel Buddha's mesCenter Gallery of Art, "white cube." today. sage of Ahimsa (non Chicago presented by Art F r e e d The three main violence) and tolerAlive Gallery, New Delhi. from the burshowcasing artists are ance; the much needSpeaking about his den of a colo- Paresh Maity (b. 1965) renowned in the world ed mantra for love, art, he said, “The leitmotif nial past, con- Magical Odyssey, 2008 of Art and Culture and peace and harmony of my art has been t e m p o r a r y watercolour on paper 102 x 102 cm. have all contributed in today's times.” inspired by my journeys Indian artists Copyright Paresh Maity, Courtesy significantly with their Paresh Maity was into strange lands; by my will address Stellar International Art Foundation beautiful works. born in Tamluk, hismeetings with people. My current pressThe most torical town in West dramatis personae draw Foundation comprises ing questions of today by renowned of these is Bengal in 1965 and from real life & capture over 600 works by an linking ritual, myth and talented artist MF has held over 65 solo the romance of distant array of Indian and everyday life in a unique Husain, who was born shows including; lands. The gypsies & Western Contemporary manner. The vibrant field in Pandharpur, ‘Shesh Lekha – The balls, the verdant green artists ranging from paintof contemporary Indian Bombay Presidency in Last poems of vistas of Kerala or mysteing to sculpture. art reflects the Indian British India and has M F Husain (1913 - 2011) Rabindranath Tagore’ rious lovers keeping a The collection began nation's rapid change and been hailed as a Untitled (Horses on a Battlefield) a tribute in water tryst in a Venetian alley in the 1970s when the contrasts, giving Indian 'genius' by Kishore acrylic on canvas 175.5 x 108 cm. colours by Paresh reflect my painterly obsesChoudhrie family began to artists a unique voice Singh. Mr Singh said, Copyright the Estate of M F Husain, Maity to commemosion with the magic of purchase works of art. within the international “Husain was as prolif- Courtesy Stellar International Art rate the 150th birth moments as I have lived This led to intimate relaart scene. ic as he was talented, Foundation anniversary of Nobel them."

Hemant Chauhan mesmerises the audience by taking to the stage for Shishukunj London

By Chagan Dabhi

On Friday 18th July Shishukunj was proud to host a bhajan sandhya to support the fundraising efforts for the Shishukunj Bhavan in Edgware. This event was a gesture of thanks and appreciation from Shishukunj, for all the help and support it has received.

Upon arrival, all the guests were warmly greeted by senior Karyakars of Shishukunj, followed by tasty Indian refreshments.

It was a very warm and homely atmosphere where guests mingled with each other before settling down for the musical evening.

Shri Jagdeepbhai Shah, welcomed everyone on behalf of Shishukunj London and invited Smt Nituben Shah and Shri Samjibhai Varsani to light

the lamp, in accordance with our Hindu tradition to start the programme.

Young members of Shishukunj were the first to take to the stage and they sang a soulful prarthna followed by some melodious bhajans which were warmly acknowledged by the audience.

Shri Pratapbhai Gadhvi then introduced the renowned Bhajan maestro of Gujarat, Shri Hemantbhai Chauhan who took to the stage with his accompanying musicians.

Shri Hemantbhai is a very popular bhajani who sings with full devotion, captivating any audience with his voice. His percussionists included Bharat Pari on tabla and a very young and talented manjira player, Rahulbhai Solanki.

Everyone was entertained

by the Kathiawadi jokes and Lok Dairo by Babubhai Barot.

Shri Hemantbhai sang some of his very popular bhajans; ‘U rangai ja ne rang ma ..; Janani ni jodd sakhi nahi jade re lol; Pankhida; Unchi medi te mara sant ni re...and many more. The atmosphere was so rich and mesmerising, bringing many to feel like they were experiencing a true Lok Dairo in a traditional Gujarati village.

Amongst the few dis-

Young members of Shishukunj entertaining the audience with a soulful prarthna and other melodious bhajans

tinguished guests, present in the audience were Shri Dhanjibhai Tanna, Shri Dhirubhai Pankhania and Smt Jyotsnaben Shah of Gujarat Samachar.

The programme ended with the President of

Shishukunj London, Shri Samirbhai Shah, honouring the guest kalakar, Shri Hemantbhai Chauhan by presenting him with a shawl. He extended his gratitude to the audience for attending the pro-

gramme and for giving their whole hearted support for the new Shishukunj Bhavan.

For more information about Shishukunj please visit their website www.shishukunj.org.uk

UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Defence Secretary launches Armed Forces Muslim Forum and hosts celebratory Iftar

For the first time in history, the Ministry of Defence was host to an Iftar, the traditional breaking of the Ramadan fast, at the launch of the country’s first ever Armed Forces Muslim Forum.

The Forum was launched by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon on Wednesday 23 July, to enhance the partnership between the Muslim community and the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces.

The Forum aims to encourage better dialogue and help highlight the crucial role British Muslims play in our Armed Forces both past and present.

At the event, the new Defence Secretary addressed members of the British Islamic community, thanking them for their commitment to this crucial initiative and reflecting on the contribution of Muslims to the Armed Forces. With the centenary of the First World War just around the corner, the launch of the Forum is a timely and poignant reminder of the enormous contribution and sacrifice made by hundreds of thousands of Muslim troops in 1914.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “I’m

The Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, Secretary of State for Defence addresses the audience

very proud to be able to launch the country’s first Armed Forces Muslim Forum. This is a real milestone, which underlines the strong relationship that exists between our Armed Forces and the Muslim community, and shows our commitment to strengthening it.”

Also at the event were serving Muslim members of the Armed Forces and Imam Asim Hafiz, Islamic adviser to the MoD. As the MoD’s first Armed Forces’ Muslim Chaplain, he understands the importance of good dialogue between the Services and the Muslim community.

Imam Asim Hafiz, Islamic adviser to the Ministry of Defence, said:

“Loving your country and serving your community is an important part of the Muslim faith. Muslims have fought for this country since the First World War. Some people have questioned whether you can be a good Muslim and serve in our Armed Forces, because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the young men I’ve served alongside in Afghanistan know that they’re trying to make the country safer for the people who live there.

Some of these soldiers are very devout but they don’t feel a contradiction between being a Muslim and serving their country.

We need to get out there and make that argument

Actress Freida Pinto joins forces with campaigners at Girl Summit

Actress Freida Pinto, renowned for her role in “Slumdog Millionaire”, has joined forces with girls’ rights campaigners to call for the end of the practice of female genital mutilation.

Pinto, an ambassador for an international children’s development organization, called for more progress to abolish the practice as she addressed Britain’s one-day Girl Summit on Tuesday 22nd July, co-hosted by the UK Freida Pinto East. It is still highly Government and prevalent in Egypt, UNICEF. Sudan, Mali and UNICEF, the United Somalia.

Nations’ children The agency and agency, said some Britain’s government progress has been made hope that the summit on ending female genital will help galvanize mutilation, most comaction to end the pracmonly practiced in tice within a generation.

Africa and the Middle

Julie Siddiqi, National Coordinator of the Big Iftar addressing the first ever Armed Forces Muslim Forum at MoD Main Building, London

much more clearly.”

Sughra Ahmed, President of the Islamic Society of Britain, said: “British Muslims are proud to play an active part in our society and the centenary of the First World War is a chance to show how this shared history stretches back over a hundred years and continues today. The Armed Forces Muslim Forum will help promote the Muslim community’s support and participation in the Armed Forces, as well as giving us a chance to discuss some of the challenges we face.”

Sunder Katwala, Director of integration thinktank British Future,

said: “People just don’t know that commonwealth soldiers, many of them Muslims, made up nearly one in six of Britain’s fighting force in 1914.

That contribution continues to this day, and I hope the new Armed Forces Muslim Forum will help to

tell that story more widely.”

Members of the Muslim community also spoke at the event. Their speeches were followed by a call to the Maghrib prayer, before everyone came together for Iftar, the breaking of the fast meal.

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Clegg enroute to India Continued from page 1 Mr Clegg on a rare occasion invited the trade delegates, business and community leaders to Admiralty House in Whitehall for a summer reception, to brief them about the upcoming opportunity.

Addressing the guests he said, “It will be the first and largest delegation of that kind since Prime Minister Modi was elected in that extraordinary democratic extravaganza: over 500 million people voting in the greatest act of democratic volition that the world knows.

“This visit is also well timed I think, because Prime Minister Modi has been so clear and outspoken in his view that he wants to get the wheels of the Indian economy moving more rapidly, he wants to liberalise those parts of the Indian economy that need a further liberalisation, he wants to build on the major trading relationships that India has with economies around the world, not least that of the United Kingdom, and that is why I’m so keen to reach out to him and reach out to his administration, with your help, to seek out new opportunities where we can deepen and widen and enrich the already very strong commercial relationship that exists between our two countries.

“Everybody is familiar with the great, great cultural, historical and other links that bind our two nations together. There are more Indians living in this country than any other place in the world outside India.

India invests more money into the United Kingdom than

it does in the rest of the European Union put together.

“The United Kingdom is a major investor in turn in India. We have about £16 billion worth of bilateral trade between our two countries taking place per year. I think we could easily increase that to our target of £22 billion, and that is why I am so delighted that so many of you are prepared to travel with me.

“I’m seeking to create a delegation which focuses on some key sectors: aerospace, retail and education.

“I think in many ways we almost sort of take for granted the relationship that exists between our two great countries. We kind of assume that it operates on autopilot, but any relationship, however familiar, however wellestablished, needs constant nurturing, needs constant attention and that is why this delegation timed, as I say, just after the election of Prime Minister Modi and his new administration is one which I hope will be as successful as I believe it could be.”

This trip is supposed to be followed by a trade mission by PM Cameron in September.

Face to Face with Deputy PM Nick Clegg EXCLUSIVE

Q: You mentioned retail as one of the areas, are you going to try and persuade the new government to open up to multibrand retail? There have been some misgivings about that kind of openness.

A: Well I think it’s for the Indian government, obviously, to decide its own policy on retail as much as anything else, but since Prime Minister Modi had been as clear as he has that he wants to try and sweep away some of the impediments to further growth in the Indian economy, we’re very keen to enter with him into a dialogue about how sectors – not just retail, but other sectors – could be further – further liberal – liberalised as a general – as a general economic philosophy. We believe that by opening sectors up you stand to benefit more than you lose. But, as I say, those are decisions that are entirely up to the Indian government to take itself.

Q: How does the IndoBritish relationship fit into recent public fears about immigrants because a lot of people from India still feel that they are not welcomed in the UK? A: I will be going out of my way during my visit to say very, very clearly, particularly to young, bright, ambitious Indians who are thinking of where they should study around the world, they are welcome, welcome, welcome to Britain. There is no numerical limit to Indian students wanting to come to study here. There is a long, long tradition of

ther.

And as I said earlier, the bilateral investment relationship is already hugely important. Britain is a vitally important investor in India.

India, as I say, invests more into the United Kingdom that it does into the rest of the European Union.

So I come with a message of openness.

Openness towards people who want to study, openness towards new comAsian Voice Associate Editor Rupanjana Dutta interviewing mercial opportunities Deputy PM Nick Clegg between British and I think India is enriched, I outstandingly bright Indian companies, openthink our relationship is young Indians coming to ness towards forging a enriched by having talentstudy in our outstanding strong relationship with ed, bright people going in British universities. We the new administration of both directions in order to want to see more of that, Prime Minister Modi. study in our great – in our not less.

Q: Before Narendra Modi great universities.

And also I want to discame to power, he was Q: Financial trade has pel some of the myths. So seen as anti-Muslim by fallen short of, generally, there is a myth that somethe West. How do you see the targets that were set how we have stopped any Narendra Modi now he’s in 2010. What do you ability to work after the Prime Minister? think stands in the way at you’ve graduated in the A: Well he, obviously, has the moment and what do United Kingdom. That’s said very clearly that he is you think trips such as simply not the case. governing on behalf of all yours can do to actually What we have said is as Indians, and I, in politics push it further towards long as you earn a certain just as in life, always take that target? graduate salary, a certain people in what they say at A: Well you’re right. I minimum, you are welface value until it’s sugwant to see more trade. I come to work here after gested otherwise. He’s think we can reach our graduating, and in fact been very clear that he target of £22 billion worth what we’ve said is that if sees it as part of his manof bilateral trade, that you do so you can study – date – which was a huge would be up from £16 bilyou could work for three democratic mandate, over lion previously. And this years after graduating 500 million people voted delegation, this trip, is with the option of work– as a mandate for the part of the attempt to ing a further three years. country as a whole. And make sure that we meet That’s considerably given the sheer size and that ambition by having longer actually than the diversity and raucous people in key leading secprevious postgraduate variation of life in India, it tors of the British econowork – work route which seems to me obvious that my meet with their partwas made available to – that India must, and can ners and to meet with people. only, be successfully govthose people who offer So I am very keen to erned by administrations new opportunities in this dispel a lot of the misgivwho want to stand up for huge burgeoning Indian ings that have arisen in the whole country and market to make sure the recent years, because I not only part of it. trade increases even furthink Britain is enriched,

London Trafalgar Square to celebrate Eid

Thousands of people will head to Trafalgar Square on Saturday (2nd August) for the annual Eid Festival, organised by the Mayor of London, in celebration of the end of Ramadan.

The event is open to people from all communities and faiths, with a host of activities for the whole family to enjoy, including stage entertainment, arts and crafts, exhibitions, calligraphy, henna, face painting and much more.

This year, visitors can expect a sumptuous array of fare from Muslim countries, with the inclusion of a global food festival, which will serve delicacies from across the Islamic world including Turkish, Egyptian, Indonesian, Lebanese and Moroccan cuisines. There will also be a Malaysian food market and cooking demonstrations by the festival’s supporting partner Malaysian Kitchen.

A first for 2014 is a catwalk show featuring contem-

Photo credit: Raj Bakrania, PRMediaPix

porary Arabic and Asian clothing by AsianBride Live and EBH (Events by Hajra).

There will be an exclusive opportunity to see ‘Capture the Spirit of Ramadan’, the well-renowned exhibition of international photography about the essence of Ramadan.

Performing live are Nasheed artists and community groups from around London, including Saif Adam, Nazeel Azami, Indonesian Pelangi Nusantara dance group, Moroccan Sufi band,Tariq Khan and Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa winner Shehnaz Akhtar.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Muslims in London and around the world have been fasting as they observe the holy month of Ramadan.

As they break the fast at Eid-ul-Fitr, it is a

Asian Voice wishes Eid Mubarak to all its Muslim readers

time for celebration. I urge all Londoners and tourists alike to come down and immerse themselves in the flavours, colours and culture of the city’s many Muslim communities. It’s a chance

to join together and rejoice in the global diversity of the capital. Eid Mubarak!”

The Eid Festival is presented by the Mayor in association with the Eid Committee, a voluntary body made up of representatives from various Muslim community groups and organisations in London.

I want to send my best wishes to Muslims across the country and around the world celebrating Eid. This Ramadan, British Muslims have shown what Islam is all about.

We’ve seen an inspiring amount of charity with Muslims across the country giving what they can and giving up their own time for those less fortunate.

We’ve seen a commitment to contemplation and Muslims have been putting themselves second as they pray, abstain and fast during the holy month.

Third, we’ve seen a dedication to community and once again this year British Muslims have opened their doors to those of all backgrounds as part of the Big Iftar breaking bread and breaking down barriers in mosques, in community centres, in parks – even at a synagogue in north London.

It’s been a challenging month – especially during those long summer days.

So it is fantastic to see so many British Muslims and those of other faiths and none – come together to celebrate at this special time.

Once again, to everyone who is celebrating, Eid Mubarak.

