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Marking 550 Birth Anniversary of Kartarpur Guru Nanak Corridor th

Opens

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arking the Founder of Sikhism’s 550th Birth Anniversary and Religious Legacy. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born on the 29th of November 1469, and is the first of the lineage of the ten Gurus in Sikhism....

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he Kartarpur Corridor will create an easily accessed entryway for pilgrims travelling between the Dera Baba Nanak Shrine in India’s Punjab, and Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.... ...continued on page 13

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November 2019

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Sajid Javid Tops this Year’s Power List

21 year old student found dead On campus

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he Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid MP has retained the top spot on the GG2 Power List...

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undreds of students across Bangladesh are protesting after an undergraduate was beaten to death at one of the country’s most prestigious universities... Page 18

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Editor’s Note Hello to our readers and welcome to another edition of Asian World Newspaper! We hope that you’ve been keeping yourselves wrapped up warm and away from the chilly weather! With Christmas and the holiday season fast approaching, we’ve jammed the latest news and knowhow into this edition. Make your morning coffee with your neighbour or family hot-pot worth talking about, and get up to date with the latest happenings in your area!

In this edition, we will be discussing a new initiative of banning cars in tunnels within Birmingham. This new campaign hopes to ease traffic congestion and encourage the use of public transport across the city. For more information, please turn to pg 6. We will also be getting to know how a young Sri Lankan student was tragically killed by his peers at a University Campus. For the full story, take a look at page 17.

In our Glam section, we have the latest artist signings and movie releases from the Entertainment industry. We also have included our usual exclusive reviews of this season’s must-have products. Want some new and ethically friendly pieces to add to your autumn wardrobe? Flick through to page 28 for a feature on streetwear brand Plant Faced clothing. Want

to know where to buy your next batch of scented candles for the festive season?

Take a look at page 33.

Pondering on where to go with your loved ones for a warm and tasty meal in Brum? Looking to go somewhere with class and delicious traditional food?

Why not take a trip to Mouchak Street on Coventry road and re-live the flavours of South Asia? For a full review of this restaurant, please go to page 49. Want to learn the secrets and traditions behind Lebanese cuisine? Look across the page for an exclusive celebrity Chef interview to find out just how!

Whichever page you turn to, there’s something new and exciting for everyone to read. So, grab a copy of the West Midland’s No.1 South Asian paper, get a seat in your favourite chair by the heater and relax. Take a look at the rest of this issue NOW! For the latest and most exclusive advertisement offers for 2019, please don’t hesitate to Contact us: on 0121 771 4545 or email: sales@asianworldnews.co.uk Have a great read!

Editor: Manisha Bhanot editor@asianworldnews.co.uk Visit us online www.asianworldnews.co.uk

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4

November 2019

Muslim Faith Schools take the lead as UK’s top educational institutions

Muslim faith schools have been placed at the top of the British government’s rankings of secondary school performance, taking the top three positions and also securing a total of four in the top ten.

The top three positions in a ranking of every British school were taken by schools that say they are run according to Islamic values.

At the top of the list, was Tauheedul Islam Girl’s high school which is based in the northern English town of Blackburn.

In second place was Eden Boy’s school in Birmingham and finally, it was Eden Girl’s school in Coventry.

All three of the schools say they are run according to British and Islamic values.

The list collated every year by the government ranks schools across the country on measures which included the academic attainment and the percentage of students who stay on for further education.

Compulsory education ends at the age of 16 in the UK, after which students can either leave to find work or go on to further education.

According to the ‘Progress 8’ framework that the UK government uses to measure performance, schools are now judged on the progress students make in addition to the grades they achieve.

At Tauheedul Islam at least 83.3 percent of students received high grades in Mathematics and English, while the institute got a 69.9-point score on the Progress 8 scale. This was the fourth consecutive year that the school had topped the national table.

The top three schools were classified

Thug Jailed for 12 Years after Mowing Down Policeman

as ‘Well Above Average’ in terms of attainment by the government and were judged to be ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted – the British government body that are in charge of ensuring educational quality for privately owned and state schools.

During a statement, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) stated that the statistics showed faith schools were performing well despite the negative perceptions they receive.

“Credit must go to the teachers, parents, and of course students, at these high performing Muslim faith schools for their excellent achievement,” said SecretaryGeneral of the MCB Harun Khan.

“Their results show that with hard-work and dedication, children of all backgrounds and in any educational setting can achieve their utmost.”

Mubashar Hussain has incurred a 13-year driving disqualification on top of his 12-year jail sentence after hijacking a police BMW and ploughing into PC Gareth Phillips.

At 4:45 am, police had caught Hussain behind the wheel of a stolen Range Rover Evoque in Mosely.

The police proceeded to taser him in their efforts to detain him. However, this proved insufficient as Hussain broke free and made for a BMW police patrol car. He then hit Philipps with the car and drove erratically towards Sparkbrook (reaching speeds up to 97 mph), where he abandoned the vehicle before being arrested.

Hussain was charged with, and admitted to, a total of 12 offences at Birmingham Crown Court on.

As the court case ensued, it was revealed that Hussain had ‘spent most of his adult life behind bars’.

Hussain’s accomplice, Mr Ghafoor, was also sentenced. Police also showed footage of the brutal incident.

By Will Rymer Phillips has been referred to as a ‘Hero cop’ by Birmingham Live after sustaining these injuries in the act of trying to prevent a crime. The collision resulted in a shattered pelvis for Phillips which meant he had to spend over a month in the hospital, before being allowed to continue his recovery at home. In a touching effort from the local community, a JustGiving appeal has been started to raise money to support Phillips and his family as he continues his long recovery from life-changing injuries.

Superintendent Tom Joyce spoke about the incident saying in an interview with Birmingham Live: “He was simply doing his job as a policeman. He is a respected, dedicated and brave officer who is regularly sent to incidents including burglaries and car thefts.”

Phillips’ bravery has won the hearts and captured the imaginations of the local community, and it can only be hoped that his recovery is as successful as possible.

China West Midlands 2020

Since the inauguration of CWM 2020 in 2017, some of the Midland’s most prominent figures have joined hands to improve relations between China and the UK. The annual event was held within the PCW suite of the Hippodrome Theatre in Birmingham and featured a host of live speakers, musicians and dancers.

The afternoon began with a performance from a group of all-female Chinese entertainers. The young and dynamic group showcased themselves with a classic fan-dance routine, wearing their country’s native dress of tang shirts and trousers. They even made a second appearance adorned in colourful pink Hanfu dresses and played the drums in a lively and energetic performance while dancing to traditional music.

Also featuring their talent was a skilful musician who played a mix of Chinese and English music on an erhu, a twostringed bowed instrument.

The event continued with a formal introduction from organiser Dr Yeow Poon.

He commented that the purpose of the afternoon was not only to encourage collaboration between Chinese and British companies but allow them to learn and grow from one another as well. The introduction speech was followed by a series of talks, which were opened by special guest Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and Combined Authority. Mr Street spoke of the importance of trade and investment strategy with

photographer: Adrian Kibbler China. He stated that CWM 2020 was a celebration of the Chinese community that established themselves here in the UK. He also mentioned the value of international students for the UK economy. Mr Street further talked about the region’s upcoming collaborative projects with China, such as the HS2 line, the UK China Regional Leaders’ Summit, as well as the investment of Chinese business tycoons in British Football Clubs.

Other noted speakers at CWM 2020 included the Deputy Leader of Birming-

ham City Council, Brigid Jones and Chair of Stratford-on-Avon Christopher Kettle, and Cross Culture Community Artist Frances Yip. World-Class Pianist Di Xiao, who works at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, also spoke about her plans for a summer Chinese Festival. The afternoon came to a close with an intimate networking finger buffet. Guests were allowed to familiarise themselves with each other’s businesses and plan to experience more of Chinese culture.

Asian World News undertook an exclusive interview with event founder Dr Yeow Poon, to find out how and why he decided to initiate China West Midlands 2020.

1) What were your motives for beginning the CWM movement and holding annual talks such as this one?

China West Midlands started in 2017; I first had the idea when I was attending an event with three of my colleagues.

I think those other guys had drunk too many glasses of wine and one of them said ‘Why don’t we do a yearlong festival in 2020?’ Since I don’t drink, I was the only one who was sober and remembered the conversation. Later, I asked them ‘Are you guys serious?’ And they were like ‘Yeah’, and that’s where the idea first came about!

2) What type of turn-out were you hoping for at today’s event, are the numbers what you expected?

Yes, the numbers are probably more

photographer: Adrian Kibbler than I expected. In terms of the people and presentation, I’m quite pleased that a variety of subjects and sectors were discussed.

3) Since the event was founded, how have Chinese business relationships with specifically Birmingham improved?

It has been a prolonged process. There was always Chinese investment in Birmingham, starting from 2010, but very few people knew about it. However, more recently awareness of China as a

potential market and a source of investment has spread. Even Andy Street, our regional Mayor and Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council are going together to China in November to explore potential investment prospects.

4) Can you tell us about any future projects or events the CWM 2020 programme has coming up?

We are organising a black-tie dinner on January 23rd to launch the China West Midlands programme for the whole year. We are hoping to crossover this event with the celebrations of Chinese New Year, which will be on January 25th. We want to get British and Chinese Businesses to come together and celebrate both events accordingly and collaborate.

You can find out more about the China West Midlands 2020 Programme and book yourself in for upcoming events at https://chinawestmidlands.com/.

By Manisha Bhanot

AW Facts Did you know?

The NEC and ICC hold over 850 events per year.

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November 2019

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CHANCELLOR SAJID JAVID TOPS THIS YEAR’S GG2 POWER LIST Sajid Javid, the first British Asian Chancellor of the Exchequer is ranked first on the annual list of the 101 most influential Asians in Britain

Chancellor reveals the UK’s plans to release a commemorative coin for Mahatma Gandhi The Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid MP has retained the top spot on the GG2 Power List, the definitive ranking of the UK’s most powerful Asians.

The annual publication, which was revealed last night at the GG2 Leadership Awards, has been published for the 9th year and features the UK’s 101 most recognised and influential Asians from a wide range of sectors.

On topping the annual GG2 Power List, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, said: “I am honoured to be recognised on the GG2 Power List once more and I am proud to live in a Britain where anyone can become Chancellor, whatever their background. Each person on this year’s Power List has their own story to tell, but the example they set to young Asian women and men is helping to create a better and brighter future for Britain. I commend and congratulate them all.”

During his speech at the GG2 Leadership Awards, the Chancellor referenced the recent 150th birth anniversary of iconic Indian campaigner Mahatma Gandhi and went on to reveal plans that had been put forward for a new UK coin to commemorate Gandhi.

He added: “I was incredibly proud, as Culture Secretary in 2015, to oversee the new Gandhiji statue outside Parliament.

It was the first statue in Parliament Square of someone who had never held public office. I can announce tonight that I’ve asked the team at the Royal Mint

to bring forward proposals for a new coin to commemorate Gandhiji. Tonight we’re rightly celebrating the phenomenal success of the British Asian community.”

Javid retains the top position he achieved last year on the GG2 Power List, after being named Britain’s first Asian Chancellor in July 2019.

Together with Home Secretary Priti Patel, who features at number 2 on this year’s list, the pair represent the first time that two out of the top four cabinet positions have been occupied by politicians of Black or Asian heritage.

Shailesh Solanki, Executive Editor, Asian Media Group said: “In occupying their current positions in cabinet both Sajid Javid and Priti Patel have demonstrated that the Asian community can provide Britain with formidable leaders. Sajid Javid has excelled as the first British Asian Chancellor of the Exchequer and deservedly retains the top position in our annual GG2 Power List and following closely behind Priti Patel, who became the first British Asian female Home Secretary earlier this year. They are leading the way in shaping Britain’s future and are role models for future leaders from our community.”

The Top 10 sees a climb to 3rd position for activist and businesswoman Gina Miller, who has been an ever present force in UK politics this year as Britain prepares to exit the European Union.

Miller, who is of Indian descent, has successfully tabled legal challenges against parliamentary procedures around Brexit. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at number 4 remains a highly influential figure, since becoming the first Muslim Mayor of a major European city, Khan

has remained a key advocate for London and its business interests globally.

For the second year in a row, Hollywood star Riz Ahmed features in the top 10 (ranked 8) as the only figure from entertainment and the arts. The award-winning British actor has wowed audiences and critics alike with his recent performance in Sound of Metal, whilst remaining a strong voice for on screen representation and diversity in the arts.

Joining him in notable positions are the likes of Romesh Ranganathan (15), Jameela Jamil (16), Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal (21) and new entrant British-Indian actress Naomi Scott (27) who impressed as the iconic Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin this year and is soon to be seen in Charlie’s Angels.

The Top 10 features Neil Basu (5), Assistant Commissioner of Specialist Operations for the Metropolitan Police.

Basu took up this position last year and is responsible for leading counter-terrorism policing nationally, widely regarded as the toughest job in British policing.

Rishi Sunak, climbs 37 places from last year (44-7) due to his new position as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Notable new entries on this year’s

Power List include Munira Mirza (18), director of the Number 10 Policy Unit; Mohit Bakaya (20), controller of BBC Radio 4; Amika George (32), the 19 year old activist who set up the #FreePeriods petition; and the Kamani family (36), founders of trailblazing online fashion brands Boohoo.com and Pretty Little Thing.

The GG2 Power List is revealed at the GG2 Leadership Awards. On another glittering evening, hosted by BBC presenter Nihal Arthanayake at London’s Park Plaza Westminster, some of the UK’s most prominent community leaders and achievers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities were celebrated.

Shailesh Solanki, Executive Editor, Asian Media Group adds: “This year’s GG2 Power List has once again revealed the incredible influence and contribution the Asian community makes to British society, business and culture. Whilst the top 10 features prominent politicians and policy makers during a crucial period in British politics, the entire list demonstrates the incredible strides that Asian entrepreneurs and philanthropists are making, the impact and influence of talented British Asian personalities in the arts, media and entertainment, and the achievements of Asian professionals in the legal and medical fields. The Power List showcases how invaluable the Asian contribution is across a wide spectrum of areas.”

6

November 2019

Cars could be Permanently Banned from Birmingham Road Tunnels

By Manisha Bhanot

The potential new initiative is part of Birmingham’s bid for a ‘clean air zone’ and has been called radical by some

MP Keith Vaz Caught in Drug and Sex Scandal The longest-running Asian MP has been given a six-month ban from Parliament due to his illicit behaviour

Mr Keith Vaz has been in office as MP for East Leicester since 1987. However, recently substantial evidence has been found that he has, on at least one occasion, engaged in paid-for sex and attempted to purchase a Class A-Drug.

Born Nigel Keith Standish Vaz on the 26th of November, 1956, Vaz emigrated from Goa, India with his family to Twickenham in the UK, during 1965.

His father worked as a journalist for The Times of India before a career re-direction into the airline industry. His mother was a school teacher. Vaz graduated from Cambridge University with a First Degree in Law. He has two sisters, one of whom is an MP, and he currently lives in London with his wife and two children.

Due to his cultural background, there has always been a heightened sense of pressure on Vaz’s shoulders to represent the South Asian community in Britain well. He is also chair of the Home Affairs committee. Thus it is vital that he sets an excellent example for his fellow MPs in the House of Commons.

However, as a result of the information recently uncovered against him, Vaz has received much backlash from both his colleagues and constituents. It is believed the MP participated in sex with

two male prostitutes who visited his flat.

The event was conveniently recorded by one of the men via an audio device.

Vaz’s actions have been viewed as a severe breaching of the House Code of Conduct Act. The Commons Standards Committee stated that Vaz had caused “damage” to the reputation of Parliament. They also found his excuses to cover up his actions, saying he had been “spiked” and the two men were buildings workers, appalling and “ludicrous.”

A report found that Vaz had been “evasive and unhelpful” when questioned by the Police. The Committee is also taking into account that he was previously suspended 17 years ago for dismissing investigations into his financial affairs

by Watchdog.

If he is suspended, Vaz may be facing a recall petition in his constituency, if a general election is not scheduled first. It seems likely that Vaz will have to step down from his post as East Leicester MP. At present, Vaz has been admitted into hospital due to his long-term mental health condition. It is believed that because of this, if he has recently consumed any un-prescribed drugs, he could be facing fatal circumstances with his overall health.

Not allowing cars to drive through Birmingham’s city centre road tunnels is just one of the new possibilities being discussed by transport bosses. The plan of action is being drawn up by council chiefs could change the layout of the city centre and prevent access for motorists forever.

However, the ideas received a mix response from officials. They would also require around £1 billion worth of investment in public transport to still allow people to take trips to and move around the city centre with ease.

Birmingham has already been given its last warning to clean up its air zone by next year. The city has approved procedures to initiate a clean air zone in its town centre, which includes plans to tax private hire and high-emission vehicles.

However, the strategy has been delayed by the government.

Birmingham City Council’s head of transport strategy Mel Jones stated that the region’s sustainability scrutiny committee was working hard to transform

the area. The planning comes as part of one of four “big moves” to split the city centre into a series of “cells”, which cars could only access from the ring road. Hence, motorists would not be able to drive into the city centre at all.

Birmingham’s Conservative leaders have criticised Labour leadership for seeking out such transportation changes.

Councillor Rob Alden accused the rival party of initiating an “ongoing war on motorists.” Labour has also been called out for allegedly “keeping the plans secret”, and Tory party members have demanded them to be released to the

public immediately.

However, a council spokesman said that keeping the transport tactics a secret was never an intention. They are not ready for the public yet, and are being discussed at council meetings, but will be published when available.

Assistant director of transport and creativity, Phil Edwards, said that instead of concrete filling the city centre’s tunnels like the Queensway, they could instead remain accessible for buses, trams, cyclists and pedestrians.

A spokesman said the following: “This plan will set out the council’s long term vision for the future of transport in our city, focusing on the movement of people rather than vehicles.

“This means prioritising public transport, walking and cycling provision, offering those who live and work in the city more sustainable travel options and reducing over-reliance on private car use.”

Enquiry Launched after Horrific Incident of Axe Gang Attacking Teenager in Indian Takeaway

By Manisha Bhanot

Police are asking for anyone with information to come forward after a young man was threatened with a bladed article in public

Officers were called to the scene when a three-man armed gang stormed inside an Indian takeaway and attacked a 19-year-old. The assault occurred at around 6 pm at Palash Balti on Birmingham New Road, Wolverhampton.

It was suspected that before they ambushed the Indian restaurant, the mob was viciously assaulting the same teenager in a road rage attack outside the premises. They then broke into the back area of the business and held an axe to the 19-year-old-man’s throat. They punched him numerous times before making a getaway in a black Renault Clio.

A bystander inside the take away filmed part of the incident on a mobile phone. The footage shows two black men come into the kitchen area of the restaurant. One of them raises a short-bladed axe above his head to attack the young man. The victim raises his hand to defend himself, but

then his attacker lowers the axe. The two gang members appear to hold the other man against the wall; he seems visibly terrified.

The recording shows one of the attackers was wearing a quilted grey jacket, black jogging bottoms and a colourful striped bucket hat. The other man had on a black baseball cap, checked coat and dark bottoms.

Police have released the recording to allow the public to provide more

127 Bloxwich Road Walsall WS2 8BS

information about the attackers if they are known to them. The Police force has urged anyone who recognises the men to get in contact via Live Chat at www.west-midlands.police.uk which is open between 8am - midnight or by calling 101.

Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 by quoting the incident number 20WV/210555C/19.

Tel: 01922 646224

LOCAL 2-15

GLOBAL 16-21

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November 2019

7

Former Wolverhampton Bar to become Gurdwara

Zee Raja Rocks the World

by Mohammed Zafran

Residents have applauded plans to renovate a ‘troublesome’ bar into a Sikh place of worship I was born and raised in Birmingham, UK and grew up living what some may call a hard life. Coming from a middle-class background and an area like Alum Rock isn’t easy for any young lad, as it’s known for the wrong reasons. Also, it can be easy for any adolescent to take the path which leads to gang violence, stabbing, drugs etc.

I didn’t do well at school as subjects like Maths, English, science didn’t interest me, only P.E. I always loved playing sports like football occasionally, but it was cricket which I loved most of all. I always came to bat in the top 4 positions during each year. I would go to games with my two mates and play for the team above us. We always won trophies all over the Midlands, and we had an incredible team.

I would get back from school and tell my Father what the result would be and tell him one day, I would fulfil my dream of becoming a professional cricket player.

In 2008, I went to play cricket with my team in Dubai, and we went on to win the trophy. There was this young man in our team that would always stand out, and he was amazing to watch. I remember telling myself this guy will go on to become a professional cricketer, and he was none other than Moeen Ali, who became an England all-rounder.

Seeing him do so well has caused a great sense of pride in the Asian community, and he can hopefully inspire many youngsters to achieve their goals in life. Unfortunately for myself, due to listening to the negative opinions of people around me, I gave up on my Cricket dream.

In life, I believe if one opportunity closes, God will give you another. I remember I used to sing in the classroom in front of my friends and they would all say to me that you have a good voice and you should make music. In 2016 I came down to Rochdale, and my uncle introduced me to the U.K.

artist MAZ Bonafide who is now like a big brother to me. I had a life-changing conversation with him, which made me strongly believe in myself and develop a stronger person mentally.

A year later I went on to release a cover song called ‘Jaan’, which released on Eid day in 2018. I’ve also been fortunate to have Family like SWOOP, who’s a Rap artist from Birmingham, always being there for me. In 2018 I came across ‘AIM academy’ which is run by the legendary singer Apache Indian. I would go in and couldn’t believe what I was seeing as Apache was in front of me. I remember him just asking two questions, my name and if I could sing. I said yes, without any hesitation, and he put me on the spot.

I’ve kept coming to the academy since that day and growing as an artist. This academy has changed lives not just music-related but by getting young people into education and getting them off the streets. I would also like to mention Usman Khan and Shaf who run organisations which are called Street futures, and Alum Rock football academy that gets young boys and girls into playing various sports activities.

Its people like these and organisation and platforms like these that inspire me to make a difference to someone life and inspire the young generation to get into music or any other field they wish to be in.

I want to end by saying to whoever is reading this article, if you’re not sure if dreams do come true or if opportunities don’t come, then don’t give up.

Here I am today ‘the spoilt young kid’ they said who ‘wouldn’t make it’; releasing his brand new single ‘Hathkariyan’, which is out NOW. The official video is on my official YOUTUBE channel: Zee Raja Music.

To follow me on my socials Instagram / Snapchat/ Twitter : @Zee_rajamusic

The Shed Venue on Woden Road, Wolverhampton is being converted to a new community facility and location where neighbouring Sikhs can come to pray. The proposal has received the seal of approval from locals, as the former venue which served alcohol and housed various of gigs, was central to a number of disruptive incidents.

The plans sent over by the Sant Zora Singh Lopon Charitable Trust UK have already been given the go-ahead by Wolverhampton City Council. They include blueprints to extend the old bar and alter the look of the building to accommodate worshippers in comfort.

The new establishment will also hold events for all of the community and notably support the homeless with free meals and hot drinks. It would also function as the charity’s headquarters.

Local Parmjit Singh Grewal commented: “As a resident of this road my family welcomes the change from the club to a place of religious worship. A peaceful, considerate welcoming for the whole community. I am fully supportive of the change of use.”

Sukhjit Chatha said: “When the site was a club there would be endless trouble with patrons of the venue. I have absolutely no objections and know the place of

worship would be a great benefit to the community. Having spoken to my neighbours, they also support this change of use.”

Agents Evans Jones said: “The charity’s own objectives align closely with the objectives of promoting social interactions between existing and future members of the community and helping to secure the delivery of local strategies to improve health, social and cultural well-being for all sections of the community.”

However, some members of the community have opposed the plans due to fears over parking issues and congestion surrounding the site.

8

November 2019

Fatal Collision between Cocaine Drug-Addict and Family in Handsworth

By Grace Lea

Following his trial at Birmingham Crown Court, reckless driver Adrian Paskin pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving. He was also driving while disqualified and driving with no insurance. The unemployed drug addict fled from the police and caused a fatal crash in Handsworth, in which he collided head-on with a family car. He had taken enough cocaine to be more than four times over the legal limit.

Paskin had been involved in high-speed police chase that day, but the police had stopped pursuing him due to the danger of his driving. However, they continued to follow him once he exited the motorway, which caused Paskin to make off at speed, resulting in the fatal crash.

Mohammed Alam, driving a Volkswagen Golf with his sister and cousin, turned out of a junction thinking it to be safe. As he did so, Paskin appeared through the dark at 70mph with his headlights turned off. The cars collided and moved 90 degrees from their respective positions, Alam explained that the cars lifted from the ground upon impact.

Paskin instantly fled from the scene, leaving his girlfriend seriously hurt in the back of his car. Alam, hearing his sister screaming from the pain of injuries to her neck, ran to catch him.

However, his injuries prevented him from reaching Paskin, and he fell to the

floor, awaiting the police and ambulance’s arrival.

