Asian Voice

13th April to 19th April 2013VOL 41. ISSUE 48 80pLet noble thoughts come to us from every side

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Margaret Thatcher, first female Prime Ministerand revered leader of Britain, died from astroke aged 87 on Monday 8th April. She hadbeen recovering from another operation, hav-ing suffered minor strokes before.

From her background to her politicalactions, Mrs Thatcher is a woman who hassparked contradiction and controversy andwill continue to do so: a conservative politi-cian from a lower-middle class background, infavour of unregulated capitalism, but also oflower tax, both a crusader against communistoppression and fighter for the Falklands.

However, born 1925 to grocery-storeowner Alfred Roberts and mother BeatriceEthel in Lincolnshire, and working her way upin politics obtaining a scholarship to OxfordUniversity and becoming leader of her partyby her fifties in the House of Commons,Margaret Thatcher is still indisputably a por-trait of individual determination and focusedleadership.

Her funeral is to be held at St Paul'sCathedral on Wednesday 17th April with aprocession from Westminster and a privatecremation following and although was set tobe state funded, her governance beinglikened to Winston Churchill's, was changedaccording to the late great icon's wishes her-self.

FAREWELLMARGARET THATCHER

1925 - 2013

An Indian couple fromOxford is fighting toregain the custody of theirfive-year-old son after hewas taken away by thesocial services over allega-tions of abuse.

Rajat Puri, who worksin an investment firm, andhis software programmerwife Shruti have beenfighting for the return oftheir child Achintya sinceMarch 6 and have evenwritten letters to BritishPrime Minister DavidCameron and their localMP. Meanwhile, an emer-gency protection orderpassed by the local familycourt allows the parents to

see their son three times aweek for up to an hour.

The couple, who areoriginally from Punjab,moved to the UK in 2009after living in South Africafor five years.

Under child protectionrules in the UK, a localcouncil can start "careproceedings" if it is con-cerned about the welfareof a child.

The council can takethe child into care on atemporary basis for up toeight weeks at first, whichcan be renewed every 28days.

Indian couple urgessocial services toreturn their son

Continued on page 8

Continued on page 13

Former IndianPrime MinisterRajiv Gandhiwas a middlemanin the 1970s for aSwedish compa-ny that was look-ing to sell fighterjets to the IndianAir Force, whis-tle blowing web-site Wikileaks has

claimed. The rev-elation that hewas the "mainIndian negotia-tor" for a massiveaircraft deal iscontained in thelatest tranche ofUS diplomaticcables obtainedby WikiLeaks.


Rajiv Gandhi was 'middleman' forSwedish jets in 1970s: WikiLeaksOpposition seeks Sonia's explanation

SpacewomanSunita Williams

felicitated inAhmedabad

For report see page 26

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 20132 UK

1) Please tell us about yourcurrent position?I wear a few different hats. Iam a cardiologist inBirmingham and also MedicalDirector for 4 Primary CareTrusts in the Midlands. In thevoluntary sector I am Chair ofTrustees for the SAHF, a med-ical charity focussing on healthinequalities. Life is extremelybusy, but it’s a privilege to beable to contribute to a wideportfolio of roles and responsi-bilities.

2) Please tell us about thework you are currently doingon diabetes and heart disease?I am passionate about prevent-ing diabetes and heart disease.I have helped to plan services(with the Department ofHealth) which can screen forand reduce the risk of diabetesand heart disease. If you live inEngland you may have heard ofNHS Health Checks which

inform individuals of diabetesand heart disease risk. If youare between 40-75 years old,you will be invited for a healthcheck sometime in the next 5years. With SAHF, I delivercommunity based health pro-motion events and engageaudiences about simplelifestyle changes one canimplement to reduce risk ofdiabetes and heart disease.

3) What are your proudestachievements?Coming from a humble work-ing class background, I wasthrilled to get to Cambridgeand study medicine and makemy parents proud. At work,getting a PhD was special(becoming Dr Dr as my daugh-ter says) and I will never forgetbeing asked to write aCommonwealth ministerialbriefing document in advanceof a UN summit.

4) What has been the biggestobstacle in your career?Time. There simply is notenough of it to do all the thingsI would like to do, though I amruthless at time managementand do manage to fit everythingin and still get home to put mychildren to bed most nights.

5) Who has been the biggestinfluence on your career todate?My father worked hard but diedprematurely from diabetes andheart failure, having receivedlittle advice on prevention andtreatment. I wanted to rectifysuch inadequate provision ofhealthcare by returning to work

as a cardiologist inSandwell and tohelp the NHS toensure preventionof disease were highon the agenda. Mywife and mother areinfluential too aswithout them Icouldn’t deliver therange of commit-ments I have.

6) What is the bestthing about yourcurrent role?I am privileged tobe able to combinebeing a doctor,where I canimprove the life ofindividuals, withmedical manage-ment, where I can

influence and help shape serv-ices at local, regional, nationaland international levels. Beingable to lead a national charityat the same time is fantastic asit draws upon the philanthropyof many health professionalsand enables us to give some-thing back to the communitieswe come from.

7) And the worst?There is nothing bad aboutbeing able to take up the rolesand responsibilities I haveaccepted but I feel guilty that Ispend a lot of time away frommy family. We compensate byhaving a family season ticket towatch West Bromwich Albion..

8) What are your long termgoals?I want to be remembered as agood man, a good doctor andsomeone who contributed sig-nificantly to healthcare. I feelcapable of being a nationalleader in the NHS in duecourse. I don’t believe in havingmore than a 5 year plan as somuch can change so quickly inhealthcare.

9) If you were Prime Minister,what one thing would youchange?I would make sure that every-thing we commit to doing orchanging has a health andequality impact assessmentundertaken at the outset, sothat we could see the impact ofevery policy and change in pol-icy on people’s health, both inthe UK and globally.

10) If you were marooned on adesert island, which historicalfigure would you like to spendtime with and why?Mohandas K Gandhi, whoapplied his education and prin-ciples for the greater good. Iwould relish the opportunity todiscuss how he might addresstoday’s global health andwealth inequalities in an erawhen the world is a smallerplace, we have technology tohand, and governments can, ifthey wish, make real change tothe lives of millions if they gettheir priorities right.

Dr Kiran Patel

Dr Kiran Patel graduated from King's College, CambridgeUniversity in 1993 and is a Consultant Cardiologist inBirmingham. He was the founder member and is currentlyChair of Trustees of the South Asian Health Foundation(SAHF). SAHF delivers health promotion to Asian communi-ties and education to healthcare professionals. As a clinicalmanager he has managed significant change as ClinicalDirector for the West Midlands Strategic Health Authorityand then as Medical Director for West Mercia Primary Care.

Keith Vaz MP Keith Vaz MPwith

Dear Letter Writers

Thank you for your letters to our ‘your voice’section. As you may recall a few years back wemade it mandatory that your ‘letters to the edi-tor’ must not be more than 200 words. Despitethat we have allowed people to write upto 250-300 words and have edited them as and whenrequired.

However some letter writers continue tosend letters worth 400-450 words. Our Editorialteam has been editing them every week.However the team and the Editors have decidedthat from now on, if any letter is more than 250words, we would unfortunately not be able toaccommodate in the paper.

Please note: Letters must be written within 250words. And can be sent via email to [email protected] by Monday 5pm orby fax to 020 7749 4080 or by post.

- AV

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Oxfam press officer SarahDransfield was in Indiaduring February and sawhow inequality - particu-larly for girls- is a part ofeveryday life.

“I always wanted to bea teacher”, smiledMeena*, a bright andsociable sixteen-year-oldgirl whom I met inMadanpur Khadar, anurban slum resettlementcolony to the south ofDelhi. A fairly reasonabledream for a teenage girl, Ithought, and an hon-ourable career to aim for,in a country where manychildren miss out onschool because of a lack oftrained teaching profes-sionals.

But Meena’s smilefaded and she looked sad.It started a year ago, shetold me, when a group ofolder boys began followingher to school. At first theyrode after her on theirbikes, then the teasing gotworse and they started try-ing to touch and kiss her.She was afraid they mightfollow her home andassault her, the recent rapecase in India highlightingthat for many women inIndia their fears are oftensadly justified.

Meena did the rightthing and told her parentsabout the victimisation,but their reaction was not

what she’d been expect-ing. She was bringing dis-honour on the family, theysaid, and was obviouslyleading the boys on.Things got so bad forMeena that her brotheractually hit her and it wasdecided that she would nolonger be able to leave thehouse to go to school. SoMeena had to say goodbyeto her dreams and nowfaces a future of gettingmarried off by her parentsto someone she’s nevermet.

Sadly stories likeMeena’s are commonplacein Indian society, which iswhy Oxfam India haslaunched a new campaign,Close The Gap, to tackleinequality particularly forwomen and girls. Oxfambelieves it is an outragethat in the 21st century,women don’t feel safewhen they walk home atnight and that women’srepresentation in places ofpower is so insignificant.Currently only 5 per centof the Indian Police Forceare women, an especiallyworrying statistic giventhe fact that many crimesagainst women go unre-ported because they don’tfeel safe reporting them toa man.

The ground-breakingcampaign is aimed to starta public debate on theinequality between men

and women. People fromall over India are invitedto call a hotline or usesocial media to recordtheir views on the massivegender gap that exists inIndia today and to providea space for Indian peopleto question why womenare still being treated assecond class citizens.

The aim of the cam-paign will to be use publicopinion to try and influ-ence attitudes and behav-iours and to push forchange in a society whereonly 5 per cent of womenin Indian corporates are apart of the top manage-ment and only 8 per centof judges in the SupremeCourt are women. OxfamIndia will analyse andcombine the commentsleft on the hotline andtake them to senior deci-sion makers in the politi-cal, social and corporatespheres.

Close The Gap willalso kickstart a broaderOxfam India campaignagainst inequalityfocussing not just onwomen but also on othermarginalised groups andthe poor.

Whilst there is sadlylittle hope for Meena toreach her dream of being ateacher, if women in Indiahad a more equal place insociety then stories likehers would become a thingof the past.

*Meena’s name hasbeen changed to protecther identity

Close The Gap

Labour peer LordAhmed has apologisedlast week for blaming hisimprisonment on aJewish conspiracy, butoffered no explanationfor his anti-Semiticremarks.

Lord Ahmed issuedthe “complete and unre-served” apology twoweeks after The Timesrevealed his claim in aPakistani televisioninterview that Jews werethe cause of his 12-weekjail sentence for danger-ous driving.

There were indica-tions that the regretbelatedly expressed bythe Rotherham-basedbusinessman was unlike-ly to prevent his expul-sion from the party. Thedecision on whether toexpel him is expected tobe taken by the party’sNational ExecutiveCommittee within thenext 10 weeks.

Lord Ahmedapologises for

his 'anti-Sematic'comment

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 2013 3

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Telling the truth as it isThe Economist in its article on India sounded twocheers for the country’s many achievements, listingthese to include its democratic system of govern-ment based on the rule of law, its manifestations ofsoft power, and its caution and restraint in the faceof jihadi terrorism despite the formidable militarystrength at its command. The magazine’s jibe atIndia’s preference for a Fabian model of economicdevelopment was par for the course, but some meas-ure of intellectual honesty might have concededthat, warts and all, the system had laid the founda-tions of an industrial economy, facilitated the“Green Revolution” in agriculture, banishing thespectre of famine foretold by Western doomsayers;and put the country on the road to a promising andsecure future in science and technology. These earlyinvestments were frequently derided as white ele-phants by Western critics and their local subalterns.They have borne fruit, some spectacularly ripe.The Economist lamented the absence of strategic

vision in the formulation of Indian statecraft, thelimitations of its diplomatic institutions, and (nosurprise) the country’s refusal to sign up to partner-ship with the US-led Western alliance for the pre-ferred policy of non-alignment (code for strategicautonomy). The desired quantum of strategic think-ing may still be a deficit in official Indian thinking:that will surely be made good with unfolding self-confidence as India undertakes its rite of passagefrom soft state to hard in the pressure-cooker ofinternational power politics.This said, one must wonder why the US and the

European Union, especially the eurozone, are insuch dire straits financially, with all their intellectu-al resources mortgaged in free market economics;and why with such a multitudes of strategic insti-tutes buoyed by the currents of oracular wisdom,and why with legions of polished diplomats, suchstrategic disasters as the Iraq and Afghanistan mis-adventures occur in Libya, Syria and places tocome. Quite a mystery, this. National conceits mayhold the answer. Also, how is it that medias boast-ing independence of reporting were so complicit andaccommodating to the whims of political establish-

ments? These nostrums deserve close critical scrutiny if

the West is to do better in the future. For the pres-ent India must thank her stars and native adroitnessfor securing her sovereignty. The Economistrevealed the cloven hoof behind its velvet glove byproposing that Prime Minister Manmohan Singhvisit Pakistan to help out its beleaguered democracyby discussing a possible resolution of the Kashmirdispute. This, surely, was the point of its article. Since the statistics of a recent British Council

survey revealed that one section of Pakistani youthfavoured the imposition of Islamic sharia and theother section sought salvation in military rule theIndian exercise would be a poisoned chalice. BJPPremier Atal Behari Vajpayee’s peace journey toLahore in the spring of1999 and Islamabad’s mili-tary response on the Kargil heights a few weekslater was a lesson for the Indian nation. The IndianArmy lost over 700 men clearing the territory of themarauders. The Indian public after the jihadi deedsof 26/11 and the numerous terror attacks in thecountry emanating from Pakistan would not benearly as forgiving this time around. The writer Ahmed Rashid – “Pakistan on the

brink” – informs us that his country’s military con-tinues to be the recipient of generous flows of aidfrom the US and its principal Nato allies, despite thecovert refuge accorded to the fugitive Osama binLaden by Islamabad for the better part of a decade.For all the claptrap on human rights and democra-cy, the Western democracies continue to succor theworld’s foremost terrorist state as a matter of right.So be it. India, for her part, must reserve the rightto factor this into an appropriate policy response.Withholding its third cheer for India conforms, nodoubt, the best interests of the Economist.Dismissing its unsought for advice is the hon-ourable thing to do for India. The spirits of Indiadead would recoil as would the flesh of the living atanything less. Being a coolie state was never part ofthe modern Indian agenda, and it never will be. TheEconomist and likeminded institutions in the Westwould be better off leaving India to its own devices.

Something rotten in the state of BengalThey came in their hundreds and thousands in mostshapes and forms from far corners of West Bengal toassemble in the metropolis of Kolkata. It was a mon-ster demonstration of Islamic solidarity with DelwarHossain Sayeedi, the Jamaat leader sentenced todeath for war crimes in Bangladesh’s 1971 strugglefor independence from Pakistani rule. Sayeedi andhis close associates were accused of collaboratingwith the Pakistani occupiers in an orgy of killing,rape and forcible conversion in which some 3 mil-lion Bengalis lost their lives. (On a visit to the UKin 2006, under the auspices of the Home Office,Sayeedi likened the minority community inBangladesh to human excreta).The Kolkata rally was held under the aegis of

Islamic organizations such as the All BengalMinority Council, the All Bengal Minority YouthFederation, the Madrassa Students Union, theMuslim Think Tank, the All Bengal Imam MuazzinAssociation and the Allah Madrassa University.Demonstrators from distant parts were bussed intothe city. But for an extensive report and analysis in the

edit-page of Hindu newspaper by Garga Chatterjee,a researcher at the Massachussetts Institute ofTechnology, few in Kolkata, apart from witnesses,would have known of the event. The local media inshameful denial uttered no word. The author’s title– “A dangerous connivance”- said it all. His boxedcomment, “It is worrying that West Bengal’s politi-cal class remained tactical spectators to the Kolkatarally organized by Muslim groups in support ofBangladeshi war criminals,” was hugely appropri-

ate.Wielding the threat of violence, these groups

have long held the authorities hostage on whetherauthors deemed to be unIslamic, such as novelistsTasleema Nasreen and Salman Rushdie, should bepermitted to enter the city precincts or live there.What next? Soon may come the demand thatMuslims by divine right determine school and uni-versity curricula? Or books suitable for publication.It could come to that, eventually, as happened inNazi Germany when too many remained silent inthe forlorn hope that Evil would simply disappear.The Communist-led Left and the present

Trinamool dispensation, both cut by politicalinstinct from the same demagogic cloth, have muchto answer for as they pander to their obscurant votebanks in their insensate drive for power. It is scarce-ly an exaggeration to say that social violence in WestBengal is now a pandemic out of control, makingthe state the worst governed in India. On this themedia have been anything but muteAcross the border in Bangladesh, the Sheikh

Hasina government has arrested two Internet blog-gers for proclaiming their atheism, an act “defamingIslam.” Its credentials with the faithful will remaininsecure. This abject response is the beginning ofthe slippery slope to a religious dictatorship and ter-ror. Every system, religious or agnostic, orthodox orliberal, must surely be open to critical scrutiny. Thisalone guarantees ultimate survival in a fast chang-ing world in which expansive sciences and human-istic philosophies jostle for space with the untesteddogmas of received wisdom.

UN-sponsored Arms Trade Treaty is flawedThe recent Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was carried bya thumping majority at the UN General Assembly.India was among the notable abstentions. ItsPermanent Representative to the Conference ofDisarmament in Geneva, Sujata Mehta, averredthat it, “falls short of our expectation….in produc-ing a text that is clear, balanced andimplantable…..and able to attract universal adher-ence…..that such a treaty should make a real impacton illicit trafficking in conventional arms and theirillicit use especially by terrorists and other unautho-

rized non-state actors. India has also stressed con-sistently that the ATT should ensure a balance ofobligations between exporting and importing states.However, the draft treaty that is annexed to the res-olution is weak on terrorism….The relevant provi-sions in the final text do not meet our require-ments.”Quite so. Theory and practice on anti- jihadi ter-

rorism in third countries (which is the real issue)prevalent in much of the West are not conjoined.Therefore, no deal.

Comment

Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposesgo forth in action; actions form habits;habits decide character; and characterfixes our destiny

- Tyron Edwards (1809-1894)

There was a time in the twentieth century when theHeads of the largest and the oldest democracies werewomen, and the Head of their Commonwealth also awoman. ‘When Margaret met Indira’ is probably a bookworth writing. But the divisive conviction not consensuspolitician that Margaret Thatcher was did not approve ofIndia’s State of Emergency during her visit in 1976before she became PM.

At the height of the Cold War, when the bilateralrelationship mattered far more than it does even today,said Margaret Thatcher, ‘"I lunched with Indira Gandhiin her own modest home, where she insisted on seeingthat her guests were all looked after, and clearing awaythe plates while discussing matters of high politics."

"Both her sons, Sanjay and Rajiv, were present,although it was the former who had most to say for him-self. He had, indeed, allegedly been responsible formany of the abuses such as forced sterilisation and com-pulsory re-housing which had provoked such bitteropposition," she said.

You will read elsewhere in other obituaries about herrise to power, the Falklands, treachery, the minersstrike, working with Gorbachev, her special relationshipwith Ronald Reagan, her unwillingness to supportNelson Mandela more clearly and overtly during theapartheid years.

"But in spite of everything I found myself liking MrsGandhi herself. Perhaps, I naturally sympathised with awoman politician faced with the huge strains and diffi-culties of governing a country as vast as India…In spiteof a long self-justificatory account she gave me of whythe state of emergency had been necessary, I could notapprove of her government's methods."

During her Premiership the relations with India werefrosty because of India’s leanings to the USSR andBritain’s support for Pakistan to fight the Mujahidin inAfghanistan – funds which India complained were beingdiverted into terrorist camps in Kashmir.

But what of Indians in Britain? Files released in 2009show that in July 1979, soon after becoming PM, shecomplained privately it was "quite wrong" for immigrantsto get council houses ahead of "white citizens". This wasa period when the Conservative Party – feeling theywere the natural party of enterprise, could not tap sig-nificantly into the British Indian vote. Things are chang-ing. Indians today vote much more like the mainstreamnow – according to factors relating to economic statusand values, rather than immigrant status.

Margaret ThatcherObituary

Continued on page 6

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 13th April 20134 Midlands Voice

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Woman assaulted in Queens RoadPolice have appealed for help tracing a manwho indecently assaulted a woman of 24 inQueens Road, Clarendon Park, Leicester,last week.A man allegedly approached the

woman and touched her indecently at9.30pm on Monday, March 25.Detective Constable Joanna Brown

told the local press: "It was a distressingincident for the victim and I am keen tohear from anyone who was in the area atthe time and saw the suspect either beforeor after the incident."The information you have may seem

insignificant to you but could help with ourinquiry."The suspect is Asian, 5ft 3in, thin and

has short black hair. He was wearing aloose-fitting, long-sleeved, light-colouredbuttoned shirt and dark jeans.Any one with any information must

contact Det Con Brown on 101.

Man charged with murderappears in courtA man appeared in courton Monday charged withthe murder of a 41-year-old whose body was foundin a lake last November.

Jagdev Rai, who isaccused of killing JasbirSingh Bains (pictured), spoke only to con-firm his name, date of birth and addressduring a hearing at Warley Magistrates'Court.Rai, of Salisbury Road, West Bromwich,

is charged with killing Mr Bains in thetown between November 26 andNovember 29 last year.The 43-year-old defendant, who is also

charged with three counts of fraud, wassent in custody to appear atWolverhampton Crown Court onWednesday.Mr Bains, who had suffered an injury

to his neck, was found dead in DartmouthPark, West Bromwich.

'Mitwa' star singer ShafqatAmanat Ali Khan to visit B'hamClassical singerS h a f q a tAmanat AliKhan hasannounced atrip to B'ham onSunday, June16, 2013 to per-form some ofhis most popu-lar numbers atthe LG Arena.Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, pictured, a

Pakistani classical singer belongs to PatialaGharana lineage and is the youngest broth-er of the late Asad Amanat Ali Khan. Hewas the lead vocalist of the Pakistani rockband Fuzön and was awarded thePresident's Pride of Performance civilaward in 2007.Shafqat was introduced to Bollywood

by Shankar Mahadevan and sang thebreath taking "Mitwa" song that was com-posed by the music directors for KaranJohar's movie Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.The song made it into the Indian charts,helping propel Shafqat into stardom. Tickets for Shafqat Amanat Ali are on

sale now. For more information visitwww.lgarena.co.uk.

In Brief

The National Space Centre inLeicester has had to take drasticaction this week to ensure thesafety of its visitors from hotbeverages. The café, situated atthe base of the attraction's icon-ic 42m high Rocket Tower, isnow serving half measures whenit comes to tea, coffee and hotchocolate. A team of experts atthe Centre have carried out athorough investigation into thereports of strange behaviour byliquids and discovered that thecause of all the problems is actu-ally a fragment of the Moon ondisplay at the top of the RocketTower.

Lee King, has been chal-lenged to create a vessel that willhold the liquids affected by theMoon rock; “I have to make surethere are no spillages, which isvery challenging.”

Anna Prentice has joined theteam in a training role and will

be running diagnostic tests onthe Moon rock; “Tides are creat-ed because of gravitationalforces, the main one beingbetween the Earth and theMoon. Due to the attractionbetween the Earth and theMoon, the oceans closest to theMoon are gravitationally pulledout towards the Moon into abulge. The movement of thisbulge gives the Earth its tides. Asimilar effect is occurring withliquids in close proximity to theMoon rock at the NationalSpace Centre, hence the increasein spilled liquids.”

A Boss at the Centre saidthat although he was delightedto be working at one of only twoplaces in the UK where peoplecould see a very rare piece of theMoon, it was also important thatvisitors should be able to enjoy anice cup of tea without worryingabout the science of tidal waves.

Hot Drinks Dangerous in Space

Leicester East MP Keith Vaz has report-edly said that he was "deeply shocked"by the tweets posted by Britain's firstyouth police commissioner Paris Brown.Ms Brown, 17, wrote violent, racist

and anti-gay comments on her feedbefore she became the first youth com-missioner for Kent, representing youngpeople's views on policing.The tweets, which included refer-

ences to taking drugs, were posted bythe teenager between the ages of 14 and16, but have now been deleted.The 17-year-old has also apologised

for the "inappropriate language andviews" she posted on her Twitteraccount.Mr Vaz, who is Chairman of the

Commons Home Affairs SelectCommittee, was quoted saying byLeicester Mercury: "I am deeply shockedby these disclosures."Public money should never be given

to anyone who refers to violence, sex,drunkenness and other anti-socialbehaviour in this offensive manner."There were wide protest and call for

Miss Brown to resign from the £15,000-

a-year post she was appointed in, butKent Police and crime commissionerAnn Barnes defended her.Miss Brown reportedly said: "I

deeply apologise for any offence causedby my use of inappropriate language andfor any inference of inappropriate views."I am not homophobic, racist or vio-

lent and am against the taking of drugs."If I'm guilty of anything it's showing

off and wildly exaggerating on Twitter,

and I am very ashamed of myself, but Ican't imagine that I'm the only teenagerto have done this."As one example, the line about hash

brownies is a reference to a Scooby Doofilm."I have a genuine interest in working

with young people, as demonstrated bymy current work as an apprentice for alocal authority helping teenagers in acommunity."

Leicester MP 'deeply shocked' by Paris Brown's tweets

Paris BrownKeith Vaz, MP

The Shirdi Sai Baba tem-ple had a grand opening inLeicester. The temple, atthe grade II-listed formerGuild of Disabled build-ing, in Colton Street,Leicester, is the second ofits kind in the UK and fol-lows the teachings ofBaba, a Hindu guru bornin 1835.

Rita Jivanji, 32, fromRushey Mead, Leicester,was one of the volunteershelping to co-ordinate theday told Leicester

A senior Muslim commu-nity leader has said peopleneed to speak out againstchild sex grooming gangsin his community and allothers.

