AV 2nd March 2019

FIRST & FOREMOST ASIAN WEEKLY IN EUROPE

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2 - 8 MARCH 2019 - VOL 47 ISSUE 42

TERROR ATTACK

inside:

IAF kills 300 terrorists in pre-dawn strike

SEE PAGE 26

AVENGED Indian fighter jets crossed the Line of Control before dawn on Tuesday and carried out surgical strikes within Pakistan to target a training camp of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). In the first cross-border air strike in almost five decades, 12 Mirage 2000 jets struck the training camps of Jaish and Lashkar-eTaiba inside Pakistan and completely eradicated over 300 terrorists with 1,000 kg bombs.

The operation that begun at 3.30 am on Tuesday, was over in 19 minutes. The strikes came as a befitting reply to the February 14 Pulwama attack that claimed 40 Indian jawans. Key JeM terrorists targeted were JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar's brother-in-law Maulana Yousuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghouri, who was involved in the IC-814 hijacking.

Hafiz Saeed Masood Azhar

Saudi Crown Prince promises cooperation in combating terrorism

83% say Modi-led govt most likely after LS polls SEE PAGE 23

Asian parents support compulsory ‘age appropriate’ sex and relationship education in schools SEE PAGE 7

Continued on page 26

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2 - 8 March 2019

onetoone WITH KEITH VAZ, MP

Jaimini Raniga Jaimini Raniga was born in Mumbai, India. Her father Mr C.C. Patel was a well renowned entrepreneur and business consultant in East Africa and her mother Savita Patel, a compassionate social worker in East Africa. She went to boarding schools in Kenya, India and England. She graduated in Medicine from St Mary’s Hospital London in 1982, and joined their fellowship program in anaesthetics. In 1984, she migrated to Melbourne, Australia, where she started her career in Family Medicine.

Eight years in her career, Jaimini came to the realisation that doctors were only treating symptoms, but not the root cause of the disease. Her daughter who developed Asthma from the age of 2 years, was only being supported with conventional drugs, from which she experienced many side effects. This was the driver to explore other ways of healing, and she commenced her journey of discovery through studying and qualifying in various Complementary modalities, and ancient wisdom.

Jaimini qualified in acupuncture trained by Dr Felix Mann in London in 1990, got a Postgraduate Diploma in Classical Homeopathy in Sydney in 1992, completed a Diploma in the Bowen Therapeutic technique in 1997. She travelled to India in 2002 to do an internship at the Poddar Hospital in Ayurvedic Medicine, and got a post graduate diploma in Unani Tibb Medicine in 2003 from the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town South Africa. In 2009 she studied Nutritional and Environmental medicine in the UK, South Africa and Australia.

She set up Integrative Medical Clinics in Cape Town South Africa and in Sydney, Australia. She was the author of numerous articles for health magazines and columns and has appeared as a specialist on a number of radio and TV health shows in South Africa. She returned to Sydney Australia in 2010 and thereafter set up Sivanna Health Integrated Medical Practice, where she currently runs her Integrative Medicine practice. Her passion lies in the prevention and treatment of illness by restoring function and balance mentally, emotionally and physically utilising ancient wisdom in modern health practices.

1

Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?

Sydney, Australia with my family. I believe that family is the most important factor to making you feel that a place is home. I have lived in many cities around the world, and have been able to make each place my home because of my loving family around me, they are the one constant in my life. Love and support is what makes the place feel like home.

2

What are your proudest achievements?

Getting admission into St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London University, where I studied Medicine, and qualified as a doctor. I dreamt of being a doctor from the age of 6, and so this really was a dream come true.

Finally graduating was also a very proud moment, a feeling. The feeling that I had made it!

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3

What inspires you?

The healing and transformation I see in my patients motivates me to continue to learn and discover new methods of treatment and management for the benefit of my patients. I also get a lot of inspiration being with nature, gives me time to reflect and be in stillness.

4

What has been biggest obstacle in your career?

Regulatory acceptance of Integrative Medicine, a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. Conventional medicine is focused on disease management whereas integrative medicine is patient centred and treats the cause. I believe that both have a place in managing better health outcomes.

There are several root causes of disease that cannot always be measured, and may be beyond the scope of science alone. There needs to be more openness, to other ways, apart from the current medical model, especially if you want to reduce the escalating health costs. We are not making an impact on chronic disease management with the current approach, so we see the rate increasing. Now we see children suffering from adult conditions.

5

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

My late grandfather, Dr C.S. Patel. He was the ex-president of the Indian Medical Council for 16 years, holding this position until he passed in 1968. He was the first Indian doctor to graduate as a Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons in England, became a specialist in both Cardiac and ENT surgery. He taught me that you could achieve anything with determination, hard work and perseverance despite the obstacles you may face. He made me believe in myself.

6

What is the best aspect about your current role?

Making a difference in my patient’s health and wellbeing. I see sustainable outcomes

treating the person as a whole. Taking the time to get a deeper understanding of the individual you are treating is more rewarding than coming up with a quick solution. I feel privileged to make the journey with my patients to fulfil their health goals and to empower them to take more responsibility for their own health.

7

And the worst?

My work requires a lot of my time, energy and focus. Sometimes I can feel drained and exhausted after investing all my energy into the people that I treat. If there was more public awareness and professional acceptance of this option it would create less stress in my work, instead you feel you are required to practice defensive medicine.

8

What are your long term goals?

Devise a system or a way that allows me to share my knowledge and experience with many, as opposed to the limited numbers I am able to see on a one-to-one consultation.

9

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

In regards to the health care industry; I would be more inclusive of other health modalities with adequate regulation so more people can have access to other solutions that the public would benefit from with government funding, as opposed to self-funding as it stands currently in Australia.

10

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

Mahatma Gandhi - I would love to have the opportunity to learn from his wisdom and conscious awareness. He knew how to survive with simplicity, and he was able to have an impact on so many people through example and leadership.

Southall man in motorbike crash The young motorcyclist who died in a Wembley crash has been locally named as 27-year-old man from Southall who was planning on getting married this year.

Izhan Ghani was riding his motorbike to work at 7.30am on Saturday (February 23) when he crashed with a car on Ealing Road, in Wembley .

An air ambulance landed but unfortunately specialist doctors were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 8am.

One relative described Izhan as "such a happy per-

son, who would help anyone out" and a "true entertainer" who was "always making people smile".

The family member added: "[Izhan] was planning on getting married this year but his life has been taken from him at a very young age.

"He was a very talented, bright, energetic, kind, loving and humble person who loved his family and he will be truly missed by his family and friends.

"We will remember him by all the good times spent together with our brother and he will never be forgotten. May Allah grant him

Izhan Ghani

paradise Inshallah."

The driver of the car involved, a grey Peugeot, stopped at the scene and was not arrested. Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision in order to "complete the missing pieces of the puzzle".

Lamborghini goes up in flames A young businessman has claimed he ‘nearly died’ after his £125,000 Lamborghini Gallardo burst into flames on a motorway just an hour after he picked it up.

Lak Sira, 22, claims he had spent £12,000 on having his ‘pride and joy’ gold-plated, and £10,000 on a service at Lamborghini Birmingham.

But he said he and his girlfriend had to flee the vehicle and abandon it on the hard shoulder of the M6 after smelling petrol during a journey on Friday.

The entrepreneur, from Birmingham, jumped from

Lak Sira

the supercar after hearing a loud bang and could only watch on helplessly as the back of luxury vehicle was engulfed in flames.

Lak, who earns

£200,000 a year running an online trading company, said he is looking at taking legal action against the dealership for the garage’s ‘negligence’.

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COMMENTS

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2 - 8 March 2019

Arabian Nights fantasy MBS, in case you didn’t know, is shorthand for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the ambitious de facto ruler of the desert kingdom, whose apparent romance with modernity left the mainstream western media a trifled bewitched, bothered and bewildered amidst the initial enthusiasm for a perceived new dawn. The gruesome murder of Saudi dissident journalist Mohammed Khassaoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul shocked the civilized world, of which India, along with the US, the UK, the EU and et al, claim to be members As the murder by handpicked Saudi assassins occurred on Turkish soil, an outraged President Erdoga demanded that perpetrators be brought to justice in a Turkish court. The Turkish government through surveillance possessed damning evidence of the assassination and assassins, which was passed on to the Trump administration including the Director of the CIA in person, when she visited Ankara.

There was the obligatory breast-beating and handwringing in Washington, then justification of America’s close embrace of the Saudi regime, made explicit by the billions of dollars of arms contracts for the Saudi military. A similar sequel was repeated in London. Both the US,UK and the abominable Macron regime in France are fattening on the blood money of the ghastly Saudi war in Yemen, the world’s greatest human catastrophe, according to UN and International Red Cross reports. Washington is more bothered by its efforts at regime change in Venezuela, and the organ-grinder’s tune has the monkeys in Europe dancing to its beat.

MBS made a hugely publicized red carpet visit to Pakistan, where he dispensed billions of dollars to the cash-starved Imran Khan government. Years ago, Prince Turki al Faisal, the Saudi Intelligence chief, told the Financial Times in London, that Pakistan was Riyadh’s closest ally, the truth evidenced in Saudi funds to bankroll Islamabad’s nuclear bomb and jihadi mosques to preach Salafi-Wahabbi doctrine in the country. The Pakistan

Army, FOR ITS PART, was the Saudi Monarchy’s Praetorian Guard, just as it was for the Hashemite dynasty IN Jordan. The involvement of Saudi and Pakistani jihadis in 9/11 bombing of New York and Washington are well known as is the subsequent cover-up in the US. Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda mastermind, was given refuge in Pakistan and was run to ground and killed on Pakistani soil

by US Navy Seals.

As part of his exercise to project his international profile, Mohammed bin Salman embarked on an Asian tour of Pakistan, India and China. In Beijing he proclaimed his satisfaction with the Saudi Kingdom’s ties with China, whatever be its oppression of the Muslim Uigher population in Xinjiang. As China’s is Pakistan’s ‘all-weather friend,’ the strategic dimension of such diplomacy must surely be self evident.

With all this in mind, the wisdom behind the bear-hug welcome accorded to Prince Mohammed bin Salman in New Delhi appears to be as mysterious as the proverbial Indian rope trick. Yes, Saudi investment in the Indian economy is a good thing, but this is as much in the Saudi national interest as it is in the Indian. A firm handshake, as protocol demanded, plus the standard communiqué would have sufficed. Two Indian English-language broadsheets went overboard, claiming the Saudi guest had condemned Pakistani terrorism, when he had done no such thing. One of these papers reported that President Trump had criticized China for the terror attack in Kashmir, when he clearly had not done so either. Fake news is taking off in India. Press freedom is translating into press licence, licence to invent and distort in the interests of external powers. Its significance must make the citizens of India meditate on the world order touted indefatigably in certain world capitals. All men are equal but some are more equal than others. They have to be tranquillized and force-fed for their own good, such being the opening injunction of the New Gospel of divine right and might.

Tinkering with History a perilous exercise Manicuring history or turning History on its head never pays, because it leaves a poisonous residue of grieving victimhood.

The T.E. Lawrence classic, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, acclaimed by such diverse individuals as Winston Churchill, E.M Forster and George Bernard Shaw as work of genius, but debunked by the Arab historian Aziz al-Azmeh.

Archaeologist, classical Greek scholar, Arabist, fluent in French, German and Italian, this warrior of the desert led the victorious Arab force that defeated the ruling Ottoman Army.

It evidently riled Azmeh that an Englishman did what no Arab leader at the time (or since) could do – lamentable, maybe, but emphatically true, nevertheless.

Lawrence had an abiding friendship with the Arab leader Prince Faisal, whom Britain and France persuaded, during the First World War, to lead the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, with the false promise, as it turned out, of a fully independent and sovereign Arab state. Lawrence, an intelligence officer, kept Faisal abreast of the game; discovery would have meant imprisonment, disgrace and possible death.

Lawrence entered Damascus at the head of his motley Arab force and witnessed at first hand the Anglo-French betrayal of their promise and subsequent carve-up of Arab lands. After returning to England, he was offered a knighthood; he was to ‘refuse rewards for being a successful trickster.’ As Aircraftsman Shaw, Lawrence preferred the alibi Aircraftsman Shaw, dying in an accident in June 1935.

Azmeh’s Indian counterpart, Shashi Tharoor’s polemic, An Era of Darkness, on the alleged impact of the British presence in the Indian subcontinent is a similar work bargain basement anti-colonialism, among the most worthless of this genre.

Jadunath Sarkar, India’s greatest historian of the Mughal Empire, in a summary of British rule, warts and all, wrote: ‘But these will all pass away…Then England’s

marvellous achievement in India will be appraised in a just balance, in peace of mind all passion spent.’

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Bengali novelist and Sanskrit scholar, composer of Bande Mataram, perceived the Pax Britannica as a restorative era after the nightmare of the eighteenth century, of loot, invasion, rapine, massacre and every excess known to man or beast. The leadership of India’s Reform movement, from Rammohun Roy, Ishvar Chandra Vidyasagar to M.G. Raydive and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, like Bankim Chandra, saw the British era as one of seedtime and remedy, for such it was, said C.R. Rajagopalachari, the greatest intellect in modern Indian nationalism. Rabindranath Tagore declared that India would have been incomplete without the British experience.

Victimhood is a form of self pity, a cancerous growth that stunts the mind and spirit and leaves the victim open to delusional fantasies from whose walls and watch towers escape become hazardous. Switching continents, Poland, with its Anglo-French and American patrons have long sought to present as a bulwark of western civilization against the implied barbarian hordes of the East – shorthand for Russia - the source of warped Polish nationalism. The pre-war Polish regime grabbed a piece of Czech territory as Hitler’s Nazi legions invaded the country with the connivance of Britain and France in March 1939.

Joseph Beck, the infamous face of the Warsaw regime did a deal with Hitler, unaware that his country was next on the Nazi hit list. During the Nazi occupation significant numbers of Poles collaborated with the Nazi occupiers in oppressing their fellow Jewish citizenry, most of whom were consigned to the notorious Nazi gas chambers of Auschwitz in Poland. Accusations of such collaboration are punishable under present-day Polish law. Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, drilled the point of Polish culpability into the heads of his Polish hosts. Truth will out.

Rage is best controlled India is angry, angrier than it has been within living memory. The cold blooded murder in Kashmir of 40 of its solders by the terrorist-Pakistan-based Jaish-eMohammed operative has incensed the nation.. Calls for an Indian boycott of the ODI Cricket World Cup due to be held this summer in England will be counter-

productive. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and its other members are unlikely to respond positively to the call, hence the result will impact negatively on India’s cricketing aspirations, while the ostensible target, Pakistan, will escape justice, in this realm, at least. The required Indian vengeance is best served cold.

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Alpesh Patel

Pakistan fumbles and runs for help to Saudi Arabia As ever, Pakistan cries for help, after terrorist operating on its fertile soil bomb Indian security forces.

First it runs to Saudi Arabia, whose Crown Prince, MBS, the CIA say ordered the murder of the American resident journalist Khashoggi. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir they would "try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries, neighbouring countries, and to see if there is a path forward to resolving those differences peacefully".

How did that work out? Well India took the Israeli route – bombing terrorists over the border using fighter jets in your own airspace.

Unsurprisingly Saudi Arabia is not known to be a peacekeeper, given their current ongoing bombing and killing of women and children in Yemen, murder of a journalist, and the blockade of their neighbouring American ally Qatar who are themselves the home of the largest US military base in the region used to fight ISIS terrorists in Syria. Pakistan’s response – they gave MBS their country’s highest honour – ‘the Order of Pakistan’. Clearly these friends support each other’s views on terrorism.

Pakistan also ran to the UN, as they always do as they believe in Indian weakness for international law. It’s ironic they beseeched the UN, given UN resolution 47 adopted in 1948, with which Pakistan is still non-compliant, states “The Government of Pakistan should undertake to use its best endeavours: (a) To secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purpose of fighting, and to prevent any intrusion into the State of such elements and any furnishing of material aid to those fighting in the State; (b) To make known to all concerned that the measures indicated in this and the following paragraphs provide full freedom to all subjects of the State, regardless of creed, caste or party, to express their views and to vote on the question of the accession of the State, and that therefore they should cooperate in the maintenance of peace and order.”

Even in 1948 – the UN, the world knew, of Pakistan’s approach, send in terrorists to fight.

And let me reiterate why Pakistan is a State sponsor of terrorism. From my days working in the US Congress for Hon Eliot Engel, who tried with other members of the US Congress, House of Representatives and Senate to have Pakistan declared a terrorist State, I have seen first hand the concern of American law makers with the highest security intelligence at their disposal. I was shown documents in which Pakistan boasted of having a nuclear bomb. This was back in 1994. I was shown documents disclosing the terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan. This is why so many US Congressmen and women wanted Pakistan declared a terrorist State.

And by the way, the Indian Government had a zero spend on political lobbying back then. This was all led by US intelligence on Pakistan. The Clinton White House resisted the declaration, not least because of arms sales to Pakistan and the jobs that would be lost.

Pakistan is a State sponsor of terror; when your friends think you’re evil, you really ought to pay attention. When the UN and so the world’s representative says it, there is no point saying ‘nothing to see, move on, move on’.

Editor: CB Patel Asian Voice is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW. Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.com Website: www.abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

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2 - 8 March 2019

Tamil community wants Mayor of Harrow to resign Campaigners have called on the Mayor of Harrow to resign after she was pictured with senior military figures during a visit to Sri Lanka.

Cllr Kareema Marikar visited the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Mahesh Senanayake, and Brigadier Priyanka Fernando during a trip last year. She posted pictures of her meetings – in which she is wearing the mayoral chain – on social media alongside messages praising the soldiers for their service.

But members of the Tamil community in Harrow are upset at this representation, given the army officials’ involvement in the Sri Lankan civil war. They were particularly disappointed given that Brig. Fernando was found guilty of violating the

Sri Lankan High Commission in London.

A petition with 49 signatures was handed to Harrow Council calling on Cllr Marikar to step down from her role.

It said: “Most Tamil residents in Harrow escaped the war and came to the UK as refugees, and they Cllr Kareema Marikar, still carry the scars the Mayor of Harrow of that war which (Image: Harrow Council) killed many of Public Order Act their kith and kin in their former when he made a throat cutting home country. gesture at protestors – many of “We believe Ms Marikar’s whom were Tamil – outside the judgement on this matter was

very poor and her actions were offensive to the Tamil community she represents in Harrow.

“It was extremely upsetting to learn that Ms Marikar, who represents a large number of Tamils in Harrow and claims to have a detailed knowledge of Sri Lanka, chose to publish photographs with these senior military officials.”

The Sri Lankan Civil War, which stemmed from ambitions by the ‘Tamil Tigers’ to form an independent state, ravaged the country for more than 25 years – finally ending in 2009.

Cllr Marikar, who was elected as mayor in May, hails from Sri Lanka herself. She has lived in Harrow for 28 years and has served as a councillor since 2010.

The mayor's office has been contacted for comment.

North Staffordshire chef on his way to India Talented curry chef Muhammad Ali has been chosen to showcase a variety of dishes during a prestigious festival in India. And the head chef at Forsbrook's Roshni restaurant will be serving up some of his own specialities alongside the 'British favourites' such as Tikka Masala, Balti and Jalfrezi.

The 39-year-old, of Dresden, is one of just three chefs from the UK who have been selected to take part in the Taste of Britain food festival where they'll be representing the country against a number of other nations all hoping to serve up the best curry and impress the judges.

Being selected to take part and work with renowned chef Mark Poynton - represents an impressive rise through the ranks for Muhammad. The former Edensor Technology

College pupil started working at the popular Cheadle Road restaurant back in 2002 as a waiter.

Now overseeing the kitchen, and regularly impressing customers, Muhammad said: "My aim was always to be head chef and that's what I do now. When I started I was about 16 and I would watch the chefs and see how they did things and the way they put meals together. I enjoy being part of a team and and keeping our customers happy. I will do special dishes and include those on the menu."

Next month Muhammad will jet off to India for the fiveday festival, organised by UKbased magazine Curry Life.

Judges will be on the lookout for the finest dishes produced by the UK team - featuring other chefs from County Durham and Chatham - and culinary experts

Muahmmad with trainee waiter Abshar Ali and restaurant founder Shamim Miah

from other nations.

Muhammad said: "I have only been to India once before for a holiday and am looking forward to this. So many people will be there. We will also be cooking something of our own and I will be doing a gurkha special and

hariali special that I do here in the restaurant. There are some secret ingredients that I won't be revealing! I also hope to bring back some tips to incorporate into my cooking."

The festival will take place between March 5 and March 10.

Festival founder and Editor of Curry Life Magazine, Syed Belal Ahmed, said: "British food is enjoying a renaissance period after many years and curry has played a major role in helping put us back in the world kitchen.

We're keen to promote the presentational, artistic and culinary skills of British Asian curry chefs and their role in helping the humble curry evolve to meet the tastes of food enthusiasts. This festival is not just about British curry cuisine, it is also a wonderful way of showcasing the best of British chefs and their best food creations."

Boy, 17, dies in Bordesley Green stabbing A 17-year-old boy has been stabbed to death in Birmingham.

Police were called to Norwood Road at about 14:00 GMT and found the boy with serious injures. He died at the scene.

A murder investigation has begun. Officers will also use stop and search powers where they believe there is a risk of violence, West Midlands Police said.

It is the third fatal stabbing of a teen in the city in almost

two weeks.

The force said its investigation was at an early stage and no arrests had been made.

Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor in Greater Manchester who oversaw the Rochdale child sex abuse case, said the victim was one of his relatives.

It comes five days after 16year-old Abdullah Muhammad was discovered fatally wounded

near a park in Small Heath.

Another teenager, Mohammed Sidali, also 16, died in hospital on 15 February after being attacked outside a college in Highgate.

In a tweet, Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood, said she was "saddened" to hear about the death and was in contact with West Midlands Police.

"My thoughts and deepest

sympathies are with the young victim's family at this terrible time," she said.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, described the death as "another tragic loss of young life on our streets".

While Dudley North MP Ian Austin also called for an urgent meeting with Home Secretary Sajid Javid over concerns about "violent crime".

Slough rapist who attacked woman jailed A rapist who attacked a woman walking through a park in Slough has been jailed for seven and a half years.

Hamid Mahmood, 23, of Griffin Close, attacked the woman in Salt Hill Park in August 2017.

The incident happened at around 2.30am on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

The woman, who is in her forties, was walking near Montem Leisure Centre and towards the A4. She then entered the park and was attacked by Mahmood.

He raped her, and then smashed a wine bottle over her head. He was arrested the same day and charged over two years

later in August 2018.

He was found guilty of one count of rape after a trial at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, February 19 and sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Friday, February 22.

He admitted the assault at a previous hearing, but denied raping the woman.

He sentenced to seven-anda-half-years for the rape and one-and-a-half years for the assault, which will run concurrently.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Ross Fleming, of Berkshire Force CID, said: “The victim described in court how she thought she was going to die as a result of the

wine bottle being smashed over her head and the court heard how much a detrimental effect the incident had upon her life.

“I would like to thank the witnesses who assisted the victim that night and provided evidence at court. Without such individuals prepared to do the right thing this matter would not have reached this conclusion.

“However the victim, who was raped and then assaulted, has shown extraordinary bravery in reporting this matter to the police.

"She has constantly assisted the police and then attended court a full two-and-a-half years after that night.

Hamid Mahmood

"She is visibly scared from this which will last her lifetime.

"Hopefully the verdict and sentence will offer some peace in her life now that justice has been done.”

in brief PAEDOPHILE HAD 'MATTRESS IN HIS VAN' BEFORE ARREST IN CAR PARK Imran Majeed was on his way to meet what he thought was a 13year-old girl for sex when he stopped in Harlow to be greeted by a team of 'paedophile hunters.'

In the back of his van he had blankets and a mattress, and he told an online 'decoy' account set up by 'paedophile hunters' that the pair could hug and kiss when they met.

He also asked the account, called 'Karen,' to send him naked photographs.

But Majeed, from Pakistan, was intercepted in a station car park outside the Toby Carvery restaurant in Harlow just three days after Christmas.

He protested his innocence on camera but later plead guilty to two serious child sex offences in court.

On February 25 his uncle and cousin watched on at Chelmsford Crown Court as he found out what punishment he would be handed.

The sentence handed down by the judge, however, left one of the men behind the 'paedophile hunting sting' "shocked."

DEBENHAMS WORKER CALLED 'F*****G MUSLIM' BY RACIST A woman who assaulted and racially abused a Debenhams sales assistant has escaped with a community order. Toneeta Beckford, 33, grabbed hold of the employee’s wrist and said: “Go back to your country, f*****g Muslim”. The victim was wearing a headscarf at the time. The attack took place as Beckford was returning a dress inside the Oxford Street branch on July 7 last year.

On Monday, February 25th Beckford was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. She was also ordered to pay costs of £300, a victim surcharge of £85 and compensation of £50. Beckford, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault at a previous court hearing.

Lorraine Lewis, Senior Crown Prosecutor said: “This was a racial assault on a victim who was simply doing her job. Hate crime has a corrosive effect on our society and the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute those who commit these crimes."

In the year ending March 2018, the CPS prosecuted more than 14,000 hate crimes and a record number of perpetrators were given tougher, uplifted sentences by the courts.

MAN DENIES MURDER OF PREGNANT EX-WIFE The ex-husband of a pregnant mother, who was shot dead with a crossbow in her Newbury Park home, has denied her murder. Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo, 51, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of mother-of-five Sana Muhammad (pictured) and attempted child destruction.

The 35-year-old, formerly known as Devi Unmathallegadoo before her remarriage, was eight months pregnant when she was attacked at her home in Applegarth Drive on November 12 last year. After she was fatally injured, paramedics managed to deliver her son Ibrahim in hospital.

The defendant, previously of Applegarth Drive, appeared at the Old Bailey before Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC. He spoke only to confirm his identity and enter not-guilty pleas via video-link from Pentonville prison.

His trial is due to start at the Old Bailey on April 8 and last for up to two weeks.

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CIIr Ketan Sheth

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

Northwick Park Hospital Winter Pressures The term ‘winter pressures,’ is a phrase we hear regularly this time of year as hospitals struggle to meet demand.

It has, for many years, been commonly perceived that this is the NHS’s problem. But is this really fair given we serve the same communities and the pressure on health and social care are significant?

In response, Brent Council, Brent Clinical Commissioning Group and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust have teamed up to address the problem in recent years.

It is no small challenge as Brent is among the most deprived boroughs in London and Northwick Park Hospital is one of the busiest A&E departments in the capital. Early planning and a coordinated cross organisational approach have helped us shape a robust winter plan that maintains patient experience, safety and clinical effectiveness during the most demanding period of the year.

This planning began with lessons learnt during the winter of 2017/18 which were subsequently built into our current plan. It boils down to keeping people out of hospital; ensuring patients who are admitted are treated and discharged quickly (and safely); and provision of adequate home support in the community.

Brent CCG responded by giving patients access to GP appointments from 8am-8pm seven days a week via a network of GP hubs. The hubs play a crucial role in curbing the number of people going to A&E with minor ailments.

Their use rose by 42% between Oct-Dec 2017 and the same period a year later. The CCG also provided an enhanced service in care homes, a targeted approach to flu vaccinations and developed a closer working relationship between acute and primary care providers.

The Department of Health provided the council with a one-off payment of £1.3M to support hospital discharges. It ‘purchased’ an additional 15 beds, provided reward payments to care homes that could quickly assess and accommodate patients as well as provide an additional handyman service for home adaptations. It also invested in additional social worker, OT and co-ordinator capacity to boost its Home First initiative to get patients home with the minimum of delay.

Ambulance handover times between crews and A&E staff at Northwick Park Hospital has improved and benefited from an additional paramedic/nurse to assist with triage and advanced assessment triage area.

These plans have helped but under pinning it all is the dedication and hard work of staff on the front line.

The reality is that we face a growing population that is living longer and increasingly troubled by a host of longterm conditions. The only way we can manage this, aside from promoting greater personal responsibility for health, is for the public sector and its partners to develop a healthy working relationship which recognises this is everyone’s problem.

Shailesh Vara raises the issue of commonwealth soldiers An Asian Conservative Party MP has raised “urgent” concerns about Commonwealth Soldiers not being allowed to bring their families with them.

Shailesh Vara, took to the floor of Parliament to address the Prime Minister and spoke about the British Army's recent recruitment campaign in the commonwealth countries. “It is only after they [the commonwealth soldiers] have signed up for a minimum four year contract, do they find out that they are not allowed to bring their children to the country. Given that these are brave men and women who are prepared to put their lives on line for us and our country. I hope that the prime minister will agree with me that this is something that needs to be looked into urgently,” said the former Minister of State for Northern Ireland. Other senior MPs have also been calling for serving Armed Forces personnel to be exempt from the minimum income threshold, given their service to the country. Under current immigration rules, foreign workers must earn £18,600 to apply for their spouse to live in the UK. This has forced many to take on second jobs to afford to move their families to the UK. Prime Minister Theresa May in her response said that she will “certainly meet” with him to further discuss the subject and said“I am aware of the issue and I am told by the Ministry of Defence that they do make sure that the information is available to the individuals about what their situation will be.”