The three members of the Alam family were taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Askin’s girlfriend, Sarah Handley, sadly passed away from a fatal head injury, being pronounced dead by a doctor a short time after the collision, the injuries sustained major. Sarah was a loving mother of one, a daughter and granddaughter, and her death caused great sadness for her relatives.

It came to light during the trial that Paskin had rung his father as he fled from the scene, asking him for help as he had got into trouble, explaining how he had killed his girlfriend. His father rightly persuaded him to hand himself over to the police.

Adrian Paskin was sentenced to fourteen years in jail at his trial. However, this was reduced to nine years and four months for pleading guilty. Alam was angered at such a short jail sentence, as he felt a minimum of twelve years was necessary for what Paskin had done.

Alam talked further about the continuing mental injuries that were the result of such a traumatic disaster, stating that the long-term damage Askin caused was just as extensive. Mohammad’s sister continued to have flashbacks of the crash and cried for at least two days following the collision.

Drug Dealing Dad Begs not to be Sentenced A father of three has

been imprisoned for almost three years after being charged with possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Abdul Kahir, of Tolkien Way, Hartshill, was caught with bags of Cocaine in his car whilst he was vacuuming his vehicle at a petrol station in Festival Park.

The 42-year-old had turned to selling the class A drug to pay off his drug debt and to support his pregnant wife and two children. He had been made redundant from his last job, and drug dealing had been his only way of earning an income for the past six weeks.

Police were sent to the area after they received a tip-off of information which turned out to be true. In the centre compartment of Kahir’s car, they discovered four wraps of the white powder hidden inside a sock. They also found a phone, and £320 in cash, which must have been Kahir’s earnings from his drop-offs.

Kahir had been compliant with an inter-

rogation from officers. In his interview with the Police, he claimed he was paid £150 a day selling each pack for £40.

He said he was sent postcodes via text, so he knew where to deliver the drugs.

Kahir was held on trial at Stoke-onTrent Crown Court. The defendant pleaded guilty. He said that he had been offered the deal of buying and selling as the only way of escaping from his debt. From doing as such, the money he owed had been reduced by £100, and he

got £50 in Cocaine.

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, argued that a prison sentence for the defendant should be suspended due to the nature of his family situation. He said: “His wife and young children are going to become victims of his offending”.

However, Kahir was still sentenced to a total of 28 months. The judge ordered the forfeit of the cash which was found in his car and the destruction of the drugs which were in his possession.

House of Fraser New Opening

By Tauseef Asif

It has been confirmed that House of Fraser will further leave its mark on Wolverhampton’s retail sector. The chain now plans to open a new store in, the city’s central shopping complex, the Mander Centre.

Tycoon Mike Ashley will launch Frasers, which will sell a mix of brands from the store’s exclusives, as well as the likes of Flannels, Sports Direct and USC brands. Currently, the store is occupied by the high street department chain Debenhams until early next year.

The deal is a massive boost for the Mander Centre and will come as a relief to the bosses following the blow of losing the anchor store Debenhams, which will close in early 2020.

It also brings the end of more than 140 years of retail history at Beatties, which is currently in the process of being sold.

The University of Wolverhampton is amongst the bidders for this sale. This new development means the Mander Centre will maintain a large department store following the loss of Debenhams, whose exit from the city was confirmed last month.

It is thought the numerous different brands of Mr Ashley’s retail empire,

The current Debenhams store in Wolverhampton where House of Fraser is due to open

from luxury Flannels to budget Sports Direct, will operate on separate floors.

Sources have confirmed talks between House of Fraser and the Mander Centre but both parties have not said anything over a possible deal until now.

“We are delighted to welcome Frasers to the Mander Centre. This is terrific news for our loyal shoppers who will see a significant upgrade in our premium brand line up. This long-term commitment signifies the confidence major brands have in both Wolverhampton and the Mander Centre as the city’s preeminent customer destination.

The Mander team work hard to give all our customers good reasons to shop locally in the city where they live and work” said Jonathan Ratnage, retail sector specialist.

Michael Murray, head of elevation at Sports Direct International, which owns House of Fraser, said: “We are really proud to have secured this retail destination in the heart of Wolverhampton and look forward in bringing our new elevated multi-brand concept to the Mander Centre in 2020.”

Brexit Indecision Damaging Small Businesses

Responding to the EU’s decision to grant a Brexit ‘Flextension’ until 31 January 2020, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mike Cherry said: “There will be a collective sigh of relief from small businesses that a no-deal Brexit in three days’ time has been avoided. However, they will find themselves trapped by more uncertainty as Westminster fails to move beyond Brexit.

“For many small firms, extensions are doubled-edged swords – yes they safeguard against the dam-

age of a no-deal Brexit but they also prolong uncertainty without actually removing the potential of a no-deal further down the road. A proper transition period remains small firms’ top ask, ideally for two years. This will give small businesses enough time to prepare for whatever changes are to come.

“These firms have been starved of certainty, battening down the hatches for a potential no-deal that would have harmed nearly 40 per cent of our members. All this has done is cause them to stop

making business decisions. They have stopped hiring staff, they’ve stopped investing and they’ve stopped growing.

“MPs continue to be very good at not making decisions about Brexit but there comes a time when decisions need to be made. We are way past this point – we cannot get stuck in a cycle of never-ending extensions. MPs from all parties must come together and use this extra time in a meaningful way to break the deadlock as quickly as possible.

“Small businesses need this.”

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November 2019

Fraudster Travel Agent Sentenced

A travel consultant who misled holidaymakers out of around £30,000 with false flight tickets has been imprisoned.

Chetan Pal Panesar, of Regent Street, Handsworth, took countless amounts of cash from clients through his organisation, E-Tickets Worldwide Limited.

Be that as it may, his unfortunate clients got nothing and some were even left stranded abroad as return flights had not been reserved or paid for.

Many had booked to see relatives, some of whom were sick.

One mother was taking her child to spend Christmas with her grandmother, just to land at Heathrow Airport and discover Panesar had stashed her money.

Another client booked and paid for return flights to Jamaica for himself and his kids just to discover they were dropped

by Panesar while he was in the Caribbean.

He was left stranded and compelled to get cash to fly his family home.

Clients lost as much as £4,520; some couldn’t stand to purchase substitution tickets and needed to acquire cash from companions or family - or even take out a bank advance.

Others came to the airport terminal with their luggage in hand, hoping to catch flights they had paid for, with some compelled to buy boarding passes to arrive at their destination.

Various complaints overflowed in from displeased customers,

who had been conned out of money between April 2016 and March 2017, starting a Trading Standards examination concerning Panesar.

Panesar, who was the driving force behind the scam, seemed to target Asian and Afro-Caribbean people, with most clients purchasing flights to Jamaica, Abu Dubai, India, USA and Nigeria.

An examination was completed at Panesar’s home and the place of work of E-Tickets Worldwide Limited. Documentation was seized, and Panesar was later detained.

The unfeeling fraudster asserted a bank administrator had been taking cash from the business and he was not to be held accountable. However, this was not the case, and he later conceded to one charge of false trading.

Panesar was imprisoned for 21 months at Birmingham Crown

Court in October.

A seizure request was likewise applied for under the Proceeds of Crime Act so as to recuperate the cash lost by Panesar’s exploited customers.

Coun Phil Davis, chair of the city council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee, stated: “I welcome the sentence of Chetan Pal Panesar, which sends out a clear message to other rogue traders that such unscrupulous business practices will not be tolerated in our city and we will prosecute.”

Sajeela Naseer, head of Birmingham City Council trading standards, said: “It is important that consumers conduct their own research into the travel company that they are thinking of using and make sure it is really a member of ABTA and is ATOL protected by checking online.”

City of Coventry Opens its Own Water Park The Wave Water Park recently opened its doors in Coventry within the West Midlands. The multi-million pound complex is home to the UK’s biggest current pool, six large slides and other recreational features.

The facility also includes a full furbished gym and fitness centre, as well as a Spa for visitors to relax and undergo therapeutic treatments. There is space for visitors eat and drink at a tranquil beach café as well as an indoor river, all situated within the heart of the city centre.

The high-octane slides that the park features include tunnels and twisters inclusive of ten-metre plus drops. They can either be ridden solo or in pairs with a rubber ring. The rides are named; the Crestar, Cascade, Rapids, Riptide, Torrent and Cyclone. The rides are as long as around 80 metres and can reach speeds of up to 10mph.

Visitors to the park are allowed a certain amount of time enjoying the facilities within for a fixed price. They can receive discounts via a GO CV card and special offers are available during the holidays and half-term.

Kirsty, 24 and Adam, 31, from Solihull said: “It’s great for families as there are lots of different slides that suit different ages.”

Ryan, who is 24 and a student in Nottingham, said: “It was really good had quite a few different rides.

“I think the pricing was reasonable and I would recommend it to other people.”

Many have praised the park for increasing tourism around the local area and within the West Midlands County, as a similar Park does not exist in Birmingham or its neighbouring towns. It is hoped that the

facility will also encourage people to use the gym and participate in swimming classes, benefitting their overall health.

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November 2019

Kartarpur

The Life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born on the 29th of November 1469, and is the first of the lineage of the ten Gurus in Sikhism. Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith, and travelled across various countries on foot and by sea to teach his concepts of one God and eternal truth. He preached love and respect between people of all religions and backgrounds. He is also noted for creating the Punjabi alphabet and written language.

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in Nankana Sahib, Punjab, which is situated in present day Pakistan. His parents were Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta, he had one sister whom he was very fond of, called Bibi Nanki. The Guru married Mata Sulakkhani at age eighteen and had two sons named Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das. Although the Guru initially followed his Father’s wishes and became an accountant, he abandoned his worldly life to travel the world and preach God’s message.

During his life-time, Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached three fundamental teachings which are still widely incorporated into the lifestyles of practicing Sikhs. These three concepts are ‘Vand Chakko’ (sharing with others), Kirat Karo (Living/Earning honestly) and Naam Japo (Remember and recite God’s name). Followers of Sikhism believe that God’s message was divinely revealed to the Guru from a young age, and much of his teachings were collated in the religion’s holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Guru Nanak Dev Ji first started demonstrating divine and selfless qualities from a young age.

When he was an around sixteen years old, he loved to help the poor and others in need. During this time, the Guru’s father gave him 20 rupees to fund his own business and learn to earn for himself. However, the young Guru instead chose to spend the sum on buying clothes, food and water for some frail and hungry saints that were meditating nearby. According to the Guru, there is no better work than to help and love others, and treat one another as brothers and sisters.

When he set out on his spiritual journey, Guru Nanak encountered people from all walks of life. One day, he travelled to Hariduar in India, a sacred location meaning ‘God’s Gate’, where the river Ganges flows. During the time of his visit, people bathing in the river were throwing water towards the sun, as part of a ritual to honour their deceased ancestors. However, the Guru started throwing water in the completely wrong direction. As startled onlookers gathered around him, he explained: “I am throwing water to my crops in Punjab, if water can’t reach them, then how can it reach your ancestors?” The Guru liked to challenge people’s beliefs. He then learned the men had not been praying to God with sincerity in their hearts, and instead were thinking about the

money and wealth they would obtain by carrying out rituals for their ancestors. The Guru instead taught them to live honestly and chant ‘Sat Nam’ (God’s truth).

During another one of the Guru’s famous travels, he set out to Mecca, in Arabia, a Muslim majority state. When arriving at the famous Mosque, Guru Nanak laid down to rest with his feet pointing towards the building. His actions angered the Imam of the Mosque, who approached the Guru and said: “Don’t you know this is the House of God you fool? Why are your feet pointing towards the Kaaba?” Guru Nanak Dev Ji apologised, and then asked the man to move his feet towards the direction where there is no God. As the Imam did so, he realised the Kaaba appeared in every direction he pointed his feet. The Guru explained: “God does not live in one place, he is everywhere.”

Due to his teachings, people began to refer to the Guru as ‘Baba Nanak’, which means a wise and old man.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji appointed Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji as his successor. His final resting place lies in Kartarpur, within Pakistan. His life lessons and legacy still live on in the hearts of Sikhs across the world and can be found in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji, and various central texts from other faiths.

The Kartarpur Corridor was first proposed in early 1999 by the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif, respectively, as part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy.

The Corridor will create an easily accessed entryway for pilgrims travelling between the Dera Baba Nanak Shrine in India’s Punjab, and Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to the final resting place of the founder of the Sikh religion, and also where Guru Nanak spent the last eighteen years of his life.

The caretaker of Kartarpur reported that the sanctified site was formerly closed from 1947, when both Indian and Pakistan achieved independence, up until 2000. After the partition, the governments of both countries

attempted to develop links across their borders by starting visa-free travel. American ambassadors supported them with this prospect. Some of the plans included bus projects and the Samjhota Express, a train which travels between Lahore and Delhi. However, due to some reasons not precisely disclosed, these programs were cancelled.

The original building of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur was destroyed by devastating floods. The present building was constructed between 1920 and 1929 at the cost of Rs 165,060

by Maharaja Sardar Phobinder Singh of Patiala. Later, it was renovated by the Pakistan government in 1995.

In November of last year, the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu made a formal request to open the Corridor of

Kartarpur, which was approved

by Pakistan PM Imran Khan.

Mr Naidu was then given the go-ahead to lay the foundation corner stone for the new project, at the Mann Village of Gurdaspur.

Pilgrims will be able to travel between the two destinations without a Visa, although a permit will still be required, which is to be approved by both Pakistan and India before the journey.

India has expressed that it is “disappointed” with Islamabad’s insistence on charging pilgrims a $20 (£15) fee for entering the Corridor, despite repeated protests against the cost.

Pakistan claims that the main reason this facility cannot be provided for free is due to construction costs. Pakistan is also bearing operational expenses for the Corridor, which include

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r Corridor Opening

Plans for the Dera Baba Nanak Shrine on the Pakistan side

wages of employees working there, maintenance and security bills, which must be accounted for on a daily basis. Pakistani citizens will also be unable to use the Corridor to travel to India. Therefore, the country was hesitant to use its own citizens’ taxpayer money to fund a project they cannot even use.

The $20 fee will only be charged at the Kartarpur Border when Indian Citizens will be entering Pakistan to use the VisaFree Corridor. Indian Citizens can even avoid paying the fee if they don’t use the Corridor Facility and enter Pakistan from Wahgah-Attari, and then visit the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.

The Kartarpur corridor spans out a total of roughly 4.7 kilometres (2.9 miles). It also features a bridge over the River Ravi, which runs across the border of

India and Pakistan. The founding corner stone on the Pakistan side was laid by Imran Khan, during late November of 2018.

Thousands of workers have been working in 3 eight hour shifts 24 hours a day over the year with over 100s of companies and contractors involved in this project. The shrine in Pakistan, which spreads to an approximate 42 acres, includes a courtyard, museum, library, locker rooms, dormitories, immigration office and an embankment to prepare the shrine in case of any flooding.

Atif Majeed, said that the Pakistani government had acquired around 800 acres of land and handed it over to the Gurdwara management as a gift. Out of this much land, he said, as many as 42 acres had been allocated for the construction of the Gurdwara

complex, and 62 acres for the agricultural purpose of meeting the needs of the Langar Khana indigenously.

Majeed said Ziarat White Marble and the best quality imported tiles had been used in the construction of the complex, which was one of the unique features of the site, built in a record period of just ten months. To extend better health

services, he said, a 12-bed hospital had been established where all possible medical care would be ensured to the visiting Yatrees, in case of their ailment.

Majeed said around 250 cameras had been installed to ensure foolproof security arrangements and effective monitoring of the complex, while 1,500 employees were

working there for the facilitation of the Yatrees.

Majeed informed that temporary shops had been set up keeping in view the requirements of Sikh Yatrees, adding the shops will depict the culture of all four provinces. He stated that a money exchange centre is set up there as well.

A New Delhi-based leading architectural firm has unveiled

the design of the Passenger Terminal Building for the Kartarpur Corridor between India and Pakistan. A state-of-the-art terminal building has been built on a plot of 15 acres at Dera Baba Nanak in the Gurdaspur District of Punjab on the Indian side of the Kartarpur Corridor.

The Passenger Terminal Building has a built-up area of about 21650 square metres. It will

The new passage is now open after agreements between India and Pakistan have been signed, commemorating Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s 550th birthday Plans for the Kartarpur Corridor Terminal on the Indian side provide adequate immigration and customs clearance facilities to process the smooth movement of approximately 5000 devotees per day. The building is fully air-conditioned and disabled-friendly.

Apart from the other facilities, the complex includes kiosks, cloakrooms and adequate parking space.

Pakistani PM Imran Khan has called Kartarpur Sahib the ‘largest Gurdwara’ in the world. It is considered to be the second holiest place of worship for Sikhs after the Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Pakistan, which was built to mark the birthplace of Guru

Nanak.

The Kartarpur Corridor marks the success of a rare co-operation between the two sides of Pakistan and India, who have a long history of warfare and have had many former breakdowns in communication. It is thought that the Corridor will open new ways of trading goods to help the economies of both countries as well.

Government officials believe that the Kartarpur passage will host around 5,000 pilgrims daily and roughly 10,000 will be able to visit and pray at the shrine.

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November 2019

Plans to Demolish Perry Barr Flyover Press Forward

Curry House which Hung up Swastika Explains it’s Actually a Peace Symbol

An Indian Restaurant has defended its use of the sign outside its premises

Birmingham’s Councillor Khalid Mahmood has expressed severe disappointment with the city council, as plans to close the Perry Barr flyover are continuing, despite numerous objections.

The Perry Barr MP said that removing the A34 flyover as part of a £27.1 million regeneration could seriously harm business for the area’s OneStop Shopping centre. He also said the complex could even close if the national chains which have outlets there decide to pull-out.

Cllr Mahmood says the plans will lead to a massive influx of traffic, making it harder for locals to access the shops in Perry Barr. However, other MPs want to continue to get rid of the flyover and put traffic on the dual carriageway at ground level. The council argues this plan of action is necessary to simplify the city’s road layout and encourage more extensive use of public transport.

However, the proposal has already received over 15,000 signatures from

various petitions against the idea.

Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors have opposed the plans, along with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.

Mr Mahmood said: “I am outraged at the behaviour of this uncaring council, which does not have the interests of my constituents at heart.”

Cabinet member for environment and transport, Cllr Waseem Zaffar, has spoken in favour of the plans to terminate the flyover. He has stated “over 5,000 new homes being built” and “half a billion pounds being invested into Perry Barr” as legitimate reasons to close the flyover and make room for the new developments.

“And we’re very confident that we will achieve this with minimal disruption, we will achieve this within the time allocated that we need to achieve it for the big event in 2022, and we will achieve it to benefit the residents in the short, medium and long term,” he said.

Situated in Ashton-under-Lyme in Manchester, Lily’s Vegetarian is an eatery which has had fantastic reviews from curry-loving visitors all across the city.

However, the establishment has recently suffered backlash due to its decision to hang a swastika, as part of a welcome banner, over the restaurant and deli’s main entrance.

Keen to clear up the confusion, the staff at the curry house took to social media to defend the business. They clarified via Facebook that the Swastika is actually an ancient religious sign for peace and prosperity.

However, its symbolism and design were hijacked by the Nazi party in Germany during the 1930s. It was rotated 40 degrees, the four dots which sometimes accompany the original design was also removed, and it was incorporated into a white circle on a red background. Due to Hitler’s violent actions and German warfare, the Swastika became mistaken as a signifier for violence and destruction in the Western world.

However, this is actually not the case.

The word ‘Swastik’ in fact stems from the Sanskrit definition of ‘wellbeing’ or ‘auspiciousness.’ The symbol is often used during religious prayers and ceremonies in South Asia.

Regular customers of the restaurant jumped to back up its reputation and

said it was a “shame” and “absolutely pathetic” that the managers of the venue had to explain themselves.

Lily’s Facebook post read as follows: “The symbol that is used in this sign is a religious Hindu symbol. It is an ancient symbol of spirituality and represents auspiciousness and good luck.

“It has been recognised as this symbol

since 3000 BC and still represents this for many Hindus around the world today.

“We have been made aware that some comments have been circulating that simply we have this symbol up for other reasons and would like to make it clear that this isn’t the case.”

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First Transgender Councillor Elected in Bangladesh A transgender candidate has been voted in as local councillor for a rural Bangladeshi town Pinki Khatun has been elected as vice-chairperson of a town council in Bangladesh’s western region. The successful candidate defeated her second-place rival by over 4,000 votes.

The 37-year-old is a youth wing official of the Awami League who are the political party currently in power within Bangladesh. Pinki decided to campaign as an independent candidate after her party decided not to back anyone. She ran for candidacy in the town of Kotchandpur which has a population of around 200,000.

“I am delighted. I campaigned doorto-door, and people have responded positively,” the garment garment

shop owner Pinki said.

“I did not face any discrimination or hate campaigns.”

Bangladesh has allowed transgender people a.k.a ‘hijra’ to remain in the country as a separate caste. The term translates to someone who is neither male or female. In 2013, people identifying as such were able to identify as another gender altogether.

In 2019, they were allowed to vote by listing themselves as the third gender.

Pinki previously identified as a woman and is familiar with the struggles females face in Bangladeshi society. She said that her main aims as councillor were to work “for the betterment of women and protect their rights”. She said she would also “work for hijras so they can live

honourably in society”.

The Bangladeshi government claims that there are around 10,000 hijras within the country. However, others have estimated that this number could be as high as 500, 000, as many hijras hide their identities from their peers to avoid discrimination in society.

Bangladesh is a conservative Muslim majority nation. Most of the population follow Islam, a religion which has sacred texts that outlaw homosexuality. Minorities are commonly discriminated against, and an old colonial-era law still sentences two people engaging in gay sex to prison for life. However, this punishment is often hardly enforced.

Anonnya Banik, a Transgender rights activist, stated that the election of the country’s first transgender politician was indeed a “big achievement”.

“It will create a positive impact on society and inspire other transpeople. I think it reflects a change in the Bangladeshi people’s attitude towards trans-people,” said Banik.

By Manisha Bhanot.

Indian Catholic nun ‘denied justice’

by Vatican

An Indian Catholic nun has been expelled after she spoke out against a bishop accused of rape. She has also been denied justice by the Vatican.

Sister Lucy Kalappura stated that she was disappointed by the Vatican’s decision to reject her appeal against her dismissal from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) in the Kerala state.

She has said that she will not be leaving the convent and has plans to take the case to court.

In 2018 sister Lucy took part in protests against Bishop Franco Mulakkai. He was arrested over allegations that he repeatedly raped a nun between the year 2014 and 2016. However, the bishop denies all charges against him.

The FCC stated that Sister Lucy was expelled on the grounds that her “lifestyle was in violation of the proper law” of the congregation.

However, Lucy claims that she was dismissed because she took a prominent role in the protests against the bishop.

She also said that she was “not at all satisfied” with the Vatican’s response. She stated that the church officials did not contact her to hear her side of the story.

“I am not going to leave the convent.

The lifestyle I lead is as per the rules and regulations,” she added.

Although she did receive a letter from the Vatican saying that she could “present a new recourse” if she felt that the ruling was “against her lawful rights”.

However, Lucy said she had no plans to appeal.

“I am allowed a second appeal, but I don’t see any point in doing that since they have made up their mind. I will now go to court on behalf of all the people who are being suppressed and facing illegal behaviour from authorities of the congregation,” she said.

Other nuns who protested against the bishop have also accused the church in Kerala as well as Vatican officials for turning a blind eye towards the rape allegations.

The nuns sent a letter to the Vatican’s ambassador in India and even wrote to the Vatican. However, they did not receive a response from either.

There have also been a number of punitive measures that have been taken against the nuns who protested, including transfer notices and disciplinary warnings.

While testifying in a local court, one of the nuns told the judge that the church was attempting to “sabotage” evidence to protect the bishop.

A London court has ruled that £35m which is held in a UK bank account must be sent to the descendants of an Indian royal. The dispute began in 1948 when the last king of Hyderabad deposited £1m into the UK account which was held by the then Pakistan high commissioner. With interest, the sum has increased to £35m.

The judge ruled there was no evidence to back Pakistan’s claims towards the money.

The origins of the dispute date back to the 1947 partitioning of British India.

Hyderabad was annexed by India in 1948 in a military operation-the cash transfer had been made shortly before that.

The Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, has not come to a decision yet on whether his state should be in India or Pakistan.

His descendants have allegedly asked for the money to be returned weeks after the annexation took place, however,

Family of Indian royals win £35m court battle against Pakistan

Pakistan refused to give it back.

The court case was fought by his family, together with the Indian state. The National Westminster Bank refused to release the funds to either party until the case was resolved in court.

Pakistan argued that they had been given the money in order to procure arms however the court determined that it had the right to rule in the case, given that the cash was deposited in a British bank account.

“The court today made it clear that it did not think the money was handed to Pakistan outright. There is overwhelming evidence that Pakistan only held the money as a trustee and it actually belonged to the Nizam,” Paul Hewitt, the lawyer for one of the grandsons, told the BBC’s Gaggan Sabherwal.”

