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UK
Leading Lights
Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor
The Indian Deputy High Commissioner building friendships with key allies Dr Virander Paul joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1991. Diplomats tend to be pleasantly discreet and concentrate on serving their governments. So readers may not necessarily know the career histories of diplomats since public encounters tend to focus on the present. Dr Paul gave The Asian Voice some of his fascinating backstory in interview in his India House office. Prior to his assignment as Deputy High Commissioner of India in London, Dr Paul was Minister (Press) at the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. He held diplomatic assignments in Indian Missions in Almaty, Vladivostok, Rome, St. Petersburg and Moscow, spending around eight to nine years in the former Soviet space. At the Headquarters, Dr Paul served in the East Europe and Americas Divisions. He served as Director in the Prime Minister’s Office during the period 2007-2010. He holds a medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. His ancestral home is Jalandhar. Soon after 1991, Dr Paul was in the former Soviet states during their transformation into independent republics, witnessing their readjustment as sovereign countries in the post Cold War scenario. He found the Russians knowledgeable about India and Indian culture, with a fondness for Raj Kapoor and other Indian film actors. Indian movies were popular. It was common to see Indian films being sold on VHS. After a couple of years in Almaty (Kazakhstan), where he learnt Russian, he was posted to Vladivostok as the Consul General of India. The area of his jurisdiction included Far East Russia, east of the Siberian Lake Baikal and the vast tundra and taiga belts. He travelled far, meeting people inside and outside the government to talk about India. Virander remembers Russians as warm, friendly and hospitable. On one occasion, he was invited to Yakutia, a diamond mining region in northern Russia. It was December, the temperature was minus 40 degrees, and the local government officials
Dr Virander Paul
had come to greet him at the airport. He recalls that as he stepped down from his aircraft, freezing cold, the local administration, unasked, presented him with an appropriately warm hat to replace his own normal Russian one, and an overcoat and winter shoes to put on before escorting him to the terminal. His hosts had known that their Indian guest might not be fully prepared for the Yakutian frost. Even when Virander was back in Delhi, he continued working on India’s relations with East European countries. “It was a steady transition and an interesting time,” he recalled; “we in the ministry were engaging those friendly states in a new international situation.”
“London is a city where you can smell the Indianness in the air,” Dr Virander Paul.
As part of the team in the Foreign Ministry, Dr Paul contributed to India redefining its relations with the former Soviet states. On returning to the region after a gap of over five years, he observed that the new nations, including the Russian Federation, had grown in confidence as well as in living standards. “Russia is a country with which we have traditionally had strong relations,” he commented. After a short stint as Director (Americas) in the Ministry, Virander moved to the Prime Minister’s Office, where he handled India’s relations with the West, besides being involved in work relating to atomic energy, outer space and defence. Readers with knowledge of recent Indo-US rela-
tions will naturally understand the issues he must have handled. In Washington, Virander was Minister for press and information and culture. The work of two departments, effectively. “Relations between India and the US were undergoing a rapid and radical transformation for the good,” he explained. It was constantly hectic, but fun. His work included interacting with think tanks, academics and the media. “I enjoyed myself, professionally, meeting key journalists, including from the Washington Post, NYT, The LA Times, Time, and the CNN Bureau,” he recalled. He also fondly recalls his close interaction with the Indian journalists stationed in Washington. He noticed that Indians in America tended to take on an American identity which is relatively businesslike; “America is a country where most young Indian professionals get absorbed into the American way,” he mused. “Of course, they are also mindful of their Indian roots”, he added. But in the UK, Dr Paul relishes in the diaspora’s Indian heart that he finds beating strong and loud. He feels that the British Indian community retains its Indian essence of warmth, its feeling for fellow Indians, and its character. “London is a city where you can smell the Indianness, if there is such a word, in the air,” Dr Paul remarked. “London is wonderful as it is perhaps the most cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic city.” The Deputy High Commissioner is generally given an even more critical government role when he leaves the capital. Given his sparkling career to date, it will be interesting to see what India plans next for Dr Virander Paul.
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 7th February 2015
Spriha Srivastava
Trading your way to success
“Trading is best kept simple and focused – that is the best way to win,” says Alpesh Patel in his latest book 7 Simple Strategies of Highly Effective Traders. Alpesh, a British-Indian is a successful entrepreneur and currently runs an asset management company called Alpari Capital, apart from serving as a dealmaker for the British government. Before coming to the book, here is a little about Alpesh – he is one of the most talented finance gurus who became a barrister and went on to achieve remarkable success in the fields of finance, business, philanthropy and journalism. Writing has always been Alpesh’s passion and he had his own weekly column in the Financial Times for five years, for which he gained extensive praise from readers. He also held a weekly show on Bloomberg where he presented on technology and investing for three years. So coming back to his finance guru avatar, Alpesh has written several books on trading and his latest book, called the 7 Simple Strategies of Highly Effective Traders which is co-authored by Paresh Kiri provides a practical guide to seven technical analysis trading approaches that are simple, effective and easy to put into practice. “All of the strategies presented can be applied by short to medium-term traders, such as those looking at one-minute day trading opportunities to those looking to hold positions for up to around a month, and sometimes slightly longer,” the book says. An extremely jazzy evening at the posh Barclays bank was held in Canary Wharf to formally launch Alpesh’s book and what a wonderful place to launch than in a bank. It is also the place where Alpesh met his beautiful wife Aekta, he said at the event. The book launch was hosted by Ashok Vaswani, who is the CEO, Retail and Business Banking at Barclays. Ashok said he was amazed at how multifaceted Alpesh is and has always been impressed by his talents. Alpesh is also the
author of 18 books, which have been translated variously into other languages. Alpesh’s books include ones on investing online, investment psychology, outsourcing and female entrepreneurs. His best-selling book, The Mind of a Trader, was one of the top selling books on Amazon in 1999 – outselling J.K. Rowling, Bill Gates and Richard Branson for a long while. Alpesh has received immense encouragement and great reviews for his earlier books. “The Online Trading CourseBook is the best guide of its kind to personal investing and will satisfy both the beginner and the professional,” said Nathan Moss, Chief Operating Officer, Merrill Lynch HSBC. Another review on the book says, “as a trader and a financial journ a l i s t himself, Alpesh Patel is
enjoyed the extremely lively speech by Alpesh, who had just landed from the US a couple of hours ago but looked fresh and enthusiastic to talk about his books presented a free signed copy to those present. The book is an extremely simple read and one that can be digested by a non-trader too. The book is for everyone – so if you are a beginner trader or an advanced trader and are looking for some guidance or a little bit of handholding, this book is for you. “We speak to thousands of traders each year through our seminars, events, webinars, blogs and tweets and know exactly the issues they face,” Alpesh and Paresh say in the book. “We’ve kept everything as simple as possible so that it is easy to learn and implement,” they add. The book is structured to be compact, to
uniquely qualified to give a behind-the-scene view of financial markets, and their interaction with the media. This book gives a very intelligent view of the art of investing, and debunks a lot of myths. I recommend it to anyone who is serious about investing,” said Bernard Oppetit, Founder, Centaurus Capital (a $2billion hedge fund) A number of dignitaries at the book launch including Baroness Verma and CB Patel
the point and practical. They are seven strategies and each is broken down into an introduction, some background material, worked examples, showing how to execute it and then a conclusion, which gives additional relevant information. So whether you are an intra-day trader or you are just extremely fascinated by the idea of trading but have never managed to trade, this book is for you. Time to pick up a copy maybe?
Let us know what you think. Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com