Sheikh IbrahimMogra, pictured, who is aLeicester imam and a sen-ior member of the MuslimCouncil of Britain,(MCB), said that groom-ing gangs existed in allcommunities.The MCB is working

with organisations includ-ing the police, the NSPCCand Muslim groups toraise awareness of theproblem and to highlightpeople’s need to speak outagainst it.The Muslim Council of

Britain is planning anational conference toeducate people aboutgrooming, he said. MrMogra spoke out againstthe practice when heappeared on BBC Radio

Four’s Sunday programmethis weekend.The programme also

spoke to Leicester EastMP Keith Vaz, who ischairman of the HomeAffairs select committee,which is also investigatingthe scale of the crime.Mr Vaz told the pro-

gramme: “There is noexcuse for this kind ofcriminality, whoever isinvolved in it, but I don’tthink it is a particular

Muslim leader urgescommunity to speak out

against sex grooming gangs

group of people, I don’tthink it’s a particular raceor religion.”The Child

Exploitation and OnlineProtection Centre(CEOP) said child sexualexploitation spanned “allcultures and ethnicities”,while the recent cases had“highlight that Asianmales have been involvedin an organised manner inexploiting young women”.

Shirdi Sai Baba Temple has agrand opening in Leicester

Mercury, "It has all gone really well,"she said."...People are very excited because

so many devotees wanted this templehere in Leicester."Inside the temple a fire was set up

in front of a statue of Baba, withofferings placed in the flames, a localnewspaper reported. Families queuedup to receive food.The organisation's first temple

was opened in Wembley, London.After running into trouble with thecouncil regarding planning issues, themanagement turned to Asian Voicefor help. The newspaper cam-paigned widely with local leaders,finally persuading the authority tokeep the temple open.A member of the management

team at the temple said he hoped theopening would spread the message oftreating others with politeness andhelping the needy, as well as havingtrust and patience.The Guild of Disabled building,

completed in 1909, is believed tohave been the first building in Britain– and possibly the world – to havebeen designed to be wheelchair-friendly.

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Are Sharia Councils putting Muslim women 'at risk'?The BBC’s Panorama pro-gramme has uncovered freshevidence of how someSharia Councils in Britainmay be putting Muslimwomen “at risk” by pressur-ing them to stay in abusivemarriages. Women seekingto divorce abusive husbandstold the programme howthey felt pressured to staymarried. During undercoverfilming at one council, anIslamic scholar said going tothe police was a "last resort"when presented with a caseof domestic violence, and asked if thewoman had done anything to provoke hertreatment. Panorama’s Jane Corbin inves-tigated what’s really happening inBritain’s Sharia Councils.

During her investigation, Jane meetswomen across the country who havestruggled to be granted a divorce bySharia courts, often despite court injunc-tions against violent husbands. She talkedto Baroness Cox who has been trying totake her Private Member’s Bill to theHouse of Lords; charity workers whowork within Muslim communities; NazirAfzal, Chief Crown Prosecutor of NorthWest Region; and Charlotte Proudman, abarrister specialising in family law. Janetalked to the Councils themselves.

Around 50 cases, mainly marital dis-putes, are heard at Leyton Sharia councilevery month. 90% of them are brought bywomen from all over the country. Formany a Sharia divorce is the only optionbecause the couple only had a Shariamarriage not a British civil one. Leyton isone of Britain’s oldest and most activeIslamic councils. It cannot enforce itsjudgments but places like this control thelives of many Muslim women in Britaintoday.

Dr Suhaib Hasan of Leyton Islamic

Sharia Council explained:“We try to facilitate for theMuslim community some-thing which they badly needbecause there’s no other insti-tution [which] can providesuch services so we are pro-viding it. We are not just hereto issue divorces. We want tomediate first. We try to savemarriages first. So when peo-ple come to us we try to rec-oncile them.”

But, as Jane discovered,Islamic rulings given herearen’t always in the interests

of the women concerned and can runcounter to British law. An undercoverPanorama reporter posed as a womenwith a violent husband seeking divorceand she consulted Dr Hasan. His firstresponse was to ask if she has done any-thing to provoke her treatment: “I thinkthat you should be courageous enough toask this question to him. Just tell me whyyou are so upset, huh? Is itbecause of my cooking? Is itbecause I see my friends, huh? SoI can correct myself.”

The reporter asked if sheshould report the violence to thepolice and was told: “You involvethe police if he hits you but youmust understand this will be thefinal blow. You will have to goleave the house. Where will yougo then? A refuge? A refuge is avery, very bad option. Women arenot happy in such places.” DrHasan went on to suggest counsellingwith his wife who also advised: “Don’tthink about the police because if thepolice is involved then think – your fami-ly life is going to break.”

The Chief Crown Prosecutor for theNorth West, Nazir Afzal, is a Muslim whohas taken the national lead for the CPS in

tackling honour based and domestic vio-lence. He said: “Most of them areabsolutely fine but there are some … whoare putting women at risk. And doing sofor ridiculous reasons namely that theyare somehow responsible for the abusethey are suffering.

“What I’ve witnessed is so dangerousbecause if there is early intervention weknow people’s lives can be saved, theycan be spared significant harm. Wherepeople are deterred from seeking help andsupport regrettably many of them go on tosuffer a lifetime of cruelty and significantharm.

“Women from minorities are signifi-cantly less likely to report abuse they’resuffering. We want them to realise that’snot the place to go. Where they can go isthe women’s groups who provide supportand the police who can do something toensure this doesn’t happen in the future.”

When Panorama asked Leyton ShariaCouncil about the guidance they offeredwomen who are suffering domestic vio-

lence they said with domestic violence itmay be essential to involve the police andother authorities - but that can be a stepwith irrevocable consequences. They alsostate that safety is paramount and any UKcourt order must be followed.

Baroness Cox has been trying to takea Private Member’s Bill to the House of

Lords to make it an offence for Shariacouncils to set themselves up as courtsgiving judgments. She said: “If one looksat the way in which the system of theSharia courts work ... it is actually oper-ating like a parallel legal system in thiscountry. And in a democracy you can’thave two legal systems – there has to beone rule for all.”

No one knows how many ShariaCouncils there are in Britain – in mosquesand houses. One report estimates at least85. Jane travels to Leeds, Bristol,Manchester and East London hearingsimilar stories across the nation.

Sharia councils say their main con-cern is saving marriages through reconcil-iation. Barrister Charlotte Proudman hasbeen to many hearings at Sharia councilsand is worried about what she’s seen. Shesaid: “They’re totally unregulated, unau-thorised, there’s no accountability andmany of them are not operating in accor-dance with UK law. Unfortunately theyare ruling on contact matters, residencedisputes...they certainly don’t act inaccordance with UK law where the para-mount importance is the child’s welfare.”

Baroness Cox summed up saying: “Itis a system which in its gender discrimi-nation causing women such suffering isutterly incompatible with our country’svalues of promoting gender equality andone law for all. It is time to draw a line inthe sand and say – enough is enough.”

Secret filming at Sharia council shows women at risk

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Over the weekend Iattended the BollywoodShowstoppers event atthe O2 arena. A largerthan life musical thatbrought together India’ssinging sensation Shaan,Malaika Arora Khan ofthe ‘munni’ fame,

famous actress BipashaBasu and rockstar AtifAslam. Organised by

Bollyflex, the event total-ly rocked the audiencesand electrified theatmosphere at the O2.The Bollyflex dancetroupe performed inbetween and along withMalaika and Bipasha onmany famous bollywoodnumbers.The crowd sang and

danced to every numberand cheered the stars.The biggest star of theevening however wasShaan who stole theshow by singing his mostfamous numbers andmaking the audiencedance, laugh and crywith his beautiful voice.Shaan has been India’snumber one romanticsinger for nearly 13 yearsnow and it was a pleas-ure to hear him live. Hesang his famous TanhaDil in the end and saidhe is here because of thatsong since that was amajor breakthrough forhis career.Malaika Arora Khan

performed to her famousmunni and anarkali num-bers among others. Sheswept the audiences bytheir feet during her per-formance. She eventhrew her sunglassestowards the crowd whichwas caught by a 10 yearold boy. The boy camerunning on to the stageand shook a leg withMalaika. She saidLondon is Khan family’sfavourite holiday desti-nation and they love

coming back to it againand again.Prior to the perform-

ance, at a press confer-ence Malaika said,"Places like Birminghamand Manchester andLondon are fun. I'm real-ly excited to be perform-

ing at the O2. The lasttime I was at the O2 wasto watch [Justin Bieber]perform, and to actuallyperform on that stagewill be a Mecca of allsorts.”Bipasha’s style was a

little different. She chosea lucky boy from theaudience who dancedwith her on the stageduring her performance.She danced to herfamous numbers such asnamak ishq ka, beedijalaile, billo rani amongothers. "We have been trying

to put together shows forthe last five years.Besides the IIFA, I don'tthink there has been ashow with actors here.The last time I performedin a world tour was2003," said Basu."When Naz

[Choudhury] came upwith the idea, I knew thatthere will be mostlysingers and performersinvolved and I will be theonly Bollywood actress,but I was still very excit-ed. I was still excited thatI will be performing inthe UK."Separately, Shaan has

encouraged UK newcom-er San2 for his beautifulvoice. Music fans acrossthe globe have complete-ly embraced the amazingdebut song by 22 year oldSan2 from Nottingham inthe UK. The single 'NayoLagda' has already takenthe top spot on theiTunes World MusicChart within 24 hours ofrelease!Not only have his

Twitter and Facebooktimelines gone crazy withhis new found fan-basesending good wishes, buteven Bollywood has got-ten involved with theSan2 frenzy!The incredible and

multi-talented Bollywood

playback singer 'Shaan'recently congratulatedSan2 during an interviewwith the BBC AsianNetwork. He said: "I'vebeen listening to yourradio station for the past3 days now and reallyenjoying the debates andall the music. I mustespecially mention a songI heard, San2...that's S.A. N. 2 with a numeric2...beautiful voice, beau-tiful song, wonderfulsinger, you must congrat-ulate him!"Shaan then went on

to Tweet at San2, callinghim 'True Talent'. Theextremely humble San2responded to his socialmedia followers with:"Am I dreaming? Thefamous singer Shaan thatI watch on TV and listento all the time is talkingabout me! I'm going topinch myself and wakeup!"San2’s first single

‘Nayo Lagda’ is an infec-tious up-tempo Qawwalitrack. The young singerhas been described as acomplete breath of freshair, bringing a new lightto the Asian music indus-try.With music by the

well-seasoned producerDharam of DSD Musikand lyrics by the remark-able Deedar Singh, NayoLagda was always guar-anteed to be a hit.British Asian celebri-

ty Ameet Chana, famedfor his roles inEastenders, Bend it LikeBeckham and numerousother films, directed theaccompanying video.

Let us know what you think. Email Spriha at [email protected]

Bollywood Showstoppers:Shaan steals the show

Brand personality is aterm that is batteredaround board room tablesquite a bit these days. Theidea that a business or abrand has a personality isnot a new one, but whatdoes it really mean.‘Personality’ is a con-

cept borrowed, as aremany ideas in branddevelopment, from theworld of psychology. The idea of personali-

ty is quite complex andhas been studied fromAristotle to modern daythinkers. At the base levelpersonality is about howwe all differ from one

another. This is manifestthough the way we eachthink, act and behave. Byhaving this sense of per-sonality we distinguishourselves. Furthermore, this

sense of personalityallows us to make choicesin life that aide us. If Ineed a shoulder to cry on,I know the friend Ishould call upon, basedon their personality -their consistent behav-iour, their ability toempathise and act in away that I require. By doing so, the con-

cept of personality allowsus to compartmentaliseall aspects of our relation-ships. We in turn get to beknown as the ‘guy’ or the‘girl’ that is either fun, orserious, intellectual, orsilly, and so forth.Personality acts as the

short cut to get to knowsomeone. Our personalityshines through, and if atdinner party for instance,we meet a few new faces,the personality we haveallows us to connect withand relate with individu-als or equally turn themoff in a very short timeperiod. Remember first

impressions count.Through this you

might see how this alsorelates to business. Ifyour company has no per-sonality that is communi-cated and expressed, itmakes it hard for poten-tial customers to decidewhether they want to useyou or not. Without your brand

having a personality itmakes it really hard tocreate attraction or pref-erence. There is nothingthere for a consumer togo ‘I like that company.’ By having a brand

personality it also acts asa way to protect yourbusiness from the compe-tition. While competitorsmight be able to copy theproducts or services thatyou offer, it is next toimpossible to copy a per-sonality. That is generallyunique to you and ownedby you, and can be a busi-ness’s best defence mech-anism. Businesses should try

to understand what istheir brand personality?By defining that you canuse that to create the rea-son to like your companyin a consumer’s mind.

Mo Luthra

Branding Consultantwww.moluthra.com

Every brand and business needs a personality

Spriha Srivastava

Margaret Thatcher ObituaryContinued from page 3 And like the mainstream population

they will be divided between the thosewho got the benefits of a mass home-owning capitalist economy and those whoin deprived areas never got the direct ben-efits at all and felt the British immigrantdream was not for them.For me the most enduring memories

will be those I had in person with the IronLady. Only a couple of years ago, frail andsuffering from ill health, she attended asmall ceremony at the CommonwealthMemorial Gates in London to commemo-rate the service of all the CommonwealthSoldiers particularly the Indians whowere the largest contingent who valiantlyand bravely served the Empire in bothWorld Wars. She was ill. She was old. Itwas a small event. But she wanted to bethere. As a Prime Minister who had sent

armed forces into harms way she musthave had a particular connection to thememorial. She knew full well the debtBritain owed to India – not least becausethe speeches by British Army Generalsmade it clear to her that cold morning hadshe not known.The second memory comes from yet

another small event, this time a dinner atthe home of a Tory MP, with no media,but for Priti Patel, in support of Priti’selection efforts. Just before the last elec-tion the Baroness was ill, and fragile. Shenot only met everyone, but in a privateconversation with Priti, advised her atlength. She continued her work for herbeloved Conservative Party to the end.Even in ill health for new first time MPs.It was not relevant, and should not be rel-evant, but I know she did that for aBritish Indian new MP.

From Saturday 6 April theUK home office relaxedimmigration rules that willallow international MBAgraduates from BritishUniversities and otherhigher education institu-tions to stay in the UK forup to a year after graduat-ing as part of the expand-ed graduate entrepreneurscheme. The Times of India

reported that upto 1,000will be able to stay todevelop their own busi-ness idea or work in astart-up, after which theycan apply to stay in theUK as a skilled worker oran entrepreneur.Additionally, the

changes will create greaterflexibility for successfulPhD students by allowingthem to stay on after theycomplete their studies for

up to a year and work,without having to switchroutes. These changesexpand the existingoptions for internationalstudents to stay and workafter their studies. There is no limit on the

number who can obtain aTier 2 visa to stay andwork, providing they canget a graduate-level jobpaying a minimum of£20,300. The number of stu-

dents comingfrom India tostudy at UKun i v e r s i t i e sregistered a fallof nearly23.5% lastyear, includinga 28% drop atpostgraduatelevel. The ruleswill also bene-

fit Indian businessmencoming into UK. Intra-company transferees(ICTs) who are paid morethan £152,100 will nolonger need to take anEnglish test if they want toextend their stay in theUK. The government isalso reducing the numberof documents that need tobe shown by ICTs to provethey have worked for thecompany for more than ayear.

MBA students to be allowed tostay in the UK upto an year


With over 40 years of expertise in the rice world, Tilda‘the connoisseurs of fine rice’ is unveiling its latest new

range of legendary rice - Tilda GrandFor many years we have been searching for a very special rice to sit alongside

our legendary pure basmati; our wait is finally over and we present you Tilda

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The slender shape, sweet taste and delicate texture of the rice makes this an

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Just like the Tilda Grand grain the packaging is also special. What makes the

packaging unique is the striking calligraphy used to design the pack which

involves a variety of distinctive brush strokes. The looseness and free flow of the

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Tragedy struck early inJayeeta’s life when bothher parents died youngand she was sent, alongwith her brother, to livewith their grandmotherin a village in WestBengal. Since her broth-er was much older thanher, he became Jayeeta’sguardian. Time passed.The brother grew up andmarried. His new wiferesented Jayeeta. Sureenough, she persuadedher husband to sendJayeeta, who was then12, out to earn money.He did exactly what hiswife wanted and sent thelittle girl all the way toMumbai to work as adomestic servant. Themoney that Jayeeta

earned came to them butthat still did not satisfyhis greedy wife.Perhapsher brother never had

Brother Turns Trafficker

Lady Mohini Kent Noon

LILY Foundation is thesponsored charity of

Asian Achievers Awards 20132013

any affection for Jayeetabecause he brought herback to West Bengal andsold her to a brothel atSonagachi for Rs.5000(about £60). In the brothel, despite

the sordid existence, therough clientsincludinglabourers and truck driv-ers and lack of decentfood or any healthcare,Jayeeta did make somefriends. They helped herto escape by scaling the

wall. Somehow, she madeher way to the famousHowrah Station inKolkata. The bustling

train station teeming withhumanity is a hotbed oftrafficking and many vic-tims change hands hereto be transported to othercities. Jayeeta was very

lucky that she did not fallinto the hands of a traf-ficker. Instead, sheencountered a kindlypoliceman. He sized upthe situation at once andtook her under his care.Having heard her story,he arranged for her to besent to the Women’sInterlink Foundation, anNGO that runs sheltersfor women. With time and patient

counselling and rehabili-tation, Jayeeta blos-somed. Today she is aconfident and independ-ent 17-year old. Lookingat her, it’s hard to guessthe shattering events ofher young life, the betray-als and traumas. Now,she helps others like herwho come to the shelterand has become a pillar ofstrength for them.The LILY campaign

works for girls such asJayeeta. She is a girl likeany other, like one of oursisters or friends, but lifewas very unkind to her.She needs our patience,understanding and mone-tary support. Please helpus to help her.

For more informationgo to http://www.ipart-nerindia.org/lily-founda-tion.php OR contact [email protected]/+44 20 7841 8919

A pillar of strength: Jeyeeta

Police Training Session

Indian couple urges socialservices to return their son

Continued from page 1 If the case goes to

court, it can take up to ayear, or even longer, for adecision on what shouldhappen to the child.Father Rajat, who has

been suspected by theauthorities of "improper"behaviour towards his sontold a newspaper, “Theysimply don't understandthe difference between theIndian and British culture.Their style of upbringingis totally different fromour culture.”"Our child is in a bad

state. He has been cryingand begging to be sentback home because he isscared of being shut up ina dark room every night,"added mother, Shruti, whoinsisted the case has beenmisinterpreted by theOxfordshire CountyCouncil.Meanwhile, the Indian

External Affairs Ministryin New Delhi is awaiting adetailed report from itsmission in the UK aboutthe case."We are awaiting a

detailed report from ourHigh Commission onwhat exactly is the situa-tion and what needs to bedone," Foreign SecretaryRanjan Mathai said April8 when asked about thecase.The case triggered

when Achintya's teachersat Bayards Hill PrimarySchool in Oxford called inpolice and social serviceslast month after he isbelieved to have describedhis father as doing "badthings.”

They feared it may be areference to sexual orother kind of abuse.However, Achintya’s

mother is certain it was areference to her husband'ssocial drinking and smok-ing which she had oftendescribed as a "bad habit"in an attempt to put herson off from copying simi-lar behaviour.In an interview Shruti

told Times of India, "Wewant the top lawyer whounderstands Indian cus-toms. UK may interpret afather bathing his son assexual molestation but inIndian families it is thedone thing. Indian parentsbathe their children, feedthem, wash them anddress them with their ownhands. Does that meanthey are being sexuallymolested?"

Nachiket Joshi, aSenior Youth Leader fromthe Overseas Friends ofBJP told Asian Voice,"This is very unfortunatethat Indian couple is suf-fering for their 5 years oldchild from last one month.Social services must haveto respect different cul-tures and religious meth-ods to raise their child.They should work accord-ing to that... I am request-ing the Indian communityto come forward and sup-port this Indian couple inOxfordshire. We are look-ing for more cases wherepeople have faced similarsituations from the socialservices and we would liketo send a signed petitionto the Ministry to amendthe social services law

according to different cul-tures in Britain. We respect the British

Judiciary system and I amsure Ms. Shruti and Mr.Rajat will get justice verysoon."

Cllr Darshan Grewal(Ex Mayor of Hounslow)told the newspaper, "As Iam associated with theLabour Party, I want totake this issues further. Iwill support Indian cou-ple to get their son backas soon as possible and Iam ready to support allpeople of UK who havebeen victim of social serv-ices and its unfair deci-sion...Being Punjabi I canunderstand how wewould like to teach goodthings to our children.Parents should have allthe rights to follow theirculture faith in the UK.We will go forward andmake sure that the Indiancouple get justice via judi-ciary system. We areworking with legal repre-sentatives to understandthe social services systemvery closely and we willsuggest Government tomake any changes, if wefind it necessary."This case has however

taken a political turn inIndia with BJP leaderVijay Jolly who was dueto meet British high com-missioner to Delhi SirJames Bevan on Tuesday. Jolly, who is in charge

of BJP's overseas affairscommittee, demandedthat the child who is nowin foster care be returnedto his parents immediate-ly

Nachiket Joshi, Sunny Roy, mother Shruti Beri, father Rajat Beri with son Achintya's photoand Cllr Darshan Grewal

A group of UK-basedSikhs have protested out-side the Houses ofParliament on Saturday10 April as part of a cam-paign to end the practice

of death penalty in India.Members of Kesri

Lehar condemned thedeath sentences imposedon four Sikhs, includingone convicted for the

assassination of an Indianpolitician.The BBC's Robert

Pigott reportedly said thatthe threat of execution isseen by some Sikhs as a

Sikhs protest in Londonover death penalty in India

key part of oppres-sion against them.The India's High

Commission in theUK said that theuse of the deathpenalty is validunder its laws.S a t u r d a y ' s

protest, organisedby campaign groupKesri Lehar, aimedto draw attentionto the fate of BulwantSingh Rajoana, who wassentenced to death in2007 for his role in the1995 assassination of

B e a n tSingh, thechief minis-ter of Punjabstate, inIndia.B e a n t

Singh waskilled on 31A u g u s t1995, alongwith 17 oth-ers by a sui-

cide bomber identified asDilawar Singh. Rajoanawas convicted of acting asa back-up suicide bombershould Singh have failed.

Rajoana - whose hangingwas postponed by Indianofficials in March 2012 -has not appealed againsthis sentence.Executions are com-

paratively rare in Indiawhere hundreds of con-victs are awaiting thedeath penalty.Mohammed Ajmal Kasab,the sole surviving attackerfrom the 2008 Mumbaiattack, was executed inNovember 2012, whileKashmiri militant AfzalGuru was hanged inFebruary.

Bulwant Singh Rajoana


Anjali is the ManagingEditor of V&A Publishingat the Victoria and AlbertMuseum. In this jobAnjali is responsible formanaging the editorialteam of V&A Publishing,which publishes exhibi-tion catalogues, generalbooks and academic publi-cations to complement theVictoria and AlbertMuseum's internationalexhibition programme ofart, design and fashion.

Anjali is extremelypassionate about what shedoes. Her love of booksbegan at a very early age.After she graduated fromManchester University,she undertook a publish-ing and printing course atthe London College ofPrinting and Publishing.She started as an editorialassistant at a family-runcompany producing gift-books, before moving ontoa commercial specialist artbook publisher. This gaveher opportunity to workfirst-hand with contempo-rary artists, designers andother museumpublishers. 'I have alwaysloved the challenge of cre-ating a beautiful, high-quality product that peo-ple want to have. That thebooks we produce are theone lasting, often ground-breaking outcome of amilestone exhibition isimmensely rewarding,'Anjali told us.

She then moved to theNational Portrait Galleryas Senior Editor in 2000,cutting her teeth on semi-nal painting and photo-graphic shows includingPainting the Century,Mario Testino and CecilBeaton. This proved to bea pivotal experience forAnjali and cemented herdesire to work in muse-ums and galleries. The jobof a lifetime came up atthe V&A in 2006 andAnjali jumped at thechance to work in one ofher favourite museums,the V&A, famous for itsunrivalled art, design, andfashion collections. 'Icount myself doublyblessed', says Anjali, 'towork in publishing butalso within the inspiringand creative surroundingsof a museum. Our booklist is led directly from theexhibition programme,however we also have avery strong presence inthe international booktrade - particularly withour design and fashionlists'. She cites supportivementors and fellow col-leagues as a strong reasonfor entering – and stayingin – publishing. 'There issomething uniquely fami-ly-like about our industry,

people tend to stay in theprofessions all their livesbecause they believe sopassionately in what theydo, and you build up net-works and friendships thatlast a lifetime. To me,that's invaluable. I cur-rently work with a fantas-tic, motivated and creativeteam, I couldn't ask formore in a job'.

Since joining V&APublishing, the list hasgrown to approximately30 new titles a year, plusreprints and foreign edi-tions. The programme hasrecently expanded toinclude children's titlesand e-book products. Thebooks regularly feature inthe top 20 of the Amazonbestseller list and UK non-fiction charts and regular-ly win awards for theirdesign and productionexcellence. ‘One of themost enjoyable aspects ofmy job is that you get towork on a wide-reachingrange of subject matterand with experts on theirfield from all over theworld’. Recent projectsinclude China DesignNow, Maharaja: TheSplendour of India’s RoyalCourts and the currentlytouring HollywoodCostume. ‘Working withIndian royalty orHollywood royaltyrequires a great deal ofdiplomacy, a strong intu-

ition and a flexibleapproach. Ultimately, as aproject manager you haveto understand that theartist, photographer orcurator in question is put-ting their life’s work inyour hands. You have tohave their confidence andtrust in you; that you willdeliver the highest qualitybook for them, which canbe the one authoritativepublication that is referredto for years to come’.

In 2010 she won theGold Award for Media Artand Culture, AsianAchievers Awards and wasshortlisted for The Artsand Culture Award for theAsian Women ofAchievement Awards in2011. I asked Anjali whythese were significantachievements: 'I think it isbecause so few Asiansenter the publishing andarts sectors. She explains.'It's no secret that Asiansdo encourage their chil-dren to pursue more tradi-tional professions thatoffer financial security andstability. It's also no secretthat the arts probablydon't offer that in the cur-rent climate!' she laughs.'The current cuts in theArts budgets are unprece-dented and the govern-ment's wilful destructionof public libraries is end-lessly depressing.However, at this time offinancial contraction, thearts will only continue toflourish through diversityand fresh perspectives.The British Asian commu-nity has a great deal tocontribute to the culture,heritage and arts sectorsand I would love to see anew generation of Asianyouth come forward moreconfidently in our academ-ic and artistic institutions.'