Mr Hewitt stated that the case, which had begun when his client was a child, was finally being resolved when he was in his 80s.

“We welcome the judgment of Justice Marcus Smith,” Najaf Ali Khan, one of the Nizam’s grandsons, told BBC Telugu.

“The High Court has rightly rejected Pakistan’s claim. The family has long awaited this judgement.”

India’s foreign ministry welcomed the verdict in a press statement.

Pakistan could seek to appeal; however, the money will be given to the Nizam’s grandsons and the state of India.

AW Facts Did you know?

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which is 2,717 feet, is the tallest building in Asia.

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November 2019

FORMER BEAUTY QUEEN MAY BE IRAN’S NEXT POLITICAL PRISONER

Former Iranian beauty queen Bahareh Zare Bahari is seeking asylum in the Philippines after being detained in an airport in Manila for more than a week over a Red Notice issued by authorities in Iran.

The 31-year old has been studying dentistry in the Philippines for a number of years, and has used her relative celebrity as Iran’s representative in the Miss Intercontinental 2018 pageant to speak out for women’s rights and reformist parties in her home country.

According to local media, the Iranian government has filed cases against Bahari related to her activism.

“From what we understand, numerous cases have been filed against Ms. Bahari, both in Iran and in the Philippines on the basis of her support for opposition parties in Iran and her stance on human rights in the country,” said Radha Stirling, an international lawyer spearheading calls for Interpol reform. “Interpol has allowed itself to be used as an instrument of political persecution by a number of authoritarian regimes around the world. They issue Red Notices against activists, journalists, lawyers and others at the request of oppressive, undemocratic states with horrendous human rights records and Draconian legal systems, with no semblance of due diligence. It is apparent that the Red Notice against Ms. Bahari is politically motivated, and she has every reason to fear for her safety if the Philippines rejects her appeal for asylum.”

Scores of political activists, writers,

academics and journalists have been arrested in Iran this year, many suffering indefinite detention without trial. The use of torture has been well-documented in Iranian police stations and prisons, and Amnesty International estimates that between 2013 and 2015 around 2,000 people were executed in Iran.

Stirling explained that instances of blatant, politically-motivated Interpol abuse have occurred with increasing frequency in recent years, and govern-

ments around the world are reassessing their relationship with the international policing organisation. “I met with congressional advisors drafting US legislation aimed at curbing Interpol abuse, and I will be advising the Australian government on ways to conditionalise their cooperation with Interpol, after the horrendous incident with Hakeem Alaraibi in Thailand,” she said. Alaraibi is a Bahraini refugee in Australia and celebrated football player who was

detained in Bangkok for several weeks over a Red Notice request

by Bahrain. Interpol is not supposed to allow Red Notices against refugees requested by the countries from which they have fled. “In that case, the victim of the abuse of Interpol had his life put at risk if extradition were carried out; and I believe that could also be the case with Ms. Bahari.” Stirling added.

17

As CEO of Detained in Dubai, Stirling has provided expert witness testimony in several high profile extradition cases. Coining the term “Interpol Abuse,” Stirling has been at the forefront of a growing consensus that Interpol is in dire need of comprehensive reforms, and has founded an organisation, IPEX, dedicated to Interpol and extradition procedural change.

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November 2019

22 Year Old Student Beaten To Death after Criticising the Government

By Priyanka Dutta

Rajshahi and Chittagong. The demand of the students was simple - authorities should take steps to tone down political violence which has become so rampant on the campuses.

Criticising the government in a Facebook post led to the death of a twenty-two-year-old old engineering student, Abrar Fahad in Bangladesh.

The student was beaten to death at the university halls of residence in Dhaka.

He was targeted after he criticised the government about their actions.

The bereaved father demanded justice for the death of his son. Protests against politically inclined attacks on campuses have continued, and hence

the father of the deceased student has demanded that strict action be taken to solve this issue.

Many have claimed that the attacks can be linked with BCL or better known as the Bangladesh Chhatra League. BCL is the influential and very popular student wing of the Awami League. The Awami League is the party of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The student had the dream of study-

ing for a PhD and wanted to serve his country, as stated by his father.

He also added that the administration needs to take strict steps to stop such untoward incidents. He said the administration needs to know what is happening inside the dormitories and ensure that such events do not occur in the long run to students.

The death of the twenty-two-year-old student has started a string of protests at different universities in Dhaka,

Human rights groups have openly criticised the actions of BCL which had earlier also been accused of beating students for protesting against the government. Much debate has arisen due to their actions. School and university students were beaten up with sticks and machetes when they were protesting for road safety. The attacks have been linked with the youth section of the Awami League.

The authorities, instead of taking strict action against the attackers, detained the students. A first-year student who studies at Fahad’s college mentioned that the students felt unsafe, and they never spoke their mind freely.

The reason why Fahad had to die at an untimely time was due to the fact that he had written a post on Facebook criticising the deals signed by Bangladesh PM on her recent visit to New Delhi. Water sharing and export of petroleum gas to India were among the issues on which the arrangements were made. Many have argued that the agreements did not benefit Bangladesh in any way.

The autopsy report mentioned that the student died from severe internal bleeding. He was beaten up with blunt objects like cricket stumps or sticks.

Hasina has promised that justice will be given to the family. Eleven students have been arrested with connection to this grave incident.

However, it remains to be seen whether the real culprit gets caught.

It also raises the question of whether freedom of expression is, after all, a bad idea to practise in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi MP Expelled after hiring eight lookalikes to take her place in exams

Bangladeshi politician, Tamanna Nusrat has been expelled from university after allegedly hiring as many as eight lookalikes to take her place in exams.

Tamanna Nusrat, from the ruling Awami League party, was accused of paying the lookalikes to pretend to be her during at least 13 tests. The scandal emerged after the private broadcaster Nagorik TV entered a test hall and confronted the woman who was posing as Tamanna Nusrat, in a video that went viral.

Nusrat was elected to parliament in 2018 and was studying for a bachelor of arts degree with the Bangladesh Open University (BOU) “We expelled her because she has committed a crime. A crime is a crime,” said the BOU head, MA Mannan. “We have cancelled her enrolment. She will never be able to get admitted here again.”

A college official said: “The proxy students were protected by the MP’s musclemen when they sat for the tests. Everybody knew it, but nobody uttered a word because she is from a very influential family.”

Tamanna Nusrat could not be reached for comment.

Cheating, test fraud and leaking of question papers ahead of exams are common in Bangladesh, prompting authorities frequently to cancel results.

New-born Baby girl found Buried alive in shallow grave in India A new-born baby girl has been found buried alive in northern India according to a local police chief.

Abhinandan Singh told the reporters that the baby was discovered by a villager who was burying his own daughter, who died minutes after birth. The baby girl was rushed to hospital after she was placed inside an earthen pot about 3ft (90cm) below the ground.

“As they were digging a grave for her, at a depth of three feet, the spade hit an earthen pot, which was pulled out. There was a baby lying in it Mr Singh explained.

“The police took the baby to the city hospital where she is getting treatment and have now launched an investigation into the incident.”

“We are trying to find the parents of the baby, and we suspect that this must have happened with their consent,” Mr Singh told reporters in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

India’s gender ratio is said to be one of the worst in the world.

Women are often discriminated and are seen as a financial burden, particularly among poor communities.

Campaigners have said that a traditional preference for sons has meant that millions of female children have lost foeticide and infanticide throughout the years.

Although most unwanted female foetuses are aborted with help from illegal sex determination clinics, there have been cases where baby girls are being killed after birth.

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November 2019

19

India’s most cunning serial killer confesses to murdering six family members

Almost 50 Years Later, ‘Bihari’ Muslims Still Stranded in Bangladesh

By Charlie Murray

The 1947 partition of India and the violent clashes that followed resulted in a Diaspora of people with different faiths and backgrounds.

The independence of Bangladesh resulted in Urdu-speaking non-Bengali Muslims migrating from Bihar, Eastern India. It is still resulting in hundreds of thousands of ‘Bihari’ Muslims living in inhumane conditions in Bangladesh today. This community, also known as ‘Stranded Pakistanis’, was formed after the partition forming the Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan.

In 1971, Bangladesh gained independence after factors, including language and ethnicity issues, triggered a war with Islamabad. The ‘Bihari’, many of whom were pro-Pakistani during said war, stayed in “temporary” camps until they could later be repatriated to Pakistan. However, the planes supposedly taking them to Pakistan never arrived, resulting in 300,000 Biharis being stranded, stateless refugees in one-room houses in Bangladesh.

Almost 50 years later, local NGOs working for Bihari welfare say that a growing population of around 400,000 Bihari Muslims are still isolated in camps in Bangladesh. Due to many Bangladeshis’ mistrust of the previous generation of Biharis, the

Biharis have not been able to integrate into the society of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital.

The Bangladeshi government have said that there are 116 camps in which most Biharis live. Dhaka alone has 100,000 Biharis in 45 settlements.

These camps’ density (with paths covered in open drains, garbage, mud and slush) means that the mud-brick houses of these settlements offer tiny, cramped rooms with no privacy to those living in them. For instance, over 40,000 Biharis live in the Geneva camp in Dhaka, where families of 8-10 members on average are cramped into each house, and around 90 people share a lavatory.

The Geneva camp had protests just this month, after funds to help the camp residents to pay electricity bills were halted. The protest was for a free and uninterrupted power supply, as the Bihari do not even have the wealth for an education. After the police stormed the camp, at least 50 people, including 15 law enforcers, were injured, according to Anisur Rahman, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Bihari Muslims living in these poor conditions cannot afford an education to acquire a job. (The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit state that about 94% of the Biharis are illiterate.) This means that adults cannot find skilled jobs and children must work early. Some are educated, but as one of the Muslims in these camps, Muhammad Hasan, 24, said, “Some us have college and university degrees, yet we struggle to get jobs.

We are forced to work as day labourers, rickshaw-pullers.”

In 2008, an order from the Supreme Court finally made the Dhakan government include in the national voter’s list Biharis who were minors or not born during the 1971 liberation. They can now obtain identity documents, but without a permanent address, they still cannot get Bangladeshi passports, government jobs or admission to public schools. Without passports, they are unable to fulfil their wishes of leaving the camps to find work in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Jolly Joseph was a pillar of her small community. She was respected by her neighbours as a distinguished professor, a solemn widow and a churchgoer whose religious devotion grew, despite a string of personal tragedies.

However, police are now saying that she is one of India’s most cunning serial killers, with cyanide as her weapon of choice, serviced up in soups, snacks and ayurvedic beverages.

Local authorities have said that Jolly confessed to killing six family members over the span of 14 years. The family members include, her husband, Roy Thomas, his parents and a two-year-old niece. Since 2002, Jolly confessed to killing her mother in law with a bowl of mutton soup with cyanide.

Officials say that she will be charged with six counts of premeditated murder and have also accused Jolly of trying to inherit valuable property as well as other assets held by the family she married into.

Jolly Joseph, 47 has scandalised Koodathayai, which is a small town located in the southern state of Kerala, where Jolly was an active member of the Roman Catholic community and was seen as a model citizen.

Josephs arrest has left the state of Kerala stunned, not only because serial killings are a rarity in these parts, but because in a state that wallows in machismo, a woman’s the perpetrator.

Ms Joseph drew a large crowd during her first court appearance as she emerged handcuffed from a police vehicle to a burst of catcalls and jeers from school children who struggle to

catch a glimpse of her through the huge crowd.

The story began with a 2018 police complain made by Joseph’s US-based brother-in-law, Rojo Thomas. The police meticulously reconstructed the web of lies and deceit that Jolly weaved all these years. All the killings, between the years 2002 and 2016, involved food with cyanide, or spiking of the victims.

Below is a time line of the killings and how they occurred.

2002: Joseph’s second attempt to poison her mother-in-law Annamma Thomas succeeds. No autopsy was done since everyone assumes she died of natural causes.

2008: Her father-in-law, Tom Thomas, collapses and dies after a meal of tapioca. Once again, the family skips autopsy.

2011: Joseph’s husband, Roy Thomas, found dead in the bathroom. Deemed a case of suicide at first, an autopsy establishes that cyanide was the cause of death.

February 2014: Annamma’s brother, Mathew Manjadiyil, who had earlier insisted on finding the exact cause of Roy Thomas’s death, collapses and dies at his residence a little away from Joseph’s. No autopsy is conducted.

May 2014: Alphin Skaria, the two-yearold daughter of Roy Thomas’s cousin Shaju Skaria, stops breathing while being fed a slice of bread—in Joseph’s presence. The infant dies in hospital later.

2016: Skaria’s wife Cily dies at a dentist’s waiting room—with her head on Joseph’s lap.

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November 2019

Woman Deported from Hong Kong to Colombo

By Grace Lea

Some weeks ago, Chennai Airport’s immigration officer, Xavier Dhanraj, informed his colleagues in Hong Kong of a passenger who had boarded the wrong flight using a fake passport and a different name. Under the guise of Udaya Malar Sivanesan, the Sri Lankan national boarded a flight to Hong Kong via Auckland, using a false Canadian passport. She was hoping to join her husband in Auckland, to pass into the country undetected and live there.

The passenger, called Lishanthi D/o Manoharan, checked in for a flight to Singapore with all the necessary and correct documents, but never boarded the plane. Upon discovering her absence on the Singapore flight, the personnel reported a missing passenger to the Central Industrial Security Force, through which they identified that she had not boarded the flight. CCTV footage supported this discovery. In response to this, the verified chart details of various flights were checked, and it was found

that passenger Udaya Sivanesan had boarded with a Canadian passport.

Lishanthi Manoharan was not alone in her exploits to Hong Kong. She sought the aid of an ‘agent’ of some kind to help her in her travels. The agent sourced her a fake Canadian passport and also the visas required for her journey. A further person, a mediator, named Sanjiv, delivered the Canadian passports and boarding passes to Lishanthi at Chennai airport, allowing her to board the incorrect flight departing from the airport.

Lishanthi was taken back to Chennai airport once detained in Hong Kong, and after an investigation into her case, she was subsequently deported back to Colombo in Sri Lanka. The police have not submitted an official case following the incident. However, the local antipassport racket unit of the city police have been informed, with the hope to stop the rising epidemic of false documentation and forged passports.

British Muslims Express Deepest Sorrow and Sadness over the Tragic Death of Umrah Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia

The Association of British Hujjaj (pilgrims) UK (ABH) - a national Hajj and Umrah specific welfare organisation expresses their deepest sorrow and sadness at the tragic death of Umrah pilgrims who were travelling between Madinah and Makkah, when their bus crashed in to another vehicle and 35 pilgrims burnt to death in this horrific road accident.

“We are all shocked and extremely saddened by this tragedy and on behalf of the British Muslim community, we would like to send our

condolences and deepest sympathies to the families, relatives and friends of the deceased pilgrims. It is highly regrettable that a substantial number of innocent pilgrims are losing their lives in such terrible circumstances which can be prevented” said Khalid Pervez, General Secretary of the Association of British Hujjaj (Pilgrims) UK” The journey of over 300 km between Madinah to Makkah takes more than 5 hours. The long distance driving in hot weather and lack of sleep and rest of the drivers

can be lethal. These are considered as contributing factors of the tragic road accidents in the recent years in which a substantial number of pilgrims have lost their lives.

Association of British Hujjaj (Pilgrims) UK strongly urges the relevant authorities in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to take appropriate measures to prevent the loss of innocent pilgrims’ lives. Every effort should be made to make this journey safer for pilgrims by addressing the real cause of these tragic road accidents.

Pakistanis hoist three-mile Kashmiri flag during a solidarity march in Islamabad

A giant Kashmiri flag, stretching three miles through the streets of Islamabad, was unfurled by thousands of Pakistani demonstrators.

The solidarity protest occurred in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The protest was taken place to draw attention to Kashmir, as disputed Himalayan region that is divided between Pakistan and India but is claimed by both in its entirety.

The demonstration drew around thousands of people who chanted slogans in support of Kashmiri’s facing an ongoing lockdown by India, who stripped the region of its semi-autonomy during early August.

The Pakistani religious party known as Jamaat-e-Islami also organised a pro-Kashmir rally located in the garrison city of Abbottabad, which was attended by thousands.

Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

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21

SRI LANKA: SIX MONTHS ON, Risks Remain STILL NO ACCOUNTABILITY after Dubai FOR ATTACKS ON REFUGEES Announces New – NEW REPORT Rules on Alcohol After years of confusion and mixed signals over the official policy on alcohol, Dubai has announced new measures that claim to both clarify the emirate’s rules, and ease restrictions for tourists. Arrests of foreigners violating Dubai’s laws on the purchase and consumption of alcohol have been regularly reported in the media, with one particularly high profile case involving a woman arrested for drinking the complimentary champagne provided by the national airline on her way to the country.

Asylum-seekers attacked and intimidated after Easter Sunday attacks. Refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran targeted by violent mobs There has still been no police investigations into the threats and violence faced by refugees and asylum-seekers in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, Amnesty International and Minority Rights Group International said in a new report published.

In the days after the Easter Sunday massacre - when an armed group killed more than 250 people in three churches and three hotels - mobs mounted reprisal attacks on refugees and asylum-seekers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

Even after they sought shelter in nearby community centres and a police station, they continued to come under attack.

The 28-page report, Unsafe at home, unsafe abroad: State obligations towards refugees and asylum-seekers in Sri Lanka, shows how authorities have failed to offer the refugees and asylumseekers adequate protection and living conditions, and also failed to investigate the attacks and bring those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice.

Dinushika Dissanayake, South Asia Research Director at Amnesty International, said: “The refugees and asylum-seekers in Sri Lanka who came under attack have had a trauma visited upon them twice.

They were first forced to leave their own countries, and now, in the country where they sought safety and shelter, they have had to leave their homes once again.

They languish in limbo, still fearful for their safety and uncertain of what is to

come.

“The Sri Lankan authorities must make clear that violence against ethnic and religious minorities, particularly refugees and asylum-seekers, will not be tolerated and that anyone suspected of criminal responsibility for attacks against them will be brought to justice in fair trials.”

Joshua Castellino, Executive Director of Minority Rights Group International, said: “The attacks against these refugees and asylum-seekers have yet to be investigated and no-one has been held accountable. The Sri Lankan authorities must uphold their international obligations to protect their human rights and the international community should expedite their resettlement process for those who are eligible so that they can finally find safety and their ordeal can come to an end.”

Fearing for their lives The report details several instances where refugees and asylum-seekers were confronted by angry mobs in the days that followed the Easter Sunday attacks.

Two days after Easter Sunday, a mob of “four or five men” showed up at the home of Farhan, a Kashmiri from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. He said: “They told us to leave. They hit us.

Our landlord stopped the guys. He told them to let us go. They were shouting at us in Sinhalese, telling us to leave the country.”

Naila, a Pakistani Ahmadi refugee, had

found sanctuary in a community centre after being forced to leave her home with her family. There, witnesses said, passers-by were told to stop and join an assault on the community centre.

The mob began throwing stones at the community centres, striking near where Naila and her family were. She said: “You cannot imagine how we spent those two to three hours. Only God saved us that day.”

The refugees and asylum-seekers said they continued to face discrimination after the attacks.

James, a Pakistani Christian asylum seeker, said: “We can’t live here. From a rickshaw driver to a doctor, we’re not treated as human beings. They tell us to leave.”

An Afghan refugee activist said: “Now the people of Sri Lanka see refugees as a threat, no longer as [guests]. These people treat us like this because they don’t know what a refugee is.”

Forced from their homes, many refugees and asylum-seekers squeezed into the garage of a police station and into community centres, where they lacked beds to sleep in, food to eat, adequate healthcare and sanitation facilities. At the Negombo police station, around 160 people spent nearly 30 days in appalling conditions. The refugees and asylumseekers were eventually moved to a camp in the north of Sri Lanka.

The new law allows foreigners entering Dubai on tourist visas to obtain a license that will make it legal for them to buy alcohol. Previously, this provision was only extended to resident foreigners. It is being reported that tourists can now indulge in their favourite alcoholic beverages in Dubai without fear of arrest; but is this really the case? Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, who has represented numerous clients who fell afoul of Dubai’s strict laws on alcohol, says no.

“The new laws, as they have been reported, do not address the real issue which has landed so many tourists in legal trouble in Dubai.”

Stirling explains, “Very few, if any, cases have to do with the purchase of alcohol; but instead have to do with the consumption of alcohol and intoxication.

People are not generally arrested for buying alcohol, but for having alcohol in their bloodstream. Dubai has not specified a blood alcohol level to define legal intoxication, and the new law doesn’t clarify that. What the new law does is create potential revenue through the granting of licenses, and further mislead people into thinking that they can buy and consume alcohol without any risks. But the same risks remain as before. You can get a license, purchase alcohol legally, consume it legally, and the moment you step outside, you can be arrested for public intoxication based on a minuscule blood alcohol level.”

Stirling warns that many people are likely to be misled by the announcement of the new rules, particularly since bars and pubs are plentiful throughout Dubai. “There is a perception that, despite being a Middle Eastern Muslim country, the UAE is tolerant and accepting of Western lifestyles, including the drinking culture. This is particularly the case with Dubai, with its many nightclubs and hotel bars that appear designed for the tourist crowd.” She says, “This is a serious misperception, and countless foreigners have landed in jail because of it. The announcement of the new laws on alcohol will likely increase this false sense of security about drinking; but tourists need to be aware of just how easy it is to be arrested, jailed and convicted in the UAE. Without a defined legal blood alcohol limit, a tourist can be at risk of malicious arrest even when purchasing and consuming alcohol legally.

Essentially, if a person has a license, they are allowed to buy alcohol, and are allowed to drink alcohol, but they are still not allowed to have alcohol in their bloodstream. Dubai’s announcement of the new rules, really, is just short of entrapment.”

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November 2019

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Simply Business launches campaign to Stamp out Tool Theft Simply Business has launched a campaign to Stamp Out Tool Theft once and for all, after research reveals one in three (37%) tradespeople have had their tools stolen, costing an average of £3,000 each in lost earnings (£870) and replacing stolen tools (£2,135).

While the on-going Brexit debate has been taking government’s focus away from pressing issues at home, tool theft continues to have a serious impact on the lives of millions of tradespeople every year.

Well over a third (37%) have fallen victim, while 65% also know someone who has. On average, tool theft costs £870 in lost earnings each. Almost a fifth (18%) lost more than £1,000 in lost earnings.

Adding to this, the average tools stolen are worth £2,135, costing more than a month’s average real-time earnings.

This means the average tool theft costs victims a combined £3,005 on average, taking into account lost earnings and replacing stolen tools.

Over a quarter (26%) of those surveyed couldn’t work for a few days, while just under a tenth (8%) were unable to work for over a week.

One in three (33%) had their tools stolen from the building site – either from their van or from the site itself. Almost a fifth (16%) had tools stolen from their van while parked in the street or in a public car park.

Is the government doing enough?

A staggering 84% of tradespeople don’t believe the government is doing enough to prevent tool theft. Just under two thirds (60%) surveyed believe there needs to be greater sentences for thieves, while more than half (55%) believe there should be greater fines for those convicted.

Over a quarter (28%) of tradespeople believe the sentence for tool theft should be five years in prison, and over one in 10 (15%) believe a £10,000 fine should be imposed.

Half (50%) of tradespeople also believe there should be greater funding for police and police presence on the streets, a third (32%) want to see greater restrictions on the selling of second-hand

tools, and a further third (30%) believe there should be more CCTV in place.

In addition, one in five (20%) want to see more street lights installed to deter thieves.

To learn more about this campaign visit: https://get.simplybusiness.co.uk/ stamp-out-tool-theft/ Top 5 tips for preventing tool theft Bea Montoya, Chief Operating Officer at Simply Business 1. Park against a wall – Aim to park with sliding or rear doors against a wall or sturdy fence so it’s difficult for them

to be opened. You should park in busy, well-lit areas, and preferably in view of a CCTV camera.

2. Remove tools overnight – Nowadays, a lot of break ins can be from ‘peel and steal’ and electronic key fobs, so even well-secured vans are at risk.

If you can, remove tools from your vehicle overnight to completely reduce the risk of losing them, even if an attempt is made.

3. Mark your tools – Having identification marks on your tools (e.g. from paint or permanent marker) makes it

difficult for stolen tools to be sold on.

It also helps to recognise you as the owner if they’re recovered.

4. Record serial numbers – Make a note of serial numbers, as well as the make and model of tools you own.

Providing this to police in the event of them being stolen will help to identify your tools if they’re found, as well as easing the process of making an insurance claim.

5. Make sure you’re insured – Replacing your tools is likely to be expensive. Having insurance in place,

whether standalone tools insurance, or as part of your business insurance policy, can help to give you peace of mind as well as support with the sudden financial shock of tool theft. Check your policy and if you don’t already have tools insurance included, consider adding it on. You should also check your policy wording to find out exactly what’s covered, what the limits and excesses are, and if there’s any exceptions to be aware of.