- PM David Cameron

UK

17

A Glimpse of Goa pulling 10,000 people

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Charusmita

In the largest ever turnout of Goans outside of Goa, on Sunday, 27th July, a huge crowd of about 10,000 attendees gathered to celebrate the UK Goan Festival 2014. The venue, Community Cranford College witnessed the annual feature of the UK Goan Association in collaboration with other Goan associations.

The UK Goan Association came into being in 1966 with the start of the migration of Goans into the UK. It is a voluntary organisation and continues to organise social, cultural and sports activities for its members.

UK Labour Party MP Keith Vaz, also a proud Goan, also graced the occasion and with the weather Gods on its side, the festival attracted both natives and Non-Goans.

The event, sponsored

by Air India, Sony Entertainment Television and Tilda Rice also served as a guiding platform for Goans visiting or migrating to the UK. A rough estimate of 50,000 portuguese Goans live in England which is their favoured destination over

other European countries in contrast with migrants from Daman and Diu. The event began with an open air mass followed by the Chairman’s speech by Ravi Vaz, who is the festival director and the President of the UK Goan Association.

There is much more to Goa than meets the eye and the UK Goan festival managed to bring to us the essence of the wonderful tiny emerald land on the west coast of India. From its natural scenic beauty, to stunning beaches, from temples to churches, hills, rivers, forests, Goa can boast rightly of being the most popular destination among the young and the old in India. Speaking about the fiercely competitive tourism industry growing around the world, Ravi Vaz, the festival director, said, “The response is

The UK Goan Fest 2014

Ambassadors of Goa and them with every assismade gifts, there was a lot from getting India tourism, working as tance that they require to to choose from. Stalls had thronged. Mutton catalysts to promote Indomake their life comfortalso been put up by chariXacutti, Spicy UK trade on another able in the UK. It is an ties such as ‘Goa for Goan Chorizo, level”. Well, all I have to annual community event Giving’ and free diabetes Sorpotel, Goan say is, if you cannot visit where the people can test corners. Literature, fish curry, Beef the ‘Escape Paradise Goa’ mingle with fellow Goans arts and native music chilli with bread anytime soon, make sure and strengthen their netkiosks were also some of roll, Goan to block your dates for work. As Ravi Vaz put it, the attractions which sausages, stonethis fest next year!

“This event makes us made the crowd both nosground currys and talgic and curichutneys were just ous.

There the few of the were special numerous food rides and items available at swings for chilthe festival. What dren which caught my eye kept them were the stalls that thoroughly surrounded the entertained venue and as I visthroughout the ited each of them, day.

I admired the Most of the diversity within Ravi Vaz, the festival director Goan migrants Goa more. From a addressing the audience to the UK have stall selling T-shirts been porabout ‘Liberating overwhelming and it is tuguese passGoa’ and making it indemost heartening to see port holders pendent to a corner with even Non-Goans particiand this festiexperts specialising in pating with such vigour. val provides wedding gowns and handWe look forward to having a mini Goan carnival setup if all goes well”.

The musicians, both local Goan and from the UK, kept the adrenaline high throughout the day.

Varun Carvalho, a crowdpuller in Goa, flew to the after India’s partition in 1947). But Indian Cinema has always been one UK for the fest. A socially her face lit up on the mention of of the brightest colours on the fabconscious musician, Varun children. She has herself authored ric of South Asian culture. You cantakes his role as a Goan numerous children’s books and not take Bollywood out of an Youth Icon quite critically enjoys making toys and puppetsIndian. This great Indian film and has made songs “Everybody asks me about the years industry which includes Bollywood like “Let’s Vote”, I worked but nobody mentions has completed 101 years of national “Stand Up” and what I did in those breaks I took entertainment and continues to do “Amchem Goa” from working. I made puppets!”. so in all its grandeur. Keeping the among others. He She has worked in numerous TV tradition of bringing the best of the had his new song serials among which was Khel best of culture alive, the Indian premiered during Khilone (Games and Toys). She Journalists’ Association (IJA, the festival called was just ten when she created her London) organised a press talk with “I’m an Indian”. Jan puppet theatre. Her daughter too, screen legend Kamini Kaushal on Graveson, an interAsian Voice journalist Charusmita has recently published a book for Monday, the 28th, at Indali Lounge, national singer who withjactress Kamini Kaushal children on Gandhian philosophies.

Baker Street. The glitz and glamour has had BAFTA talking about this film, expressed As a message to today’s parents she of Bollywood has changed the lives nominations to her her disappointment and shock to said, “Let the kids experiment, go of millions in India and abroad but credit along with learn that the film hardly had any out, struggle and make something meeting the great actress made us having performed in mention in various celebratory of their lives”. realise how we can rule the hearts London’s West End events about 100 years of Indian Playing mature roles came natuof millions without detaching yourand Broadway, New cinema last year in 2013- “It rally to her and she had no qualms self from your social and family life.

York, feels no differ(Neecha Nagar) was such an about playing grandmother to Humility, grace, simplicity, straightently about Goa important film, tackling socio-econumerous actors/ actresses in forwardness and opinionatedthan Goans themnomic issues that are still relevant Bollywood. Acting was about ‘being that’s how she has always defined selves. She lives in today. It was a film with depth, natural’ for her. She was not her style. A bunch of curious jourGoa for a large part intensity and was a powerful invokobsessed with her looks and glamnalists is never easy to satisfy, but of the year. ing piece in cinematic history. It our and that made her transition confessing here, I must say, Ms. Although she persmooth- from playing Kaushal was pretty close to voicing formed for a very limited younger women’s roles her own opinions convincingly and time but this short to skipping a generation candidly. longevity on the festival of characterisation altoAccompanied by her son and scene was more than made gether. On her experigrand-daughter, she was in converup for by her enthusiasm ence of working with sation with Viji Alles, Editor at UK and connection with the Shahrukh Khan, she Asia Online and a member of the crowd. DJ Kim and bands said, “I did Chennai IJA. She was introduced to the flown from all the way Express because I was audience by Rupanjana Dutta from India such as High wondered that if some(Secretary, IJA), who spoke of Level, Shine (a Goan band body asks me if I’ve Kamini ji’s enlivening puppet based in the UK) and worked with Shahrukh, shows and children’s short stories Raising Steam had the I would have to say no apart from her achievements and audience in a frenzy as IJA member Viji Alles in conversation with Kamini Kaushal and I wondered what contributions to the Indian cinema. they sang in a pop mix of reactions that would evoke! So I Talking about her family, she felt English and (or) Konkani. deserved more”. said yes to the film. But he sure is a grateful to have a family that From musicians dropping It is a well known fact that she charmer and a very pleasant man”. encouraged her acting career, given tunes to the food and had to move to India after the partiAt 87, she still remembers fondly all the time when this profession dance, it seemed like a pertion of 1947 and lived the formative the legendary actors/ actresses she wasn’t one of the most respectable fect Sunday. years of her life there. Calling has worked with- including Late ones for females in Indian society.

The headliner of the Lahore her home, she did not wish Zohra Sehgal, Dev Anand, Dilip She had won Filmfare Best Actress day which had been wideto discuss any further about her life Kumar and Raj Kapoor. She Award in 1955 for the film Biraj ly expected to be great there as the talk of partition remained tight-lipped about Dilip Bahu and one of her other critical was the famous Goan cuibrought back too many painful Kumar’s confessional on Kamini acclaimed roles was in the film sine. Largely, the food memories. On being asked which Kaushal being his first love but I Neecha Nagar (1946, Dir. Chetan stalls were a tad bit disapactress does she think can play think we can gloss over that!

Anand) that went on to be the first pointing for people who Kamini Kaushal on screen today, internationally recognised India have known its authenticshe replied, “It will be too painful a film after it shared the (Best Film) Photo Courtesy: Charusmita & Raj D ity all their lives. But that, character to be played by anybody Bakrania, Prmediapix award at the in 1946. The actress, in no way, prevented the (owing to her great loss during and food stalls and the bar

Indian Journalists’ Association hosts ‘In conversation with Kamini Kaushal’

18

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Dear Financial Voice Reader,

It’s going to be a great second half of the year for investments.

The most striking image for me is of a graph I saw showing just how many US companies continue to beat earnings expectations. Ever since my University days of studying economics I know expectations are what moves the markets in theory and reality.

I see no reason for those expectations not to kept getting beaten. We are, believe it or not, lacking the confidence to raise our expectations, and that is why markets keep rising, because we get surprising earning jolts and then slip back into our ‘couldn’t happen again’ mode. Perverse but so are the markets.

The US Dollar getting hammered is soon forgotten too as now it is a safe haven again. Politics has overtaken economics. But that won’t last long I don’t think.

How soon we have forgotten the Federal Reserve's decision not to scale back its asset purchases program last year and the fundamental reasons for a weak dollar. The Fed was providing stimulus to the US economy by purchasing $85 billion in assets per month to provide liquidity in the domestic market. But all forgotten.

We have forgotten the fundamental weakness in the US markets - Fed's president and the rest of the Free Open Market Committee surprised the financial markets by announcing that they will keep their stimulus efforts intact citing that weaker than expected job and house market data last year. What now of our worries for jobs and US growth?

And we have forgotten as we hit all time highs, the hours of debating and discussing between Democrats and Republicans that even then the US Congress and Senate didn't manage to find a solution to the debt ceiling issue. To make things more clear, there is legislation in the United States that prohibits the federal government to surpass a certain level of debt and in such a case the law dictates that if there is no amendment to this then the federal government cannot continue to operate as usually.

Such an incident however is far from usual as the last time that such a shutdown in government services occurred was 17 years ago. Analyst express their fears that this shutdown in possibly critical sectors of the US government will take its toll on the annual GDP and they predict that even a couple of weeks of stalemate could bring down the annual production as much as 14%. Can it happen this year – why not? How soon we forget. So what do you do when you feel you’re in a mental asylum, everyone should be crazy, but they are behaving quite sensibly and not panicking? Do you trade for the inevitable panic, or do you go along and behave calm too?

Personally, I like to keep a very close eye on everyone and not take big bets on people eventually seeing things my way. I’d rather work on the basis of how will they continue seeing things. So for now I am betting on higher highs in global equities.

British economy back at pre-crisis level

British economy has finally back at its pre-crisis peak achieved six years ago, but its effect may take some time to be felt. The economy expanded by 0.8 per cent between April and June, the same as in the previous three months, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This means that the economy is now 0.2 per cent higher than it was in the first quarter of 2008. The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, forecast that UK would grow by 3.2 per cent this year, beating all other G7 countries. It is a full percentage point above Canada, the next closest country. Royal Bank of Scotland also published its half-year results a week early because profits have come in far better than expected, sending its shares rocketing by more than 10 per cent.

David Cameron said: “It shows if you stick to a long-term economic plan, you take the long-term and difficult decisions that are necessary, you can get the country back on the right path.” While Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, welcomed the news, he warned that wages after inflation were down more than £1,600 a year since 2010, house building was at its lowest level since the 1920s and business invest-

ment was lagging behind the UK’s competitors.

Economists were also quick to point out that, because of population growth, gross domestic product per capita was still 4 per cent below its previous peak at the end of 2007.

John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, said: “It will be some years yet before average real incomes have fully recovered the losses suffered during the reces-

sion.” Alan Clarke, head of European fixed income strategy at Scotiabank, also stressed that it was important to keep in mind how much ground remained to be made up.

“Had we not been in recession you would normally have seen the economy continuing to expand, so output is still short of where we would have been had the economy continued to expand.

There is lost ground to make up for,” he said.

A breakdown of the figures showed that growth had been buoyed by a strong service sector, which grew by 1 per cent in the second quarter.

Production also increased by 0.4 per cent. However, the construction sector, which had started to recover after being badly damaged during the downturn, floundered, decreasing by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter.

with the Tories’ conference beginning on September 28, meaning that talks between the parties have already begun.

Senior Whitehall sources said that despite strong GDP figures - economic growth between April and June was 0.8 per cent - there will be little room for tax cuts or more spending. One source said: “Despite growth upgrades, there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in tax revenues of the size that would offer significant tax cuts in the

autumn statement.

“The Treasury would need the Office for Budget Responsibility to rule that the improvement in the finances is structural, not cyclical. In order for them to do this, the next couple of public finance statements would have to be much better than recent ones. Otherwise the coalition would have to change their fiscal rules, since their current target is to cut structural deficit.”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies broadly concurred with this assessment.

opinion that correction in the stock market is imminent.

Apart from the Chartist view, other fundamental factors are also pointing to a stock market correction in the near future. Stock prices of low quality companies’ rising to high levels is not a good health sign for the market. A $100,000 investment at the beginning of 2009 in the lowest quality stocks would have risen to $380,000 by mid-

2013 versus $271,000 for the high quality stocks and this out performance has continued into 2014.

Other factors such as the gradual withdrawal of liquidity from the markets

by Fed, in excess of 70% of the S&P 500 companies trading above the long term average price earnings ratio of 15 and the willingness of both UK and US to raise interest rates early next year are all negative signs but investors who “short” the market may welcome this situation.

Finally the margin debt, for investors (borrowing money from stock brokers) recently reaching record high levels is also a sign that the stock market has almost peaked. Please note that in the last decade when high margin debt was experienced was during the previous stock market highs of March 2000 and July 2007.

Osborne unlikely to go for tax cuts

Chancellor George Osborne did not see any chance in near future to reducing tax rates even though the economy has improved considerably. He said that the booming economy has not been accompanied by a corresponding rise in tax revenues. Osborne’s statement in November or December will be his last chance for the government to change tax and spending plans in this parliament, since next year’s budget will be too close to the election.

George Osborne

Key decisions in the autumn statement are likely to be announced at the party conferences,

Are stock markets due for correction?

Ackman’s move to prove fraud at Herbalife fails

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman who spent $50m on undercover investigation to prove fraud at Herbalife fails to impress the investing public.

Despite making public the results of his investigation, the value of the nutritional supplements company rose more than $1.3bn. He was predicting that after the revelation of his findings, the shares of the company would crash, instead it has rose more than 25 per cent.

Ackman has been betting against Herbalife since 2012, claiming it runs an illegal pyramid selling scheme, something the company denies. His three-and-a-half hour TV event included undercover recordings and internal

documents, which Ackman claimed proved Herbalife distributors were put on “training” schemes, where they were forced to buy the company’s shakes in order to graduate. But rather than delivering a “death blow” to the company as he promised, pain was inflicted instead on investors who had bet against the stock, with many forced to abandon their positions as the share price rise accelerated. Some 480 people packed a Manhattan auditorium to hear him speak, while 10,000 more watched a live webcast.

Meanwhile the company kept up a barrage of rebuttals on Twitter, insisting its business practices are legitimate.

Ragu Dharmaratnam ACMA CGMA

S&P 500 stock market index is the world’s biggest index and it is designed to be the leading indicator of US equities.

It consists of America’s 500 big companies and it is widely traded by banks, hedge funds, professional and private traders.

Based on technical analysis (Chartist) method, future price movements of any tradable instrument, whether it is shares, currencies, commodities or stock index can be predicted based on past price patterns and movements.

If you look at the

graph of S&P 500 index you can see a very important price pattern emerging. In the recent 20 years, the bull market averaged 63 months.

Both the first (Dec 1994 to Mar 2000) and the second (July 2002 to Oct 2007) bull market also prevailed for 63 months.

The current bull market began at the end of March 2009 and to date, July 2014 is coincidently the 63rd month. Therefore many experts are of the

REAL ESTATE VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

19

Jumping on the band wagon

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap A Property Investment Company

There has been much press regarding the cooling housing market; an interesting report examined the London property market through the eyes of Foxtons share price and offered an interesting perspective.

Foxtons was founded by ex-army man Jon Hunt in 1981, with £30,000 from school friend Anthony Pelligrini. He was 28. The company started with a two-man office in Notting Hill. And as luck would have it, 1981 was not far off the bottom of the market.

A friend of mine a few years ago became the top selling agent in the Notting Hill branch, he performed top consistently and became a living legend in the Foxtons world for years to come. He was rewarded with a Ferrari for his efforts, which he declined in favour of another benefit.