Leading LightsRani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Anjali Bulley

Anjali BulleyPassionate about Publishing

At this time offinancial

contraction, thearts will only

continue to flourishthrough diversity

and freshperspectives

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At a Charity Dinner inMumbai on 20th March2013, hosted by theLoomba Foundation toraise funds for improvingthe lot of widows and theirchildren, Lord RajLoomba CBE, along withCherie Blair CBE,President of the LoombaFoundation, called uponthe government of India toset up “Widows HelpCentres” throughPanchayats.

“In my experience,widows in rural India arethe hardest hit. I would,therefore, like to take thisopportunity to call uponthe Government of Indiato set up “Widows HelpCentres” through theMinistry of Panchayati Rajall across the country,”said Lord Loomba.

“At present, widowswho are poor and unedu-cated do not know who toturn to when they are ill-

treated by their families orcommunities," said MrsBlair.

"In case they areabused physically, psycho-logically, raped, or robbedof their possessions,wealth and inheritancethey should be able toreach out for support andhelp to a bona fide localauthority that has thepowers to help them andprovide justice,” she said.

The chief guest at thedinner, Union Minister ofLaw and Justice, AshwaniKumar, who is an Oxfordalumnus himself, acknowl-edged the request of LordLoomba CBE and prom-ised in his speech that hewould strongly recom-mend the Foundation’srequest for setting upWidow Help Centres tothe government of Indiaand will definitely providethe legal framework toactivate these centres.

The Minister admitted,“The government of Indiahas many schemes forwomen in this country,some of them also pertainto widows, but I’m afraidthey’re not enough.”

Loomba Foundationhas been undertaking aseries of initiatives toimprove the lot of widowsin India.

Speaking in Mumbai,Lord Loomba said, “Asyou’re perhaps aware, wid-ows in India live in pathet-ic conditions. Widowhoodin this country bring in anenormous amount of suf-fering - mental, economi-cal and emotional – not tomention the verbal insultsand humiliating tauntsthat they have to live witheach day.

"Through our relentlessefforts, we convinced theUnited Nations to declareJune 23 as InternationalWidows Day."

Lord Loomba calls on the Indian Governmentto set up “Widows Help Centres”

Lord Loomba CBE, Mrs Cherie Blair CBE, and the Honourable Dr Ashwani Kumar, the Union Law Minister

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 201310 Your Voice

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In a rare gesture, China’stop leadership hosted hisdelegation at Great Hallof People and had a freeand frank discussion andexchange of ideas on arange of subjects includ-ing trade, industry, socio-economic development,investment, and prevail-ing global economic sce-nario. Modi emphasizedabout the shared heritageof India and China, andcommon vision forimproved quality of livesof their people.

In his meeting withthe Mr Wang Gang, ViceChairman of the ChinaPeople’s Political

Consultative Conference,(and a member of thepolitburo of CommunistParty of China), Modishowcased Gujarat as adestination with a con-ducive environment toinvest and work. He alsoexplained Gujarat becom-ing a major tourist desti-nation. He brought outthe richness of Buddhistculture in Gujarat whichsolicited very keen inter-est among Chinese leader-ship. He also dwelledupon the ancient Indianand Chinese ethos, rela-tionship, friendship, cul-tural and business ties.

While showcasing

Brand ‘Gujarat’ – which isequated with Guangdongof China, he invitedChinese business commu-nity and public enterpris-es to participate in theVibrant Gujarat GlobalInvestors’ Summit- 2013.

He highlightsGujarat’s special invest-ment regions as areaswhere Chinese companiescould invest. He called onChina to invest in infra-structure and power proj-ects in the state, wooingpotential investors with asales pitch that show-cased Gujarat as a statewith levels of “gover-nance, transparency andstability” that they couldnot find elsewhere inIndia. He declared that“the two great countrieswill make Asia the centre-stage of the global econo-my.”

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The cancellation of 80 flights in the pastcouple of days left thousands of passen-gers in the lurch prompting theDirectorate General of Civil Aviation todemand an explanation from Kingfisher.

The cash-strapped airline claimedthat it had to drop flights as the compa-ny was trying to reconfigure its aircraft.There was chaos at several airports afterpassengers complained that they werenot intimated about the Kingfisher can-cellations.

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��#��&"��""��&��%�"!�*�� !'&�%��"!�A new theory saysthat any physicalactivity for 15 min-utes every day is agood insuranceagainst a plethora ofhealth problems, beit related to theheart, the brain oreven cancer.

A study published inThe Lancet, a Britishmedical journal, saidthat just a quarter-hourof physical exertion aday could reduce a per-son's risk of death by14% and increase lifeexpectancy by threeyears compared to inac-tive people.

Incidentally, anothertheory published in a dif-ferent British journalsaid daily TV-viewing forsix hours could take

away five years fromyour life.

Adding and subtract-ing years from your lifehas never before beenquantified in such med-ical terms, say doctors.The 15-minute short-cutto good health, in fact,changes the most funda-mental rule that wasapproved by the WorldHealth Organization-that 150 minutes ofactivity a week is neededto stay healthy.

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Survival on £53 a Week

Can someone live on £53 a week –the amount given to some benefitclaimants? A Government minsiter hasrecently claimed that one can. Perhapsone can if one was living in the so calledthird world countries like India or Africa,and that too with increasing difficulty.Inthis country, the poor only survive at allby obsessive penny-counting and pricecomparing. The price of our weekly shop-ping is rising in leaps and bounds. Wherewe used to get away with a trolly full ofgroceries from the supermarket in returnfor £50 or £60, we now see hardly anychange from hundred pounds worth ofnotes. A glittering example is the price ofmilk. A carton of milk which used to cost£1.59 not too long ago, has gone up inprice to £1.89!

There is a huge hike in almost allother food prices, and they are rising attheir fastest rate for couple of years. Thereasons are given as global demand fromemerging markets like India and China.The increases have been driven by highincome growth in emerging economies,the relative inelasticity of supply, histori-cally low stock levels and some specula-tive investment. These demands are notmet due to draughts in some parts orfloods in other parts of the food growingregions. On top of the food prices, theprices of utilities like electricity and gaskeep rising every so often.

Dinesh ShethNewbury Park, Ilford

Direct Flights toAhmedabad

Whilst I appreciate the painstaking,vigorous campaign by CB Patel for directflights to Ahmedabad; I wonder as to whyin the first instance, Mr. Praful Patel, thethen Aviation Minister, backed out on hispromise! Narendra Modi is well aware ofthe hardships and inconvenience faced byGujaratis. He immensely values NRI’scontributions to the economy of Gujratin particular and India in general. I amsure he will do everything feasible toaccommodate their needs. Why theauthority are so stubborn? I feel the read-ers/campaigners must know the reason.

Niranjan VasantVia Email

Question on Karma

The Hindu who told Rudy Otter(Letter 6 April 2013) that he never helpspoor people and the views of Mr Roach;are incorrectly expressed. They havefailed to realize that our Karmas areinterrelated by Dharma (meaning dutyperformed with the right actions for thegreater good). A Hindu may possiblycomment that a person suffers because ofhis past actions but he will also knowthat according to their Dharma they musthelp those who suffer. Therefore forsomeone to claim they cannot helpbecause of ‘bad’ karma is a contradictionof Dharma and of misguided intellect.Karma is not punishment or retributionwhich seems to be the understanding ofpeople with half baked knowledge.Karma is the universal principle of causeand effect; action and reaction that gov-ern all life. Poverty does not necessarilymean it was due to your so called ‘bad’karma; since if we look into Hindu histo-ry; some of our greatest Gurus were bornand lived in poverty or chose to live life inpoverty as wondering monks; yet theseGurus are given the highest respect insociety.

Kiran ParmarLeicester

Coverage of India makesAV unique

While I agree with Shri Sheth’ com-ments about the length of letters in lastweek’ AV, I beg to differ about his shortsighted, personal views on coverage ofIndia, Modi, MMS and other Indianpolitical leaders.In common with most subscribers to

AV/GS, I neither read nor watch IndianTV channels. AV/GS provides me, keepsme in touch with my motherland whichmakes my subscription worth ten timesover! AV is an umbilical cord that bindsme with my land of janma (birth) if notkarma. (Deeds)Today world is but a global village.

India, the world’ largest democracy, playsan important role on world stage. Whathappens there affects us all. In last week’AV, India, Gujarat, Modi was practicallyon every page with IPL grabbing topbilling and Scrutator’ is my favourite col-umn. So is Bollywood with younger gen-eration. Without it, AV would be a poorread.I also profoundly disagree with his

blanket statement that some letters are ofpoor quality and only worth skimmingthrough. Let’ not be elitist or holier thanthou. All letters published are thoroughlyscrutinized by efficient, dedicated AVEditorial team. The year 2014 will be the year of gen-

eral election. I am looking forward to AVcoverage of this event in depth, as it didGujarat Assembly election that makes meproud of being associated with AV/GSfor the last 30 years, as admirer, writerand subscriber.

Bhupendra M GandhiVia Email

Public mood is changing

The key issues on which the 2015elections will be lost or won are welfarebenefits, NHS, Half-way house EU mem-bership and Immigration. They are allirrelevant. We have always muddledthrough them. We do not know any bet-ter.Three years ago, I remember Harriet

Harmen coming to my table at a LabourParty dinner after I had responded to aquestion that was raised on the floor.Chuck Umunna was sitting at the nexttable. I did speak at length with him also.I was discussing with her the chronic

UK trade deficit problem for decades. Shesaid my ideas made sense and she wouldask the Labour Party Economic PolicyUnit to contact me. That never happened.The Tory Party has dramatised EU

working time directive of 48 hours perweek, patient treatment short comings in10 out of 400 NHS hospitals and the casewere six children were murdered to swaypublic mood in their favour re welfare,NHS and EU membership reforms. Toryreforms are all dog’s breakfast.Labour Party can turn the table and

beat the Tories at their own game byfighting the next general election on oneissue, repeat one issue only.“If we are elected, we shall recom-

mend joining Euro currency. We have nocomments on any other issue”.They could lose the next general elec-

tion but would win the following five gen-eral elections. Only 18 countries workingas a team using a single currency wouldcreate genuine economic growth.

Nagindas KhajuriaVia Email Sanjay Dutt’s pardon

The bollywood stars and politicianswho are advocating Sanjay Dutt’s pardonfrom jail term accorded by Supremecourt’s verdict on possession of bannedarms are out of their minds. It is an insultto India’s valuable justice system. Hecommitted very serious crime and mustbe punished by laws of the land where helives. If he was worried about his life thenhe should have asked police protection orshould have left the country. In this con-text let me narrate here an example ofIndia’s great leader Late Sardar Patel. Iread a book by Raj Mohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatam Gandhi on Sardar Patel.When Sardar Patel’s elder brother VirViththalbhai Patel (he was the first elect-ed President of India’s LegislativeAssembly) died in Vienna, his body wasbrought to India for funeral in Bombayand at that time Sardar Patel was in jail. To attend his funeral British Raj was

willing to give conditional discharge fromjail which Sardar Patel refused. He toldBritish Raj that if you want to dischargeme then there should be no condition.Where can you find leaders like him intoday’s mother India? Our shameful bol-lywood stars and politicians should learnfrom this shining example of principleshe believed in. Everybody should beequal in the eyes of law-rich & famous orpoor.

Suresh and Bhavna PatelOntario, Canada

Paving the way for today’swomen

For all those who care about drive,determination, patriotism and represen-tation, the passing of Margaret Thatchershould be a moment of great personal sig-nificance. Only a month old whenBritain’s first female Prime Minister leftNumber 10 Downing Street for the lasttime, I have nevertheless been profound-ly influenced by Margaret Thatcher’sPremiership, which built on the sameprinciples as the previous Conservativegovernment led by Ted Heath who grant-ed refuge to my Ba, Dada and Dad onexpulsion from Uganda. Following theexample she set, I found myself, whilst atWarwick University reading Philosophy,Politics and Economics, with the sameambition to truly change the face ofBritish politics.Her breakthrough achievements

ended the dusty orthodoxy of the “male,pale and stale” politicians and lifted thebarriers for people from all walks of life tofollow suit. Lady Thatcher – the grocer’sdaughter who secured a scholarship tostudy at Oxford, balanced her scientificcareer as a Chemist with Law Schoolstudies and, in later life, PrimeMinisterial duties with family life –proved that hard work, and hard workalone, is the key to achieving one’s poten-tial. She personified the concept of an‘aspiration nation’, embracing a charac-teristically Asian attitude.We must not undervalue the impact

she has made on representation in and ofthis country. The Iron Lady defied expec-tations and paved the way for women tohold public posts, much like her formida-ble female counterpart in India, IndiraGandhi. So here’s hoping her legacy lives on,

as we ladies are not for turning either!

Binita MehtaHempstead Road, Watford

Attracting bad Karma

Rudy Otter’s query, whether sufferingis result of previous karma, is praisewor-thy. Those who propound that suffering iscaused by past sins are ignorant, callousand heartless. Philosophy of karma andreincarnation was never meant to hurt, orridicule sufferer. Philosophy is meant tomotivate all to follow path of righteous-ness and to console sufferers with prom-ise that suffering must end in bright /healthy future; tomorrow can beimproved by good actions today.Soul, being imperishable, never suf-

fers. It is perishable physical matter thatsuffers via indulgence bordering onabuse. Soul learns meaning of pleasantand unpleasant processes affecting grossphysical matter passing through variousexperiences between birth and death.Objective of suffering, karma and reincar-nation is for soul to understand variousexperiences via gross material i.e. thebody. Soul reincarnates into new physicalvehicle in order to beget newer experi-ences under different circumstances sur-rounding different physical vehicles.Again, the objective is to refine cir-

cumstances for soul to make a personinto super-person, to god and super God.The process of perfection cannot beachieved in one single incarnation; soulneeds several incarnations in variety ofphysical matter of different densities in

different habitats to mature via good, badand ugly experiences. These are codifiedby soul in dispassionate manner, whereashuman mind labels these as suffering, sinor otherwise.Suffering of body does not stop jour-

ney of soul towards causal roots. It istherefore irrational for anyone to trivi-alise the philosophy and whip sufferers.

Ramesh JhallaVia Email


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Day 2: Start the day with fun inthe snow and ice on Mount Titlis.Board the train from Lucernedirectly to Engelberg and enjoy therelaxing 45min journey to themonastery mountain village. Take aleisurely walk through the base sta-tion of the Mount Titlis beforestarting with the first of three setsof gondolas to the top at 3,020m. Inthe afternoon explore the mountainvillage of Engelberg before return-ing to Lucerne.

Day 3: Today you can take inthe breathtaking views over LakeLucerne from the top of MountRigi. Board the boat from Lucerneacross the lake to Weggis, whereyou then walk through the lakesideresort to the cable car station foryour journey to the top. Enjoy 90square kilometers of scenic land-scape, many vantage points provid-ing superb views as well as spectac-ular sunsets or sunrises. Return bycogwheel train to Arth Goldau andthen by local train back to Lucerne.

Day 4: Depending on yourflight times explore Lucerne and itspicturesque, historic town centrewith its many shops. Transfer byrail in 2nd class to border or depar-ture airport.

WHAT’S INCLUDED:3 nights at the 3* Hotel de la Paixor similar in LucerneDaily breakfast2nd class rail transfersExcursion to Mount Titlis includ-ing Ice FlyerExcursion to Mount Rigi includinglake cruiseDetailed itinerary and time tables,as well as suggestions of Indian orvegetarian restaurantsDaily Departures

SNOW PEAKS OF SWITZER-LAND – 4 Days / 3 Nights

Experience snow and ice on two ofSwitzerland’s highest mountainpeaks; Enjoy two famous Swissresorts – Lucerne and Interlaken;Relax surrounded by spectacularmountain backdrops.

THE ITINERARYDay 1: Transfer by rail in 2nd

class from border or arrival airportto Lucerne. Depending on yourarrival time there maybe some freetime in Lucerne. Overnight at the3* Hotel de la Paix including break-fast.

Day 2: Start the day with fun inthe snow and ice on Mount Titlis.Board the train from Lucernedirectly to Engelberg and enjoy therelaxing 45min journey to themonastery mountain village. Take aleisurely walk through the base sta-tion of the Mount Titlis beforestarting with the first of three setsof gondolas to the top at 3,020m. Inthe afternoon explore the mountainvillage of Engelberg before board-ing the train to Hergiswil whereyou change for the direct connec-tion to Interlaken. Your accommo-dation for the next two nights is the3* Hotel City Oberland, Interlakenincluding breakfast.

Day 3: Enjoy a spectacularexcursion to Jungfraujoch – thehighest railway station in Europe at3,454m. Visit the Ice Palace – aunique world of shimmering ice,fantastic views of the Aletsch gla-cier from the Sphinx platform, andhave some fun and games in thesnow.

Day 4: Depending on yourflight times explore Interlaken andits lakes or visit some of the tradi-tional shops. Transfer by rail in 2ndclass to border or departure airport.

WHAT’S INCLUDED:1 night at the 3* Hotel de la Paix orsimilar in Lucerne and 2 nights atthe 3* Hotel City Oberland or sim-ilar in Interlaken Daily breakfast2nd class rail transfersExcursion to Mount TitlisExcursion to JungfraujochDetailed itinerary and time tables,as well as suggestions of Indian orvegetarian restaurantsDaily Departures

SWISS DREAMS

International students willbe permitted to enter theUK to study at LondonMetropolitan University(London Met) fromTuesday 9 April 2013. Thisdecision follows theremoval of the university’ssponsor licence in August2012. A series of inspec-tions carried out by theHome Office in the last sixmonths have demonstratedthat the university hasmade the necessaryimprovements to its sys-tems and administration.The university now meetsthe requirements neededto sponsor internationalstudents from outside theEuropean Economic Area(EEA).In line with Home

Office policy, the universi-ty will now be subject to 12months probation in orderto build a track record ofcompliance with the rulesfor sponsoring students tostudy in the UK. Duringthis period there will alsobe a limit on the number ofinternational students theuniversity can enrol.Immigration Minister

Mark Harper said: “It is inthe interest of internation-al students that all institu-tions take their immigra-tion responsibilities seri-ously and demonstratethat they comply with therules. This is exactly whythe sponsorship systemwas set up.“We have worked

closely with universitystaff to ensure that LondonMet standards wereimproved. As a result theuniversity now meets therequired standards and weare able to grant a licence.“We will continue to

welcome the brightest and

best students to our world-class universities.”The Home Office will

shortly be launching a ded-icated UniversityAssurance Team whichwill undertake all futureuniversity audits. We alsocontinue to run our pilot ofthe Account ManagementService for universities.This provides each univer-sity with a dedicatedaccount manager to sup-port them with any queriesrelating to their sponsorlicence.

Rt Hon Keith Vaz MPsaid, “Today’s decisionshows that the hasty ver-dict by the UKBA torevoke the licence at thestart of the new academicyear in September, whichleft thousands of genuinestudents, including around350 Indian students, inlimbo and at risk of depor-tation, was the wrongchoice.It was poorly handled

and has irreparably dam-aged the UK’s reputationabroad as the destinationof choice for overseas stu-dents.While it is right to tack-

le bogus students, to avoidthis farcical situation infuture, the Home Officemust take up theCommittee’s recommenda-tion that if an institutionperforms poorly in aninspection they shouldsend in a task force toimprove its procedures.The Home Office must

also be fully transparentabout the number ofLondon Met studentsdeported or those whohave left voluntarily. Nodoubt they will be issuingan apology to the universi-ty.”

London Metropolitan Universityregranted license to sponsor

international students

Savita Halappanavar, adentist who was originallyfrom India, died after amiscarriage at UniversityHospital Galway inIreland.The inquest into the

death of SavitaHalappanavar has heardevidence about her firstday in hospital and conver-sations she had with a mid-wife on Monday, the BBCreported.

Two friends of MrsHalappanavar who hadvisited her in hospital havebeen describing their con-versations.One of them, Mrudula

Vasepalli, was with her onthe morning of 23October.She told theinquest that when arequest for a terminationof pregnancy was made, amidwife said: "We don't dothat here dear, it's a

Catholic thing."During lengthy cross

examination by DeclanBuckley, acting on behalfof the hospital and its staff,Ms Vasepalli was adamantthat this was what she hadheard. Mr Buckley saidthere was no record of sucha conversation in any med-ical notes. Earlier, CoronerDr Ciaran McLoughlinhad asked legal representa-tives for the hospital if the

midwife can be identified.Mr Buckley told the coro-ner it was difficult to becertain who the woman inquestion was as there wereseveral midwives on dutyat the time.The inquest was told

both nurses have madestatements but were notlisted as witnesses. Thecoroner has requested thatthey give evidence for thesake of completeness.

Savita Halappanavar inquest hears midwives' evidence

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 13th april 201312 Media Watch

Boy soldiers

Attention, recently, at home andabroad has been drawn to thedeath of Balachandran, theLTTE leader VellupillaiPrabhakaran’s 12 year-old son,during the final stages of thecivil war, killed allegedly by SriLankan soldiers. The respectedTamil journalist P.Jayaram, in ascorching piece in the Chennai-based Hindu newspaper (April3) reminded his readers of “Themany Balachandrans ofJaffna’’,” a clear reference to theboy soldiers forcibly drafted intoLTTE ranks by a cynical andpitiless leadership: innocentsreduced to cannon fodder, withas strong a claim as any to ourcollective memory.

Indian aid projects

Despite voting against Sri Lankaat the United Nations, mostmega Indian projects for therelief and rehabilitation of theTamil population in Jaffna areproceeding ahead of schedule.India and Sri Lanka are prepar-ing to reopen theirComprehensive EconomicPartnership Agreement to givebilateral trade a further impetus,according to the Ministry ofExternal Affairs in New Delhi,whose spokesman gave detailsof 50,000 houses being built fordisplaced persons, one of India’slargest foreign projects.Two rail lines, also in various

stages of construction, proceed-ing ahead of time, are based onan Indian line of credit worth$800 million (Hindu April 4).The DMK and ruling

AIDMK, competitors in incendi-ary rhetoric, would do well totake a lesson from such con-structive activities and indulgein reasoned speech for a change.

Hall of Famefor U.R.Rao

Professor U.R. Rao, who headedthe Indian Space ResearchOrganization (ISRO) from1984-94 has become the firstIndian to be inducted into theprestigious Satellite Hall ofFame in Washington, thus join-ing an elite list of 50 other spacescientists who have been con-ferred with this honour. The cer-emony, organized by theSatellite Professionals, tookplace recently in the US capitalwith 1,000 space scientists,industry leaders and administra-tors present at the glitteringevent.

Dr Rao was Secretary,Department of Space and ISROchairman for ten critical yearsas the country’s space pro-gramme flowered and took firmroot. The citation said Dr Rao

“contributed to the developmentof space technology in India andits extensive application to com-munication and remote sensingof natural resources. More thanany other single individual,Professor Rao is responsible isfor the creation of India’s spaceand satellite capabilities and

their applications to the nation’sdevelopment” (Hindu March29).

India’s vast gains

India has made vast economicgains, worth thousands of croresof rupees from remote sensing,according to Earth SciencesDepartment Secretary ShaileshNayek. Citing a recent report bythe National Council of AppliedEconomic Research, Dr Nayaksaid applications based on Earthimageries taken from remotesensing satellites improved farmand fishing productivity andsaved hundreds of lives fromcyclones. Public and private sector

agencies last year used 70,000remote sensing data maps,assess mining areas and plannedurban infrastructure. ISROplans to launch its first regionalnavigational satellite IRNSS-1in June, said current ChairmanK.Radhakrishnan (Hindu March17).

PM’s optimismon economy

Addressing a meeting of theConfederation of IndianIndustry (CII), Prime MinisterManmohan Singh appealed toindustry leaders to keep faithwith the country’s economy.There was excessive media nega-tivism on the subject, he said,which didn’t take sufficientaccount of the government’sreform measures to restore thehigh growth of previous years.Dr Singh admitted that corrup-tion, bureaucratic inertia andslow implementation of projects,together with the difficulties ofmanaging a coalition wereimpediments, but these werebeing tackled, he claimed.Bajaj Auto CEO Rahul Bajaj

said that these ills, which hadexisted in the past, had notstymied economic growth, hencethe causes of the present slow-down required deeper investiga-tion (Hindu. Times of India,Telegraph April 3).

Honda unfazed

Even as most carmakers wereclosing down factories and rein-ing in output, Japanese majorHonda Cars India Ltdannounced an investment of Rs20,000 crore to commence oper-ations at its second plant atTapukara in Rajasthan.The annual capacity of

120,000 units for the Honda lineof diesel cars will be launched bythe time this report appears.Four more models – a diesel vari-ant of its best-selling Sedan City,premium car Jazz and a compactutility vehicle – are expected toroll off the production lines dur-ing the next eight years. Hondais ready for business in India in abig way (Hindustan Times April3).

Google bets on India

Google’s Executive ChairmanEric Schmidt said he preferredto bet long-term on India. Asked“India or China” by AlanRusbridger, Editor of theGuardian, in a public conversa-tion in New Delhi on the social

and economic impact of theInternet, Mr Schmidt replied,“China gets all the attention(but) math favours India and Iam a mathematician.”

According to Google’s esti-mates, around 5 billion peopleworldwide were set to gainaccess to the Internet, and (hesaid) “… a majority of thiswould come from India.” Hesaid Indians who were hoppingon the mobile Internet trainwould access web-based educa-tion, medical and banking serv-ices. He suggested that Indiashould go in for fibre optics todramatically increase the pene-tration of broadband access(Mint March 22).

Pitroda’s message

India needs to invest $20 billionto computerize all governmentdepartments and records so thatinformation was available up topanchayat level, said SamPitroda, Chairman, NationalInformation Council. Mr Pitrodapioneered India’s telecom revo-lution in the eighties.“We have today some 10,000

people working government onall these applications. If you putall these pieces together, the net-works platforms, applications,(then) we believe the govern-ment of India will wind upspending about $20 billion,”said Mr Pitroda, who is also thePrime Minister’s Adviser oninformation infrastructure andinnovation (Mint March 22).