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November 2019

One in Four BAME Employees Experience Bullying Despite Most Employers Having Zero-Tolerance Policy

The 2019 Race at Work Report published by Business in the Community (BITC), The Prince’s Responsible Business Network, shows that many UK businesses are increasingly starting to measure and monitor some of key indicators that mark progress towards racial equality.

However, the survey findings within the report showed that there is still a need for more action UK employers to improve working environments for black, Asian, minority ethnic (BAME) employees and there are still gaps that need to be addressed on pay, progression and tackling bullying and harassment.

Nearly all (97 per cent) of employers have a clear zero-tolerance policy on racial harassment and bullying but fewer than half (45 per cent) have commissioned a review into bullying and harassment in the workplace. With one in

four BAME employees in the UK still experiencing bullying and harassment, commitment from the top is needed to achieve change.

Increasingly, employers are becoming more likely to monitor and record their ethnicity pay gaps with 63 per cent of employers monitoring ethnicity pay on a regular basis. However, fewer than half of these feel comfortable declaring these figures publicly (31 per cent).

As companies have seen with gender pay gap reporting, publishing results with clear action plans is a key step to identifying areas for improvement and knowing what steps to take to bring this figure down.

The Race at Work Charter survey is the largest measure of its kind of responsible business in the UK with 108 companies. There are more than 32,000 ethnic minority employees in the UK

management population represented in the survey. Of these 52 per cent were from the private sector, 40 per cent from the public sector and 8 per cent from the third sector. The results represent a UK workforce of more than 1.3 million people and a global workforce of 3.9 million people.

The Race at Work survey report reveals that many businesses are setting targets and KPIs for racial diversity and inclusion but businesses need to be more transparent about where they currently stand and identify opportunities for further progress. While 50 per cent of employers are making sure that performance objectives of their board and senor team include action on race, only 21 per cent of managers have an objective to facilitate the development and progression of ethnic minority talent in their teams.

Organisations that sign up to the charter publicly commit to: • Appointing an executive sponsor for race • Capturing data and publicising progress • Ensuring zero tolerance of harassment and bullying • Making equality in the workplace the responsibility of all leaders and managers • Taking action that supports ethnic minority career progression.

Sandra Kerr CBE, race campaign director at BITC, said: “Employers are making progress within their organisations to ensure that they are truly the best places to work for employees from all backgrounds and ethnicities. For the first time, we now have a current picture of the challenges that need greater focus and where employers may need support.

“In order to achieve a fairer workplace in the UK, we need to encourage all employers to hold themselves accountable and to be transparent about where they are and what direction they are headed. We can see this in the evolution of ethnicity pay gap reporting over the past few years where many employers are measuring their pay gaps and taking action, but half of those measuring their pay gaps are still hesitant to speak publicly about it. Similarly many are recognising the importance of a zerotolerance approach to bullying and harassment but our results show this needs to be matched with consistent action.”

Skills delivery plan to drive next generation of nuclear workforce

A new plan to help drive a more diverse workforce into the nuclear sector is being put into place with the hope of attracting younger people and more women into the industry.

Fifty percent of recruits to the nuclear sector need to be female if the UK is to reach the target set by the Government in its Nuclear Sector Deal of women making up 40% of the workforce by 2030.

An ageing workforce also means skills need to be replaced with a more diverse workforce of people from all backgrounds and sectors to fully represent the population.

The current supply chain and opportunities available at such a major project as Hinkley Point C in Somerset are the perfect platform to do this, according to skills experts and will help put the South West at the forefront of the industry worldwide.

Data from Nuclear South West shows that across ten sites in the region, only 13% of the workforce in both civil and defence roles are women.

Beccy Pleasant, Head of Nuclear Skills for the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG) is working to bring a business case for the £1.7m Skills Delivery Plan which aims to ensure UK skill demand from the future nuclear civil and defence programme can be met through a highly skilled and diverse workforce.

“We currently have around 22% of

women working in the nuclear sector across all levels, and many fewer at senior levels. That can and should be better.

“We need to excite the next generation and get them thinking more about a career in nuclear. And as an industry, we need to move away from the perception that we only have highly technical roles, or work requiring highly-qualified people with a scientific background.

While we need those roles, we also need employees who are skilled in work like cable-pulling and welding, as well as engineers and project managers who might be working in other sectors.”

Once of the key objectives of the plan

is to develop the ‘NextGen Nuclear’ project – the first of its kind ‘whole sector’ approach to improving outreach and careers activity, to help bridge the gap between the sector and schools and prepare young people for a career in the industry.

When underway, it will provide a digital portal to support the industry, helping to develop enhanced work experience programmes using Virtual and Augmented Reality and looking at new resources for teaching staff.

Matt Burley, Nuclear South West Chair said: “It’s an exciting time for the sector and we are really pleased to be able to

bring such an expert panel of speakers together who are right at the forefront of the industry. They will be discussing the current and future prospects for businesses – here in the region and across the UK - who can benefit from the vast opportunities the sector has to offer, from new build like HPC through to decommissioning.”

Nuclear South West aims to establish further opportunities for companies based in the South West, as well as around the UK, to capitalise on the region’s unparalleled strength and potential in the global nuclear industry and build links with overseas companies.

23

‘National Living Wage’ to Increase to £10.50 an Hour Over the Next Five Years

Chancellor Sajid Javid has announced at the Conservative party conference in Manchester that the government will commit to increasing the ‘national living wage’ to £10.50 over the next five years.

In response, Nicola Inge, employment campaign director at Business in the Community, said: “This welcome announcement comes at a time when the majority of people living in poverty in the UK are in households where at least one person works, and one in eight UK workers are living in poverty.

“Many factors contribute to this problem – including wages not rising in line with living costs, benefits not rising in line with inflation. But currently low-paid employment is part of the problem, as it does not provide the security and stability it should. This is an issue for employers as well as for workers, impacting negatively on productivity, engagement, and retention.

“Boosting wages in line with the Real Living Wage set by the Living Wage Foundation should be right at the heart of the UK’s response to this problem. However, employers are likely to see even greater benefit by looking at the quality of their work more broadly and ensuring it offers fair pair, greater security around hours and contracts, and opportunities for skills development, which enable low-paid workers to progress.”

AW Facts Did you know?

The Nike tick designer was only paid $35.

24

November 2019

Travel Experience Leads to Successful Business Start Up

Four Steps to Protect your Lone Workers ‘Out of sight out of mind’ used to be the mantra for lone workers, but as the number increases in the UK, employers are realising that it’s important to ensure their safety and wellbeing. Nick Whiteley outlines four steps that employers can take to manage their remote workers.

1. Identify what types of lone workers you employ While there are many industries that employ lone workers, we have identified three categories: publicfacing, mobile and fixed-site. Once you have assessed your workforce against these types it makes it much easier to work out what sort of protection they require whether it requires regular calling in, personal alarms or special equipment – or a combination of all three.

2. Implement a lone working policy Having a lone working policy means that you can provide a practical guide that employees can apply to their roles. It’s not a legal requirement, but an effective policy can help to promote a strong safety culture amongst your employees, keeping them safe and reducing the risk of potential legal issues.

Your lone working policy should be accessible and easy to understand and you should ensure that workers are familiar with it. Issuing a copy to new employees who will work alone or to any contractors or temporary workers is a good way to start.

3. Carry out lone worker training Training is vital to ensure understanding of the risks, consequences and practical elements to ensure lone worker safety. While providing a copy of the policy to new employees shows due diligence, often training is what makes the difference to understanding and

engagement. Early training is a worthwhile investment and might include tips on actions and behaviour - for example; making sure someone knows where they are, being cautious, or sharing incidents for future learning.

4. Implement systems to manage your workforce A Time and Attendance (T&A) system can provide real time visibility of the entire workforce’s attendance and location anytime, anywhere. It enables a company to record staff attendance by collecting data in a number of ways, so you always know who’s in and who’s out.

They range from the traditional clock on the wall that uses cards, tokens or biometrics, to apps that employees can download to their mobile devices, online apps, even dialling in by telephone. ‘Zoning’ can also help, so you can see exactly who is working in which department or area of the building at any time – especially out of normal working hours. The tracking facility within a T&A system also helps to protect lone workers from a health and safety aspect. It can alert managers if staff do not turn up in the event of an incident, to direct help quickly to the right location, whether that is extra staff or the emergency services.

It’s important for the morale of your team and the effectiveness of any department to ensure your lone workers are as much a part of the business as everyone else. As well as knowing where they are, and the hours that they are working, it’s vital to get them to check in regularly and meet up with colleagues so that they feel part of the team. Lone working should not mean working alone.

Nick Whiteley is CEO of HFX workforce management solutions.

Charlotte Hall and Rosie Willan on their travels in South Africa Northumbria University graduates, Rosie Willan and Charlotte Hall, have won the Duke of York’s Entrepreneur of the Year award after launching their own specialist tourism marketing business, Stay The Night, last year.

The Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Awards 2019 are organised annually and seek to recognise excellence and raise the profile of start-up businesses.

Rosie studied Journalism and English Literature and Charlotte studied Geography at Northumbria University. They met when they were both employed by the University’s Marketing Department during the summer holidays and started working together on the same day. After graduating they decided to go travelling together, which became the inspiration for their company.

Staying in various hostels whilst travelling around South Africa, Kenya and Australia for a year, they found a common problem within the hostel industry.

They noticed many did not have a solid marketing plan in place and were not telling potential travellers about the unique services or facilities they could offer.

Whilst in Kenya, Rosie and Charlotte worked on the marketing for a community-run charity which sowed the seed for forming a business together and the idea behind Stay the Night came when they were staying in a hostel in Johannesburg.

Discussing issues surrounding the industry with the hostel owner, they made the decision to set up their business offering hostels a variety of services including social media management, paid advertising campaigns, web design, blogging, email marketing and PR,

all of which can be built into bespoke packages depending on the needs of the business.

Believing their idea had potential, they got in touch with the Student and Graduate Enterprise team at Northumbria University when they returned to the UK who helped them build their business. Discussing their experience with the team, Charlotte said: “There are so many doubts when starting a business but no one else was doing what we wanted to do so we knew we had an original idea that we could build on.

“Right from the beginning the enterprise team believed in us and our idea which really spurred us on. They instilled in us the value of our work and expertise and coached us on various aspects of setting up an official business - often organising meetings with experts in these areas to help us learn more.”

The Johannesburg hostel became one of their first clients when Stay the Night was officially launched in 2018 and Stay the Night now has 13 clients all around the world, with more plans to expand further in the future. Rosie and Charlotte have also taken on three employees.

As the business continues to grow and exceed expectations, they have plans to support charities and local businesses offering a free service called Uplift.

This will provide organisations with three months of free marketing support and training so they have the basic skills to continue on their own.

When asked what advice they would give to other students and graduates thinking of setting up their own business, Rosie said: “Get in touch with Student and Graduate Enterprise, they

really help set the wheels in motion and keep you motivated. Everyone is learning every day, no one knows everything - even the entrepreneurs and business leaders you look up to are always learning - so don’t beat yourself up or quit because you feel like you don’t know enough.”

Ailsa Riddell of Northumbria’s Student and Graduate Enterprise team, said: “We are delighted to see Rosie and Charlotte receive the Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award in recognition of their business, Stay the Night.

“We have been impressed with how passionate and committed they are to their business and are very pleased to provide mentoring support to them on all aspects of business start-up and growth. We are looking forward to seeing Stay the Night expand their client portfolio further and grow their team of employees.”

Northumbria is the number one ranked UK university for graduate business start-ups, based on estimated turnover.

Since 2009 Northumbria has supported the development of more than 370 graduate companies that now employ almost 1,100 people. The Higher Education Business in the Community Survey for 2017/18 revealed that turnover for Northumbria graduate start-up businesses exceeded £81.4 million, close to double that of the second placed institution.

A new purpose-built incubator hub which is soon to open on campus will help students and graduates like Rosie and Charlotte build even more successful companies in future.

LOCAL 2-15

GLOBAL 16-21

BUSINESS 22-26

GLAM 27-35

WEDDINGS 36-41

HEALTH 42-43

TRAVEL 44-45

TECH 46-47

FOOD 48-49

MOTORING 50-53

SPORTS 54-56

November 2019

25

Founder of Dating Website Named in UK’s Top Female Entrepreneurs of 2019 Dating expert and founder of online dating website Old Style Dating, Dennie Smith, has been named a Top Ten UK Female Entrepreneur for 2019. The mum and grandmum from London has been named as an inspirational entrepreneur by a business magazine.

Dennie Smith, the founder of an online dating site which promotes romance and respect, has been named one of the UK’s top ten women entrepreneurs.

Hundreds of business women were nominated for the shortlist in the online publication Business Game Changer Magazine which is written by, and for entrepreneurs.

Dennie said: “It’s humbling to have been nominated and then to be selected I am still pinching myself.”

Dennie first became an entrepreneur at 53 when she sold her house of 23 years to buy the hair salon she was running as an employee in Selsdon near London. The current owner wanted to move on and Dennie took the plunge. Since that time, she’s transformed the business into a vintage style salon with an outstanding reputation in the community.

Her next business venture stemmed from watching her own children – she has four – try to find a partner using the modern method of meeting online.

“My children found that while the online world is fantastic for many things, for dating it can be a minefield. People tell lies about themselves, they want hook-ups, they don’t turn up to dates or their behaviour online is atrocious. I wanted to do something which was modern with a dash of good old-fashioned manners around respect and romance.”

She created a respectful online dating website – Old Style

Only a Third of Employees Asked about Essential Skills in their Last Appraisal

Statistics released by Business in the Community (BITC), the Prince’s responsible business network, show that many employers are missing an opportunity to equip their current and future employees with essential skills such as communication and problem-solving.

Dating - promoting timeless values for anyone over the age of 25. She said that most people thought she was mad, they weren’t sure if it would be accepted in 2019.

“Setting up the online dating has been a challenge to say the least and I’ve had to learn a lot as it’s very different from my salon business,” Dennie said.

“I am determined and passionate. I work every waking hour from 6 am till I finally sleep. The site is personally

monitored by me and I’m even logged on as a member to keep an eye on all.

“I am honoured to have been chosen with other fabulous women to win this award as one UK’s top ten entrepreneurs. I haven’t saved lives or made millions however, from nothing I have turned around a salon, I employ six people and people are now congratulating me on bringing back decency in the dating world.”

Essential skills Essential skills are critical to every individual and every business. They include skills such as communication, problem solving, creativity, resilience and teamwork.

The results show that there is a clear appetite for development from employees with 97 per cent of UK employees saying that there are benefits in having these essential skills at work and 59 per cent saying that they would like their employer to help them develop their essential skills further. However, fewer than half of employees say that these skills are being discussed at key points in their career such as job interviews (43 per cent) or as part of their appraisals (33 per cent).

Two in three UK employees

(67 per cent) feel that people with essential or soft skills have better relationships with colleagues and believe those skills make them more productive at work. Nearly three quarters (71 per cent) feel essential skills increase confidence, and half believe job satisfaction and overall wellbeing increases when employees have those essential skills.

Nicola Inge, employment campaign direction at Business in the Community, says: “Essential skills are vital to social mobility and job mobility, so that everyone, regardless of background, can succeed and thrive. Despite the overwhelming appetite from employers for essential skills in their employees, 39 per cent of employees are saying that their employer is

not helping them with this kind of development. It is also disappointing to see that businesses are failing to embed essential skills in their HR processes.

“There is a real need to do more to build these skills across the life course, from education to employment, at every stage of an individual’s career journey.

This means making interventions from the classroom to the boardroom, developing a shared approach to essential skills that helps people future proof themselves for a changing world of work.”

Business in the Community is calling on employers and education providers to come together to make essential skills essential for everyone. For more information, go to the BITC website.

26

November 2019

Thomas Cook Paid the Price for Losing its Spirit of Innovation

Capital of Cash Woes: Birmingham is UK’s ‘Most Financially Stressed’ City City Birmingham Edinburgh Leeds Newcastle Manchester London Sheffield Liverpool Glasgow Bristol Cardiff

The brand underestimated the consequences of digital and allowed its heritage to blur its vision of the future, says Nucleus founder and chief executive Peter Matthews

Thomas Cook was the UK’s first travolutionary. The brand was born in 1841 with a train charter to take 500 passengers from Leicester to neighbouring Loughborough. Cook organised the trip to attend a Temperance meeting, although for many of his customers this was really an opportunity to travel on a train for the first time. Rail tourism was born.

A decade on and Cook had expanded into international travel, starting with trips to Paris with a revolutionary travel model we still recognise today, offering complete holiday packages that included rail and cross-channel travel, accommodation and meals. With its founder a serial innovator, how ironic it is that his brand died because it lost its spirit of innovation.

Thomas Cook went on to become not only the UK’s biggest tour operator and travel agent (for a while), but the world’s leading foreign exchange retailer. It exited this business in 2001, just as digital financial services were taking off, selling its Global Financial Services division to Travelex.

Travelex is now the leader in its field and valued at around £2bn.

Instead, Thomas Cook, under the leadership of Manny FontelaNovoa acquired MyTravel in 2007 and Co-op’s travel business a couple of years later, expanding its retail presence to over 1200 bricks and mortar shops, just when online travel had really clicked with consumers. Worse still the business was already struggling under a mountain of debt raised to fund the acquisitions.

Thomas Cook stuck with conventional retail travel agencies, printed more brochures, became its own airline to compete with easyJet and Ryanair, re-branded

twice and fiddled with the legacy tour operator/agency model, and spent too little to make the vital digital transformation.

Yet the real sadness is they had scale and many market leader opportunities. My own insight goes back to 2001, when the Thomas Cook board commissioned Nucleus to define a digital strategy which could have catapulted them ahead of the online travel agent start-ups that were soon to follow, but digital seemed too challenging and the recommendations were literally shelved and never implemented.

That didn’t stop Thomas Cook spending on consultants, however, with £180m disclosed in their annual reports for 2013 and 2014 alone.

As with other brands that did not keep pace with changes, Thomas Cook appear to have allowed its heritage to blur its vision of the future. This is a salutary lesson for the travel sector and beyond and adds to the list of Blockbuster, HMV, Kodak, Toys R Us and many others who underestimated the consequences of digital.

But it didn’t have to be this way.

When a business spends £180m on consulting fees in 24 months, you expect someone to have spotted digital as a priority. The value of a strategic review is that you are supposed to look outside your box to identify opportunities and threats and inside to evaluate the reality of resources, capabilities and practices. One wonders whether Thomas Cook or any of these failed brands actioned any of the findings and recommendations the consultants proposed? Perhaps the change recommendations were too challenging and the reports were added to the shelf labelled ‘executive tidiness’.

People in Birmingham are the most worried about money in the whole country, according to a nationwide study revealing the UK’s most financially stressed cities.

Birmingham came in first out of eleven major cities, ahead of London, Manchester and Glasgow. Forty-six per cent of Brummies say they have money worries, compared with 36 per cent nationally, and 42 per cent in Edinburgh, which took second place.

It seems the stress is sapping our time away too. People in Birmingham are spending lots of their time dealing with money issues. Twenty-six per cent spend five or more hours a week, higher than in any of the other cities.

The picture gets gloomier still: Birmingham ranks in the top five for 15 out of 16 measures of stress caused by finances, including credit card debt, anxiety and sick days taken to deal with money issues.

Anxiety and panic attacks are what 32 per cent of Brummies have to deal with, while 26 per cent say their money situation has them feeling depressed and struggling to carry on.

One in three of us struggle to sleep at night, tossing and turning as we fret about our finances, found financial wellbeing provider Salary Finance.

Our personal lives are taking a hit, as money worries make us 12 times more

likely to have troubled relationships with friends and family. Sadly, 18 per cent of Brummies are keeping schtum about their situation, saying they don’t feel comfortable talking about finances with anyone.

Spending ages dealing with money issues? You’re not alone. Forty-two per cent of Birmingham’s workers lose three or more hours on this every single week.

The effects are spilling over into work as well, affecting relationships with colleagues for a worrying 18 percent of Brummies. One in five people say money stresses have affected the quality of their work, and 27 per cent find it tough to get their daily tasks done on time.

When it comes to savings, many in Birmingham are struggling. More than half (53%) are saving less than £100 per month while 22 per cent are unable to put anything by at all.

Worse still, 21 per cent of us have less than £500 available in both our savings and current accounts. This compares with 24 per cent of workers in London, but only 17 per cent in Manchester.

Asesh Sarkar, CEO and cofounder of Salary Finance, said: “The research shows that financial stress has a real and negative impact on mental health for people working in Birmingham, and this has a knock-on effect when it comes to work and productivity.

“That’s why it’s important for employers

% report worrying over finances in the past week

46% 42% 41% 41% 41% 38% 36% 34% 33% 32% 31%

to take a role in helping their employees to get on top of their finances. It’s not always about paying people more, but helping them with education, advice and ways to make their salary work harder by offering pay advances, savings and low interest borrowing options.”

How do things look elsewhere? Although Birmingham fared worst, other major cities came in close.

Edinburgh takes the number one spot for several key measures of financial stress. The Scottish capital has the highest levels of credit card debt, the most people unhappy with their current savings level (51%) and the most people suffering depressed mood on account of cash woes (30%).

Leeds is the place where people are the most tight-lipped when it comes to money worries. Twenty-eight per cent said they ‘don’t feel comfortable talking about their finances to anyone’. On the other hand, people in Cardiff seem to be most willing to talk about their money problems. Here, only 11 per cent of workers felt they didn’t have anyone they could open up to.

And workers in Manchester are most likely to find that money worries are having a negative impact on the quality of their work (26%). The Northern hub is also where the greatest proportion (34%) of people find themselves regularly running out of money before payday.

Ongoing Brexit Pain Worsening Chronic Skills Gaps UK Small firms believe it has become harder to recruit and retain EU staff since the Brexit referendum, according to new statistics from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

FSB’s research shows that one in five small employers have a team member from the EU and of these firms, over a quarter (26%) believe that recruitment of EU staff has become more difficult since the outcome of the EU referendum. Just under a fifth (18%) of these firms believe that retention of EU staff has become more difficult.

The research follows the release of the Government’s latest EU Settlement Scheme statistics which shows that only a half (1.5 million) of EU citizens have had their status approved.

Pre-settled status numbers have jumped two per cent to 38%. According to the Office for National Statistics, there are currently around 2.3 million EU citizens working in the UK.

Responding to the findings, and the latest EU Settlement Scheme data, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Mike Cherry raised concerns about the impact uncertainty is having on small firms’ ability to recruit and retain EU staff.

He said: “European staff are absolutely critical for our small businesses with many relying on their skills and labour to grow, thrive and survive. This need flows across a wide range of sectors and skill levels – from care workers, to engineers, to office workers, small employers need easy access to these workers.

“Worryingly, uncertainty over EU citizens living and working in the UK is now really starting to hamper small firm’s ability to plug these chronic skills gaps. Coupled with falling EU immigration figures, we are in danger of shrinking an already diminishing talent pool and exacerbating a widening

skills gap in the UK. “It is of vital importance that the Government and EU secure a Brexit deal that guarantees the rights of EU citizens living and working in the UK and of UK citizens living and working in the EU. “Small firms also need clear direction from the Government about what they are proposing for the UK’s future immigration system. As things stand, we are still in the dark about what this will look like and how it will work. This is particularly concerning for those small businesses in sectors like care and construction with a heavy reliance on EU employees and EU self-employed individuals.

“A rethink is needed to ensure that small firms that rely on low-skilled workers and EU self-employed individuals, can access the staff that they need when they need them.”

Asian World Ambassador Wins National Award Introducing Plant faced Ethical Clothing AW Facts Did you know?

Roughly 14 million Indians visit the Cinema every day.

Birmingham ODEON Luxe Cinema Review n a m l a S

&

i h s k Sona

in

Paper Lions by Sohan S. Koonar (Exlusive Review)

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November 2019

World-Renowned Artist Asian World Ambassador Wins Inkquisitive Creates New Mural National Award

Zaf said: “I am humbled to get this accolade from BAPA West Midlands Police, as the Education sector is very close to me. I never imagined that my work in the community would reach out to thousands of people. I collaborated with over hundreds of other organisations over the years to boost the numbers of youths to get them involved in our projects. Often people give all the credit to the face they see but behind the scenes I have many people to thank for this journey.

My Co-Director Thomas Mcgeever, Judy Dyke MBE, Tom Ross, South and City College, Small Heath Tigers, Chance to Shine Academy, Capital Business Hub, Subway, my parents, my in-laws and most importantly, my wife who has been the pillar for me through all the hard times.

The most beautiful people are those who bring out the beauty in others.”

A new venture and collaboration with world-renowned graphic artist Inkquisitive has been released, whose fans include Drake, JLo and Jay Sean.

This work sees the artist, real name Amandeep Singh whose unique style consists of brightly coloured ink sketches, create a beautiful illustration and digital piece for called ‘Heart of the Family’. The art piece depicts families cooking, sharing and enjoying chapattis.