Though popularly known for its green Minis around London, the agents have a chance to elevate themselves to BMW 1 series and upwards; they are consistently targeted and given rewards as they hit their milestones from cars to holidays every quarter.

Needless to say my friend soon left to start his own property development business by selling in the patch he got to know well, breaking the ceiling prices of the streets he developed in. In this industry the staff turnover rate is high, retention is very low. Foxtons is a great place to get your nose dirty and learn the trade. In the course of business we have seen many negotiators come and go, they make their money and move on. Understandably in this type of environment the burn out rate is high and therefore not sustainable, very few people stay on long term.

Th e firm is k nown fo r d oing things d if ferent ly, e. g. o fferin g 0% commission t o attract c ust omers from othe r agent s ever y time they open a n ew of fice for t hree mont hs to woo business from othe r ag ent s. Staff are wo rked hard 12 hou rs a day as wel l as weeken ds which g ive s them the edg e on other age nts.

Let’s face it, 2013 was about a good year in the London property market and everyone made money. Foxtons had a 22.5% jump in sales.

When the market declines in the hotspots of London, sellers tend to hang on to their properties; they are not faced with the same need to sell as the rest of the nation and can afford to hang on till the market picks up. A lack of seller spells a downturn in turnover and profits for Foxtons. It seems the city has cottoned onto this and this is reflected in the stock price.

A quick survey of transaction levels in London will reveal the transaction levels have decreased, therefore this will mean the bullish prediction for 2014 of £163m in revenue and £55m in profit is unlikely to be attainable. The rest of the city’s opinion is also in stark contrast to this prediction.

A cooling market means what exactly? The transaction levels will drop and there will start to be a nervousness in the atmosphere of where the market will go from this point on.

A point of note is a property is a tangible asset and its value does not drop to zero in the same way Foxtons’ share price can. So it’s important to keep things in perspective.

During the crash of 1989 to 1992 the company struggled for survival. It was at this point they started a letting arm which is just as aggressive as the sales arm, also offering short lets which can prove to be a very lucrative yield for the landlord in Central London, where many tenants prefer to have their own privacy and comfort in a flat, rather than a hotel, and are prepared to pay well for the privilege.

The firm was sold in 2007, just before the crash for £390m for only 20 branches to BC Partners. Many stated this was a ridiculous amount of money to pay for the company valuing each branch at nearly £2m. In the following years there followed a lot of press regarding the sanity of purchasing the company at this price, and BC Partners lost control of the company and was forced to restructure their debt. The company post credit crunch started to build up again and currently has 49 branches in the hot spots of London.

However the company was floated in August 2013, raising £55m in the process. At its peak in March this year the share price was 398p, giving it a market capitalisation of more than £1.1bn.

But since its high, the share price has been falling. And this week, the share price had fallen to 261p – a 52-week low, hence the market cap had slid to £740m, nearly at the level they were when they first started trading.

If yo ur foc us is in ve st in g in rental yield such as tho se who specialise in purchasin g HMOs, a slight te mporar y dec line in pro pe rty valu es will have little impact o n your investme nt. Ho wever if you’re aimin g to deve lop and are bank in g on value s to carry on in cre asing you mig ht f in d you rself in a hole.

The firm is ren own ed fo r its abilit y to get hig her pric es t han other agent s t hereby justifyin g its no co mpromise fee of 2. 5% f or sole ag ency or 3% for mult i-age ncy. This is goo d for sellers wh o cl early bene fit f ro m this t ype of mo del.

Foxtons make serious profits when there is a large number of sellers in the market. When this declines the revenue decreases. In 2013, it saw strong growth on the previous year: revenue was up 16% on the year at £139m, while pre-tax profit was up 57% at £39m.

This is the kind of market where deals will surface, when the masses are scared to purchase is precisely the time to strike. The investors who recently have made the most money are those who piled into the market in 2009, when most were sitting on the fence.

No doubt a parallel cannot be drawn from 2009 to now. In 2009 the market was in pick up mode somewhere at the bottom of the curve, and currently we are in a phase where the decline is just starting at the top of the curve, therefore any purchase must be done with much discrimination and with the anticipation of a further dampening of price.

However from my experience what happens in this type of market, in the key areas of London, is most owners simply don't sell, they don’t need to. Many have purchased in cash or have very little mortgages therefore things like the credit crunch don’t really affect them as there is no credit to crunch. This is the same for areas which are heavily populated by Jews and Indians, who have the reputation of being more financially savvy.

In behavioral finance it known that psychologically investors weigh a downturn in price much more heavily than the equivalent upturn in price. This translated into the property market means everyone will be prepared to jump on the bandwagon when prices are increasing yet when they are faced with making a decision in a falling market most will end up just sitting on the fence. No matter which way the market is going three things will not go away: death, divorce and distress.

Very simply following the masses cannot make you money, if it did they would all be rich!

The Real Deal

West Ealing, London, W7 Purchase Price: £350k l A large two bedroom mid terrace house l Freehold l Currently generating £1,300 per month rental income l Similar properties are being sold for around £440k, so this property is coming at around 20% discount l Very good buy and hold opportunity Call us now to secure this deal!

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 Be strict about what you’re looking for, if you want good rental yield you may be better off purchasing a property above a grocer’s shop close to a station rather than a property for the same price 15 minutes away.

l Remember capital values may be affected but regular income in terms of rent can be expected in good as well as bad times.

20

BUSINESS

IMF cuts global growth outlook; India avoids ratings downgrade

The International Monetary Fund chopped its 2014 forecast for global economic growth to take into account weakness early in the year in the United States and China, the world's two biggest economies.

The IMF warned that only some of the factors leading to the reduction were temporary, and richer nations in particular faced the risk of economic stagnation unless they took steps to foster sustainable growth.

In an update to its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF said the global economy should expand 3.4% this year, 0.3 percentage points below what it predicted in April.

Growth should still speed up to 4% next year, it said,

India blocks WTO deal on customs rules

India blocked an agreement on new global customs rules, angering fellow members of the World Trade Organization who say Delhi's veto could be costly, economically and politically.

At a meeting in Geneva, diplomats from the 160 WTO member countries were supposed to rubber stamp a deal on "trade facilitation" that was agreed at talks in Bali last December. Some estimates say it could add $1 trillion to the world economy and create 21 million jobs. But India said it would veto the agreement until it gets what it wants in a separate area linked to its system of subsidising and stockpiling crops.

Several countries issued statements saying that a failure to agree the deal would be a massive blow to the WTO, which is trying to emerge from a decade of failed negotiations on further liberalising global trade.

WTO director general Roberto Azevedo said talks were ongoing to try to resolve the problem before a deadline of July 31. "We are informally talking," he said. When asked what would happen if there were no deal by July 31, he said: "That's part of the conversation."

A group of 25 countries including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland and Thailand said they were "dismayed" at the failure to agree at Thursday's meeting.

They warned that failing to seal the trade facilitation deal would unravel the whole package of trade agreements done in Bali, effectively destroying the chance of further global trade reform, something that India has long demanded.

unchanged from what it predicted earlier this year.

But the Fund said a robust global recovery from the deep financial troubles of 2007-09 was still not assured, and geopolitical risks from the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine could dent growth further.

"Robust demand momentum has not yet emerged despite continued very low interest rates and easing of brakes to the recovery, including from fiscal consolidation or tight financial conditions," the IMF said, adding that all major advanced economies would do well to keep policy rates low for now. Central banks in the United States, Japan, the euro zone and Britain have all sharply lowered

rates to boost economic growth and pledged to keep them there for longer to let the recovery take hold. The low rates have spurred markets higher, and valuations could be a bit "optimistic," the IMF's chief economist Olivier Blanchard said.

While unemployment fell more quickly than economists had expected in the United States and Britain, wage growth and consumer confidence still linger below pre-crisis levels in many richer countries. At the same time, emerging markets are still dealing with tighter financial conditions and reduced future growth prospects.

Speaking at a news conference in Mexico City, Blanchard urged countries

to do more to boost growth via structural reforms and investing in infrastructure.

The IMF said bright spots in the global economy included growth pickups in Japan, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. But they were overshadowed by weak growth in the United States in the first half of the year, as well as a slowdown in domestic demand in China, where the government sought to tamp down lending and the housing market cooled.

In fact, out of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - only India avoided an IMF ratings downgrade, as business sentiment recovers after the country's election.

Canada, the USA, Bangladesh and the UK. Uday Dholakia, Chairman of the Indo- British Trade Council a long standing partner of the OIFC spoke on further enhancing bilateral trade and investment based on legacy based support. The new government under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi has fuelled a degree of optimism in UK for further enhance bilateral trade and investment with India, Dholakia said. He said that when Modi was the chief minis-

ter of Gujarat, he showed the investment potential of the state by his Vibrant Gujarat shows. Dholakia said “the commitment of the UK government to enhance British exports and investment with India to the tune of £1 billion announced by the Chancellor George Osborne during his recent visit to Delhi, underpins this special relationship.

The challenge for the Modi administration is to create a favourable FDI environment and further enhance sound corporate governance, Dholakia said. The UK’s challenge remains how to practically support British companies with legacy based trade support and most importantly to galvanise the considerable reach of the British Asian communities”.

Google services including Gmail and Google Maps.

While Apple's latest iPhone, the 5S, costs £549 in the UK and the Samsung Galaxy S5 costs the same, Karbonn A50S will cost just £26.

The Karbonn A50S is one of a new breed of cheap smart phones that will start flooding the UK and European market

over the coming months, experts warn.

“Ten years ago the technology was expensive, but that’s not the case anymore,” Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight, a mobile phone research company, said. Android has been the great leveller in the market because anyone can install it, while the hardware from places such as China is incredibly cheap and reliable.'

Carolina Milanesi of consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel added western nations including the UK are only just waking up to the potential of smartphone technology with has been cheap for several years.”

Conference on investment potential in N Indian states

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the Confederation of Indian Industries through their joint platform of Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OITC) organised a two day conference to show case the investment potential of north Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi.

The event was attended by officers from all the states along with leading investors and professionals around the world.

Amit Kant, Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Prem Narain, the Secretary at the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs spoke at the conference.

Overseas presence included senior representatives from South Africa, Korea, Hong Kong,

India-made Karbonn handsets to challenge market leaders

India-made Karbonn A50S is all set to storm the mobile market and hops to challenge the market leaders - Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy – at a fraction of the cost. Karbonn A50S with a touch screen display, internet connection, front and rear camera lens and dual phone number function will cost just £26.

While the low cost smart phone is officially available to domestic customers in India, Britons can buy the handset online. The mobile can be used on most UK networks with a pay-as-yougo Sim card.

And as it runs on Android, the Googleowned operating system, it comes with all the usual

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Lloyds accused of unlawful behaviour over bailout funding

Bank of England has accused Lloyds Banking Group of unlawful behaviour after it emerged its traders had manipulated interest rates in order to cut fees for its emergency lifeline at the height of the financial crisis.

The latest chapter of disgrace in the Libor rigging scandal left Lloyds with a bill of £226m, including £218m of fines from regulators. It also exposed a new form of manipulation, which has resulted in the 24% taxpayer-owed bank being forced to repay £8m to the Bank of England.

The revelations unleashed an angry attack by Mark Carney, the Bank of England's governor, who said: "Such manipulation is highly reprehensible, clearly unlawful and may amount to criminal conduct on the part of the individuals involved."

The case is a setback to the two-year-long attempt by the industry to clean up its reputation in the wake of Barclays' fine for Libor rigging.

The fines imposed on Lloyds by the City's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) covered two main issues: rigging Libor, for which seven other institutions have already been punished; and for the first time, manipulating another rate, known as the repo rate. This repo rate was used to calculate the scale of the fees paid to the Bank of England for its special liquidity

scheme (SLS), which was created in April 2008 to cheapen the prices at which money could be obtained by banks as the credit crisis unfolded.

Tracey McDermott, the FCA's director of enforcement and financial crime, said collusion between traders at Lloyds to influence the rate paid to the Bank of England "at the expense, ultimately, of the UK taxpayer was unacceptable".

As has been the case with other fines for rigging Libor regulators on both sides of the Atlantic published emails and electronic chats exposing evidence of manipulation. In one exchange, a Lloyds trader remarks when asked about reducing a Libor rate: "Every little helps ... It's like Tescos."

But Lloyds will also pay £7.8m in compensation to the Bank of England because of the lower fees the bank paid for the SLS, which was closed in January 2012.

The enlarged Lloyds group was one of the largest beneficiaries, paying a total of £1.3bn fees by the end of the crisis.

Carney referred the matter to the Bank's regulation arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority, while the Serious Fraud Office said its investigations into Libor were continuing. Lloyds chairman Lord Blackwell said: "This was truly shocking conduct, undertaken when the bank was on a lifeline of public support."

Australia approves Adani’s coal mine project

The Australian government has approved Indian firm Adani group’s multibillion dollar coal mine and a railway line project.

The $15.5 billion Carmichael project in Queensland is subject to strict conditions to protect groundwater. The Carmichael mine has sparked protests from green groups and marine tour operators worried about carbon pollution and export of the coal from a port near the Great Barrier Reef.

Greenpeace said the conditions imposed on the project would do little to protect the environ-

ment from the bigger impact of shipping through the World Heritage-listed reef .

Despite the challenges, Adani and compatriot GVK, which is working on a rival Galilee Basin coal project with Australia's Gina Rinehart are planning to build large new mines, rail lines and a port terminal.

Adani, which recently lined up South Korea's POSCO Engineering & Construction Co to build the rail line for the project, aims to start producing in 2017, which would be three years behind its original target.

CURRENCY VOICE

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

21

Foreign Exchange

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

IMF cuts its global economic growth forecasts Currency Specialists.

The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for global economic growth this year but upgraded the UK again.

The IMF now expects the global economy will growth by 3.4% this year, down from 3.7% back in April. They now expect UK growth of 3.2% this year, up from 2.8% that had been previously forecast.

The IMF says four negative surprises have hit the world economy in recent months with the US, Russia, China and other emerging markets all disappointing it blamed a weak first quarter in which the US economy contracted, and a less optimistic outlook for several emerging market economies.

The IMF also warned that increased geopolitical risks could hurt the global economy, by driving oil prices sharply higher On Wednesday The Bank of England voted 9-0 to leave interest rates unchanged at the record low of 0.5%.The main concern from The Bank of England however is that people's earnings are not increasing especially as inflation rose to 1.9% last month. This was a

concern as we have seen unemployment fall but wages are yet rise in line with the positive growth in the UK job market.

MArk Carney did state that as the economy normalises, interest rates need to rise in order to achieve the inflation target but the MPC has no preset course and the timing of any interest rates rises will be determined by the economic data that is released.

He also suggested that The Bank of England would be risking a housing bubble and a return to recession if it left interest rates at an all-time low for

too long. With rising housing prices, this could result in households taking on more mortgage debt to afford a new home, minimising their ability to spend money on goods and services that could cause the economy to contract Retail sales figures released show that shops have enjoyed their strongest trading quarter in a decade, with volumes up by 1.6% in April-June compared to the previous three months. The June figure was below expectations showing growth of just 0.1%figures were below expectations and the pound was sold off immediately after the news

was released.

In the US he number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits has hit its lowest level since early 2006, as the US labour market continues to improve. Initial claims for unemployment benefit slid by 19,000 last week to 284,000, the lowest level in eight years Markit's US manufacturing PMI came in at 56.3 in July, down from June's 57.3, easing off the 49 month high. Factories reported that output grew strongly. However, new export order growth remained subdued and employment growth slowed US pending home sales again showed a sharp drop falling a further 7.3% compared with a year ago. Suggesting many Americans remain unwilling or unable to enter the market despite historically low borrowing costs and a pickup in job creation.