Bridge India launches inaugural pan-European Indian Diaspora survey Indian diaspora think tank Bridge India launched its inaugural, pan-European Indian Diaspora survey last week. Bridge India is a progressive non-profit think tank dedicated to discourse on public policy for the betterment of India, and was launched in late-2018 in London. By launching this survey, the organisation seeks to develop a better and more detailed understanding of the Indian diaspora in Europe, including their relationship with India; and create a go-to resource for policymakers in Europe and India to understand diaspora’s issues and concerns better.

India represents an ancient civilisation, united by a shared history and sustained by a pluralist democracy. The idea of India is one that is inclusive and with a Constitution that provides for the vast diversity of its composite culture. India’s national identity has been built on unity in diversity, and it has long celebrated the commonality of major

differences amongst its people. It offers many truths, each of which give shape and substance to the idea of India. But the ‘India Story’ abroad is often presented through a narrow lens, be it focusing only on just business, society or policy. Given its diversity, everything about India, and its polar opposite, is true in unison.

Bridge India seeks to highlight and celebrate this nuance, to help Indiawatchers understand India better, and enable diaspora to reengage with their country of origin.

This survey will not only provide an overview of the diaspora landscape across Europe, it will help inform Bridge India’s activities in the coming year. It focuses on questions about NRI voting rights, politics, how well integrated Indian diaspora are in their home country in Europe, motivations for emigrating, trade relations and more. The results will be released in London in Summer 2019.

A number of community

Dr A Didar Singh

organisations from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands have already expressed interest in disseminating the survey across their networks to engage as widely as possible.

"There are nearly 30m people of Indian origin around the world. Surveys such as these are important for understanding the views of the current generation, and can help policy-makers better interact with the diaspora,” said Dr A Didar Singh, Advisor to Bridge India, former Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, and former Secretary-General of FICCI. Pratik Dattani, Advisor

to Bridge India said, "Since our launch just a few months ago, we have been overwhelmed with the response from diaspora from the UK and more widely, illustrating a real need for an organisation like Bridge India. This survey helps provide a common voice to celebrate the Indian diaspora across Europe, and find out where policy-makers could better serve them."

"Indian diaspora contribute substantially to the cultural, social and economic fabric of Europe's economies. We at NISAU have led on many initiatives to promote a bridge between Indian and our members' countries of residence in Europe. We welcome this important survey from Bridge India to help continue that dialogue,” said Sanam Arora, Founder and Chairperson of the National Indian Students & Alumni Association UK. The survey is available at: http://www.bridgeindia.or g.uk/survey/ and is open until 31 March.

FICCI and IPF host interactive session on budget at India House The High Commission of India in the UK in partnership with FICCI and IPF organised an Interactive Session on “Budget & I” at the India House. The session included deliberation on impact of the budget on the economy, industries, investors, direct and indirect taxes etc. The “I” represented India, Industry, Investor and the Individual; hence the session was titled “Budget & I”.

In her opening remarks, H E Mrs. Ruchi Ghanashyam, High Commissioner to UK said that through the interim budget the Finance Minister made an effort to balance the short- to medium-term objectives of the economy with a long-term vision for 2030. The ten critical dimensions laid out in the budget are the foundation of our future growth and development and will help India achieve its target of becoming a US$10 trillion economy by 2030.

Referring to the FM’s speech she said that India has received massive foreign direct investment worth $239 billion in the last five years on account of a stable and predictable regulatory regime, growing economy and strong fundamentals.

Param Shah, CB Patel, Dr Mohan Kaul, Lord Jitesh Gadhia, A S Rajan with others

She further added that she was confident that UK investors and businesses will be encouraged to invest more in coming years with the growth of the Indian economy.

This was followed by a panel discussion on the nuances of the budget chaired by Lord Jitesh Gadhia. The distinguished Panel included Mr. Devin Narang, NEC Member, FICCI & MD, Sindicantum Renewable Energy; Mr. Ajay Sethi, Managing Partner, ASA & Associates and Dr. Anil Lamba, Chartered Accountant and Financial Literacy Activist.

Setting the tone for the Panel Lord Gadhia echoed economist Martin Wolf’s thoughts on India’s growing importance in world eco-

nomics. He said that there is a cause for modest optimism about the prospects of the world’s fastest-growing large economy.

Mr. Narang reacting to the budget shared that the various announcements in the budget would improve demand in the economy and support investments going ahead. He further said that he sees a positive momentum building for the housing and real estate sector which has major forward and backward linkages. All of these are positive for growth, will have a multiplier impact and improve the outlook for the economy in the coming years Speaking at the Panel Mr. Sethi said that the challenge which presently sits before the Government is to

give more teeth to IBC and real estate law, as also simplify GST. Exports need bigger thrust to balance the import bill. Credit offtake from banks should be as much worry as recovering NPAs. Certainly, privatising banks and some other business should be priority.

Dr. Lamba while sharing his view on the budget said that the no change in the tax brackets is fundamentally correct, however, the proposals related to direct tax now offer a full tax rebate to individuals having an annual taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh (approx £500,000). This would be extremely beneficial for the lower middle-class taxpayers comprising selfemployed, small businesses, small traders, salary earners, pensioners and senior citizens.

Dr. Mohan Kaul, President of Indian Professionals Forum (IPF) suggested that Indian Government should include tax benefit for investors in Startups as an incentive in the budget as is the case in UK. It was agreed that this suggestion will be conveyed to the Indian Finance Minister through the Indian High Commission.

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Asian parents support compulsory age appropriate sex and relationship education in schools The government's new law to make 'age appropriate' sex and relationship education compulsory in all schools in England from this year, is gaining support from the new age Asian parents.

Children from the age of four are expected to be taught about healthy relationships in the classroom.

In a written statement, the Government last year outlined its compulsory proposals for a new system for sex and relationship education from primary through to secondary school.

On Monday 25 February, MPs debated a petition urging the government to ensure parents can opt their child out of relationship and sex education. This debate was in response to the government’s plans to make sex and relationships curriculum from September 2019 compulsory for primary as well as secondary school children. The biological aspects of sex are covered in the compulsory science curriculum. But parents currently have the right to remove their child from ‘relationship’ lessons.

While many parents are uncomfortable talking about sex with children, a BBC report suggests that some parents feel their children should not be taught any sex or relationship education until they are at least 13. Some have also argued it has no place in school curriculum. But in this day and age of social mediaFacebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, it is virtually impossible to protect children from sexual knowledge. 11 year olds today are suffering from mental

health problems, due body shaming, bullying into taking nude pictures and pornography, online grooming.

However Asian parents are found welcoming the decision as they think it is good to start sex and relationship lessons as soon as possible. Deb Ghosh, a mother of two young children from West London told Asian Voice, “I think it's a fantastic idea to make the education compulsory. Kids need to learn what a mutually respectful relationship

looks like. Sex needs to be demystified, de-tabooed.

Pornography, cyber bullying, body shaming- a lot of this comes from shame, guilt and fear of our own bodies and misunderstanding what a healthy sexual expression is. A body is just a body. Sex is just sex. It's not a conquest or a bargaining tool or something intrinsically valuable. The sooner kids learn that, the better.”

Another mother of two from Blackheath in South London told the newsweekly, “I think it’s a sensible move to introduce sex education at a younger age at schools. Issues around consent and being aware of what isn’t appropriate are ones they need to be aware of - and all kids should have the opportunity to discuss this as well as over time issues around gender, sexuality, safety and other issues.

I think the more such discussions happen in open forums the more the willingness of children to accept and respect difference and also feel comfortable discussing these issues at home with us. Of course it has to

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Attractive reward package, especially for experienced journalists is available.

Write immediately to CB Patel at cb.patel@abplgroup.com. be done in a sensible way and it’s all in the detail and implementation. But overall it’s an idea I support.”

But a mum of two from West London, Loveena Tandon, does not think this is a good idea. She said, “I don’t agree with making it compulsory. It’s too early to complicate the minds of the young. It’s supposed to be age appropriate but the question is what is it going to be? Yes kids start periods early, their abuse starts early. The way is to make them aware of sensitivity of their private parts - how none should touch them scream if anyone does and

tell some you trust about it.

All this we already do. But it does not merit telling them.

Children have curious minds and it can go anywhere. It can lead to exploring on their own too.”

Smriti Ray, from North London with a young boy added, “I welcome the idea. I am sure a 4 year old will not be told about pornography.

But educating children about sex and relationship from childhood is a good idea. It opens their mind up and tells about the threats they may face growing up.

Otherwise perceiving of sex in their own way does more harm than good.”

8 UK

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Do you Trade with the EU? How will Brexit affect your business?

Currently no one knows what is going to happen with the market after Brexit or what is in store for the UK should we leave the EU. One thing that is for certain is that if you want your business to be Brexit proof you must act now.

If your company currently trades with the EU you will have enjoyed the single market however come March 31st this will James Backhouse change and any imports will have to obey the rules currently reserved for the Rest of the World.

This will mean applying for an EORI number ( Economic Operator Registration and Identification) does your business need one issued, the criteria is: Are you a UK Business? Import or Export goods from the EU after 11PMGMT on the 29th March 2019. This takes 3 days so it would be wise to apply as soon as possible for this to ensure your goods don’t get seized at customs. Having your EORI number allows you to trade good into or out of the UK, submit declarations using software (or to give to your agent to make these declarations on your behalf) apply to be authorised for customs simplifications and procedures. Not all Businesses who trade with the EU will need one however the exemptions are, Trading goods with Ireland across the Northern Ireland–Ireland land border (we will write to you again with information about the arrangements for trading with Ireland as soon as we can) services that do not involve moving physical goods.

You’ve read this and researched and decided this applies to you and you need an EORI number for your business, well before you apply you must conform to the procedure set out by HMRC to obtain your EORI number. You’ll need your VAT registration number and the name under which your business is registered for VAT, not registered for VAT yet? Don’t worry you will need the following information when applying for a VAT number: An address in the United Kingdom, Email address, Date of Birth and National Insurance Number. You will need to enter the following details about your business: Company Registration Number, company incorporation date (the date your company came into being) country of incorporation, for example, the United Kingdom. If your business has a parent or a holding company, they must do the application for you.

Once you have applied HMRC State You’ll get your EORI number by email, usually within 3 working days. If you’ve not received the email you should check your spam folder. It can take longer than 3 days if there are high volumes so please do not contact HMRC during this time. If HMRC has any query, HMRC will contact you, when you receive your EORI number, please always use it when contacting HMRC about customs. For Further information HMRC have posted information to ensure the right authorisations ahead of the March 29 to keep your business flowing.

Offices in Harrow, Birmingham & Cambridge For more information please call 020 3763 8500.

262 High Road, Harrow Weald, HA3 7BB

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Lord Loomba initiates debate in HoL requesting the UK government for an official apology "But he stopped short of issuing a Lord Loomba, leading a debate in the formal apology, and sidestepped the House of Lords, on Tuesday 19th issue by saying that there had been February, asked the Government condemnation at the time from the what plans they have to commemoBritish Government," he added. rate the 100th anniversary of the Commending Cameron's visit, massacre that took place in Lord Loomba said, "it was not an adeJallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on quate response to all the suffering 13thApril, 1919. and pain that was inflicted on innoOpening the debate, Lord Loomba, described poignantly how cent civilians, unarmed and with no he has visited the Jallianwala Bagh escape, who had every right to gather peacefully". many times, and said that he had Noting how times have changed "seen for myself the bullet holes in and many from the subcontinent the walls and the well from which now live in the UK, and it is now a 150 bodies were extracted. Around multicultural society, Lord Loomba the park, many stories are written on quoting Winston Churchill's accusaplacards and stones, and it is impostion that General Dyer had resorted sible to come away from the place Lord Loomba to the doctrine of "frightfulness" without tears rolling down your face. stated poignantly, "It is not difficult It is a shocking event to recall, even suffer a horrendous and prolonged to see that this massacre encapsulatafter 100 years." death, were let down by the very peoed what the protests were about: Lord Loomba was supported by ple who should have been protecting many peers, including Lord Desai, tyranny and oppression; General them, not opening fire, killing and Dyer confirmed the people’s worst Lord Bilimoria, Baroness Verma, Lord injuring mindlessly." fears."

Suri, Baroness Northover, Lord "At the time," he noted, "Many "The Jallianwala Bagh incident," Alton, Earl of Sandwich, Lord Indians had given of their lives 'for he said, "broke the trust between the Morgan, Lord Collins of Highbury King and country' by fighting in the people and their rulers and that trust and Lord Mawson speaking in the First World War and had subsequentwas never restored. What followed debate, who wholeheartedly agreed ly been promised greater autonomy was Gandhi’s non-violent lawbreakthat now was the time for an official and freedom from the oppression of ing movement, which eventually lead apology, quoted Winston Churchill's British rule". But these promises were to the end of the Empire". description of the incident, saying, not being fulfilled and the populaLord Loomba concluded by say“That is an episode which appears to tion was 'becoming increasingly frusing that things are different today. me to be without precedent or paraltrated'. lel in the modern history of the People from the subcontinent have made their homes here in British Empire. It is an the UK and it is multiculevent of an entirely diftural society. "It would be ferent order from any of appropriate in my view for those tragical occura formal apology to be rences which take place issued by the government. when troops are brought Lord Desai and I have into collision with the already written to the civil population. It is an Prime minister urging that extraordinary event, a an apology be made to monstrous event, an bring about the closure of event which stands in this very unfortunate singular and sinister isoepisode. It would be apprelation.” ciated by millions of South Describing how the Asians living in the UK, as people, including children, had gathered at the well as by the people in Jallianwala Bagh to protest David Cameron, the British prime minister, placing a wreath at the Jallianwala India," he added.

Bagh memorial in Amritsar about the arrest of some of Minister, Rt Hon Baroness Goldie, who their leaders earlier in the "People were beginning to thanked Lord Loomba for tabling the week and that martial law was in despair of a rule that appeared to be debate and all those who participatforce at the time, Lord Loomba outbecoming tyrannical and oppressive ed in the debate, agreed that it was a lined General Dyer's actions. This and were fearful of the future," Lord deeply shameful episode in British included blocking all the exits and Loomba added.

History. She concluded by saying ordering his troops to open fire with"Six years ago," Lord Loomba that the chair of the Foreign Affairs out any prior warning to the crowd declared, "David Cameron became committee feels that this year may gathered that they should disperse the first serving British Prime constitute an appropriate moment and continuing to fire until all their Minister to pay his respects by visitfor her Majesty’s Government to forammunition was spent. ing Jallianwala Bagh, where he mally apologise. The foreign secre"Those innocent, unarmed civildescribed the massacre as, “a deeply ians who died immediately," Lord tary is currently reflecting on the sitshameful event in British history." uation.

Loomba stressed, "And those left to

Bob Blackman asks Minister to retract 'offending' phrase from statement UK government ministers and a number of British MPs took to social media or issued statements to condemn the terror strike in Pulwama last week. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a statement addressed Jammu and Kashmir as the 'Indian administered Kashmir' outraged the community as well as MPs, including his own party members.

Tory MP and leader of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Hindus, Bob Blackman, joined calls along with

Labour MP Virendra Sharma for foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt to retract his conception of Jammu and Kashmir as ‘India-administered Kashmir.' In a letter he wrote, “I thank you for your post on twitter last week which showed solidarity with India in the face of this despicable terror attack in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

“One part of the post is problematic and I would welcome a retraction from you as soon as possible.

“In your tweet you refer

to the state as 'India-administered Kashmir' which implies that India has expanded its own territory at the expense of another nation. This is, of course, factually incorrect as Jammu and Kashmir has always been an integral part of India since its inception in 1947, it chose to be a part of India.

“Your language may offend and again, I suggest retracting this phrase.

Whilst I am writing, might I also ask what support the UK is providing our friends in India in their

Bob Blackman MP

ongoing battle against terrorists? Press reports have identified the responsible organisation, Jaish-eMohammad, who are based in Pakistan and operate on Indian soil...”

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Oxford spinout develops smart glasses helping blind with vision

Rupanjana Dutta

developed at OxSight have the potential to change lives for the better and it is that knowledge that continues to fuel our passion for continuing to develop innovative and life enhancing products.”

with features including, increased image contrast, super colour mode, text mode, edge enhancement, inverted colour, and a digital zoom to allow users to magnify objects and obstacles.

These features have been shown to enhance the remaining vision of people with peripheral vision loss.

Peripheral vision loss is commonly caused by degenerative sight loss conditions such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa.

The estimated people living in England with sight loss is 1.7mn. Asian and Black ethnic groups are at greater risk of eye diseases, such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy compared to other ethSmart glasses nic groups and are more likely to become blind. They OxSight was founded in are also at three times high2016 by a team whose er risk of diabetic eye disresearch into how the brain ease. According to Vision manages visual information UK, 1 in 10 people from a began at Oxford University.

BAME background over the The first OxSight device, the age of 65 will experience OxSight Prism smart glassserious sight loss. However, es, was launched in 2018, Panel discussion evidence by the study also and in the process of develsuggests that Asian and oping clinical partnerships The panel at the launch on Black communities in the with a number of opticians 28th February, will include UK are less likely to attend across the UK and Europe. technology journalist Rob for primary eye care At present OxSight is Waugh, and guest speaker appointments despite the already providing trials, fitProfessor Xinghuai Sun, a increased risk of sight loss. ting, and clinical support at leading clinician and world To combat full or partial authority on loss of vision, leading eye Ophthalmology & Vision health clinicians, early Science, and will discuss Loneliness and adopters, and technology the major challenges facsocial isolation are often innovators are coming ing low vision patients together on Thursday cited as consequences of visual around the world, 28th February for the and the ways that impairment. However, recent technology can help global launch of OxSight, an assistive research suggests that these are to meet those chaltechnology company lenges. Professor not inevitable consequences of Monica which has developed a Chaudhary, range of smart glasses sight loss but occur as a result of a world-renowned for the blind and visua number of factors, including low vision expert ally impaired people. from the Amity difficulties with everyday University Gurgaon in The key topic for discussion at the launch will be India, would be highfunctional activities. how to expand the awarelighting the clinical comness and availability of the munity’s lack of underlatest breakthroughs in standing of low vision, and vision technology. the low awareness of new their clinics in London, Speaking to Asian Voice, technologies amongst Oxford and Greater Rakesh Roshan, CEO of patients with low vision.

Manchester Area through OxSight said, “Globally, it is During the event guests several clinical partners. estimated that around 1.3 will be able to try out OxSight even partnered billion people live with some with Epson to develop their OxSight’s smart glasses form of visual impairment. devices for themselves, as smart glasses to help people According to the World well as speak to existing with peripheral vision loss, Health Organisation 188.5 OxSight users. OxSight user also known as ‘tunnel million have mild visual David Quigley, one of the vision’. The smart glasses impairment, 217 million first people in the UK to use augmented reality and have moderate to severe have the device, has had image interpretation techvisual impairment and 36 serious eye issue for more nology to enhance users’ million people are blind. than 20 years, and he curremaining vision. They are “Loneliness and social rently only has about 5% controlled via a hand-held isolation are often cited as function in his retina. After console and fitted with a consequences of visual he got his OxSight glasses he camera which streams a impairment.

However, was able to see more than he live-feed into two high-resorecent research suggests had done in years: “One of lution video displays. These that these are not inevitable my best moments was sitscreens are placed directly in consequences of sight loss front of the wearer’s eyes ting in the church and being but occur as a result of a and the images produced are able to see my niece’s face number of factors, including manipulated to fit into the on her wedding day, which I difficulties with everyday user’s area of useable vision. never would have been able functional activities.

The OxSight smart to do without my OxSight Products such as those glasses have seven modes, glasses.”

Indian-origin World War II spy princess to get 'blue plaque' honour British Asian World War II spy princess Noor Inayat Khan, whose bust was inaugurated in London's Gordon square in 2012 , has been confirmed as the first Indian-origin woman to be honoured with a Blue Plaque at her former London home. Her plaque is set to go up at 4 Taviton Street in Bloomsbury, which is close to Gordon square, where she lived as a secret agent during the war.

The Blue Plaque scheme is run by English Heritage honours notable people who lived or worked in particular buildings across London. In a statement they said, “The Blue Plaques Panel have agreed that Noor Inayat Khan should be commemorated with a plaque.” Though time line for the completion has not yet been decided, the statement further said, “Once a nomination has been approved, it can take a further two or three years for a plaque to be unveiled.”

Ms Khan, a descendant of the 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, is the daughter of Indian Sufi saint Hazrat Inayat Khan, was an agent for Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II and was captured and killed by the Nazis

in 1944 at just 30 years of age.

Shrabani Basu, Chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust (NIKMT) said, "It is from this house that she left on her final and fatal mission. Noor gave her life in the fight against fascism and her message of peace and tolerance of all religions is even more relevant today," said "The blue plaque will be a wonderful addition to the area that has a special association with Noor. It will be the first Blue Plaque for a woman of Indian-origin in Britain and is a real honour," said Ms Basu, who has been campaigning for the plaque since 2006 as the author of "Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan.”

Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the UK Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said, "Noor Inayat Khan has deserved recognition for years. A hero who joined Britain's effort to fight tyranny.”

Born in September 1914 in Moscow to an Indian father and American mother, Ms Khan was raised in both Paris and Britain. As a Sufi, she believed in non-violence and also supported the Indian Independence movement but she felt compelled to join the

Noor Inayat Khan

British war effort against fascism. She went on to become the first female radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France, where she was tortured and killed at the Dachau concentration camp.

Historical records show that despite being repeatedly tortured and interrogated, Ms Khan revealed nothing and was executed by a German SS officer and her last word was recorded as "Liberte" or freedom. She was later awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian decoration in the UK, in recognition of her bravery.

In recent months, Noor Inayat Khan was also a frontrunner of a campaign for an ethnic minority personality to be honoured as the face of a redesigned GBP 50 note until the Bank of England announced that the note would feature a scientific figure.

10 READERS VOICE

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Alarming mental health disorders Mental health issues are increasing at an alarming rate all over the world and the affected people are from all communities and of all ages. Physical ill-health is normally visible, as opposed to the mental ill-health, that is at times difficult to identify. The latter however leads to depression, anxiety and at times even to suicides unfortunately.

World Health Organisation (WHO), being conscious of this global problem, has declared 10th October as World Mental Health Day. This effort has successfully raised awareness of mental health issues and has mobilised efforts to disapprove this menace. Now the UK government has come forward in introducing the mental health under curriculum changes from next year, in children as young as four. It is reported that age-appropriate lessons will focus on the link between physical and mental health. This had become necessary as the victims of mental health disorders include children, adolescents, adults as also the senior citizens. It is further horrifying that the increasing use of social media, particularly by young adults, is a major cause of this problem.

Bharat Shah Harrow

No freebies I am grateful to Bhupendrabhai for his support to me in the past and would be reluctant to differ from his views about the availability of AV and GS on line. As I had said earlier, if everybody could read these two papers on line, few would be inclined to subscribe to them or to buy copies at retail outlets.

In that case, how would ABPL generate the revenue to pay for printing, postage and premises? As he says, it is a great bonus to be able to read AV and GS on line while one is away on holidays or generally away from home. I too would not miss my favourite AV and GS while being away from home. I will log into the ABPL website on my mobile phone’s browser and would be able to read this “Your Voice” column of AV and “Mare pan kain kahevun chhe” column of Gujarat Samachar.

But then how could we stop the scroungers from having a free ride at the expense of ABPL and other subscribers? I also know that many would not buy or subscribe to AV and GS and read their friends’ or neighbours’ copies thus depriving the publishers of income to support their overheads and staff salaries. I would say that if they have conscious and like reading AV and GS, subscribe to them. The cost which is comparable to the cost of a cup of coffee is not too much to pay.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Attacks before and after Indian Independence Even before Indian Independence, during thousand years of Mogul and British empire, attacks continued on tolerant and nonviolent people, though the British law and order had curbed it to some extent; and even during seventy years of Congress rule after independence,the terrorist attacks on civilian life in Bombay and elsewhere in India continued,mainly because of the portfolio snatched by Mr Nehru from Sardar Patel who was made powerless to act in his most important duty as a Home Minister and Deputy PM in the grave situation of Jammu and Kashmir; and ultimately several thousands of soldiers are being succumbed to losing their precious and irreplaceable lives since then.

To preserve the neighbourly relations with Pakistan, Mr Modi of NDA Govt. created situation conducive to peaceful discussions, but in the event of continued barbarous attacks including beheading soldiers, he had to use instant surgical strike instead of fighting wars like Indo-Pakistani wars '47 and '65, and Kargil war '99; still innocent soldiers in a bus in a convoy was attacked in Pulvama.

After creation of a staunch Muslim partitioned countryPakistan,some Muslims preferred to live in the rest of India,clearly meant, for people of the rest of religions Hindu etc., and they truly understand that they are living in a nice and peaceful progressive country; it seems, a few still behave in a manner followed in former Mugalshahi towards indigenous Hindus, Sikhs etc; while a few Christians as well seem to follow their religions rigidly, but expect indigenous Hindus and others to neglect their own religion under the pretext of sighting 'secularism' in the constitution which is made absurd since Mrs Indira Gandhi's 76 emergency, imprisoning 2/3 members of Parliament in jail, and having the law of 'secularism' passed illegally by 1/3 favourable members; thereby to save herself from probable defeat in election of that time securing the needed votes of mainly Muslims and Christians. The Congress wanted the change in the constitution for their political interests to suppress the voice of 85 percent Hindus etc whom they divided deeply into communal sections.

Since the illegal inclusion of the word 'secular' in the Preamble of the constitution in '76 ,it has defeated the generous purpose Mahatma Gandhi had longed for creating 'Ramarajya' for plural religions enshrined initially in it. As such,due to all these reasons the horrible chaos is resulted in which Mr Modi strives hard for peace and progress.

R.N.Patel By email

Avoid war, if you can War brings about destruction of lives and property. It is easy to start a war but difficult to finish it. It is clear from history that whenever there is a war, it is the people who ultimately suffer. Hence, war should be avoided and there should be peace talks between India and Pakistan.

Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai, India

New tricks to mug elderly No matter how careful we may be, cheats, crooks and muggers always find, invent new tricks to rob decent, fragile, elderly people. Unfortunately time has come when so many of us find it difficult to trust anyone. The latest trick is to show kindness, offering a £5 note to an elderly person laden with shopping, pretending that we have dropped it. Instead of handing it over, the crook would offer to put it in your purse or wallet.

They are extremely well dressed, with suit and tie, so smart, so clever with their hand tricks that if you fall for it and give your purse, he will cleverly remove one or more £20 notes, as well as your credit cards. Before you realize and cancel your card, it will already be used several times, so often on valuable items like Rolex watches, costly iPad, mobile phones and such items they could easily dispose of on dodgy web site.

Another scam operated is near bus stop or train and tube stations with direct link to Heathrow or any other airport, widely used by passengers flying in from overseas, laden with heavy suitcases. If an old couple, especially an elderly lady on her own, struggling with her luggage is offered a helping hand by a well-dressed gentleman.

He would take over one of the suitcase and walk either well back or right in front with some distance between the two. Suddenly a car would stop in front of him; he would put the suitcase in the car, get in and drove away. It happens so quickly, in the blink of an eye that he is gone even before you realize what has happened. It is better to be safe than sorry, never trust any stranger and always be on your guard, somewhat draconian but advisable. We all think this could never happen to us, as we are so careful. But in reality, we are no match to these professional crooks.

Kumudini Valambia By email

A new world order If the human race is to survive the 21st century then we need a ‘new world order’.

The very countries that are very critical of the carnage, in Venezuela like UK and USA are also very busy helping Saudi Arabia in the genocide in Yemen. How can this be right?

The present rule book of democracy is 2,500 years out of date, as humans have a high tendency to copy other peoples mistake.

In a true democracy, you have a government with independent Members of Parliament, who after an election elect a Prime Minister and Cabinet in this way, you have a government of unity and get rid of dictators and corruption, you have a second assembly where all sections of the community, send a delegate, whose duty would be to see, that all laws passed by Parliament, are compatible, with the laws of the universe, which is the highest law.

As science and technology is advancing faster than laws to control IT with the result, that man made chemicals is destroying organic life, if you do that, you destroy the biodiversity, and by doing that, you destroy the eco-system, which will turn our planet into a desert.

That two world wars, were the result of a single terrorist attack, when a 19 year ols schoolboy Gavrilo Princip, on 28/06/1914 fired two gunshots and killed Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand heir to the Austrian throne and his wife in the Bosnian town of Sarajevo.

This led to the chain of events whcih started World War 1 and the restrictions placed on Germany after the first World War started the second World War. A small crime can lead to a major disaster, with the loss of millions of innocent people killed.

With countries busy in regime change by military means has resulted in international terrorism. God forbid, if the terrorist launch a 9/11 aerial attack, like they did in the USA which kille 2,977 innocent people with hijacked planes, on Sellafield in NW Wngland where there is 112 tonnes of plutonium the most poisonous substance ever created before it is moved to a safe location. Then there will be no human life left, on planet earth. As it takes only eight kilograms or plutonium to make a nuclear bomb.

If the UK very seriously cares, for human life on planet earth then please very kindly make the effort to remove the plutonium to a safe location or the UK will cease to exist on the world map.

Jal Framji Cheshire

Antisemiticism situation With Brexit fever still in play, the country is facing antiSemitism furore especially in connection with the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbin. 8 Labour MPs have resigned from the Labour party because of anti-Semitism prevailing in the party. This was, one of the main reason for their resignation and disaffection.