Inquisitive says: In the creation of the artwork for this project I’ve tried to reflect the importance of family, love and bringing everyone together – it’s an artwork that adds a warmth for people to feel and not just to view. I’ve learnt so much about the history, tradition and importance of what family values stand for and represent – it’s been a real pleasure working with the brand”.

The artist designed a huge mural 16 ft (w) x 8ft (h) live at the recent London Mela.

Brands who collaborated with the piece said: “We were inspired not only by Amandeep’s artwork but also by his deep-rooted respect for culture and tradition. We are looking for a suitable

site for the piece so that as many people as possible can enjoy looking at it and creating their own story from it.”

The collaboration has been seen as an opportunity to showcase the importance of keeping traditions like chapatti mak-

ing alive and relevant for a younger audience. Inkquisitive’s artistic creation is the perfect canvas on which to celebrate South Asian culture and lifestyles.

Plant Faced Clothing Review

By Manisha Bhanot

Last night at the BAPA West Midlands Police Awards, Our Asian World Ambassador Mohammed Zafran BEM was honoured with the Inspirational Educational Award.

Zaf is the UK Goodwill Ambassador for Youth and Community and also for the World Health Innovative Summit.

He has been very influential in the community over the last 9 years, with over 24,000 youths participating in his Unite & Uplift Together Academy and progressing in further education and employment.

Zaf is a brilliant role model for the youths across the whole country and travels to different venues to do inspirational talks about knife crime and community cohesion. He has undertaken many projects with the

West Midlands Police engaging with youths to get them away from crime and engage them in sporting activities.

Most recently, Zaf has participated in projects with the West Midlands Police Crime Commissioners team across Birmingham. In 2019, Zaf has engaged with over 800 youths, getting them into employment, education and found programmes for those who were loitering around in the streets.

Zaf started his journey after the brutal murder of his 24 year old brother in law, who was killed in a local park in Birmingham. The year before, Zaf’s 32 year old blind sister died from a brain tumour. These setbacks effected Zaf and his family and a few years later, he turned these tragedies into positivity.

PLANT FACED is a new revolution in cruelty-free and eco-friendly fashion!

If you’re seeking out some new and on-trend pieces for your wardrobe this season, then look no further. This brand’s edgy and sophisticated streetwear collection is something you need to be wearing!

Plant Faced Clothing has carefully crafted the best designs on all of their exclusive garments. They are completely ethnical in their clothing production and use plant-based or organic materials where possible. The Plant Faced label is independently owned and ensures there are fair working conditions for labourers across its supply chain. All of the unique slogans and patterns on Plant Faced’s various t-shirts, hoodies, crop-tops and clothing accessories are imprinted with water-based ink that does not harm the environment. Every item sold on the Plant-Based website is of course 100% Vegan and free of any animal products.

Not only does Plant Faced use the highest quality fabrics in their garments, but they are also soft and entirely comfortable to wear throughout the day. Whether you’re strutting your stuff on the streets, turning up to your classes, or meeting your friends for a bite to eat, you can be sure you’ll turn heads and look trendy in this Plant Face’s stylish exclusives. Each garment has a timeless look and stays in great condition even after a few washes, so you can be sure you’re getting your money’s worth and contributing to a great environmental cause at the same time!

All of Plant Faced’s items are delivered in eco-friendly and recyclable packaging to ensure 0% environmental waste.

Each order is also packaged with some free surprises, including ‘Plant’ themed stickers and post-cards! Feel like ordering yourself that new sweatshirt or tee without the sweatshop label? Head over to PlantFacedClothing.com right now to order your autumnal wear and keep the good vibes spreading!

LOCAL 2-15

GLOBAL 16-21

BUSINESS 22-26

GLAM 27-35

WEDDINGS 36-41

HEALTH 42-43

Special offer for upcoming artists, in Music fashion & Acting

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0121 400 0065

info@starfuzion.co.uk www.starfuzion.co.uk

TRAVEL 44-45

TECH 46-47

FOOD 48-49

MOTORING 50-53

SPORTS 54-56

November 2019

29

Asian Corner-Shop film opens all hours (on YouTube)!

Cineworld O2 (Greenwich) has screened the finale of Corner Shop Show. The online comedy series created and starring London born Brit Bangladeshi Islah Abdur-Rahman.

“Corner Shop: Thank You, Come Again” the film also co-stars Brit Chinese actors Micheal Truong, Robert Hoang & Brit Kenyan actor Inayat Kanji. As well as some of the most influential British Asian YouTubers in the UK such as ‘Humza Arshad’, ‘Brown Girl Problems’ & ‘Modest Street’. Joining them are several other influencers such as ‘Amber Doig-Thorne’ and multitalented music artist ‘Sonna Rele’ with over half a million followers following her online music escapades, who also features alongside Islah Abdur-Rahman on the original soundtrack.

This Corner Shop Feature film was made with no major any investment deal but completed with the help of many from the entertainment industry including donations from small local businesses! The film features a unique group of online influencers which have more than 5 million followers between them and millions of views collectively on their platforms.

It’s the first time that so many UK influencers from such diverse backgrounds have got together to star in a Brit film.

The storyline of the film is based around the life of Malik (Islah Abdur-Rahman) which hasn’t gone to well so far but things change he was left in charge of his Fathers local Corner Shop he’s been pulling his socks up, and that includes planning his sister’s wedding but danger is around the corner(shop) as he and his colleague Tony unravel a mysterious conspiracy led by the evil local Mayor who plans to shut down the shops on the High Street to make way for a his shopping centre, leaving Malik & many others redundant.

Corner Shop Show has risen in popularity following each episode over the last six years, covering topics such as knife crime, gentrification, family values & mental health.

Film maker and actor Islah AbdurRahman says: “I began film making & acting in 2012 when I created viral series ‘Mandem On The Wall’ which elevated onto E4. I continued & created the Corner Shop Show and I never thought the series would have so many fans! Young people approach me to say they ‘grew up with the series’ or it helped them laugh through hard times and it’s such an amazing feeling being part of someones life in that way!”

“The success of the series has also allowed me to work with many celebrities & brands, win awards, created new avenues such as teaching ‘film’ to young people in schools, hosting high profile events, stand-up comedy & performing live around the UK on topics such as mental health, anti-terrorism & the UK’s 1st ever Muslim Pantomime.

I’ve also used my YouTube platform to raise awareness for my family run charity “The Al-Ansari Foundation” based in East Africa, Zanzibar. With a 100% donations policy, I toured the Corner Shop Show, bringing my cast along, and premiered episodes

to my followers as a way to raise money for a water well & a mosque in Zanzibar. I then travelled out there to help build

them & visited all the orphans.

Corner Shop Show has opened many doors for my career and creatives who have worked

alongside me.”

Fans of the series can also see the finale in a full length film episode launched on YouTube.

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November 2019

Valam celebrates love story in ‘Made in China’

Rajkummar Rao gets business savvy in Made in China, in cinemas NOW The makers of Made in China have unveiled a new song from the film. It shows lead actors Rajkummar Rao and Mouni Roy explore love in a new marriage.

Titled Valam, the song’s lyrics have been penned by Priya Saraiya and Sachin Sanghvi with music composed by Sachin-Jigar.

Talking about the new song, Rajkummar told a media outlet in India, “Valam is a departure from the rest of the songs and adds soul to the album. While Raghu is busy chasing his dreams, it’s his wife Rukmini (Mouni) who is the wind beneath his wings, encouraging him every step of the way.

And that’s what this song personifies — the meaning of true love and honest relationships. We had a blast shooting for all the songs, but filming this one was a relaxed and effortless experience. It was driven by the idea of building and celebrating a connection.”

Two songs from the film, Sanedo and Odhni are already chartbusters. Directed by Mikhil Musale and produced by Dinesh Vijan, Made in China traces the story of Rajkummar aka Raghu - a Gujarati businessman who goes to China to become an entrepreneur where he finds ‘Chinese Viagra’ and sells it back home in India. Mouni plays Rajkummar’s wife, Rukmini. Made In China is in cinemas now and is distributed

by Cinestaan Film Company.

Makers of “Daaka” Appreciated role of put new spin on Helping mother in ‘Koi Aaye Na Rabba’ ‘Saand Ki Aankh’

Gippy Grewal and Zareen Khan experience heartbreak in new song from Daaka Makers of upcoming Punjabi film Daaka have released the second song from the soundtrack, Koi Aaye Na Rabba. The song is a remake of the song from the Hindi film Musafir, starring Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt.

Sung by B Praak with music by Rochak Kohli, Koi Aaye Na Rabba is a heartfelt song that captures the heartbreak of the lead couple, played by Gippy Grewal and Zareen Khan.

Speaking about the song, B Praak has said “‘Koi Aaye Na Rabba’ is a song which literally touches the chords of the hearts of the audience. The song has that element which literally moves the audience to tears and has full feels of the emotions. I have tried our best to do justice to the song and hope that the masses like it as much as I have liked it”.

Praak and Rochak have put a fresh new twist on the song and it will most definitely tug on your heartstrings!

Daaka stars Gippy Grewal and Zareen Khan. Directed by Baljit Singh Deo, the film is out in UK cinemas NOW.

Bhumi Pednekar plays Prakashi Tomar, one of the oldest female sharpshooters in the world Bhumi Pednekar plays Prakashi Tomar in upcoming film Saand Ki Aankh and has said that her mother was a huge help in preparing for her role.

She learnt Haryanvni from her mother, crediting her in making the process for her easier and called her mother her secret weapon.

In an interview Bhumi said, “I like to go as authentic as possible to make people forget that they are watching me on screen. I want them to emotionally invest in the character that I’m playing. For Saand Ki Aankh I wanted to nail the Haryanvi accent and I took my mother’s help during filming and dubbing to bring out the authentic accent.”

When talking about playing Prakashi, Bhumi said, “What I have done with the character of Chandro dadi is a tribute to dadi, my nani and my mom. I have picked up aspects from these fantastic women in my life to portray dadi.”

Also co-starring Taapsee Pannu, Saand Ki Aankh is directed

by Tushar Hiranandani and is produced by Anurag Kashyap, Reliance Entertainment and Nidhi Parmar. The film is in cinemas NOW.

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Exclusive feature of New Book Paper Lions by Sohan S. Koonar

Paper Lions, hot off the press book by Sohan S. Koonar, published by Speaking Tiger, is an epic generational saga about Punjab. An exclusive by Asian world news.

‘Know that fate has a way to make you bend to its will.’

A gripping book spanning over four decades... Three individuals. Two families.

One epic story...

Bikram, the only son of an impoverished family, enlists in the British Indian Army hoping to draw a modest income.

But greed seduces him into wealth and violence, corruption, and a murky political career.

Basanti, a twelve-year-old Bajigarni girl, navigates fraught new boundaries with her nomadic clan to build life and home afresh.

But destiny seems always stacked against her beauty and idealism—until one frighteningly triumphant moment in which she reclaims her fate.

Ajit, the erstwhile Zaildar of a vast and thriving estate, also functions as the respected patriarch of a loving family. But tragedy strikes him in rapid succession; unmoored, he plunges into despair.

The decisions of these memorable characters, and the consequences thereof, ripple across generations in poignant moments of sorrow and exhilaration. Their lives intertwine in unexpected ways, playing out against a canvas of intricate family dynamics, class struggles, the drama of politics and manipulation, and the tumult of Partition. Independent

India comes of age as the protagonists evolve—fractured, but heading towards a new dawn.

Colourful and evocative, Paper Lions draws a vivid picture of Sikh faith and history in its depiction of Punjab from the 1930s to the 1960s. Koonar writes a deft narrative of breath-taking tension: a riveting novel of deceit, calamity, intrigue, and resilience. As intimate in human drama as it is vast in scope, this is the big Punjab novel for our times.

Sohan S. Koonar remarks, ‘I recognised the lack of Sikh representation in English literature and decided to devote my writing to crafting Sikh characters and docu-

ment the remnants of the cultural legacy of the Sikhs through these stories’ Salient Features of this highly acclaimed book are: • A gripping, suspenseful saga which traces the effects of colonialism, war, independence, and Partition; also, the impact of a modern young generation on ancient customs and traditions • Serves as a window into Sikh faith and history in the most difficult moments in the history of Punjab • Brings to focus marginalised and forgotten communities like the Bajigar nomads, who have never been featured prominently in cultural works • In its portrayal of realistic and complex Sikh characters, it is also a significant valueaddition to contemporary literature • Colourful, tragic, and riveting, this book brings historical India to itself through the lives of its characters Sohan S. Koonar has lived on four continents: Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. A physiotherapist by training, a founder of a multi-clinic company and an inventor with international patents, Sohan’s passion for storytelling won him the Judges Choice Award in the Toronto Star Short Story Contest and the first Burlington Library Literary Excellence Award. His self-published novel Karam’s Kismet drew mentions in sixteen dailies and periodicals in the US. Sohan spends the year in his family homes in Canada, Italy and India. He is currently working on his next novel.

November 2019

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November 2019

Action, Romance, Comedy: Triple the Entertainment in Dabangg 3

Kay by Katrina

Katrina Kaif is Bollywood’s biggest film star. Throughout the decade, Katrina Kaif has come to be known for many things, including becoming one of India’s best dancers, the face of a multitude of brands and an actress with a repertoire of roles. However, Katrina has now launched her own makeup line, called Kay by Katrina.

As a frequent feature on top style and beauty charts, it feels like a natural fit for Katrina.

Her sun-kissed beach looks have become popular throughout the years. She treads a fine line between effortlessly chic

and fabulously fierce with such ease that we all knew a makeup line would arrive soon.

Kay by Katrina comes with a vision of high-performance and long-lasting product. The brand has released a collection of 48 products, including 3 Kajal ranges, three lip ranges and eyebrow products.

If the wide selection wasn’t enough to leave you amazed, Kay Beauty also aligns itself as #MakeupThatKares.

Starting the lineup are the MATTE Lip Crayons which come in 24 shades. These lipsticks promise a rich matte

Chulbul Pandey returns with a bang as Dabangg 3 trailer brings on the biggest entertainment bonanza of the year in four languages The most awaited trailer of the year is here with three times the action, three times the romance, and three times the entertainment. The trailer of Salman Khan starrer Dabangg 3 is out now and it is a must-watch.

The trailer gives audiences a look into just how mammoth an entertainer the movie is going to be, filled with entertainment, action, comedy, and of course romance. Ever since the makers announced the third instalment, fans have been waiting for the trailer of the movie. The makers of Dabangg 3 have been keeping the excitement high by dropping individual character posters.

Considering that Dabangg 3 is the most awaited film of the year, along with a grand trailer launch event, various other activities were organised to make sure fans and media across the country had a special rendezvous with their Loveable Robinhood.

In a unique activity, Chulbul’s fans across the country watched the trailer in 10 cities before it’s official release. Post that, Chubul not only interacted with fans in Mumbai, but also had a live chat with fans and media in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The event was also broadcast live from the production house’ official Facebook page, giving an opportunity to fans & people across the world to witness the event.

The much-awaited, Dabangg 3 is directed by Prabhudeva and produced by Salma Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Nikhil Dwivedi under the banner of Salman Khan Films and is slated to release on 20th December, this year.

finish and luxuriously hydrating formula which is enriched with chamomile and marula oil.

Then there’s the Matte Action Lip Pencils which come in 12 unique shades that offer precise lines and pigmented colouring.

Now moving on to the eyes. The eye makeup enthusiasts will be pleased to know that two Kajals will be part of the collection. The KohlStar 24 Hour Kajal and Ink Artist Gel Kajal, which promises an intense black colour that braves water and smudging. Plus, they are enriched with ceramide and chamomile to soothe the eyes.

The makeup brand also includes lip toppers and eyebrow pencils, for the glossy pout she turned into a trend.

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WEDDINGS 36-41

HEALTH 42-43

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November 2019

Birmingham ODEON Luxe Cinema Review

Located in the heart of the lively Broadway Plaza complex, sits ODEON Luxe, a hub for film entertainment owned by the UK’s biggest cinema franchise. With 12 HD wide screens, IMAX, 3D showings and luxury recliner seats, you will experience a

comfortable and relaxed cinematic experience like no other!

Birmingham’s ODEON Luxe is situated just a short walk away from prominent places such as Brindley Place and Broad Street and welcomes visitors of all ages. The two-tier cinema venue

is also home to a range of snack and hot beverage counters such as Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, Costa Coffee and Oscar’s Bar. On offer are a variety of tasty sides and sweet treats, such as mini potato-waffles, hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and refreshing drinks like

Vegan Bunny Candles Review

By Manisha Bhanot

If you’re looking to light up your home or office area this festive season, then look no further than Vegan Bunny’s award-winning and exclusive cruelty-free range.

Every candle is composed of biodegradable soy wax and is free from any animal products.

Not only are all of vegan Bunny’s items eco-friendly, but they are also home-made in the U.S., so the brand doesn’t involve any unhappy/unethical production. Each candle is handmade by founder Elisa and her sister Orianna, who hand-pour, pack and ship it directly to its new home. Every one of Vegan Bunny’s unique and fresh smelling candles is guaranteed to bring an aura of warmth and comfort into your workspace or chill-out zone. You can find some of their exclusive scents listed below: Lavender Soy Candle – Infused with lavender essential oil, this candle features a key ingredient which is used during deep tissue massages and skin therapy. Lavender has also been found to be a natural relaxing herb that relieves

anxiety and stress. Place your lit candle at the edge of your bubble bath when it’s time to unwind and set a calming and romantic mood before bedtime.

Chai Latte Candle – This Vegan Chai Latte scent is a sweet and infusing sensation for the senses.

The playful and delightful smell is enough to put anyone in a joyful and easy-going mood. It features hints of cinnamon, ginger and black pepper for the perfect spiced autumnal scent. It’s also a no alcohol and naturally infused odour.

Flush Anxiety Candle – This candle is brought to you with the help of a one of a kind collaboration with Sugar Sloth. It’s perfect for any sweet beings that love magical creatures, rainbows and hearts. The candle is decorated in a beautiful array of golden glitter that dazzles and beams brightly as it lights up any room. It also gives off a delicious orange and candy infused scent guaranteed to lift the spirits!

Christmas Candy Cane Candle – This exceptional candle

is like no ordinary Christmas scent. Inspired by the smell of candy canes and warm vanilla, it is reminiscent of some strong Hansel and Gretel gingerbread house vibes. Whisk yourself away in a fairytale-inspired mood with your favourite festive candy smell this season.

Christmas Pudding Candle – This mini delight is a joyous smell in the days leading up to the holidays, or when you’re feeling reminiscent and missing your favourite time of year. With hints of citrus and nutmeg, it will give you nostalgia for your favourite festive dessert, and smells just like when your Nana sets the Christmas pudding alight.

Vegan Bunny has been awarded ‘Best Vegan Candle of the Year’ by the Peta UK Vegan Homeware Awards. All candles come packaged in a cute little tin of joy and gift-bag.

For an exclusive 10% off discount, Asian World readers can use the discount code AWN when purchasing their first order.

Tango ice-blast, Coca-Cola, Fanta and many more. There’s plenty of room for both your food and your feet in ODEON’S screening rooms, with seats that extend to rest your legs, and fitted side tables to hold all your snacks.

No more cramping yourself into tiny,

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By Manisha Bhanot packed rows of dusty chairs and arching your neck to see the film over your neighbour’s head. At ODEON Luxe, you can sit back, relax and finally enjoy that film you’ve been so eager to see with no disturbances guaranteed!

As you start to wind down for your ODEON showing, the screen will extend to a wall-length size, and you can enjoy your film with high-quality surround sound and a 4K resolution viewing experience. Unlike most other cinemas, you’ll find the temperature in your screening room to be warm and cosy, and your seats and surrounding area to be immaculately clean and up kept. The staff at ODEON Luxe are always happy to serve and assist you with all of your queries in a polite and cheerful manner.

You can either pre-book your cinema tickets online at www.odeon.co.uk or use one of the cinema’s six modern self-service machines to jump the queues. ODEON Luxe is wheelchair accessible, and certain films provide audio description. Children and family discounts are available, and you can enjoy exclusive previews and savings by purchasing a Limitless ODEON membership card. You can also get 2-4-1 tickets to the UK’s best attractions like Thorpe Park, The Sea Life Centre, Lego Land and Chessington World of Adventures when you book to see any film at ODEON Cinemas right now!

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November 2019

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Arzutra SIGNS UP WITH OCEANIC MEDIA

British Asian singing sensation, Arzutra, will be represented by Oceanic Media in the UK. The London-born Bollywood singer/songwriter has just released her new track, Humsafar and in less than two weeks it has attracted over 270,000 views on YouTube.

Her previous single Sehraa has enjoyed over 900,000 views.

Arzutra is renowned for performing across a wide range of genres which include Bollywood, dance, acoustic, ambient lounge, romantic soul and sufi rock.

She has collaborated extensively with celebrated Dubai-based producer and composer Atif Ali, who has worked with the likes of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Pritam, Salim-Suleiman and many more.

Her Western influences are Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey, however, her true love is rooted in Bollywood, where she draws musical inspiration from Lata Mangeshkar and Shreya Ghoshal.

Oceanic Media will manage all aspects of Arzutra’s publicity and media relations.

Arzutra Facts

Artist (Singer): Arzutra Genre: Bollywood, pop, Dance & RnB Background: Born and bred in London, a British female singer whose voice is winning hearts worldwide. She began by writing poetry before turning her talents to song-writing, as music became the most important aspect of her life. Arzutra has since collaborated with Bollywood producer Atif Ali, one of the most renowned music producers in the Dubai, who has been working with stars like Atif Aslam and Rahath Fateh Ali Khan.

Instagram: arzutragarielle 45.5K Followers You Tube: Arzutra Garielle 11K Followers Facebook: Arzutra Garielle 96k Followers For more information or interview requests please contact: Colin Grant – colin@oceanic-media.com 07411 697666.

Irfan Younis – irfan@theoceanic-group.com 07966 460185

New Track ‘Base Yaar’ Has Dropped!

Hailing from ‘The Beautiful City’ of Chandigarh, Tee Thapar’s musical journey took him across the globe between the two flag-bearing nations of Punjabi music – India and the UK. Tee Thapar has released 5 tracks till date which are listed as follows: ‘Akhiyaan De Rastey’ in March 2019 ‘Bin Tere’ in Feb 2018 ‘Bapu Di Chadai’ in 2017 ‘Koka’ ft Juggy D in August 2017 ‘Jaan Soneya’ in Nov 2016 Tee Thapar has created an exciting buzz amongst the Indian media and music fans alike, owing to his unique vocal and fresh personality.

As part of the new wave of young talented singers emerging from Punjab in recent times, Tee has been collaborating with Papa Joes Records Tee Thapar is ready to embrace a global platform with his new single called ‘Base Yaar’.

Base Yaar is written by well know writer Sandhu Ripjeet and the music has be created

by Aman Muzik from Papa Joes Team 100.

The video has been created by Base Yaar Productions (BYP) to a very high standard, which is Tee Thapar’s new video production company and will also be its debut release. The video and artwork has been edited by Burning Light Studio (Gurpreet Sains).

Concept and screenplay is written by Tee Thapar and directed by Kohinoor Singh.

After collaborating and perfecting his art with artists such as Lakhwinder Wadali, Debi Makhsoospuri & Juggy D, Tee is ready once again to introduce his talent to the world, and with a global platform such as Papa Joes Records and PTC Worldwide, Tee Thapar is set to become a common name across the world of Punjabi Music.

‘Base Yaar’ releases on iTunes, PTC India, UK and Worldwide, Fastway Punjabi Hits, Aaho, Papa Joes Records YouTube and all other leading outlets right now!

Album: Love was my idea - 2018 Singles on you tube 921K views

608K views

460K views 408K views 369K views 261K views 163K Views 159K Views 125K Views 41K Views 41K Views

Song name Sehraa Zaalim Saathiya Palkaan Mast

Kamli

Kho Jaaoon Aa Vee Jaa Who Pal Aaz Ma Le Jhoom

Year 2019 2019 2016 2014 2019 2017 2018 2015 2018 2014 2016

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WEDDINGS

T: 0121 771 4545

www.asianworldnews.co.uk

Asian Wedding Section Welcome to the renewed version of the AsianWorld wedding directory – inclusive in your monthly copy of our newspaper. This section will include a handful of all your favourite and well established brands, as well as some new and upcoming featured businesses. Either way, we aim to make planning your perfect wedding

so much easier!

The lay-out and design of the next few pages is set to put you at ease – either side of the bridal party will find it simple to dip into our list of useful clientele, services and products, and tick off all their wedding needs!

On average, the Asian wedding costs a huge

sum of £50,000 upwards, which is more than twice the price of a traditional British ceremony.