Limited availability of credit and poor wage growth are making it harder for prospective buyers to purchase property .Continued gains in employment and a bigger supply of available homes will be needed to help boost new home sales.

Weekly Currencies As of Tuesday 29th July 2014 @ 4.30pm

GBP - INR = 102.13 USD - INR = 60.27 EUR - INR = 80.82 GBP - USD = 1.69 GBP - EUR = 1.26

EUR - USD = 1.34 GBP - AED = 6.22

GBP - CAD = 1.84

GBP - NZD = 1.99

GBP - AUD = 1.80

GBP - ZAR = 17.93

GBP - HUF = 392.05

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.

22

LONDON - PAKISTAN

Miliband tries to present himself as a man of principle

London: Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said that if the people want a good-looking PM then they should not vote for him. In a speech on general election in London, he tried to present himself as a man of principle. He said that he may lose the race in the election if the contest is about image rather than ideas.

He said, if you want a politician who thinks that a good photo is the most important thing, then don't vote for me. The speech was an explicit admission that his negative personal ratings may be a barrier to Labour's election next year. His team believes the electorate could be persuaded to think that the more thoughtful, consensual talents he may possess are more important to modern political leadership.

Miliband said people would like someone who stand up and say that

there was more to politics than the photo op.

His critics think he is trying to make a virtue of his failure to connect with voters, but his allies argue generations of glib retail politics had bred cynicism, and Miliband can at least win respect for offering a different kind of leadership. He tried to recast him, potentially building some defences ahead of the personal assault likely to be mounted by the Conservatives in the campaign.

Miliband's personal ratings have trailed behind

Minister urges pupils to set up their own business

London: Employment minister Esther McVey said that middle class children should think of setting up their own business and it was as good as going to a university and working for a big company. The minister said that self-employment should be given the same social status and respect as the university route into employment. She said that the Conservative Party should encourage the youngsters to create their own businesses and become “little engines” of wealth creation in their communities.

The minister who joined the Cabinet in the recent reshuffle, strongly defended self-employment, saying that for many people setting up their

own firm is “better” than working for an employer.

Asked if middle-class parents should encourage their children to view selfemployment as a viable alternative to a degree, the minister said the different routes to work should be seen as equals.

She added that if you have the idea, creativity and want to set up a business, then that is what you should do and the Conservative Party should be able to support those people. “That is what we should be doing, liberating everyone’s potential, whether it’s a self-made individual, whether it’s someone taking the university route, whether it’s the apprenticeship route.

They are all equal and good and worthwhile.”

those of his party and in June fell to the lowest ever recorded. Cameron's ratings were also down. The latest YouGov polling shows that by more than four-to-one, voters regard Miliband as weak rather than strong and by threeto-one they say he is not up to the job of prime minister. On both measures, Cameron scores more positive than negative responses.

"It is no surprise that people think that politicians only care about the photo op, how we look, or how we are presented, and not about substance.

Because so often the terms of trade of politics – the way it is discussed and rated – has become about the manufactured, the polished, the presentational.

This is not new but it has got worse.

Politicians have fuelled it. The media feed it, but this political culture is a disaster for the country.

Because let's face up to something: this has become a game that fewer and fewer people are watching, or believing.

"The public's antennae for the artificiality, the triviality, the superficiality of politics is more highly tuned than ever. And unless we stand up and say that we want to offer the public something different, more and more will simply turn off."

He said Cameron "made his name as leader of the opposition for some fantastic photos, like hanging out with huskies in the Arctic Circle. I congratulate him for it".

He added: "Even my biggest supporters would say I haven't matched him on that. I didn't set out to do it when I became leader, and I haven't done so. And it's not just that I haven't tried to do it, it's not where my talents lie either – as you may have noticed."

Former Pak CJ slaps libel suit on Imran Khan

Islamabad: Pakistan's former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry served a Rs 20 billion defamation notice to cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. Khan, chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf party (PTI), had said that Chaudhry as chief justice of Pakistan failed to stop rigging in the general election of 2013 and thus indirectly helped his rivals to win the polls.

The notice was issued against Khan by the lawyers of Chaudhry for maligning the top judiciary of the country and bringing the former judge to disrepute. "I claim from you in damages a token sum of Rs 15 billion only and another Rs 5 billion only as damages for mental agonies, torture, harassment,

humiliation, etc, caused to me as well as my family," said the former top judge in the notice. Chaudhry however said that the notice will be withdrawn if Khan tendered an unconditional apology within two weeks. The legal proceedings against the PTI supremo will commence if he failed to prove the allegations. Khan's party so far has not commented on the development. The battle between Khan and the former chief justice has been going on for some time due to his harsh criticism of the judiciary. Chaudhry's son, Arsalan Iftikhar, is also active against Khan and has announced to challenge his election alleging that Khan did not fulfil the criterion to be a Member of Parliament.

people," human rights lawyer David Manne said.

"On the information at hand so far, it's completely unclear what role India could properly play in this process. It's a fundamental principal of refugee law that no person should have to deal with the authorities of another country from which they may have fled."

The government made the decision to bring the group, which includes 50 children, to Australia after

human rights lawyers began legal action in the High Court to stop them being sent to Sri Lanka and disputing the government's right to assess asylum claims while the detainees were at sea. The High Court decided on Monday, after the group's arrival in Australia, to drop that case, cancelling a hearing scheduled for next week, citing the detainees' changed circumstances.

Lawyers for the group said they were discussing new potential legal action with the detainees, based on their current situation.

The group of Sri Lankan men, women and children are the first asylum seekers travelling by boat to reach mainland Australia in seven months, an apparent setback for the government's policies.

Lankan asylum seekers detained in Australia

Sydney: A group of 157 Sri Lankan asylum seekers has arrived at a detention camp in Australia, government officials said on Monday, after having been held at sea by authorities for almost a month, sparking a legal challenge.

The interception and detention of the group has spotlighted Australia's controversial and secretive policies to turn back boats carrying potential refugees.

These policies have drawn world scrutiny and criticism from rights groups and the United Nations, besides legal challenges.

The group was taken to the remote Curtin Detention Centre in outback Western Australia on Sunday and Monday.

Indian consular officials were due to begin interviewing some of the

group, whose boat was intercepted by the Australian navy after setting sail from India. India has agreed to take back any of its nationals among the group but a lawyer asked to represent the Tamils said they should first be interviewed by Australian authorities to establish any claims to asylum. "Now these people are in Australia, the ordinary protections of Australian law must be afforded to these

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In Brief

Muslims seek support to ban burka

London: Following the French example, Muslims in UK have launched a signature campaign to ban the burka.

They are planning to collect 10,000 signatures so that the House of Commons will have to consider their petition and ban Muslim women from covering their faces in public. The campaign to forbid what petitioners call a “disturbing social trend” to wear the burka (face veil) reflects a growing split in British Islam.

Paracetamol may not give relief for back pain Sydney: According to a study by George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, paracetamol, the most common pain reliever for back pain, does not work any better than a placebo. The institute conducted a trial after it was unable to find evidence that paracetamol was effective. In the trial one group received a placebo, another was told to take paracetamol as needed and a third received regular extended-release paracetamol three times a day. "Surprisingly we found that it didn't really matter whether you gave people a placebo, paracetamol or time-contingent regular paracetamol, there was no difference in any of the outcomes," said Professor Chris Maher who led the study.

Father and son killed while trying to create world record

Indiana (US): A Pakistani-American teenager who was aiming to become the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the globe has died along with his co-pilot father after their plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Haris Suleman, 17, and his 58-year-old father Babar had taken off from American Samoa en route to the Hawaiian island of Honolulu on the penultimate leg of their round-the-world trip when their Hawker Beechcraft turbo-prop aircraft crashed.

Yoga and meditation best way to relax

London: Experts said that the best way to relax in the evening after a day of hard work is to meditate or take a yoga class than to watch TV. They found that watching TV to wind down can actually leave people feeling more anxious and unhappy. The study found that people who were highly stressed after work did not feel relaxed or recovered when they watch TV or play computer games. The researchers found that watching TV or playing games was procrastination, and that they were dodging more important tasks. They found that yoga, meditation or watching a highbrow documentary was the best way to relax.

Quick radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer patients

London: The NHS drug rationing body has approved a convenient 20-minute one-off dose radiotherapy for breast cancer patients. Intrabeam radiotherapy allows a one-off low-dose to be delivered directly into the wound area during surgery avoiding the need for repeated visits to hospital for radiotherapy in the following weeks.

It is thought that the new treatment is as successful as traditional radiotherapy but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said women should be warned that their cancer may be more likely to return following Intrabeam.

Nurseries fleecing parents

London: A new study has found that nursery schools are fleecing the parents for extras like food, late pickups and registration which some parents find it difficult to afford. Parents complain they are being charged extra fees for lunch, nappies, day trips and even milk in a practice that has been compared to the policies of budget airlines. The growing problems of hidden fees emerged in research compiled by Citizens Advice, who say the cost and availability of childcare is still a barrier for parents who want to work. Parents are also being forced to shell out money before their children even start, with 90 per cent of nurseries asking for payment in advance and 40 per cent requiring a deposit of up to £150.

Woman jailed for claiming benefits for holidaying

London: A British woman has been sent to jail for claiming medical benefits worth £134,000 only to holiday in Goa and get cosmetic surgeries done in India. Fiftytwo-year-old Karen Trant of Dartmouth was sentenced for 27 months by the Plymouth Crown Court after pleading guilty to dishonestly claiming benefits over a 13-year period. Between August 1999 and April 2013, Karen Trant falsely claimed housing benefit, council tax benefit, employment support allowance, income support and disability allowance. Despite claiming that she needed continual supervision, she holidayed in Goa, India, paid for cosmetic surgery and enjoyed horse-riding and socialising in crowds.

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In Brief

Alert in Britain's highways over Asian tiger mosquito

London: British highways are on high alert over Asian tiger mosquito which can bite over four dozen times in just over 15 minutes and transmit the life-threatening dengue infection, yellow fever and chikungunya. The mosquito is notorious for hiding in cars or caravans travelling across countries. Public Health England which has warned that some species will take advantage of the warm weather and water-filled habitats, like water butts or paddling pools to breed, particularly those without covers that collect leaves has now set up innovative traps at motorway service stations because motorists returning from parts of Europe could be carrying home a deadly species. The Asian tiger mosquito has been spreading north from southern Europe and experts are worried that it will soon enter UK.

Wife-beaters escaping with minor punishment

London: The new figures have revealed that perpetrators of domestic abuse are getting away with minor punishments rather than facing criminal sanctions. The number of domestic abuse cases dealt with by “community resolution” has jumped from 1,337 in 2009 to 3,556 in 2012 and 3,305 last year. A community resolution is designed to allow a swift outcome following an incident, which often results in perpetrators being asked to apologise to the victim and does not leave the guilty party with a criminal record. They are designed to allow officers to concentrate on more significant offences. But type of punishment will encourage the offenders to repeat the same offence.

Men happier with a breadwinner wife

London: A study shows that the new generation husbands did not find wives with an equal or better education a threat. The husbands also don’t mind if the wife is the breadwinner. The research confirms that in previous generations marriages where the husband was better qualified – and therefore likely to be the breadwinner.. However, the trend has now gone into reverse. The pattern of relationships where the wife has the “educational advantage” being more likely to break down has disappeared, and couples who are evenly matched are more likely to stay together than relationships in which the husband is educated to a higher level.

Bumping fists better than handshake

Washington: Scientists have found that bumping fists - the fashionable alternative to the handshake used by everyone from President Barack Obama to the Dalai Lama - is better than the traditional greeting because it reduces the spread of germs. A study at Aberystwyth University found that using a "fist bump" instead of a handshake could reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses by up to 90 per cent. Even swapping a firm handshake for a gentler one could halve the spread of infections such as MRSA. This is the same reason that ‘Namaste’ has been practical in India for so long and so widely.

France offers asylum to Iraq Christians

Paris: The French government has offered asylum to Iraqi Christians who were forced to flee by Islamist militants in the northern city of Mosul. French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said, "We are ready, if they so desire, to help facilitate asylum on our territory." A senior Christian cleric in Iraq, Patriarch Louis Sako, estimated that before the advance of Muslim militants, Mosul had a Christian population of 35,000 - compared with 60,000 prior to 2003. According to the UN, just 20 families from the ancient Christian minority now remain in the city, which Isis has taken as the capital of its Islamic state. Islamic State was previously known as Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant).

Hamid Karzai’s cousin killed in suicide attack

Kandahar (Afghanistan): The outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s cousin was killed in suicide attack near the volatile southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, officials said. Hashmat Karzai was a campaign manager in Kandahar for Ashraf Ghani, one of the two presidential candidates involved in a bitter dispute over fraud that threatens to pitch the country into worsening instability. Hashmat Karzai, who owned a pet lion, was killed by a man with explosives hidden inside his turban when visitors arrived to celebrate Eid. "A suicide bomber disguised as a guest came to Hashmat Karzai's house to greet him," Dawa Khan Minapal, the Kandahar provincial governor's spokesman, said.

WORLD

23

Doctors turning away millions of patients

London: At least 40 million patients who want to see the GP could not be able to do so as the doctors could not handle more cases. Only one patient out of nine could get an appointment with the GP. Doctors’ leaders said that the figures were a “shocking indictment” of a failing system and warned that the early signs of cancer and other deadly diseases could be missed when patients were shut out of surgeries.

Patients have to queue out of the door at emergency sessions, go to A&E or simply give up and hope that they get better, experts said.

Receptionists and callers are trying to judge who is in need of emergency treatment, with the rest told to phone back at another time.

Patients in London

and Birmingham face the most frustration, with one in seven being turned away. The Royal College of GPs said that the system had been “brought to its knees” by the weight of patient demand and warned that it was only going to get harder to see a doctor.

Maureen Baker, chairwoman of the RCGP, said: “No GP wants to turn away a single patient - but

surgeries are being faced with no choice because they don’t have the resources to cope with the increasing number of older people who need complex care, whilst also meeting the needs of families and people of working age. The profession has been brought to its knees both by a chronic slump in investment and the fact that there are now simply not enough family

London: Former leader of the Conservative Party Lord Howard said that the terminally ill patients should be able to die with "dignity" in hospices or their own homes instead of ending their lives in hospitals. He said that elderly people should see the hospitals as the last option.

The peer, who is chairman of the charity Help the Hospices, will launch a new drive to reduce the number of terminally ill people who die in hospitals by a fifth, saving the NHS £80 million.

He spoke about how his own father, who died at home at the age of 49 from breast cancer, was "lavished gentle, loving

care" from a group of "selfless" nuns in the six months before he passed away. He said that "when the moment comes" he hopes to die at his home in Kent surrounded by his family rather than "on a ward with a lot of other

people around and nurses preoccupied with other things".

He said that most people don't want to die in hospital. Their focus, understandably, is on curing people. They are not always good at recognising when somebody can't be cured and needs palliative care.

"Even when it's recognised they are not very good at providing palliative care because they are not properly equipped to deal with people who aren't going to get better."

Help for Hospices wants to reduce the number of people dying in hospital each year by a fifth, equivalent to 50,000 people a year.

New Delhi: While the Indian government is struggling to bring back over 40 Indian workers captured by ISIS in Iraq, an Indian family has been abducted in violence-ridden Libya.

There was little clarity about who kidnapped them, but initial reports said the Indian family was abducted while driving on the highway to Tripoli. It was not clear who abducted them, making the government’s job more difficult.

There have been fierce clashes between militias in Tripoli and Benghazi this week, sparking fears that Libya is fast slipping into lawlessness. Libya has been a hotbed of violence between different militias for the past couple of years, but the situation has become worse since the June 25 presidential elections.

Geneva: Jihadists in Iraq have ordered that all women between the ages of 11 and 46 must undergo female genital mutilation, which could affect up to four million women and girls in the war-ravaged country, a UN official said.