The Labour leadership has declared that they are dealing with the matter and do not support racism or anti-Semitism in shape or form. Some members have already been expelled and others suspended, pending investigation. There is some confusion among the people as to what exactly is antiSemitism. It is important for people to know the background of it, in order to better understand why or how it is happening and to put a stop to it.

History has shown that at various times over the last 1,700 years the Jews have been expelled from over 80 different countries. Historians and experts have concluded there are at least six possible reasons: • Racial Theory – the Jews are hated because they are an inferior race.

• Economic Theory – the Jews are hated because they possess too much wealth and power.

• Outsiders Theory – the Jews are hated because they are different from everyone else.

• Scapegoat Theory – the Jews are hated because they are the cause for all the world’s problems.

• Deicide Theory – the Jews are hated because they killed Jesus Christ.

• Chosen People Theory – the Jews are hated because they arrogantly declare they are the “chosen ones of God.” Is there any substance to these theories? With respect to the racial theory, the truth is that the Jews are not a race. Anyone in the world of any colour, creed or race can become a Jew. The reason given are not valid in view of the changing modern world and people’s perception. The idea that the Jews deserve a land of their own is called Zionism and this has manifested itself into the modern version of antiSemitism, anti-Zionism. Israel was founded in 1948 after 100 years of protest and patience. Since its creation, the state has been met with anti-Semitic attacks through literature, accusations, and U.N. resolutions. It is definitely the main cause of Jewish hatred in the modern world. There is strong need for better understanding by both the non-jewish and jewish people to get rid of these prejudices and to live in peace with each other. Hatred breed hatred and peace breed peace.

Baldev Sharma Rayners Lane, Harrow

Britain is the worst governed nation in EU Two weeks ago, the heading of my letter was, “Is Britain the worse governed nation in EU?” It seems the answer is resounding YES. One of the largest plants churning out 130,000 motor vehicles every year in UK is Honda, in Swindon; all vehicles are exported to Europe. Honda is the latest but not the only or the last one to abandon Britain, others taking similar actions or curtailing investments are Nissan, Panasonic, Hitachi and many more. But this announcement was certainly a bolt from the blue, totally unexpected.

Honda directly employs 3500 people in its vast industrial complex and supports another 7000 jobs directly or indirectly, supplying various parts, such as wheels, seats, windscreens, batteries, wipers, breaks, exhausts and many more.

The closure will be shattering blow to manufacturing industry in UK, as so many Japanese companies have taken similar frenzy actions, either to stop investing in UK plants or close down their factories and concentrate production in Japan.

Brexit is accelerating Japanese exodus.

Both EU and Japan are playing dirty games, has caught Britain napping. While our PM is concentrating solely on Brexit, EU and Japan signed new trade deal which means Japan can export motor vehicles direct from Japan to EU tariff free, thus making it unnecessary to have European outpost. EU is playing every dirty game in the book to make UK suffer if it leaves EU without agreement and our government is falling hook, line and sinker, sleep walking into disaster.

These Japanese firms were persuaded in 1980s by then PM Margaret Thatcher, a shrewd, clever and efficient negotiator, to move to Britain, accommodating and facilitating their requests, with ease and common sense.

When Nissan recently negated their promise to build their next generation of cars here with government financial help, I thought it must be a considerable amount Nissan could not afford to lose. But it turned out to be a paltry £61 million, not even 1% of our huge “Overseas Aid” budget. Now PM has contacted elusive Honda Chairman. It is too little, too late, to bolt the door after the horse has escaped! It is time for politicians to wake up, be street wise to stop eolithic Britain from becoming an industrial wasteland with vast unemployment and civil strife!

Bhupendra M. Gandhi By email

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AsianVoiceNews

EDUCATION

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

11

2 - 8 March 2019

University anti-semitism row Pupils and relationships A university at the centre of an anti-Semitism row has suspended a member of staff and launched an investigation. Concerns had been raised at the University of Essex over Facebook posts which had described "Zionists" wanting to create a society there.

A proposed Jewish Society - previously opposed by 200 students - was formally founded on Friday, after the Students' Union cancelled a vote. The vicechancellor said antiSemitism "has no place at our university".

The University of Essex had vowed to set up the society, regardless of the vote results, after it faced accusations of antiSemitism when hundreds of students opposed its formation.

Further concerns were

Facebook posts which appeared to have been shared from the account of University of Essex lecturer Dr Maaruf Ali are being investigated

raised over posts from the Facebook account of computer science lecturer Dr Maaruf Ali, which allegedly included the claim "the Zionists next want to create a society here at our university". Other posts - since deleted appeared to deny the Holocaust.

Dr Ali has been suspend-

ed by St John Ambulance, where he was a volunteer.

The charity said: "'The views expressed in these posts on a personal social media account are that of the individual and not of St John Ambulance. The individual has been suspended and the allegations will be investigated internally in accordance with our policies and procedures."

The Students' Union cancelled a proposed re-run of the vote on Friday.

"We publicly recognise the value of a Jewish Society and are proud to announce that the University of Essex Jewish Society is now established with immediate effect," said a spokesman.

It will also review the process of forming new societies "to ensure that all students have a safe and welcoming environment."

High Court action over children's rights A children's charity is taking High Court action against the government over its claims that some protections of children in care are "myths".

The Article 39 charity is seeking a judicial review of Department for Education guidance to English councils responsible for vulnerable children. The "mythbusting guide" suggests some duties around social worker visits, protections for missing children and care leavers' support can be cut back.

DfE lawyers approved the guide. The guide, which was published last summer, came from the DfE's innovation unit,

which encourages new ways of working in children's social care.

It covers the interpretation of legal protections for children in care, care leavers, children who are in custody on remand, and children who go missing or run away.

It comes at a time when local authorities are struggling to pay for support for children in need of protection, with a predicted £2bn shortfall in children's services budgets by 2020.

Release from some of these duties may save them money in the short term, but campaigners say they are important statutory protections which cover

some of the most vulnerable children in society.

Last year, 50 organisations and social work experts wrote to children's minister Nadhim Zahawi with a detailed analysis of discrepancies between the guide and the statutory position.

They asked him to withdraw the guide, but he refused - saying neither the legislation nor the statutory guidance had changed.

Legal experts at Simpson Millar, acting on behalf of the charity, lodged the High Court action last week.

It seeks to have the guidance quashed and removed from circulation.

University funding limit Universities will have to offer fewer places if cuts in tuition fees are not replaced by government money, say leading research universities. A funding review of post 18 study is expected to be published next month.

The Russell Group, and seven charities, want ministers to rule out an overall drop in funding. The government says job prospects and drop out rates are as important as fair access.

An independent panel, led by Philip Augar, has been asked to look at whether the current system offers value for money for students and taxpayers in England.

Tuition fees are now the main source of funding for universities. Universities receive £9,250 a year per student, up front - to meet teaching costs.

The Russell Group of research focused universities argues that some courses will close if tuition fees are cut, and not replaced with taxpayer funding.

Colin Bailey, the Principal of Queen Mary University in London, says they break even overall on the cost of teaching home students under the current system, but if tuition fees were reduced that would change.

Universities already receive top up cash from the government for courses that are very expensive to teach, such as engineering and medicine. That is likely to continue whatever the panel recommends. They are worried about potential tuition fee reductions in subjects such as English, history or languages, which might not attract a government top up.

In a statement backed by seven charities that help low income students into university, the Russell Group says a reduction in places could lead to fewer students from poorer backgrounds getting places.

Fake distance learning courses A man and a woman have admitted running fake distance learning courses which netted sums of more than £200,000.

Katie Hope, 34, and Scott Wolfe, 38, pleaded guilty to two offences of fraudulently running two companies in 2015-16.

Their firms International Distance College and the British Nutrition Council duped 900 people into paying for qualifica-

tions which did not exist. The case follows a two-year investigation and prosecution by Norfolk County Council Trading Standards. Wolfe and Hope set up fake online nutrition courses which duped people - from as far afield as Canada, Singapore and New Zealand - out of about £200 each. The court heard the British Nutrition Council and

the International Distance College operated as online training centres for nutritionbased courses.

Wolfe and Hope claimed the courses were expertly written by them and were internationally recognised. In fact, the courses used content copied without permission from other course providers and were not internationally recognised.

Primary and secondary pupils in England will learn about relationships, keeping safe online and looking after their mental health as part of compulsory lessons from September next year.

Children in primary schools will have relationships education and this will be broadened to relationships and sex education in secondary schools.

Health education for all ages will also be part of the curriculum in England.

Parents will still have the right to withdraw their child up to age 15. However, head teachers are expected to talk to parents who wish to exclude their child from these lessons, "discussing with the parents the benefits of receiving this important education and any detrimental effects that withdrawal might have on the child".

Under new compulsory health education lessons, primary children will be taught about how to look after their own mental wellbeing and also to recognise when their classmates might be struggling. They will cover why simple self-care, such as getting enough sleep and spending time outdoors and with friends, is important.

Teaching about the excessive use of electronic devices and limiting time

spent online is also included.

In terms of relationships education, primary children will also be taught ageappropriate online safety including what to do if they come across things they are uncomfortable with, the importance of respect for others even when posting anonymously and the risks of talking to people on the internet who they don't know in real life.

Secondary-age pupils will also have health education, focusing on mental health. The curriculum will aim to ensure that young people can spot the signs of common mental illnesses, such as anxiety and depression in themselves or others.

They will learn how to discuss their emotions accurately and sensitively and how to access professional help. They will also cover the impact of alcohol and drugs on physical and mental health.

In terms of sex and relationships, lessons will cover online safety topics, including the serious risks of shar-

ing private photos, the impact of viewing explicit or harmful content - including how to report it and receive support.

Lessons will cover how the internet can promote an unhealthy view of sex and relationships.

The guidance says that pupils need to understand "that some people are LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender], that this should be respected in British society, and that the law affords them and their relationships recognition and protections".

The guidance adds: "Schools should make decisions about what it is appropriate to teach on this subject and when, based on the age, development and religious backgrounds of their pupils, and should involve their parents in these decisions."

Secondary-age pupils will also be taught about female genital mutilation (FGM) - focusing on awareness, the availability of support networks and reminding them that it is illegal.

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12 MEDIA WATCH

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2 - 8 March 2019

SCRUTATOR’S Kashmir continues to dominate Indian media discourse. In the wake of the tragic deaths of 40 Indian soldiers of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force and their aftermath, not to speak of the wider diplomatic and strategic ramifications, it could not be otherwise. This is a crisis that is set to continue in the coming days, and perhaps weeks.

Time will tell.

The established facts are: the suicide bomber responsible for the tragedy was one Adil Ahmed Dar, a young Kashmiri member of the Pakistani-based terror group Jaishe-Mohammed, which operates freely in that country. India has been convulsed with shock and rage at yet another jihadi outrage funded, organized openly from across the border. The canvas is broad and telling, from the unprecedented, sustained assaults on India’s financial capital, Mumbai, in March 1993 and November 2008 in which hundreds of innocent citizens were killed and maimed and property destroyed. There were other attacks on the city and its transport system, and across other cities and sites. The official Pakistani refrain remains changed: gives us ‘actionable’ evidence and action will follow. This has long ceased to be a novel demand. It has become rancid through overuse, and hence tossed aside.

Graduated response A graduated Indian response is unfolding. The Jaish-eMohammed is being hunted down and its operatives neutralized.

‘The Indian Army stated that the leadership of the terror group had been eliminated within days, during a press briefing by Lt General K.J.S. Dhillon, Commander of the Army’s Chinar Corps. ‘We were tracking the top JeM cadres since February 14. The Pulwama terror attack was handled by the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Pakistan Army, he told reporters. Also, the government has withdrawn the security protection outside their residences in Srinagar for leaders of the separatist Hurriyat organization (Statesman, Hindu, February 18).

election in May/June (Times of India February 20).

Seminal change Writing in the Washington Post (February 14), former TV anchor Barkha Dutt predicted that the Pulwama bombing would be a game-changer for Kashmir. She writes: ‘Kashmir has endured roughly 30 years of insurgency and the region is almost numbed to headlines.’ The latest outrage, she averred, ‘will fundamentally change both India’s internal policy within the state and its relations with Pakistan…This clearly is an act of war.

Masood Ahzar ‘And the man reportedly behind it, Maulana Masood Azhar, is free and operating with absolute impunity in Pakistan. That he was released in 1999 from an Indian prison – in swap deal for the safety of passengers taken hostage in a commercial airline – makes Indians angrier. Two decades later Ahzar has not been brought to justice. Instead, he hides in plain sight in Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, and is allowed to address huge Islamist militant gatherings over audio speakers in other parts of Pakistan..Kashmir has seen a surge in local militancy…with calls for the

Khan warning of retaliation Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s free hand to the Indian military, has warned that any Indian action against his country would meet with a similar reply from Pakistan. He asked for ‘actionable’ evidence of Pakistani culpability in the Pulwama bombing. He dismissed Indian accusations as a vote-gathering exercise for the country’s general

With US sanctions threatening Iran’s main port of Bandar Abbas at the terminus of the Persian Gulf, Tehran government is promoting the Chabahar port lower down the coast, which has been built with extensive Indian financial and engineering help.

Chabahar is linked to Afghanistan through a rail network, and will be a hub for India’s reach to the Caspian, Russian and Central Asian markets. (Hindu February 17).

Odisha’s ambitious projects Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik launched a number of ground-breaking projects worth around Rs2,196,30 crore. The projects are expected to create

establishment of a Caliphate in Kashmir…Arun Jaitley, a minister in the Modi government warned that India will deliver an ‘unforgettable lesson’ in retaliation (which) in an angry, outraged and cynical country is unlikely to be a overstatement, concludes Barkha Dutt. Why ‘cynical’? US double standards and Saudi bankrolling of Islamism.

Period.

Israeli support Israel has offered unconditional help to India against terrorism, ‘asserting that ‘there is no limit’ to its assistance. The statement came

PM Modi receiving Seoul Peace award in Republic of Korea

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a landmark visit to the Republic of Korea, where he was greeted by President Moon Jae-un, and former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Yonsei University, the Indian Prime Minister said terrorism and climate change were two most urgent issues facing the world today. The Prime Minister was awarded the Seoul Peace Prize.

Korean footprint Over 600 Korean companies such as Hyundai, Samsung, and LG Electronics have invested heavily in India, with carmaker Kia soon to join the list. Korean visitors to India are given visas on arrival ( Hindu, Statesman February 22). market for private equity investing. The New York-based company President and CEO, Jonathan Gray, credited the Modi government for opening up Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations and putting in place a dispute-resolution mechanism for improving regulatory and legal frameworks in the fastest growing major economy….We were slow when we started, but the light switch went on here eight months ago, initially with real estate investments followed by private equity buyouts.’ (Times of India February 22).

Horse trading in full swing

Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnnaik

Electronics bonanza

Jaish-e-Mohammed mastermind Masood Azhar

Modi in South Korea

Iran promotes Chabahar

opportunities for 3,465 people.

According to the Chief Minister, the vision is to make Odisha the ‘manufacturing hub of the East (India). GO-SWIFT, the State’s single-window portal, has received 600 industrial project applications in 14 months. A host of industries, from aluminium units, cement, to iron and steel and power, are taking shape in the State (Business Line February 20).

Army warning The Army has warned parents of young jihadis that further violence will be met with a ruthless response, and they would be well advised to persuade their charges from abstaining from such activities. (Times of India February 20).

from the newly appointed Israeli Ambassador to India, Dr Ron Malka, once a full Colonel in the Israel Defence Force. “Whatever India needs to defend itself there is no limit. We are here to help our close friend India to defend itself especially against terrorism because is a problem for the world and not only f0r India and Israel…

So we help India, share our knowledge…to share our technique because we want to help our really important friend.’

The Cabinet has approved the National Electronics Policy 2019 to incentivize and boost domestic electronics manufactures, the turnover target being $400 billion by 2025. Under the new ‘Credit and Guarantee Fund Scheme, the government will create a fund to provide default guarantee to banks of up to 75 per cent of the loan on machinery up to Rs 100 crore.

This will eliminate the need for small and new investors to provide third party collateral as required by banks at present (Business Line February 20).

With the general election looming, horse trading on alliances and seats in parliament are gaining momentum. The ruling BJP has cut a deal with the ruling AIDMK in Tamil Nadu and the ruling PMK in Puducherry.

Congress was in similar mode with DMK, the AIDMK in Tamil Nadu. (Hindu February 20).

received its Final Operational Certificate on the eve of India’s Aero show in Bangaluru, Tejas squadrons will now be inducted into the Indian Air Force. Tejas has been designed and manufactured in India together with its avionics and weapon systems (Hindu February 22).

India, Russia trade Commerce and Industry Minister of State, C.R. Chaudhary, set an ambitious $50 billion India-Russia bilateral trade target for 2025. By the end of 2018, trade stood at $30 billion. Both partners were confident that the 2025 target would be reached within the projected timeline. India needed more infrastructure and energy, said Chaudhary at the IndiaRussia Forum organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in Mumbai. ‘Russia is well placed to meet our needs in these and other areas,’ he said. In addition to business, there was greater scope for collaboration in education.

Sharing the spoils in UP Target achievable BSP, SP and RLD traded seats in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. However the SP and RLD will not contest in the constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareilly, for long the bailiwicks of Sonia and son, Congress President Rahul Gandhi.(Hindu 22).

Army chief in Tejas aircraft Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat took a sortie in the Light Combat Aircraft, which

Russian Commerce Minister Denis Mazurov emphasized that small and medium enterprises were now the platform of his country’s modern economy.

‘Nearly 22 per cent of Russian GDP is coming from SMEs and the target is to take this to 40 per cent. The India-Russia collaboration will play a major role in achieving this goal,’ he said (Statesman February 22).

India top performer for Blackstone The world’s largest asset manager Blackstone says that India has emerged as its top performing

Tejas aircraft

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2 - 8 March 2019

Barking woman hit with £3k hospital bill Golden Jubilee A Barking woman is furious after being landed with an almost £3,000 bill for care the King George Hospital staff mistakenly told her was free.

Diabetes sufferer Manjit Dhillon, from India, was rushed to the Barley Lane A&E ward with a suspected urinary tract infection in December 15 last year.

His daughter, Jasmeet Bhogal claims he was admitted to a ward and discharged the next day after being told by staff that, being an overseas national, he was entitled to 24 hours care free.

But on January 10 she was shocked to receive a bill for £2,976.

Speaking to a local newspaper Jasmeet said: “This to me is day light robbery. The NHS website

Jasmeet Bhogal

clearly states that charges should be stated upfront.”

Video footage seen by the Recorder appears to shows two hospital staff attempting to reassure Manjit, Jamseet and other family members about care fees.

“The charge is free tonight. Your father will be discharged tomorrow morning, hopefully. And if not, you’re going to have to meet it when you meet it. You have no fees to pay for tonight. 100pc no charge,” a staff member says.

Jasmeet told the Recorder she is not against paying charges in general but was unable to make an “informed decision” based on the information given.

She said: “They need to review the charging policy and train their staff appropriately so patients can be advised correctly and can make an informed decision.”

Had she known the costs, she said she may have looked into other options.

The hospital’s interim chief executive Chris Bown

wrote to Jasmeet on February 8 rejecting her formal complaint.

He highlighted that her father should have been aware of potential charges he could incur for medical treatment in declaration he had to sign to obtain his visa.

A spokesman for Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We apologise that on this occasion we were not clear with Ms Bhogal about the cost of her father’s care.

We’ve taken Mrs Bhogal’s feedback on board and we will be ensuring we remind our staff about the Department of Health policies regarding costs which overseas patients are required to pay.”

Care provider rated 'Good' in all areas A care provider has received high praise from the health watchdog for a caring and compassionate approach.

Caremark Wokingham & Bracknell was rated 'Good' in all areas by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following a recent inspection. This was the fifth inspection of the service since the provider received their registration in early 2010. Ravi Patel, manager, said: “We are over the moon with this result. This rating

comes from months of innovation and effort from each and every one of our care workers and office staff; I honestly couldn’t ask for a better team.

"They are so devoted to our clients and go above and beyond to provide great quality care, even during the recent bad weather we have experienced in the area.

"Making a positive impact on our client’s lives is what drives us all to go above and beyond but – for

me – one of the best things about running this business is the opportunities I am able to offer my staff.

"Allowing them to progress in their careers and learn an invaluable skill at the same time is extremely rewarding and their hard work does not go unnoticed.”

Mr Patel has managed Caremark Wokingham & Bracknell since 2012 and was delighted at the successful inspection.

Ravi Patel from Caremark Wokingham & Bracknell

As part of the inspection staff spoke highly of the provider, describing the company as 'caring'.

A family member of one of the clients said staff were ‘very kind and compassionate’ in a letter.

Recruitment consultant receives suspended sentence A recruitment consultant has received a suspended jail sentence after being caught lying about a speeding offence.

Nitasha Sahota, 31, claimed a friend from India had been at the wheel at the time but a police investigation proved she had given a false account.

Sahota previously admitted doing an act intended to pervert the course of justice. She was given a four month jail sen-

Nitasha Sahota

tence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £425 costs.

Harrow has highest number of diabetics Harrow has the highest number of people with diabetes in London – according to a major charity.

New data published by Diabetes UK suggests the number of people with the disease has jumped to more than 20,000 this year, representing 9.58 per cent of the population.

The charity said in the UK one in ten people over 40 is living with Type Two diabetes. New figures show 3.8 million people are living with a diagnosis in the UK, 90 per cent of those with Type Two. By 2030 it is predicted this number will rise to 5.5 million.

The main driver is a dramatic increase in obesity with three in five adults in

England overweight.

Age, family history, and ethnicity can also contribute to someone’s risk people of AfricanCaribbean, Black African, or South Asian descent are two to four times more likely to develop Type Two diabetes.

Much of this can be prevented with a sensible diet and exercise. Diabetes UK is recommending everyone over 40 use the free Know Your Risk online tool to find out their chances of developing the disease.

For more information, please visit https://www.diabetes.org.u k/riskscore or for a free health check log on to https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-health-check

Birmingham Crown Court heard her BMW was captured on camera travelling at 52mph on a road with a 40mph limit on April 26 last year.

Sahota was sent a notice of intended prosecution but she claimed a close family friend had been the driver and had since returned to India. She claimed she had contacted the person but they had stopped returning her emails. But an officer subsequently made a computer check and could not find any evidence of someone with her friend's name having entered or left the UK in the last five years.

Aimee Parkes, prosecuting, said the officer also compared the picture taken by the camera and the one

on Sahota's driving licence and concluded they were the same person. She said the consultant was interviewed and, after initially maintaining her lie, she eventually admitted her guilt.

He said that there had been a recent high profile case where the circumstances had been similar involving a MP, who had been given a short prison sentence following a trial.

But he said the difference in Sahota's case was that she had pleaded guilty.

She had nominated a family friend and it was not a case of picking someone out at random.

Mr Houldcroft said Sahota had also done charity work in the past.

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Kenya Exodus and Settlement in Great Britain Dr Dak Patel FCCA (Hainault, Essex) When it comes to global business personalities names that come to mind are Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Richard Branson. There are so many from our Communities as well to remember and salute for their Herculean efforts and manifold services.

There are approximately 130,000 people of Kenya Indian origin settled within the whole of Britain. More than half of them have settled in London, a further 13,000 and around 9,000 have settled in East Midlands and in East of England respectively, the remainder are scattered around other regions.

Majority of them arrived in UK in late 60’s with big hopes and dreams and they came with less than £10 (Shillings 100 at the then exchange rate). Today several of them have built business empires worth £millions and are actively involved in philanthropy , community service and public life in the U.K. as well as charities here, India and Kenya.

Kenya's most successful entrepreneurs are spread across a variety of industries manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, ICT, retail, media and entertainment to name a few.

Today the 3rd and 4th generation needs to be inspired by stories that are illustrated within this Golden Jubilee of Kenya Exodus - Special Edition, which illustrates the triumph of aspiration over means and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

The aim of this “Special Magazine” summarises it all - the good, the bad and the ugly. It will also educate our current generation into Kenya's history and the events that shaped business in the colonial, pre- and post-independence periods. From the building of the Kenya-Uganda railway, the state of emergency in 1952 and the crackdown on Mau Mau fighters, the coffee boom and policy of Africanisation in the 1960s to the political corruption in the 1980s, the decline of the Kenyan economy in the 1990s and the modicum of hope in 2000s.

More importantly to manifest how their parents and grandparents have journeyed over the past 5 decades and how they got to where they are, the pitfalls and challenges along the way and how they made and lost millions will provide ideal opportunities to engage with and inspire our children, grandchildren and future generations.

If you have any other suggestions please do let us know. Send your information to Ragini Nayak, Asian Business Publications (ABPL Group), 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW, UK or email support@abplgroup.com.

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UK to host its first ever Asian Woman Festival Rupanjana Dutta Shani Dhanda was born with a rare genetic condition more commonly known as Brittle Bone Disease. A business and culture change agent, social entrepreneur and disability rights advocate named as one of the most influential disabled people in Britain by Shaw Trust Power List 2018, she has a short stature of 3'10”, but with her passion for creating everyday equality, she founded the first ever Asian Woman Festival in the UK. She attended a special needs primary school as no mainstream school in the 1980s could deal with such an unpredictable condition.

Over her childhood she spend many summers in hospital with broken leg after broken leg. After learning to walk again for the sixth time, Dhanda undertook pioneering treatment to strengthen her bone density and multiple surg-

Shani Dhanda

eries in her teenage years.

In 2011, Dhanda graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a degree in Event and Venue Management.

Now she is a role model for the UK’s national disability charity Scope and an ambassador for the national disability charity for Black

Jaspreet Kaur

Asian Ethnic Minorities, Include Me Too. In August 2017 she founded the 'Diversability Card', the UK's official discount card for people with disabilities. The scheme is the first of it's kind for people with disabilities and been well received across the country with plans for global expansion.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Dhanda said, “I regularly speak on discussions around disability, intersectionality and inclusion matters, driven by the undeniable impulse to make challenge perceptions and create positive change by my everyday lived experience of feeling excluded and underrepresented in society. I’ve never had a space to talk about all the features that make up my whole identity, so I created it - because true diversity is intersectional.”

From the 1950s onwards, due to racism and being few in number, many Asians lived in a tight knit community in order to support each other and hold on to their sense of identity in a foreign land.

Their values and cultural traditions passed down to their British born children, which is why as a community we find it difficult to talk about topics such as disability, sexuality and relationships even amongst the younger generations.

These are still massive taboo issues in our community and the Asian Woman Festival will be a safe space to tackle these subjects, giving

attendees the skills to confidently navigate their way through society whilst celebrating the evervibrant culture and traditions of being Asian.

The festival promises to bring together an impressive selection of contributors to facilitate dialogue around issues facing Asian women and

coupled with cultural expectations in 21st century Britain.

An art exhibition curated especially for the festival, 'Musings of Identity', will display the work of up to 30 different artists, highlight significant topics surrounding female identity and explore the various perceptions that may well be outdated amongst Asian communities in modern Britain. South Asians are the largest ethnic group in the UK, at almost 5% of the total UK population and an annual spending power over £150 billion, yet the community as a whole often feel underrepresented.

Dhanda told the newsweekly, “Being of Asian origin and living in the UK means not only are we a more socially conservative community due to our traditional and cultural beliefs, but we are constantly bridging two cultures. This can mean there are often times in our

lives we feel conflicted and even guilty in our efforts to juggle our dual identities. Until now, there hasn’t been an opportunity to talk about how living in contradiction becomes second nature.”

The UK’s first ever The festival line-up includes Asian Woman Festival singer-songwriter Amrit Kaur Lohia, whose notable perforThrough culture, conversation and mances include Glastonbury art the Asian Woman Festival is the Festival 2017, MTV, Somerset UK's first of its kind event Asian values and cultural House Summer Series, and the smashing stereotypes and UN General Assembly for stigma to empower and celtraditions passed down to their The keynote talk ebrate Asian Women.

British born children, which is why as a Unicef. will be given by award-winThe theme for the community we find it difficult to talk ning spoken word artist inaugural event is ‘identiJaspreet Kaur, better ty’ and the one-day festiabout topics such as disability, known as Behind the Netra, val will host panel talks, sexuality and relationships where she’ll be looking at the masterclasses, live perforstruggles that the young Asian mances and much more, for even amongst the younger female diaspora face, including Asian women to come together, generations. issues to do with identity, equality explore and express their views and inner confidence. around navigating a dual identity girls today.

The Asian Woman Festival will be held on 30 March at The New Bingley Hall, Birmingham.

Amrit Kaur Lohia

Man improving diversity at some of UK's largest corporations awarded OBE Suki Sandhu, Founder and CEO of Audeliss, a boutique executive search firm, and Involve was awarded with an OBE for services to diversity in business on Thursday 21st February. The ceremony took place in Buckingham Palace, and Mr Sandhu was awarded this distinctive accolade

by His Royal Highness, Prince Charles of Wales.

The award is in recognition of Suki’s commitment to improving the level of diversity placements in senior positions, C-Suite and boardrooms of multinational corporations, alongside campaigning for equal rights for all workers.