India, Israel FTA close

The India-Israel free trade agree-ment (FTA) which has beenunder negotiation for the pasttwo years appears to be drawingto a successful close, accordingto a Business Line report. Themain hurdles have been sur-mounted, with the fine print ofthe text proceeding to full signa-ture expected by the middle ofthe year.The Israel Minister and

Deputy Chief of Mission in New

Delhi, Yahel Vilon, said that, fol-lowing the FTA, bilateral tradewith India would grow exponen-tially from the present $5 billionto a massive $15 billion over thenext decade. He said the India-Israel Action Plan onAgricultural Cooperation, athree-year project for farm devel-opment in India through Israelitechnological transfer, coveredeight states including TamilNadu, Karnataka, AndhraPradesh, Bihar, Haryana,Maharashtra, Gujarat andRajasthan. Under the project, 30centres of excellence would beset up throughout India by 2015for fruits and vegetables, he said.In one Haryana district thetomato yield had jumped from14 tonnes per hectare to 100tonnes per hectare. The futurefor Indo-Israel trade and devel-opment in all spheres is brightand secure. There is no limit toits potential.

Army’s sight in the dark

The Indian Army’s night-fight-ing capability received a majorboost with the DefenceAcquisition Council’s decisionto induct thermal imaging sightsfor its main battle tanks andinfantry combat vehicles worthRs 1,000 crore. A further Rs 960crore worth day-night sights forthe Army’s advanced Russian-built T-90 tanks has alsoreceived official approval.The Army is also undertak-

ing an ambitious upgrade of itsentire fleet of infantry combatvehicles at a cost of Rs 850 crore(Times of India April 3).

Adani Power compensated

The Central ElectricityRegulatory Commission (CERC)has “granted a compensationpackage” to Adani Power for itsMundra power project. This isperceived as a breath of fresh airfor the ailing power sector, ameasure calculated to injectdynamism into long dormantultra-mega projects. In its order on the petition

filed by Adani Power for its1,980 MW project, the CERCsaid: “In the present case, theescalation in price of importedcoal on account of Indonesianregulation and non-availabilityof adequate fuel linkage fromstate-run Coal India Limited forthe project of the petitioner is atemporary phenomenon, and islikely to be stabilized after sometime. Therefore the petitionerneeds to be compensated for theintervening period with a com-pensation package….” (HinduApril 4).

Dr U.R Rao

Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt

Alan Rusbridger

The Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced with the cus-tomary fizz, with the Sri Lankan cricketers welcomed wherev-er they’ve played. Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayewardeneand Angelo Matthews, outstanding players all, captain theirteams. Whatever the differences between the Sri Lankan gov-ernment and the international community, the country is a par-liamentary democracy governed, warts and all, by the rule oflaw.

Tamil Nadu politicians seek to gain local mileage with theirdemagogic posturings, while in Sri Lanka, Sinhalese xeno-phobes, spearheaded by the Buddhist clergy, are doing like-wise. Mixing religion with politics defiles the former anddegrades the latter. The late S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike a goodhalf century and more, ago rode a tiger and was unable to dis-mount, being assassinated by a Buddhist monk for not beingmilitant and exclusivist enough with the minority Tamil popu-lation.

Sri Lankan cricketers, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene & Angelo Matthews


Baroness Thatcher is no more but her legacy will remain for-ever. We owe her an immense debt of gratitude.First, she became the first woman Prime Minister in Britain

by defying gravity. Many pundits had predicted Britain was notready for a woman Prime Minister.She was no ordinary woman or Prime Minster. She was

unique in her resolve and determination for Britain. She wasrightly called the Iron Lady as she stood for no nonsense and

stayed on her course. For her the interests of Britain always came first and everytime. As a result, she fought for Britain’s interest in Europe and beyond and suc-ceeded.She stood for the rights of the people of the Falkland Islands when many in her

position would have capitulated to the Argentinean dictator, but not her. Herresolve brought her admiration from every corner of the world. Many great leadersemulated her and her economic policies became known as Thatcherism. It was dueto her economic policies that turned Britain from a sick man of Europe to the mostprosperous country in Europe. She took on the might of the Trade Unions whenmany before her had appeased them with dire consequences for the nation, espe-cially the ordinary people. It was the ordinary people who helped her win electionsthree times in a row as they could see she was good for everyone.I recall inviting people for a job interview to be told that they were better off not

working. This was the state of the nation when Baroness Thatcher came to power.Her policy of selling council houses made many successful entrepreneurs as theycould raise money against the property they bought. She was a visionary whobelieved in human nature and wanted responsibilities shifted from the state to theindividual. The effects of her legacy are being felt even today and I dare say will befelt for ever. Britain has changed for good thanks to Baroness Thatcher. The worldhas become a poorer place today with the loss of a leader who had qualities whichwill remain unparalleled.

Dr Rami Ranger MBECo Founder,The British Asian Conservative Link

Tribute by Asian Peers, MPs & Community leaders

Lady Thatcher was and will forever remain aninspirational and pioneering leader who helped tosave this great country. For the past thirty years shehas been the defining figure of British politics – ourgreatest peace-time Prime Minister - and the leaderwho all modern politicians are now compared to.She cared very deeply about her constituents in

Finchley and was a great friend of the British Indiancommunity. She played a pivotal role in establishthe Anglo-Asian Conservative Forum in Barnet andshe was always very willing to do events with theBritish Indian community. I was very fortunate tohave the opportunity to work with her on a number of occasions and she was alwaysvery kind and had a great personality.As a small business owner at the time, her premiership helped to reshape the

British economy and give so many entrepreneurs a chance to grow their firms andhelp the economy. Her lasting legacy for millions and many British Indians acrossBritain will be home-ownership; a chance to become a property owner and invest intheir family’s future. We owe our first female Prime Minister so much for helping tobuild a country that gave people opportunities and challenged the decline we hadfaced in the late 1970s. Lady Thatcher built so many of the elements that make mod-ern Britain so great; we may have lost a great woman, but her legacy will outlive usall.

- Lord Dolar Popat

Margaret Thatcher was a colossus on the worldstage. She became Prime Minister at a time whenBritain’s international standing was at a low ebband by sheer force of personality she draggedBritain up from its knees and made it a world poweragain.She took on the might of the Unions, rescued

the country’s economy and always put Britain firstin all her dealings.

On a personal note, it was a privilege to have known her and I will never forgetthe day when she campaigned for me in Northampton, in the 2001 GeneralElection.The world’s media were in attendance on that day and she brought the town to

a standstill. She had not lost her charm. Not a bit of it.Margaret Thatcher has left a very firm imprint in the history books. She was a

truly remarkable woman.

- Shailesh Vara MP

Baroness Thatcher was an inspirational leader who dedi-cated herself to the service of this country. She was a princi-pled politician whose many achievements are unprecedented.At home and abroad, Baroness Thatcher stood up for freedomand democracy, and she will be fondly remembered.Her robust approach to foreign policy and defending the

British interest ended the cold war, led to the liberation of theFalkland Islands and won Britain the rebate from Europe.Baroness Thatcher successfully restored Britain’s status in theworld, which had diminished following the Second World War and the economictroubles of the 1970s.Here in Britain the lives of millions of families were transformed for the better

as Baroness Thatcher’s government empowered people to own their own homes forthe first time. She also reformed the economy so that a new generation of entre-preneurs could start up their own businesses and become wealth creators.Baroness Thatcher’s recognized that this country and our economy perform at

its best when politicians free people from the shackles of the state and trust themto take control of their own lives. Her legacy can be found all around us in the free-doms we enjoy today and the strength of Britain in the world.My heartfelt condolences and thoughts are with the Thatcher family today and

she will be missed in Britain and throughout the world.

- Priti Patel MP

FAREWELL MARGARET THATCHERContinued from page 1 Thatcher did not want

government expenditureto be funnelled this way,showing a strong sense ofcivil duty and economicsageness even with herpassing.She will still be accord-

ed the same level of his-toric importance, with theceremonial consent andattendance of the Queen.Cameron also cut short histrip to Europe to fly backand call a special sessionof Parliament onWednesday 10 April, tocommemorate 'greatBriton' Margaret Thatcher,and precede the funeralceremony. Together withDowning Street,Buckingham Palace, theHouse of Commons andUK embassies around theworld lowered their flagsto half mast. They will beat half-mast again onWednesday 17 April whenthey will be lowered atsunrise and raised again atsunset (0800 – 2000).Books of condolence

have been opened at theGrantham Museum andFinchley & GoldersConservatives. They areopen daily and both ven-ues are looking at keepingthem open over the week-end. A book of condolencewill be opened in centralLondon and UKembassies around theworld will also open booksof condolence.The public too has

shown a gushing displayof affection and admira-tion. Soon after theannouncement of herdeath floral tributes andmessages in their hun-dreds have been left out-side the Baroness' home.

Margaret Thatcher'sMemory

Thatcher is both praisedand criticised in Britain.Although she is seen tohave carried the countryout of an economic slump,she did make some verycut-throat decisions in theprocess; a stern ideologuebut also admirably practi-cal. Holding her own asSecretary of State forEducation and Scienceduring Heath's govern-ment through the 70s, sheran confidently for officeand carried out importantdecisive reforms thatshocked even her ownparty members. Whilecampaigning for a free-market state where thereis less government inter-ference and more privati-sation, quelling tradeunion movements and thepolitical autonomy ofmany working-class peo-ple, she also saw theimportance of loweringtax for the community inthe long run- 'Poll tax'.This was a fiscal legacykept by John Major andadopted by the NewLabour government. Atthe time of the Falklandsdispute, there was alsocontroversy. Some maysee Thatcher as someonewho showed the necessary

level-headedness, strategyand bravado during atense time of home-ground and world politicswhere her political andmilitary conduct wouldhave severe repercussionson her position as leader,plans to financially revivesociety and show asser-tion in the cold war.Indeed it did lead to herre-election, the party's sec-ond victory and murmursin Eastern and centralEurope. However, sheincreased time and spend-ing on defence and foreignpolicy at a time whentaxes had only been low-ered for the higher rung ofthe English public. Thereis still debate aboutwhether her tactics paidoff, or were just theactions of an 'iron lady'who had got a taste ofpower.

Thatcher, India andIndira Gandhi

Baroness Thatcher hadcommented favourablyupon Indian politics onthe late and current PrimeMinisters Rajiv Gandhiand Manmohan Singh'sdecisions about economyand the direction of busi-nesses in India, following

their move to the moreunregulated capitalistapproach "Since 1991, thepolicies of Prime MinisterRao and Finance MinisterSingh (now prime minis-ter) have ‘courageously’

set about transformingIndia's economy by sweep-ing away many of theobstacles to economicadvance.They have tackled an

enormous problem. Theold bureaucratic system ofindustrial licensing haslargely been dismantled.Customs duties have beenreduced. Foreign exchangecontrols have beenrelaxed. Financial servicesare being opened up. Thetaxes on foreign compa-nies have been cut."Although she did not

approve of Indira Gandhi'smore socialist principles,she has also belied anaffectionate affinity for theIndia Congress Partyleader; for her stringentapproach to bureaucraticthinking and actions, sym-pathising with her for rul-ing a country as vast asIndia, and their commonstruggle as ambitious anddriven women of theirtimes. Thatcher attendedher funeral in Teen MurtiBhavan India, after theassassination of theIndian Prime Minister byher Sikh bodyguards onOctober 31 1984 and dis-paraged members of theBritish Sikh community

who were celebrating this.Laying a wreath on thebody of the 67-year oldGandhi she stated “I willmiss Mrs Indira Gandhivery much indeed”.

Margaret Thatcher (left) with Indira Gandhi in the UK in 1982

Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi with former British primeminister Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher with the then External Affair MinisterPranab Mukherjee at South Block in New Delhi



Do you think you couldsave a life? Try savingAneesa’s. Aneesa is an 18 year

old bright, bubbly Asiangirl from Birmingham whoenjoys seeing her friendsand spending time withher family. But unlikemost other 18 year oldgirls, Aneesa has a seriousblood disorder calledaplastic anaemia. This blood disorder

affects her daily life and isso severe that her onlychance of a cure is a bonemarrow transplant froman Asian person. Despitea worldwide search, nosuitable donor for Aneesahas been found. Annesa is not the only

person who needs a bonemarrow transplant. Thereare currently 1,700 peoplein the UK waiting for asuitable donor and due tothe lack of donors on theregister, people die waitingfor a match.Her father, Manzoor,

said, “Aneesa, my 18 yearold daughter, needs a bonemarrow transplant to saveher life. Things don't getmuch more difficult thanthis. Asians have a repu-

tation for having largecommunity networks andit’s at times of difficultiesthat we need to get togeth-er and encourage as manyof us as possible to jointhe Anthony Nolan regis-ter.”A patient from white

Northern European back-ground has a 90% chanceof finding a suitable donor.However, these odds fallto just 40% for someonefrom an Asian back-ground.This is why blood can-

cer charity Anthony Nolanruns a register to matchpeople in desperate needof a bone marrow trans-plant to potential donors.Anthony Nolan haslaunched a campaign to“Reach the Six Percent” ofBritain who are Asian.National Hindu Students’Forum (UK) (NHSF(UK)) is supporting thiscampaign to increase theawareness of this issueamongst the British Asianpopulation, and encouragemore Asian donors ontothe register. NHSF (UK) has

teamed up with AnthonyNolan and local student

Marrow groups to recruitmore Asian people to thebone marrow register. Sofar, they have signed uphundreds of potentialdonors at sports competi-tions, conferences, reli-gious events and even instudent unions! But it is not enough.

Now NHSF (UK) wantsto encourage even morepeople to sign up!You can help by joining

the bone marrow register.If you are between 16 and30 and are fit and healthy,join the register now.Joining the registerinvolves providing a salivasample and in 90% ofcases, bone marrow dona-tion is a similar procedureto giving blood. To have the chance to

save the life of someonelike Aneesa, please givesome thought to joiningthe bone marrow registertoday.

To sign up to the regis-ter, and find out moreabout the donationprocess, visit www.antho-nynolan.org. [email protected] more information.

By Amar Jethi, Public Relations Officer

National Hindu Students Forum (UK)

Bone Marrow Appeal

The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death ofBaroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private mes-sage of sympathy to the family.

Buckingham Palace on behalf of the Queen

We have lost a great Prime Minister,a great leader and a great Briton. Shedidn’t just lead our country, she savedour country, and I believe she will godown as the greatest British peacetimePrime Minister.

We have lost a great Prime Minister, a great leader and agreat Briton. She didn’t just lead our country, she saved ourcountry, and I believe she will go down as the greatest Britishpeacetime Prime Minister.Margaret Thatcher took a country that was on its knees

and made Britain stand tall again...But if there is one thing that cuts through all of this, that

runs through everything she did, it was her lion-hearted love for this country.She was the patriot Prime Minister and she fought for Britain’s interests every

single step of the way. Her impact here and abroad is still remarkable. When people said Britain could

not be great again, she proved them wrong. Margaret Thatcher loved this countryand served it with all she had...

(extract)- Prime Minister David Cameron

10 Downing Street

Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in mod-ern British politics. Whatever side of the political debate youstand on, no one can deny that as prime minister she left aunique and lasting imprint on the country she served.She may have divided opinion during her time in politics

but everyone will be united today in acknowledging thestrength of her personality and the radicalism of her politics.My thoughts are with her family and friends.

Deputy PM Nick Clegg

I send my deep condolences to Lady Thatcher's family, inparticular Mark and Carol Thatcher.She will be remembered as a unique figure. She reshaped

the politics of a whole generation. She was Britain's firstwoman Prime Minister. She moved the centre ground of Britishpolitics and was a huge figure on the world stage.The Labour Party disagreed with much of what she did and

she will always remain a controversial figure. But we can dis-agree and also greatly respect her political achievements andher personal strength.She also defined the politics of the 1980s. David Cameron,

Nick Clegg and I all grew up in a politics shaped by LadyThatcher. We took different paths but with her as the crucial figure of that era.

Continued from page 13

Other Reactions toThatcher's DeathWith a legacy that does

produce such a large plat-form for debate, inflamma-tory responses are to beexpected but not necessar-ily condoned. British ex-miners celebrated inplaces such as Yorkshirechanting 'the witch isdead', while riotous streetparties broke out inBrixton and Bristol wherelooting began, and sixpoliceman were injured.Strong nationalist reac-tions included that of Irishcricketer John Mooneywho tweeted that hehoped her death 'had beenslow and painful' thoughhe has now retracted thisstatement. Thatcher isremembered critically inIreland by bothRepublicans for her tough-

line approach to the IRA-letting protesters starveand opening fire- and byUnionists for her stale-mate actions in the peaceagreement, signing theAnglo-Irish Agreement1985 that protected theright of the Irish Republicto a role in the affairs ofNorthern Ireland. The

political divisiveness iscontinued with the refusalof some members of par-liament to return for a spe-cial debate that was heldat Westminster on Tues9th April. Labour MPRonnie Campbell, a for-mer miner, stated “I havegot better things to do inthe office here”.

Riotous street party in Brixton to celebrate Baroness Thatcher’s death

Asian Voice Publisher/Editor CB Patel with wife PuspaPatel discussing PM’s immigration and nationality bills on

eve of PM’s departure to India

She coped with her final, difficult years with dignity and courage. Critics andsupporters will remember her in her prime.

Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Opposition

Very sad to hear of death of Baroness Thatcher. Her memorywill live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today'spolitics.

(twitter)Boris Johnson, Mayor of London

As a grocer's daughter who rose to becomeBritain's first female prime minister, she stands as an example toour daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can't be shattered.As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride

that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best. And as anunapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew thatwith strength and resolve we could win the cold war and extendfreedom's promise.

US President Barack Obama

I express my deepest sadness on the passing away of formerBritish Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher.She was a transformative figure under whom the United

Kingdom registered important progress on the national and inter-national arena.People of India join me in sending our sincerest condolences

to the Thatcher family, the Government and people of the UnitedKingdom.

(on twitter)Dr Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

I am deeply saddened to know about the passing away of LadyMargaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister and a legendaryfigure in world politics.She is widely known as 'Iron Lady' as a mark of her uncompro-

mising politics and leadership style. She fought hard for the com-mon people to give them due recognition and position in the soci-ety…

(Facebook wall)- Mamata Banerjee

Chief Minister, West BengalOthers:While expressing condolences over the death of Britain's first woman Prime

Minister Margaret Thatcher, Indian politicians remembered the Iron Lady as aninspiring world leader. Hailing Thatcher's complete personality as a World leader,Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid spelt all praises for her ideology, which madeGreat Britain a successful country. Admiring Thatcher in the same tone, TelecomMinister Kapil Sibal became nostalgic while remembering the late British PrimeMinister, terming her leadership as inspiring.

Tribute to Baroness Thatcher by UK & World Leaders

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 13th April 2013 15Education/council Voice

The Tagore Centre forGlobal Thought has beenofficially inaugurated atKing’s College London, ina ceremony attended bySmt. Chandresh KumariKatoch, HonourableMinister of Culture,Government of India, andDr Virander K Paul,Deputy HighCommissioner of India inLondon.

The Centre, housed inthe prestigious King’sIndia Institute, has beenestablished to engageaudiences with India’sintellectual traditionswhilst addressing a num-ber of contemporary glob-al questions and dilem-mas. The Centre wasfounded in partnershipwith the Ministry ofCulture, Government ofIndia as part of celebra-tions to mark the 150thanniversary of Tagore’sbirth, taking inspirationfrom his work to enhanceacademic, intellectual andphilosophical work global-ly.

Rabindranath Tagore(1861-1941) was aBengali poet, writer andmusician who became thefirst non-European to winthe Nobel Prize forLiterature one hundredyears ago in 1913. Hebecame famous for intro-ducing Indian poetry, liter-ature and culture to theWest and is thought tohave influenced a numberof 20th century writersand philosophers.

The Tagore Centre atKing’s will provide twoPhD scholarships for stu-dents from India over thenext three years. It willhost a series of public lec-tures, discussions and filmscreenings based onTagore’s writing and anumber of high-profileTagore Fellows, the first ofwhich is GopalkrishnaGandhi – formerGovernor of West Bengaland grandson of MahatmaGandhi.

The Tagore Centre isexpected to become avibrant intellectual hub inthe field of arts and cul-ture and build on King’s

extensive cultural links inthe capital and beyond. Itwill not only promote andsupport research studiesinspired by Tagore’s workin art, music, educationand traditional literature,but focus on studies ofIndian intellectual tradi-tions in global perspective.

Speaking at the launchevent in London, Smt.Chandresh KumariKatoch, HonourableMinister of Culture,Government of India said:‘I’m delighted to officiallyinaugurate The TagoreCentre of Global Thoughtat King’s College London.This Centre has beenestablished in honour ofthe life of our great poet-philosopher GurudevRabindranath Tagore, as akey part of theGovernment of India’scommemoration of the150th anniversary of hisbirth in 1861.

‘Tagore was a greaticon – he changed themindset of India. He was agreat educationalist andencouraged the people ofIndia to educate their chil-dren and bring them for-ward. This year also marksone hundred years sinceTagore received the NobelPrize in 1913, an impor-tant milestone in the cele-bration of his remarkableand cosmopolitan life.

‘Inspired as it is byTagore’s thought, theCentre will of courserange much more widelyacross India’s intellectualtraditions and debates,bringing them into con-nection with global dis-cussions and spreading hisideology all around theworld. In this regard, therecould be no better place tolocate such a centre thanat King’s India Institute. Ilook forward to the Centrebecoming an internationalhub for engaging India’sintellectual traditions withglobal debate and encour-aging new ideas to flour-ish.’

Professor SunilKhilnani, AvanthaProfessor and Director ofthe King’s India Institute,said: ‘Throughout his life,

Tagore strove to find a lan-guage that allowed Indianphilosophy and culture tospeak to the rest of theworld. The Tagore Centrefor Global Thought willact as a focal point forexploring the global impli-cations of modern India'sintellectual traditions andhighlight the ways inwhich Indian and SouthAsian ideas have longplayed an important rolein global intellectual life.

‘We aim to further thespirit of Tagore's insightsacross the world in orderto prompt new ideas andconversations, and bringthem into dialogue withcontemporary global ques-tions – about education,development and society,cultural diversity andhuman freedom.’

King’s has a long tradi-tion of excellent relationswith India, and a strongcommitment to encourageall its students to broadentheir horizons through aninternational education.

King’s India Institute,which was opened in 2012by UK Foreign SecretaryWilliam Hague MP, israpidly becoming a world-leading institution forglobal engagement withcontemporary India. TheInstitute forms a core partof the university’s strategyto build global partner-ships with cultural andresearch organizations,encourage collaborationand exchange of staff andstudents.

Students at King’sIndia Institute are able totake advantage of closerelationships with univer-sities, government andbusinesses in India, suchas an exchange schemewith Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) in Delhi,one of King’s internationalstrategic partners.

The Institute is one ofa network of GlobalInstitutes at King’s focus-ing on emerging and influ-ential world powers, withexperts covering a widerange of disciplines fromsocial sciences, policy, law,security studies, scienceand health.

Big-Band Jazz is comingback to Loughborough instyle on Wednesday April17th when the NationalYouth Jazz Orchestramakes a very welcomereturn to the University'sCope Auditorium.

NYJO is renownedthroughout the world as ashowcase for the country'sbest young musicians.Since its formation in1965, most of the risinggeneration of jazz musi-cians have passed throughthe orchestra's ranks,often becoming estab-lished jazz stars whilststill playing with NYJO.One of NYJO's aims is toshare the talents of theseexciting young playerswith as wide an audienceas possible.

NYJO features 23highly talented youngartists from all overBritain. Past membersinclude Guy Barker, MarkNightingale, Gerard

Presencer, Pete Long,Dennis Rollins, WinstonRollins and the much-missed Amy Winehouse.Members are encouragedto write their ownarrangements and compo-sitions, thereby creating adiverse repertoire to drawfrom in addition to classicbig-band standards.

All this leads NYJO tobe recognised as a world-class jazz orchestra. AsJohn Dankworth said,

"Forget the word youth,this is one of the bestbands you will ever hear”.

The National YouthJazz Orchestra can beheard at CopeA u d i t o r i u m ,Loughborough Universityon Wednesday April 17thThe show begins at7.30pm and tickets areavailable now from theLoughborough StudentsUnion at http://www.luf-bra.net/concerts.

A delegation from the University ofWolverhampton travelled to India,Bangladesh and Nepal to raise the pro-file of the University, city and BlackCountry region. The trip is led by theUniversity’s Chancellor, the Rt HonLord Paul of Marylebone PC and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Geoff Layer.

It involved meeting with educationproviders, representatives ofGovernment, business and investmentbodies and Alumni of the University.

In India the delegation visited Delhi,where the University’s South East AsiaRegional Office is based.

The trip included a visit to a localschool, meetings with UKTI (UK Tradeand Investment) and an event hosted bythe British Council in Delhi celebratingthe links between Wolverhampton andIndia.

In Bangladesh meetings were heldwith Government officials, the BritishCouncil and the Federal Chamber ofCommerce in Dhaka. An event was alsoheld for University of WolverhamptonAlumni and senior civil servants whotook part in a training programme todeliver government reforms.

The last leg took place in Nepal andinvolved a visit to KathmanduUniversity and the British Council andculminated with an event celebrating 30years of the University’s Centre forInternational Development Training(CIDT) in the country.

Vice-Chancellor of the University,Professor Geoff Layer said: “We are theUniversity of the Black Country but it isalso important that we have an outlookas a global University.

“Just looking at our India connec-tions we have more than 2,000 gradu-ates from India alone and they add tothe rich cultural mix and economy ofour region when are with us.

“Some of our esteemed honorarygraduates include the current president,the Honourable Shri PranabMukherjee.

“Education can change and improvepeople’s lives and we think it is vitalthat we seek to work with partnersaround the world to share knowledge,best practice and build a culture of life-long learning.”