The UN official in Iraq Jacqueline Badcock said, "It is a fatwa (or religious edict) from ISIS, we learnt about it this morning. We have no precise numbers."

The Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), took over large swathes of the country last month and has begun imposing its extreme Salafist interpretation of Islam.

Badcock said that if

you took UN population figures as a guide, around "four million girls and women could be affected".

Female genital mutilation is unusual in Iraq and is only practised in "certain isolated pockets of the country", she added.

She said only 20 families from the ancient Christian minority now remain in Mosul, the northern Iraq city which ISIS has taken as the capital of its Islamic state. Most have reportedly fled north into Kurdishcontrolled territory.

Badcock said some Christians have converted to Islam, while others have opted to stay and pay the jiyza, the tax on nonMuslim's ISIS has imposed.

Terminally ill should be allowed to die with dignity: Lord Howard

Indian family abducted in Libya

ISIS jihadists order genital mutilation of women in Iraq

doctors to go around.”

GP numbers are close to record levels but they are dealing with a rising population of older and sicker patients. Ministers have conceded that there are not enough GPs to coordinate care for the frail, or to bring more care out of hospitals, where one in four patients in A&E say that they could not get an appointment with a family doctor.

The RCGP analysed data from the NHS GP patient survey of a million people, which found that 11 per cent of patients said that they could not get an appointment the last time they wanted to see a GP or nurse. The royal college estimates that this translates to 46 million “non-consultations” this year, up from 34 million in 2012, when 9 per cent could not get an appointment.

US politician mistakes Washington officials for Indians

Washington: A newlyelected US congressman has caused embarrassment in Washington after mistaking two senior Indian-American officials for foreigners.

Representative Curt Clawson - a Republican Congressman from Florida - was addressing Nisha Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia at the US State Department, and Arun Kumar, who works for the US Department of Commerce, during a congressional hearing on Friday. During a minutelong monologue, Clawson said, "I am familiar with your country. I love your country. I'm hopeful with the new change in regime that the future and the land of promise and the land of opportunity of India can finally become so". As Biswal and Mr Kumar - two of the most senior and prominent officials of South Asian extraction in Washington stared in disbelief, Mr Clawson requested that India become open to more investment from the United States. “Just as your capital is welcome here to produce good-paying jobs in the US, I’d like our capital to be welcomed there,” he said. "Can I have that?" There was a moment of silence before Biswal answered.

"I think your question is to the Indian government," she said. "We certainly share your sentiments and will advocate that on behalf of the US government." Realizing his mistake, Clawson said he was merely "asking for their opinion". According to USA Today, the politician has since apologized.

24

INDIA

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Sania named Telangana’s ambassador

Tennis player Sania Mirza has been appointed as brand ambassador of Telangana by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and was given a cheque of Rs 10 million, which the Chief Minister said was for training and preparation purposes for upcoming tournaments.

As the brand ambassador of Telangana, Mirza is expected to promote the new state’s interests in India and abroad. “Telangana is proud of Sania Mirza, a true Hyderabadi. In international tennis, she is ranked No. 5 and we wish she becomes No. 1 very soon,’’ Rao said while felicitating her at an interaction session with vari-

ous industry representatives.Rao interacted with representatives of industry bodies like CII, FICCI, Assocham, and small and medium enterprises to get their views for shaping the

industrial policy of Telangana, which he said would be announced by August-end. Rao said his government would make 200 million acres uncultivable land available to the industry.

BJP backs her appointment The BJP leadership has backed her appointment after one party leader K Laxman opposed the appointment saying that the tennis star was Pakistan’s daughter-in-law following her marriage with Pakistan cricket star Shoaib Malik.

"Sania Mirza is a pride of India. She has an international standing on her own… So, we have no objection.... She is brand ambassador of India," information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said making it clear that the comments made by K Laxman were not the party position.

dragged for another 30 yards. Death was instant for 12 students and the driver.

The cleaner and two other students died on the way to hospital. Twenty injured students were shifted to Yashoda hospital in Hyderabad where the condition of five students is stated to be critical.

Investigators were looking into the charge that the bus driver was talking over mobile phone while going past the crossing. Others held the view that a concrete structure built by the railways for the guards blocked the view of the approaching train resulting in the accident.

Bangalore: The Chairman of the Bangalore school in which a six-year-old girl was raped by a skating instructor has been arrested. Vibgyor High School chairman Rustom Kerrawala was arrested for not reporting the crime and hiding information. He has been booked under Section 201 of IPC, Section 23 of Juvenile Justice Act and POSCO Act, Bangalore Police Commissioner MN Reddi said. Earlier, a 30-year-old skating instructor was arrested for sexually assaulting the minor in the school premises.

The skating instructor has a record of molesting young girls and had lost his earlier job for his misdeeds. Preliminary interrogation revealed that the accused was thrown out of a previous school where he worked following a similar complaint, although no case was registered against him

then.

It later come to light that Mustafa had earlier been sacked for touching girls inappropriately despite being warned on numerous occasions by the school where he worked previously.

Mustafa, alias Munna, has been working at Vibgyor High School in Bangalore's upscale southeast suburb since 2011, after being fired

by Deens Academy for misconduct.

Deens Academy on its Facebook page posted that Mustafa did not commit any culpable incident whatsoever that required Deens to report him to the police.

The principal of the school, Shanthi Menon said: “The School has some stringent policies, especially for the male staff, with regard to physical proximity with children while they undertake their tasks (touching/supporting physically).

14 children killed as train rams school bus

Medak (Telangana): Fourteen children were killed when a passenger train rammed into a private school bus at an unmanned railway crossing at at Toopran in Medak district of Telangana. The driver and cleaner of the bus belonging to Kakatiya Techno School also died. The bus was on its way to school after picking up students from the surrounding villages when the mishap happened. The bus was being driven by a new driver as the regular driver was on leave. “While moving past the level crossing, the driver failed to notice the approaching Nanded –Secunderabad passenger train,” said Secunderabad Railway SP S. Chandrashekhar Reddy.

Eyewitnesses said that the school bus was flung into the air as the train crashed into it before falling on the track again only to be

Management of gurdwaras given back to SGPC

Amritsar: Sikhs' supreme religious body, the Akal Takht, once again came to the rescue of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) by issuing a diktat that restored the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee's (SGPC) authority to manage gurdwaras in Haryana.

Earlier Akal Takht played the role of peacemaker in the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) row.

"I order that there shouldn't be any wrangling on the issue till it is resolved," Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said in a directive on Sunday. "The management of gurdwaras in Haryana should continue as it used to be earlier." On Saturday the Akal Takht had directed the warring factions of the community to cancel all conventions planned for and against the HSGMC's formation.

Following this, the groups had cancelled the meetings, but Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said the SAD(B) would not allow the SGPC's division.

Giani Gurbachan Singh

However, a 41-member ad hoc committee was sworn in on Saturday in Haryana to manage the affairs of gurdwaras in the state.

Giani Gurbachan Singh said that he was satisfied that all parties concerned abided by his orders and cancelled their respective Panthic conventions. He said he issued the new directive to ensure a peaceful solution to the issue.

But the order didn't go down well with HSGMC senior vice-president Didar Singh Nalvi. "Now the Bill has been passed and it is an Act under the Constitution, everyone should accept it as a reality," Nalvi said.

School chairman arrested following rape of 6-year-old

AAP to contest assembly by-polls in Punjab

Patiala: The national executive of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the party would contest elections from both Patiala and Talwandi Sabo. The decision to contest the by-election in Punjab was taken at a meeting held in New Delhi by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and senior party leaders from Punjab.

"Although it was nearly certain that AAP would contest by-elections in Punjab, a few developments taking pace at the national and state level could have deferred the decision.

Finally, the party leadership has decided to contest byelections from Patiala (Urban) and Talwandi Sabo assembly segments," AAP parliamentary board leader and Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi said.

Sources said AAP's focus on Delhi, ebbing of the pro-party wave in Punjab after the Lok Sabha elec-

South Brief

Karnataka bans book on Valmiki

Bangalore: The Karnataka government has ordered the seizure and ban of “Valmiki Yaaru,” a book on Maharshi Valmiki written by K S Narayanacharya. IT-BT minister and House leader S R Patil said the government was convinced that the book might hurt sentiments of the Naik (Valmiki) community. Earlier, Congress member V S Ugrappa staged a protest in the council, seeking appropriate action against the author for allegedly dishonouring Valmiki. He trooped into the well of the House, taking exception to Narayanacharya's alleged claim that Valmiki was a Brahmin.

DMK MLAs suspended

Chennai: Tamil Nadu speaker P Dhanapal suspended DMK MLAs for the rest of the session, saying their "conduct was not in consonance with the dignity of the House".

The Speaker's action came after members objected to certain remarks made by revenue minister R B Udhayakumar, leading to commotion in the assembly for a while. The minister was replying to a call attention motion moved by opposition members on the situation arising out of poor monsoon in the last three years in the state and apprehension of farmers.

The DMK members were not happy with the minister’s reply and raised slogans which prompted the Speaker to suspend then for the rest of the session.

Amma employment scheme

Chennai: After a string of 'Amma' branded products and services, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced 'Amma skill employment and training scheme' to meet the demand for human resources in micro, small and medium enterprises in the state.

Jayalalithaa said under the scheme, unemployed youth with an engineering degree or diploma would be given on-the-job training for six months with a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000.

North Brief

International flights from Chandigarh allowed temporarily

Chandigarh: Union defence minister has given clearance for operation of international flights from Chandigarh airport beyond 8 pm as an "interim measure." In a letter to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, defence minister Arun Jaitley said that Spice Jet and Indigo Airlines have already been accorded permission for international operations from Chandigarh.

Jaitley said that presently civil aircraft operations at Chandigarh were cleared from sunrise to 8 pm, but international flights would be facilitated beyond the existing watch hours as and when international flights were finalized, as an interim measure.

Quota for Kashmiri migrants

tions, infighting, change of leadership and dearth of popular faces made their poll prospects uncertain.

However, Punjab leaders prevailed over the national leadership, underscoring the party's performance in the state.

"Not contesting elections in Punjab, from where people elected all its four MPs, would amount to committing the same mistake which the party made in Delhi after forming government.

There's still a political vacuum in Punjab and AAP should exploit it. You can't run away from contesting elections in the state where more than 24% of voters opted for you just three months ago," said Gandhi after the meeting.

Chandigarh: Punjab government has reserved one seat for Kashmiri migrants in admissions for various courses in the state. The state government has waived off condition of domicile requirement for Kashmiri migrants. Technical education minister Madan Mohan Mittal said that the state government, after considering the guidelines issued by All India Council for Technical Education and ministry of human resources development, has reserved one seat in each engineering/MBA/MCA/M-pharma/Bpharma/hotel management and catering technology, diploma in engineering in Thapar University, Punjabi University, engineering colleges and polytechnic Colleges of the state for admission of Kashmiri Migrants for the academic session 2014-2015.

Shrikhand yatra suspended

Manali: The Kullu administration has suspended Shrikhand Mahadev yatra for the year following adverse weather conditions and fast melting glaciers. The 32 km trekking route to Srikhand has been blocked following several landslides and avalanches. Five persons have died of cold and low oxygen level in a week. The administration had to suspend the yatra on July 19 and over 400 pilgrims were rescued from various points along the route. Shrikhand Mahadev lingam is situated at an altitude of 18,500 feet from sea level. The entire region above Bhim Dwar is experiencing moderate rainfall, coupled with snowfall.

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Bonds between UK and India are as much personal, as they are political: ED Davey

The British Cabinet minister Edward Davey is great fan of Indians.

When he was growing up in Nottingham – the Malhotras – who were his neighbours, took care of him and his brothers when their mother passed away. For his cousin, Peter Lawton, who loves India so much he named his daughter India and helped set up the Ranthambore tiger reserve.

“India touched me personally, in so many special ways,” says Davey

British Cabinet Minister Edward Davey won many hearts, especially in Ahmedabad. Davey also made an important announcement that British government will open a Deputy High Commission in Ahmedabad during a function at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA).

Though, the Minister for energy & climate change was key-note speaker on the topic of ‘Changing Economics – Tackling Climate Change & Driving Growth’ at the prestigious B-school, his speech indeed struck the chord for the elite audience.

The son of a solicitor father and teacher mother, made the audience emotional right from the beginning of his speech by saying that bonds between the UK and India are as much personal, as they are political. He elaborated on his personal experience with Indians.

“From my Indian neighbours when I was growing up in Nottingham – the Malhotras – who

were so kind to my brothers and me when we lost our mother, bringing us the best curries I’ve ever tasted. To my cousin, Peter Lawton, who loves your country so much he named his daughter India and helped set up the Ranthambore tiger reserve,” said Davey, adding that India has touched him personally, in so many special ways.

“In fact, the UK is home to 600,000 citizens of Gujarati origin. Just like in India, Gujaratis are drivers of e c o n o m i c growth.

With entrepreneurship and excellence across countless fields, they matters to the UK economically too,” said the UK’s Secretary of State who was all praise for Gujarati people.

He further said that Gujarat matters to the UK because Gujarat matters to India as it is a driver of growth and prosperity, learning and culture for all India. “Gujarat must be proud that the new Government in Delhi is publicly following the ‘Gujarat Model’ of growth,” he said. “And because Gujarat matters, I am delighted that the UK will strengthen relationship further with an agreement to open a Deputy High Commission (DHC) in Ahmedabad,” he said adding that a DHC in Gujarat will help to deepen and broaden the ties between the UK and Gujarat.

The Deputy High Commission will enable to build on the strong people to people links that enrich all communities. “For our vision for UK-India, UKGujarat isn’t about series of one-off transactions, important though individual projects might be. The

India summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner and lodged a strong protest against the adjournment of the ongoing Mumbai terror attack case trial in Pakistan.

While the Pakistan deputy high commissioner was summoned to the ministry of external affairs here, the Indian deputy high commissioner went to the Pakistan foreign office in Islamabad and lodged a similar protest.

According to informed sources, Indian officials, in their meetings with Pakistani officials both in New Delhi and Islamabad, have sought regular briefing on the progress of the trial and the investigation being conducted by Pakistani authorities.

It is understood that Indian officials, during the meetings, reiterated the high importance that India attaches to bring to justice all those responsible in Pakistan for the Mumbai

Ed Davey

Mayuri Dave

vision is more powerful – it’s about an enduring relationship, of families, friends and firms growing together,” said Davey.

“The year 2015 will be a defining moment. A global climate deal is in India’s interest, as well as the rest of the world.

India’s growth and development matter to us. We see India’s emissions rising in the short term. Then peaking and falling towards a common level.

This low carbon path will support India’s energy security and its growth,” he added.

He said that the UK has set a target to reduce damaging greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

Indeed, the UK is now pushing for higher ambition in Europe too, he said, adding that the UK is pushing the EU to agree a 40% cut on 1990 emissions by 2030, and to increase this to a 50% cut if there is ambitious global deal, next year.

“The UK and India have rapidly growing research collaboration with over £150 million of jointly-funded, high quality research in key areas such as solar energy, smart grids and energy storage.

The UK is the biggest foreign investor in India’s energy sector. British oil and gas majors are bringing in crucial technology to enhance domestic production, and improve efficiency,” said Davey.

He also made it clear that there is no cap on the number of students that can come to the UK. “We continue to attract brilliant students from India and other countries to study in the UK. We are after all home to four of the top ten Universities in the world. And those who can get a graduate job can stay to work after their studies at British universities,” he asserted.

INDIA

Film star Rajesh Khanna's famous bungalow sold

Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna's Carter Road bungalow, popularly known as 'Aashirwad', is being sold to an industrialist based in Mumbai.

The landmark sea-facing property, a major tourist attraction for legions of his fans, is believed to have been purchased by Shashi Kiran Shetty, executive chairman of Allcargo Logistics.

Market sources said the 603sq m property could fetch the late superstar's family around Rs 90 crore. The sole beneficiaries are his two daughters, Twinkle and Rinke.