Audeliss was set up by Sandhu in 2011, because he didn’t believe enough was being done to combat the lack of diversity across the boards of some of the biggest companies in the UK. He has worked with such enterprises as Aviva, npower, Nationwide Building Society and Sainsburys, and has tirelessly pursued this mission.

Since initiation, Audeliss has grown to become one of the leading executive search firms specialising in championing diversity. A huge 65 per cent of their placements are diverse candidates including women and those from

Hostess of the event, Shay Grewal

BAME and LGBTQ+ backgrounds.

Suki’s determination to challenge the culture and dialogue on diversity spanned across international borders, following the opening of their New York office in June 2018. Audeliss’ success continues to proliferate as businesses seek to improve their diversity and inclusion policies, in response to increasing conversation around equality in worldwide business.

In addition to Audeliss, Suki is Founder and CEO of INvolve, the mother brand sitting above OUTstanding, EMpower andHERoes three

Suki Sandhu

diversity/membership initiatives that have been running since 2013.

Suki Sandhu speaking about

his achievement said, “I am both immensely honoured and humbled to have received an OBE. I have always believed that every company has a duty to create a work environment which is open to all and gives everyone an equal chance for success. The idea that the work myself, and the amazing individuals I work with, are doing will help bring this belief closer to reality fills me with huge pride.

“I would like to thank everyone who is helping us on this journey and those who have made a stand and shown everyone what is possible to achieve while staying true to your authentic self. I have so much love for all of you, and so much faith that we will continue to break down barriers for minority groups in every corner of the world.”

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2 - 8 March 2019

THEATRE

Dhani

Rifco theatre company announces its new British Asian playwriting voices

D26 Music Sunetra Senior ising fusion music artist, Dhani, brings a distinct liberated edge to the industry’s contemporary genre. Being of mixed Irish Caucasian and Indian descent, where his mother is also IndoCaribbean, his melodic work doesn’t just bring the fundamental sounds of a cosmopolitan background, but also the powerfully paradoxical signature of playful yet deep expression.

R

“What makes good music is the ability to be one’s self and, also by extension, playing with great love,” the laid-back frontman told us. “The band and I, together known as D26, can perform any sort of music or track to a very high standard because each and every one of us are original as well as caring for the craft. We play a variety of songs, and can move respective audiences every time.

Personally, for example, I have released a piece with another great artist, Bee2, which is the old, popular song, La Bamba, but with a Punjabi folk twist. It’s always great to see how this masterful blend excites others.”

Dhani’s band plays music from the peppy world of pop and Bhangra to more soulful Latin and Jazz. Dhani has performed alongside fellow fusion artist and icon, Navin Kundra, with whom he has also collaborated. Instrumentally, Dhani is particularly proud of his adaptive percussive approach to the key instrument, and his own speciality: the guitar. “I rhythmically add beats with my hands while I’m playing so there’s always bit of drums in the mix. This is much like Rodrigo y Gabriela: an idiosyncratic Flamenco and Rock duo.

It’s a technique that’s evolved alongside my exploration of Bollywood and many other cultural fields.”

layered music too.”

This underlying truth certainly shows itself in the guitarist’s gradual, organic expansion into a wider, indiscriminate range of musical traditions: “basically, I am now in a position where I can play anything for everyone! My band, D26, defines itself through this attitude. Actually, one of my favourite Rock bands”, amongst many loves including Guns & Roses, Avenged Sevenfold, and Metallica, “has been Dream Theatre for using unusual Eastern time signatures.” Typically, Western Rock music is based around firm, hard-hitting, 4/4 arrangements, or four quarter notes for

each bar, where “Dream Theatre will delve into the foreign territory of 7/4 and 14/8 time signatures” which are conceptually fluid, “seamlessly interwoven” and more experimental. “I recently took my wife, Sonal, to one of their concerts and she was blown away: she was expecting just ‘moshers’ and jumping around but it’s so much more than that!”

Such openness extends to Dhani’s personal approach to life: “I’ve felt the *** joy of performing from a very young age, and let that passion lead me. One Interestingly, Dhani’s current openof my musical mentors has been the minded relationship with music eccentric and amazing live/session has been shaped by the big Guitarist from Germany: I’ve influence of Progressive Florian Möller. I remember Rock, growing up. “Rock my first tour: it was with felt the joy of really laid the foundaKuljit Bhamra and I have performing from also performed alongside tion for incorporating other interesting a very young age, such top artists as sounds. Not every Sophie Ellis Bexter. I do and let that type of music can capalso teach guitar, and ture sentiment the way strongly believe all chilpassion lead it does. There is an dren should be surroundme. assertiveness that borders ed by music: it introduces on slight aggression in it such creativity, soft discipline too: the words, the vocals and and light. I was shown the beauty general songs. That made sense to me in the cot! My dad was a drummer who as a kid.” listened to old-school Rock, while my In a similar, interconnected vein, or mother was a singer so it was,” quite litrather tune, Dhani also emphasised erally, “life!” that he is “a stickler for songs played in And so, the professional plurality the minor key: people usually associate behind D26 shows how music goes yet this with sadness whereas I feel it carfurther than clear expression of perries a meaningfulness. There are so sonality to freeing it in the first place. many tricks to making happier major Indeed, strikingly, what has allowed sounds moodier to accomplish more Dhani to tightly integrate such miscel-

laneous music, sometimes even what appears Dhani clashing opposites, has been the carefree grasp of himself that the skillset has allowed. That he is so talented at the creative profession has only made his pursuits super successful. “To other musicians, I say never be afraid to be you,” he aptly concluded. “It makes all the difference between your audience actually hearing the songs and really feeling them.”

What kind of shows does D26 do?

A vast range of live, stage shows: from concerts, to dinner and dances, weddings and corporate events.

Who have been some others who you’ve performed alongside?

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. I’ve performed for Lakshmi Mittal, the big steel tycoon, at his private residence for his son’s 40th birthday. I’ve worked with the best and some of the world’s most talented, and my band members reflect that.

In terms of contemporary music: electronica is very much in fashion, and very polarising. What is your opinion?

Actually, some of my favourite influences have been musicians who can recreate synthetic sounds with traditional instruments. For example, the sound of a bell without any sampling.

It’s impressive in live performance.

In terms of preference for electronica, different people have different perceptions of music. We all take to and hear sounds differently. When I listen, I am sensitive to bass cellos, lower octave piano, woodwind and brass. You might be able to hear the palate that the producer or director has in his mind, but not everyone will respond to it in the same way: what is poignant for some is boring to others.

What have you been proud of evolving in your music?

Diversifying the way people see Bollywood live. It used to just be simple instruments and a three-man performance on stage: nothing like what you saw on TV. It would be a straightforward: Tabla, keyboard sort of combination. I’ve enjoyed adding the deserved colour: bringing in flautists and backing singers and reflecting the versatility thing. Personally, I’ve also enjoyed exploring the spirituality aspect: it’s been amazing to bring people to tears in feeling way that brings good, healing energy. Using the guitar to do this has also been great.

Can you name the central components of good music?

Having a good groove where all the elements are gelling. There has to be just the right synchronisation: the bass guitar locked in with bass drum of the drum kit; not having too many notes on high hat, swapping sixteenth notes for eighths fourths. Melody is important too: conveying the right message.

T: @D_Guitar

To focus on encouraging fresh and new playwriting voices from the British Asian community, Rifco Theatre Company has announced their '2019 Rifco Associates' artist development programme. A call-out for new scripts and treatments from both mid-career and emerging writers led to their largest ever number of applications and Shazia Ashraf, Mohammed Azhar, Karim Khan, Christine Lalla and Romo Sikdar-Rahman have been announced as their 2019 Rifco Associates.

The Rifco Associates was launched in 2015 to address the lack of opportunity for British Asian artists in the theatre sector. Since then 20 artists have been supported through the programme from a range of artistic practice including writers, lyricists, composers, designers, aerial artists and spoken word. The programme is now led

by Ameet Chana.

Shazia Ashraf, is a Yorkshire based writer and director whose recent work includes 99% Halal (Kala Sangam) and Sweets & Chocolates (Kali & RADA). Her play, Reservoir Rami, is a comedy drama described as a Four Lions for the stage.

Mohammed Azhar, a pharmacist by trade, has written a number of comedy dramas including a recent BBC Radio 4 production.

His piece, Lost In Bachchan, follows a father and son who re-discover their relationship through the music of legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Playwright and screenwriter Karim Khan, whose recent credits include 'Beyond Shame' (Derby Theatre, 2018) and 'Orange Juice' (The Pleasance, Burton Taylor Studio, 2017), will be working with Rifco to develop a play exploring the exploring the fear and excitement of falling in love again after suffering the loss of a partner, a subject that remains a major taboo in South Asian cultures.

Christine Lalla, a graduate of the London Film School, will be turning her talents to the stage and developing a play about a top professional tennis player that explores human relationships and homosexuality. Christine said, “I came away from our (first) meeting even more excited about my own project…and I’ve already benefited from having fresh eyes on my story...”.

Romo Sikdar-Rahman’s debut play, The Front, is set in a familyowned Bengali Restaurant, and charts the journey of younger family members seeking out a more honest lifestyle. Romo said, “I'm really looking forward to learning and working with great people who'll give me a chance to improve my own craft. It's an incredible platform for any young writer”.

The successful candidates will receive a £500 bursary alongside mentoring support, writer-in-residence days and masterclasses with industry leaders to develop their play over the next year, culminating in a Showcase event later in the year. Rifco Theatre Company then aims to select one or two writers for a second year of support to develop their script to the next stage.

Artistic Director, Pravesh Kumar told Asian Voice, “Our new cohort of Rifco Associates are an exciting bunch. I believe it is imperative that we give genuine opportunities to new voices who are telling unique and authentic British stories. Crucially they will open the doors even further to new audiences in British theatres.”

Associate Director, Ameet Chana, added, “New writing is part of Rifco’s ethos and it gives me great pleasure to lead a programme where our Associates will be supported to develop their ideas through mentors, writer-in-residence days and masterclasses led by recognised theatre practitioners.”

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Rupanjana Dutta Britain’s relationship with the 19 year old Shamima Begum today raises a pertinent question on the country’s relationship with its own immigrants. Shamima was one of the eight girls who tried to run to Syria to join ISIS from Britain. She was 15, who felt very strongly about her faith, arguably a hormonal teenager.

While average 15 year olds in the UK fight and disagree with parents over parties, boyfriends, clothes, food and other mundane things, Shamima ran away to join the ISIS. She is Bangladeshi by origin, not by birth.

Born in the UK, to a British Bangladeshi family, neither has she sidered as Bangladeshi and automatever been to Bangladesh nor has she ically eligible for dual citizenship till ever held any Bangladeshi travel they are 21. Shamima is 19. But that documents. does not make her less British or Most Bangladeshis in the UK are more Bangladeshi. She however has hard working. An entrepreneurial been refused that eligibility now by community, many in the curry busiBangladesh due to her recent ness, they take pride in running actions. restaurants. They moved to the UK Immigrants v/s Islam in 1970s, during the Sylhet division, and established a rapport with the To a great extend Britain is a fair UK government over the years. They country. But it’s obsession with raceeven have powerful women MPs in relation and faith has always done the House of Commons like Tulip worse than good. Those people who Siddiq, Rushanara Ali and Rupa Huq are calling Shamima a non-British and hundreds of local councillors. So today, are forgetting the key princinot only they contribute to Britain’s ple of this country- liberalism. They financial growth but also are well are forgetting that the country represented in the political arena- in approves, acknowledges and celethe country’s thought and decision brates different faiths and cultures making process.

Shamima who identifies herself as British first, or as a It is a shame to see that the British Muslim alone, has country has brought two brought shame on a community that she never has ever adopted Asian immigrants, stand as a part of her identity or otherwise. But today she is suddenly opposite each other in a war not Britain’s problem and that against their own faith. of Bangladesh’s. According to the existing immigration laws, any child born to Bangladeshi in coexistence - unity in diversity. parents, to even those who have But Britain’s relationship with its acquired other citizenships, is conmigrants is unbelievably complex.

Shamima Begum

Sajid Javid

The Home Secretary Sajid Javid who is an immigrant himself, born to Pakistani parents, is trying doubly hard to do a thankless job by overcompensating for his own cultural roots. There is no winning for him here- you are either against your own or against your nation. It is a shame to see that the country has brought two Asian immigrants, stand opposite each other in a war against their own faith.

Four years back when Shamima left home, she was allegedly following in the footsteps of Sharmeema Begum, a young woman allegedly radicalised at the East London Mosque. Most of these children have conservative families. But then most South Asians continue to be conservative in the UK, clutching on to the remains of their culture like their life depends on it. That does not mean all their children are terrorists today.

In fact they are more good than bad.

They are hard working and mostly self-conscious. The state is aware of it, but still much of the blame falls on families for their views, faith or a culture they have held close to themselves. It's exactly that shame that compelled Shamima's father and family to support Mr Javid's decision to refuse Shamima's permission to

come back home.

Not our own?

Donald Trump has called for EU nations to take back ISIS fighters captured by US-backed forces in Syria. It is our moral duty, since most

The Home Secretary must understand that there is a danger in allowing the smearing of Begum to go undisputed. of them were radicalised in Europe.

The sudden and unexpected reaction of stripping nationality from dual citizens means we would export terrorism abroad. It also has an element of racism, since it is usually applied to British Pakistanis or British Bangladeshis, while we never hear calls to strip nationality from British Americans, British Europeans or British Australians when they commit serious crimes.

The British terror suspect known as 'Jihadi Jack' also recently said that he wants to come home to the UK five years after running away to Syria. Oxford-born Jack Letts,

who is being held in a Kurdish prison accused of being a member of ISIS, told ITV News that he is missing his mother, pasties and episodes of Doctor Who. He knows his return will not be easy, but his statement clearly shows what home stands for.

It is not about legitimising terror or terrorists, it's about Asian children stuck between two cultures, trying to find their roots, experimenting and eventualy correcting themselves on the right and expected path.

The Daily Telegraph article by Alison Pearson has been accused of being a 'racist' piece. Reactions took twitter by storm. Britain will perhaps never cease to be racist. Brexit is the biggest example of it. What America or Ireland has given their citizens through their nation’s immigrant leaders, is not what the UK is capable of, but making a country’s youth homeless, taking away their sense of belonging, is what jihadists thrive on.

To understand the minds of radical people and to defeat them, one must step in their shoes. It’s by isolation they can brainwash and turn people against their own.

Remember the old saying, strength in unity? If Shamima is responsible for any crimes she should be brought back to the UK to assess her actions in the courts, not left behind in a no man's land! The Home Secretary must understand that there is a danger in allowing the smearing of Begum to go undisputed. Turning someone into a monster is actually a very old and tested protection mechanism. It absolves us from our moral duties or expectations. It permits us to label and entrust evil deeds to a place that is usually beyond our regular way of acceptance. But the lesson one must remember, we lose something important if we don’t try to understand how evil manifests itself- and it is in the capacity to prevent it.

Brit-Asians think UK is intolerant towards immigrants, though study says not A new study has found that Britain is the least partial against immigrants. The findings, that are published in the Frontiers in Sociology journal said, prejudices are more common in poorer nations than rich English speaking nations. It is said that British levels of prejudices against immigrant workers and people 'of a different race' were found to be 'relatively low' as was bias against Hindus, Jews, Gipsies, and Muslims.

The Daily Mail reported that according to that report in Bulgaria and Latvia, around 20 per cent would shun neighbours of a different religion. Prejudice against foreign workers in Europe was found to be worst in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia. Spain, Italy, Finland, and Germany were all

found to be 'a little more prejudiced' regarding religion than the UK. In Britain, only around 10 percent of Britons would rather not have neighbours of a different religion. 15 percent of Britons reportedly would object to having migrants as neighbours, with around 10 percent objecting to neighbours of a different race.

The UK was found to have ordinary levels of anti-immigrant worker prejudice for its level of socioeconomic development. Poland and Hungary were among the most tolerant of the poorer countries, showing low levels compared with nations that have a similar GDP. France and the USA are both found to be more tolerant of having neighbours of a different race.

However according to the survey,

Bangladesh is on 98thposition, while India is featured on the 96th position- therefore more racist than UK, which is featured 23rdon the list, ranked from least racist to most by study.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Arun Bhatnagar a chartered accountant in Birmingham said that he does not think Britain is all that equal when it comes to tolerance towards

ethnic minority, “Britain is a fair country as far as its judiciary is concerned. But when you look at reports on diversity, where people from ethnic minority are paid less than their white counterparts, you can understand we are not treated as equals.”

Raghav Venkatraman, an IT specialist told the newsweekly, “The survey could be true. But I have had my neighbours complaining of curry smell, when we cook.

Remember that landlord who refused to rent his hpuse out to immigrants to avoid curry smell? I don't think this country is all that tolerant. I don't agree that India is

more partial than the UK.” Saira Mahmood, an architect, who was born and brought up in this country said, “When people say there are no prejuduces in this country, I will not agree. If you have a Muslim name in the UK, your struggles are higher – whether it is a job or otherwise. The visa issues and hostility that highly-skilled migrants face, to a lot extend is because of the prejudices Briton has towards immigrants. Shamima Begum's case is a live example. She is asking to 'go' back to a country she was not born in or came from.

Britain is her home.”

However, according to the 2011 census more than 1.45mn Indians, 1.17mn Pakistanis and over 450,000 Bangladeshis are living in the UK, making it one of the mist diverse countries in the world.

Preeti Bali News about Muslims in the British press is never rare, but rarely ever positive. An article by the press gazette written in 2017 revealed that the national media has corrected at least 20 significant inaccuracies about Muslims in news stories over the last year.

As rampant Islamophobia and xenophobia continues to rise, Sabah Ahmedi a 25-yearold Imam from Essex, who hails from the Ahmadiyya community is on a mission to address the negative perceptions society has about Islam.

He told Asian Voice, “Islam means peace. Islam does not teach violence or hatred. And the Islam you see on the media is not Islam at all. For me my religion is a way of life and I can mould my life around my religion. If it wasn’t something people could mould there life around, it wouldn’t be the fastest growing religion in the world.”

In Britain, one of the biggest issues around today's Muslim youth is ensuring they are kept away from radicalisation. With Shamima Begum's pleadings to return to the UK, many concerns have been raised. “It should be clear that the ideology of Daesh and similar groups are completely hateful, evil and abhorrent,” said Sabah. “Such groups and ideologies have nothing to do with Islam, if Shamima Begum returns she should be fully investigated by the authorities. If she has committed any crimes she should be charged according to the laws and sentenced accordingly.”

However speaking about the community's infrastructure for the youth, he added, “On a weekly basis we have meetings all across the country for the youth, and in these meetings the youth sign a pledge.”

Part of the pledge involves sacrificing their lives, time and wealth for the sake of their faith, country and nation, in addition to this the youngsters partake in feeding the homeless across the country, visit care homes, litter picking and distributing chocolates to the elderly.

“By them engaging in society it gives them a sense of responsibility and doesn’t allow them to take part in radicalisation or anything which affects society at large.

That’s why you’ll never see a single person from our community radicalised.

“Regardless of one’s faith and background, the Ahmadi community encourages and welcomes all, you can’t form a nation, without forming its youth first and that is integral in society.”

N

“There is a misunderstanding about what Islam is”

O OM PE IN N ATI

Understanding of how evil manifests itself is in preventing it

N O O NS W !

2 - 8 March 2019

2019

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y t i r a h c ite r u o v a f r you 019 rch 2

Ma d n 2 2 e n dli

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als who u d i v i d in arities / ur time, h c d e s ba fo any UK issues o f l o a i c w o o s g kn ly Do you solving pressin in and global a Brit are both in Nominate them for the Asian Voice Charity Awards 2019 by visiting our

website w ww.asianvoicecharityawards.com

Sabah Ahmedi with the Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

What you see in the media is not Islam A report by ‘hope not hate’, the anti-fascist group, revealed that more than a third of people in the UK believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life. The report argues that anti-Muslim prejudice has replaced immigration as the key driver of the growth of the far right.

“I think there is a misunderstanding of what Islam is.

What they see in the media is not Islam. And if someone

“People have a fear of Islam, because of what they see in this day and age. And unless they give a platform to us, that fear is going to stay.” commits an act of violence in the name of Islam, that is not correct – it is not what Islam teaches at all”, says Sabah.

In Islam, Zakat is the third pillar of Islam, it is the required giving of a set proportion of one’s wealth to charity. It has been estimated by the Muslim Charities forum, that during Ramadan in Britain each year, Muslims give an estimated £100bn to charities. Furthermore, since the formation of the Islamic relief, the charity itself has transformed and saved the lives of more than 175 million people. Yet these stories are rarely if ever reported by the mainstream media.

“People have a fear of Islam, because of what they see in this day and age. And unless they give a platform to

us, that fear is going to stay,” he told the Asian Voice.

Sabah says as one of the youngest Imams, he wants to show people that he is no different than any other citizen.

“Just because I have a beard, and a different colour skin doesn’t make me any less immoral or more moral than those who don’t have a beard or brown skin.”

LGBTQ+ and Islam When asked about LGBT identification and being Muslim, Sabahsaidthat Islam does not promote homosexuality, but that doesn’t mean we discriminate homosexuals. “Someone who identifies as a homosexual can come to the mosque and are free to worship.”

But if Muslim community who identifies themselves to be part of the LGBT community approaches him, how does he address this as an imam?

“I think it’s a very sensitive matter, if someone came up to me and I knew he is homosexual and wanted to live that life then it is up to him or her at the end of the day,” said Sabah. “I am no one to judge and everyone is accountable for their actions.

If someone wants to be homosexual that’s up to them, it is their choice.”

National peace symposium This year, the Ahmadiyya community will be hosting their ‘National peace symposium’ event, where the focus will be on countering negative perceptions of Islam and Islamic perspectives of many global affairs.

To attend the event RSVP at:https://www.eventbrite.c o.uk/e/national-peace-symposium-2019-tickets57199390918

The Awards ceremony will be held on 17th May 2019 at the Hilton, Park Lane, London

Award Categories

For Charities and Not-for Profit Institutions I Charity of the Year

This award recognises a UK-registered charity for their outstanding work and contribution to society, as well as demonstrated excellence service and achievement in its work over the last five years.

I Start-Up of the Year

This award is similar to Charity of the Year, but specifically for charities that have been operational for three years or less.

I Outstanding PR Team

This award recognises excellence in charity PR, either in-house at a charity, or an agency undertaking a PR campaign on behalf of a charity

I Most Enterprising

This award recognises a social enterprise or the trading arm of a charity that has made a significant difference to beneficiaries through its ability to generate income to meet its social goals over the last two years.

I Social Impact Award

This award recognises an organisation for the social impact they have created and their contribution to society.

For Individuals: I Inspiring Individual

This award recognises an individual who has demonstrated dedication, professionalism and integrity over a sustained period of time, and who has produced an identifiably profound effect on the social sector in the UK or otherwise through their work, which could be voluntary or otherwise.

I Inspiring Young Person

This award recognises a young individual who has demonstrated dedication and integrity through their work with the social sector in the UK or otherwise over the past year.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT : 0207 749 4085

Email: george@abplgroup.com

16 UK

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

AsianVoiceNews

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www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

2 - 8 March 2019

UK

17

Rupanjana Dutta Britain’s relationship with the 19 year old Shamima Begum today raises a pertinent question on the country’s relationship with its own immigrants. Shamima was one of the eight girls who tried to run to Syria to join ISIS from Britain. She was 15, who felt very strongly about her faith, arguably a hormonal teenager.

While average 15 year olds in the UK fight and disagree with parents over parties, boyfriends, clothes, food and other mundane things, Shamima ran away to join the ISIS. She is Bangladeshi by origin, not by birth.

Born in the UK, to a British Bangladeshi family, neither has she sidered as Bangladeshi and automatever been to Bangladesh nor has she ically eligible for dual citizenship till ever held any Bangladeshi travel they are 21. Shamima is 19. But that documents. does not make her less British or Most Bangladeshis in the UK are more Bangladeshi. She however has hard working. An entrepreneurial been refused that eligibility now by community, many in the curry busiBangladesh due to her recent ness, they take pride in running actions. restaurants. They moved to the UK Immigrants v/s Islam in 1970s, during the Sylhet division, and established a rapport with the To a great extend Britain is a fair UK government over the years. They country. But it’s obsession with raceeven have powerful women MPs in relation and faith has always done the House of Commons like Tulip worse than good. Those people who Siddiq, Rushanara Ali and Rupa Huq are calling Shamima a non-British and hundreds of local councillors. So today, are forgetting the key princinot only they contribute to Britain’s ple of this country- liberalism. They financial growth but also are well are forgetting that the country represented in the political arena- in approves, acknowledges and celethe country’s thought and decision brates different faiths and cultures making process.

Shamima who identifies herself as British first, or as a It is a shame to see that the British Muslim alone, has country has brought two brought shame on a community that she never has ever adopted Asian immigrants, stand as a part of her identity or otherwise. But today she is suddenly opposite each other in a war not Britain’s problem and that against their own faith. of Bangladesh’s. According to the existing immigration laws, any child born to Bangladeshi in coexistence - unity in diversity. parents, to even those who have But Britain’s relationship with its acquired other citizenships, is conmigrants is unbelievably complex.

Shamima Begum

Sajid Javid

The Home Secretary Sajid Javid who is an immigrant himself, born to Pakistani parents, is trying doubly hard to do a thankless job by overcompensating for his own cultural roots. There is no winning for him here- you are either against your own or against your nation. It is a shame to see that the country has brought two Asian immigrants, stand opposite each other in a war against their own faith.

Four years back when Shamima left home, she was allegedly following in the footsteps of Sharmeema Begum, a young woman allegedly radicalised at the East London Mosque. Most of these children have conservative families. But then most South Asians continue to be conservative in the UK, clutching on to the remains of their culture like their life depends on it. That does not mean all their children are terrorists today.

In fact they are more good than bad.

They are hard working and mostly self-conscious. The state is aware of it, but still much of the blame falls on families for their views, faith or a culture they have held close to themselves. It's exactly that shame that compelled Shamima's father and family to support Mr Javid's decision to refuse Shamima's permission to

come back home.

Not our own?

Donald Trump has called for EU nations to take back ISIS fighters captured by US-backed forces in Syria. It is our moral duty, since most

The Home Secretary must understand that there is a danger in allowing the smearing of Begum to go undisputed. of them were radicalised in Europe.

The sudden and unexpected reaction of stripping nationality from dual citizens means we would export terrorism abroad. It also has an element of racism, since it is usually applied to British Pakistanis or British Bangladeshis, while we never hear calls to strip nationality from British Americans, British Europeans or British Australians when they commit serious crimes.

The British terror suspect known as 'Jihadi Jack' also recently said that he wants to come home to the UK five years after running away to Syria. Oxford-born Jack Letts,

who is being held in a Kurdish prison accused of being a member of ISIS, told ITV News that he is missing his mother, pasties and episodes of Doctor Who. He knows his return will not be easy, but his statement clearly shows what home stands for.

It is not about legitimising terror or terrorists, it's about Asian children stuck between two cultures, trying to find their roots, experimenting and eventualy correcting themselves on the right and expected path.

The Daily Telegraph article by Alison Pearson has been accused of being a 'racist' piece. Reactions took twitter by storm. Britain will perhaps never cease to be racist. Brexit is the biggest example of it. What America or Ireland has given their citizens through their nation’s immigrant leaders, is not what the UK is capable of, but making a country’s youth homeless, taking away their sense of belonging, is what jihadists thrive on.

To understand the minds of radical people and to defeat them, one must step in their shoes. It’s by isolation they can brainwash and turn people against their own.

Remember the old saying, strength in unity? If Shamima is responsible for any crimes she should be brought back to the UK to assess her actions in the courts, not left behind in a no man's land! The Home Secretary must understand that there is a danger in allowing the smearing of Begum to go undisputed. Turning someone into a monster is actually a very old and tested protection mechanism. It absolves us from our moral duties or expectations. It permits us to label and entrust evil deeds to a place that is usually beyond our regular way of acceptance. But the lesson one must remember, we lose something important if we don’t try to understand how evil manifests itself- and it is in the capacity to prevent it.

Brit-Asians think UK is intolerant towards immigrants, though study says not A new study has found that Britain is the least partial against immigrants. The findings, that are published in the Frontiers in Sociology journal said, prejudices are more common in poorer nations than rich English speaking nations. It is said that British levels of prejudices against immigrant workers and people 'of a different race' were found to be 'relatively low' as was bias against Hindus, Jews, Gipsies, and Muslims.

The Daily Mail reported that according to that report in Bulgaria and Latvia, around 20 per cent would shun neighbours of a different religion. Prejudice against foreign workers in Europe was found to be worst in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia. Spain, Italy, Finland, and Germany were all

found to be 'a little more prejudiced' regarding religion than the UK. In Britain, only around 10 percent of Britons would rather not have neighbours of a different religion. 15 percent of Britons reportedly would object to having migrants as neighbours, with around 10 percent objecting to neighbours of a different race.

The UK was found to have ordinary levels of anti-immigrant worker prejudice for its level of socioeconomic development. Poland and Hungary were among the most tolerant of the poorer countries, showing low levels compared with nations that have a similar GDP. France and the USA are both found to be more tolerant of having neighbours of a different race.