The trip took place between 6 Apriland 13 April 2013.

Tagore Centre for GlobalThought opens at King’sIndia Institute in London

Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Honourable Minister of Culture, Government of India,speaking at the inauguration event

University of Wolverhampton onIndian Sub-Continent Mission

National Youth Jazz Orchestra toperform at Loughborough University

Cultural arts festival UnderOne Sky will make a wel-come return over the sum-mer with this year’sGlastonbury act SkaCubano headlining themain stage. Organised byHarrow Council, the skaact tops an exuberant andenhanced programme ofdance and world music tobe held at Byron Park,Wealdstone, from 12.30pmto 9pm on Sunday, June30.

Up to 10,000 revellersare expected at Harrow’spremier open air festivalwhich showcases local tal-ent and is the chance forfamilies and friends tocome together and see thelocal community at itsbest. There’s something foreveryone at this year’s fes-tival with more than 100

acts and activities whichwill keep children andadults entertainedthroughout the day. Thefestival will feature a carni-val parade; open air cine-ma; skate park; outdoorpool; dance village and acircus and children’s vil-lage. Harrow CouncilPortfolio Holder forCommunity and CulturalServices, Cllr David Perry,said: “I’m incredibly proudof the hard work that isgoing into the eighthUnder One Sky Festivalwhich is shaping up to bebigger and better than everbefore. I would like to seeas many Harrow residentscome along as possible andlet their hair down – youcan’t fail to have a goodtime. It’s the perfectopportunity for the com-

munity to come togetherand celebrate our diverseborough.”

Local residentDarshana Natha ofCunningham Park,Harrow, added: “UnderOne Sky is an excellentway of finding out what’sgoing on in the local com-munity as well as enjoyingsome great entertainment.It’s always well organisedby Harrow Council andyou can tell a lot of hardwork goes into the plan-ning of this event. I willdefinitely take my little boyalong this year and I’vespoken to some of themums at our local schoolto make sure they are thereas well.” For further infor-mation visitwww.harrow.gov.uk/under-onesky

Under One Sky Festival returns to Harrow

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 201318

Financial Voice

Expressing commitment tocontinue with reforms,India’s Prime MinisterManmohan Singh indicat-ed government would fur-ther liberalise FDI regimein the coming months andpush the land reformsmeasures.

"The liberalization ofFDI in multi-brand retail,civil aviation and otherareas, are important sig-nals. We are reviewing theFDI policy comprehen-sively to see what morecan be done in the comingmonths," he said at the CIIannual meet.

The private sector, thePrime Minister said, needsan environment in which

enterprise can flourish andcreate both jobs and stim-ulate growth to ensurethat it remains inclusive.

"The environment todayis not what it should be, andthat is what theGovernment must correct,"Singh said adding that morereforms are being consid-ered by the government.

Meanwhile, talking toreporters, India’s com-merce and industry minis-ter Anand Sharma saidthat further liberalizationof foreign investmentnorms could include rais-ing FDI cap in sectors likeinsurance, banking anddefence in a "calibratedand incremental" manner.

Elaborating on otherreform measures beingcontemplated by the gov-ernment, the PrimeMinister said "the LandAcquisition andRehabilitation andResettlement Bill has beencleared by the Cabinet and

would soon go toParliament". The longawaited land bill seeks toaddress problems of theindustry with regards toacquisition of land for set-ting up green field projects.

On the FinancialSector Legislative ReformsCommittee (FSLRC) rec-ommendations, he said,they were being "carefullyconsidered" by the govern-ment. Headed by Justice(retd) B N Srikrishna, theFSLRC, among otherthings, has recommendedsetting up of a unifiedfinancial agency as anarching regula tor afteramalgamation of SEBI,IRDA, PFRDA and FMC.

India Inc is set to post itsworst ever quarterly earn-ings growth in the lastquarter of fiscal 2013 sincethe end of the global finan-cial crisis, thanks mainly tolack of demand in theeconomy, the slowdown ingovernment spending andthe inability of some man-ufacturers to pass on fullcost escalation to theirconsumers, estimatesmade by leading broker-ages and research firmssaid. Going forward, man-agement commentary onmomentum of decisionmaking and order place-ments will be important forthe market, and any disap-pointment in earnings oron future outlook may leadto corrections, a report byKotak Securities said.

Net profits of sensexconstituents is estimatedto decline 2-4.7% year-on-year to Rs 520 to 540 bil-lion for the period, esti-mates made by leadingbrokerages and researchfirms said. Revenues ofthese companies wouldregister a modest 6-7% y-o-y increase during thequarter ended March,between Rs 4,300 and Rs4,750 billion. Revenue per-formance is expected toremain subdued reflectingthe slower-than-expectedpick-up in economic activ-ity, reports said. “Theearnings downgrade cyclehas resumed in the lastfew months, post somestability towards the endof 2012. As economicgrowth makes new lows,

its impact on corporateearnings is also visible,” areport by Motilal OswalSecurities noted.

The earnings per share(EPS) of sensex compa-nies, which was originallyexpected to grow byaround 14% in FY13,would advance by a mere5-6% to Rs 1,180, projec-tions showed. “We expectthe sensex EPS to post amodest 5.8% growth inFY13 with significant con-tribution from BFSI(banking, financial servic-es and insurance) stocks,followed by stocks from ITand FMCG sectors,” areport by Angel Brokingsaid.

On the sectoral front,consumer-oriented sec-tors, including FMCG,

information technology(IT) and healthcare sec-tors are expected to out-perform cyclical ones likemetals, capital goods,automobiles and cement,the report by MotilalOswal Securities said. Thereport by Kotak Securitiesnoted that revenues of ITcompanies are expected tobe driven by the nearly 8%y-o-y depreciation in therupee. Another report byCrisil Research pointedout that capital goods,construction, commercialvehicles, tyres, auto com-ponents and steel areexpected to witness eithera revenue decline or lowsingle-digit growth in Q4FY13 on a y-o-y basis, dueto the weak demand envi-ronment.

Cairn India on Tuesdaysaid it has made the 26thoil discovery in its prolificRajasthan block. The dis-covery follows allowingthe company to explorefor oil on block well afterexpiry of the explorationphase.

“Cairn India has madeits latest oil discovery, the26th discovery so far inthe RJ-ON-90/1 block, fol-lowing recent policy clari-ty by Government of India(GoI) to conduct explo-ration activity in develop-ment blocks,” the compa-ny said in a statement.

Block oversight panel,called the ManagementCommittee approved theexploration work pro-gramme for the RJ-ON-90/1 block on February 14after which Cairn India,the Operator of the block,commenced the drilling ofits first Exploration well,Raageshwari-South-1, onFebruary 25 located in thesouthern part of the block.

“Technical evaluationsindicate about 10 metresof gross oil column withinDharvi DungarFormation,” it said.

“Oil has been discov-ered and tested for thefirst time in DharviDungar sands inRaageshwar i -Tukaramarea, where previous dis-coveries were in the shal-lower Thumbli sands,” thecompany said, adding thevolumes of oil in place andthe potential resourcebase associated with thisdiscovery are under evalu-ation.

Cairn Chief ExecutiveOfficer P Elango said thediscovery in the block“reaffirms our belief thatan aggressive explorationdrilling programme willhelp harness the fullpotential of the BarmerBasin in Rajasthan.”

“This is a step closertowards reserve accretionthrough exploration-ledgrowth,” he added.

Dear Financial Voice Reader,

Most readers of this paper will have an interest inproperty. What of property stocks? Since the budgetthey have been rocketing higher. But for those watch-ing property companies, they will know that in factthey’ve been rising since the credit crunch. The reasonis those companies were able to buy land from smallindependent developers at rock bottom prices and thenhold on until now when 5% deposits are back.

You see the Bank of England and the Chancellorcan ask Banks to keep cash in reserve to protect them-selves against bad debt, but asking people to save 20%for a house deposit just kills the market dead. So weare back to the days of 5% deposits. And that meansfor properties – rising prices. I mean don’t panic, youare not missing the boat.

And will it be a bubble? Well, not yet. These prop-erty companies will build new supply. The problem withproperty is people don’t realise that like fashion andinnovation in most things, younger people want newshiny builds. So old stock ends up not rising in value.But the problem with new builds is that other than forLondon, you can build lots of them. So either way thereason for prices to rise is not existent. The only rea-son is money supply then – rising wages or lowerdeposits. Well wages aren’t rising. And lower depositswill help for a short while. But because of supply of newbuilds I don’t believe prices will become a bubble.

London is the exception because it is 20% of theUK’s GDP – so to pay for your home you need to benear your work. So London is congested and that keepsprices rising – everyone chasing demand. The top endis always buoyant to I like Savills as a stock. The glob-al rich keep buying around the world. Barratt andRightmove are right up there too with Taylor Wimpeyas risers set to continue because their profit expecta-tions are being exceeded.

Another reason to think people have money tospend, or are willing to, is that the best performersover the past 3 months include Thomas Cook andOcado. Some of that is due to the weather and to bet-ter offerings. But a lot is because the consumer isspending a little bit above just saving and paying downdebt.

As I said on Reuters TV this past week, whilst Mayto September tend to be not so good months for themarkets, I think this year may be different because ofthe lower market expectations and so any exceeding ofthose expectations leads to a rise in market prices.

Oh, and EasyJet is taking off too. But one thing thatis clear with the best performers since January, is thatpeople are now starting to sell and take some profit.This is short-term and will last a month or two beforethe opportunity to buy into all of these returns.

Manmohan Singh

Cairn India makes newoil discovery in Rajasthan

AirAsia said it hasreceived formal approvalfrom the ForeignInvestment PromotionBoard to launch an airlinein India in associationwith the Tatas, paving theway for the companies tomove the sectoral regula-tor DGCA for an air oper-ator licence.

"The application madeby AirAsia through itsinvestment arm, AirAsiaInvestment, to the ForeignInvestment PromotionBoard seeking approval fora 49 per cent investmentinto a joint venture com-pany named AirAsia India,partnering Tata Sons andArun Bathia of TelestraTradeplace, has beengranted a formal approvalon April 4," the Malaysiancarrier said in a statement.

AirAsia, the largestlow-cost airline in Asia,announced the JV withTatas late February. Last

month FIPB had approvedthe proposal.

"This approval willenable AirAsia India toapply with the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviationfor the aviation licence tooperate as an airline," thestatement added.

The proposed airlinewould operate fromChennai and would befocused on providing con-nectivity to small towns.

Currently, AirAsiaoperates in Thailand andMalaysia and already con-nects Chennai, Bangalore,Thiruchirapalli, Kochi andKolkata to Asean andbeyond.

AirAsia gets Foreign InvestmentPromotion Board approval

Two and three-wheelermaker TVS MotorCompany has signed a“cooperation agreement”with German auto-makerBMW Motorcycles’ divi-sion BMW Motorrad todevelop and produce a newseries of motorcycles in thebelow 500 cc segment.

“TVS Motor Companyand BMW Motorrad havesigned a long term cooper-ation agreement. The aimof the cooperation is tojoin forces to develop andproduce a new series ofmotorcycles that will caterto the segment below

500cc”, TVS MotorCompany said in a state-ment.

The agreement allowsthe companies offeringtheir own vehicle deriva-tives, which will be soldthrough their own distri-bution channels in Indiaand across the globe.

“We have a highlyexpert and experiencedpartner in the TVS Motor

Company. This means thatin future we will be able tooffer vehicles in smallercapacity classes in addi-tion to the BMW Motorradcore segments,” BMWMotorrad PresidentStephan Schaller said.

The tie-up for TVSMotor comes after partingof ways with Japaneseauto giant Suzuki MotorCorporation.

TVS, BMW join hands todevelop motorcycles

India Inc to post worst results in 3 years

finAnciAl Voicewww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 2013 19

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap

A Property Investment

Company

Rather than running around focussing on trades it 's some-times better to sit on deals and see them through - rightthrough the development and resell. There is also a satis-fact ion which comes from comple ting someth ing tofruition.

Today (Monday 9th April) we took an offer on a property andexchanged prior to it coming into auction on the 17th April. When we'bought' the property we had exchanged with delayed completion, inorder to allow us to place it in auction in-between the exchange andcompletion dates.

The aim was always to resell prior to the completion date, so inorder to secure a firm sale we had entered it into the auction. With anormal sale through an agent there can never be any security untilexchange of contracts occurs. With auction you're almost assured asale on the day of the auction, given of course that your reserve pricehas been set reasonably and there are enough people in the room. Weanticipated it would resell for £275k (we had exchanged on a purchaseprice of £240k). The property was so popular it attracted interest priorto the auction and had two offers on it on the basis we agree the saleprior to the auction.

I suspected it would probably sell for more in the room but as thesaying goes 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush', this meansthat it is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than a merepotential of a greater one. Auctions can be a hit and miss game. Badweather, school holidays, World Cups etc are all events which serve toreduce the attendance at auctions; and all you need is for a couple ofbuyers not to turn up and the property will not go for what it shouldon the day. Your market in the auction is those people who turn up inthe room whether physically or over the phone.

Some time ago, at one of these leading auction houses, we entereda block in Shepherds Bush; the property consisted of three flats andwas given a guide price of £600k with a view of selling for £650k .Surprisingly the block didn't sell.

It should have, it defied reason. However the Olympics and theQueen's Jubilee celebrations had meant there was poor attendance andtherefore the demand in the room was low, and this was our market inthe auction room.

Hence we may be losing some money by taking an early offer butthen again it’s a sure sale; and by executing this deal we are ready nowto take on another one.

The client for whom we're doing this property deal for is training tobecome an accountant, he had some money saved up and wanted toinvest along with his brother. He realised the secret: it is better to havehis money working for him to make money rather than himself. This iseven more necessary given the current rates offered by institutions.

Only £24k was tied up in this deal, from 15th March 2013 to 8thApril 2013. Therefore the money was tied up for only 3 weeks and thereturn was £25k, so almost 100% allowing for expenses, over a threeweek period a 33% per week return.

Of course there will be deductions from this, such as sales com-missions and legal fees etc, but this is a big enough return to allow forthis and still be left with an excellent return on funds employed.

In all fairness the above example is actually misleading as althoughfunds have not been directly employed they have to be ring fenced andheld just in case they are required for completion. So 30% of the prop-erty price would need to be held if required for completion, this comesto £72k.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

The flats in the block are currently under offer individually, the offers totalling£875k - only 9 months later without spending a penny extra on them. Clearly themarket missed this one.

A more appropriate return should be based on £25k over £72kwhich is a 30% return in 3 weeks. Still an excellent return at 10% perweek and without the cost of stamp duty and funding.

The trouble is trading or flipping opportunities don’t come along allday, every day.

The investor is certainly chuffed at his first return with us. He orig-inally wanted us to charge him a fee and to handle the property him-self. I advised him this was his choice, but I suggest he should not asthis is the first time he's dipping his toe into property with us, and itwould be better if we handled the exit too. The decision though was ofcourse his.

He chose to follow my advice in both, us handling the deal andaccepting the offer prior to the auction.

The advantage is he is now in the market to look for another dealand be in the position to purchase one with the confidence of havingsuccessfully completed one deal with us already. Although the dangeris now the bar has been set fairly high, and so the pressure to outper-form on this deal is on!

Trades don’t come by every day, there are some slow burners andother which cook faster, like popcorn. You need a combination of bothwhen in property.

You may find this approach sometimes actually generates moremoney than all the running around, as in between trades your fundsare not doing very much.

Actually new build flats are geared perfectly up for trades, due tothe long completion periods. You don’t even have to negotiate the longterm completion - they offer them to you. Completion can be a coupleof years away, in this time if the property increases in value you canresell. When you exchange you give the developer 10%, if the propertyrises 10% more you can exit and get double what you put in.

This however is a double edged sword, what happens if the pricedrops? You will lose what you have put in totally, and you will beforced to complete the deal. 10% will not be the limit of your loss.Many investors only discovered this after the credit crunch, manythought they could simply walk away from the deposit. Not so easy, inone particular case the developer sued and won a landmark case. Theinvestors were forced to complete on their investments irrespective ofthe loss.

In all fairness if they had made money they would not have sharedany profits with the developer, so why do they expect the developer tobear the loss in the event of a downturn?

If you do get the right development which rises in value you can beonto a good earner without having to worry about managing a proper-ty or completions costs. The resell however may be difficult though asthe developer normally has hundreds of units and a nice marketingsuite backed up by a full blown marketing campaign. Whereas you'llsimply be reselling a piece of air in the sky which is yet to manifest.

We provide a turnkey solution. Contact us now: Tips of the Week

0207 993 0103

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

Sowandreapuk SowandReapProperties

Specialists inCentral London

Property Sourcing

[email protected] www.sowandreap.co.uk

l If you are planning to buy a propertyfrom the auction ensure you get a soliciterto read the paper work very carefully.

l If you find a really good investmentproperty don't rule out the opportunity tobuy it before the auction. Many sellers willbe happy to do a deal.

Follow us online:

l Investing in property directly may not suit everyonel There are funds offering returns of 15% to 20% in the market

l This means you get a decent return without the hassle of owning a property

l This beats the returns offered by banks and many other financial products

l Underneath it your money is secured by property in a strong location

l There is a reason why banks are still prepared to lend 75% of a property value in this climate, because they know it is a secure investment

l Many funds are protected with external auditors and fund managers, this means your funds are kept as secure as possible

By the way, did you know….

Property Funds – Returns without the hassle of direct ownership


[email protected] Fernandes

Visitors and“minor” changes

Ratan Tata has been nomi-nated to the board ofMondelez International Inc,the $35 billion global snack-ing powerhouse, whichowns Cadbury. In anannouncement, MondelezInternational's chairmanand CEO, Irene Rosenfeld,said: "Ratan Tata is an out-standing candidate for ourboard. A global citizen andaccomplished innovator, hiscareer achievements aretruly impressive. His oper-ating experience and mar-keting expertise, particular-ly in developing markets,will be terrific assets to ourBoard and to MondelezInternational." Ratan Tata,75, is chairman of the TataTrusts, which are among thelargest private sector phil-anthropic trusts in India.

It’s not all doom andgloom out there!Sometimes the most diffi-cult situations can lead tothe best opportunities.Take the issues many bor-rowers and investors arecurrently facing with theirfunding banks.

In recent times, somelenders have been quick tocall valuations of theassets on which they havelent, which in the currentmarket often results in abreach of the borrower’sbanking covenants.Property investment com-panies in particular haveborne the brunt of this andwith many loan termsexpiring this year, such sit-uations will undoubtedlycontinue to arise.

As a result, many bor-rowers find themselvesfire-fighting in the face ofdemands from their lender.With the wrong approach,it is likely the lender willmaximize its recovery andthe borrower may well loseits investment, havingincurred significant costsin the meantime.

Many assume there islittle that can be doneother than to meet thelender’s demands or agreea short term solution to

stave off the pressure. Infact, with the correctapproach, there is veryoften a possibility of turn-ing these situationsaround into a fantasticopportunity to makemoney. Take this exampleof an apparently hopelesssituation that was turnedaround with great effect.

An investment consor-tium had acquired a com-mercial property usingdebt finance. The lenderordered a valuation whichcame in at £2m against aloan of £3.4m.Unsurprisingly, the lendercalled a loan to valuebreach and demandedrepayment. With the prop-erty “underwater” to thetune of £1.4m, thereseemed little alternative

but to allow the lender totake control, or to agree anextension to the loan inthe hope that the marketwould eventually recover.

However, the investorswere well advised andtook a different approach.Following negotiationswith the bank, they man-aged to acquire the out-standing loan for £1.5m, adiscount of 44%. Soonafterwards, the consor-tium were able to raise£2m against the nowunencumbered property,enabling the purchasedloan to be repaid in fulland the remainder distrib-uted to the investors, aprofit of £500,000 ! Onexpiry of the new loan, theinvestor’s equity in theproperty should be no lessthan £1.5m. Taking intoaccount future cashflowfrom the property, the totalprojected return is now£4.5m, a 300% return.

Complex tax schemeshave received much pub-licity of late. It is, however,often the simple but lesserknown planning measuresthat are the most effective.Here is one example rele-vant to those domiciled inIndia and Pakistan.

It is possible for non

domiciled individuals toplan such that only theirUK- based assets fall with-in the UK inheritance taxnet. However, once a non-dom has been UK residentfor 17 years, they become“deemed domiciled”,meaning they lose thisbenefit and their world-wide assets fall within thenet. The good news is thatboth India and Pakistanhave negotiated treatieswith the UK meaning theycan override this “deemeddomiciled” rule. So, if anindividual is domiciled ineither India or Pakistan,even if he has been resi-dent in the UK for morethan 17 years the UKinheritance tax charge ondeath can’t apply otherthan on UK assets.

With good planning,there is therefore everychance that an individualresident in the UK butdomiciled in India orPakistan can pay little orno UK inheritance tax ondeath, a fantastic savingfor the next generation.

Sunil Radia is aPartner at CVS SolicitorsLLP (www.cvs-law.co.uk)and CVS Private EquityPartners (www.cvs-priva-teequity.co.uk)

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The new rules whichtake effect on the 6th

April will affect visitorsand the changes are pro-posed described as merely“clarificatory” is muchmore than that. Thechanges appear innocu-ous, merely “[the appli-cant] does not intend tolive for extended periodsin the United Kingdomthrough frequent or suc-cessive visits;”. The realityis that the changes willgive greater authority toofficers to refuse appli-cants who spend a lot oftime in the UK. In arecent case the judgesclarified the principles thatshould apply. In this par-ticular case an elderlymother spent largeamounts of time and thejudge in the initial appealdecided that because ofthis she was not an ordi-nary visitor.

The Judges in thehigher court disagreedand stated that once heaccepted that theAppellant was a visitor thecase should have succeed-ed. The sole issue beforethe Judge was whetherthe appellant intended tovisit and leave at the endof the period permitted.

These followingprinciples were re-iter-ated: There is no restric-tion on the number of vis-its a person may make tothe UK, nor any require-ment that a specified timemust elapse between suc-cessive visits.

The periods of timespent in the UnitedKingdom and the countryof residence will always beimportant.

The purpose of thevisit, what the person hasdone in the past, intendsto do in the future ismaterial as well as thelength of time that haselapsed since previous vis-its. Where a parent is vis-iting a son or daughter,the parent will often helpin the house and providechild care. In the case ofan adult child visiting aparent, they will oftenassist in care arrange-ments. None of theseactivities, for that reasonalone, will take the indi-

vidual outside the defini-tion of a genuine visitor.

The links that theappellant retains with hercountry of residence willbe a material considera-tion. The presence ofother family members willbe a material considera-tion.

The Tribunal isrequired to ascertain whatis the reality of thearrangement entered intobetween the appellant andthe host in the UnitedKingdom.

The issue may beapproached by consider-ing whether the reality isthat the appellant is nowno more than a visitor toher country of residenceas the purpose of thereturn home is confined tousing his or her presencethere solely as the meansof gaining re-admission tothe United Kingdom.

This does not preventa person from remainingin the country of residencefor the least amount oftime.

Family emergencies,whilst likely to result in alonger visit, should not beregarded as taking up res-idence without adequatesupporting evidence tothat effect. Thus, thepregnancy of a daughteror daughter-in-law or theaftermath of the birthmight explain a more-pro-tracted stay (within the 6-month duration of a singlepermitted visit); so, too, aserious medical condition.

There may be compar-isons with the person whoowns homes in two differ-ent countries. Is he resi-dent in both or a visitor toone of them?

The right of appeal offamily visitors will end in2014 and when it does,these principles so careful-ly formulated by thejudges will die with them.

Maria Fernandes hasbeen in practiceexclusively in immigrationfor the past 25 years.Fernandes Vaz is based at87 Wembley Hill RoadWembley in Wembley andcan be contacted bytelephone on02087330123, by email [email protected].

Sunil Radia

India’s finance minister PChidambaram said the fis-cal deficit for 2012-13 willbe better than 5.2 per centas tax collection target ofover Rs 1,038 billion hasbeen achieved.

"As always there will besome savings (on expendi-ture). So what does it mean... if we reach the revenuetarget and if there are somesavings, the fiscal deficitwill be better than 5.2 percent that I have projected,"Chidambaram said.

He, however, did not"hazard a guess" on theactual fiscal deficit num-ber for 2012-13.

On revenue collections,Chidambaram said whilethere was a slippage ondirect taxes front, the indi-rect tax mop up has exceed-ed the revised estimates.

"In the indirect taxesthere was excess over thetarget. In the direct taxes,there was a shortfall overtarget. But overall we haveachieved the target of overRs 1,038 billion," he said,

adding that the revenuegrowth in 2012-13 was16.7 per cent.

He said this revenuegrowth was "commend-able" in the "difficult year"of 2012-13 when the eco-nomic growth is expectedto be 5 per cent or a shadeabove it. The revised esti-mates was to collect overRs 5,650 billion from directtaxes and Rs 4,690 billionfrom indirect taxes. Totalexpenditure was pegged atRs 14,300 billion.

With savings in expen-diture, the fiscal deficit isexpected to be lower than

5.2 per cent as projected inrevised estimates. As pergovernment's fiscal con-solidation road map, thegap between revenue andexpenditure is to bebrought down to 4.8 percent by 2013-14 and 3 percent by 2016-17.

The finance ministeralso exuded confidence thatthe revenue target for 2013-14 financial year would beachieved as the GDPgrowth is likely to be over 6per cent. "Revenue target of2013-14 is achievable ...because we believe GDPwill grow by 6 per cent orabove 6 per cent," he said.

When asked about theresults of the over one lakhletters sent by Income Taxdepartment to non-filers,Chidambaram said he washappy that the approachwas paying dividends.

"I think our non-adver-sarial and tax payer friend-ly approach is paying off.These very kind and lovingletters are paying off andpeople are filing returns.