Shetty refused comment when TOI contacted him. His solicitor firm, Maneksha & Sethna, too, declined to name the buyer.

According to sources, the deal is expected to be concluded once the mandatory 14day notice about any ownership claim by a third party is over, said sources.

Shetty has been scouting for a bungalow in the city with a budget of around Rs 100 crore for the past couple of years.

He had booked a sprawling apartment in the under-construction Palais Royale skyscraper at Worli for about Rs 40 crore. But the highrise, touted as the tallest residential tower in

India, has been embroiled in a legal battle since 2012 and the BMC has halted

25

work.

"When Palais Royale got into legal trouble, Shetty started hunting for a bungalow,'' the sources said.

Khanna's bungalow falls under the stringent coastal regulation zone and, hence, the property is entitled to a limited floor space index in case it is redeveloped. But the sources said Shetty plans to live in it.

Khanna wanted to turn the bungalow as museum

The tinsel town heartthrob, whose real name was Jatin Chunnilal Khanna, died of cancer in July 2012. Some years before his death, the actor, adulated as 'Kaka', wanted his house to be converted into a museum. In an interview to Bombay Times in 2009, Khanna had talked about plans to open India's first star museum here. “By the grace of the Almighty, my daughters Twinkle and Rinke are married, settled and have huge houses themselves. They don't need my property...

Aashirwad is the home of the first superstar of Bollywood, and I would like it to remain that way. Of course, my daughters will take the final decision because it will be their inheritance in the future,” he had said.

Now seedless Indian mangoes

Indian scientists have developed what could be the ultimate delicacy - a seedless mango which is finely textured and juicy, with a rich, sweet and distinctive flavour when mature. “We have developed a seedless mango variety from hybrids of mango varieties Ratna and Alphonso,” V.B. Patel, chairman of the horticulture department at the Bihar Agriculture University (BAU) at Sabour in Bhagalpur district. Trials of the new variety, named Sindhu, are under way at different locations in the country but the result of the one at BAU suggests it could be suitable for both integrated horticulture and kitchen gardening. “We are happy

and enthusiastic as well as confident and hopeful of improving the seedless mango variety,” Patel said.

He said that an average fruit weighs 200 grams and its pulp, which is yellowish in colour, has less fibre than other mango varieties.

He said the trials of the Sindhu variety, originally developed at the regional fruit research station of the Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli in Maharashtra's Konkan region, has thrown up good fruiting on a threeyear-old plant this year. It generally grows in bunch and the fruit matures in the middle of July.

BAU vice chancellor M.L. Choudhary said the university has, on an experimental basis, decided to recreate plants of this

variety and make them available to Bihar's mango growers during the next season.

“The seedless variety also has good export potential. The university would provide quality plants to mango growers in 2015 to explot the export market,” he added. Patel said our trial has successfully established that seedless mango could be grown in local condition.

According to the National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Bihar ranks third in mango cultivation and covers about 50 percent - a little over 38,000 hectares - of the total fruit area in the state.

The produce last year was in the region of 1.5 million tonnes.

terror attack in 2008 in which 166 people were killed and hundred others injured.

For the seventh time in a row, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court trying the seven accused in the Mumbai attacks case adjourned the hearing recently. The last hearing in the case and the one on June 25 could not

be held because the judge was on leave.

Case proceedings have not been held on a regular basis following the absence of prosecution lawyers. Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Anjum have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks in India's financial capital.

India summons Pakistan official over Mumbai attack trial

26

INDIA - LONDON

PM launches unique web platform to get citizens' ideas

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a web platform - MyGov - which will allow common man and experts from different fields to reach out to the government with their ideas and suggestions.

The web platform www.mygov.nic.inis devised in such a way that it allows the citizens to discuss their ideas with experts within and outside the government and even earn "credit points" for the tasks which would eventually be approved for implementation by concerned departments\agencies.

The platform will allow flow of ideas\suggestions on various issues including Modi's pet project of cleaning the river Ganga, education of girl child and job creation. " The objective of each group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people's participation", said Modi after launching this ambitious web interface of his government.

Stating that in the past, there used to be a big gap between the people and the processes of governance, the Prime Minister

said that in the past 60 days, the experience of his government was that there were many people who wanted to contribute towards nation-building, and devote their time and energy.

"The only thing they required was an opportunity to shine and showcase their contribution. The MyGov platform is a technology-driven medium that would provide this opportunity to contribute towards good governance," he said.

Official note of the PMO explains that the web platform presents an opportunity to the citizens to both 'Discuss' and 'Do'.

There are multiple themebased discussions on MyGov where a wide range of people would

share their thoughts and ideas.

Further, any idea shared by a contributor will also be discussed on these discussion forums, allowing constructive feedback and interaction. For those who wish to go beyond discussions and wish to contribute on the ground, the MyGov offers several avenues to do so.

Citizens can volunteer for various tasks and submit their entries.

"These tasks would then be reviewed by other members and experts.

Once approved, these tasks can be shared by those who complete the task and by other members on MyGov. Every approved task would earn credit points for completing the task", said the PMO state-

ment.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC), Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) would implement and manage the platform "MyGov" which would facilitate Citizen Engagement in Good Governance.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch of MyGov, which also marked the completion of 60 days of the new government, the Prime Minister said, "The success of democracy is impossible without participation of the people".

He expressed confidence that the people would welcome this initiative and invited suggestions to strengthen and improve the platform.

The platform has been divided into various groups namely Clean Ganga, Girl Child Education, Clean India, Skilled India, Digital India, Job Creation. Each group consists of online and onground tasks that can be taken up by the contributors. The objective of each group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people's participation

Indian temple to have 232 teeth removed from women priests for 1st time Mumbai boy’s mouth

A twelfth-century Hindu temple that attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually is to admit women and lower-caste men as priests for the first time. The historic break with tradition came about after India's Supreme Court ruled against the two Brahmin families, Badve and Utpat, who had provided the temple's priests for centuries.

The court ruled against their claim to exclusive ancestral rights over the earnings and rituals at Vitthal Rukmini temple, in the town of Pandharpur in Maharastra state.

The state government has now appointed a management committee to oversee the running of the temple, and the committee advertised and interviewed for potential new priests.

The committee has already named the first women and non-Brahmin men to be trained to carry out the prayer and worship rituals in the temple.

Some 199 applications were received, 23 from women. Last week the management committee announced the names of 10 candidates they have selected for training.

Surgeons in Mumbai have removed 232 teeth from the mouth of a teenager in what they believe may be a world-record operation.

Ashik Gavai, 17, sought medical help for a swelling on the right side of his lower jaw and the case was referred to Mumbai’s JJ hospital, where they found he was suffering from a condition known as complex odontoma, said head of dentistry Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar.

"We operated the boy and it took us almost seven hours. We thought it may be a simple surgery but once we started the

operation there were multiple pearl-like teeth inside the jaw bone," she said.

After removing the smaller ones they found a larger "marble-like" structure that they struggled to shift and eventually had to remove in fragments.

Continued from page 1 dynamism, a far cry from the harsh language and contempt state department factotums had displayed during the visa imbroglio.

All that is evidently in the past, because, Kerry told the Centre for American Progress thinktank, “this is the moment to transform our strategic relationship into a historic partnership that honours our place as great powers and great democracies,” a partnership that he projected will be consecrated when the US President will welcome Prime Minister Modi to Washington in September.

Deepening

ties, Kerry maintained, is a “Strategic imperative” for both countries - “It doesn't matter just to us or to India; it actually matters to the world.”

While much of his address was upbeat with its panoramic vision of a strategic US-India partnership that stopped just short of an alliance, Kerry subtly flagged several bilateral areas of concern for Washington, mainly in the trade and business domain that will be pursued by his co-traveller to New Delhi, commerce secretary Penny Pritzker.

The issues include removing various trade barriers, including

fewer limits on US technology and products in areas ranging from energy to agriculture. From the solar spat to the unfulfilled civilian nuclear agreement to climate change, there were several areas of dispute Kerry quietly underlined, although he emphasized that “we need to keep our eye on the prize out there and not get dragged down by one small or lesser particular aspect of a restraint.”

“The bigger picture and the end game has to guide us,” Kerry said.

Whether Kerry will be able to sell that vision to the new leadership in New

Delhi where its old allies such as Vajpayee, Advani and Jaswant Singh have been sidelined, is a $500 billion (the targeted figure for bilateral trade) question.

Kerry appeared to acknowledge that US recognized that in a globalized world, India is going to have many different partners. “But we believe there are unique opportunities for just United States and India,” he maintained, identifying common areas of dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit that few other countries could generate.

Kerry’s India visit aims building bridge with Modi govt

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

In Brief

164 killed in two airline crashes in a week

Algiers/Bamako: In another bad day for international aviation already hit by spate of disasters, an Air Algerie plane with 116 on board crashed over northern Mali in Africa on Thursday the third crash involving a passenger aircraft in a week. On Wednesday, 48 passengers died aboard a TransAsia Airways plane that was trying to make an emergency landing in stormy weather in Taiwan. Bad weather was the cause of the Air Algeriecrash. On July 17, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by Russian rebels over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 on board.

Boko Haram kidnaps wife of Cameroon's vice PM

Yaounde (Nigeria): Nigerian Boko Haram militants kidnapped the wife of Cameroon's vice prime minister and killed at least three people on Sunday in a cross-border attack involving more than 200 assailants in the northern town of Kolofata, Cameroon officials said. A local religious leader, or lamido, named Seini Boukar Lamine, who is also the town's mayor, and five members of his family were also kidnapped in a separate attack on his home.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Boko Haram, an Islamist group which abducted 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April, has stepped up crossborder attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks.

Pope meets Sudanese woman sentenced to death

Rome: Pope Francis met privately with a Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence, blessing the woman as she cradled her infant daughter born just weeks ago in prison. The Vatican characterized the visit with Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, 27, her husband and their two small children as "very affectionate". The 30-minute encounter took place just hours after the family landed at Rome's Ciampino airport, accompanied by an Italian diplomat who helped negotiate her release, and welcomed by Italy's premier, who hailed it as a "day of celebration."

Pak govt working to give MFN status to India

Islamabad: In the wake of an upcoming meeting between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan in Islamabad next month, Pakistan said that it would recommence work in order to improve its relationship with India. According to reports, while India granted Pakistan "Most Favoured Nation (MFN)" status in 1999, Pakistan had pledged to grant India MFN status by the end of 2012, meaning Indian exports would be treated the same as those from other nations, but has so far not done so.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said that when the dialogue process resumes, Pakistan hopes to build on the work already done in this regard.

Pakistan hands over Islamabad security to army

Islamabad: The Pakistan government handed over federal capital Islamabad's security to the army for three months. The move is seen in light of opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's call for "decisive" march to Islamabad on the eve of the country's independence day on August 14.

Khan has been mounting pressure on the government to agree to an independent inquiry into the alleged rigging in the national polls last year. He said his dream of "new Pakistan" would be realized only by taking to the streets. "On the Independence Day, I would expose the whole team that had fixed the last general election match," Khan said in Lahore. Analysts believe the government is primarily trying to contain Khan's march besides countering the terrorist threats in the wake of ongoing antiTaliban military offensive in North Waziristan by calling the army.

Pak woman climbs world’s seven highest peaks

Islamabad: Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman to climb seven highest peaks in seven continents under eight months. Baig, 23, has completed the challenge of climbing seven of the highest mountains around the world, including Mount Everest which she scaled in May 2013, Dawn online reported. Baig accompanied by her brother Mirza Ali, flew out to Russia, after Alaska, where they went on to scale the highest mountain in Europe, Mt Elbrus in Russia, which is 5,642 metres tall, bringing their "Seven Summits" adventure to an end.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

HEALTH STOP

Natural remedies to cure neck pain

H

aving a neck pain these days is very common due to the hectic schedules and stressful working culture. It not only irritates us the most, but also compels us to visit a doctor. Almost twothird of the population in world witnesses neck pain at some point in their lives.

Neck pain can be caused by various spinal problems. Examples of common conditions causing neck pain are degenerative disc disease, neck strain, neck injury or even common throat infection leading to swelling in the lymph node can lead to a stiff neck.

Natural remedies appear to be an effective treatment for neck pain and provide added benefits of improved psycho-

logical well-being and quality of life. It has been noticed that though it may take time, but home remedies for neck pain work better than traditional therapy and medication.

Here are a few natural remedies that you can easily adopt.

Menthol and camphor: Whenever we suffer from acute neck pain, we use pain relievers which have

menthol and camphor as their main ingredient.

Now, menthol and camphor when rubbed on the affected area, increases blood circulation and produce a warm or cooling effect which soothes the neck muscles.

Lavender: Lavender has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times, but these days its oil is extracted and used in

aromatherapies and massage oils which provide relief from neck pain.

Ginger: Consuming ginger juice, tea or extract can help a lot in reducing pain caused by inflammatory diseases like neck pain. One can also rub ginger oil on the neck for instant relief.

Arnica: Arnica is one of the best remedies used to relieve pain. It is made from the extracts of fresh Arnica flowers and helps relieve neck pain and stiffness.

Devil's claw: Traditionally, it is a shrub native to Africa and is available both in powdered and pills form. It is mainly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but also soothes neck pain as it has anti-inflammatory properties too.

has discovered that triptolide - an extract of the Chinese herb thunder god vine (tirpterygium wilforii) - suppresses a key protein that helps pancreatic cancer cells thrive.

GRP78, a protein that protects cells from dying, is more abundant in cancer cells and tissue than in normal organs and is thought to play a role in helping pancreatic cancer cells survive and thrive.

"Our study shows that although increased expression of GRP78 confers a survival advantage to the tumour cells, prolonged exposure to triptolide induces chronic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress that eventually leads to cell death," Prof Ashok Saluja said.

way by triptolide offers a novel mechanism for inhibiting the growth and survival of pancreatic cancer cells, he noted.

For mammals to use the proteins in our bodies, a process called protein folding must occur in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of cells. If proteins are not folded fast enough, unfolded proteins begin to build up and the cell becomes stressed.

Prolonged ER stress activates a cellular process called the "unfolded protein response (UPR)".

Initially, the UPR helps kick-start the cell's protein-folding ability, allowing it to function properly again. But if the problem does not resolve, the UPR triggers cell death.

Cinnamon can prevent Chinese herb may food poisoning treat pancreatic cancer In this context, inhibin Indian-origin tion of GRP78 by activaresearcher at the A tion of the ER stress pathUniversity of Minnesota

Cinnamon can not only tickle your taste buds, the ancient cooking spice is also an effective anti-bacterial agent and can help prevent some of the most serious food-borne illnesses caused by pathogenic bacteria, says a study.

Cinnamomum cassia oil can work effectively as a natural anti-bacterial agent in the food industry, the findings showed. "The oil can be incorporated into films and coatings for packaging both meat and fresh produce," said Lina Sheng from the Washington State University. "It can also be added into the washing step of meat, fruits or vegetables to eliminate microorganisms," Sheng added.

In the study, the essential oil killed several strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E coli), known to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as "non-O157 STEC." The study looked at the top six strains of non-O157 STEC. The cinnamon cassia

oil is effective in low concentrations, Sheng said.

About 10 drops diluted in a litre of water killed the bacteria within 24 hours.

Rising health concerns about chemical additives have strengthened demand for natural food additives, Meijun Zhu, an assistant professor at the Washington State University noted.

"Our focus is on exploring plant-derived natural food bioactive compounds as anti-microbials to control food-borne pathogens, in order to ensure safety of fresh produce," she added.

Cassia cinnamon is produced primarily in Indonesia and has a stronger smell than the other common cinnamon variety.

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...

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.

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The Mania that is Anaemia...

Sushma Bhanot Pharmacist, Ayurvedic and Homeopathic Consultant, Lecturer and Author. Heads Research and Development at Coolherbals

Do you always feel tired? Do you always feel like you have no energy? Or have shortness of breath?...you may well be suffering from anaemia.