However according to the survey,

Bangladesh is on 98thposition, while India is featured on the 96th position- therefore more racist than UK, which is featured 23rdon the list, ranked from least racist to most by study.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Arun Bhatnagar a chartered accountant in Birmingham said that he does not think Britain is all that equal when it comes to tolerance towards

ethnic minority, “Britain is a fair country as far as its judiciary is concerned. But when you look at reports on diversity, where people from ethnic minority are paid less than their white counterparts, you can understand we are not treated as equals.”

Raghav Venkatraman, an IT specialist told the newsweekly, “The survey could be true. But I have had my neighbours complaining of curry smell, when we cook.

Remember that landlord who refused to rent his hpuse out to immigrants to avoid curry smell? I don't think this country is all that tolerant. I don't agree that India is

more partial than the UK.” Saira Mahmood, an architect, who was born and brought up in this country said, “When people say there are no prejuduces in this country, I will not agree. If you have a Muslim name in the UK, your struggles are higher – whether it is a job or otherwise. The visa issues and hostility that highly-skilled migrants face, to a lot extend is because of the prejudices Briton has towards immigrants. Shamima Begum's case is a live example. She is asking to 'go' back to a country she was not born in or came from.

Britain is her home.”

However, according to the 2011 census more than 1.45mn Indians, 1.17mn Pakistanis and over 450,000 Bangladeshis are living in the UK, making it one of the mist diverse countries in the world.

Preeti Bali News about Muslims in the British press is never rare, but rarely ever positive. An article by the press gazette written in 2017 revealed that the national media has corrected at least 20 significant inaccuracies about Muslims in news stories over the last year.

As rampant Islamophobia and xenophobia continues to rise, Sabah Ahmedi a 25-yearold Imam from Essex, who hails from the Ahmadiyya community is on a mission to address the negative perceptions society has about Islam.

He told Asian Voice, “Islam means peace. Islam does not teach violence or hatred. And the Islam you see on the media is not Islam at all. For me my religion is a way of life and I can mould my life around my religion. If it wasn’t something people could mould there life around, it wouldn’t be the fastest growing religion in the world.”

In Britain, one of the biggest issues around today's Muslim youth is ensuring they are kept away from radicalisation. With Shamima Begum's pleadings to return to the UK, many concerns have been raised. “It should be clear that the ideology of Daesh and similar groups are completely hateful, evil and abhorrent,” said Sabah. “Such groups and ideologies have nothing to do with Islam, if Shamima Begum returns she should be fully investigated by the authorities. If she has committed any crimes she should be charged according to the laws and sentenced accordingly.”

However speaking about the community's infrastructure for the youth, he added, “On a weekly basis we have meetings all across the country for the youth, and in these meetings the youth sign a pledge.”

Part of the pledge involves sacrificing their lives, time and wealth for the sake of their faith, country and nation, in addition to this the youngsters partake in feeding the homeless across the country, visit care homes, litter picking and distributing chocolates to the elderly.

“By them engaging in society it gives them a sense of responsibility and doesn’t allow them to take part in radicalisation or anything which affects society at large.

That’s why you’ll never see a single person from our community radicalised.

“Regardless of one’s faith and background, the Ahmadi community encourages and welcomes all, you can’t form a nation, without forming its youth first and that is integral in society.”

N

“There is a misunderstanding about what Islam is”

O OM PE IN N ATI

Understanding of how evil manifests itself is in preventing it

N O O NS W !

2 - 8 March 2019

2019

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y t i r a h c ite r u o v a f r you 019 rch 2

Ma d n 2 2 e n dli

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als who u d i v i d in arities / ur time, h c d e s ba fo any UK issues o f l o a i c w o o s g kn ly Do you solving pressin in and global a Brit are both in Nominate them for the Asian Voice Charity Awards 2019 by visiting our

website w ww.asianvoicecharityawards.com

Sabah Ahmedi with the Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

What you see in the media is not Islam A report by ‘hope not hate’, the anti-fascist group, revealed that more than a third of people in the UK believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life. The report argues that anti-Muslim prejudice has replaced immigration as the key driver of the growth of the far right.

“I think there is a misunderstanding of what Islam is.

What they see in the media is not Islam. And if someone

“People have a fear of Islam, because of what they see in this day and age. And unless they give a platform to us, that fear is going to stay.” commits an act of violence in the name of Islam, that is not correct – it is not what Islam teaches at all”, says Sabah.

In Islam, Zakat is the third pillar of Islam, it is the required giving of a set proportion of one’s wealth to charity. It has been estimated by the Muslim Charities forum, that during Ramadan in Britain each year, Muslims give an estimated £100bn to charities. Furthermore, since the formation of the Islamic relief, the charity itself has transformed and saved the lives of more than 175 million people. Yet these stories are rarely if ever reported by the mainstream media.

“People have a fear of Islam, because of what they see in this day and age. And unless they give a platform to

us, that fear is going to stay,” he told the Asian Voice.

Sabah says as one of the youngest Imams, he wants to show people that he is no different than any other citizen.

“Just because I have a beard, and a different colour skin doesn’t make me any less immoral or more moral than those who don’t have a beard or brown skin.”

LGBTQ+ and Islam When asked about LGBT identification and being Muslim, Sabahsaidthat Islam does not promote homosexuality, but that doesn’t mean we discriminate homosexuals. “Someone who identifies as a homosexual can come to the mosque and are free to worship.”

But if Muslim community who identifies themselves to be part of the LGBT community approaches him, how does he address this as an imam?

“I think it’s a very sensitive matter, if someone came up to me and I knew he is homosexual and wanted to live that life then it is up to him or her at the end of the day,” said Sabah. “I am no one to judge and everyone is accountable for their actions.

If someone wants to be homosexual that’s up to them, it is their choice.”

National peace symposium This year, the Ahmadiyya community will be hosting their ‘National peace symposium’ event, where the focus will be on countering negative perceptions of Islam and Islamic perspectives of many global affairs.

To attend the event RSVP at:https://www.eventbrite.c o.uk/e/national-peace-symposium-2019-tickets57199390918

The Awards ceremony will be held on 17th May 2019 at the Hilton, Park Lane, London

Award Categories

For Charities and Not-for Profit Institutions I Charity of the Year

This award recognises a UK-registered charity for their outstanding work and contribution to society, as well as demonstrated excellence service and achievement in its work over the last five years.

I Start-Up of the Year

This award is similar to Charity of the Year, but specifically for charities that have been operational for three years or less.

I Outstanding PR Team

This award recognises excellence in charity PR, either in-house at a charity, or an agency undertaking a PR campaign on behalf of a charity

I Most Enterprising

This award recognises a social enterprise or the trading arm of a charity that has made a significant difference to beneficiaries through its ability to generate income to meet its social goals over the last two years.

I Social Impact Award

This award recognises an organisation for the social impact they have created and their contribution to society.

For Individuals: I Inspiring Individual

This award recognises an individual who has demonstrated dedication, professionalism and integrity over a sustained period of time, and who has produced an identifiably profound effect on the social sector in the UK or otherwise through their work, which could be voluntary or otherwise.

I Inspiring Young Person

This award recognises a young individual who has demonstrated dedication and integrity through their work with the social sector in the UK or otherwise over the past year.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT : 0207 749 4085

Email: george@abplgroup.com

18 FINANCE - UK

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

www.asian-voice.com

2 - 8 March 2019

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel Dear Financial Voice Reader, I write to you having done several talks on the markets and investing around the UK and the world. I thought I would share with you some insights for your financial well being.

1. People are too pessimistic on the US markets. Given good quality companies like Apple have fallen 40%, if they go back to their highs of last year, even in three years, you almost double your money.

2. People are too greedy – no news there. Instead of patiently waiting those three years they want the return in 5 minutes.

3. People are too scared. Instead of waiting those three years, it may be one, they panic if the stock falls 10% and put their money into something riskier.

4. People are too crafty. They think they will find something new no one has heard of, and ending up losing their money. Instead of picking quality names for the long term they try to find unheard of ‘secrets’ in the short term.

5. People spend a fortune on financial education, when the best is available for free. People desperate to learn about financial markets for themselves and their children end up paying lots of money for expensive courses. Price does not mean quality. After all a degree at Oxford costs the same as one at Loughborough University. Similarly, all my financial know how from my books which has been paid for by my book readers I have put into video and audio format online.

6. People think they will become professional traders overnight. It’s a skill and needs time and patience – that’s what I always teach.

7. People still don’t invest for their pensions online.

There is so much good online information about pensions – look for quality brand names.

8. People still don’t teach their children. Whilst the kids are busy learning the violin or playing football – no one is teaching them how to invest for the long term. It’s the most important skill to teach them.

9. And if you want to learn things online, and where to start, then try putting into Google “what is a share” “how do I value shares”.

10. People spend way too much time on Facebook and Instagram, instead of learning something useful. One hundred years ago we would have said people waste too much time talking to each other or listening to the radio, then 50 years ago it was watching too much TV. Now it’s on Facebook and Twitter following India news. Fine, but between that and Star TV and Zee, it’s a lot of hours that could be spent learning something about finance and teaching your kids something.

11. How can you make it fun and enjoyable? Break it down into small tiny steps that take 20 minutes daily to learn. That’s all. Baby steps. Think of the benefits. That’s the trick.

12. And like I and the world’s second richest man said – buy some Apple for the very long term! www.trading-champions.com

Sainsbury’s-Asda merger plan in doubt The proposed £12bn merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda is at risk after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that the proposed deal could lead to a worse experience for instore and online shoppers across the UK through higher prices, a poorer shopping experience, and reductions in the range and quality of products offered.

It also has concerns that prices could rise at a large number of Sainsbury’s and Asda petrol stations.

Stuart McIntosh, chair of the independent inquiry group carrying out the investigation, said: “These are two of the biggest supermarkets in the UK, with millions of people purchasing their products and services every day.

McIntosh added: “These are our provisional findings, however, and the companies and others now have the

opportunity to respond to the analysis we’ve set out today. It’s our responsibility to carry out a thorough assessment of the deal to make sure that the sector remains competitive and shoppers don’t lose out.”

Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe criticised the CMA’s analysis and said it was “fundamentally flawed.”

“They have fundamentally moved the goalposts, changed the shape of the ball and chosen a different playing field,” he said. “This is totally outrageous.” A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s and Asda said: “These findings f u n d a m e n t a l l y misunderstand how people shop in the UK today and the intensity of competition in the grocery market. The CMA has moved the goalposts and its analysis is inconsistent with comparable cases.

13 Indian banks seek details of Mallya’s assets in Britain The 13 state-owned Indian banks that are currently trying to bring back the £1 billion Vijay Mallya owes them by legally seizing his assets in England, face delays as many of the assets they were hoping to get their hands on are not in his name. The banks have now made an application in London's high court for various banks and entities in possession of documents relating to the ownership structures of assets they believe are ultimately his, which include two superyachts and a string of racing cars, to disclose them. On

Vijay Mallya

May 8 last year, the UK high court had given permission for the Bengaluru DRT judgment to be registered in English courts, allowing high court enforcement officers to seize up to £1.14

billion of Mallya's assets held in England and Wales.

However, so far there are many assets the banks believe belong to the indebted tycoon that they have not been able to seize.

Last year, Mallya had shrugged off the high court judgment, saying “there was not much he owned here apart from a few cars and items of jewellery” as “his Tewin estate belonged to his children and his London town house to his mother.”

As a result of Mallya's application and other evidence arriving late, the hearing was adjourned.

High Court judge Christopher Hancock QC ruled that Mallya's application for a stay would be heard first, followed by the application by the banks.

The date is yet to be fixed.

The third parties who are respondents in this case, who either own documents or directly own assets that the Indian banks think ultimately belong to Mallya, include Qatar National Bank, Tierra Blanca Limited, Indian Express Limited, Force India Limited, Barclays Bank, Bonhams 1973 Limited and RM Auctions Limited.

UK bank CEOs earn more than 120 times against an average employee Bank documents reveal top bosses of Britain's biggest banks are paid on average 120 times more than the median pay of their UK employees, as new rule puts pay disparities at the country's big businesses under sharper scrutiny.

Britain's biggest domestic lender Lloyds Banking Group has the biggest pay difference, with Chief Executive Antonio HortoOsorio, the sector's highestearning boss in 2018, on 169 times as much as the median paid employee on 37,058 pounds, the company's annual report showed last week.

The gap widens to 237 times when compared with staff in Lloyds' lowest pay quartile, who received an average pay package of 26,490 pounds in 2018, compared with the 6.3 million pounds HortaOsorio earned. The banks made the disclosures alongside full-year results over the past fortnight,

ahead of new reporting requirements coming into force next year that oblige firms to set out the ratio of CEO pay to a median UK employee and those in the lowest and upper pay quartiles. Banking giant HSBC had the next largest pay disparity, with new chief executive John Flint pocketing 4.6 million pounds last year, 118 times as much as its median paid employee in Britain.

A spokeswoman for the bank said, “HSBC's pay strategy is designed to appropriately reflect the

role, responsibility and skills of the individual and to also be competitive in order to ensure we are able to attract and retain individuals with the appropriate skills for each role.”

CEO to median employee pay ratios at rival FTSE 100 lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays were not too far behind, at 97:1 and 96:1 respectively.

Lately, pay disparities have come under intense scrutiny in Britain, with separate gender pay-gap reporting requirements

highlighting wide discrepancies between both genders, particularly in the finance industry. The pay ratio reporting comes as the City of London Corporation, which manages London's financial district, launched a campaign against low pay at financial firms last week.

The body is urging companies to pay their staff at least the London Living Wage of 10.55 pounds per hour.

Catherine McGuinness, the City's policy chief, said, “One in five people employed in the capital don't earn a wage they can live on. I'm calling on City firms to help consign this statistic to the history books.” Meanwhile, in its annual report Lloyds said it would pay all its full-time staff a minimum salary of 17,500 pounds from April this year, which it said would mean a raise of up to 9.9 per cent for some colleagues.

Contact Crystal Financial Solutions for ISAs investments If you are a tax payer in UK, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are a fantastic way of increasing wealth without having to worry about Income and Capital Gains Tax. With the current individual personal allowance of £20,000 per tax year, ISAs are a very popular choice for the many investors, providing an alternative to just simply leaving the money in a bank or savings account. Indeed, with the current low rates of interest and no real positive outlook for savers, leaving £20,000 in a bank or savings account may not make financial sense.

It is, therefore, more important than ever for people to ensure their

Jinit Shah

finances are being well looked after and maintained. What are the alternatives? A Cash ISA is perhaps the closest comparison to a regular UK savings account, but this still has its limitations on what a bank or building society is prepared to pay in interest. A Stocks and Shares ISA offer a major difference to both a Cash

ISA and a savings account.

There are a wide variety of ISA managers in the UK who actively manage money and invest in a range of asset classes such as shares in the UK and overseas, bonds, fixed interest and the more exotic emerging markets.

With all of this combined there is the potential for greater returns through a Stocks and Shares ISA. At Crystal, we can provide recommendations after understanding your investment objectives.

Whether you are investing for capital growth over time or need to generate an income to help meet day to day outgoings, we will carry out our research so that we

can match the right solution for your need.

While doing all of this we make sure that your Stocks and Shares ISA matches the level of risk you are comfortable with.

We can help the most cautious investor right the way through to the adventurous investor. With the current tax year fast approaching to end on the 5th April 2019, take steps to use your ISA allowance otherwise you will miss the opportunity. If you are looking to invest for the first time or transfer your existing Cash ISA or Stocks and Shares ISA contact Jinit Shah at Crystal Financial Solutions today on 020 8901 3737.

REAL ESTATE VOICE

IS IT AN INVESTMENT OR JUST A PROPERTY?

www.asian-voice.com

AsianVoiceNews

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I went to see a property in Ealing, it is a probate which had been nobly left to a university. It is in a prime location and is a large lump.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

There are obvious signs of subsidence, this is normally covered by a policy which covers the whole building. Therefore, as long as this is in place, and there is nothing which will breach the insurance, this should not be an issue. How the lender’s valuer will see and interpret this issue is a different question.

The lease is quite short and there is a question about the cost of extension. But more than this, is that there is a big question mark regarding whether the incoming buyer has the right to extend in the first place.

The agent wasn’t able to caste any light on these issues. And instead is pushing for an offer. However, you do not know what you’re buying.

On one hand, it may be a property which has an uninsured subsidence issue with a short lease which no one will fund. On the other hand, it could be that a claim has been filed and the lease can be extended.

From an investment point of view, these are two very different investments.

One would trap your investment, about £700K in the property for at

entrepreneurial success and those who never take the risk is tolerance of failure.

One difference between

This is an important concept in

Many people never start their own business, not because of a lack of ability, but because they cannot bear the idea of failing.

Only those that can stomach the idea of failure can become successful in business.

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY

London, NW3 Purchase Price: £675,000 Specialists in Central London Property Sourcing

2 - 8 March 2019

AGONY AGENT IS HERE TO HELP!

least two years, maybe more.

The other would only require an injection of £175K, with a probability of it being released in a year.

Q: Am I allowed to short let my BTL?

So, depending on the answers in regards to subsidence and the lease extension, the proposition changes completely.

The selling agent, however, has a different agenda.

They see only the property, and want it sold ASAP. They see nothing else. Like most people, they are motivated by self-interest.

The property consists of 1,400 sq. ft. and is in good decorative order, surprising considering it’s a probate.

Although, it would benefit from a touch up.

Often, such issues require deeper investigation; the likes of which are beyond the scope of the agent.

Therefore, in this situation, it would be better to pull in the contract, understand the product more, and then revise the offer accordingly.

There may be other things which might come out of the woodwork once we get the contracts and dig further into the deal.

HOW FAILURE BREEDS SUCCESS Why do some people start businesses and become rich, while others never make the attempt? It is not a question of IQ. There are many bright people who never step beyond a reasonable monthly wage because they don’t set up their own business. And there are plenty of entrepreneurs who are not overly IQ endowed and yet make plenty of money.

19

any workplace. The above observation applies in all situations. For example, say you are in a position of authority in your workplace, unless you explicitly reward genuine effort and do not punish failure when the person makes a real effort, you will also not experience outstanding success.

Paradoxically, tolerance of failure breeds success. If the individual self-censors then that

So, it may be better to agree the deal at an acceptable level; and then reduce the offer as more information comes to light. It’s a reasonable and probably the only way to do this deal.

This may mean you end up with just a legal bill and no property; but that’s the risk you take. Waiting to obtain the information up front has a risk, all the information will be publicly available, and until the information comes to light you run the risk of someone else pulling the contract in.

It’s better to take control of the contract and to keep the agent on your side. The real negotiation takes place when you’re ready to exchange; when the trigger is about to be pulled.

same person will not take the risks needed to succeed.

It is not an easy task, but with goodwill and wisdom, tolerance of failure can transform the fortunes of a business.

Abraham Goldberg

A: First, check if your mortgage terms will allow you to short let the property, some will not, others may only allow it for a short period of time i.e. one month.

Second, check your lease, as the majority of leases will not allow you to sublet or short let; or there may be a clause within the lease that says you must seek consent in order to do this.

Another point you need to be aware of, even if you do have consent from your mortgage provider and the freeholder, is that there is an actual law that governs how long you can short let your property for, before you have to apply for change of use from residential home to guesthouse.

A property can be short let for a total of 90 nights in any 12 month period. For example, if you rent your property out for 1 month in January, 1 month in March and then another month in October, you then cannot let out your property until January the following year.

The council takes any breach very seriously. For example, if a neighbour reports just a suspicion to the council, the council will investigate.

If you need any other lettings guidance, please do get in touch.

Richard Bond

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20 FINANCE - INDIA

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2 - 8 March 2019

PM Modi sees India as $10 trillion economy with countless start-ups Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a strong re-election pitch to corporate India as he drew contrasts between the governance styles of Congress and his party, saying competition for corruption in the previous regime had been replaced by highest growth rate and lowest inflation of postliberalisation era. Speaking at the Economic Times' Global Business Summit, Modi elaborated on his vision for making India a $ 10 trillion economy and the world's third largest is one where the country has countless startups and is a global leader in renewable energy sources and electric vehicles.

In a blistering attack on governance under UPA, he said there was a “competition between ministries, a competition between individuals, a competition on corruption (and) a competition on delays.” Modi said, “There was competition on who could

Narendra Modi

do maximum corruption, there was competition on who could do the fastest corruption, there was competition on who could do most innovation in corruption.”

He also added that there was competition on where more money could be made, in coal allocation or spectrum allocation, in commonwealth games or in defence deals.

“We all saw that and also know who were the main players involved in this

competition,” he said.

The PM also said that under the present regime, all this has been replaced by a competition to attract more investment and to build houses for the poor.

There is a competition to see if all habitations are connected with road first or all homes with gas connection first, as well as competition to get 100 per cent sanitation first, or 100 per cent electrification first, Modi asserted that adding there is a competition between ministries and states on development for achieving targets.

“During 2014-19, the country would register an average growth of 7.4 per cent and the average inflation would be less than 4.5 per cent. Post liberalisation of the Indian economy, this will be the highest rate of average growth and lowest rate of average inflation witnessed during the period of any government,” Modi said. He added, “It was said that governments cannot be pro-

growth and pro-poor at the same time, but people of India are making it possible. The country was facing total policy paralysis (before 2014). This was preventing the economy from reaching the level which it was worthy of. The global fraternity was worried about the health of this member of the fragile-five club. There was a perception of surrender to existing circumstances.”

The PM said he wants India to become a $ 10 trillion economy and the third-largest in the world.

India currently is a $2.5 trillion economy and the sixthlargest in the world. “We want to make an India of countless startups. We want to lead the global drive towards renewable sources of energy. We want to give our people energy security.

We want to cut down on import dependence. We want to make India a world leader in electric vehicles and energy storage devices.”

Govt to infuse £4.82 bn in 12 PSU banks for 2018-19 The Modi government has approved the infusion of £4.82 billion in 12 public sector banks in the current financial year to ensure that the lenders are able to maintain regulatory capital requirements, step up lending and boost overall growth.

Secretary of a Department of Financial Services, Rajeev Kumar stated with this latest infusion of capital, the government has now provided £10.09 billion out of the £10.6 billion bank recapitalisation plan.

Corporation Bank

emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the latest round of capital infusion with £908.6 million, followed by Allahabad Bank, £689.8 million.

Kumar said the recapitalisation plan aimed to strengthen better performing banks (including Allahabad Bank and Corporation Bank) under PCA (prompt corrective action) so that they can come out of this restriction.

The RBI had unveiled the PCA framework in the aftermath of soaring bad loans

and that was meant to serve as a watch list for weak banks on which lending restrictions were imposed. Last month, the RBI lifted curbs on three out of 11 public sector banks. Eight other PSBs - Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas and Dena Bank, are still under PCA, which also imposes curbs on expansion activities, among a number of other restrictions to help them get back to fiscal health.

He also said the plan is also to ensure that state-run lenders, which have emerged out of the PCA, remain above the triggers and help others such as Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank, United Bank and UCO Bank meet minimum regulatory capital requirements.

He added that the remaining £500 million may be used as a buffer for any contingency or growth capital for Bank of Baroda, which will be merged with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank.

SC orders Anil Ambani to Pay £45.3 mn to Ericsson The Supreme Court held three Reliance companies guilty of contempt of court for reneging on an undertaking to pay £55 million to Swedish telecom company Ericsson, and said failure to pay the balance £45.3 million by March 20 will mean three months’ jail for group chairman Anil Ambani. In the first-ever instance of holding a big industrialist liable for imprisonment for failing to clear dues, a bench of Justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saran said: “We are of the view that contempt of the Supreme Court needs to be purged by payment

Anil Ambani

of the sum of £55 million together with interest till date in four weeks.”

“As stated by Reliance ADAG’s January 21 letter (to Ericsson), subject to any calculation error, an amount of

£45.3 million must be paid to Ericsson in addition to deposit of £11.8 million made (by RADAG) in the SC registry. The registry is directed to pay over £11.8 million to Ericsson within a period of one week,” the bench said.

While directing Reliance Communications, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel to pay £45.3 million, it said, “In default of such payment, the chairman (Anil Ambani) who has given undertakings to the SC will suffer three months’ imprisonment.” The Supreme Court also castigated Anil

Ambani for showing a “cavalier attitude to the highest court of the land”.

Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Nariman fined the three companies £100,000 each and ordered them to deposit the sum in four weeks with the SC registry, which in turn will hand it over to the SC legal services committee.

Failure to pay the fine amount would result in monthlong imprisonment for chairpersons of RCom (Ambani), RTL (Satish Seth) and RITL (Chhaya Virani).

CBI issues look-out notices against Chanda Kochhar The Central Bureau of Investigation has issued a lookout circular against former ICICI Bank chief executive Chanda Kochhar and has revived ones against her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon managing director Venugopal Dhoot.

Look-out circulars are notices sent to transit points like airport to restrict the movement of people under investigation by probe agencies. Last month, the CBI

Chanda Kochhar

has registered an FIR against the three people over allegations of irregularities in providing loans to Videocon

Group when Chanda Kochhar was heading the private sector bank.

A senior CBI officer said, “A week after the registration of FIR against Chanda Kochhar, we opened a look-out circular against her and revived the look-out circulars issues against Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot last year.”

The officer said the agency is currently examining evidence collected during searches at the homes and

offices of the accused right after the FIR was registered.

Documents submitted by ICICI Bank too are being studied.

Once these documents are examined, the Kochhars and Venugopal will be questioned.

Chanda had quit as CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank in October last year over allegations that she favoured Videocon Group, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration company, in the bank's lending practices.

in brief INDRA NOOYI JOINS AMAZON BOARD Indra Nooyi, Indra Nooyi the Indiaborn former CEO of PepsiCo, has joined Amazon’s board of directors, the online retail giant has said. Nooyi, who stepped down as CEO of Pepsico in October last year, is the second woman of colour to be added on the Amazon’s board of directors.

Early this month, Starbucks executive Rosalind Brewer joined the Amazon board.

“We’re thrilled to have elected two new members to our Board of Directors this month. Welcome, Roz Brewer and Indra Nooyi,” Amazon said in a statement. Nooyi will be a member of the audit committee.

She was Pepsico CEO from October 2006 to October 2018, where she also served as the Chairman of its board of directors from May 2007 to February 2019.

MEHUL CHOKSI QUESTIONS POWERS OF ANTIGUAN PM TO EXTRADITE HIM Fugitive diamantaire and one of the prime accused in £1.36 billion Punjab National Bank scam Mehul Choksi blocked another move of the Indian Government to extradite him from Antigua. Sources within the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that Choksi moved High Court of Antigua and Barbuda objecting to the country's prime minister's discretionary powers to extradite him. India has requested Antigua and Barbuda to extradite Choksi. Choksi has claimed that Antiguan PM's discreationary powers are limited and if they are used to extradite him to India, it will be contradictory to Caribbean country's democratic framework. Choksi became a citizen of Antigua by way of investment in January 2018. He had applied for the citizenship in November 2017, two months earlier than when the case was lodged against him and Nirav Modi. Choksi stated in his affidavit with the Antiguan High Court that the government had no right to extradite him as he had legally fulfilled all conditions for citizenship. Choksi fled India on January 4, 2018, as agencies closed-in on him. Interpol has already issued a Red Corner Notice against Choksi.

TATA SONS BECOMES LARGEST SHAREHOLDER OF AIRASIA INDIA Tata Sons became the largest shareholder of AirAsia with a 51 per cent equity interest after R Venkataramanan, managing trustee of Tata Trusts, and S Ramadorai, former CEO of TCS, have exited budget carrier by selling their shares to the parent company of Tata group. The remaining 49% is held

by Malaysia’s AirAsia. Venkataramanan, who recently announced his departure from Tata Trusts, and Ramadorai held 1.5% and 0.5% stakes respectively in AirAsia India. Last year, Venkataramanan was named in a CBI investigation for trying to manipulate government policies to get an international licence for AirAsia India allegedly through corrupt means. The changes in the shareholding structure are believed to be a function of the central investigative action and financial irregularity allegations against the airline. Additionally, AirAsia India has been hit by losses and employee exits. Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran has asked Malaysian partner AirAsia to come out with a turnaround plan with regard to route networks, airport slots, cost efficiencies and financial returns.

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23 Feb - 1 Mar 2019

Pakistan bans Hafiz Saeed's outfit ISLAMABAD: Faced with enormous pressure to act against terror outfits flourishing on its soil, Pakistan banned two of Hafiz Saeed's outfits. Hafiz was the mastermind of 26/11 attack in Mumbai and Pakistan has banned his outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-eInsaniat Foundation.

The decision was taken at National Security Committee meeting chaired

by PM Imran Khan.

However, no action was taken against Masood Azhar. A statement from the interior ministry read, "It was decided during the meeting to accelerate action

against proscribed organizations. It was further decided that Jamat-udDawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation be notified as proscribed organizations by the Ministry of Interior."

Earlier the two outfits were put on the watchlist of the ministry.

It is, however, left to be seen how successful the bans would be considering the outfits enjoy political backing. JuD, which is believed to be the front organization of Lashkar-eTaiba, enjoys huge support.

Its network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house, and ambulance

Hafiz Saeed

service. The two outfits reportedly have nearly 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of paid workers.

Saeed has been on US' radar for long now. The States had in 2012 offered $10 million

reward for information on Saeed.