India’s fiscal deficit lowerthan 5.2%: Chidambaram

P Chidambaram

Ratan Tata

nominated to the

board of Mondelez

International

finAnciAl voicewww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 2013 21

GBP - INR = 83.30

USD - INR = 54.40

EUR - INR = 71.22

GBP - USD = 1.53

GBP - EUR = 1.17

EUR - USD = 1.31

GBP - AED = 5.62

GBP - CAD = 1.56

GBP - NZD = 1.80

GBP - AUD = 1.46

GBP - ZAR = 13.66

GBP - HUF = 347.27

www.rationalfx.com

Foreign Exchange

Information provided by RationalFX.

None of the information on this page

constitutes, nor should be construed

as financial advice. The exchange

rates used are the commercial foreign

exchange rates provided by

RationalFX. For a live quote or to find

out more about how RationalFX can

help you, call us on 0207 220 8181.

WeeklyCurrenciesAs of Tuesday

9th April 2013 @ 5.30pm

Figures from the US on Friday5th April showed that the USlabour market isn’t improving asthe Federal Reserve was initiallyhoping for. The US dollar gener-ally traded lower in the weekbeginning 2nd April on anticipa-tion that the data was going toconfirm that only 200,000 newjobs were added in March,which was lower than the addi-tion of jobs in February.However the actual figure fellwell short of expectations withonly 88,000 new jobs added,causing the US dollar to trade toa one month low against boththe pound and the euro.

The US dollar had been sup-ported and has been strengthen-ing in recent months as FederalReserve Chairman BenBernanke has been suggestingthat a continued improvement inthe job market would give scopefor the Federal Reserve to scalein the current US$85 billion permonth quantitative easing bondpurchase program. However thedisappointing figure on Friday,which is the lowest in ninemonths, has abated this and itlooks like the Federal Reservewill stick to the current programfor longer than the market antic-ipated.

The UK came into focus lastweek with a plethora of econom-ic data, including manufacturingoutput, construction output,service sector figures and alsothe Bank of England (BoE)interest rate and monetary poli-cy decision. The impressive serv-ice sector figures overshadowedthe lower than expected manu-facturing and construction fig-ures, with the sector showing anexpansion to 52.4 from 51.8.According to the BritishChamber of Commerce the serv-ice sector has been strong for thelast three months, kept the econ-omy growing and may stop theUK from falling into recession –however we will need to wait

until 25th April when the firstquarter gross domestic productfigures are released to confirmthis.

On Thursday 4th April theBoE, unsurprisingly kept inter-est rates at an all time low of0.5% and also kept the quantita-tive easing program at £375bnper month, despite three mem-bers of the Bank of England vot-ing to increase the program inlast month’s minutes meeting.Whilst the BoE are appearing tobe holding off from expandingthe program at the moment,there is potential scope for anexpansion when Mark Carney, along term advocate of monetarystimulus, takes over as the gov-

ernor of the BoE in July.The spotlight also fell on the

European Central Bank (ECB)on Thursday 4th April, as thecentral bank kept interest ratesat 0.75%. However in the fol-lowing monetary policy pressconference, Mario Draghiappeared to be surprisinglydovish on the euro zone andindicated that the ECB are readyand would be willing to reduceinterest rates in order to steerthe euro zone out of recession.

Commodity exportingnations were boosted last weekas data from the world’s biggestconsumer of metals and energy,China, showed that manufactur-ing output expanded to an 11month high and thus causedhigher demand for commoditybased currencies such as theCanadian, New Zealand andAustralian dollar.

The other big mover lastweek was the Japanese yenwhich suffered significant fallsagainst all of its counterparts onspeculation that the Bank ofJapan will intensify measuresand increase monetary policy tofight deflation. An increase inmonetary policy/quantitativeeasing is a practice that wouldtypically devalue a currency.

US economy still crawling

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Currency Specialists.

Washington: A day aftercausing a stir by callingIndian-American KamalaHarris as "by far the best-looking attorney gener-al", US President BarackObama apologised to herfor remarks that somebranded sexist.

Obama spoke toCalifornia's top law offi-cer after he came backfrom his trip to the statewhere he made the"offending" remark at afundraiser for hisDemocratic Party. "She'sbrilliant and she's dedi-cated, she's tough... Shealso happens to be, byfar, the best lookingattorney general," Obamasaid according to a transcriptprovided by the White Houseonly to cause a nationwideflutter among the chatteratti.

"The president did speakwith Attorney General(Kamala) Harris after hecame back from his trip,"

White House Press SecretaryJay Carney told reporters."He called her to apologisefor the distraction created byhis comments."

"They are old friends andgood friends and he did notwant in any way to diminishthe attorney general's profes-

sional accomplishmentsand her capabilities, andI would note that hecalled her in those samecomments brilliant, dedi-cated and tough. She isall those things," Carneysaid.

Obama "fully recog-nizes the challengeswomen continue to facein the workplace," headded. Harris' communi-cations director GilDuran said in a state-ment, "The AttorneyGeneral and thePresident have beenfriends for many years.They had a great conver-sation and she strongly

supports him." Harris, 48,daughter of an Indian motherand an African-Americanfather, became the firstwoman and first Indian-American to be elected asCalifornia's top law official in2010, after serving as districtattorney in San Francisco.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 201322 world

Maximum penalty sought forman who beat up Sikh man in USWashington: An American Islamic groupsought maximum penalty for a man fromWashington who has been indicted by a fed-eral grand jury in Seattle on charges of hatecrime against a 50-year-old Sikh man. "Weask that federal prosecutors seek the maxi-mum penalties in order to send the messagethat anti-Muslim violence, or violence againstminority group, will not be tolerated in ourstate or in our nation," Jennifer Gist, civilrights coordinator of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement.

Death for Britishgrandmother in BaliDenpasar (Indonesia): An Indonesian courtupheld the death sentence handed down to a56-year-old British grandmother found guiltyof trafficking cocaine into the resort island ofBali. A spokesman said the Bali high court hadconfirmed the death sentence given toLindsay Sandiford in January, which had beena shock verdict after prosecutors recommend-ed 15 years imprisonment. The court "decid-ed to uphold the decision of the Denpasar dis-trict court," said spokesman Makkasau.

Bilawal Bhutto launches PPPelection campaignKarachi: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari launchedthe Pakistan People's Party's election campaignin a low-key manner, invoking the legacy of theBhutto family while calling on people to backthe party in the May 11 election. Addressing agathering of PPP leaders and workers in theBhutto family's traditional stronghold ofNaudero in Sindh province Bilawal listed theachievements of his grandfather Zulfiqar AliBhutto and mother Benazir Bhutto as hemade an emotional appeal to voters.

Indian-American hotelier VikramChatwal released on bondNew York: Indian-American hotelier VikramChatwal, arrested earlier this week at aFlorida airport for allegedly carrying drugs, hasbeen released on bond. According to reports,Chatwal was arrested on April 2 at the FortLauderdale/ Hollywood International Airportafter Transportation Security Administration(TSA) officials found drugs hidden in Chatwal'sluggage as he was about to board the flight. Aspokeswoman at the Broward sheriff's officesaid that Chatwal was released on April 3 on abond of about $56,000.

Taliban attack Afghancourthouse, 53 deadKabul: At least 53 people, including nineattackers, have been killed in a daylong gun-battle in western Afghanistan, a provincialgovernor said. The fighting broke out aftersuicide bombers disguised as Afghan soldiersstormed a courthouse in Farah province in afailed bid to free more than a dozen Taliban.Provincial governor Akram Akhpewak saidthat those killed included 34 civilians, 10security forces and nine attackers.

Pak poll officials told to stop'intrusive' questionsLahore: A Pakistani court has barred electionofficials from asking irrelevant or intrusivequestions while scrutinizing nominationpapers after days of televised proceedingsduring which candidates were asked to reciteQuranic verses and to reveal intimate details.Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of theLahore high court in his order directed return-ing officers to “immediately refrain from ask-ing intrusive and inquisitive questions."

Caretaker cabinet takes oathin PakistanIslamabad: Pakistan's 14-member interimcabinet of caretaker premier Mir Hazar KhanKhoso was sworn in by President Asif AliZardari with ministers drawn from all fourprovinces. The 14 members are MalikHabib, Ahmer Bilal Soofi, MusaddaqMalik, Arif Nizami, Shahzada AhsanAshraf ,Shahzada Jamal, SohailWajahat Siddique, Maqbool H HRahmatoola, Younis Soomro, AbdulMalik Kasi, Asadullah Mandokhel,MirHassan Dhomki, Sania Nishtar andFeroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel.

In Focus

Dhaka: Bangladesh's PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina hasrejected vociferous demandsby Islamists to introduce thedeath penalty for bloggerswhom they accuse of insultingthe Prophet Mohammed. Aspart of their push for a changein the law, the Hefajat-e-Islamorganisation has organized ageneral strike last week.

Television reports saidscores of people had beeninjured in clashes betweenpro-government activists andIslamists, already infuriated bythe recent convictions of lead-ing opposition figures for warcrimes. But Sheikh Hasina,who has been leading a seculargovernment in the Muslim-majority country since 2009,said existing laws were ade-quate to prosecute anyoneaccused of insulting a religion.

"Actually, we don't haveany plan to (bring in a newlaw). We don't need it,"Hasina said. "They shouldknow that existing laws areenough," she added, beforestressing that "this country isa secular democracy".

Hundreds of thousands of

Islamists rallied in the capitalDhaka to demand a blasphe-my law, with provisions forthe death penalty for thosewho defame Islam. There hasbeen vociferous debatebetween staunch atheists andfundamentalists inBangladesh's social media foryears, but it took a deadly turnin February when an anti-Islam blogger was murdered.

Under existing cyberlaws, anyone convicted ofdefaming a religion on theInternet can be jailed for upto 10 years. Hefajat-e-Islam,which describes itself as anon-political organisation,has given the governmentuntil the end of the month tomeet a series of demands orface a blockade of the capital.

Bangladesh PM rulesout new blasphemy law

Islamabad: Only 29 per centof the young Pakistanisbelieve democracy is the bestpolitical system for the coun-try, according to a surveyconducted weeks before thegeneral elections. Majority ofthem believe the countryshould be governed byIslamic law or military rulerather than democracy.

Pakistan is scheduled tohold parliamentary electionson May 11 - the first transi-tion between democraticallyelected governments that hasexperienced three militarycoups and constant politicalinstability since its creationin 1947. The parliament'sability to complete its five-year term has been hailed asa significant achievement.

But a survey by theBritish Council found thatyoung Pakistanis - defined asthose between the ages of 18and 29 - have grown morepessimistic about the futureover this period, as the coun-try has struggled with a weakeconomy, high inflation, per-vasive energy shortages anda deadly Taliban insurgency.

About 94 per cent ofyoung Pakistanis believe thecountry is going in the wrongdirection, compared with 86per cent in 2009, the studyfound. Less than a quarterbelieve democracy has bene-fited themselves or their fam-ilies.

Given these figures, it isperhaps not surprising tofind relatively low levels ofsupport for democracyamong the youth. Only 29per cent of young Pakistanisbelieve democracy is the bestpolitical system for the coun-try.

"Young people are losingconfidence in the democraticsystem," the report said."Leaders of all political per-suasions have a duty to con-vince the youth that theyremain committed to 'undi-luted democracy' forPakistan." Around 38 percent said Islamic law, orShariah, is better suited forPakistan - a reflection of thedeeply held religious views ofmany young people in themajority Muslim country, thereport said.

Pakistani youth prefer

Shariah to democracy

Seoul/ Moscow: North Koreahas warned foreign diplomatsin its capital Pyongyang that itcan’t guarantee the safety ofembassies in the event of aconflict and suggested thatthey may evacuate their staff,Russia’s top diplomat said.Russian foreign ministerSergey Lavrov is demandingan explanation from theNorth Koreans - askingwhether the warning is anorder to evacuate or merely aproposal that they should con-sider doing so. “This proposalhas been sent to all theembassies in Pyongyang,”Lavrov said. “We are now try-ing to clarify the situation. Weasked our North Koreanneighbors a few questions thatneed to be asked in this situa-tion.” About two dozen coun-tries have embassies in NorthKorea. Lavrov was quoted assaying that Russia is in touchwith China, the United States,Japan and South Korea - allmembers of a dormant talksprocess with North Korea.

North Korea tellsembassies toevacuate staff

Islamabad: The PakistanSupreme Court on Tuesdayrejected a plea to arrest theformer president PervezMusharraf in a treason caseand adjourned the next hear-ing till April 15. A two-judgebench led by Justice Jawad SKhwaja had issued summonsto Musharraf after hearingpreliminary arguments onfive petitions seeking his trialfor treason for subverting theconstitution and declaring anemergency in 2007.

The bench had saidMusharraf or his lawyershould appear in court torespond to the allegations. It

had also ordered the InteriorSecretary to take steps to pre-vent Musharraf from travellingabroad and to put his name onthe 'Exit Control List'.

The bench had also issuednotices to the government,Musharraf and other respon-dents to respond to the peti-tions. The petitioners asked theapex court to direct the govern-ment to prosecute Musharrafunder the High Treason(Punishment) Act of 1973.

Most of the petitionsagainst Musharraf have beenfiled by lawyers who want theformer military strongmantried for treason for imposingemergency and deposingdozens of judges in 2007."Musharraf should be prose-cuted for high treasonbecause he is guilty of sub-

verting the Constitution,"lawyer Hamid Khan told thecourt. "He should be pun-ished with death or be jailedfor life," Khan said. Thelawyers pointed out that theSenate or upper house of par-liament had passed a resolu-tion in January 2012 that saidMusharraf should be arrestedon his return but the govern-ment had not acted on it.

Meanwhile, Musharraf’snomination papers for threeparliamentary seats inKarachi, Kasur andIslamabad have been rejected.But his papers for anotherseat in Chitral were accepted.

Obama says sorry to Indian-Americanattorney general Kamala Harris

Pervez Musharraf

Sheikh Hasina

Kamala Harris with Barack Obama

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IndIAwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 2013 23

Go Dharmik

Kokila Patel

“Gujarat Samachar” and“Asian Voice” launched spe-cial issue ‘CharotarSahsikoni Bhomka’ on 26thMarch at a grand function atMadhubhan Resorts situat-ed on Anand-Vidyanagarroad. It was hosted byMadhubhan ResortsManaging Director andElecon Engineering Co’schairman PrayasvinbhaiPatel at the resort. The pro-gram began with ‘SaraaswatiVandana’ by famous singerMayadipak. It was anchoredby Tushar Joshi, who cher-ished the memories of‘Sahsiko’s of Charotar’ likeSardar Vallabhbhai Patel,Vithalbhai Patel,Ravishankar Maharaj,Indulal Yagnik,Tribhuvandar Patel,Bhaikaka, Bhikhabhai Sahiband H.M Patel.

In his welcome speech,Nilesh Parmar, BureauChief of ABPL GroupAhmedabad office, gave anaccount of the populartabloids “GujaratSamachar” & “Asian

Voice,” its dynamic visionand its mission for charity.The memorable momentsof the tabloids and itsgrowing popularity for thelast 40 years was presentedthrough a video.Editor/Publisher of thesetabloids, C B Patel wasapplauded with lots ofclaps & appreciation.

“Charotar SahsikoniBhomka” that proved to bethe connecting linkbetween non-residentGujaratis and Charotar,was launched on this occa-sion. Chief guest

Prayasvinbhai Patel, Rajkotdignitary Vejabhai Ravalia,Surat dignitary SavjibhaiPatel, Anand municipalityPresident Vijaybhai Masterand former lady presidentMadam RambhaibenBabubhai Patel launchedthe special issue.

The issue as a guide-book to non-resident

Gujaratis reflects a progres-sive image of not onlyCharotar but of the wholecountry as well, saidPrayasvinbhai Patel. Hesaid India of today was pro-gressing in every field and

even youth become moreand more innovative.“Madhubhan Resorts &Spa is attracting lot of peo-

ple worldwide. Why I wasinspired? I will say that Iam always interested in try-ing something new andsecondly I also have lot ofpatience to do it. If wewish, even impossible canturn possible. My FatherBhanubhai was my inspira-tion. I wanted to create amasterpiece in his nameand wanted to present it towhole of Charotar. I initiat-ed this resort in name of

my parents - Madhubenand Bhanubhai, and triedto present Charotar villagein this resort and presentedhaveli, pol, chikuvadi andamvadi of village. I believeour creations should beunique and best. Till now,India was considered as acountry of poverty. One ofmy uncles who loved me alot used to preach myfather that I should not bebrought in comfort so thatI will be able to understandthe real value of money.Because of certain rigidmentality of elders, thegrowth of the person isretarded. I believe that ifyou spend money, then you

earn money. You can suc-ceed if you take risk andexplore. The person cansurely reach their goalswith wish, will andpatience. India that wasignored before is now oneof the fastest growingcountry in the world. Thecountries around the worldhave its eyes on India.Thus, it becomes reallynecessary that we present

our culture & country inthe best possible way.”

Cherishing the impres-sive talk of Prayasvinbhai,CB Patel said that our newgeneration can add value totheir father’s business andexpand their businesses.Elecon EngineeringCompany was started byPrayasvinbhai’s grandfa-ther in Mumbai and thenhis father Bhanubhaiexpanded the same busi-ness in Vidyanagar. Nowthis company is growingrapidly and getting popularworldwide under the expertvision of Prayasvinbhai. Heis a very emotional person.He has contributed lot offund for social, educational,health and good cause.

Before the programended, well-wishers andfriends on behalf of ABPLGroup presented bouquetof flowers to Kokila Patel.

The invitees enjoyed thedelicious Gujarati-Punjabifood at the resort and theprogram ended with every-one demanding to keep onpublishing such specialissue for Charotar.

Tushar Joshi Bureau Chief Nilesh Parmar Managing editor Kokila Patel

Publisher-Editor CB Patel Madhubhan ResortsMD Prayasvinbhai Patel

Mayadipak

Launch of ‘Charotar Sahsikoni Bhomka’ and its presentation by dignitaries: Madam RambhabenPatel, Prayasvinbhai Patel, Vijaybhai Master, Vejabhai Ravalia, Savjibhai Vekaria and CB Patel.

The lady Jyoti Devi ofHoshiarpur was allegedlypunched, kicked and laterthrown under the rear wheelof a truck by accused MLARam Kumar Chaudhary andhis two other associates in sec-tor 21 on November 21, 2012.

Chaudhary had accompa-nied the victim to a nursinghome in sector 20 Chandigarhfor her abortion and signeddocuments mentioning him-self as Jyoti's husband in theofficial register of nursinghome on August 7, 2012.

On August 9, Chaudharywent back to the nursinghome and over-signed his sig-

nature converting RamKumar into Ramesh Kumar.Dr Aditi Gupta, who hadexamined the victim, has alsoidentified Chaudhary in thepresence of police personnelestablishing that he hadaccompanied the victim onAugust 7.

A 1400 pages longchargesheet, which was sub-mitted in a local court onApril 3, reads that for mis-leading the investigationagency, Chaudhary led therecovery of his Cruze claim-ing that Jyoti was thrashedand strangulated in this carwhich later turned out to be

another car. The chargesheet revealed

that accused Chaudhary haddeposited Rs 1.38 lakh in thebank account of Jyoti in sec-tor 11 in five installmentsbetween February, 2012 andJuly, 2012.

The chargesheet claimedthat Paramjeet was in thetouch with Chaudhary andwhen he conveyed to himthat he was intercepted bythe police, Chaudhary andhis associates along withJyoti went to the roundaboutand the accused Gurmeetwent to police and managedto bring him back.

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 13th April 201324 IndIa

Four Lankans arrested forabducting Australia-based traderFour Sri Lankans settled in Chennai havebeen arrested for abducting an Australia-based businessman after enticing him to thecity for a lucrative business deal. PackiarajPonnukone, a Sri Lankan-origin man livingin Australia, flew to strike a business deal.He was abducted from the airport by a four-member gang. A complaint filed by his wifein Australia was send to the Sri Lankan mis-sion and a 'man missing' case was regis-tered.

School flooded for 17 months"The sun is shining," reads a line on a black-board in a shed that is a classroom of StJoseph's Nursery and Primary School inKallukuttai near Velachery. For more than ayear now, even the sun has not been able tohelp drain the water that has flooded themain building. The school's 150 children,from KG to Class 5, are set to take their finalexams starting April 12. The school wasinundated in the rains in November 2011and has remained flooded since.

Realty market strikes gold,Chennai sees 3 dealsIndicating buoyancy in the realty market,Chennai-based builder Akshaya bought a1.03-acre land on Sterling Road for Rs 86.75crore. In few days, three city-based buildershave concluded land transactions worthnearly Rs 450 crore. While VGN bought a 26-ground (one ground is 2,400 sq ft) propertyin Nungambakkam from TataCommunications for 195 crore, Ceebros istaking over five-star Hotel Atlantic inEgmore from publishing firm S Chand andCo for 165 crore.

South

Unemployed youth climbatop water tankAs many as one dozen unemployed youthclimbed atop a water tank situated in thecity's busy Pink Plaza market threatening tocommit suicide if they were not given jobs inPunjab State Power Corporation Limited(PSPCL) on compassionate grounds. Theirfathers had died during service with PSPCL.Two dozen more unemployed youthdemanding jobs on compassionate groundswere arriving from different parts of Punjabto join them.

SC rejects Punjab probereport in woman assault caseThe Supreme Court has rejected the Punjabgovt's magisterial probe report on assault ofa woman by police at Taran Taran. The apexcourt castigated the magistrate for sayingpolice need to resort to lathicharge in suchsituations indicating that the girl and herfather were the aggressors. SC said it willimpose heavy cost on Punjab and Bihar gov-ernments for police assault on unarmedwomen.

Rare vulture seen at SiswanThe foothills behind the Tricity, Siswan Dam,their was a feathered novelty. A red andturkey-like but a scavenger, and onedeclared as not far off from extinction byglobal conservation watchdogs. Cinerousvultures and a lone Egyptian vulture at thedam has deified this spot as an upper crustcafe for endangered scavengers. These vul-tures were once found in may parts of India,currently they are most likely to be seenalong Western Himalyan foothills.

Police seize 23kg drugs, 115arrestedDrugs were recovered in a operation whenJalandhar commissionerate police havearrested 115 people. Around 23 kg of "intox-icant powder" was recovered from theaccused, which included a woman. Drugpeddlers were involved in killing of ASIGurdev Singh on the national highwaybetween Jalandhar and Phagwara Thearrested were in the 18 to 40 age group andmost of them have shady past.

Punjab

The construction of KGSAranmula InternationalAirport, a greenfield airportnear Sabarimala in Kerala,has been stayed by theNational Green Tribunal. Theunder-construction 2,000-crore project was to be com-pleted in 2014.

The NGT's southernbench, comprising of JusticeM Chockalingam and expertmember R Nagendra, grantedan interim stay, saying a primafacie case had been made outfor granting an interim stay onconstruction. They also direct-ed the Airports Authority ofIndia to ensure that no con-struction activity takes placein the disputed area until fur-ther orders.

The 2,000-crore project, inwhich the government ofKerala has a 10% stake, is tocome up on 700 acres of landto cater to the needs of about60 million pilgrims visiting theSabarimala shrine every year.

The project is the first pri-vate greenfield airport in thecountry, promoted by theChennai-based KGS group.

The order was passed on apetition filed by the AranmulaHeritage Village Protection

Council, which alleged thatenvironmental clearance forthe project had been obtainedby "misrepresenting facts". Inits petition, the village councilhad alleged that the construc-tion of the airport in a wet-land area would be in viola-tion of the provisions ofKerala Conservation of Paddyand Wetland Act, 2008, whichprohibits conversion of paddyland and wetland for non-agricultural purposes."During the environmentimpact assessment (EIA), thecompany had submitted thatno paddy cultivation hastaken place in this area in thepast 10 years," said Era

Meyappan, counsel forAranmula Village Council."Both central and state gov-ernments have been givingsubsidies to cultivate paddyto farmers here for a fewdecades now", he said.Located on the banks of theriver Pampa, Aranmula isconsidered a heritage area,home to temples and a palacedating back to the 18th centu-ry, as well as the venue for theannual snake boat race. "TheSalim Ali Institute ofOrnithology estimates thatthere are at least 23 endemicspecies of birds and animalsin this area," addedMeyappan. "However, as we

have mentioned in our peti-tion, the company proposesto fill up the Kozhithodecanal, which is a tributary toPampa and a breeding groundfor fish."

Refuting the allegations,Gigi George, managing direc-tor for KGS group, statedthat the channel in questionwas only a small stream. "It isa one hectare long stream andthe filling up work on it isbeing done by the Kerala irri-gation department itself,keeping all these factors inmind," he said. "All the neces-sary approvals from theunion government are inorder. Moreover, the projectitself is not in question. Thetribunal has only questionedthe issue of declaring the areaas an industrial area."

George added that the stayorder is unlikely to impact theschedule of the airport, whichis slated to launch in 2014."This is only a minor setbackand we will finish as perschedule," he said. The projecthas been opposed by severalactivists and political leadersin Kerala since 2009, whenthe Kerala government firstproposed the project.

Few hours before VijayMallya's Bangalore RoyalChallengers took on theMumbai Indians in the IPL-6league match in Bangalore,employees of the groundedKingfisher Airlines (KFA)held a silent ten-minuteprotest in front of theMahatma Gandhi statue,adjacent to the cricket stadi-um. As many as 70 employ-ees comprising of engineers,pilots, ground staff, and cabincrew held placards demand-ing that Mallya, chairman ofKFA, pay their salariesinstead of spending moneyon entertainment activitiessuch as IPL and Formula 1.Employees of KFA haven'tbeen paid their salaries sinceAugust last year. 'Money forIPL, not for employees','Please pay our salaries, wewant to live', read the plac-ards. The police noted thenames of the protesters andlet them go on the assurancethat no mass gathering wouldtake place without priorpolice permissions.

One of the KFA pilot saidsomething interesting ""Eachtime Mallya has an entertain-ment event, he gives sometoken salary so that we keepquiet.’ He said that two daysago KFA employees receivedtheir salaries for the monthsof June and July of last year.

The silent protests wouldcontinue across the countrythroughout the IPL season."Banks have stopped issuingloans to us because we areKFA employees and unem-ployed, hence we have resort-ed to borrowing money fromfamily and friends," said aKFA engineer.