The most common cause of Anaemia is due to a lack of iron in your blood, which means less red blood cells are produced, in turn less oxygen is supplied to the organs and thus causing our body to function irregularly. Other causes include a lack of Vitamin B-12 & lack of Folic Acid.

Its effects women in particular who are more affected during heavy periods, pregnancy and the post-menopausal stage. A study “NFHS-3 indicates that 36 per cent of Indian women are chronically undernourished and 55 per cent are anaemic’’ Karen Hulshof, Unicef representative. If left untreated it can lead to further long term medical complications such as chronic tiredness, a weakened immune system and complications during pregnancy.

Do not let Anaemia get you down; here are three simple solutions that will pick you back up again…

Don’t get beat up over it, simply eat up over it...

Ensure you are supporting yourself with a healthy diet. Foods that are high in iron are a sure fire way to beat the blues. These include dark green vegetables, lentils, pulses, beans, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, brown rice & tofu are all examples of kinds of foods you should be eating. A quick recipe for success is Dry Roasted Chick Peas. The ingredients include 2 cups of cooked chick peas, ½ teaspoon garlic powder

27

& ½ teaspoon sea salt.

Prepare by preheating the oven to 350 degrees, then mix the ingredients together & spread on a lightly greased sheet and cook for 30 minutes until the chick peas are crisp on the outside, slightly tender inside.

This is but one of hundred recipes taken from the book ‘’Forget Calories...Love food’’ by Ravi Bhanot and Sushma Bhanot.

Take the all-natural approach...

The Ancient wisdom of Ayurveda dictates that we are in complete harmony when all three Dosha’s; namely Vata, Pitta & Kapha are in perfect balance. When there is an imbalance, however, we tend to succumb to illnesses such as Anaemia.

Hence it becomes the sole duty of Ayurvedic Medicine such as The Coolherbals Ashwagandha & Ginger Capsules to correct this situation.

The Ashwagandha helps to increase muscle power and stamina, ashwa literally meaning horse.

Ashwagandha

The Ginger increases your Agni, the biological fire that provides energy for the body to function. The herbal approach is in fact superior in the sense that there are no side effects.

It’s not set in stone, but it IS in the tablet...

It goes without that the most obvious way to overcome iron deficiency is to pop the pill! The Coolherbals Advanced Protein Vitaminand Mineral for women is specially designed for today’s woman and is scientifically formulated to support iron, B12 & Folic acid deficiency along with nutritional support for hair, skin and the immune system.

As well as successfully beating Anaemia it is also beneficial for improving all round vitality and is also suitable for vegetarians.

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

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Pooja says yes to her crush

P

ooja Umashankar is back with a road movie with her crush who proposed her 16 years ago. She refused his proposal and said 'Poda', Pooja herself has revealed the news in a press meet held by team 'Kadavul Paadhi Mirugam Paadhi'. Raj Zacharias is making his debut as director and hero in this road movie. I've known Raj since my college days in Bangalore. I remember meeting him at an inter-collegiate event.

We've been great friends and we were even attracted to each other back then but it wasn't love. Many years later, Raj approached me with a film offer and I couldn't refuse it," said Pooja. The story takes place on a highway between Hyderabad Chennai and my cameo in the second half is the crucial juncture to the context of the movie, an elated Pooja disclosed.

Pooja's last movie in Tamil 'Vidiyum Munn' was a critical success and her role was widely appreciated.

‘D Gangs of Mumbai’

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Vidyut Jammwal Arya, Siddharth, and Samantha for says he found 'Bangalore Days' remake stardom in south I

“B

angalore Days” is a movie which got a story line that can be easily associated with the dreams of every youngster across the country. The multi starrer Malayalam movie is still running successfully, courtesy - a starry cast, wonderful screenplay, and lovely music. It is being remade in Tamil and Telugu. There has been report suggesting few names from Tamil industry as the lead cast as replacement for, Fahadh Fassil, Nivin Pauly, Dulquer Salman, and Nazriya. Bhaskar, who rose to fame with

W

Sridevi in Kamal's next?

ho would not love to see Kamal Hassan and Sridevi together! If things go well both of these big personalities can come together for the Malayalam remake "Dhrishyam" which originally had Mohanlal and Meena in the lead cast. Sridevi who made a comeback to Indian cinema with ‘English Vinglish’ has been requested to play the role of an IPS officer for this movie.

However, there is no official confirmation yet. There are also talks to sign up Ramya Krishnan for the IPS role if Sridevi could not make it and Asha who played in the Mollywood movie is also a contender for the role. Gautami leads the top contender for essaying Kamal's pair in the movie, failing which the part is expected to go to Virumandi fame Abirami or even Meena

It is an action movie directed by Wilfred Lobo and Rajiv Ranjan Das and produced by Chandrashekhar Shetty. Story is written by Abhay Chaudhary.

Sanjay Kapoor, Aarya Babbar, Mahima Chaudhary, Om Puri, Sushil Singh and Vinay Apte are the leading stars in the movie. The story is about two friends Avi and Shiva who are sharing their energetic youth in order to get recognition in Mumbai city. They selected criminal activities to get recognition. ACP Hemant Jog attempts to handle the case in his innovative visionary concept. They go to another city to start a new beginning. In the meantime ACP Hemant Jog died which leaves them in great worry. After three years, Soutya, a man whose brother was killed by Avi and Shiva, manages to figure out the murderers. How Avi and Shiva handle the situation is the climax of the flick.

'Bommarillu' will take care of the duties as director from Anjali Menon. Now the lead actors for Tamil/Telugu bilingual are almost finalized. Arya is not new for multi starrers and he will be seen along with Siddharth and Naga Chaitanya from Tollywood. And, Samantha is all set to recreate the magic of Nazriya. Keeping the bilingual in mind, the makers have picked a wonderful cast to cash in Tamil/Telugu markets respectively. The details of rest of the crew are yet to be announced.

n southern cinema, actor Vidyut Jammwal may have only played villainous roles so far, but he says after sharing screen space with some superstars such as Ajith, Suriya and Vijay, he feels like a star in the industry.

“Since I work in Bollywood as well as southern cinema, I feel I have been recognized in both the industries. I have my fan following. It’s a double whammy I’m enjoying. But having worked with southern superstars, I feel like a star too when I go there. It’s like I’ve found my own stardom,” Vidyut said. “I also feel I’m getting the recognition in southern filmdom because a lot of Bollywood actors are recognized there. I may not be playing lead roles down south, but I’m happy with the success and recognition,” he said. After playing a baddie in southern films such as ‘Billa 2′, ‘Shakti’ and ‘Thuppakki’, Vidyut is finally changing gears with upcoming Tamil action ‘Anjaan’. He doesn’t appear in a typical “villain” role in the film.

“Audiences will also get to see me doing some action in this film. I’ve performed my own stunts and I’m sure it will be received well,” he added.

who played in the original. Albeit with “Uthama villain” in its final stages Kamal is on a foray indeed!

Honey Singh gifts pure I am not mature enough Manisha Koirala to make gold lockets to work with Khans: Alia a comeback with ‘Sitare’

R

apper Yo Yo H o n e y Singh is said to have gone out of his way to appreciate the talent he has spotted while auditioning contestants for new singing reality show “India’s Raw Star”. He gifted pure gold lockets to welcome the shortlisted candidates for the show. Honey Singh visited various cities like Ahmedabad, Varanasi and Jaipur to welcome 10 shortlisted people to “India’s Raw Star” family. They were chosen via digital audition. He also made sure to finalise the design for the gold lockets as he wanted to give the contestants a special token of appreciation and acknowledgement for their talent. The “Blue eyes” singer will appear as a judge-cum-mentor on the Star Plus show, which is aimed at finding a singing sensation.

T

he 21-yearold Alia Bhatt feels she needs to look more matured to work with the Khans who were in the 40s.

When asked if she thinks she is too young to be paired with the Khans, Alia said: “I am right now definitely (young) because I look small not age wise, but my face. I am just maturing right now – from ‘Student Of The Year’ till now you can see a difference. So, when I become a little more matured looking, then it can work. But having said that I have done a film with Randeep Hooda, in which I looked too young without make-up, which didn’t look bad at all. So if there is a scope or a character and a role like that then it will work,” she said in an interview.

M

anisha Ko i r a l a , who has recovered remarkably well from cancer and was last seen in Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Bhoot Returns’ last year, has now been finalised for a film titled ‘Sitare’. The movie is based on the life of film stars in Bollywood.

Kapil Sharma, who played one of the lead characters in ‘Dunno Y… Na Jaane Kyun’, will be making his directorial debut with the film. In the last few years, Koirala was seen making a foray into Malayalam films with ‘Elektra’ about four years ago. She also did a Tamil film, ‘Mappillai’. The beautiful actress was also seen in Onir’s critically-acclaimed ‘I Am’ with Juhi Chawla.

29

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Bipasha refuses to share stage with Chitrangada

B

ollywood actress Bipasha Basu has refused to share stage with ‘junior’ actress Chitrangada Singh during a fashion week.

Bipasha, Chitrangada and Madhur Bhandrakar were set to walk the ramp for the grand finale of the show.

Bipasha who made her Bollywood debut with the 2003, told the organisers of the event that she will not share the stage with Chitrangada, a 'junior' actress since she had started her career four years later with 'Hazaron Khawishen Aisi'.

The organiser went into a

Priyanka goes bald in ‘Mary Kom’ biopic

F

or a crucial sequence in the forthcoming biopic “Mary Kom”, based on the life of Olympic bronze medallist boxer M.C. Mary Kom, Priyanka Chopra went for a bald look. The actress says it was her “responsibility” to do justice to her character.

The versatile actress says she was very excited about it – so much so that she was all around the film’s set in that look. “Mary has done it (gone bald) in her life. This is an authentic scene in the film and I was very excited about it,” Priyanka said at the launch of the film’s trailer.

“First of all I am an actor, so as an actor it is my responsibility that whatever character I take up I do it with honesty. This is always my personal challenge that I set for myself that how differently I can portray all my characters. So I was not at all hesitant, in fact I was very excited,” she added.

Will she ever go bald in real life? “Never say never. I always surprise myself, so you never know,” the 32-year-old said. Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and helmed by Omung Kumar, “Mary Kom” will hit the theatres on Sept 5.

Zareen Khan’s weight loss journey from 100 to 57 kg

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hen Zareen Khan entered Bollywood, her first film “Veer” did not do well at the box office. But her weight drew a lot of criticism. But when she did an item number in “Ready,” her slimmer avatar became the talk of the town. Right exercise and proper diet is what helped Zareen to get those sultry curves. She says, “I was so laidback. I didn't care about my weight, although people repeatedly asked me to watch it.” And since she always wanted to be a doctor and not an actress, she

Aishwarya adds glamour to CWG opening ceremony

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Akshay Kumar on cloud nine with ‘Entertainment’

tizzy, when no amount of pleas could convince Bipasha to change her stance. She even made it clear to the organisers that she would not rehearse with her fellow actress. Left with no option, the jewellery brand that had invited the trio, changed the choreography of the finale.

A source from the show said, "Bipasha, Chitrangada and Madhur took solo turns on the ramp.

Bipasha's stance was absolutely shocking."

ollywood a c t r e s s Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attended the opening ceremony of the 2 0 t h Commonwealth Games at Glasgow as the L o n g i n e s Ambassador of Elegance. Dressed in a black coat with lustrous locks tied in a high bun, she was accompanied at the event by Longines President Walter von Kanel. The Swiss luxury watch brand Longines is the official timekeeper and watch of the CWG and it provides more than 190 timekeepers and 122 tonnes of equipment to support the event. The official watch of Glasgow 2014 is a chronograph in steel from the Conquest Classic collection

never cared about her weight.

She adds, “I thought that it really wouldn't matter how I looked if I were a doctor.” But when she could not fulfil her ambition, she dreamed of being a model. And this is when she decided to shed those extra kilos. And within a year, with right exercise and diet, she lost 43 kg. She says, “I just developed a strong will power which helped me curb my food cravings and be regular with my walks. In turn, it motivated me to push myself further."

Anushka has 3 mn Twitter followers

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ollywood actress A n u s h k a Sharma is over the moon as her followers on micro-blogging site Twitter have increased to over three million. “Crossed 3 Million followers here!

Thank you to all my 3 millions for the constant love and support.

Love you all,” Anushka tweeted. After featuring in movies like “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi”, “Band Baaja Baaraat” and “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”, the actress will soon be seen in “Bombay Velvet”, “P.K.” and “Dil Dhadakne Do.”

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ollywood superstar Akshay Kumar is a happy man now that after the success of his last film, “Holiday,” he was able to give another successful flick in “Entertainment.” Apart from proving that he can handle romance to action to comedy with ease, he is doubly happy that for the first time he was sharing screen space with Junior – a dog named “Entertainment” in the movie.

Director duo Sajid-Farhad said that Junior was so good at emoting and completely natural before the camera. Junior worked for 15 days continuously. On the 16th day, he was given a break. Sajid adds, "We felt that he was getting restless and thus shot all playful scenes with him and that calmed him down.” After working with Junior, the director duo who were petrified of dogs changed their perception about the animal.

Junior inspired actress Tamannah to actually get herself a pet dog. Talking about the film she says, "Initially I found the title to be strange. But now since I have a dog at home I can completely

relate to it. And though it was Akshay who shares screen space with the dog most of the time, the scenes that I have did make me realise its value as a companion."

The director duo thoroughly researched the rules and regulations before actually shooting with the dog.

Animal right activist and Minister of Women and Children, Maneka Gandhi endorsed and supported the film as the director duo followed all the rules and regulations regarding the use of animal in the film.

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UK

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

Essay writing competition on Environmental topics An essay writing competition for children aged between 12-15 years will be conducted to encourage them to think on global warming, climate change, how the Ozone layer depletion has an impact on communities and measures to reduce the negative impacts. The essay must be on one of the topics 1.

Environmental

Pollution: How we can help reduce it.

2. Hazardous Waste: How we can manage it 3. Recycling 4.

Environmentally responsible behaviour: What we can do to reduce negative impacts on the environment. (ex: Energy Conservation, Eco Tourism etc.)

The essay must be maximum of 1000 words

Charity set up to help the poor in India Empowerment through Education (ETE) a UK registered charitable organisation set up with the aim of providing financial assistance to economically deprived students towards their tuition fees and also aid in bolstering existing educational institutions held their inaugural launch on June 28 in North London. It was graced by Dr Nanda Kumar, Director Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan.

ETE through a local charity based in Hyderabad will be providing financial assistance to orphaned girl students from Amanvedika – a local

NGO. The present project being funded by ETE is construction of a two storey block in Talakondapally – Library and Computer cum Science Laboratory – which will be completed

by November 2014.

More details: eteii.co.uk.

Coming Events

l 3 Aug 2014- Bhajans, 3pm by Shree Budhdevbhai Kansara, Shri Maubhai Kotak, Shri Surendrabhai Sharma and visiting artists. Adhyashakti Mataji temple, 55 High Street, Cowley, Middlesex UB8 2DZ. Contact 07882 253 540 l 108 Hanuman Chalisa sponsored by batukbhai and Artiben Thakar, 3 Aug 2014, 11am-5pm. Social club hall, Watford Road, Harrow HA1 3UJ l Janmashtami celebration on Sunday 17 Aug at Dhamecha Lohana Centre in S. Harrow.

Contact 07960 541 216 l Saturday 2nd August – Sunday 9th August 2014 – Jai Siya Ram in the aid of Poor Child Education – Bapuji Programmes in UK - Shree Hanumant Katha from 4-7pm at Shree Hindu Temple, Baxter Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and wear, NE4 9QB, UK Contact: 0116 266 2652. l Fl Remembrance Day at Shri Venkateswara Temple, Dudley Road East, Tividale, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 3DU from 10.30am.