At the meeting, Khan spoke about removing terrorism and extremism from Pakistan. He said, "The society and the State (can) never become hostage to extremists." However, the ban on JuD is a mere eyewash since Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-eMohammed, wasn't even mentioned in the statement.

The barbaric Pulwama attack on February 14, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were martyred, was Jaish's doing.

Armed forces on high alert At the meeting, Khan asked armed forces to

respond "decisively" to "any aggression or misadventure

by India. This is a new Pakistan and we are determined to demonstrate to our people that the State is capable of protecting them and believes that monopoly of violence stays with State," Khan apparently told the attendees.

Addressing the press for the first time since Pulwama attack, Khan had said Pakistan will retaliate if India strikes.

He had also asked India to "introspect" what it was "doing wrong" in Kashmir.

He repeated the same thoughts at the meeting.

The interior ministry's

statement added India needs introspection "to realize that why people of (Jammu and Kashmir) have lost the fear of death".

Khan seeks proof Khan also said Pakistan will take action if proofs show terror activities were planned on its soil. The cricketer-turned-politician had said the same during press address as well, and his statement was dismissed by India.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had called Khan's logic "shallow".

He added origin of the crime is well known and Indian security forces have upped their vigil.

81 killed as massive fire breaks out in Dhaka DHAKA: At least 81 people were killed and many others injured as fire swept through adjoining apartment buildings and chemical warehouses in a historic part of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

Officials said the fire broke out at night in a chemical warehouse on the ground floor of a four-storey building named Hazi Wahed Mansion behind a mosque in Old Dhaka’s congested Chawkbazar area and the flames then quickly spread through four other buildings nearby, including a community centre where a wedding party was on.

Fire officials said that the blaze has claimed 81 lives so far. Dhaka Metropolitan Police officials said the fire spread rapidly due to the multiple chemical godowns that were situated in the

area. Fire service control room spokesman Kamrul Ahsan confirmed the death toll to be 81 while state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s director Brigadier General AKM Nasiruddin said 78 bodies were kept at their disposal. Nasiruddin, however, feared that the toll may rise as several people were being treated at the facility with critical burn injuries.

The fire officials called off the rescue operation after nearly 14 hours of efforts. Two-hundred firefighters from 37 units doused the blaze, making their way to the scene through narrow lanes with fire engines. “Some of the bodies were burned very badly, difficult to be identified... of the victims, five are children and nine women,” a doctor said.

Firefighters inspect the aftermath of a fire that broke out in the Chawkbazar area of Old Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s fire service chief Ali Ahmed said the blaze may have started with a gas cylinder before quickly spreading through the building where chemicals were stored.

“The flames raced through four adjoining buildings, which were also used as chemical

Bangladeshi forces kill man who tried to hijack plane DHAKA: Bangladeshi commandos on Sunday killed an armed man, who allegedly made a foiled bid to hijack a Dubai-bound flight of the state-run Biman Airlines carrying 148 passengers, the army said.

The flight, en route to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram, made an emergency landing at the Chattogram airport following the hijack bid.

Army, Navy and elite police cordoned off the plane soon after its landing. All the passengers, pilots and crew members were evacuated safely.

According to Major General Matiur Rahman, the suspect, a Bangladeshi national identified as Mahadi, refused to surrender when asked to, forcing "the commandos to go for action (firing)", which "lasted eight minutes."

The hijacker succumbed to his injuries after the

Security forces surround the hijacked Dubai-bound Bangladesh Biman .

military commandos captured him (with gun shots)," Rahman said, adding that the suspect was carrying a gun.

Air force's Chattgram base commander Air Vice Marshal Mufidur Rahman said he kept the hijacker engaged in talks while special forces units prepared for the raid. "The man repeatedly wanted to talk to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said, adding that the hijacker allowed the

passengers to disembark the plane during the negotiation process.

Meanwhile, in a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority (CAAB) chairman Air Vice Marshal Naim Hassan said the hijacker was equipped with a hand gun and explosives.

An investigation would be carried out to determine how the man boarded the aircraft with arms and explosives, he said.

warehouses. There was a traffic jam when the fire broke out. It spread so quickly that people could not escape,” he said. TV images showed the main gate of one of the buildings was locked, leaving its residents trapped, unable to escape the blaze as it swept through its five storeys.

Witnesses said the victims also included passersby, some people who were eating food at a nearby restaurants and some

members of a wedding party.

Over 50 people, including women and children, were also injured and admitted to nearby hospitals.

Some of the residents were injured after they jumped off the building. The officials said narrow lanes made it difficult for the fire engines to reach the spot.

The fire fighters used helicopters and long hose pipes to set off the blaze.

22 WORLD

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2 - 8 March 2019

India wins big at the Oscars “I'm not crying because I'm on my period or anything. I can't believe a film on menstruation won an Oscar,” said Rayka Zehtabchi, an award-winning filmmaker who directed a short film set in rural India, titled 'Period. End of Sentence'. The movie won an Oscar over the weekend in the Documentary Short Subject category at the 91st Academy Awards. Other documentary shorts nominated in the category were 'Black Sheep', 'End Game', 'Lifeboat' and 'A Night at the Garden'.

The movie was co-produced

by Indian producer Guneet Monga's Sikhya Entertainment.

The film started off as a piece of 'The Pad Project', started by students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher Melissa Berton. Available on Netflix now, the documentary is set in Hapur village outside Delhi, and follows a group of women who club together in a beautiful act of sisterhood to create a new machine which allows them to create their own pads. It not only supplies sanitary products to the community but giving them a source of income. Whilst the machine makes the women in the community financially independent, it also helps to improve the community’s

‘Period. End of Sentence’ team with the award

conversation around periods.

The change in conversation proves to be crucial in a village where 23 per cent of girls leave school due to the culturallybased embarrassment they face around their periods.

The film brilliantly touches on 'The Pad Project'. The project’s mission comes with a powerful strap line, “When a girl gets her period in the United States, she may miss a class.

When a girl gets her period in a developing country, she may never go to school again.”

Berton dedicated the award to her school, saying the project was born because her students in LA and people in India. “I share this award with the

Feminist Majority Foundation, the entire team and cast. I share this with the teachers and students around the worlds: A period should end a sentence, not a girl's education,” she said.

Monga spoke on the occasion, and said, “Thank you to the Academy for the highest honour and for recognising the efforts of the young girls from Oakwood school in LA to Kathikera in UP in helping us shatter the glass ceiling. Periods are normal and in no way do they stop us from achieving anything. This has been more than 10 years of work of Action India run by Gauri Chaudhary on educating reproductive rights on the ground in many villages.

Feminist Majority Movement and Girls learn International have been pushing this cause in US.” Rami Malek wins Oscar for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Actor Rami Malek has won yet again at the Academy Awards for his role as Freddie Mercury in 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. He defeated a strong field, including Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in 'Vice' and Bradley Cooper as the droolworthy musician Jack Maine in 'A Star is Born'. Having previously picked up a string of awards for the role, including best actor from the Baftas and Screen Actors Guild, and Best Actor (Drama) at the Golden Globes, it was no surprise that he swung in the Oscar.

'Bohemian Rhapsody' is a biopic on Freddie Mercury of the British rock act Queen. The film has seen significant boxoffice success, despite a troubled production process. Born in Zanzibar to Parsi parents from India, Mercury's family moved to Middlesex, England, where he formed the iconic band in 1970.

He has written numerous hits for Queen including 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Killer Queen', 'Somebody to Love', 'Don't Stop Me Now', 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', and 'We are the Champions'.

UN Security Council condemns Pulwama attack havens and support UNITED NATIONS: The for terrorists,” even United Nations Security Council as President Donald (UNSC) has issued a statement Trump described condemning the Pulwama terror the Pulwama attack attack and underlining the need as a “horrible to hold those responsible situation” and said accountable. Significantly, Jaish“it would be e-Mohammed (JeM) has been wonderful if they named in the statement as (India and Pakistan) having taken responsibility for get along”. The US the attack. “The members of the formulation about Security Council condemned in denying safe havens the strongest terms the heinous and support to and cowardly suicide bombing terrorists expressed in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in over 40 Indian A group of protesters blocking the railway tracks in Mumbai. through the State Department was paramilitary forces dead and before in 2009 and 2016). UN addressed to “all countries”, but dozens wounded on February 14, Secretary General António it was clearly directed at 2019, for which Jaish-eGuterres called on India and Islamabad and Beijing.

Mohammed [JeM] has claimed Pakistan to defuse tensions and Last week, the White House responsibility,” the statement for “meaningful mutual said it “supported India’s right to said. Sources in the UN said the engagement.”

Condemning self-defence against crossstatement was released after terrorism in all its forms as one border terrorism” following the prolonged negotiations. China of the most serious threats to Pulwama attack that was wanted additional time to think international peace, the UNSC claimed by the Pakistan-based it through as it had some offered its condolences to those Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The concerns, they said. impacted by the attack. support, expressed by US France is also working, in Trump admin asks Pak, China National Security Advisor John parallel, to sanction JeM chief to deny safe havens to terrorists Bolton in telephone Masood Azhar at the UNSC. The Trump administration conversations with his Indian Similar action against Azhar in called on Pakistan and China to counterpart Ajit Doval, appeared 2017 was blocked by China “uphold their responsibilities to green light any punitive (India moved the 1267 Sanctions pursuant to UN Security action India is likely to take Committee to ban Azhar twice Council resolutions to deny safe

following the terror attack.

Pakistan hosts and protects Jaish’s leader Masood Azhar and China helps its ally by thwarting UN efforts to designate him a global terrorist, ostensibly to protect Beijing’s economic investments in the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor and prevent greater extremist activity in Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, but also to harass New Delhi.

New Zealand parliament condemns Pulwama attack Meanwhile, the New Zealand Parliament has passed a resolution condemning the terrorist attack in Pulwama.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who also holds the Foreign Ministry charge, stood up before the House and submitted a resolution - which was passed with an absolute majority.

The resolution expresses solidarity with the Indian government, stating that Auckland stands with New Delhi in this moment of grief. It also describes terrorism as one of the utmost challenges confronting the world.

Gujarati in US raises over $800,000 for jawans' families VIRGINIA: Viveik Patel, a 26year-old Gujarati from Vadodara who lives in Virginia, US, has managed to raise over $865,259 through Facebook's 'Fundraiser' portal to support the families of jawans who were killed in Pulwama. Patel started the fundraiser on Feb 14 itself and in just such a short time, he has managed to exceed his initial objective of raising $500,000.

Patel wrote on the Facebook page that he wanted to send the

money to CRPF. However, once the fundraiser started raking in multiple donations, many of those who had donated or were willing to donate had doubts about how Patel was sending the money to the people it was meant for. To clarify, Patel posted several

updates on Facebook.

According to his posts, Patel contacted the Indian Embassy and is currently hoping to connect with the Prime Minister's Office in Delhi to complete the transfer of funds. Patel wrote that he would Viveik Patel

only give the money to a government agency to ensure fairness.

According to reports, Patel and his friends had indeed been in contact with the CRPF regarding the transfer of funds.

Sandeep Chakravorty, ConsulGeneral at India in New York, also confirmed that Patel had collected the donations and efforts were being made to securely transfer the money to India now.

in brief IMMIGRATION FRAUD: PIO SAYS HE DUPED OVER 100 IN US A 70-year-old man of Indian-descent, who pretended to be a US government official, has admitted that he was running a multimillion dollar immigration fraud that duped over 100 people. Hardev Panesar admitted to the crimes in the San Diego court and agreed to pay back $2.5 million to the victims. Over a five-year period, he told numerous victims that he was an official of the department of homeland security and that he and his associates could get them and their families legal immigration status.

Just before his trial was to begin, Panesar jumped bail and fled to Mexico last June and hid there till he was caught by Mexican authorities who deported him to the US in August. Cutting short the trial process, he made the admission of guilt before federal judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is to sentence him in May. He faces a maximum jail sentence of 20 years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is continuing its probe.

TELANGANA MAN SHOT DEAD IN FLORIDA A man from Telangana was allegedly shot dead in Florida in the United States by unidentified gunmen. The 45-year-old Kotha Goverdhan Reddy had moved to Florida seven years ago and worked there as a manager at a store, according to Madhusudan Reddy, the brother of the victim. A native of Yadadri Bhongir district, Goverdhan is survived by his wife and two children. "We received information that two persons barged into the gas station store where Goverdhan was alone and opened fire on him," Madhusudan said. The family has sought the government's help to bring back the mortal remains of the deceased to India.

INDIAN-AMERICAN COUPLE FOUND DEAD WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS In an apparent case of 'murder-suicide', an Indian-American couple from Hyderabad was found dead in their home in Texas with gunshot wounds. However, the couple's 16-year-old daughter, who was also home at the time of the incident escaped the ordeal unhurt. The couple is also survived by their 21-year-old son, who is studying at the University of Texas. The incident came to light when the couple's neighbours called the cops after hearing gunshots. When police arrived, they found the wife, 46-year-old Shanti Nakirekanti, dead in the driveway with a gunshot wound to the head. The husband, 51-yearold Sreenivas, was found dead in the bedroom with a gunshot wound to the chest. The couple's daughter, who was at home during the incident, told police that she had been asleep, and was unaware of what had happened. Cops said that the deaths appear to be a case of 'murdersuicide' wherein Sreenivas shot Shanti before killing himself.

PAK COURT MOVED FOR BAN ON INDIAN FILMS A Pakistani man Sheikh Muhammad Latif has filed a petition asking the Lahore High Court to put a complete ban on trade, exhibition and selling of Indian films in Pakistan to reciprocate a ban on Pakistani artists working in Bollywood in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. Latif told the court that in 2016 the federal government had banned import of Indian films, but the Nawaz Sharif government had in 2017 allowed the display of Indian films through a notification. He pointed out that after the Pulwama attack, the All Indian Cine Workers announced a total ban on Pakistani actors working in the Indian film industry and also banned songs sung by Pakistani singers. He asked the Lahore High Court to set aside the impugned January 2017 notification, for being unlawful and direct the government to impose a complete ban on Indian films.

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2 - 8 March 2019

Time for world to act beyond talks on terror, says PM Modi in Seoul Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Seoul that the time has come for the global community to "come together" and "go beyond words" to act against terrorism, as he expressed his gratitude for South Korea's support in the wake of the Pulwama attack.

Addressing the media on the second day of his two-day visit after his talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Modi said: "I express my gratitude to President Moon for his condolences on Pulwama attack and his support against terror." He said the MoU signed between India's Home Ministry and South Korea's National Police Agency will enhance the counter-terrorism agenda.

Modi said both New Delhi and Seoul are committed to strengthen their mutual and global cooperation to combat terrorism. He said the defence sector is an important part of the country's growing partnership with South Korea. "And induction of K9 Vajra artillery gun in Indian Army is an example of this friendship. "To increase cooperation with South Korea in the defence

sector, we have agreed to make a roadmap for defence technology and coproduction," he said.

He also welcomed the partnership of South Korean companies in the defence industrial corridors being built. The bilateral relations between the two nations have reached new heights, he said, adding that the special strategic partnership that New Delhi-Seoul shares is "very significant" even for the world.

India aims to be among world's top 3 economies in next 15 years Addressing the Indian diaspora in Seoul, PM Modi said India is on the way to becoming a $5 trillion economy soon and hoped that the country would be among the world's top three economies in the next 15 years. He recalled several steps taken by his government in recent years, including several new initiatives like the Goods and Services Tax (GST), MUDRA initiative, to take India on a forward trajectory. He said that India is the world's fastestgrowing major economy.

"Today, India's economy is on the 6th position and it will not take time to reach

Modi receives Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 achievements of Modi was screened at the Prime Minister Modi received the event. While conferring the award on Modi, prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his the award committee recognised his contribution to international cooperation contribution to the growth of Indian and and fostering global economic growth. The global economies, crediting ‘Modinomics’ award was presented to him by the Seoul for reducing social and economic disparity Peace Prize Foundation at a grand ceremony between the rich and the poor. in Seoul. A short film on the life and being included in the menu not only celebrate all Indian the 5th spot," PM Modi said. here. Even Korean people festivals like Holi, Diwali, "It is our endeavour that have started knowing what Baisakhi but you also India finds a place in the top is the meaning of a involve your Korean friends three economies of the particular Indian dish," he in celebrations. "Now Indian world in one-and-a-half said. PM Modi said that restaurants have started decade," the prime minister Indian movies are becoming finding place in Korean said. increasingly popular in cities. Indian dishes are also "In Korea, you people

Korea. "Now we can also hear the voice of KabaddiKabaddi among the Korean children. In 2018, Korean team won Kabaddi's silver medal in the Asian Games. I congratulate all the Korean people for this feat," he said.

"I have already said that only one person can be the ambassador (Raajdoot) but every Indian, regardless of the place he lives in, is the country's representative (Raashtradoot). You are all India's ambassador," the prime minister said.

India's pride has increased due to the hard work and discipline of 30 million overseas Indians, he said, adding that overseas Indians are recognised as law-abiding citizens. This year is very important for India due to the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, he said.

"Unfortunately at that time, Gandhi was not given the kind of importance and recognition which a towering person like him deserved. The world knows Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, John F Kennedy... It is our dream that every children in the world knows about Mahatma Gandhi," PM Modi said.

83% say Modi-led govt most likely after LS polls

Oral submissions at ICJ in Jadhav case over

In a mega Times Group online poll, Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored high with over two-thirds 83 per cent of the over 2 Lakh respondents who took the survey saying a Modi-led NDA government was the most-likely possibility after the polls. The poll also indicates that the PM's personal popularity remains high. With general elections just around the corner, 84 per cent respondents said they would prefer Narendra Modi as PM candidate if general elections were held.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is a distant second as the mostpreferred choice for PM among online voters, with 8.33 per cent voting for him, followed by 1.44 per cent for Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, 0.43 per cent for BSP supremo Mayawati and 5.9 per cent voters predicting another political leader as the next PM. However, when asked if they considered Gandhi more popular compared to 2014, as many as 31 per cent responded in the affirmative, while 63 per cent felt the opposite.

Particularly, only 3.47 per cent respondent see a

Pakistan has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to “dismiss or declare inadmissible” India's claim for relief to former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav as it closed the fourday oral submissions at The Hague. Pakistan’s counsel rejected India's arguments that the military courts don't have officers with judicial expertise and experience, and said the military courts are “not above the law”, and Pakistan’s courts are “extremely independent”.

Last week, India had questioned the functioning of Pakistan’s nototrious military courts and urged the top UN court to annul Jadhav's death sentence, which is based on an “extracted confession”. On the final submission in the ICJ on the last day of the hearing, Pakistan counsel Khawar Qureshi told the judges, “India's claim for relief must be dismissed or declared inadmissible.

India's claim for relief (in the Jadhav case) remains as far fetched now as it was then (May 8, 2017).” Pak Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan said, “India seeks relief which they cannot claim from this court.” Asserting

non-NDA, non-UPA mahagathbandhan government as a likely scenario after the Lok Sabha poll. The poll was conducted online between February 11 and 20 in 9 languages across 13 media properties of the Times Group. The results were concealed from respondents during the 9 days of online polling to negate motivated voting.

Almost half a million voted for this survey, however, in order to negate any attempt at gaming the result,votes of only logged in users were

counted.

When asked to rate five years of the Modi government, over twothirds of respondents rated its track record as good or very good. Out of this, 'very good' accounted for 59.51 per cent and 'good' for 22.29 per cent. Around 8.25 per cent termed it as average, while 9.9 per cent found it to be poor.

The online survey asked respondents to rate the biggest successes as well as failures of the Modi government.

that the military court in Pakistan works according to the Constitution, he asked the ICJ to “dismiss India's request” in the case.

Khan also assured the court that the process of judicial review in Pakistan was robust and Jadhav can avail it if he chooses. He told the court, “Jadhav has been charged with terrorism for which an FIR has been registered with the police that is a civilian agency. The military courts have sufficient proof of espionage and the said military court on the available evidence and the judicial confession proceeded to convict him despite he being given the option of going for a judicial review, he has refused to do so.”

Khan also said India claims consular access,

“surely (it) was not allowed for good reason in terms of the agreement of 2008, specially for the reason that commander Jadhav being involved in espionage.”

Qureshi said, “India is hammering the fact to twist it, it is hammering the law to break it.”

Khan also brought up the Kashmir issue and said Pakistan was awaiting India's response on the Samjhauta train blast case and has sought evidence on his country's role in the Pulwama terror attack. After his submission, ICJ top judge Abdulwaqi Ahmed Yusuf adjourned the hearing and sad a date for the judgment would be announced later.

Jadhav, a retired Navy officer, was arrested allegedly on March 3, 2016, and India was informed of this on March 25, 2016, when the Pakistan Foreign Secretary raised the matter with the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad.

On that day, India sought consular access to Jadhav at the earliest. New Delhi then moved the ICJ in May in 2017 against the “farcical trial” by the military court of Pakistan against 48-year-old Jadhav.

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SOUTH INDIA

in brief

Cong-DMK synonymous with corruption: Amit Shah RAMANATHAPURAM: In his first address in Tamil Nadu after forging a coalition with AIADMK and PMK, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah called the alliance of Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as synonymous with corruption.

Shah said, “DMK and Congress party who indulged in £120 billion of scam can't work for the development of Tamil Nadu.

Congress and DMK are synonymous with corruption while the BJP and NDA stand for development and governance.”

In 2014, however, the BJP had partnered with the DMK in Tamil Nadu. The alliance had won only two seats while the

Amit Shah

AIADMK won 37 Lok Sabha seats.

Speaking in a Shakti Kendra Pramukh Sammelan, Shah said, “Those who involve in the 2G scam, Adarsh scam, AgustaWestland helicopter

scam, and coal scam can't work for the development of the people. I dare DMK chief Stalin and Rahul Gandhi to give an account of the development of Tamil Nadu to its people. In the 13th Finance Commission, Congress-led UPA government gave only £ 9.45 billion to Tamil Nadu whereas the NDA government gave around £54.2 billion for the development of Tamil Nadu. This is 500 per cent more than what the Congressled IPA government has given.”

Regarding the alliance of BJP in Tamil Nadu, Shah said, “We are not going to fight the election on just five seats. We are going to fight elections on 40 seats in alliance with AIADMK. I

am confident that we will win more than 35 seats in Tamil Nadu in the upcoming elections.” The BJP will contest five out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and has put up its candidate for lone Lower House seat in Puducherry. Seven seats (six Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha) have been allotted to the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) for the Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking on the Pulwama terror attack, Shah said, “Two brave hearts of Tamil Nadu laid down their lives protecting the country in Jammu and Kashmir.

I bow to the bravery of the security personnel martyred in Jammu and Kashmir.”

PUNJAB

SAD-BJP target Sidhu in Punjab assembly CHANDIGARH: There was major drama inside the Punjab Assembly last week, as a verbal duel took place between Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia. State Finance Minister Manpreet Badal's budget speech got disrupted as SAD-BJP MLAs gathered in the well of the House and stood just a few feet away from Sidhu shouting slogans against him and Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. Waiving photos of Sidhu hugging the Pak General, and sitting next to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the MLAs protested against his alleged failure to condemn Pakistan for the Pulwama attack.

The slogans and targeting continued for over half an hour without any intervention from anyone in the Congress ranks.

Navjot Singh Sidhu

Also present in the House when the incident took place, was Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Eventually, when the Speaker intervened and asked the SAD-BJP MLAs to desist from disturbing the House, Sidhu got up from his seat and entered into verbal spat with Majithia. Even so, no Congress MLA came to his aid for a long time until Amritsar (South)

MLA, Inderbir Singh Bolaria came to Sidhu's side and took on the Akalis and Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra also rushed forward.

Later, Cooperatives Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa rose in Sidhus' defence and starting shouting at Majithia. With more and more MLAs gathered around a visibly agitated Sidhu to support him, the Speaker asked the Marshals to escort the SAD-BJP MLAs out of the House for the rest of the day and adjourned the House for 15 minutes. Sidhu attempted to follow the SAD-BJP MLAs outside the House, but was restrained by some Congress MLAs. Things got more dramatic when the house adjourned as Sukhjinder Randhawa berated his fellow MLAs for not having adequately taken on Majithia. He could also

be heard using disparaging terms about own government for not having acted against Majithia and allowing him to roam free. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra, Ferozepur MLA Parminder Singh Pinky and Sports Minister Gurmit Singh Sodhi gathered in a huddle around Amarinder even as Navjot Sidhu kept shouting at the top of his voice and gesticulating wildly.

Later, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that everyone had the right to voice their opinion and it was up to Sidhu to explain his stand on the Pulwama attack. The CM said that Sidhu was a cricketer, while he was a soldier and both had different viewpoints on things, adding that the minister should have realised that he had gone overboard with his Pakistan visit.

WEST BENGAL

Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar transferred NEW DELHI: Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who was recently embroiled in a controversy over the investigation of the Saradha scam by the Central Bureau of Investigation, has been posted as Additional Director General of Police (ADG) and Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), West Bengal.

He was replaced by Anuk Sharma as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner. A 1989batch IPS officer, Kumar is accused of tampering with the evidence in connection with the Saradha scam.

On February 5, the CBI told the Supreme Court that Kumar,

who was leading the SIT in the Saradha chit fund scam, had destroyed and tampered with evidence that could frame prime and potential accused persons.

The top court then directed Kumar to “faithfully” cooperate into the investigation.

The agency had a strong prima facie case of Kumar having committed offences both under Prevention of Corruption Act and other IPC offences has been made out. The agency also claimed that companies like Shardha, Rose Valley, and Tower Group had given huge contributions to the Trinamool Congress.

The CBI, which filed an additional affidavit in pursuance

CONG, DMK FORGE ALLIANCE IN TAMIL NADU DMK chief MK Stalin announced that the Congress will contest nine seats in Tamil Nadu and one seat in Puducherry as part of the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. After a discussion between Congress and DMK leaders, Stalin announced that the details of seats the Congress and other alliance partners will contest will be announced later. When asked about the number of seats the DMK will contest, Stalin said the party would contest the seats left after seat-sharing with other partners is finalised. AICC general secretary Mujul Wasnik, who is in charge of part affairs in Tamil Nadu, and party MP and general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal were among the senior Congress leaders who took part in the discussions. Durai Murugan and other senior leaders represented the DMK.

KCR EXPANDS CABINET; NO BERTH FOR SON, NEPHEW In an end to an over two-month long speculation, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expanded his twomember Cabinet by inducting 10 ministers, including six new faces. However, there were no berths for his son and working party president KT Rama Rao and nephew T Harish, who were part of the earlier ministry. The first-time ministers, who took oath, were Singireddy Niranjan Reddy, Koppula Eswar, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Srinivas Goud, Vemula Prasanth Reddy and Ch. Malla Reddy. Indrakaran Reddy, Talasani Srinivasa Yadav, Jagadeesh Reddy and Eatela Rajendhar. The oath of office and secrecy was administered to the new minister by Governor ESL Narasimhan. In the first term, the KCR Cabinet had 16 ministers while now it comprises of 12 members, including Chief Minister Rao and Home Minister Mahmood Ali.

CONG PLANS TO CONTEST APEX GURDWARA BODY POLLS IN PUNJAB The Congress has announced plans to take part in the elections to the apex gurdwara body which the ruling party said has failed in its role of propagating the message of the Sikh Gurus. Party's Patti MLA Harminder Singh Gill said, “I am ready to contest the polls to free the SGPC from the control of the Akali Dal. This institution of Sikhism has been politicised because present president Gobind Singh Longowal has contested the MLA elections while disgraced Akali leaders like Sucha Singh Langah and Dyal Singh Koliianwali are at the helm of its affairs.” He said this while speaking on a resolution on bill BJP MLA Som Parkash proposed to prevent exploitation of particular section of society over growing superstition and beliefs.

TMC LEADER SHOT DEAD IN WEST BENGAL Rajeev Kumar

to February 4's order in which the apex court had directed the top cop to appear before the CBI, and in spite of continuous insistence and follow up by it, Kumar furnished only CDRs of the prime accused on June 28, 2018.

The officers were detained and taken into custody by Kolkata Police when they arrived at Kumar's residence to quiz him.

The CBI had then approached

Anuj Sharma

the apex court seeking its intervention in this case. In his affidavit, Kumar said he was “subjected to approximately 40 hours of questioning spread over five days, from February 9 to February 13” during which he was in Shillong, and “continued to join the investigation, responding to each query truthfully and to his best knowledge, despite the questions being repetitive in nature.”

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Naju Sheikh was shot dead in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Monday, only a few weeks after party MLA Satyajit Biswas was gunned down in the state's Nadia district. Sheikh was walking in Gopal Ghat when bike-borne assailants stopped him and shot him in the chest at point-blank range. He died on the spot. A police team has reached the spot and is trying to identity the shooters and the motive for the murder. A political row began soon after his killing, as Nadia TMC president Gourishankar Dutta had blamed BJP and followers of saffron party leader Mukul Roy for the murder.

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HERITAGE HISTORY

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2 - 8 March 2019

From Morarji Desai to Narendra Modi • Congress benefited from split in Janata Party, Indira bounced back • Assassination of Rajiv paved way for Narsimha Rao to be the PM disaster with numerous controversy about her haratiya Lok Dal (or the Janata party) emerged allegations of corruption foreign origin.