Whether it be a Sikh, Muslim or Hindu marriage, Asians are known to invite all of their friends and members of their extended family from near and far. With an invitation list that normally exceeds 100 guests, hosts are eager to please. Hence, the

average Asian couple will spend around one fifth of their entire lives’ earnings on this single most prestigious event!

If you would like your business advertised in our wedding directory, and promoted across the West Midlands in various ways, you can get in touch with us using the contact details on page 3.

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November 2019

1 Out of 6 Couples Meet Online • 16% of respondents say that they met their partner online, the majority from the millennial generation.

• The internet, as a way of meeting potential partners, makes up a higher percentage compared to workplace and parties.

Today 16% of couples getting married met on the Internet according to a survey conducted by Matrimonio. com, the world’s leading website in the wedding industry.

We are more and more immersed in an online environment where the internet is part of our daily lives. This has not only changed our habits, but has also turned into a popular way to meet a partner.

Matrimonio.com conducted a survey to find out what role the internet plays when it comes to meeting romantic partners. Analyzing the answers from 1,000 registered couples, it’s evident that meeting partners on the internet is increasingly common in Italy. In many instances, applications such as Tinder or Badoo, dating websites, social networks, chats, and even online games can play Cupid for couples looking for love.

The percentage of people who met on the Internet has surpassed those who meet at work (13%) or at parties (8%) yet it is still lower than other options such as getting to know each other through friends, at school, or through a hobby, as indicated by the results of the survey conducted by Matrimonio. com.

“Most of the couples who meet online are part of the millennial generation, that encompasses digital natives, a factor that is of great influence when planning their weddings”, said Nina Perez, CEO of Matrimonio.com.

The Internet plays an important role during the process of planning weddings and purchases. Couples are inspired and look for opinions online before buying in stores, especially for venue services, and bride and groom attire. This phenomenon is known as ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline). Therefore, it is evident that the Internet has not only become an integral part of our lives from a practical point of view, but also from a sentimental and emotional one.

“We’re getting Married” and Your Kids Aren’t Invited “A wedding is a Nobody argues that the bride and groom should be free to plan their big day exactly as they wish, but when the question of children at the wedding arises, the jury is still out.

Weddings without children, as well as child free restaurants and hotels have been growing in recent years. It’s no wonder that at a time when DINKY (Double Income No Kids Yet) couples are increasing, the number of events where children are not “welcome” is also growing. But is the number of child-free weddings really that high?

The answer is no. According to a study conducted by the leading wedding website, Bodas.com.mx, with data on couples who got married in 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, only 16% of all celebrations were child-free.

How do guests react to a wedding invitation that specifies children are not invited?

An invitation to a wedding should be a cause for joy.

But many take it as an offense or a personal attack if

the invitation says “No chilThe most popular services celebration of one of the most dren”. Many believe that for children to enjoy important days of our couples’ lives – contracted the big day include: a special children bring joy and comments Nina Perez, that leaving them out menu, hiring entertainers, babysitting services, setting of these events is even CEO of Bodas.com.mx – discriminatory. Others up a play area, drawing, and professionals in our industry work to make think that because of installing inflatable games.

There are also other less the format of this type everything go as planned. Many cartoon of celebration, usually common activities such as a artists, for example, specialise in weddings children’s musical groups or over many hours and including alcohol, it is the classic face painters. in order to entertain children and not the most suitable place Couples have options when allow them to participate in thinking about these young for children. And some parthis special day.” guests: they can exclude children ents simply want to be able to completely, or place them front and decide for themselves whether or not to bring their children, but do not centre as flower girls or ring bearers. The important thing is that both couples and parents know react well to having them excluded directly.

Sixty-five percent of all weddings that included how to respect and empathize with each other’s choices, making the right decision for them without children decided to plan something exclusively for the little ones. taking it personally.

Millennials Introducing Pet Friendly Weddings

At Bodas.net, the most important website for weddings at an international level, there has been a clear increase in the interest of couples in everything related to including their pets in the wedding. This generation is not only concerned about how they will dress their faithful friends, but they are thinking through how to include their pets in more and more aspect of the wedding and seek that their vendors be “pet friendly” and know how to adapt to the needs of their animals. From the venue, to a specialized caretaker, to the photographer: everything is planned with their animal friends in mind.

The debate is open, and opinions vary as to whether or not pets should be a part of these special events. But if millennial weddings are characterised by anything, it’s that couples have a clear idea of what they want for their weddings and choose to personalise them far more than any other generation historically. If the couple decides to

include their pet in the wedding, there are a few tips from Bodas.net they may want to keep in mind: • What is the animal like: What type of pet is it, is it easily stressed, is it accustomed to being around other people

• Check if the venue allows animals: It is important to make sure that animals are welcome at the venue.

• Notify all vendors, especially photographers: Wedding vendors must be prepared for the participation of the pet,

especially the photographer who will likely include it in the sessions.

• Warn guests: It is better to warn all attendees to avoid any allergy issues and other possible inconveniences.

• Of course you’ll want your pet to look spiffy, but first and foremost is the safety of the animal. A detail such as a bow tie or a bow can be an elegant touch without causing damage or stress.

• It never hurts to hire a pet specialist who can take care of the pet because the bride and groom can often not devote the same time to the animal at the wedding as they can at home. It may even be necessary for someone to take the animal home at a certain moment of the ceremony, and with a pet sitter you’re covered.

What is clear is that millennials have included their love of animals into many elements of their lives, including their weddings and the industry is happy to adapt to this adorable trend.

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US Couples Seek Parents’ Permission Prior to Marriage Proposal, But Majority of European Couples Skip This Tradition Despite cultural differences and varying societal norms, couples around the world agree on one thing—a wedding is the ultimate showcase of love. The Knot, WeddingWire and Bodas.net, the leading international wedding planning brands, released the first-ever Global Wedding Report, highlighting how couples worldwide celebrate love, proposals and weddings. The report unveils the personalized behaviors of 20,000 couples from 14 countries around the world—including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile, the UK, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and India—providing insights into the demographics of engaged couples and their wedding planning journeys.

Global Engagement Experiences Including parents in the proposal process is another aspect that differs around the world. As a kind gesture and sign of respect, the majority of US-based proposees consult their partner’s parents prior to proposing, whereas in European countries, most parents are looped in after the fact. In Mexico, approaching one’s parents for their blessing isn’t the only involvement family members have throughout a couple’s engagement; it’s also common for to-beweds to honor close relatives, friends

or family members by naming them a padrino, or sponsor, of their wedding.

These individuals typically serve as mentors to the couple throughout their engagement, often contributing financially or participating in the ceremony in some way.

Characteristics of Couples Around the World

Couples worldwide aren’t in a rush to walk down the aisle; they’re continuing to marry later in life. The majority of countries surveyed have an average marrying age of 30 or older. Although to-be-weds may be holding off on saying “I do,” it’s not stopping them from moving in with one another. In fact, living together prior to marriage

is common, as the majority of couples in France (93%), Spain (90%), the UK (88%), Portugal (80%), Argentina (79%), the US (78%), Canada (76%), Italy (74%), Chile (72%) and Colombia (52%) report doing so.

Premarriage cohabitation, however, is less common in Mexico and Brazil, with only one in three (35%) couples

reporting living together before their wedding day.

Nowadays, to-be-weds are also merging their various backgrounds, culture and traditions as more and more couples report marrying outside of their own race, ethnicity and religion. The US and India reign as the leaders in to-be-wed diversity; nearly one-third of couples in both countries report marrying someone of a difference race, ethnicity or religious upbringing.

This is less likely in Western Europe, including Portugal (6%), Spain (4%) and Italy (4%).

Planning Particulars by Country.

Planning a wedding that is a true reflection of a couple’s unique love story is no easy feat, and doing so takes couples varying amounts of time around the globe. Couples in Colombia report planning their wedding in just seven months—the shortest wedding planning timeline worldwide—followed by couples in India (8 months), Chile (8 months) and Peru (9 months). On the other hand, couples in the US and UK tend to have almost twice as much time for wedding planning, with engagements lasting 14 and 15 months on average, respectively.

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Brexit Main Cause for Keeping Brits up at Night

9 OUT OF 10 WOMEN FAIL TO RECOGNISE THE SYMPTOMS OF PERIMENOPAUSE, FINDS LATEST STUDY

Worrying about Brexit is the most common cause of sleeplessness across the UK, according to Twitter research.

Analysis of over 30,000 insomniarelated tweets and posts by bed retailer Happy Beds found that uncertainty around Brexit has been causing Brits to lose sleep more than any other topic over the last 12 months. #stopbrexit was found to be the most common hashtag in posts where social media users complained about insomnia or sleeplessness.

‘Brexit’, ‘United Kingdom’ and the ‘European Union’ were three of the top five terms which featured in insomniarelated social posts, as the uncertainty around leaving the EU caused worry across the country.

It wasn’t just politics keeping Brits up at night. Netflix was one of the most common topics in tweets about sleeplessness, and the finale of Game of Thrones left many unable to sleep. #Gameofthronesfinale and #got8 were the 4th and 6th most common hashtags in sleepless tweets respectively.

The travails of Jon Snow, Tormund Giantsbane and Bran Stark in Game of Thrones also saw them feature heavily in tweets about sleeplessness.

What’s more, Liverpool’s victorious

Champions League campaign saw them mentioned heavily by Twitter users struggling to sleep.

The top 10 most frequently used hashtags were: 1. #stopbrexit 2. #sleep 3. #ynwa 4. #gameofthronesfinale 5. #lfc 6. #got8 7. #insomnia 8. #brexit 9. #nowplaying 10. #snowdonia According to the bed retailer’s research as part of its Social Insomnia campaign, British females aged between 18 and 24 years old were most likely to tweet that they can’t sleep, whereas men over the age of 65 were least likely.

Analysis of insomnia-related posts across the world found that sleep struggles are an international issue, with the US the most vocal on Twitter about their sleepless nights, and Filipino, Thai and Indonesian interpretations all common.

Joy Richards, Sleep Expert at Happy Beds, said:

“At Happy Beds, we believe everybody needs and deserves a good night’s sleep.

So, in a bid to help our customers get a better kip, we delved into social data to see what really keeps people up at night.

“Of course, if you can’t sleep then we would definitely recommend staying away from social media, because the ‘blue light’ emitted from phones and electronic devices actually supresses melatonin, the chemical which helps you sleep.

The top 10 most frequently mentioned entities were: 1. Brexit 2. Liverpool FC 3. United Kingdom 4. Sleep 5. European Union 6. Netflix 7. You’ll Never Walk Alone 8. Jon Snow 9. Tormund Giantsbane 10. Bran Stark

“Whilst we cannot do much to ease the population’s anxiety over the current political climate, Happy Beds can provide comfort and support to facilitate sleep.”

There has been a call for better education and awareness, as new research reveals early symptoms are wrongly mistaken for ageing, stress, anxiety and depression.

In a study of 1000 women in the UK, 70% of participants have admitted to experiencing premenopausal symptoms in their 30’s and 40’s, with 90% failing to recognise the immediate link to their fluctuating hormones and instead attributing symptoms to ageing, stress, anxiety and depression.

The findings revealed the link between symptoms and perimenopause taking on average 14 months for women to identify. The most common symptoms experienced included period changes, sleeping problems, hot flushes, anxiety, weight gain, low mood and night sweats, with women typically experiencing a combination of 5 symptoms during the early stages.

While period changes were reported as a common symptom and is often widely regarded as the onset marker of menopause, findings showed 4 in 10 women did not experience this as one of their first symptoms.

Expert gynaecologist and menopause specialist, Anne Henderson, explains “There is barely a part of the body oestrogen doesn’t effect. It affects the central nervous system, the skeleton, the cardiac system, the bladder, skin, nails, hair, teeth - everything is impacted. And it is the symptoms related to these areas that women primarily come forward with during the perimenopause.”

The study also found that when the women first experienced symptoms, a third of women either chose not to take any action or decided to Google what they were feeling, as opposed to visiting a GP or speaking to friends and family.

Speaking on the effects of lack of information and awareness, Anne Henderson explains “Some of the commonest questions I get asked are, “am I going mad?” and “is it just me?”. This is probably because very few women associate

the profound psychological changes that happen at the menopause with the menopause itself.”

Health & Her, an award-winning website offering free expert advice on perimenopause and menopause, offers a first-of-its-kind approach to tackling female health changes. It features holistic advice encompassing a range of management approaches as well as access to a digital symptom tool intended to help women access expert advice and products tailored to their needs.

Kate Bache, co-founder of Health & Her, states “With early symptoms often ignored or attributed to other causes, millions of women on a global scale are often left suffering in silence, which can be an isolating feeling.

When the day-to-day becomes challenging, it can be a huge relief for women to join the dots and understand the connection to their fluctuating hormones, so they can seek out management solutions that will work for them.

Our mission at Health & Her is to support women who are feeling lost and going through the perimenopause and menopause. No two women’s experience is the same, and being aware and able to recognise that your symptoms might be down to fluctuating hormones is the first step to managing them.”

At healthandher.com, women can find free and trusted expert advice on perimenopause and menopause, as well as tried and tested products designed to ease symptoms.

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Birmingham Experts Join Indian Medics to Counter Surgical Infection Threat

University of Birmingham experts joined medical professionals in India to lead work in improving care for surgical patients.

Professor Dion Morton led the team of Birmingham academics hosting a key workshop in Delhi attended by representatives from the British High Commission, Indian Council of Medical Research, Union Health Ministry, Government of Punjab Department of Health.

The National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery (NIHR GHRU) team held the event in Delhi – also welcoming representatives from its first surgical Research Hub at Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC), Ludhiana.

An important stage in building progress towards establishing an independent and sustainable network of research ‘hubs’ and trial centre – the workshop is part of a major programme to help develop surgical research that could improve the quality of surgery.

NIHR GHRU Co-director Professor Dion Morton, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “Each year, 4.2 million people die within 30 days of an operation, half of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-

income countries such as India.

Surgical Site Infection (SSI) is the most common surgical complication and this workshop represents an important step forward in reducing SSI in India and other countries.

“SSI can have a catastrophic impact on patients in India, driving many people into poverty as they struggle to work and pay healthcare bills. Reducing SSI has huge benefits as patients suffer less and save money, whilst being able to return to work or school faster.

“Patients also need fewer and shorter courses of antibiotics, helping to reduce global antimicrobial resistance, whilst hospitals can reduce costs and discharge patients earlier, preventing re-admissions.”

During the Birmingham team’s three-day visit to India, Professor Morton also met Prof Balram Bhargava, Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research and Secretary, Department of Health Research, Government of India to discuss the project. He also met Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, as well as representatives of the State of Punjab where the India Hub is located.

The workshop was supported by

the University of Birmingham’s India Institute – its Country Director Dipankar Chakraborty commented: “The India Institute aims to bring Birmingham and India closer together to deliver impactful research, create innovative education initiatives and extend our influence across the globe. We are delighted to support the NIHR GHRU team in progressing research which

Are Dogs in the West Midlands Suffering in Silence?

Thousands of dog owners in West Midlands may be unable to identify tell-tale signs their dog is suffering from painful mobility issues, a study has found.

The signs a dog could be struggling with mobility issues include being slow to get to their feet after a rest, or showing difficulty going up and down stairs.

But a nationwide poll of 2,000 dog owners, commissioned by Lintbells, found a quarter of dog owners in West Midlands are completely confident they know what to look out for, with 17 per cent admitting they don’t have any idea.

And 83 per cent believe their dog slowing down is nothing more than a sign of old age.

But just under a quarter of unsuspecting dog owners polled in West Midlands have been informed their dog was struggling with joint pain or mobility issues they knew nothing about.

Vet Rachel Hylton, speaking on behalf of Lintbells, said: “Mobility issues can develop at any time in a dog’s life and if the change is gradual, you may not notice it happening at all, so it is important to continuously assess their mobility.

“Things to watch out for include repeatedly turning in circles before lying down, or a newly developed fear of loud noises.

They may also have difficulty

holding a body position when toileting, and pacing for no reason, especially at night.”

The survey discovered nearly half of dog owners in West Midlands believe their pet could be struggling with mobility or joint stiffness. The results also show, out of the owners who have diagnosed their dog with joint stiffness or mobility issues, a quarter have reduced play time as a result. Over a third have cut the distance of their walks, and less than a third have made changes to their homes such as adding ramps or non-slip mats.

Rachel added: “Even if your pet is experiencing difficulties with their mobility, they can still live a happy and fulfilled life. You should always consult your vet

if your dog is experiencing joint difficulties, as it is important to get a diagnosis to identify how you can help.”

To help owners identify whether their dog is experiencing joint stiffness or mobility issues, Lintbells urge dog owners to ‘PAWS’ and check the four key areas where such changes could manifest.

Posture – Seen any changes in your dog’s body shape, muscle strength, or simply in the way they walk?

Attitude – Has your dog unexpectedly changed the way they react to you, your family, or to other dogs?

Willingness – Is your dog still up for walks, for games, for bouncing in and out of the car and barking at every little thing?

Slowing down – Has your dog been slowing down lately – sooner than you hoped they might?

For over a decade Lintbells has supported animal mobility through YuMOVE, a leading range of natural joint supplements for dogs, cats and horses.

YuMOVE is packed full of unique ingredients that will support dogs experiencing mobility issues. The ActivEase® Green Lipped Mussel provides a super concentrated source of Omega 3 fatty acids helping to support stiff joints whilst also helping mobility.

could save many lives in India and beyond.”

Launched with partners from Low and Middle Income countries, Universities of Edinburgh and Warwick, the NIHR GHRU Unit aims to establish hubs and/ or trial centres in India and other partner countries that will perform their own clinical research relevant to local populations, whilst serving global needs.

Research Hub Lead Dr Dhruv Ghosh commented: “There is a critical need to improve surgical infrastructure across India and beyond in order to improve patient care and reduce the devastating impact of a lack of surgical care. We are delighted to link with our partners at the University of Birmingham in this latest stage of a global health research initiative that has the

potential to save many thousands of lives in India.”

The Unit is based at the University of Birmingham and co-directed by Professor Dion Morton, Barling Chair of Surgery at the University’s Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, and Professor Peter Brocklehurst, Director of the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit.

Sarah Fallon, Head of Science & Innovation, British High Commission New Delhi, said: “this initiative has the potential to save many lives – not just in India but in countries around the world. Launching this exciting new research partnership, focused on Surgical Site Infection, is a brilliant example of how we can bring the brightest minds in India and the UK together to tackle the global challenge of post-surgical complications.”

Partners in the Unit have also formed a Policy and Implementation Consortium to work with professional associations, NGOs and government organisations across the world, including the World Health Organisation. This Consortium will use the results from the research generated by the Unit as a tool to inform changes in clinical practise and provide evidence to drive policy changes across the globe.

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History created in UAE – UAE First Astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri in Space

By: Rida Khan ( Instagram A/c – @aviationauthor.ridakhan)

Another miraculous event has been added to the international history of the UAE for all time. The nation’s first astronaut, Hazza Al Mansouri has been launched on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Hazza Al Mansouri undertook the mission with two other astronauts, Jessica Nair - flight engineer, and Oleg Skripochka - flight engineer and Soyuz Commander. The team blasted off to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan; the spacecraft was successfully docked at ISS in about six hours.

Hazza Al Mansouri is a graduate from Khalifa Bin Zayed Air College in Al Ain, UAE. He has a military background and obtained his Bachelor’s degree before becoming a military pilot.

He was shortlisted from 4000 candidates to become part of the UAE space program in 2018. Hazza Al Mansouri was trained alongside his peer Sultan Al Neyadi to go into space, the latter of whom became the backup astronaut for this mission.

Hazza Al Mansouri speaks Arabic, English, and Russian. To take into space, he packed his most essential and muchloved items, including the Quran, UAE flag, picture of his family, and a book by the Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He also took 30 seeds from an Al Ghaf tree which is UAE’s national tree; they were to be planted on his return to Earth. He also took his favourite Emirati dishes with him such as Balaleet, Saloona and

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Madrooba, to share among his fellow astronauts.

A large crowd had gathered to see Hazza Al Mansouri jet off, and the space shuttle launch was received with a lot of excitement in Dubai. Before starting the space journey, Hazza Al Mansouri tweeted: “Decisive hours between glory and awe between passion for beginning and the prestige of the situation. Today I take the pride and hopes of this country to a new dimension and horizon. Today I stay away from my homeland, my family, Earth to get closer to the start of Zayed’s ambition. I wish success until another meeting from space. – Your Brother Hazza.”

During his stay for eight days at the ISS, Hazza Al Mansouri undertook a scientific mission to study the impact of microgravity in comparison with the gravity of Earth. This mission included 15 experiments which were designed by UAE school students, selected from the MBRSC’s “Science in Space” competition. Back on Earth, those students will also conduct the same experiments to compare the results with those done in space. The reaction of vital indicators of the human body was studied before and after the trip to compare with Earth results. This kind of research is being done for the first time on an astronaut from the Arab region. The results of this study will be later be compared with research conducted on astronauts from other regions.

In ISS Hazza Al Mansouri enjoyed his journey by completing the experiments.

He answered the questions of Arab students on the live telecast and announced the ten winners of the “Send to space competition”, where students had sent their creative posters, poems and short stories. He also had to undergo experiments to study bone condition, body composition and endocrine system. He also shared stunning photos of Dubai from space.

In the Soyuz MS -12, Hazza Al Mansouri returned to Earth with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin. The spacecraft touched down in Kazakhstan’s Zhezkasgan. After the landing, the astronauts were greeted by their peers and a group of Doctors. Hazza Al Mansouri was examined immediately by the flight surgeon Dr Hanan Al Suwaidi, who followed with him throughout his training and mission. Hazza Al Mansouri was wrapped in a UAE flag as he was carried to a medical tent for tests. Within the UAE and the whole Arab world, celebrations were started.

Across the country, they screened the homeward voyage live telecast.

Yousuf Al Shaibani Director General of MBRSC, said: “We are witnessing a historic moment in the UAE with the return of the first Emirati astronaut safely back to Earth. The success of this mission confirms our ability to turn our dreams into reality. It also proves that we are able to revive Arab civilisation, and we believe that there are no limits to the ambitions and corporation of Emiratis.”

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November 2019

Cruising The Romantic Rhine Valley On CroisiEurope’s MS Lafayette

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professional guide showing us the highlights of the city and the Gutenberg Museum, the world’s most beautiful museum of printing equipment materials and books. Here I was able to use a centuries-old printing press with real ink to reproduce a page

David Powell takes a river cruise onboard one of CroisiEurope’s fabulous ships …

One of the many things I like about river cruising is that you arrive at the heart of a destination most times, just a short walk to the city or town centre.

CroisiEurope have been cruising the rivers of Europe since the early 80’s and now have an impressive 45 river ships. Their ships regularly sail the rivers Rhine, Danube, Rhóne, Guadalquivir, Elbe, Seine, Gironde, Venice and the lagoon, Douro and the Loire. My wife and I chose the 6-day Splendors of the Romantic Rhine Valley on the beautiful Lafayette. Strasbourg in France was to be the start and finish of our Rhine river cruise.

With no flights involved, we took the Eurostar to Paris and onwards by TGV direct to Strasbourg where we had decided to stay overnight before joining Lafayette. The TGV service is incredibly fast and according to an app downloaded to my phone we were averaging 150 mph and on several occasions reached a top speed of 199 mph! Our overnight stay enabled us to explore the European Capital, Strasbourg, which is the second most popular tourist city in France; Paris being the first.

Lafayette is a premium ship with just 43 cabins and a maximum of 82 passengers. Our cabin, 209 on the upper deck, was climate controlled with bathroom, shower, satellite TV, radio, free Wi-Fi and a safe. Best of all, our comfy double bed was situated facing the large floor to ceiling picture win-

dows and the Juliet balcony and each morning we awoke to super views as we cruised along the Rhine.

After settling into our cabin, we then made our way to the large and spacious lounge. Complete with dance floor and a bar (expertly operated throughout by Lorand and Alexa) the lounge is located at the front of the ship with panoramic views from all angles! Cocktails, games, dancing and other entertainment all happen here, and this is where we had welcome onboard drinks and met the crew.

Following dinner, we were off on the first of the week’s excursions, an evening tour of the historic Petite France area of Strasbourg. Moored close to Lafayette we boarded a glass-

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domed boat, and our journey took us past winding canals alongside charming, colourful half-timbered houses and narrow alleyways. We passed the Tanners Quarter, the Covered Bridges and saw the European Court of Human Rights Building and so much more.

Up early the following day and spectacular weather greets us. After a splendid buffet breakfast, we head out to the sun deck with an easy fitness class led by Lea the cruise entertainment host, before relaxing and enjoying our first-morning cruise. Plenty of chairs and sun loungers, it was never a problem finding somewhere to sit and watch the world go by.

In the early hours of the morning,

we had left France and were now in Germany heading for our first stop, Rudesheim, where we arrived just after lunch. A beautiful town and from the ship our tour included a ride on a little train through the vineyards, wine tasting and a fascinating visit to the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments before free time along the famous Drosselgasse, a cobbled street filled with historic buildings, restaurants, bars and shops. The Drosselgasse attracts more than three million visitors on a yearly basis due to its authentic atmosphere.