Congress is taking time toannounce its candidates,unrest over selections alreadymounted. But there were noleaders at Congress Bhavanto hear the grievances. KPCCpresident G Parameshwara isin Koratagere in Tumkur dis-trict, his constituency, whileCLP leader Siddaramaiah isindisposed.

Many workers from theJigani and Gottigere BlockCongress Committee protestedagainst giving the BangaloreSouth ticket to former MPTejaswini Gowda. Their con-tention is that she doesn'tbelong to the constituency.

Party member SSPrakasam, who wants to benominated from Rajajinagar,came with his followers andbroke down before the partyoffice. The ticket is expectedto go to Manjula Naidu.Another section opposes giv-ing the Rajajeshwarinagarnomination to corporator NMuniratna.

Former legislative councilchairman V R Sudarshan,

who is seeking the Jayanagarnomination, wrote toParameshwara that he isbeing denied a ticket becausehe made some honest obser-vations in his report oncrossvoting in the June 2012legislative council election.

Old issues nag Congress:Reacting to these protests,AICC general secretaryMadhusudan Mistry said :"This is a natural phenome-non. I can understand theirfeelings. When there is oneseat, 10-15 aspirants arebound to be there."

Besides, two old issues —cross-voting during the leg-islative council election,which former MP IqbalAhmed Saradgi lost, andUnion minister MallikarjunKharge's son Priyank's defeatin the Youth Congress poll inNovember 2011 — have beenraked up to lobby againstsome young aspirants. Thehigh command is yet todecide on fielding Kharge andKH Muniyappa's childrenPriyank and Roopkala.

Chargesheet nails MLARam Kumar Chaudhary

Kingfisher staff stage protestat IPL venue in Bangalore

Trouble brews in Congressover nominations

Police have booked a schoollecturer of the district oncharges of duping 95 persons,aspiring to get employmentas PTI teachers, to the tuneof Rs 95 lakhs. Interestingly,the accused is a namesake ofdeputy chief ministerSukhbir Singh and a caserelated to appointment toteacher posts is already pend-ing in Punjab high court.

"Sukhbir Singh, a lectur-er at Sarava Bodla villagesenior secondary school, hasbeen booked for dupingmany persons to the tune ofRs 95 lakh on the pretext ofgetting them appointed asteachers," Muktsar SSPSurjit Singh said.

Lecturer booked forduping 95 peoplewith job promise

IndIAwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 2013 25

Indra addressesd theyoung Kartikeya, “Please

accept the honour of becom-ing Indra. You are more thanworthy.” Kartikeya replied, “OIndra, you are unique andhave never been defeated. Itis thus befitting that you rulethe three worlds. I am yourservant; I do not want totake your place.”

Indra said, “You aremore powerful than I inbattle and if I remainIndra, the Devas will bedivided into two groups -one that follows you andanother me. I am alreadybattle-weary, so I want youto accept the title of Indra.”

Skandha replied, “I amonly willing to follow yourorders, so tell me what Ishould do. But you willremain the king of thethree worlds.” Indra said,“O brave one, I will keepthis title of Indra with yoursupport. If you are willingto follow what I say, thenplease become the head ofthe Deva’s army.”

Skandha replied, “Iaccept. I will head yourarmy and fight the

Danavas and evil ones.Please anoint me as yourGeneral.” The Devas thenperformed a grand yagnato make Kartikeya theirgeneral. All the rishisarrived to worship the newGeneral. Lord Shiva camewith his consort Uma. Therishis had asked the divinearchitect to weave a spe-cial garland with whichthey garlanded Skandha.The Brahmins who hadcome for the yagna namedthe Agni of the yagna asRudra. Rudra (angry) isanother name for Shiva.And since Skandha wasAgni’s son by virtue of Agnibeing called Rudra, hebecame Rudra’s son and istherefore known as the sonof Shiva. Actually, whenSvaha met Agni in conjugalbliss, it was Rudra who hadtaken the form of Agni.

In this way, the Devasmade Skandha the com-mander of their army andthe young lad shone in his

armour like the moon andits 27 constellations. Afterall the Devas had per-formed pooja of Kartikeya,Indra remembered the girlwhom he had freed fromthe clutches of the demoncalled Keshi. He calledupon the girl and she cameadorned with all her jewels.

Indra went to Skandhaand said, “Even before youwere born, the lord Brahmahad decided this girl shouldbe your wife. Please accepther hand.” So saying, theguru of the Devas,Brihaspati invoked themantras and got the couplemarried. The Brahminscalled her Skandha’s queenand gave her the names ofShashti, Laxmi, Kuhu,Sadvruti and Aparajita.Lakshmidevi or Sri came toSkandha on the 5th day ofthe full moon and asked forshelter. Thus those whowant prosperity and wealthpray to Skandha on thatday. (To be Continued)

The Hindu solar calendar by contraststarts on April 14–15 each year. This

signifies the sun's "entry" into Mesharashi and is celebrated as the New Year.Ugādi, or Samvatsarādi is celebrated onChaitra Sukla Paksha Padyami or firstday of the waxing phase of the moon inthe month of Chaitra as per Telugu,Kannada or Hindu calendar (March-April as per the Gregorian Calendar). Itis the New Year's Day for the people ofthe Deccan region of India. The nameYugadi orUgadi isderived fromthe Sanskritwords yuga(age) and ādi(beginning):"the beginningof a new age."It falls on thedifferent dayevery yearbecause theHindu calen-dar is a lunisolar calendar.

While the people of Andhra Pradeshand Karnataka use the term Ugadi forthis festival, the people of Maharashtraterm it as Gudi Padwa. People ofRajasthan celebrate the same day as theirNew Year day Thapna. Sindhis celebratethe same day as their New Year day ChetiChand. Manipuris also celebrate theirNew Year (Sajibu nongma panba) on thesame day. The Hindu New Year is alsocelebrated based on Solar Calendarwhich is celebrated as Puthandu in TamilNadu, Bihu in Assam, Vaisakhi inPunjab, Vishuva Sankranti in Orissa andNabo Barsha or Pohela Boishakh in WestBengal and is normally celebrated on oraround 14th April every year. People inKerala also welcome their new year –Vishu around this time.

Baisakhi of Punjab: "Baisakhi", tradi-tionally a harvest festival, is celebratedon the 13th of April every year, marking

the Punjabi New Year. People celebratethe occasion by performing Bhangra andGiddha to the pounding rhythm of thedhol and rings in the New Year. Baisakhialso marks the founding of the Khalsabrotherhood by Sikh Guru GovindSingh.

Shubho Naba Barsha on PoilaBaishakh in Bengal!

The first day of the Bengali new yearfalls on the 13th or 14th of April everyyear. Called "Poila Baishakh," it's a state

holiday inWest Bengaland a nationalholiday inBangladesh.To welcomethe New Yearor "NabaBarsha", peo-ple clean anddecorate theirhouses andi n v o k eG o d d e s s

Lakshmi. All new enterprises begin onthis auspicious day.

The Boisterous Bohaag Bihu ofAssam: The northeastern state of Assamushers in the New Year with the springfestival of Bohaag Bihu or Rongali Bihu,which marks the onset of a new agricul-tural cycle. Fairs are organized wherepeople revel in gay games.

Tamil New Year: VarshaPirappu/Puthandu Vazthukal: Tamilspeaking people across the globe cele-brate 'Varsha Pirappu' or 'PuthanduVazthukal', the Tamil New Year, in mid-April. It is the first day of Chithirai, thefirst month in the traditional Tamil calen-dar. The day dawns by observing Kannior viewing auspicious things such asgold, silver, jewelry, new clothes, new cal-endar, mirror, rice, coconuts, fruits, veg-etables, betel leaves, and other fresh farmproducts. This ritual is believed to usherin good fortune.

After corporates and youth,it was the turn of womanpower that Gujarat chiefminister Narendra Modisought to woo in his bid toreach out to audiencesnationwide in a speech thatalso had digs at RahulGandhi and the womangovernor in his state.

Women's entrepreneur-ship, empowerment andequality for the fair sexwere the themes during hishour-long interactionorganised by the FICCILadies Organisation inwhich a number of entre-preneurs, including FICCIpresident Naina LalKidwai, were present.

Observing that 50 percent women alone coulddo a lot to bring economicdevelopment in the coun-try, Modi cited examplesof women in tribal areasand the dairy movementwhich made Amul aninternationally knownbrand. "But even todaywomen are not part of theeconomic decision-makingprocess. We have tochange this. Bring theminto the decision makingprocess," Modi said in aspeech that was repeatedlycheered by the womenaudience. The chief minis-ter, however, did not leavethe opportunity to have ago at Rahul Gandhi, whocould potentially be pittedagainst him in the primeministerial race, and thestate governor, a woman,over non-clearance of a

women's reservation bill.Modi brings Gujarat

model to Kolkata: Modihas proved his mettle as apolitician. His acceptancein the business communityrecently got a shot in thearm by the stupendous suc-cess of the Vibrant Gujaratinvestment meet. Againstthis backdrop, Modi landedin Kolkata for a day'sengagement with a part ofthe country that he will beengaging in this manner forthe first time. And if onegoes by the scramble tohear him at either of thethree venues, Kolkata'senthusiasm to see and hear

him is way beyond whatany other national leaderhas attracted in recentyears. Nayantara PalChowdhury, former presi-dent of the Bengal NationalChamber of Commerce &Industry, felt the mad rushis justified given Modi'senigmatic image in thispart of the country."Everyone's keen to knowhow the Gujarat modelworks. Moreover, now thathe will take on a nationalrole, people are curiousabout his vision for thecountry's future. I will bethere because of his leader-ship quality," she said.

All past articles on the Mahabharata can be accessedfrom http://epaper.asianvoice.com or from http://www.3stepbreath.com/mahabharata.html

The Story of Kartikeya – 7

Mid-April ushers in NewYear to many Indians

Modi welcome to apply forvisa, will review case: US

Even as it acknowledgedthat a US congressional

delegation's visit toGujarat had official sanc-tion, the US said there wasno immediate change in itsstand on a visa to ChiefMinister Narendra Modi,but he is "welcome toapply". Visits like this dohelp support a deepeningof business-to-businessties, of people-to-peopleties, across India, inGujarat," StateDepartment spokespersonVictoria Nuland toldreporters.

"So from our perspec-tive, the more congres-sional delegations thatvisit India and understandits dynamism and diversity,the more likely we are to

continue to deepen thoseimportant ties," she said.But this did not foretell achange in its policytowards Modi, who hasbeen denied a US visa forhis alleged role in the 2002Gujrat riots, Nuland said.

"With regard to Mr.Modi, our lines have notchanged here. He is wel-come to apply," she said.

www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 13th April 201326 IndIa

Continued from page 1

Cutting across partylines, leaders of variouspolitical outfits sought anexplanation from Rajiv’swife and Congress presi-dent Sonia Gandhi overthe revelations. Shiv Senaleader Sanjay Rautstressed that Sonia Gandhiwas the one, who mustnow clarify these revela-tions. "A lot of points havenow come out and they areconcerning a former PrimeMinister of this country.Now it is the responsibilityof Sonia Gandhi to give aclarification on the issue,”Sanjay Raut said.

Communist Party ofIndia (CPI) national secre-tary Atul Anjan said thelatest revelations wouldcreate fresh problems forthe Gandhi family, andsought an explanationfrom them on the entireissue. "There is truth inthese facts as names ofother senior administrativeofficers were there in thisexpose and they werethose people who havebeen close to the Nehrufamily, like HenryKissinger," he added.Communist Party of India(Marxist) leader PrakashKarat also expressed seri-ous concern over the issue.

"What it shows is this amatter of great and widerconcern that you have overthe years foreign arms deal-ers and companies havingthis nexus with Indian peo-ple, political connectionsand the bureaucracy and

the system in India. This isa matter, which already isthere. There are so manyrecent contracts of armsdeals," said Karat. "So, Ithink it should be taken assomething which confirmsthat this nexus exists," headded.

Samajwadi party (SP)leader Kamal Farooqi saidthat we should not dig upthe past, but tries to makecorrections in the system."I personally feel that weshould not go into the pastso much rather whateverhas happened in the past,it should be a lesson for usin future and we shouldtry to correct our system,we should try to makeeverything foolproof sothat there is no element ofcorrection in all this kindof deals," he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) leader Balbir Punjurged the government toorder an independentinquiry into the matter."It's a very serious matter.It is an allegation, veryserious allegation on theformer Prime Minister ofIndia (Rajiv Gandhi). Theleast the government cando is to order an independ-ent inquiry so that we canknow what the facts are,"said Punj. Congress party,however, dismissed thisexpose, and said that the'magazine reports' shouldnot be given much impor-tance. "All these are non-sensical things and we donot comment on reports ina magazine," said Congressleader Rashid Masood.

By AV Correspondent

BJP president RajnathSingh last Saturday declaredGujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi as the coun-try’s most popular leader.The day was to mark the33rd foundation day of theBJP. After Rajnath Singhmade him a member of theparty’s parliamentary board,Modi decided to organise ameeting a show his popular-ity at Ahmedabad’s Sardarpatel stadium where onelakh of supporters from dif-ferent part of the state gath-ered to show their solidaritywith their leader.

Attacking the Congress,especially its policies andthe language it uses to talkabout Modi, Singh said,“For addressing him a‘Maut ja Saudagar,’ thepeople have shown thedoor to the Congress andnow that he is being termedas the Yamraj and the peo-ple will definitely punishthe Congress for this.’’

For Modi who hasbeen inducted in the

party’s top decision mak-ing body, along with hisclose aide and former min-ister Amit Shah, this wasan opportunity to show-case his strength in hishome turf with the partypresident by his side.

Modi chose to make aveiled attack on theGandhi scion for his com-parison of India with abeehive, he said “If you donot have enough under-standing of the countryplease get it from the peo-ple who do, but don’tinsult our mother land,”“It may be beehive for you,but India is mother forus,” Modi added.

And unlike his speechesin the past on the party’sfoundation day, Modi decid-ed to dedicate it to seniorparty leaders, founders of theparty and party workers. “Itis because of you and yourhard work that the party hasbeen able to be in power inso many states of the countryand also at the Centre underthe able leadership ofVajpayee,’’ said Modi.

Sunita Williamswas inA h m e d a b a d ,when the partici-pants and dele-gates revolvedaround Sunita'slife in space atthe event organ-ized by theIndian Council ofSocial Welfare.

When some studentsasked her whether theycan become astronautslike her, she answered inthe affirmative. One stu-dent asked whether Sunitawas bored in the 320 daysthat she spent aboardInternational SpaceStation (ISS), she said, "Iwas never bored because Ihad a lot to do. I was like abird floating in space,observing the earth. Life

was never dullfor me

W i l l i a m s ,who holds theworld record forthe most space-walk time by afemale astronaut,was gifted a pairof gold bangles.A couple of fami-lies also offered

her land in case she decid-ed to settle down inGujarat.

Sanand may get‘Sunita school’ soon.Motown Sanand, which isfamous for attracting car-makers, has another rea-son to cheer. Indian-American astronautSunita Williams may soonset up a school for under-privileged children in thearea.

Rajiv Gandhi was 'middleman' forSwedish jets in 1970s: WikiLeaks

A show of strength by Modion BJP’s 33rd foundation day

Spacewoman Sunita Williamsfelicitated in Ahmedabad

Petition in support of Direct Flight between UK andGujarat, organised by AV, GS and NCGO (UK)

If you want a direct flight from London toSardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport,Ahmedabad; if you have a desire to get apermanent, easy connection with people ofGujarat, do sign and get others to sign thispetition and send it to “Asian Voice” or“Gujarat Samachar” office by post or fax it to our office (Fax no: 020 7749 4081), atthe earliest.

THE CAMPAIGN to facilitate direct flights betweenLondon Heathrow and Sardar Vallabhbhai InternationalAirport Ahmedabad, Gujarat has generated much inter-est amongst Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar readersand the entire community.

All those wishing to add their names to the list ofpetitioners, which includes several prominent politi-cians, business people and community members arerequested to complete the tear-off the form and send itto the offices of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar,

12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW. We will forward allpetitions to the Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat,Shri Narendra Modi. Who is renowned to be in the fore-front of serving Gujarati people.

Please note: If you wish to register more than 10names on your petition, then simply photocopy the tear-off form and add the extra names. All petitions mustclearly state your full names, postal address and mustbe signed and dated.

REGISTER YOUR SUPPORTWE THE undersigned hereby support the direct Air India

flights between London and Ahmedabad for the

following reasons :

l There are more Gujaratis living and travelling abroad

than any other Indian community, and this figure is

increasing.

l About 40% of Air India passenger to the UK are

Gujarati. Indeed on some flights, close to 80% to 90%

are Gujarati.

l India is the 2nd largest investor into United Kingdom,

according to British Government figures. Many of these

Indian companies are either owned, controlled, or

significantly staffed by Gujaratis.

l The UK is the Second Largest investor in India, and

the largest cumulative investor in Gujarat.

l Nearly 50% of all visas issued by British High

Commission in India are to Gujaratis.

l Currently, air passengers travelling between the UK

and Gujarat are required to change planes either at

Mumbai or Delhi. This inevitably leads to considerable

inconvenience, delay and expense – particularly for

families with young children, pregnent women, the

elderly, and the increasing number of business

travellers.

l We believe that the introduction of direct flights will

not only be of benefit to the Gujarati diaspora, but also

prove commercially successfully for Air India.

Form also available online at www.abplgroup.com todownload and Fax on 020 7749 4081 Email: [email protected]

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In FocusRahul Gandhi: Talk about mybecoming PM is irrelevantWho would be the Congress' next prime ministerial can-didate? Rahul Gandhi dubbed as "irrelevant" and "allsmoke" the debate on the issue as he insisted that noindividual can fix all the complex problems of the nation.Gandhi, who has been reluctant to join the government,described his advent into politics as "an accident of fate"and "DNA" linkage with a particular family. He said thathe is not a hard-nosed politician" and does not want tobecome one. "These are irrelevant questions. Like whenare you getting married or when are you becoming PM?It's all smoke," the 42-year-old Congress vice-presidentsaid, adding the only relevant question is how to givevoice to one billion people that would solve all problems.

5 of family immolate themselves in RajkotFive members of a Nepalese family succumbed to burninjuries as they immolated themselves before civicauthorities fearing eviction from their dwelling in Rajkotlast week. The Nepalese family, which had been resid-ing there for 35 years, had received a notice from RMCsome months back for vacating the place and their pleafor a stay on demolition of additional construction hadbeen turned down by a court. Meanwhile, police arrest-ed two people for abetting the crime and aare on thelook out for four more people.

By Nayan Dave

One of the biggest coir(natural fiber extract-

ed from the husk ofcoconuts) products manu-facturing cluster in theworld at Alleppey in Keralaused to function in a tradi-tional way. The process ofmaking ropes from coirfiber was manual. Spoolingand weaving was physicallystrenuous for thousands ofpeople engaged in manu-facturing process. Theworkers, mostly womenused to stand, tie the rawmaterial around their waistand walk for hours –almost10 to 12 km in scorchingheat to make 8-10 kg ofcoir per day.

Till the year 2007, noserious efforts were made toenhance productivity.Introduction of new technol-ogy and marketing skillswere never in the agenda ofthe factory owners. UK’sDepartment forInternational Development(DFID), Germany- basedcredit institute Kreditanstaltfür Wiederaufbau (KFW),

USA’s OTF group, GIZDeutsche Gesellschaft fürI n t e r n a t i o n a l eZusammenarbeit (GIZ) andSmall IndustriesDevelopment Bank of India(SIDBI) identified the poten-tial of the cluster and joinedhands to work on enhancingproductivity and improveworking condition of theworkers. These donors ropedin Cluster Pulse to imple-ment the project.

Cluster Pulse (CP) car-ried out a diagnostic studyto understand issues of thecoir industry. In Alleppey,also known as Alappuzha,there were nearly 45,000

yarn manufacturers. Theowners of small coir mak-ing units were contentedwith the traditional way ofmaking ropes. There wascomplete lack of focus onmarketing. Enhancementof quality to tap newermarket was never thoughtof. There was limitedaccess to modern manage-ment techniques, includ-ing IT enabled services.

“Other important out-come came during thestudy. In order to run atraditional unit at least 50feet shed worth Rs 85,000was required. Besides,younger generation was

shying away from coirindustry. They would findit easier to get less toil-some jobs elsewhere.There was urgent need forincreased mechanizationto enhance production andreduce physical work,”says Vishal Acharya of CP.

Instantly workshops ondesigning of coir productsand IT awareness wereconducted. CP helped alocal association of coirunits to develop a B2Bportal. Brand buildingstrategies were formed andas part of it world’s largestcoir mat was manufac-tured. The Guinness Bookof World Records also rec-ognized the achievement.Side by side, technicalintervention process wasalso carried out. Technicalexperts were also startedworking on developing

user-friendly spinning ratt.The holistic approach of

Cluster Pulse team broughtsea-changes in manufactur-ing process and marketingthe products. In four year-span technical experts intro-duced four different ver-sions of mechanized spin-ning ratts. The new technol-ogy addressed crucial issuesof quality and productivity.As production almost dou-bled compared to traditionalmethod of making coir prod-ucts and at the same timeworkers were able to sit atone place instead of walkingaround. The quality of yarnwas extremely high and con-tinuous. Due to technologi-cal intervention, now coirunits would require lesserspace. Many workersbecame entrepreneurs asthey bought spinning rattsand started business fromtheir homes.

Some progressive man-ufacturers like Sony Josephand G Nair started export-ing also. Most importantlythe revolutionary change inthe cluster through theproject touched the lives of

more than 200,000 people.Technology interventionput the cluster on worldmap as they started produc-ing world class products.

DFID – internationalleader in global crisis: TheDepartment forInternational Development(DFID) is a UK governmentdepartment with a CabinetMinister in charge. It wasseparated from the Foreignand Commonwealth Officein 1997. The goal of thedepartment is “to promotesustainable developmentand eliminate world pover-ty.” A 2010 report by theDevelopment AssistanceCommittee (DAC) identi-fied DFID as ‘an interna-tional development leader intimes of global crisis’.DFID’s main programmeareas of work are education,health, social services, watersupply and sanitation, gov-ernment and civil society,economic sector, includinginfrastructure, productionsectors and developing plan-ning, environment protec-tion, research and humani-tarian assistance.

indiAwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 2013 27

Dravid, Sharmilaand Sridevi getPadma awardsPresident PranabMukherjee conferredPadma awards at theRashtrapati Bhavan.International sculptorRaghunath Mahopatra,Energy Physicist Prof. YashPal were conferred PadmaVibhushans. Indian cricketskipper Rahul Dravid,Bollywood actressSharmila Tagore, DRDODirector General Dr. VijayKumar Saraswat werePadma Bhushan awardees.Bollywood actress SrideviKapoor, veteran Malayalamactor Madhu, Sanskrit andHindi Scholar RamakantShukla were among the 42receivers of the PadmaShri awards.

7 Naxals killed inencounter Seven Naxals were killedin an encounter with thepolice in Bhamragad divi-sion of Gadchiroli district.Police have recovered fourbodies and said that threemore Naxals may havebeen killed in theencounter. Police claimedthat the number of Naxalskilled could be much more.

14 Pak fishermenreleased fromKerala jailFourteen Pakistani fisher-men, lodged in the centralprison inTh i ruvananthapuramafter being taken into cus-tody by the Indian Navysix months ago for cross-ing into the Indian watersnear LakshadweepIslands, have been sentback to their country.

In Focus

The prestigious Asian Achievers Awards is hosted every year by UK’s leading news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar to honour British Asians parexcellence. If there is someone you know who has broken boundaries and deserves recognition for their unique contribution to the community and the nation thenplease nominate them for one of the awards listed below.Make sure that you fill in this application form and send it on or before 12th July, 2013 by post, fax or email to Mr. L George, Tel: 020 7749 4013, Fax 020 77494081, Email: [email protected]. If you are sending it by post the address is Mr. L George, ABPL Group, Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, London N1 6HW.

Achievement in Media, Arts and Culture ................................Someone who has made a mark in media including print and broadcastmedia; cinema, art and culture.Achievement in Community Service............................................In recognition for an individuals service to community.Sports Personality of the Year ......................................................Awarded for excellence in sports.Uniformed and Civil Services ........................................................For outstanding achievements in uniformed and civil services or contribution tothe community through any of the above services.Professional of the Year ..................................................................Professionals in the field of medicine, law, education, banking, financeand others, who have scaled the heights of their chosen profession.Young Entrepreneur of the Year ..................................................Awarded to an young entrepreneur (less than 35 years) with a proven trackrecord of operating a successful business enterprise.

Business Person of the Year ..........................................................Awarded to a business person who is a success in every sense of the wordand can demonstrate a genuine passion for social issues.Woman of the Year ............................................................................The award will recognise and honour a woman who has made a significantmark in any chosen field.

International Personality of the Year ........................................Awarded to those who have acclaimed popularity internationally for his/hercontribution in any particular sector and is recognised for their timelessphilanthropic activities.

Lifetime Achievement Award ........................................................To honour those individuals, who during their lifetime, have made immensecontributions in any given field. This remarkable individual can be marked as anexample for the younger generation.

Please tick the appropriate category

� Name of the Person you are Nominating: __________________________________________________________________________� Contact Details of the Nominee (Tel & email):_______________________________________________________________________� Present Occupation of the Nominee:_______________________________________________________________________________� Please attach the Nominees's CV which includes the following information (Please do not exceed a limit of 1000 words)(1) Personal background (2) Most important career achievements till date.(3) Nominee's contribution to the community and nation. (4) Future Plans, ambitions and visions.(5) Any notable obstacles in the Nominee's career that has helped him/her to reach where they are today.� Summary- (Please include a summary in not more than 150 words why the nominee is worthy of winning the particular award in a separate sheet)� Nominators name and contact details: ____________________________________________________________________________� Nominators current Occupation/Company: _________________________________________________________________________� Tel/Mobile: _________________________________ � Email: __________________________________________________________NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS: � This is a unique event where readers nominate and an inde-pendent panel of judges comprising of eminent personalities selects the winner. ��Judges’ decision is final.ABPL Group will not entertain any dialogue with members of the public regarding the judging process. �In order to ensure a high degree of transparency and fairness, the management and members of the staffof Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar will play no role in the nomination or judging process. � You mayuse an additional sheet if the space provided is insufficient. ��The winners will be announced at the AAAAwards ceremony on 6th September, 2013. ��Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar will publish the names of theshort listed candidates and winners after the event. The winners names will also appear in our e-editionwww.abplgroup.com ��You can nominate yourself if you wish to. ��Nominations and entries must followthe prescribed format. ��All nomination forms must reach our offices on or before 12th July, 2013

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Cluster Pulse, an Ahmedabad-based NGO, changed the lives of around 200,000 people, working at Alleppey coir cluster in Kerala.