Dr. victorious in March 1977 elections defeating the and scams. 2G, Coal Block, Manmohan Singh was Congress for the first time. The BLD was formed at the Adarsh, Commonwealth chosen as the Prime end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to Games to name a few. The Minister. the autocratic rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra silence of the Prime The Congress led UPA Party, the Utkal Congress, the Bharatiya Kranti Dal, and the Minister and the perception implemented a lot of its Socialist Party. In 1977, the BLD combined with the Jan that he had no real power promises including the Sangh and the Indian National Congress (Organization) to made matters worse. enactment of Right to form the Janata Party. The newly formed Janata Party The BJP was successfully Information (RTI) & the contested the 1977 elections on the BLD symbol and formed able to project Narendra National Rural Employment independent India’s first non congress government though Modi as the man of the hour Guarantee Scheme headed by Morarji having two Deputy PMs Charan Singh and also as its Prime (NREGS). It also waived off and Jagjivan Ram, all the three former Congressmen.

Ministerial candidate in farm loans in 2008. Against The BLD won 295 of the 542 seats while Congress could Three PMs : Indira, Rajiv and Narsimha Rao 2014. Rahul Gandhi could this background, it went win only 154. Morarji had to step down in 1979 after couple while the Congress last long following not match Narendra Modi. into the polls in 2009. The of parties in the Janata alliance pulled out. He was succeeded improved its tally to 145. The differences within the The BJP won majority on its NDA on the other hand was

by Charan Singh. After the failure of the Janata experiment, regional parties again ruled Janata Dal. own with 282 seats while the led by L K Advani. The Congress (I) under the leadership of Indira Gandhi bounced the roost with 159 seats.

In the 1998 election, the back to power in 1980 winning a handsome 353 of the 529 Congress recorded its worst Congress won 206 seats, a The BJP conceded defeat BJP emerged as the single seats. There was no Leader of Opposition (LoP). ever performance with just huge improvement from and the Congress then largest party with 182 seats 44 seats. This was the first 2004.

The BJP could win Singh who went onto After PM Indira Gandhi formed the United out of 543. Congress won 141 time since 1984 that a party only 116. The regional become the Prime Minister was assassinated on 31 Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the other regional won a majority on its own. parties won 146 seats. in 2004 and 2009.

October 1984, the anti-Sikh with support from other parties won 101 seats. The The UPA came to power The Indian National riots broke out which took parties and outside support for the second term in a row. toll of nearly 3,000 innocent from the left parties.

Dr. Manmohan Singh was persons. They were a series Dr. Hari Desai Though elected leader of the sworn in as the Prime of pogroms directed against UPA, Sonia Gandhi refused Minister for the second (The writer is a Socio-political Sikhs in India. Riding on the to become the Prime time. The second term of Historian. wave of sympathy, the Minister amidst the the UPA proved to be a E-mail: haridesai@gmail.com) Congress party under her elder son Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership came to power Gift your loved ones an Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar winning 404 of the 514 seats. subscription for Birthday, Wedding & Anniversary The BJP made its electoral debut winning 2 seats, one in Gujarat and another in Andhra Pradesh (Now Telangana). Rajiv Graceful PMs : Atal Bihari and Dr. Manmohan Singh Gandhi became the Prime Congress went into the Minister.

The Bofors BJP formed the National election on the back of scandal, LTTE and other Democratic Alliance (NDA) several government scandals issues worked against the with other regional parties. and accusations of Congress. There was a hung Atal Bihari Vajpayee was mishandling. There were house for the first time in sworn in as the Prime various factions within the 1989 elections with no party Minister for the second congress. The BJP grew from getting a majority. The time. His government could ear strength to strength and Congress won 197, The One y on for not last long and he had to t p d emerged as the single largest Janata Dal 143 and the BJP 85 ri i subsc amachar an ly resign after 13 months in party in a hung house. The out of 529 seats. The BJP n S o t s i a r office after the AIADMK Guja oice in UK BJP won 161 seats, Congress made impressive gains.

V withdrew support. The NDA Asian 140 and the Janata Dal 46.

The Janata Dal formed lost by just one vote when The rise of regional the National Front Dr. Giridhar Gamang, the G Exclusive news, Outstanding columnists parties started with this government with outside then Chief Minister of G Excelent value for your subscription election. The regional support from BJP and the Odisha and also a MP, voted parties won 129 seats. left parties. Vishwanath G For 50 weekly issues and several special magazines plus Annual Calendar against the NDA. Prominent among them Pratap Singh became the RATES The nuclear tests at UK EUROPE WORLD were TDP, Shiv Sena and the Prime Minister. His rival in VALID FROM Pokhran, The Kargil war DMK. As per the prevailing the Janata Dal, Chandra G.S. A.V. Both G.S. A.V. Both G.S. A.V. Both 1-2-2018 were some of the important custom, the President Shekhar broke away in 1990 1 Year £30.50 £30.50 £36.50 £79 £79 £131 £95 £95 £154.50 incidents in this term. The invited BJP to form the and formed the Samajwadi 2 Years £55 £55 £66.50 £147 £147 £252 £174 £174 £288 1999 elections were held in government.

The BJP Janata Party. As a result, VP the backdrop of the Kargil Please Note: Subscriptions are non-refundable after 30 days attempted to build a Singh had to step down. war. The BJP again emerged Please detach this form and send it with your payment or credit card instructions to address below coalition, but could not go Chandra Shekhar then as the single largest party far and Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM in 1990 with GUJARAT SAMACHAR & ASIAN VOICE with 182 seats while the had to resign as the PM in 13 the external support of Please tick as appropriate: congress could win only 114.

12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW Congress.

Even this Next Column: This time the regional Gujarat Samachar & Asian Voice Tel: 020 7749 4080 • Fax: 020 7749 4081 experiment lasted only for a Humour and Witt in the parties won 158 seats. short while forcing general Gujarat Samachar E-mail: support@abplgroup.com • Website: www.abplgroup.com The BJP was able to form Indian Parliament elections in just 2 years. a more stable NDA this time Rajiv Gandhi was NAME around and this was the first days.

His resignation assassinated in the run up to ADDRESS time that a non congress address in the Loksabha is the 1991 general elections by alliance lasted a full five year POST CODE TEL: well known. the LTTE. Though no party term. Atal Bihari Vajpayee The Congres Party could get a majority, the Email: was sworn in as the Prime declined to form the Congress emerged as the I’d like to be kept up to date by email with offers and news from ABPL Minister for the third time. government but chose to single largest party with 232 In 2004, the BJP went in I enclose a cheque/ postal order of £................... made payable to Gujarat Samachar extend outside support to seats while the BJP won 120 for early elections alongside Janata Dal and other smaller seats out of 521 seats. P V Please charge my Visa Mastercard Credit Debit card for launching an ‘India Shining’ parties that formed into the Narasimha Rao headed a £ Card Expiry date campaign. Though it could ‘United Front’. Out of minority government and win the middle class vote, Card No: nowhere, H D Deve Gowda was the first person from the poorer sections voted for became the Prime Minister South India to occupy the the Congress and other and he lasted for 18 months Prime Minister’s chair. He is Signature Date regional parties resulting in before he had to step down credited with ushering in the defeat of the NDA. The and make way for I. K. economic reforms and also BJP could win only 138 seats Gujral. He also could not identifying Dr. Manmohan

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Saudi Crown Prince promises cooperation in combating terrorism Saudi crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) promised cooperation in combating terrorism, stating India and Saudi Arabia agreed on the need to put pressure on countries that back terror while also offering to share intelligence with India. During his discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MBS said, “As far as terrorism and extremism are concerned, which are common concerns, I want to tell India that we will extend all cooperation to you, be it intelligence-sharing... Not only with India but also with the neighbouring countries.”

His remarks came two days after a Saudi Arabia and Pakistan Joint Statement said there should not be “politicisation” of terror lists.

However, during his visit to India, Prince Salman agreed to share intelligence with India on counterterrorism and, importantly,

agreed that terrorists should come under UN sanctions.

He also said Saudi Arabia will invest $100 billion in the Indian economy. In his remarks, Modi said, “We have agreed that terrorism should not be supported in any form, and we should put pressure on countries that back terror. To end terror infrastructure, ending support to terror groups and punishing them is essential, so that young people don't take up arms... I'm glad Saudi Arabia agrees with India on this.”

In an interview, Saudi deputy Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir indicated the Saudi-Pakistan joint statement not be read in reference to Jaish-eMuhammed leader Masood Azhar. “Our policy on listing individuals is very clear. If someone is engaged in terrorism, if someone belongs to a terror organisation that is

responsible for murdering people... and if you can't capture that person, he or she has to be designated so that they cannot roam the world freely,” he said.

Meanwhile, MBS said the relation between both countries were “older than history” and these were “in blood”. He said Saudi Arabia was among the most important strategic partners of India in the 21st century.

“It is in our extended neighbourhood, is a close friend and an important source of India's energy needs. I am happy that in accordance with you suggestion, we have agreed for biennial summit meetings and Strategic Partnership Council. This will strengthen our ties,” MBS said. Modi said both leaders discussed all aspects of the bilateral relationship and decided to take it to new heights. “We agreed to create a structure to

Saudi crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Narendra Modi

facilitate institutional investment from Saudi Arabia. I welcome Saudi Arabia's investment in infrastructure.” Ministry of

External Affairs secretary (ER) TS Tirumurthi said India and Saudi Arabia agreed in the joint statement that terrorists and their

organisations should come under comprehensive sanctions by the UN. He said, “We have a specific context for saying this.”

India avenges Jaish terror attack Continued from page 1

The jets hit Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chikoti at 3.45 am and was over at 3.53 am. The Hitting Balakot comes as a historic high for IAF because it not only crossed the LoC (Line of Actual Control), they crossed the entire Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and hit the target inside Khyber Pakhtukhwa.

It was also the biggest Jaish camp.

Reportedly, the IAF had deployed an elaborate support system for these surgical strikes.

Surveillance was heightened, Heron drones and early-warning system AWACS were used to keep an eye on any action emanating from Pakistan while mid-air refuellers were also deployed for any possible emergency use.

There are several unconfirmed reports that Pakistan might have tried to intercept IAF jets but failed since even Pakistan did not claim of shooting down any Indian jet. A report said that while Pak jets did scramble to retaliate, they turned back due to the sheer size of the Indian formation. Tuesday morning, the Pakistan government confirmed that Indian forces carried out 'non-military pre-emptive' strike on terrorist camps of the Jaish-eMohammed in Pakistan.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale read out a prepared statement to media and said, “On 14 February 2019, a suicide terror attack was conducted by a Pak based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad, leading to the martyrdom of 40 brave jawans of the CRPF. JeM has been active in Pakistan for the last two decades, and is led by Masood Azhar with its headquarters in Bahawalpur.”

“India has been repeatedly urging Pakistan to take action against the JeM to prevent jihadis from being trained and armed inside Pakistan. Pakistan has taken no concrete actions to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil. Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary.”

Pakistan's response to the strike The constant violation of cease-fire at the India-Pakistan border is proof enough of how India has finally gotten under Pakistan's skin.

Pakistan army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said the strikes caused no casualties.

He tweeted that Pakistani jets were scrambled

and forced the Indian planes to make a “hasty withdrawal,” dropping their payload in an open area. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan convened an urgent meeting of national security chiefs and condemned “irresponsible Indian policy.”

“Once again [the] Indian government has resorted to a self-serving, reckless and fictitious claim,” a statement issued after the meeting said. “This action has been done for domestic consumption, being in an election environment, putting regional peace and stability at grave risk.” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India has committed “aggression” by violating the LoC and Islamabad has “right to respond.”

Qureshi said Pakistan will take international media to the area of strikes. Helicopters are being readied, right now weather is bad, will fly when weather permits, he said.

“First, they committed aggression against Pakistan today. It is a violation of the LoC. I consider it a violation of the LoC, and Pakistan has right to give a suitable response in self defence,” he told reporters after an “emergency meeting” with high-level officials at the Foreign Office for consultations.

Pakistan Senator Sherry Rehman, a leading opposition leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said that “Indian incursion” across the LOC is strategically “ill-advised and tactically pointless.”

Pakistan drone shot down near Gujarat border A Pakistani unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down on Tuesday near the International Border in Kutch district of Gujarat, police sources said. Debris of the UAV was seen near Nanghatad village in Abdasa taluka of Kutch, they said. On hearing a loud sound around 6 am, villagers went to the spot and found the debris of the UAV, the sources said. A police official said “Such an incident has happened, we are investigating the matter.”

He, however, refused to elaborate further.

Indian Cabinet meets after IAF operation The Cabinet Committee on Security met at the residence of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Indian Air Force carried out air strikes in Pakistan. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were present at the meeting. Sources said National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, other top

officials of the Prime Minister's office and security officials were also present at the meeting. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan praised the Air Force for the strike. She also congratulated Prime Minister Modi, saying the action sent a strong message to Pakistan that it should not look at India with evil eyes.

Mahajan said the operation was so swift that Pakistan appeared clueless about what happened. “Our air warriors returned unscathed after taking action against the terrorists' hideouts but the neighbouring country is still clueless about what happened,” she said.

Meanwhile, Punjab has put its border districts on high alert in the wake of the strikes, Chief Minister's Office said. A couple of hours after the news broke, Modi said that the country is in safe hands. As he went onto the stage in Rajasthan’s Churu district to address a rally, “Aapka ye bhavnaye, aapka ye utsah, aapka ye josh, mai bhali bhati samajh raha hu (Your emotions, this enthusiasm and this energy of yours, I am able to understand it quite well).” “Aaj Churu ki dharti se mai desh vasiyon ko vishwas dilate hu ki desh surakshit hathon me hai (Today, from this land of Churu, I want to assure the people of this country that the country is in safe hands). Jaag raha hai desh mera, har bharatwasi jitega, saugandh mukhe is mitti ki, mai desh nahi mitne dunga (The country is awakening, every person from Bharat will win, I swear by this soil, I won’t let this country being erased),” Modi said.

International reaction to the air strike The global community expressed concern and urged India to “exercise restraint.” The European Union (EU) has called for 'maximum restraint' from India, Pakistan after the airstrike, as reported in the international media. The Australian government also urged Pakistan to take “urgent and meaningful action” against terrorist groups in its territory.

In a press release, the Australian government said, “Pakistan must do everything possible to implement its own proscription of Jaish-eMohammed. It can no longer allow extremist groups the legal and physical space to operate from its territory.” “Pakistan must take urgent and meaningful action against terrorist groups in its territory, including Jaish-e-Mohammed which has claimed responsibility for the 14 February bombing, and Lashkar-e-Taiba.”

Australia also urged both India and

Pakistan to exercise restraint as tension runs high with the latest counter-terrorism measure opted by the Indian security forces in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

Foreign diplomats from USA, UK, Russia, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey and six Asean nations have been briefed by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on the airstrike.

China, too, asked India to “exercise restraint” at this crucial hour. According to a news report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media in Beijing that the country has “taken note of relevant reports.” “I want to say that India and Pakistan are both important countries in South Asia. A sound relationship and cooperation between the two serves the interests of both the countries and peace and stability in South Asia,” he said. “We hope that both India and Pakistan can exercise restraint and do more to improve their bilateral relations,” Lu Kang said.

Obituary Ramanbhai Ambalal Patel It is with deep regret that we announce the sad departure of Ramanbhai Ambalal Patel, on February 25, at the age of 84. He passed away peacefully at home, leaving behind his two sons, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

Mrs Kamlaben Ramanbhai Patel It is with deep regret that we announce the sad demise of our mother Mrs Kamlaben Ramanbhai Patel on 31st January 2019 at the age 98. She passed away peacefully in Vadodara, India, leaving behind three sons, a daughter and grand children and great grandchildren.

Those who wish to reach out to the family, please call on 01322 524 387

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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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2 - 8 March 2019

Prebiotic fibre can help reduce body fat When it comes to losing weight, the bacteria in the stomach play a very important role. Additionally, foods that promote the growth of good bacteria in the gut can improve overall health by regulating hormones and by extension, mood. There are two categories of foods which are responsible for boosting populations of healthy bacteria in the gut probiotics and prebiotics. A sufficiently large body of research has concluded that including both these types of foods in your diet can be beneficial for you, particularly when it comes to promoting weight management. Probiotics are foods that fight to enhance the colonies of good bacteria in your gut, while prebiotics provide the ideal environment so that the existent bacteria are able to derive nourishment to survive.

Prebiotics are said to be non-digestible carbohydrates, which are used up by the gut microbiota and are

usually present in foods that are rich in fibre. Both probiotic foods and prebiotics complement each other and help the good bacteria to flourish in your gut. They stay in the gut much longer than probiotics, as they are not digested by the gastrointestinal tract. Several studies have concluded that they play a more significant role in weight loss than probiotics. Let's look at how exactly prebiotics help in weight loss and how you can include more prebiotics in your daily diet.

A healthy and diverse microbiome is the key to

maintaining a healthy metabolism, and hence, gaining control over your weight. According to a Harvard University blog, gut bacteria facilitate weight loss by taking an active part in our digestion process and the nature of the bacteria in your gut determines how well or poorly the food is absorbed in your body. The role of gut bacteria in weight loss isn't very well established but some studies have indeed found a link between the two. Some experts have argued that prebiotics are even better than probiotics in promoting weight loss.

An October 2014 study, published in the Journal of Functional Foods, suggested that prebiotic fibre can help absorb intestinal fat, and hence, may be used as an effective way of bringing about weight loss. The study said the prebiotic fibre may hinder absorption of calories into the blood stream, thus, hampering weight gain.

Another study conducted in September 2017 and published in the journal Gastroenterology looked at the link between body fat in obese kids and consumption of prebiotics and it also had favourable things to say about the role of prebiotics in reducing body fat.

Some common prebiotic foods that you can include in your daily weight loss diet include onions, garlic, asparagus, leeks, artichokes, bananas etc. Consult your nutritionist to understand prebiotics better and for effective tips to include them in your diet.

Supermarkets misleading shoppers Products high in salt and saturated fats are being marketed as healthy by leading supermarkets, BBC Radio 5 Live Investigates has found.

The British Dietetic Association said stores including Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's were being "unhelpful" and "confusing" customers.

The Royal Society for Public Health called for an independent supermarket regulator.

Supermarkets said they were committed to "promoting healthy eating".

BBC researchers visited the top five supermarkets in the UK and found Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Tesco were stocking products high in salt and saturated fat in sections marked "healthier choices" and "healthy and diet meals".

Morrisons' "healthier choices" section contained a vegetarian steak slice with almost 10g of saturated fat nearly half of the recommended maximum daily amount.

The supermarket said the item "provides customers with a redmeat free alternative".

Sainsbury's edamame, coconut and lemongrass falafel contained more than 6g of saturated fat per half pack - around a third of the recommended maximum daily amount and was located in their "healthier choices" section.

In Tesco's "healthy and diet meals" section, a "lamb hotpot" contained 8.5g of saturated fat, 45% of the rec-

Walk to the shops Scientists say that the best way for people to get fitter could be to accept that we are not going to keep new year resolutions and instead learn how to turn daily tasks into opportunities for high-intensity exercise.

Research suggests that interval training, in which people do vigorous exercise for a short time, gives a disproportionate boost to health.

Some public health officials recommend increasing this type of exercise.

Emmanuel Stamatakis, from the University of Sydney, says that it gives the

“best bang for the buck”, but keeping it up is still hard.

Professor Stamatakis said that by adapting daily schedules most people could exploit “incidental physical activity [which is] any activity that is part of one’s daily living that is not done with the purpose of recreation or health and requires no sacrifice of discretionary time. For example, walking or cycling to move from place to place, stair-climbing and active daily chores, such as carrying heavy shopping and house-cleaning.”

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement any advice. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

ommended maximum daily amount.

Registered nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed said she was "quite shocked" at

some of the items being marketed as 'healthier choices'.

She said: "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with eating them or consuming them in moderation - but telling consumers these are healthier options is a bit misleading."

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) said many products are being identified as "healthy" because they are vegetarian, vegan, free from certain ingredients, or have fewer calories.

But, it said, many have high levels of fat, salt or sugar, and are highly processed.

A British Dietetic Association (BDA) spokesperson said supermarkets had a "duty of care" to their customers.

"It is unhelpful and confusing to the consumer, and supermarkets should avoid doing this," they added.

"They should be promoting and educating people to buy foods that actually are healthy - not just marketed as being so."

PTSD in teenagers One in 13 young people in England and Wales experiences post-traumatic stress disorder by the age of 18, the first research of its kind suggests.

A study of more than 2,000 18-year-olds found nearly a third had experienced trauma in childhood.

And a quarter of these then developed PTSD, which can cause insomnia, flashbacks and feelings of isolation.

Researchers say, with many young people not receiving the support they need, the study should be a "wake-up call".

The study, found slightly more than half of those who had had PTSD - an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events - had also experienced a major depres-

Health Matters Dr Preethi Daniel, Clinical Director, London Doctors Clinic

Why is Vitamin D deficiency an issue in BAME communities It is thought that around one in five people in the UK suffers from vitamin D deficiency. Interestingly, people from a BAME community are at higher risk of suffering from a deficiency. Why is this the case?

What is vitamin D and how do we normally obtain it?

Vitamin D, otherwise known as the sunshine vitamin, is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps regulate minerals such as calcium and phosphate in the body.

Much of the vitamin D in our body is made naturally from exposure to sunlight and naturally levels increase in the summer months when days are considerably longer and brighter.

In addition to natural sunlight, some foods can also be a source of vitamin D. These are: Oily fish Egg yolks Fortified cereals (cereals which have added vitamins and minerals) Cheese Red meat

What are the benefits of vitamin D? Vitamin D has several benefits but one of its main purposes is to keep your bones strong and helps to reduce general aches and pains. Another key benefit of Vitamin D is that is can help to regulate and boost your mood – which is one of the contributors to our mood being generally lower in the winter.

Some of the most common signs that you are lacking vitamin D are feelings of fatigue, low mood, reduced productivity and difficulty coping with stress. You may experience aches and pains.

Why is vitamin D deficiency so prevalent in the BAME community?

sive episode and one in five had attempted suicide.

But only the same proportion - one in five - had been seen by a mental health professional in the past year.

Lead researcher Dr Stephanie Lewis, a Medical Research Council-funded researcher at the King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, said: "Providing effective treatments early on could prevent mental health problems continuing into adulthood."

Increased melanin (the pigment in skin and hair which imparts your skin tone) in the skin reduces the skin’s ability to absorb UV rays from the sun. This means those from BAME backgrounds do not have the ability to produce much vitamin D from the sun.

Also, as a large proportion of Asians follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, it is also more difficult to get vitamin D from food.

How can those in the BAME communities who are deficient ensure that they are getting enough?

As those in BAME communities do not get as much vitamin D boost sunlight, it is important to be more proactive in obtaining it. Therefore, try to spend as much time outdoors as possible and look for fortified cereals and fat spreads.

In some instances, supplements are recommended, particularly for those that are low or are at a higher risk of being low in vitamin D. These supplements are available widely and the recommendation is for around 10 micrograms of vitamin D daily.

28 BOLLYWOOD

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2 - 8 March 2019

Will Smith all praises for Ranveer Singh Hollywood's Will Smith had a special message for his friend Ranveer Singh.

Impressed with Singh's performance as a street rapper Murad in recently released 'Gully Boy', the actor took to his Instagram account and posted a video with a message. He says, “Yo Ranveer, congrats man! I am loving what you're doing with 'Gully Boy'. For me, old school hip hop here scene... hip hop all over the world like that I am loving it, man, congrats Go get em!”

Now, in an eagerly anticipated response to Smith,Singh took to the photo and video sharing website and posted a heartwarming response for the admiration. In the first slide in his Instagram story, he wrote

song for Karan Johar's 'Student of the Year 2'. The 'Aladdin' actor had then shared a few photos with KJo and Singh and captioned them, “'Gully Boy' is a film that hits all the right notes with its captivating storytelling, direction, acting and songs!”

'Shoutout from the original rapper slash actor – BIG WILLY! RESPECT”. While the second one read, “SALAAM TUMKO BADE BHAI! BOHT HARD.” Singh and Smith had spent some time together when the Hollywood star came to India last year to shoot for a special

Boman Irani to play Ratan Tata in Modi biopic The latest addition to the star cast of Boman Irani is the latest addition to Omung Kumar's 'PM Narendra Modi'. The 59 year old will play the role of business tycoon Ratan Tata in the biopic. “I have always received comments n o

Kareena Kapoor's dating advice to Sara

Kareena Kapoor Khan's camaraderie with Sara Ali Khan has always been refreshingly modern and sorted.

Both of them have been open about their relationship and how they

have been friends. Recently on a chat show with her friend Amrita Arora, Kareena was asked about the dating advice to Sara. To which she promptly replied, “Don't date your first hero.” Sara made her debut

opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in 'Kedarnath', and delivered a blockbuster with 'Simmba' opposite Ranveer Singh.

Kareena also spoke about her husband Saif's one habit that irritates her. “That he needs to have a foot massage anywhere in the world. Be it in aircraft, airport lounge, he will be the first one to lie down on that thing and go arre haan, pair daba do.” Meanwhile, Sara had initially called Kareena her friend and the 'Veere Di Wedding' actress had even backed her up.

“I have always said this to Saif, Sara, and ibrahim that I can only be their friend, I can never be their mother because they already have an amazing mother who's brought them up spectacularly. I'm meant to be their friend. I love them dearly and whenever I am wanted or my advice needed, I'm there for both at any point in their life,” Kareena had said.

Siddhant Chaturvedi reveals best compliment he received was from Deepika Padukone Zoya Akhtar's 'Gully Boy' has gone on to become a massive hit with the critics and the masses. Alia Bhatt has yet again managed to impress everyone and Ranveer Singh continues to be the best in the industry.

However, the biggest hit of the entire cast was the brilliant performance of Siddhant Chaturvedi AKA MC Sher, who made his Bollywood debut with the film. Chaturvedi plays a cool rapper with the

warmest soul in the movie, who mentors Singh.

In an recent interview, Siddhant talked about working with Ranveer, and the biggest compliment he received. “It was Deepika (Padukone) who said, 'Oh! He is just a boy. He is so cute'. People were expecting someone huge. You know like someone around 28.

When people saw me in real they were quite astonished.

They were like 'Oh he is just 25! He is so cute'. So I think that was a compliment,

When people are surprised by your onscreen self and then they see you off screen, that is actually a compliment. Also, They thought I am a real rapper,” Chaturvedi said.

When asked if he had an MC Sher in his life, he said, “I don't have one MC Sher, I have lots of MC Shers in my life. My dad is my MC Sher, there is Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, and Zoya Akhtar was my sherni. And last but not the least, Ranveer Singh.”

s o c i a l media that I resemble Mr Ratan Tata. I a l w a y s thought the day the character comes along, I will be more then happy toplay it.

So when Omung, Sandip and Vivek called me for the role, I immediately agreed to

do it. We have already shot my part and it went very well,” Boman said.

Talking about Vivek Oberoi, who will play the role of Narendra Modi, Boman said, “I must say that Vivek has worked really hard to get where he has gotten with the character. It was a pleasure to see him maturing into an artist who takes on such a difficult role. He has done it with great maturity and homework.” Producer Sandip Ssingh said, “Boman and I have worked together earlier in 'Shireen Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi'. In spite of being so busy with his own directorial venture and prior commitments, as soon as we reached out to him, he agreed. He is an actor who motivates people and rehearses with his coactors at least 50 times.

I am extremely happy and proud that he is a part of this film.” Apart from Boman, it has been revealed that Barkha Bisht will play Modi's wife Jashodaben and Zarina Wahab will be seen as his mother Heeraben Modi.

Prashant Narayanan will play tycoon Aditya Reddy. Also cast in pivotal roles are actors Darshan Rawal, Akshat R Saluja, Anjan Shrivastav, Rajendra Gupta, Yatin Karyekar and Manoj Joshi.

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KOLLYWOOD

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Nayanthara is like a hero: Tamannaah Tamannaah is all set for the release of 'Kanne Kalaimaane' directed by Seenu Ramasamy, starring Udhayanidhi Stalin in the lead, and Vadivukkarasi, Shaji Chen and Vasundhara Kashyap in supporting role. In a recent interview, Tamannaah

was asked who was her favourite contemporary actor and actress in Tamil. She said her favourite actress was Nayanthara and actor was Ajith. Talking about Nayanthara, she said, “She is like a hero. She has only become better and better and that is very rare.” The actress also added, “She has

'Rowdy Baby' breaks You Tube records!

become more and more popular. She has done better films as time has elapsed. She is very conscious about what kind of work she does.

So I love her graph. I think it's one of its kind.”

It is to be noted that Tamannaah and Nayanthara are both acting in 'Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy' in Telugu.