Departing the next morning was a highlight of Lafayette’s journey, spectacular scenery with seemingly endless fairy-tale castles perched high on the banks at nearly every bend of the river as we cruised to Koblenz.

On arrival again just after lunch, it was just a short walk to the city centre where we explored on our own and got slightly lost in the main shopping district! A friendly local pointed the way back to the river, always a good landmark on a river cruise! We were soon back on board for a fabulous dinner of vegetable soup, salad, duck confit in orange sauce with gratin dauphinois and Brussel sprouts followed by iced nougat, cheeseboard and tea or coffee. Lovely wines, of course, were flowing throughout.

The following morning and we’re off again this time cruising to Mainz where our afternoon tour included a

of Gutenberg’s bible on parchment paper – great fun!

All too soon our splendid cruise is coming to a close, our final day cruising to Mannheim where we take a short coach journey to Heidelberg (the city of the Romantics), visit the castle and admire the stunning scenery from high above the city before free time and return to the ship. It’s the Captain’s fabulous Gala Dinner and when we say goodbye to the lovely crew and newfound friends.

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LinkedIn Launches New Events Feature

By Khalid Karim - Technology Correspondent

The Golden Age of Artificial Intelligence

By Muhammad Nadeem Jahangir - Technology Correspondent

The business networking platform LinkedIn has launched an innovative new feature which was previously in the works since November of 2018.

The new option gives users a new way to create and organise event pages and also facilitate face to face meet-ups via the professional website. Users can schedule appointments and public meetings via the Community panel to the left side of the News Feed tab in the Mobile app version.

As quoted by LinkedIn: “You need to provide a description, date and time, a venue, and then invite your connections using filters such as location, company, industry, and school. We also recommend you share the event as a post to leverage the power of the feed to reach relevant attendees. From your event page, you can easily track attendees and invitees, post updates and interact with other attendees.”

You will be forgiven if the user experience looks familiar as Facebook also has an almost identical user feature.

However, the new feature will be a boon for professionals and businesses wanting to organise events and coffee meet-ups. Since LinkedIn is a professional social platform, it’s a surprise

for many that they didn’t think of launching the feature sooner.

As an event coordinator or delegate, you will be able to send and share event invitations to your connections unless it is marked as a private set-up.

The coordinator has the ability to give permission to attendees to invite others within their network. Similar to Facebook, once you have accepted the invitation, you can see a list of delegates attending with you.

LinkedIn says the innovation is a great way to network with and build relationships with others: “As you can invite them to connect before you meet at the event “You can also participate in discussions with other attendees by posting and joining conversations in the event feed,” said the social network. Again, similar to posting comments on other event platforms, LinkedIn will allow you to join in on the conversation.

This feature is an excellent way for LinkedIn to add value to its members.

It will allow connections to get to know their wider network face to face and build trusting relationships within their communities.

Since the term artificial intelligence was coined in 1956 by John MacCarthy, an abundance of innovations and improvements have been considered under this definition. A series of refinements in advanced technologies have been part of their own AI journey.

It was considered that at some time, AI would become the most dominant field in the industry. IBM Watson, Apple SIRI, Amazon Alexa and Google AI-fueled those assumptions to becoming a reality. We have observed the rise of Artificial intelligence as the major and the most dominant need of the industry from 2013, and since then, an adverting prophecy finally began to evidence itself as becoming true.

A recent survey conducted by the RELX Group confirmed that we are living in the golden age of artificial intelligence. A dramatic adoption has been observed by the industry, showcasing a keen interest in the improvements of traditional systems, from 48% in 2018 to 72% in 2019. It has been considered that more than 93% of modern technologies are completely based on AI or ML. It is also believed that by implementing or updating architecture to AI-based systems, the organisation of product developments,

optimisation and control could be vastly enhanced.

A fearful prediction of losing manpower after inducing AI in business firms has been rejected as well, in response to the claim that it will help to create more jobs for humans. With an increase in hiring to around 54%, various organisations were able to implement more advanced AI strategies.

Organisations are actively pursuing the education of artificial intelligence.

They are also seeking out university partnerships to fund new AI start-ups and increase diversity and man force to their co-corporations. It has been found that in some businesses, 93% of executives suggested AI training as a beneficial tool, while 62% of organisations claimed that they are being offered AI training currently.

The future is all AI-driven where humans might not be making decisions of business strategies or growth.

Instead, computers around us will be making decisions on our behalf based on our own emotions or personality traits. It is not a wrong time to call it a golden age of artificial intelligence and we are continuing to learn and grow from these new advances in the technology world.

Percentage of Women Working in IT has Halved over the Last 20 Years The percentage of women working in IT has declined over the past 20 years despite efforts to encourage more women into careers in STEM. That is according to an analysis of working trends by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

According to a joint study by the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) and the Skills Task Force, women made up a third of the information and communication technology (ICT) workforce two decades ago.

At that time, it was noted that this figure was declining, with females representing only 20% of students on IT-related university courses in 1999.

In the same year, a study of research funding, conducted by Swedish Medical Research Council (MRC),

found that females working on science, engineering and technology (SET) projects had to be about 2.2 times more productive than their male counterparts to be as successful in securing financial support.

Today, according to community interest company, Wise, the amount of women working in IT stands at 16%, representing a 1% drop since 2017. While the number of females in the sector is increasing, the number of men joining is also rising, but at a more rapid pace.

Latest figures from 2019’s A-level results also revealed that computing is the only STEM subject where boys continue to dominate, with just 13% of the 11,124 A level entries coming from girls.

Commenting on the analysis, Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, said:

“It’s shocking that the percentage of women working in IT is actually falling. While it’s encouraging that employers, universities and schools are acknowledging the dearth of female professionals in STEM, and agreeing that more must be done, it is still a shame to see that female talent was undervalued and is still underrepresented in the technical disciplines today.”

“To increase the presence of women in STEM, we must continue teaching school children about the exciting opportunities available to both genders and employers must have inclusive policies in place such as flexi hours, part-time and remote working. This will not only help create greater equality, but also a sector more diverse in skills and aptitudes.”

Sky wins National Technology Awards for its intelligent assurance platform built on Dell Boomi

Sky’s ‘Future Assurance View’ tool is used by its 6+ million broadband customers to fix and optimise service via the call centre, online or on their mobile device. A simple, yet intelligent application, it leverages data to drive the next best action to accurately resolve any issues within 5 clicks.

Seeking a tool that’s smart and instantly scalable, Sky selected the Boomi integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) as an ‘intelligent black box’.

The solution collects data live from a customer’s hub, diagnostic application and business information, applies configurable business rules and logic, then responds with a simple API. This data-driven approach provides a single simple result despite combining many complex diagnostics and data sources.

This enables most customer issues to be resolved using a self-service approach.

Sky makes better, more intelligent decisions and has saved £6m through improvements in fault management.

Using Boomi, Sky has achieved a 20% improvement in first-time fix and the lowest number of complaints of any service provider in the Ofcom league and decreased the average number of days customers are without service from 5.1 days to 3.8 days.

“Sky deployed the Boomi platform to enable its customers to self-help, significantly reducing downtime and driving improved efficiencies,” said Derek Thompson, VP of EMEA, Dell Boomi. “Serving six million customers, Sky plays a critical role in delivering connectivity across the UK and providing access to content. We’re delighted to help Sky put its customers in the driving seat when it comes to the delivery of this service and at the same time significantly reduce Sky’s costs of doing so,” Thompson added.

Sky and Dell Boomi’s design won best enterprise project at the UK National Technology Awards 2019.

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Artificial Intelligence: Brexit and Technologies: friend or foe? 7 Ways What to turn your agents Impact into superheroes

does it have on Business?

Whatever date we leave the EU, customers need to know they can reliably and securely access the information we hold From contact centres to factories, AI tools such as bots can reduce costs and increase team efficiency in a matter of months Far from replacing people, artificial intelligence (AI) has the power to enhance employee engagement and productivity and customer interactions in one go. Henry Jinman explores 7 ways to turn your contact centre agents into superheroes using conversational AI. The aim of AI isn’t to replace people with robots. As former Oracle director Paul Reader said, “Automation is not the future, human augmentation is.”

From contact centres to factories, AI tools such as bots can reduce costs and increase team efficiency in a matter of months. Automation can be a game changer for customer communication and overall job satisfaction.

7 ways to turn your agents into superheroes Use the latest AI technology to hasten your path to agent superstardom: 1.Eliminate the mundane - AI liberates agents by taking away the repetitive or mundane tasks, leaving them free to enjoy the challenge of tackling complex or emotionally sensitive calls that only humans can handle.

It’s a smart move – by elevating the role of agents, you give them the career they deserve and in motivating them to train and hone their skills, they soon become the superheroes that every contact centre leader wants on their side.

2.Build caller context - this can take many forms, for example a bot sitting on the front of an IVR menu asking preliminary questions while the customer is waiting or analysing previous customer conversations to build caller profiles. This gives live agents the valuable intelligence they need to answer customer queries with greater speed and efficiency when a call is transferred to them from their virtual colleagues. The latest AI tools can even identify sentiment and notify the agent of a customer’s emotional state of mind. Depending on the outcome of an interaction bots can direct the call to the best-skilled available agent at the appropriate moment.

3.Provide a warm handover - using Natural Language Processing (NLP), AI can understand the initial query and so provide a warm handover to a live agent who already knows what the per-

son is calling about and doesn’t have to ask any unnecessary questions, one of the biggest irritations for customers.

4. Good memory, good rapport - today’s AI tools are so sophisticated that they can measure customer satisfaction levels based on tone of voice and vocabulary. They speedily recognise repeat callers from voice and then use this intelligence to flag up pertinent information to customer service agents and alert managers to recurring issues that require multiple repeat calls.

Memorising the customer experience based on historical evidence drives proactive call resolution and builds customer trust.

5. Deliver your best ever service - all forms of AI technology such as bots perform like the model employee – they never get tired, are never sick and because they don’t suffer from emotions, never have a bad day and they don’t need holidays! Always predictable, they offer customers a great, consistent service any time of day or night and there’s no limit to the number of users one bot can talk to at once.

6. Humans and bots in harmony when AI works hand in hand with the live agent team, contact centres benefit from all the perks of a human workforce plus the consistency of artificial intelligence to boost first call resolution for enhanced customer experience (CX).

7. Agent assistance - help new agents hit the ground running and become super heroes in a matter of days. The beauty of AI is that it acts as an agent’s personal assistant. Let new joiners ask questions and allow experienced agents to share their customer success stories with an agent assistant to increase the company knowledge pool. Agents can even ask the bot questions while in conversation with a customer to deliver fast, efficient responses.

It’s time to embrace AI as a friend. AI is here to stay and it’s set to revolutionise the way businesses interact with their customers. Start by turning your agents into superheroes. For more information visit www.ebi.ai Henry Jinman is Commercial Director of EBI.AI

When we leave the EU, the UK will have “third-country” status with the EU. This will change how we can work with EU member states. It will also have obvious repercussions for UK businesses and organisations, twothirds of which believe Brexit will have an impact upon them, according to a YouGov survey.

This rapidly changing political landscape has limited the ability of UK companies to plan for the future. So, despite much encouragement from business leaders and government, at the end of 2018, 69 percent of employees with less than 10 employees admitted in a British Chambers of Commerce survey that they had not done a risk assessment of the impact of Brexit on their business.

The impact of Brexit on data protection One of the central pillars of the EU, of course, is the free flow between member states not just of people and finance, but also data.

Currently, personal information flows unrestricted between the UK and Europe because we are an EU member state. And, if parliament had approved Teresa May’s proposed EU withdrawal agreement, nothing much would

have changed before 2020, giving time for other arrangements to be put in place for the long-term.

However if that deal is finally rejected, there is no clarity about what might happen next. If there is a no deal, then we immediately step outside the rules and regulations of the EU. This can have all kinds of implications for the many companies that process and transfer data across borders.

While this might not in practice affect a small hotel in Northumberland taking a telephone booking from someone in France, the impact of Brexit on technology companies -- or indeed any business using a cloud service that stores or processes data outside the UK -- could be significant.

According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), this might mean, for example, that personal data transferred out of the UK to European Economic Area (EEA) countries might be stopped from flowing in temporarily until additional measures are established to make that data flow compliant with EU laws. The ICO has issued helpful FAQs to guide them in making changes to how they process personal data of individuals in the EU.

Data protection after Brexit One of the key pieces of pre-Brexit data privacy legislation affecting us, of course, is GDPR. So, as long as we abide by its stipulations, we will be operating to the same data regulations as businesses in Europe. Obviously, this is of immense help in terms of ensuring we remain compliant with EU law and so can still operate seamlessly within Europe.

If Britain were to rescind, repeal or step out of the GDPR regulations in future, which would have consequences that we would have to deal with.

There seems to be no evidence that will be the case, as the UK government has already indicated it understands the importance of the free flow of information between the EU and the UK, and it has stated its intention to take steps to facilitate the flow of personal data to the EU. Obviously, we will have to take the lead from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and European Data Protection Board, going forward. And, if there are changes to data protection regulations that impact how customers use the platform, we will ensure this is managed and clearly communicated.

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Asian World’s Kitchen

Chef Khawla on Bahraini Cuisine

Q.) Wrap-up Questions 1.) Your favourite Bahraini food?

Chef Khawla – Safi fish with rice.

2.) What is the strangest food combo you love?

Chef Khawla – Arab flavours of Cheesecake

By: Rida Khan ( Instagram A/c: aviationauthor.ridakhan)

Bahrain is a land which is rich in history and culture. There are many activities for tourists to take part in to learn about Bahraini customs, culture and traditions, such as jet skiing, flyboarding, indoor skydiving, go-karting, 4x4 Land Rover experiences, pearl snorkeling, etc. When you visit Bahrain, you get the opportunity to experience Bahraini cuisine also. It’s a small island surrounded by desert and water, so the staple food is fresh fish and one of the famous fish such as Hamour. Other foods like rice, meat and dates are equally as memorable and familiar among locals.

Apart from Bahraini cuisine, the food of Bahrain is influenced by many geographical areas such as Arabia, India, Persia, etc. Over time, more flavours have added to Bahraini

food, from the likes of cuisines such as Italian, American, Chinese, etc. While studying Bahraini cooking, I got an opportunity to have a talk with Chef Khawla, who is a celebrity chef from Bahrain, about her successful career in cooking Bahraini cuisine.

Chef Khawla Alsaib (Instagram A/c: chef_ khawla) is an executive Chef at the Ministry of Marriott, she is an ambassador of Arab cuisine and Bahraini cuisine in Europe and all around the world. If invited, she goes to various countries and cooks for them as a guest chef for specific events. She has been awarded and silver medals in international cooking competitions. She was also one of the participants of Top Chef Middle East 2019 (Season 3).

3.) Your greatest achievement to date?

Chef Khawla – Became more professional in dessert making.

Q.) Can you describe Bahraini cuisine?

Chef Khawla - Bahraini cuisine is just like any Gulf cuisine, it’s same as the Indian cuisine in spices and in flavours because most of the time our things are coming from India.

And to create fusion in the dishes of each country. Chefs are regularly developing new recipes.

ferent cooking recipes from my channel. But now, I have developed myself as I have become more of a culinary professional. I began to create content so that people at home can cook at the same level as chefs. Sometimes it becomes hard to prove yourself in others eyes but then by improvement things get better.

Q.) Who inspired you to become a professional chef?

Chef Khawla – My Grandma.

Q.) Can you share your experience of being part of Top Middle East Chef 2019?

Chef Khawla – It was an excellent experience, though I didn’t get selected. I learned a lot from this show. I got to know my mistakes, and I overcame those mistakes by developing my skills.

Q.) How would you describe your style and philosophy as a chef?

Chef Khawla – My philosophy and style as a chef are based on taste, I think each and every chef has taste in their hands. I concentrate first more on flavour than on other things because if the food will not taste good then how you can make people happy? I love to spread knowledge about food with people whom I work with and the audience.

Q.) You have become famous for your work in the gulf nations, how easy has it been to deal with that fame and how would you advise others to deal with it?

Chef Khawla – From the beginning, it was straightforward, as I had taken the path of social media.

I could quickly get in touch with people, and they could learn dif-

4.) Your favourite dish to cook?

Chef Khawla – Pastries and Italian food 5.) The three things you always have in your fridge?

Chef Khawla – Cooking cream, Caramel, cake.

6.) Your destination as a foodie traveller?

Chef Khawla - Finland

Q.) Halwa as a dessert in Bahrain is very famous. Why? Chef Khawla – Everyone who visits Bahrain always takes halwa with them as a gift and even if I go outside for a visit I definitely pack halwa with me. This is a tradition which is going on, and it will continue as we Bahraini people love halwa a lot.

Q.) What piece of advice would you give to aspiring chefs?

Chef Khawla – My advice is to develop themselves by learning and reading more about cooking; even if you are professional you must go for courses to become perfect.

I would like to thank Chef Khawla for taking the time to share her valuable views with us and enlightening us on the Bahraini Cuisine.

AW Facts Did you know?

All Ben & Jerry’s Employees get 3 free pints of ice-cream each day.

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Take Yourself Back to the Heart of South Asia

The chefs at Mouchak Street serve fresh hand stretched pizza, homemade gourmet burgers and fresh grill food, using only the finest ingredients, inspired by the tastes of Bombay. The restaurant’s main purpose is to serve its customers delicious street-style food inside a sophisticated and chic restaurant.

Mouchak’s speciality Pizza and Grill menu is inspired by the world-famous, iconic Bombay street food stall, Bademiya’s, where dishes are cooked fresh to order over a flaming robato grill and served sizzling hot straight to your plate!

Asian World recently visited Mouchak Street and our journalists were warmly greeted by the waiting staff and welcomed inside the establishment. The décor inside was elegant, which gave a cosy feel to the venue. A unique rope light was displayed above each table, providing a classy feel to the restaurant.

My colleague and I were served a traditional desi breakfast and an all-day vegetarian breakfast. The traditional desi breakfast came with a small lentil curry, (Dhaal) one bowl of Halwa, a vegetarian omelette, two parathas and desi

chai. The desi breakfast was presented in traditional silver bowls, and the chai came in a small clear glass. The all-day vegetarian breakfast included two pieces of toast, beans, falafel, potatoes, hash browns and onion rings.

The food was delicious. The flavours were aromatic, and it felt as though we were eating at a food stall in Bombay. Mouchak’s menu ranges from breakfast to pizza, grills, wraps and burgers, so there is a variety to choose from.

I personally would recommend Mouchak Street as your go-to restaurant. The taste of their unique and delicious food will take you beyond the traditional Indian restaurant experience and into the very core of South Asia!

All guests are given tables at a first come first serve basis, and there is also an option to deliver, with a minimum order of £10.

For more information on the restaurant opening times, menu or delivery option then check out

www.mouchakstreet.com Asian World would like to thank Mouchak Street for their hospitality.

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5 Questions and Answers about Electric Cars

What’s the difference between a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid? What is their range? Where can you recharge them? The electric car is the future star of the automotive sector. In fact, in the first six months of this year its sales went up by 58%. This new mobility system raises questions among future users which we answer below.

1. What kinds of electric car are there?

There are three kinds of vehicles that run on electricity to a greater or lesser extent. Firstly, the dual engine hybrid, with a primary combustion engine and an electric motor, where the battery recharges when the vehicle reduces speed. Secondly, the plug-in hybrid, where the battery can also be recharged directly by plugging it in.

Finally, the 100% electric car, with an exclusively electric engine and plugin rechargeable battery. According to the European Commission, sales of zero or low emission cars as of 2030, those that emit less than 50 grammes of CO2 per kilometre - must amount to 40 % of the total. For 2025 the goal is 20%.

2. Where can you recharge them?

Recharging points are either public or private. Any user can have a charging station installed in their personal or communal parking garage as long as it is carried out by an authorised professional and meets all legal requirements.

In fact, it is estimated that 70% of all recharging takes place at home and at work. In any event, if you need to recharge the car on the road, the power supply network is growing every day.

There are now about 100,000 charging stations in the EU and by 2025 the European Commission expects this figure to increase 20 times, up to 2 million stations.

3. How long is its average range?

The batteries provide a range of between 200 to more than 400 kilo-

metres. With the SEAT el-Born, the range will be up to 420 kilometres without recharging. Their duration will depend on how the car is used, as unlike cars equipped with a combustion engine, electric vehicles consume less in city driving. “We are currently preparing a product portfolio that will

enable choosing the range according to the expected use of the vehicle, so there will be different battery capacity options to meet the needs of all kinds of users”, says Josep Bons, the head of electric and electronic development at SEAT. In this regard, SEAT is going to launch 6 new electric and

Rainy Days Ahead…

UK motorists should prepare for driving in hazardous wet weather conditions advises TrackDays.co.uk as this season historically marks the start of the wettest months lasting through to January.

However, even more alarming are predictions from leading meteorological sources that the UK faces milder but wetter winters over the next century, making wet weather driving skills, which can be learnt on a skid control experience, even more important. www.trackdays.co.uk itself has seen a growing recognition of the importance of car control through its skid control experiences, where motorists learn such skills as how to recover a slide, plus front-wheel, rear-wheel and four-wheel skids, with a 12 per cent increase in bookings year-onyear.

Imran Malek, operations manager at www.trackdays.co.uk, commented: “As the weather starts to turn nasty and we head towards the wettest period of the year, it is vital that motorists understand the hazards of driving in the rain.

“It would also appear to be a longterm concern if the UK faces wetter winters for many years to come.

plug-in hybrid models by the beginning of 2021.

4.Does an electric car achieve zero emissions?

They are considered zero local emissions vehicles by the very definition of an electric car. In addition, they are also more sustainable from the standpoint of the vehicle’s global life cycle, producing from 17% to 30% fewer emissions when compared with a diesel or petrol vehicle. “And if the battery is also recharged with sustainably produced energy, such as wind or solar, then emissions amount to nearly 90% less than those of a conventional car throughout its entire life cycle”, Josep emphasises.

5. Is it more expensive than a conventional car?

Electric vehicles are getting increasingly affordable. In fact, SEAT and the Volkswagen Group are committed to making electric cars “for millions of people rather than for millionaires”. Technological improvements help lower the price on electric models. For example, the cost of the batteries has gone down by 80% in the past decade.

Another thing to factor in is that the cost of electricity is considerably lower than that of petrol or diesel.

Furthermore, it is estimated that it only costs a third as much to maintain an electric car compared to a vehicle equipped with a conventional engine.

And finally, buyers in most countries can be eligible for public grants or tax reductions when purchasing an electric car.

However, the good news is that an increasing number of Brits appreciate the dangers that lie ahead and are doing something about it by learning how to control a skid.”

Indeed, aquaplaning, when a car loses contact with the road surface and cannot be controlled, presents a very real danger when it is raining.

Among the tips to avoid aquaplaning include inflating tyres to their correct level, driving more slowly, avoiding hard braking and standing water.

Imran added: “Aquaplaning is a terrifying experience. Knowing what to do could make a real difference as sometimes our natural reactions could be the wrong ones and make the situation worse.”

To learn more about TrackDays. co.uk, and its skid control experience, visit www.trackdays.co.uk

AW Facts Did you know?

Around 1 billion cars are currently in use worldwide.

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Put Safety First on Motorway Journeys Says Gem “Halt the rollout of smart motorways until a proper safety review has been completed,” says GEM spokesperson.

ROAD SAFETY and breakdown cover specialist GEM Motoring Assist is encouraging drivers to put safety first on motorway journeys. The organisation is also calling for a stop to the rollout of smart motorways until a proper safety review has taken place -and sufficient refuge areas have been provided to assist stranded motorists.

GEM road safety officer Neil Worth offered some reassurance for drivers: “Motorways may be the fastest roads we use, but they are statistically also the safest; and there are fewer collisions on motorways than on other roads,” he said.

“However, the high speeds used on motorways mean that when there is a crash, it is likely to be more serious.

That’s why on average around one

in 50 motorway collisions is fatal, compared with one in 70 on all other roads.

“We are also asking ministers and highways authorities specifically to call a halt to their rollout of smart motorways across the country until a proper review of safety has been completed and adequate refuge areas provided for drivers.

“In order to maximise safety, we also urge drivers to ensure they know the rules and signs relating to smart motorways, which are becoming more commonplace.”

GEM says it is regrettable that in spite of the spread of smart motorways, there is still no specific advice contained in the Highway Code – a situation that is unacceptable, bearing in mind that so many motorists are being penalised every day for being at the wrong speed or in a closed lane.

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“Understanding how a smart motorway works, and knowing what to do if you are unfortunate enough to experience a breakdown in a stretch of smart motorway, could well prove a lifesaver,” adds Neil Worth.

GEM has compiled 10 tips for safer motorway driving: Plan your journey so you know when to join and leave the motorway.