Contact: 0121 544 2256.

Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Editorial Executive: Tanveer Mann Tel: 020 7749 4010 - Email: tanveer.mann@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 Financial Officer: Surendra Patel Tel: 020 7749 4093 Mobile: 078712 229 220 Email: surendra.patel@abplgroup.com Chief Accountant: Akshay Desai Tel: 020 7749 4087 Email:accounts@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Alka Shah Tel: 020 7749 4002 - Mobile: 07944 1121 893 Email: alka.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 40912 - Mobile: 078712 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Business Development Managers: Rovin J George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 078712 229 219 Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com 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.

Tel. +91 79 2646 5960

long and must be sent by 10 August to essaycompetition14@gmail.com Multi-location TERRE Policy Centre and Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence based in the UK are jointly holding a two-day environmental film festival on 12 & 13 Sep ‘14 coinciding with the International Ozone Day week. The festival will screen films on

Environment, Climate Change & threat to the Biodiversity and is intended to spread awareness about nature, pollution, ethics and sustainable practices. Winners of the essay competition shall be awarded prizes during the festival. Free registrations.

For more details please check www.sanskruti.net or www.terrypolicycentre.com

Holidays may be in jeopardy as passport workers go on strike A report has suggested that the Home Office has warned that holidays could be put in jeopardy after thousands of passport workers went on strike.

Public and The Commercial Services Union said the action was a “bid to end staffing shortages that have caused the ongoing backlog crisis”.

Figures from the Home Office suggest 360,000 passport applications are currently being processed, although it is not clear how many are overdue.

The BBC said the Passport Office had “struggled to cope with an unprecedented number of applications” this year.

Around 170,000 passports are processed per week, the Home Office estimates.

COMPETITION

Two tickets are up for grabs to see legendary Paresh Rawal in ‘Dear Father’ on Friday 10th October 2014 in Croydon. All you have to do is answer the following question to be in with a chance of winning. The winner will be chosen from all correct entries on a lottery basis. All entries need to be sent to aveditorial@abplgroup.com by no later than Saturday 13th September. Good luck.

In which year did Paresh Rawal win the Filmfare Best Comedian Award for Hera Pheri?

1) 1999 2) 2001 3) 2009

You should enjoy a very popular phase in your life where everyone wants to invite you to parties. This will give you a chance to meet people and pursue any romantic liaisons that might present themselves. Your communications are extremely high making it easy to close those lucrative deals.

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

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. If so, then the hint of change will be extremely welcome, even if it might entail an element of disruption. It is unlikely that even a major change will faze you.

At work sometimes a little upheaval and chaos is exactly what you need to set things right again.

There’s no need to be complacent: the time is now.

Unpredictable energies continue to influence your health sector, bringing erratic highs and lows. The key for you as always is to remain calm and collected.

GEMINI May 22 - June 22

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 The fiery planet Mars is the moving force in regard to amorous experience, giving more than just a hint that links between lovers will be rather intense and passionate. Your attitude to material interests is likely to undergo some deep change. On a material level the trend greatly favours anything geared towards establishing greater financial stability.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23 You have everything to gain by following creative inclinations. If you have new ideas, now is the time to put them into practice.

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. A great time to meet and interact with people.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 An exchange of opinions ought to prove very enlivening at this time.

An influence that should help to enjoy the 'nicer' side of others as bring out the best in friends, colleagues and partners alike. A wind of change may be in the air; attention should turn to the wider world and benefits come from broadening of horizons and mental stimuli.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 You know you’ve got no choice but to streamline and reassess your priorities before haphazardly saying yes to everything that smells like a potential opportunity. Try to create a balance between expansion and conservation.

Jupiter in Leo makes you feel invincible, base your decisions on facts.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 You will continue to be in a restless mood for some time to come.

This makes you impatient with restrictions and even more determined to cut your own path. Do not get over-anxious if everything seems to be in slow motion - it is time to pull a few strings. You are likely to experience some tension in close relationships..

Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (M) +91 94266 36912 Email: nilesh.parmar@abplgroup.com Consulting Editor: Bhupatbhai Parekh, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Tel: +91 79 2630 4142 Urvashi Jagadeesan (India) Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 2012, Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar,Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Tel +91 79 2646 5960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 99250 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 98255 11702 Email: neeta_abplgroup@yahoo.co.in Business Co-ordinator: Shrijit Rajan M: +91 98798 82312 Email: shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com International Advertisement Representative: Jain Group (South India) Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 022 2471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 9311581597

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AsianVoiceNews

This is a good time to appreciate what you have already created in your life. Of course, there are still challenging issues on both a personal and practical level. To get here you may have overcome obstacles by making important decision and choices that set the direction of your life.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

Responsibility is your key word, especially at work. Set your own goals, rather than trying to meet those set by someone else. Your ability to manage what you have on your plate earns respect from others around you. You will benefit in every way if you learn to self-discipline and pace yourself wisely.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 Anything or anyone that drains your time and energy should be reevaluated. It’s time to use that creative imagination of yours to create grandeur in your life. Don't get too carried away and lose sight of little things that mean a lot to you. There are a lot of opportunities around you.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

If your ambitions have been undefined, don't worry as from now on, you understand exactly what kind of impact you need to make on the world. All those little details should run perfectly, without you constantly worrying. That means you can focus on matters that are important to you.

Health-wise you will be feeling fit.

How India aided South Africa’s return to international cricket

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

A Leicester academic has helped curate an exhibition which reveals how India helped South Africa return to the international cricket stage after the fall of apartheid.

Dr Prashant Kidambi, Director of the University of Leicester's Centre for Urban History, has helped curate an exhibition titled Cricket Connects: IndoSouth African Cricket Relations as part of the Festival of India in South Africa 2014.

The exhibition began on Saturday 26 July at the Wanderers stadium, in Johannesburg, and shifts to Kingsmead Sahara Stadium in Durban on Friday 15 August, until 31 August. The exhibition focuses on the long history of cricketing relations between the two countries, dating back to the late nineteenth century. In particular, it looks at how India helped South Africa find its way back into the international sporting world in the early 1990s, following the

India became the first country to close its embassy. In the following years, India was seen as a main opponent of the Apartheid until racial segregation began to be phased out in the 1990s.

Consequently, India’s decision to support South Africa’s re-entry into international cricket at a meeting of the International Cricket Council ICC) was seen as an important endorsement for South Africa.

Following the ICC meeting, the South African team toured India in 1991, and the Indian side toured South Africa in 1992-3 the first official tour by a non-White team in the country. The exhibition's organisers comment that the two nations have had a very close cricketing relationship ever since.

The exhibition features a variety of documentary footage, photographs and audio. It will feature 175 significant cricketing moments captured on cam-

era between 1991 and 2012, and there will also be some cricket-related memorabilia on display.

Dr Prashant Kidambi said: “This is an important exhibition which showcases the role of sport in both promoting the bonds of solidarity but also highlighting the tensions it can generate. “We are using cricket to understand the long history of interaction between India and South Africa.

Cricket is a way of showcasing how the historic connections between India and South Africa have played out. “Indians have come to South Africa since the 19th century. Cricket became a way in which migrant communities came to relate to each other. The exhibition showcases that kind of history. It also shows what happened after apartheid. India was very strenuous in opposing South Africa on the international stage, but supported South Africa’s re-entry into international cricket after the end of apartheid.”

Derby County Chief Executive Sam Rush with TradeNext Chief Executive Mohsin Jameel Club. We both have clear CFDs (contracts for differbusiness strategies, deterence) and financial spread mination, and we are going betting already has strong places. We are proud to be links with football in the the first Indian-owned comIndian states of Punjab and pany to enter into a partGujarat. TradeNext Chief nership with Derby County.

Executive Mohsin Jameel We want to become known said: “There is a natural as the South Asians who synergy between TradeNext are doing something tangiand Derby County Football

ble in the world of football for our region.

“TradeNext is the first Indian-owned Foreign Exchange trader to be based in the UK. We already feel at home with Derby County. We are delighted to be associated with this famous club. We are going to work together on football and community initiatives for British Asians in Derby and the surrounding regions.”

Derby County Chief Executive Sam Rush commented: “TradeNext is an extremely forward-thinking company and we are delighted to welcome them as our latest ‘Preferred Partner’. We believe this is a tremendous opportunity for Derby County and TradeNext to work closely and provide supporters with an insight of financial trading.”

played throughout the day, and particular credit to the teams from East London who won both the junior and senior competitions of the main knockout phase.

Kevin Coleman (Inclusion Projects Coordinator at The Football Association) attended and was given an overview into the tournaments and how the organis-

ers and the FA could potentially work together going forward. A netball tournament – entering into its 16th annual competition, was also played with the same ethos of enjoyment and togetherness at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London and The Swaminarayan School.

There were 17 teams from across the UK who battled for 8 hours for the various coveted trophies.

A young girl expressed her sentiments, “I think the netball game was a chance to show our skills and learn from each other and we got to know many more people from different towns and cities. It was also great to hear others cheering us on.”

Dr Prashant Kidambi end of Apartheid.

Cricket established itself as a popular sport in India by the end of the nineteenth century - and the exhibition's organisers comment that it "now forms a binding force for the entire country".

Consequently, cricket became a very important way for migrant Indian communities in South Africa to interact with each other and other nonEuropean races.

However, relations between the two countries took a blow in 1948 when the National Party came to power in South Africa and established the Apartheid.

TradeNext signs deal with Derby County FC

TradeNext, a global financial trading company, on Tuesday July 29 has signed a Preferred Partnership with Derby County Football Club. The two-season deal will see Indianowned TradeNext and the Football League Championship club work together on a series of community initiatives.

Over the course of the multi-year partnership, TradeNext will work in collaboration with the senior team at Derby County and members of the first-team playing squad to develop and produce a series of short videos, introducing supporters and potential clients to the world of financial trading. The partnership in football is the first in the UK for TradeNext. The Londonbased provider of FX (foreign exchange) services,

BAPS organises sports tournaments

BAPS Charities organised a five-a-side football tournament and an indoor netball tournament on Saturday 26 July 2014, promoting a healthy lifestyle as well as providing a forum for children and youths to express their skills, interests and a spirit of teamwork. The Powerleague football pitches at Mill Hill in North London provided the venue for the football tournament where almost 80 teams with more than 450 players enjoyed a hugely successful competition. More than 200 matches and almost 450 goals scored by teams from as far afield as Manchester are a few remarkable numbers which provide a flavour of the occasion.

There were separate competitions for children under 16 years and the 1623 age groups, however with matches being played together for six hours at the same venue, the younger and elder players were able to intersperse and share the excitement. Tremendous team spirit, enthusiasm as well as talent were dis-

SPORT WORLD

Jadeja fined for Anderson fracas

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Ravindra Jadeja has been fined half his match fee for

his involvement in an altercation with England quick bowler James Anderson during the drawn first test at Trent Bridge. The clash, which occurred as the players left the field at lunch on the second day, saw Jadeja charged with a level two misconduct charge for allegedly approaching Anderson in a threatening manner. Anderson was charged with a level three offense for having "abused and pushed" his opponent. Match referee David Boon found Jadeja not guilty of the offence for which he had been charged, but felt his conduct was contrary to the spirit of the game. "While I was in no doubt that confrontation did occur, and that such conduct was not in the spirit of the game and should not have taken place, I was not comfortably satisfied that this was a level 2 offence," Boon, the former Australia batsman, said in a statement."Therefore, in exercising my discretion under Article 7.6.5 of the Code and having heard all the evidence, I was comfortably satisfied that Jadeja had committed a level 1 offence under Article 2.1.8 of the Code."

Anderson's hearing will be held on Aug. 1.

Sikh Indian basketball players force to remove turbans

Two Sikh Indian basketball players - Amritpal Singh and Amjyot Singh -at the 5th Fiba Asia Cup in Wuhan (China) were asked to remove their turbans before the start of the match on July 12. They were stopped from entering the court moments before India were to open their campaign against Japan.

The match officials informed the players that they were breaking International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules and were not allowed to play with turbans. India's American coach Scott Flemming's pleas fell on deaf ears and the duo didn't figure in the starting five. Only after they removed their turbans were they allowed to play in the first quarter. Despite the humiliation, Amritpal scored a game-high 15 points in the match. Shockingly, such objections were never raised in the past against Sikhs playing with turbans.

"We have always played in turbans, even in last year's Asian Championship in Manila and also the recently held Lusofonia Games in Goa," 23-year-old Amritpal said. "This Asia Cup was a memorable event for all of us. But the controversy left both of us distressed. I wear a turban in practice too, and it was strange to not have it on during the game." For 22-year-old Amjyot - India's consistent scorer in the championship - playing basketball without a turban was a first. "Wearing turban is a part of me. When they told us we couldn't play with one it felt very awkward. But for the team we decided to play without turbans," said Amjyot. Both the Indian players were not allowed to wear the turbans in remaining six matches over eight days. "From the next game onwards we tied our hair with a band and it was really awkward," added Amjyot. If the rule is applied in future then India might miss the services of both the upcoming stars or for that matter any Sikh player. Parents of both the players are against their wards playing without a turban. Amjyot said, "My parents have told me to play in India only because here the turban is not an issue. So I will miss playing abroad in future." Even coach Flemming was shocked. "I am personally against a rule that infringes on someone's religious beliefs. A headgear does not cause any harm to others."

SPORT

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 2nd August 2014

India on 5th position at Commonwealth games

India with 33 medals (10 gold, 14 silver, 9 bronze) finished with 5th rank in the medals table at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday. India bagged 3 gold medals on Day 5 including shooter Jitu Rai’s gold.

Commonwealth games kick started on July 23 at the beautiful city of Scotland, Glasgow.

Australia notched up the top slot in the last edition’s Commonwealth Games with 177 medals while 19th Commonwealth Games hosts India finished second in the medals tally with total of 101 medals.

India had won 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals.

India have showcased prime form at the Commonwealth Games edition. And a lot was expected from the visiting contingent of 215 athletes (second largest contingent ever with highest number of participants in athletics with 41 members) at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014. The Indian side

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Medals Tally Medal Tally

Nation Gold Australia 32 England 29 Scotland 13 Canada 11 India 10 New Zealand 9 South Africa 9 Wales 3 Malaysia 3 Nigeria 3 Singapore 3 Kenya 2 Jamaica 2 Cyprus 2 Cameroon 1 Papua New Guinea 1 Northern Ireland 0

boasts of some heavyweight names in the side from major sporting

Silver 25 26 8 5 14 9 7 9 5 5 1 3 2 2 1 1 1

Bronze 34 25 12 13 9 11 8 11 4 3 1 0 3 2 1 0 1

Total 91 80 33 29 33 29 24 23 12 11 5 5 7 6 3 2 2

events like boxing, shooting, badminton and w r e s t l i n g .

Commonwealth Games that are perceived secondary to the Summer Olympics will be hoping to revamp the old thoughts as the beautiful Scottish city Glasgow looks ready to host the 12-day event from July 23 to August 3, 2014. The number of sporting events has been brought down to 17 from 21 earlier played in the 19th edition. They are: Aquatics, Diving, Swimming, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling – Mountain biking, Road, Track, Gymnastics – Artistic gymnastics, Rhythmic gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Lawn Bowls, Netball, Rugby sevens, Shooting, Squash, Table tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting, Wrestling – Freestyle.

India have been participating in 14 of those 17 events at Glasgow. The three events India will not be participating are netball, rugby sevens and triathlon. There are total 1,385 medals to be won in this edition of Commonwealth Games.

India’s gold medal winners

Sathish Sivalingam weight lifting

Sanjita Chanu Weight Lifting

Rahi Sarvanot Shooting

Abhinav Bindra Shooting

Apurvi Chandela Shooting

Jitu Rai Shooting

Sukhen Dey Weight lifting

Sushil Kumar Wrestling

Vinesh Phogat Wrestling

Amit Kumar Wrestling