TV LISTING

* Schedule is subject to change

SUNDAY MARCH 03, 2019 00:00 FILM : ALONE02:18 FILM : WOH LAMHE 06:00 FILM : BAAT BANN GAYI 08:10 FILM : SULTANAT 11:13 FILM : SHAURYA 14:03 FILM : MASTI 17:41 FILM : DON-THE CHASE BEGINS AGAIN 21:15 FILM : NO ENTRY MONDAY MARCH 04, 2019 00:43 FILM : A FLYING JATT 03:12 FILM : ALONE 06:00 FILM : BAS EK TAMANNA 08:11 FILM : EK AKELA HIMMATWALA 10:53 FILM : DHADKAN 14:21 FILM : GUNAAH 16:50 FILM : BEWAFAA 20:00 FILM : AAKROSH 23:00 FILM : SAAYA TUESDAY MARCH 05, 2019 01:35 FILM : AASMA 06:00 FILM : AAJ KA RAAVAN 08:22 FILM : JAANAM 11:01 FILM : CHAAR DIN KI CHANDNI 13:52 FILM : MERA ILAAKA 16:23 FILM : NO ENTRY 20:00 FILM : RAMA RAMA KYA HAI DRAMA 22:50 FILM : HAI APNA DIL TOH AWARA

Rage for 'Rowdy Baby' continues to take on the internet as the peppy addictive song from the film 'Maari 2' hit 200 million views on YouTube. The song also surpassed the record of Sai Pallavi's viral song 'Vachinde' from her Telugu film 'Fida'. Actor Dhanush took to Twitter and said, “200 million.

Thank u Prabhu Deva sir. Thank u jonny master. Thank u @thisisysr. Thank u @directormbalaji and team. Thank u dhee

for ur magnetic voice. Thank u and congratulations @Sai_Pallavi92 on beating ur own record #vachinde. Thank u guys. For loving RB so much.”

'Rowdy Baby' features Dhanush and Sai Pallavi shaking the leg, with music by Yuvan Shankar Raja and choreography

by Prabhu Deva. The song has been sung by Dhanush and Dhee, with lyrics penned by Dhanush.

'Maari 2' also stars Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Robo Shankar, Tovino Thomas and Krishna in crucial roles. The movie was directed by Balaji Mohan, and produced by Dhanush under his banner Wunderbar Studios.

Kamal Haasan's 'Indian 2' in trouble!

Film may be shelved Shooting for Kamal Haasan's 'Indian 2' began in Chennai last month, and there have been reports that after a few scenes were shot, the film director Shankar was not happy with the appearance of Kamal in the role of an old man and had stopped the shooting and resumed it after making some changes to the makeup. Meanwhile, there have been reports doing the rounds that some difference of opinion has arisen between Lyca, the production house and the Director of 'Indian 2'.

It may be noted that the film '2.0' featuring Rajinikant and released recently was also directed by Shankar and produced by Lyca.

Rumours reveal the expenditure on '2.0' exceeded the budget and Lyca did not

want the same thing to happen to 'Indian 2' as well and Lyca had insisted on this and this is the reason for Shankar stopping the shooting.

However, Lyca Productions team has denied the rumours.

A spokesperson for the production house commented on the issue and said, “Rumours of 'Indian 2' being abandoned are false and baseless.

Some important scenes have been filmed for one week has been done at the memorial home, near the Chennai General Hospital The next stage of shooting within the studios has also been completed. Right now, the sets are being built in many places.

After a brief interval, continuous filming will resume.”

* Schedule is subject to change

SAT 2ND MAR 2019 TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 17:00 KEYS TO KISMAT 17:30 CRIME PATROL 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPER DANCER CHAPTER 3 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 23:00 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 4TH - FRI 8TH MAR 2019 15:30: SIRF 30 MINUTES 16:00: THE GREAT INDIAN GLOBAL KITCHEN 2 16:30: RASOI SHOW 17:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEE WANI 18:30: UTTARAN 19:00: JAHAANARA 19:30: INTERNETWALA LOVE 20:00: ISHQ MEIN MARJAWAN 20:30: MOHE RANNG DO LAAL 21:00: BALIKA VADHU - LAMHE PYAAR KE

WEDNESDAY MARCH 06, 2019 01:25 FILM : DASTAK 06:00 FILM : BAS EK TAMANNA 08:10 FILM : ZINDA DILI 11:00 FILM : INSANIYAT 14:30 FILM : CHINA GATE 18:00 FILM : AAKROSH 20:55 FILM : GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN 23:44 FILM : YEH ZINDAGI KA SAFAR THURSDAY MARCH 07, 2019 02:22 FILM : KAUN 06:00 FILM : SWEEKAR KIYA MAINE 08:45 FILM : NAARAAZ 11:03 FILM : JUNGLE 14:17 FILM : KALYUG KA PANDAV 17:02 FILM : GANGSTE 19:20 FILM : STAR STOP 20:00 FILM : PHATA POSTER NIKLA HERO 23:02 FILM : FAREB FRIDAY MARCH 08, 2019 01:25 FILM : UTTHAAN 06:00 FILM : BLUE ORANGES 08:16 FILM : SWEEKAR KIYA MAINE 11:10 FILM : TADIPAAR 14:02 FILM : NASEEB 17:54 FILM : GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN 20:42 FILM : DON 2 23:42 FILM : LAKSHYA SATURDAY MARCH 09, 2019 03:00 FILM : JAYANTABHAI KI LUV STORY 06:00 FILM : CHEETAH THE LEOPARD 08:54 FILM : NAZAR KE SAMNE 11:30 FILM : NASEEB 15:20 FILM : KOYELAANCHAL 18:20 FILM : PHATA POSTER NIKLA HERO 21:18 FILM : 36 CHINA TOWN SUN 3RD MAR 2019 TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 16:30 MEET THE DRAPERS 17:30 CRIME PATROL 18:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 20:00 SUPER DANCER CHAPTER 3 21:30 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW 23:00 THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW MON 4TH MAR - FRI 8TH MAR TIME TV PROGRAM NAMES 18:30 VIGHNAHARTA GANESH 19:00 MERE SAI 19:30 YEH UN DINON KI BAAT HAI 20:00 CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA 20:30 MAIN MAAYKE CHALI JAAUNGI 21:00 PATIALA BABES 21:30 LADIES SPECIAL 22:00 CRIME PATROL

22:00: RED ALERT 23:00: TANTRA SAT 9TH MAR 2019 17:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEE WANI 18:30: UTTARAN 19:00: HUM SAAF SAAF HAIN 19:30: FAMOUSLY FILMFARE 20:00: NAVRANGI RE 20:30: RED ALERT 21:30: ZINDAGI KI HAQEEQAT SE AAMNA SAAMNA 22:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA SUN 10TH MAR 2019 18:00: RADHA PREM KI DEE WANI 18:30: UTTARAN 19:00: HUM SAAF SAAF HAIN 19:30: FAMOUSLY FILMFARE 20:00: NAVRANGI RE 20:30: RED ALERT 21:30: ZINDAGI KI HAQEEQAT SE AAMNA SAAMNA 22:30: CHHUTA CHHEDA 21:30: 22:00: 22:30:

* Schedule is subject to change

MON 4th - FRI 8th Mar 2019 18:00: KITCHEN CHAMPION 19:00: KHOOB LADI MAR DANI JHANSI KI RANI 19:30: UDAAN 20:00: SHAKTI ASTITVA KE EHSAAS KI 20:30: KESARRI NANDAN 21:00: GATHBANDHAN

ROOP SILSILA KHOOB LADI MAR DANI JHANSI KI RANI 23:00:00 SITARA SAT 9th Mar 2019 19:30: DESI BEAT RESET 20:00: NAAGIN - SEASON 3 21:00: KHATRON KE KHILADI JIGGER PE TRIGGER 22:00: COURT ROOM 23:30: SITAARA SUN 10th Mar 2019 19:30: FAMOUSLY FILMFARE 20:00: NAAGIN - SEASON 3 21:00: KHATRON KE KHILADI JIGGER PE TRIGGER 22:00: COURT ROOM 23:30: SILSILA

30 EVENTS

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Pujya Mahant Swami pays respect to Shri Swaminarayan Temple idols in Sankri

In the presence of Bochasanwasi Shree Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha head Pujya Mahant Swami Satsang Din was celebrated in Pune. There were many devotees and Haribhakts present on the occasion, especially Marwaris.

Well-acclaimed singers of the Marwari community, Bhushan Toshniwal and Piyush Jangide presented beautiful Rajasthani folk and religious songs. Dialogue began after the performance. In his address to the public, Mahant Swami said, “Satsang will provide you happiness, it will put so much sense in your life that you will find spirit even during the toughest of times and praise God.” On the 19th, Pujya Mahant Swami reached Sankri. Sameep Darshan was organised on 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, during which, Haribhakts from nearby villages too came and benefited. On 23rd, Pujya Mahant Swami paid his respects to idols and blessed them in newly constructed BAPS Shree Swaminarayan Temples in Bhagwanpura, Wankaner, Hitavda, Dolvaan, and Songadh. Now the idols will be installed in the temples.

Coming Events

l Shree Aden Depala Mitra Mandal has arranged Bhajan Kirtan on occasion of Maha Shivratri, on March 4, from 7.30 pm to 10.00 pm, at Shree Aden Depala Mitra Mandal, 67A Church Lane London N2 0TH. l The Bhavan presents Begum Akhtar - The musical, on March 2, 6.00 pm onwards, at 4a Castletown Road London, West Kensington W14 9HE United. l The Bhavan presents Shivratri Puja Celebration on March 4, from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, at 4a Castletown Road London, West Kensington W14 9HE United. l Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies at the University of Wolverhampton and the The Consulate General of India in Birmingham, invites you to 'A Celebration of Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 55th Birth Anniversary: His Message in the Twenty-First Century', on March 28, 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm, at the University of Wolverhampton Chancellor's Hall, City Campus, Wulfruna Building, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY. l BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London presents Maha Shivratri on March 4: Maharudrabhishek from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm, Annakut Darshan from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm, Annakut Arti from 11.45 am to 12. pm, Sandhya Arti from 7.00 pm to 7.20 pm. At BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, 105-119 Brentfield Road, Neasden, London NW10 8LD.

Sneh Joshi

‘Where there is a will, there is a way’ - Essex Indians implement this simple quote in each and every event to maintain the roots and values especially in the generation next.

They celebrated a very successful Saraswati pujo event at the Shenfield parish hall on 10th February.

Incidentally the date and time matched with the ritualistic timing of the pujo with India this year.

Dr Dipankar Mukhopadhyay, Chairman of Essex Indians was the main priest assisted by Sanjib Ghoshal. He meticulously hostedthe pujo with articulate

pronunciation of the Sanskrit ‘mantras’ and the explanation in English, so that everyone can get involved in the ‘pushpanjali’ and pujo proceedings.

The pujo team consisted of Sayantini, Nandini, Keya and Ria. This year ‘PalashPhul’(a particular flower) came staight from Kolkata, which is a signature offering to Maa Saraswati. The pujo was followed by an excellent ‘bhog’ (meal) cooked by Essex Indians members and then a quality educational and cultural concert. Dr Arpita Ray, cultural secretary of the group coordinated the function along with a very efficient anchoring by Sanjana representing the generation next.

Shrey, Chyansh and Rajat started the function with a vivid descriptive Sanskrit presentation followed by elocutions by Shuvam and Shivam

The Call Of The Impossible -Sri Aurobindo Our godhead calls us in unrealised things.

Asleep in the wide fields of destiny, A world guarded by Silence' rustling wings Sheltered their fine impossibility.

But part, but quiver the cerulean gates, Close splendours look into our dreaming eyes; We bear proud deities and magnificent fates; Faces and hands come near from Paradise.

and song by Solan and Anmona. Arya presented a western-eastern fusion with Bob Dylan tribute, Tarana and Bhajan. Molly and Dev’s singing and the new Essex Indians band Gaaner Gnuto with Chandrima, Shreyasi,

What shone thus far above is here in us; Bliss unattained our future's birthright is; Beauty of our dim soul is amorous, We are the heirs of infinite widenesses.

The impossible is the hint of what shall be, Mortal the door to immortality.

Sanjib and Mainak mesmerised everyone.

Dancing sensations Roopkatha, Tista, Vaibabhi, Sudipta, Chandrima, Chelleinder, Harman. Eamon,

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Sandeep Adhwaryu for Times of India

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Nandini, Chitra, Malini and Ahana left a lasting impression in the hearts of the audience. Dr Anirban Mandal, General secretary of EI thanked everyone for gracing the event and making it a big success and invited all to attend EI international language day on 2nd March at Mawney Hall, Romford and Holi on 30th March at Brentwood Bishop’s Hall.

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ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 Mercury turns retrograde on the

5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar twelfth house. Extra care should be exercised when it comes to private and personal matters. Be as non-judgemental as you can, but do keep an eye out for deceptiveness and falseness in others. Good time for yoga and meditation.

Mercury turns retrograde on the TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 5th March, and will remain ret-

rograde until the 28th March in your solar eleventh house of friends and associates. The next few weeks would serve you well if you spend more time listening than speaking. Good time to reassess your relationships and partnerships.

Mercury turns retrograde on the

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 5th March, and will remain ret-

rograde until the 28th March in your solar tenth house of career and status, slowing down your progress at work. It is important for you to be steadfast and focused as misunderstandings and confusion reign. Stay organised as retrograde Mercury does its best to trip you up.

Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar ninth house of travel and adventure, creating havoc – make sure your travel documents are in order. Your mental focus could be anywhere other than your normal routine which could create chaos - discipline yourself.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

Essex Indians host Basant Panchami

Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar eighth house of joint resources, taxes, wills, legacies and alimony, creating confusion and complications for you during the next few weeks. Travel could also prove to be problematic, so make sure you have plenty of time to get where you need to go.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar seventh house of marriage and partnerships. Your closest relationships come under scrutiny and there can be a lot of misunderstandings and confused signals.

You'll need to listen carefully to what your partner is saying.

Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar sixth house. The next few weeks may bring confusion and misunderstandings at work and troubles with your health. You'll need to pay more attention to detail and double check everything before finalising important matters.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar fifth house of romance.

This is a good time reflect and analyse current situations. Pressure begins to build as there will be a lot of demands in your every day life. Some of you will prefer to get away and seek solitude and avoid social events.

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

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SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar fourth house.

You need to watch out for extreme changes in peoples attitude and behaviour at home. Strong emotions may spill out with your loved ones, but it is alright to reveal your fears and insecurities sometimes. It's a cosmically testing time, so try not to tread on each other's toes.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar third house of communication, making it difficult to express yourself clearly. Misunderstandings and confusion could waste a lot of your time. This is also a good time to read into the unspoken rather than what is being said to make any sense.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19 Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar second house of finances. This is a good time to re-assess your money matters. In spite of that, all sorts of things could go wrong especially if people owe you money. Have patience as business matters move slowly or get delayed.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 0Mercury turns retrograde on the 5th March, and will remain retrograde until the 28th March in your solar sign. Normally we expect matters to be dealt with smoothly, but not while Mercury in your sign, is moving backwards. Confusion and frustration reign, so put your plans on hold.

Curb your expenditure as you will spend unnecessarily.

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SPORT

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31

2 - 8 March 2019

in brief ANOTHER FIRST FOR VIRAT KOHLI Virat Kohli, during his innings of 24 off 17 balls in the first T20I at Visakhapatnam on Sunday, became the first batsman to manage 500 runs against Australia. In the process, he became the first player to complete 500 runs against any opponent in T20Is. New Zealand batsman Martin Gutpill’s 463 runs against Pakistan is the next best.

INDIA U-19 BEAT SA BY 9 WICKETS Spinners Hrithik Shokeen and Manav Suthar took three wickets each as India’s U-19 team posted a convincing 9-wicket win over South Africa in the Youth Test, at Thiruvananthapuram. The visiting team fared poorly in the second innings, being dismissed for 167 in 66 overs with offspinner Shokeen (3 for 52) and left-arm spinner Suthar (3 for 44) doing most of the damage. Only Makhakha fought it out to make 74, while the rest of the batsmen found it tough. South Africa were dismissed for 197 in the first innings. Resuming at an overnight score of 34 for 3, South Africa lost Andile Mokgakne (30) after the addition of 17 runs. A lot depended on Bonga Makhakha and all-rounder Bryce Parsons, who scored a half century in the first innings. But Suthar struck a vital blow for India when he had Parsons caught.

MUMBAI LEG-SPINNER TO COACH AUSTRALIA Mumbai leg-spinner Pardeep Sahu was roped in by the Australian team for their series against Pakistan in the UAE and it proved to be a masterstroke. Ahead of their series against India, the Australian management has decided to use the leggie as one of the coaches in order to combat the threat of the Indian wrist-spinners.

“They [Australian batsmen] want to practice playing quality wrist spin. This time they want me to travel with them to all venues.

This will be a first time that I will get a chance to travel with an international team,” Sahu was as quoted as saying. “There are some special drills developed for playing wrist spinners and I will look to provide the Australians with quality practice,” he said.

Though Sahu wants India to win the series, the lanky spinner said that he will do his job as a professional. “They [Cricket Australia] wrote to the BCCI and my appointment was okayed by them. However, as a fan, I want India to win the series,” he added.

RASHID HELPS AFGHAN SWEEP IRELAND Leg-spinner Rashid Khan bagged a hat-trick as Afghanistan swept Ireland 3-0 with a 32run victory in the third and final Twenty20.

Mohammad Nabi’s 81 off 36 balls propelled Afghanistan to 210-7 after Ireland captain Paul Stirling won the toss and chose to field.

Rashid’s 5-27 included the wickets of George Dockrell, Shane Getkate and Simi Singh off the first three deliveries of the 18th over to restrict Ireland to 178-8. Kevin O’Brien top scored with 74 off 47 balls before falling to Rashid in the 16th over that took the game away from Ireland.

SOUTH AFRICA DROP AMLA FOR SL ODIS South Africa have recalled fast bowler Lungi Ngidi to their One-Day International squad for the five-match home series against Sri Lanka, restoring their first-choice fast bowling line-up ahead of the World Cup in England. There is also a first call-up for fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who is also back from injury. South Africa have rested experienced opener Hashim Amla.

BCCI writes to ICC regarding security of Indian players The Committee of Administrators (CoA) which met in New Delhi has decided to send a letter to the International Cricket Council but only raising concerns about the security of the players at the 2019 World Cup. After an hour long meeting over the letter to be sent to ICC, CoA chairman Vinod Rai said, "We have mentioned in the letter about our concerns after the Pulwama terrorist attack.

We have told them clearly that security of the players, match officials and fans coming from India should be appropriately taken care of at the 2019 World Cup." The above was written in a letter by BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to ICC chairman Shashank Manohar. The CoA, however, gave no indication that India will pull out of the June 16 World Cup clash against Pakistan in Manchester. "That game is still 3 months away. We will take a call on that match at a

Indian Cricketers

later date in consultation with the government," Rai said.

The meeting was attended by new CoA member Lt Gen Ravi Thodge as well, who attended the meeting via video conference. "We have also communicated to the ICC that in future ICC members should not engage in ties with nations from where terrorism

emanates," the CoA chairman said. The CoA also decided that there will be no opening ceremony for the 12th edition of IPL next month.

No IPL opening ceremony this year "There will be no IPL opening ceremony this year. The money allocated for the opening ceremony will be given to

families of Pulwama martyrs," CoA member Diana Edulji said.

On regulating workload of Team India players at the IPL, Edulji said, "There was no discussion on that. We have already decided in Hyderabad meeting with the team members that we can't regulate the workload, it's up to the franchises.

Australia clinch a last-ball victory over India With two runs required to win from the last delivery, Australia held their nerve to go one-up in the two-match T20I series against India. The manner with which the Australians went about their business early in their innings was in stark contrast to the way in which the Indians struggled after being put in by Aaron Finch. Two blows in quick succession – a run-out that saw the back of Marcus Stoinis and Jasprit Bumrah trapping Finch for a leg before verdict that was reviewed and adjudged to be the umpire’s call – failed to deter the Aussie chase.

D’Arcy Short (37) came into the squad as cover for Shaun Marsh, who is expected to join the team midway through the ODI series. And the left-handed opener made the most of the opportunity to join forces with Glenn Maxwell for a third wicket partnership of 84 runs.

The Aussie No.4 was the only batsman who looked fully in control of everything he did at

Australian team celebrating victory

Visakhapatnam stadium on Sunday. In clinically marshalling the reply, even if they had only 126 for seven to chase down, Maxwell made a case for himself to be in the mix even the Aussies nail down their choices for the World Cup. But more importantly his 56 ensured Australia emerged on the winning side of a tricky chase

much to the dismay of the crowd.

The Aussies required 60 runs off last 60 and it soon became 16 from the last two overs after Maxwell holed out to Rahul and Short was run out in a terrible mix-up with Peter Handscomb. Bumrah once again proved to be a thorn in the Aussie flesh as the penultimate

over of the innings yielded two runs and saw Dhoni run almost till short fine leg to get rid of Handscomb. He then cleaned up Nathan Coulter-Nile for good effect. With 14 required in the last over, Umesh Yadav undid all the good work as Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson took them to 127 for seven.

India had earlier suffered for want of momentum and faltered after KL Rahul’s 55-run stand for the second wicket with skipper Virat Kohli ended. India rested Shikhar Dhawan and opened with Rahul as they look to give plenty of opportunities to the Karnataka batsman and Rishabh Pant before they firm up their plans for the World Cup. Rahul came good with 50 on a day when Punjab leggie Mayank Markande made his debut for India, while Australia gave a T20I cap to Pete Handscombe, who also donned the wicketkeeper’s role and did a good job in making use of the Jason Behrendoff throw from point to run out Pant.

Indian boxers script history in Bulgaria Asian Games gold-medalist Amit Panghal (49kg) claimed a second successive gold at the Strandja Memorial Tournament, in which India’s women boxers also scripted history with a couple of maiden top finishes in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Armyman from Haryana pulled off a dominating 5-0 triumph over Kazakhstan’s Temirtas Zhussupov, who was left with a bleeding forehead at the end of the final bout. Former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen and Meena Kumari Devi became the first set of Indian women boxers to notch up gold medals at the prestigious tournament, which is into its 70th edition.

Amit Panghal

Nikhat Zareen

In all, India signed off with three gold, a silver, and three bronze medals in this edition of the event, which marks the beginning of the European boxing calendar. Zareen, a multiple-time national medalist, claimed a 5-0 win in the 51kg

category finals against Filipino Irish Magno, while Devi got the better of Aira Villegas 3-2, also from the Philippines, in the bantamweight (54kg) summit clash. The previous best by an Indian woman boxer at the event was the silver won by the

legendary M C Mary Kom last year.

“I dedicate this medal to the martyrs of the Pulwama terror attack. It was a very sad day for us as a country,” Zareen said over the phone from Sofia referring to last week’s terrorist attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. However, Manju Rani (48kg) settled for a silver after going down to another Filipino in Josie Gabuco in a split 2-3 verdict. In a commanding performance, Zareen outmaneuvered Magno with a rock solid defence. Although the bout seemed closer than the final score-line, Zareen pulled it off by denying her rival a clear shot.

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2 - 8 March 2019

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India clinch series ISSF World Cup: against England 16-year-old Saurabh

Chaudhary wins gold

Indian Team celebrating victory

Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey came up with a historic bowling effort as India defeated England by seven wickets in the second One-Day International to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. After the pacers restricted the visitors for a paltry 161, Smriti Mandhana scored yet another majestic half century (her 15th in ODIs) to make short work of the runchase while Mithali Raj was unbeaten on 47, hitting the winning runs for India.

The Indian women’s side had defeated England in the first ODI by 66 runs on 22 February. Pacers Pandey and Goswami snapped four wickets each as India women bowled out England for a paltry 161 this was the first time two Indian pacers had produced four-wicket hauls and also combined for the most number of wickets taken by Indian pacer in a women’s ODI. Pandey (4-18) and Goswami (4-30) troubled the visitors with their fiery spells. The duo was well supported by spinner Poonam Yadav (2-28) as the visitors put a sub-par show after opting to bat at the

Wankhede stadium. This was also Pandey’s best performance in the 50-over format.

Only Natalie Sciver (85), who hammered 12 fours and a six, put up a fight for England and was the last woman to be dismissed after a fighting 42-run partnership with No 11 Alex Hartley, who stood her ground without scoring a run. Earlier, Amy Jones (3) was Pandey’s first victim.

Sarah Taylor (1) too fell cheaply after she dragged one onto her stumps off Goswami, with the visitors teetering at 11/2. Goswami also got the prized wicket of captain Heather Knight (2).

But then Sciver and opener Tammy Beaumont (20) tried to steady the ship with their 30-run fourth wicket stand.

However, Deepti Sharma took a blinder to dismiss Beaumont off Pandey. After a mistimed the slog-sweep, Deepti ran towards the boundary from square-leg and took a diving catch leaving England reeling at 44-4. Then Sciver and Lauren Winfield (28) played with ease to stitch a 49-run stand for the fifth wicket. But after all the hard-work, Winfield threw her wicket away to Yadav.

Pandey, in her final over,

struck twice, reducing England to 95/7. However, Sciver added 42 runs with Hartley for the last wicket to ensure that the visitors crossed the 150-run mark. It was England’s best ever partnership for the last wicket.

For India, Jemimah Rodrigues was dismissed for a duck but that was the only hiccup in their run-chase.

Making a comeback to the side, Punam Raut joined Mandhana in the middle to stitch together a solid partnership. When she fell for 32, India were on their way to a win which was ensured by a patient 47 by captain Raj. Mandhana was once again the pick of Indian batters, making a two-paced pitch look like a dream wicket for batting. Her offside play was impressive as usual as she struck a series of gorgeous off-drives. She was dismissed for 63 off 74 balls (including 7 fours and a six), but Raj and Sharma then took India past the finish line with ease.

Brief Scores: England: 161 all out in 43.3 overs (NR Sciver 85; J Goswami 4/30, S Pandey 4/18).

India: 162-3 in 41.1 overs (S Mandhana 63; A Shrubsole 2/23).

Sixteen-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary has claimed gold with a new record in the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, securing India's third Olympic quota, but there was disappointment in store for Manu Bhaker. Unfazed by a field comprising seasoned campaigners, Chaudhary smashed the men's 10m air pistol world record in his maiden senior World Cup appearance, at the season-opening International Shooting Sport Federation event.

Qualification topper Manu, however, finished fifth in the women's 25m pistol event after starting strongly.

Asian Games and Youth Olympics gold medallist Chaudhary ended the event with a total score of 245.

Damir Mikec of Serbia was second in the podium with a score of 239.3, while the bronze medal was bagged by 2008 Olympic champion Wei Pang of China, who managed 215.2. Such was his dominance in the eight-men final that he finished the event 5.7 points ahead of the silver medallist, the gold was assured even before his final shot.

Other Indians competing in the event, Abhishek Verma and Ravinder Singh, failed to qualify for the final. Both Abhishek and Ravinder finished with a total score of 576 in the qualification round. China and Hungary sealed the Olympic quota in this event.

The Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympics gold medallist Manu ended the event with a total score of 22 at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. In the first series, Manu scored 3 out of a possible 5. She found the mark just twice in the second series, slipping to the seventh position. The

Saurabh Chaudhary

multiple World Cup medalist was on target in the third series jumping to the second spot.

However, Manu struggled to find the target consistently and finished fifth. She had qualified for the final with a score of 590 while Rahi Sarnobat and Chinki Yadav failed to advance. Earlier, Chaudhary shot 19 scores above 10. The Indian also holds the world record in 10m air pistol event in the junior category and that is higher than the senior world record he made on Sunday.

Last year, Chaudhary also won gold at the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, in addition to being crowned junior world champion and Youth Olympic champion. He has won one gold and one silver at the Junior Asian Championships, and a gold at a Youth Asian Championship.

In qualification, Chaudhary finished third with a score of 587 (20x), behind 588 (27x) shot by Lee Daemyung of South Korea and 587 (23x) shot by Pang Wei. This was India's second

medal in the tournament, with Apurvi Chandela winning a gold in the women's 10m air rifle category on Saturday.

Chandela and Anjum Moudgil had secured the first two Olympic quotas in shooting in the ISSF World Championships in Korea last year.

Apurvi shatters 10m air rifle world record Apurvi shattered the world record on her way to the gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle event in Delhi.

The Indian shot an astonishing 252.9 to win the top prize on day one of the competitions.

China’s Ruozhu Zhao bagged silver with 251.8, while another Chinese Xu Hong (230.4) finished the tournament’s first final with a bronze.

Such was Chandela’s dominance in the eightwomen final that she finished the event a staggering 1.1 points ahead of the silver medalist.

Chandela, who had secured a Tokyo Olympic quota in the last World Championships, was fourth in the qualifications with 629.3.

Fernando, Mendis guide Lanka to historic series win in SA

Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis

Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis struck unbeaten half-centuries as Sri Lanka claimed a historic eightwicket win over South Africa in the second and final test at St George's Park for a 2-0 series victory. Prior to the series, Sri Lanka had not won a game in any format since October but become the first team from Asia to win a test series in South Africa as they comfortably chased down a victory target of 197 on the third day.

Sri Lanka claimed a thrilling first test in Durban

by one wicket and outplayed South Africa in the second, setting up their victory by skittling the hosts for 128 in their second innings. Mendis (84 not out) and Fernando (75 not out) then put on an unbeaten stand of 163 for the third wicket in their chase as they pummeled the muchvaunted South African bowling attack on a wicket that became easier to bat as the match progressed.

Sri Lanka had resumed on the third morning on 60 for two, though effectively three down with spinner

Lasith Embuldeniya out of the test with a broken thumb, and as has been the case through the series looked to attack the home bowlers.

Fernando, who made his debut in the series, completed his maiden half-century off 69 balls, providing the perfect foil for the more aggressive Mendis. Sri Lanka have now won two of their last six test series, with both those victories coming against South Africa after also defeating the Proteas at home last July.