You’re far less likely to be taken by surprise when it comes to choosing the correct lane at junctions and intersections.

Choose a safe speed and use the left hand lane of the motorway unless you are overtaking.

Check your following distance by the ‘two second rule’. Watch the vehicle in front go past a signpost, under a bridge or past some other reference point. Then speak out: “Only a fool breaks the two second rule.” If you

pass the same point before you have finished the sentence, then you are too close.

Double your following distance in wet weather.

Scan the road a long way ahead so that you have early sight of developing hazards.

Make regular mirror checks. If you observe a fast-approaching vehicle, then take steps to move out of its way.

Before changing lanes, check your mirrors and blind spots, and indicate your intention to move either left or right. Only commence the manoeuvre when you know you can complete it safely.

Avoid any sort of distraction. No mobile device, no interfering with stereo or satnav, no eating or drinking. Give 100% of your attention to driving.

If you are about to miss your motorway exit, don’t make last-minute

risky manoeuvres to leave the motorway. Continue to the next junction and turn around, or follow the revised satnav instructions.

Familiarise yourself with the rules and signs that apply to smart motorways, so that you stay safe and avoid a ticket for speeding or using a closed lane.

Knowing what to do if you break down in a stretch of smart motorway is a big help for road safety. Then you will know what to do if you experience a breakdown yourself, and will also understand what’s happening if another vehicle breaks down. GEM’s recently revised ‘Motorist’s Breakdown and Emergency Guide’ leaflet now includes details of what to do on a smart motorway in an emergency.

Follow GEM on Twitter @Motoring Assist for the latest industry news.

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Autumn Ridings Tips from IAMRoadSmart

We’re now experiencing cold mornings and darker evenings.

That only means one thing… that autumn is here.

At IAM RoadSmart, the UK’s largest independent road safety charity, we want you to enjoy riding your bike and that’s why Richard Gladman, head of driving and riding standards, has put together some riding safety tips for you to bear in mind before hopping on your motorbike this autumn.

Think about the weather conditions. It may look sunny when you leave in the morning, but what will it be like on your return journey? This may sound obvious, but it’s easy to forget to

check your weather app before setting off.

Wear the correct gear. Once the first drop of rain gets into your motorcycle clothing, the rest of the rain will follow – if you’re a rider, you’ll know where we’re coming from.

Often the sun’s still shining very brightly, which means the low sun can make riding challenging.

Bear in mind that your helmet may have an internal flip-down visor which you can use and if you’re an adventure-type rider, your helmet will have a peak. If you have inserts in your visor, although these are helpful, be aware that they can magnify glare. And lastly, go back to the

basics and clean and check your visor as those little scratches that you barely notice on a nice day will show up on dark nights and with rain and headlights coming towards you, it becomes almost impossible to see Do your POWDERY checks. It’s crucial to keep your motorbike well maintained throughout the year to help you be the best rider you can be. It is also important not to neglect the ‘You’ in riding - are you fit and well prepared to ride?

We advise wearing fluorescent or reflective gear, it’s not to everyone’s taste but pink high visibility clothing works best.

This additional piece of clothing

Automotive data experts at HPI are warning motorists of the damage smoking can do their car’s health, estimating that a car driven by a heavy smoker could lose up to £2000 at trade-in.

The two main impacts smoking has on a vehicle are physical damage to the interior and smell - something many smokers are often unaware of or think can be resolved by using an air freshener.

Fernando Garcia, consumer director at HPI said: “Smoking in cars is bad news as far as re-sale health is concerned. The first thing a car dealer will do when looking at a car being sold by a smoker is knock down the price of the part exchange. A car for part-ex has to be made fit for resale and this becomes considerably more difficult and expensive when that car was previously driven by a smoker.”

Cleaning up the car can cost anything up to £150 and is still no guarantee that the vehicle will smell sufficiently fresh. In severe cases, the internal fabric and head cloth may have to be stripped out, too – a process which can run into hundreds or thousands of pounds depending on the extent of the smell and the type of vehicle.

Added Fernando Garcia: “There is often no obvious visual damage but the smell of smoke is a major problem for motor dealers.

Smoke becomes ingrained in the fabric of the car and climate control system, requiring a professional valet and a specialist tools to clean the air conditioning.

What many people don’t realise is that when tobacco is smoked in the enclosed environment of a car, air concentrations of tobacco smoke pollutants can become

extremely high. Many of these pollutants attach to surfaces and build up in the internal systems from where they can be released back into the air over days and weeks after smoking. Opening the windows to let the smoke out is not the answer.”

Repairing any marks, stains and cigarette burns to the dashboard and upholstery add to the list of costs which drag the re-sale price down.

Concluded Fernando Garcia:

may load the dice in your favour.

Be aware of motion camouflage - a phenomenon where an object can remain below the detection threshold when coming straight towards you and ‘suddenly appear’. Take a second look for bikes and position deliberately, when in view, if you are the bike.

Riding is meant to put a smile of your face, so do everything you can to keep yourself safe on the road so you can enjoy the ride.

Encourage your non-motorcyclist friends to turn the well-known phrase SMIDSY (sorry mate, I didn’t see you) into SMART (saw a motorcyclist and reacted today) by reminding them to look out for motorcyclists on the road.

Richard said: “Motorcycling is supposed to be fun and on a bright autumn day a blast in the country can be a real pleasure.

Plan your ride to fit around any adverse weather warnings and kit up properly so your concentration is at its best.

Allow for not being seen, the low sun can make you almost invisible to a car driver, planning for the worst is better than hoping for the best. Finishing the ride with a smile and possibly two hours of cleaning is a proper bikers’ treat.”

Interested in advancing your motorcycle skills and learning new techniques to help you handle different road situations? Find out about our Advanced Riding Course.

Smoking Can Drag Down the Value of Your Car

“Some dealers will no longer buy cars from smokers because of the time and expense of getting the car cleaned up properly. Everyone knows that smoking is bad for our health but few realise that it can also have a surprisingly nasty impact on car values, too.

Unless consumers want to see the residual value of their vehicles literally go up in smoke, I’d urge them to try to quit or at the very least refrain from smoking inside the car when driving.”

Nervous New Drivers Avoiding ‘Routine’ Driving Situations

New research shows one in three avoid parallel parking whilst one in five drive out of their way to avoid tricky junctions or roundabouts When they first pass their driving test, new motorists are going miles out of their way to avoid driving situations they don’t feel comfortable with, according to new research.

The research, which questioned 1,000 UK drivers on behalf of pre-17 driving school Young Driver, revealed that in some situations, more than a third of newly qualified motorists actively avoid having to perform manoeuvres or tackle roads they aren’t comfortable with.

According to the research, parking was the area where new drivers lacked most confidence.

One in three new drivers (36 per cent) admitted they went out of their way to avoid having to parallel park, with one in four (27 per cent) choosing to park miles away from other cars so they didn’t have to risk reverse parking into an enclosed space.

A further third of newly qualified drivers (30 per cent) admitted they avoid the outside lane on either dual carriageways or motorways whenever possible, because it made them nervous.

One in five (22 per cent) said they would happily go out of their way so they didn’t have to tackle a junction or roundabout they found difficult, and the same number said they made sure routes circumvented any steep hills, which might call for a hill start.

One in 10 drivers went so far as to say they would prefer it if the cars they drove once they passed their test continued to have dual controls, so they felt reassured their passenger could help out if needed.

Sue Waterfield, head of marketing for Young Driver, which provides driving lessons for 10 to 17 year olds, said: “It seems the UK’s drivers are passing

their test and still feeling extremely nervous about many of the quite routine manoeuvres and situations you face on the roads.

However, it’s understandable given the average learner only has 40 to 50 hours of driving before they pass their test*. It’s very much why Young Driver was developed – it stands to reason that the more experience young people have behind the wheel, the better a driver they will be – and the more ‘automatic’ those basic skills become.

Our pupils usually start learning to reverse park from their very first lesson!”

Young Driver lessons take place on private property, in a dual control car with a fully qualified instructor and follow a similar format to those taken at 17. A whole road system is created, complete with roundabouts, junctions, car parks and traffic lights, and young people are encouraged to take their time getting to grips with how to drive, without any pressure to pass a test as quickly as possible.

Research shows that learning to drive at an earlier age can half the accident rate in the first six months after passing their test.

Young Driver is the UK’s largest provider of pre-17 driving tuition and has given more than 740,000 lessons at 65 different venues across the country.

According to Young Driver’s research, the top five things newly qualified drivers try to avoid when behind the wheel are: • Parallel parking • The outside lane on dual carriageways/motorways • Reverse parking into an enclosed space • Steep hills which might require a hill start • ‘Tricky’ junctions or roundabouts For more information about Young Driver visit www.youngdriver.com or call 0844 371 9010.

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The Price of Petrol is 7p a Litre too Expensive, Data from RAC Fuel Watch shows

Only a Quarter of Drivers Know the Minimum Legal Tread Depth

• Hidden cameras captured spoof wardens ‘clamping’ cars in campaign to raise awareness of the importance of tyre condition • More than one in ten admit to not knowing what ‘tread depth’ means

• 89% of drivers do not know what penalty is for tyres with less than the legal minimum tread of 1.6mm • 18-34-year-olds most confident group when it comes to changing a tyre

A new study has revealed that just a quarter of drivers can correctly identify the legal minimum tread depth for cars on UK roads. In research carried out for Kwik Fit, the UK’s largest automotive servicing and repair company, only 25% of drivers stated that the legal minimum is 1.6mm.

The results show that 32.2 million drivers are unaware of the basic legal requirements when it comes to tyres.

40% gave an incorrect figure for the legal minimum tread while a fifth (20%) admitted they did not know. Even more worryingly, more than one in ten drivers, (11%) said they didn’t know what tyre ‘tread depth’ meant. 4% of drivers said that it depends on the make of tyre – the reality is the minimum is 1.6mm for all makes of car tyre, from premium to budget.

Furthermore, the Kwik Fit research found that just 11% of motorists are aware of the potential penalty for driving with tyres below the legal tread depth. Drivers risk three penalty points and a fine of up to £2,500 per tyre if their tyres do not comply with the law.

This means that a full set of illegal tyres could see drivers losing their licence and facing total fines of up to £10,000.

In response to this research and to highlight the importance of regularly checking tyres, Kwik Fit sent out special tyre inspectors disguised as traffic wardens to ‘clamp’ cars with dangerously low tread depths. Hidden cameras were set up to capture the reactions of the drivers on discovering the clamp. The drivers’ emotions went from anger when they found they had been clamped, to concern when it was highlighted to them how low their tyre tread was, and gratitude that they had been saved from the potential of a costly penalty and awarded a free tyre for being a good sport.

Many drivers will be in the same position as the motorists caught on camera, as over 12 million say they check their tyre tread less often than every six months, with 15% of drivers admitting to never checking it. When it comes to other tyre checks, one in five (20%) of drivers have never checked their tyre wall condition and 12% have never checked their tyre pressures. Only 44% of drivers say they check the pressures in their tyres at least once a month.

By not checking their tyres drivers could be more susceptible to tyre problems, which could leave many stranded at the roadside as 38% of drivers are not confident in their ability to swap a tyre on their vehicle for the spare.

Roger Griggs, communications director at Kwik Fit, said: “These figures are alarming and prove we have a lot of work to do when it comes to tyre education. Tyre treads are designed to give good grip, which is especially important when the roads are wet. Without adequate tread, the performance of the tyre will decrease and ultimately affect the overall safety of the vehicle. For all the safety developments car manufacturers are making, we have to remember that tyres are the only part of a car that are in contact with the road and so it is vital that they are in the best condition possible.

“There are simple checks, such as the 20 pence piece test, that drivers can perform themselves to ensure their tyre tread depth is legal. We are very sorry to those drivers who got a temporary shock in our clamping campaign, but we hope that this activity helps remind drivers to make regular checks on their tyres.

For anyone not confident in checking by themselves, our centres offer a tyre check service to give peace of mind to motorists.”

The RAC is urging fuel retailers big and small to reflect the drop in the wholesale price of unleaded with a significant cut at the pumps.

Since the beginning of October oil has been trading around $60 a barrel, falling at one point to $57.74 which has caused the wholesale price of petrol to fall steadily.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Drivers are losing out badly, paying around 7p a litre more for petrol than they should be. The average price of petrol is 128p (127.58p) so should be 121p. This means a driver filling up a 55-litre family car is paying £3.85 too much (£70.40 today, instead of £66.55).

“Other than the RAC highlighting this issue through monitoring wholesale and retail prices, there is little that can be done to get retailers to charge a fair

price for fuel which reflects changes in the wholesale market. We would rather not see some form of price cap introduced as this will inevitably lead to smaller retailers closing down which would negatively affect those living rural communities who don’t mind paying a little more for their fuel for the convenience. We just need retailers to be more transparent with their pricing in falling wholesale fuel market.

“Drivers can always tell when pump prices are too high as they will see supermarkets offering them significant money off at the pumps after spending certain amounts in store. We realise there is a real customer loyalty benefit to them doing this which means there is a little incentive for other retailers to drop their prices.

“We really need to see the supermarkets

start knocking off significant amounts at the pumps in the next week. But we know from experience that 3p a litre is the most they tend to do in one go. If that doesn’t happen, drivers should feel cheated.

“For some reason in the last year or so our biggest retailers haven’t been as transparent with their pricing as they have been in the past which means motorists all over the country lose out as a result of them taking more margin than they have previously.

“Diesel, which is currently averaging 131.55p a litre, should also be cut as its price is more than 5p too expensive.

In reality it should be being sold for around 127p which would make it a penny cheaper than petrol is now.”

Watch Out for the Deer Observation and anticipation are key to all sound decisions you make whilst driving, and how to avoid animals is no different. IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman, has put together some tips to keep you safe when driving through deer territory: Collisions with deer are statistically higher during the autumn months due to this being their mating season.

According to Govuk, deer are at higher risk between sunset to midnight, also the hours before and after sunrise. October through to December is considered a high-risk period.

If you see deer (or other wild animal) warning signs, be sure to slow down and be on high alert. It is likely they will cross the road in this area.

Deer are herd animals so if you see one, it’s likely there are more. Stay vigilant, if one steps out in front of your car, more may follow.

Be prepared to stop and try to warn following drivers with early brake lights or hazards.

Try not to swerve to avoid hitting deer – you may drive into a ditch or oncoming traffic.

You will most likely brake hard to avoid colliding with an animal, be aware that the traffic behind may not be as alert as you.

What to do if you’ve hit a deer or see an injured animal on the roadside: Drive to a safe place and pull over Call the police to alert them of the animal and be precise about where it’s located

Do not approach the animal - it may cause further injury or another accident Richard Gladman said: “A collision with any animal is unpleasant and we should make every effort to avoid this. A collision with something as large as a deer will be catastrophic.

It will likely cause injury to vehicle occupants and itself. It will definitely cause damage to your vehicle - even if it’s as small as a Muntjac. Slow down a little and remember we are sharing the wildlife’s habitat and not the other way around.”

If you’ve had a collision that has knocked your confidence, our assessments and advanced courses can help you gain that confidence back.

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SPORTS

T: 0121 771 4545

www.asianworldnews.co.uk

Planning application submitted for Alexander Stadium redevelopment Proposals for the redevelopment of Alexander Stadium have been submitted to Birmingham City Council’s planning department for consideration At the heart of the wider effort to regenerate Perry Barr, the £70million plan would see the venue become a high-quality venue for diverse sporting, leisure, community and cultural events in the decades to come.

The stadium, at Walsall Road, Perry Barr, is set to be the focal point of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, hosting the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the athletics events.

The redeveloped stadium would increase its permanent seating capacity from 12,700 to 18,000 allowing

more than 30,000 during the Games through additional temporary seating.

Post-Games it will be at the centre of a regenerated Perry Barr, which is receiving more than £500million of investment in the coming years, which also includes new housing, improved transport and related upgrades to infrastructure and public space.

The revamped stadium is set to host a range of tenants including the world-famous Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club and Birmingham City University.

The stadium will provide a new

home for the university’s sports and exercise students, bringing an exciting new partnership and purpose to the stadium beyond athletics – as well as becoming a focal point for a range of leisure, health, wellbeing and community activities for local residents and the wider general public.

During the summer’s pre-consultation engagement activity more than 120 interested and/or impacted stakeholders and around 2,000 neighbouring residents and businesses were consulted on the proposals.

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham

City Council, said: “We would like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation and provided valuable feedback which has helped shape the final design.

“The application will now be considered by the planning department over the next few months and we welcome further feedback and comments from anyone with an interest in the stadium and its future. This is about creating a destination venue, shaping a legacy beyond the Commonwealth Games.”

It is anticipated a final decision will be take on the proposals by the city

council’s Planning Committee in early 2020.

Subject to planning approval, construction of the new stand will commence in spring 2020, with completion in late 2021 ahead of test events for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The design now being consulted upon will also facilitate the temporary ‘Games overlay’ elements and additional infrastructure needed to deliver the 2022 Games. Further detail regarding the Games overlay will be consulted on at a later date.

World’s first virtual personal trainer unveils how to get fit the RIGHT way

Not everyone can afford a full-time personal trainer, so how can you tell if your exercise routine is helping you achieve your fitness goals - or potentially doing more harm than good?

The world’s first full-body virtual personal trainer, Kaia Personal Trainer, has unveiled two of the most popular exercises people get wrong - and how

AW Facts Did you know?

Surfing is actually an optical illusion.

to do them right.

Exercising without instruction can lead to injury, particularly when people fail to identify where to feel the tension in a particular exercise or how to execute it correctly. Compound exercises, where multiple muscle groups work simultaneously, are the ones people commonly get wrong. These include the squat, deadlift and burpee.

Developed with physiotherapists and fitness experts, Kaia Personal Trainer is the first fitness smartphone app to use patent pending AI-powered motion tracking technology. The app tracks physical activity with a 16-point system that compares the metrics of actual movement against ideal movement, including the relative positions of limbs and joints - and the angles between

them. The Kaia Personal Trainer counts the number of reps and provides realtime audio feedback to ensure exercises are done correctly.

The app, which can be downloaded for free in the UK, creates personalised fitness routines, typically lasting 15 minutes daily, and instructs users across various exercises, including the side plank, bridge and reverse crunch. It covers all relevant body parts and muscle groups, including the lower back, core, glutes and hamstrings - and adjusts difficulty levels based on feedback so users can exercise and feel confident they will not injure themselves.

“Everyone now has access to a personal trainer to achieve their fitness goals from the comfort of their home - without the expensive personal trainer fees,” says

Lukas Offinger, Training Specialist and Lead Sport Scientist at Kaia Health.

“When done correctly, even simple exercises can have a great benefit, while complex exercises done wrong can do more harm than good. Our patented AI-powered motion tracking technology ensures people can get fit correctly - and

are one step closer to achieving better results.”

LOCAL 2-15

GLOBAL 16-21

BUSINESS 22-26

GLAM 27-35

WEDDINGS 36-41

HEALTH 42-43

TRAVEL 44-45

TECH 46-47

The Hundred Draft

By Tauseef Asif

The first steps towards next summer’s ‘The Hundred’ competition have been taken. Forty men and women have been drafted to eight new teams. England heroes Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Heather Knight and Anya Shrubsole, have been selected and now it’s the turn of the world’s choice.

Steve Smith, Chris Gayle and co are next to be drafted, and they could end up in Leeds, Nottingham, Southampton or Cardiff.

What is The Hundred?

It’s straightforward. The Hundred is a new competition in which eight newformed teams, representing seven cities from around the UK, will compete against each other. Each team have both a men and women’s side. The format of matches will be allocated to 100 balls per team. The team with the most runs wins.

When is The Hundred?

In an effort to attract more families to the game, the competition will be played in the school summer holidays - from 17 July to 16 August 2020. Teams will play each other once, apart from their paired ‘rivals’, whom they meet twice, home and away. There will be 32 league matches in total, with the top three finishers competing in the Finals Day. The top team automatically reaches the final, with second versus third for the other spot in the final.

The paired rivals will play each other twice, which are Leeds and Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham, and Southampton and Cardiff. West Indies batsman Chris Gayle and Australia duo David Warner and Steve Smith have also made themselves available for the tournament.

There are seven set salary bands, with up to two players to be selected at each of the following: £125,000, £100,000,

FOOD 48-49

MOTORING 50-53

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Role for Physical Activity to Play in Tackling Violence against Women and Girls

The physical activity and sport sector has work to do if it is to play a meaningful role in tackling violence against women and girls

£75,000, £60,000, £50,000, £40,000 and £30,000. Captains will receive a bonus of £10,000. Players are able to select a minimum salary band at which they are willing to play, but if that reserve price is not met, they will not be selected during the primary draft.

Teams will be able to select a maximum of three overseas players, but there is no limit to the number of players from any county or country. All of the world’s biggest names with the exclusion of the current India internationals are expected to make themselves available. Following the primary draft, each team will have the opportunity for a final ‘wildcard’ selection, to be chosen during next year’s T20 Blast. That player will receive a £30,000 contract.

London Sport’s monthly Community of Practice event saw speakers share current approaches and new thinking to how the sector in the capital can use physical activity as a vehicle to improve lives in London.

Research shows that one in four women will suffer from domestic abuse and how, with London set to host seven EURO2020 fixtures, such reports spike during England football matches.

“We are learning that our sector has work to do to play a meaningful role,” Mandu Reid, Senior Programme Delivery Manager for the GLA Sports Team, said.

“Community sport is looking at the different ways it can be designed to help deal with social problems, particularly with loneliness and isolation.

“And even though it may not seem obvious there is a powerful overlap between these two worlds.”

Attendees heard how social problems, such as loneliness and isolation, can be used as tools for violence against women and girls as well as being consequences of the issue.

Hazel North Stephens, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, was optimistic that combatting isolation could be a mechanism for change.

“Connections are the cure – we need to look at it on an antidote basis,” she explained.

“It can be seen as an individual issue but

Mo Bobat appointed ECB’s Performance Director

ECB Performance Director, Mo Bobat (Getty Images)

it’s a community issue. The ripples of that (violence) impact on children, other members of the family and the community.

“That’s where sport fits in, sport is individuals, families and communities and we (the sector) need to work with specialist organisations/charities too they will link in with us.”

Delegates also heard from three physical activity projects which have already begun working alongside women and girls who have been victims of domestic abuse and/or violence.

The Women Time programme by leisure providers Fusion, the Helping Hands project from Jigsaw4u and Hestia’s Family Fitness scheme all demonstrated the The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that it has appointed Mo Bobat as Performance Director for Men’s Cricket.

Bobat has been promoted from the role of Player Identification Lead and will take charge from David Parsons, who left the post in July.

The role is positioned closer to England men’s international teams, working with Men’s Head Coach Chris Silverwood and National Selector Ed Smith to support the delivery of performance plans and selection strategy.

Commenting on the appointment of Bobat, Managing Director of England’s Men’s Cricket Ashley Giles, said: “The position of Performance Director is a critical post in the development of our long-term strategy for elite performance. Mo demonstrated through his knowledge and experience that he has the attributes to take us forward in this area.

“He will be responsible for identifying our highest potential players and leading programmes that will bridge the gap between county and international cricket helping us to deliver successful, respected and inspiring England players and teams.

“The Performance Director will work closely with our network of counties to enhance the size and quality of our talent pool and ensuring that we’re jointly making decisions in each player’s best long-term interests.

“We have to develop a long-term strategy that identifies the best players in the country that can step up and excel in the international cricket arena. We will

power of activity in this area.

Such projects require money though, with the need to educate funding distributors and reduce the financial barriers to participation being common themes amongst the shared learnings.

Liz Miller, Helping Hands Project Coordinator, Jigsaw4u, concluded: “Cost is a major factor in engagement so factoring this into funding allows barriers to be reduced.

“Mostly the women won’t ask (for help) because they don’t feel they are worthy of help, but don’t give up. Keep offering opportunities, keeping trying to engage and make sure they know they are worthy of your support.”

expose them to learn and perform in all conditions around the world.”

Speaking about his appointment, Bobat, added: “I am delighted and honoured to be appointed Performance Director, at what is an exciting time for English cricket.

“I am looking forward to working closely with both Chris Silverwood and Ed Smith, and in doing so, supporting the performance needs of our England teams and moving us closer to achieving our aim of being the most respected team in the world.

“Developing strong relationships with our counties to enhance the size and quality of our talent pool will be paramount. I aim to ensure that our highest potential players receive individualised support and international-specific experiences.

“It is a hugely exciting role and the vision is that the strength of our counties and our high-performance system delivers deliberate and sustained success across all formats.”

Bobat, 36, has studied sports science and management and is also in the process of completing a Masters in sporting directorship. Prior to joining the ECB in 2011, Bobat worked as a lecturer and teacher in Leicester, augmenting his experience as a Level 4 certified cricket coach.

Since being promoted in 2016 as England men’s Player Identification Lead, he has formulated the structure and processes underpinning the identification of prospective England players and has developed a strong connection to England team selection.