United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and other international agencies supported the project.

Bengalis love theirmishti and melt-in-themouth ‘shondesh’ haspride of place in their pan-theon of sweet delights.

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Method: Bring themilk to a boil in a deep,thick-bottomed non-stickpan. Add the lemon juiceand stir till the milk cur-dles. Strain and immedi-ately refresh the chhennain chilled water. Put thechhenna in a piece ofmuslin and squeeze till allthe water is drained out.Knead the chhenna well

with the heel of your hand.Add caster sugar and car-damom powder, and kneadagain. Cook in a non-stickpan on medium heat foreight minutes. Removefrom heat and divide intotwelve equal portions. Rolleach portion into a balland make a dent on thetop. When cooled, place apistachio in the dent andserve.

Health benefits: Milkand dairy products areproviders of calcium,phosphorous, magnesiumand protein which are allessential for healthy bone

growth and development.Adequate consumption ofmilk and dairy from earlychildhood and throughoutlife can help to make thebones strong and protectthem against diseases likeosteoporosis (a debilitat-ing, brittle bone disorder)in later life.

www.abplgroup.com - asian voice 13th April 201328 travel

Sandesh

Rome, Florence & Milan

By AV Correspondent

Rani Sipri's Mosquealong with Rani

Rupmati's Mosque inAhmedabad is in a leagueof its own. Rani Sipri'sMosque with its exquisitearchitecture and interest-ing history is now one ofthe most popular touristattractions in Ahmedabadbesides being one of theprominent and wellrevered pilgrimages amongthe local Muslims. Thus,the mosque is one of theimportant holy places inAhmedabad.

Rani Sipri was one ofthe Hindu queens of theking of Ahmedabad. TheRani Sipri's Mosque wascommissioned by RaniSipri of Ahmedabad andspeaks volumes of theinter-religious marriagetrend that became quitepopular among the Indianroyalty, to facilitate politi-cal alliance. The mosque isbelieved to have been builtin 1514 AD by Rani Sipri,wife of Mehmud Begada,who executed their son fora misdemeanor. TheMughal sultanate hadunder its rule a number ofsmaller local sultanatesruled by Muslim rulers.

These regional

Sultanates had to relymore actively on Hindupolitical and military allies,and were also more liberalin adopting Indian prac-tices, or making conces-sions to native traditions.The Muslim nobility inGujarat treated Hindunoble families with relativeequality and respect, andMuslim princesses wereoften married into thefamilies of Hindu allies,just as Hindu princessesentered into the Muslimroyal households. This washowever, in sharp contrastto the practice of theMughals who though theysought Rajput princessesas brides, did not permittheir own daughters to bewed into Rajput families.Mughals accepted theRajputs wives only as infe-rior partners (with theexception of Akbar whowas known for his secular-ism), whereas the regionalSultanates were more like-ly to treat their Hindu alliesas equals.

This attitude is reflect-ed in both Ahmedabadand Champaner in anarray of outstanding mon-uments that in somerespect outshine Mughalmonuments even.Remarkable for their

ornate three-dimensionaldecoration derived fromHindu and Jain architec-ture, these monumentsseamlessly incorporateinto their scheme, motifsconsidered traditionallyauspicious by the Hindus -such as the Jain 'lamp ofknowledge' and the'kalpalata' (wish-fulfill-ment creeper) and the'kalpavriksha' symbolizingfecundity and prosperity.

And Rani Sipri'sMosque and RaniRupmati's Mosque are twoof the most aestheticallyenriched monuments inAhmedabad that showcas-es the fusion of Hindu andMuslim styles, fabulously.

The mosque is a smallone with a height of 50ftand length of 54ft. Thismosque is also known asthe Masjid-e-Nagira orJewel of a Mosquebecause of its intricatelycarved decoration. Jali orfiligree screens with motifsof flowing plant and treeforms are commonly seen.The mosque is adornedwith an array of columnsintricately carved, longrunning corridor anddomed roof. A separatearea of worship, for thewomen called, 'Jenana' islocated upstairs.

fusion of Hindu and Muslim styles

Italy, from top to toe, is as diverse as itis unique. From the mountain peaks in

the north to the sandy beaches in thesouth and the lush vineyard country in-between, there is plenty to see and

explore. Whether you choose to toss acoin into Rome's Trevi fountain or relaxon the picturesque Amalfi coast, Italy isbound to delight you. Italy comes into itsown around about April to June and getsprogressively warmer intosummer, when the coastalregion basks in hours of glo-rious sunshine and thesparkling waters of theMediterranean.

Rome, could it possiblybe the most stylish city inthe world? Every turn andevery corner pays homageto free-flowing fountainswhere the weary ramblercan rest and soak up thecalming sounds of the waters trickle.Pebbled streets are home to small inde-pendent cafes selling the bestCappuccino’s to be found anywhere in

the world. Immaculately dressed workersmingle with youngsters zipping aroundon their Vespa’s shouting “Ciao” as theypass. Everything in Rome is at a relaxedpace. Lest we forget, the Roman Empirewas a mighty force andmany of its legacies stillremain throughout Europe.The Colosseum standsproud as a testament to thepower and glory of history.Built in the 1st centauryAD for gladiator fights,three stories of tiered seat-ing could accommodate50,000 spectators at a time. Historylovers will marvel at the Pantheon – themost impressive monuments of AugustanRome, dedicated to the seven planetarydivinities and featuring an interior of gor-geous marble.

The Tuscan city of Florence is a short

one and a half hours away from Romeand is definitely worth a visit. It is a rela-tively compact historic city situatedalong the borders of the Arno River inthe middle of the Tuscan hills. The city

boasts a large number ofmuseums and impressivelandmarks such as theDuomo and PalazzoVecchio. The Duomo diFirenze. The FlorenceCathedral, one of the largestin the world, was builtbetween 1296 and 1436.These great monuments topast riches are now morethan matched, as Florenceis also the home of theworlds greatest designhouses – Gucci and

Ferragamo. Maybe Florence takes thetitle of the most stylish city in the world?

Milan, northern Italy is the richestand most populous region of Italy. Someof the must see attractions in Milan

include the majestic Cathedral, the mon-umental Castello Sforzesco and thefamous Leonardo da Vinci's painting ofthe Last Supper in the Santa Maria delle

Grazie.Milan is globally recog-

nised as one of the worldsmost important fashioncapitals. Via MonteNapoleone is the place tosee and be seen with cou-ture houses lining thestreets and fashionistas sip-ping wine in classy eateries.Maybe Milan is the moststylish city in the world?

Why not visit all three Cities and decidefor yourself? Rome, Florence or Milan,decisions… decisions…

For return flights and B & B accom-modation in Rome a 2 night package

starts from just £195pp.Brightsun Travel offers a price match

promise on worldwide flights andholidays so you will get the best deals.To book your dream holiday, callBrightsun Travel on 0208 819 0486 orvisit www.brightsun.co.uk

You need more than plan-ning and organisation to

win the weight-loss battle.Looking at the week

gives you structure andgives you control of yourworking week and yourfood, said Burrell.

Prepare for the weekahead by making a mealplan and doing your shop-ping for the week. Buyenough for lunch and din-ner and healthy snacks forthe next five days, she sug-gested.

Cook at least two mealsfrom your plan and freezethem on Sunday, she added.

"I call them sacredSundays. Use this day toreset and nourish yourselfand that way you will findthe week doesn`t pile upon you and you are morerested and in control. Thisprevents you from runningon empty," she explained.

Burrell suggests writ-ing down an exercise planfor every day of the week.

Prioritise Monday,Tuesday and Wednesdayfor exercise so that if thingsget busy later in the weekyou have at least three ses-sions done, Burrell said.

"Given our sedentarylives and jobs we also needto include half-an-hour toone-hour of walking tomake up for how much wedon`t move during theday. This could be walkingto the station, or taking ahalf hour walk at

lunchtime," she said.Burrell recommends

drinking only one milk cof-fee a day, eating breakfastbefore 8am, making veg-etables the focus of yoursnacks and having one,low calorie day per week.

Bring lunch to workfour days a week andavoid eating at your desk,she suggests.

Take a good combina-tion of protein, carbohy-drate and vegetables, fol-lowed by a cup of herbaltea and try for at least a20-minute walk after youeat to aid digestion and upyour movement quota.

Get up early and don`tsleeping too late, as it canset your day back and canlead to problems spirallingout of control, she said.

Eat the majority ofyour food by 3pm.Breakfast by 8am, lunchby 1pm and dinner by7pm, she recommends.

Learn how to compen-sate, she said.

For example if youoverindulge for one mealmake sure the next one isas light as possible, like areplacement-meal shake ora salad.

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www.abplgroup.com - asian Voice 13th april 2013 29HealtH Watch

Ablood pressure pill,which is taken by tens

of thousands of patients,could be the key to beatingAlzheimer's disease.

British scientistsbelieve that the 3p a daytablet could slow progres-sion of the disease andeven combat devastatingmemory loss.

Experts at theUniversity of Bristol hopethat the drug losartan willbe so effective that highblood pressure patientscould routinely be given itto protect long-termagainst Alzheimer's.

The university's Dr PatKehoe is launching aground-breaking four-year2-million-pound UK trial.

"Without wishing to getahead of ourselves, thebeauty of this drug, if it isfound to work as we expect,is that it is already availableand is cheap," he said.

Previous research hasfound that people on losar-tan for high blood pressurealso appeared to be signifi-cantly protected againstdementia - in fact, it isthought to slash the risk by

as much as 50 percent.Now, the scientists

hope to test the drug ondementia sufferers. Theybelieve losartan couldslow down Alzheimer's byimproving blood flow inthe brain and alteringchemical pathways thatcause brain cell damage,brain shrinkage and mem-ory problems.

The ultimate test ofany potential new treat-ment strategy is success inclinical trials, so it isencouraging to see thistrial getting underway.

Losartan, and relateddrugs working in a similarway, have been found toblock a naturally occurringchemical calledangiotensin II, which pre-vents the release of vitalmemory chemicals in thebrain.

The new trial will usebrain imaging on an esti-mated 230 patients tomeasure if losartan helpsto reduce brain shrinkagethat is strongly linked withreduced memory functionand discover if the drugimproves memory andquality of life.

Tattooing, so popularamong the young, can

increase the risk of skincancer, say doctors.

According to doctors,inks used in tattoos maycontain toxic elements,which can cause skin can-cer, especially blue ink, theage-old colour of choicefor tattoo artists, whichhas cobalt and aluminum.

Red ink may have mer-curial sulfide and certaincoloured inks often con-tain lead, cadmium,chromium, nickel, titani-um and other heavy met-als.

"The equipment usedin tattooing and bodypiercing, if contaminatedwith infected blood, canrisk transmission of blood-borne viruses such as HIV,Hepatitis B and C and var-ious skin cancers likesquamous cell, carcinomaand melanoma," Dr. D.J.S

Tula, consultant plasticsurgeon at Delhi's B.L.K.Hosptial, said.

"Everyone who gets atattoo doesn't get skin can-cer. But they haveincreased risk as most tat-tooists use ink which isarsenic. Many youngstersdon't realise the damagetattoos cause to their skin.They want them for a life-time. Certain designs aredeep penetrated into theskin and damage muscles,"Tula added.

Experts also say that atattoo should not be donenear a mole (nevus).

"One needs to knowthe changes occurring in amole - symmetry, border,colour, size, shape and tex-ture. If there is a tattooaround it or on it, the keywarning signs on the molecannot be noticed and itmight later evolve intomelanoma or another skin

cancer," oncologist Dr.Amit Kumar said.

"One should choose ahygienic place for a tattoowhere needles are properlysterilised. Tattoos betweenthe mid ribs and uppershoulders should be avoid-ed," said Jane Ruth, a der-matologist.

Other fairly commonskin risks associated withtattoos include allergicreactions to certain tattooinks. But infection justafter a tattoo can be treat-ed with antibiotics.

Experts also say thatthere are risks involved inremoving tattoos likehypopigmentation (loss ofskin colour) and as hyper-pigmentation (skin dark-ening) where the tattoowas.

On the contrary, tat-tooists in the city claimthat tattoos do not lead toskin cancer or other blood-borne disease.

"One should go to aprofessional tattooist. Aprofessional will use onlyorganic inks. The best inksare imported from the US,Britain and Australia.Some Chinese inks avail-able at cheap rates in themarket might be harmful,"said Anu Singh, who ownsTattoo Empire of India.

"Aftercare proceduresshould also be followed toavoid infected on theinked skin. My clientshave not had any cancer orskin disease. There mightbe a slight inflammationfor a few days after the tat-too is made," Singh added.

this age, there is a veryclear and strong linkbetween carrying excessweight and suffering aheart attack or stroke.

These associationsremained unchanged evenafter accounting for otherpregnancy -assoc ia tedcomplications or cardio-vascular risk factors,including smoking.

"Young women need tobe aware that there areserious health risks associ-ated with obesity and poorlifestyle habits, and these[negative effects] appearto set in early," saidMichelle Schmiegelow, aPhD student at theUniversity of Copenhagenand the study's lead inves-tigator.

"This study is impor-tant because although theincidence of heart diseaseis declining overall, thisdownward trend doesn'tseem to apply to women 35to 44 years of age. In fact,coronary artery diseaseseems to be on the rise inthis group, however it isstill very rare," she added.Women who were under-weight were slightly moreprone to having a heartattack or stroke as well,although this trend needsto be further investigated.

To Our Readers

We are publishing these

items in good faith,

kindly consult your

Doctor before you try to

implement it. We do not

hold any responsibility

for its efficacy...

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New research showsthat fat women with a

high body mass index(BMI)—a measure of thebody's fat content—that isindicative of obesity weretwice as likely as those ofnormal weight to suffer apotentially life-threateningheart attack or strokewithin just four to fiveyears following childbirth,the study found. Whilethese cardiac events arevery rare among women of

Venus continues tofavour your love life. If

you are still seeking the ideal partner, things aredefinitely looking up. An increase in your sociallife is likely to bring you in touch with someoneattractive. At work you need greater flexibility aswell as a degree of patience. Do not step on anyone's toes.

It's time when expe-rience will enable you

to enrich your inner mind and personality. Youare moving into a new phase of life which willbring wider scope for developing your uniquequalities and talents. You are likely to movearound more than usual. Life will become verylively and there will be a lot of social interactions.

You are likely to belucky in terms of oppor-

tunities and meetings with helpful persons.Whatever you are aiming to achieve at this timewill suddenly take a leap onto a new level. If youare hoping to move up the ladder of success, thisis definitely a time to be on the alert for newopenings.

Your urge towardsgreater freedom and independence is very

strongly accentuated. In intimate affairs, theprospect appears entirely favourable. In workmatters you can expect a progressive phase.Efforts to bring about desirable changes in yourworking life are more likely to be positive.

Many Leos will beintent on expanding their

mental horizons. Your way ahead is likely tobecome very clear now - priortise your futuregoals. This is an appropriate time in which to talkthings over with your loved one - especially any-thing that has been worrying you or making youfeel insecure.

Don't take short-cuts in legal or official

matters. It will be only too easy to feel exasper-ated by bureaucracy but you won't be doing your-self any favours if you lose your cool. This is afine time for you to get away from the mundanerealities of life and relax. Some of you will prob-ably go abroad.

Love and close per-sonal relationships will occupy the centre of

your attention this week. With Venus remainingin your opposite sign, any emotional tensions willbe smoothed out easily and harmony will prevail.On a purely practical note, you can expect yourfinancial affairs to take a turn for the better.

Health is an impor-tant area that you will take seriously. It is

likely that you may embark on a course of phys-ical exercise and diet. It could be quite a diffi-cult week psychologically with increased dangerof misunderstandings arising and not being ableto see the wood from the trees. Try to be diplo-matic.

The prevail ingpattern of planets gives you a marvellous

opportunity. Take time out to strengthen closeties of affection, sort out emotional differencesand proffer the olive branch to anyone who mayhave caused you pain in recent months. Venusthrows an easy light on affairs of the heart -prime time for engagements and weddings.

You can expect asustained and quite hectic f low of visitors to

contribute greatly to a very buoyant atmos-phere. If you are ambitious, this promises to bean important time in your life. You are likely toget the lucky breaks and reach a wider audienceno matter what your aims.

Don't get over- anx-ious if you feel that you're being kept in the

dark. You will probably find that worries havebeen unfounded. Although you may be facedwith a difficult decision concerning your careeror employment, this is not the time to hide.Don't waste time if you can improve matters.

You can expect alively and varied time

ahead. Communications will be free and easy,making this an excellent time to deal with impor-tant matters. Also, you'll find that people youmeet, perhaps especially newcomers, will be astimulating influence and may encourage you todabble in new interests.


ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23

SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20

GEMINI May 22 - June 22

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23

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'Mayor is playing with fire'Appeal to attend Public

meeting

The ‘London Fire &Emergency PlanningAuthority’ (LFEPA) isholding PublicConsultation meetingacross London to consulton its Draft LondonSafety Plan (LSP)5 whichincludes proposals toclose 12 fire stations, dis-pose off 18 fire enginesand delete 520 fire-fighterposts across London.

A public Meeting willbe held on 16th April2013 from 7pm to 9pm atHarrow Civic Centre,Station Road HarrowHA1 to consult residentsof Harrow about DraftLSP 5 and its overallimpact on London andcritically impact locally onpeople of Brent andHarrow.

The meeting will givean opportunity to localresidents to hear how theplan will affect them andalso provide opportunityto ask questions.

The proposals withinthe Draft London SafetyPlan are a direct result of45M budget cuts instigat-ed by the Mayor ofLondon andConservative/LibDemGovernment.

The closure plans donot propose fire stationclosure in Brent andHarrow. However, theoverall performance inLondon will get worse.According to the plan,London-wide attendanceto an incident willincrease by 15 seconds for

the first fire engine and 16seconds for the second fireengine. Every secondcounts and any delay infire engines reaching lateat incidents would risklives.

Navin Shah LondonAssembly Member forBrent and Harrow andVice Chair of the FireAuthority said “TheMayor is playing with fireand putting lives ofLondoner’s at risk by hisreckless plans to close 12fire stations, reduce 18 fireengines and delete 520fire-fighters. Residentsshould not think that justbecause fire stations arenot closing in Brent andHarrow it won’t affectthem. The plans will meanreduction of fire coverright across Londonwhich in turn will put atrisk safety of Brent andHarrow’s residents. I urgethe residents to attend thepublic meeting, hearabout the plans and havetheir say. I also urge ourresidents to respond to theconsultation and opposeMayor’s closure plans tokeep Brent -Harrow andLondon safe’.

Cllr Navin Shah AM

Which year did "Mint Leaf" restaurant open?

Answer: C - 2003

Winner: Miss Kimmiee Patel

Coming Events

l The leading tour operator HARI AUM HOLIDAY hasstarted Premier H Club to give more benefit to itsmembers. First gathering of the Premier H Clubto beheld on 19th April to celebrate Ram Navmi at PatidarHouse, 22 London Road, Wembley HA9 7EX. Freelunch will be provided to all the attendee. All are wel-come. For more information contact 020 8452 0350

l Shri Swaminarayan Jayanti and Shri Rama Navamicelebrations Saturday 20 April, BAPS SwaminarayanTemple, London NW10 8LD. Contact: 020 8965 2651

l 2nd Edition of The Prideview Cricketers’ Cup will beheld once again at Merchant Taylors’ School,Northwood Middx on Sunday 14th July 2013.Everything earned via team entry fees, corporatesponsorship and the raffle will again be donated toThe Big Hug Foundation. The team entry fee will be aminimum of £350 (including food and drinks for yourplayers / supporters) and we will have 8 teams likelast year. Contact : Nilesh Raj Patel t: 0208 863 8680 (ext. 36) or email: [email protected]

l Kali presents My Daughter's Trial. 8-25April,7:30pm, Brown's Courtroom, Soho TheatreboxWC2N4AG 02074780100

l Friday 19 April 2013, 6:30pm. Music Panorama byUrmi Chakraborty. Nehru Centre. South Audley Street

l Bhavan presents sanskrit play: Sakshee Shila, forthe Southbank alchemy festival. Venue: QueenElizabeth Foyer, Southbank centre

l Gujarat Hindu Society presents, Sunday 21 April2013, 9:30am onwards. Sponsor: ChandrakantbhaiLimbachia and family. Preston. Contact: 01772827403l Bhaktivedanta Manor celebrates Ramnavami on 21April 2013. 4-7pm. Contact: 01923851003

l Hanuman Jayanti 25 April 2013, 108 HanumanChalisa, 11am-5:30pm. Shree Jalaram Mandir,Greenford

l Chaitra Navratri, 11 April-20 April, Thursday 18April, Sanatan Hindu Mandir, Wembley HA0 4TA

Asian Voice wishes all its Tamil,

Assamese, Bengali and Punjabi

readers a Happy New Year

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 13th April 201332

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Mumbai Indians thrashDelhi Daredevils by 44runs in their IPL clash atthe Wankhede stadium onTuesday. After Karthik(86) and Rohit (74) pow-ered Mumbai to the 209/5,highest total of the tourna-ment so far, bowlers putup a united effort torestrict Delhi to 165/9,securing a thumping victo-ry for their team.

Earlier, Ricky Pontingtook a stunning catch tosend Unmukt Chand backon the first delivery ofDelhi's innings. Chandtried to loft Harbhajanthrough extra cover butwas shocked by Ponting'sbrilliance.

Mitchell Johnson thensent back skipper MahelaJayawardene to giveMumbai second success.Jayawardene's dismissalreduced Delhi to 13/2. Hewas caught behind byDinesh Karthik in thethird over.

Mumbai pacer MitchellJohnson got rid of dangerman David Warner (61)while Kieron Pollardremoved Jeevan Mendis(0) reduce DelhiDaredevils to 97/4 in theirchase of 210.

Johnson struck in the11th over to break a solidstand for the third wicketby getting warner caughtby Ambati Rayudu.

Warner rescued Delhifrom early setback and putthem in hunt with his fieryshow. However, he failedto make it big and fell justwhen the side wantedmore of him.

Dinesh Karthiksmashed a 48-ball 86 whileRohit Sharma struck anunbeaten half-century asMumbai Indians posted animposing 209 for fiveagainst Delhi Daredevils.Karthik and Sharma treat-ed the opposition bowlerswith disdain as bothhelped Mumbai recoverfrom two early jolts at theWankhede Stadium.

Karthik continued hisrich vein of form as he hit14 fours and two sixes inhis aggressive knock whileSharma too played his roleto perfection, hitting an

unconquered 50-ball 74 totake the team's total past200-run mark.

Sharma's chancelessknock was laced with 4fours and five toweringhits beyond the boundaryline, which included threesixes off the last overbowled by pacer AshishNehra.Virat Kohli helps RoyalChallengers to humbleSunrisers Hyderabad

In the first match ofthe day Virat Kohli ledfrom the front with abreathtaking unbeaten 93as Royal ChallengersBangalore made shortwork of a challenging tar-get from Sunrisers

Hyderabad winning byseven wickets in a PepsiIndian Premier Leaguematch, on Tuesday.

Chasing a commend-able target of 162, Kohlimade a mockery ofSunrisers bowlers as hesingle handedly guided histeam to victory smashing11 four and four sixes off47 balls as they knockedoff the runs with 14 ballsremaining.

It was a sweet revengefor RCB who had lost toSunrisers in a 'Super Over'two days back. The matchswung decisively in RCB'sfavour in the 16th overbowled by Amit Mishraafter 'Strategic Time-Out'

where Kohli smashed thebulky leggie for 21 runs.This included to straightsixes. In the next ThisaraPerera over he got another16 runs to close in on thematch and couple ofboundaries from Ishantsealed the issue.

He had a partnershipof 66 with MoisesHenriques (7) for thefourth wicket but it wasKohli who was in com-plete control as he pacedhis innings in brilliantfashion.

The ploy to open thebowling with HanumaVihari failed miserably thistime as Agarwal hit himfor a four and six to gethim out of the attack. Thelocal boy then pulledIshant for a six over deepfine leg to get 15 runs fromthe over.

But the youngster paidthe price for being overaggressive as he mistimeda pull-shot off a back oflength delivery fromPerera which ballooned upfor skipper Sangakkara totake an easy catch.

Earlier, CameronWhite and Perera's slambang approach during thefinal five overs sawSunrisers Hyderabadreach a competitive 161for six.

White and Pereraadded 80 runs in only 7.2overs to take the new IPLfranchise to a comfortableposition. While Whiteclobbered three fours andthree sixes in his 34-ball-52, Perera hit four hugesixes and a four in hisknock of 40 which cameoff only 24 balls.

The last six overs ofthe innings produced awhopping 77 runs asSunrisers had scored only84 in their first 14 overs.

Senior cricketers VirenderSehwag and HarbhajanSingh were omitted whileJammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parveez Rasoolwas named in India's 30-member probables list forthe ICC ChampionsTrophy to be held inEngland in June this year.

Apart from the strug-gling Sehwag andHarbhajan, pacer ZaheerKhan, batsman CheteshwarPujara and spinner PragyanOjha were also left out fromthe list of probablesannounced by BCCI secre-tary Sanjay Jagdale.

The left handedGautam Gambhir, who hadbeen dropped from the Testteam, finds himself in thelist which has a number ofyoungsters like MadhyaPradesh all-rounder JalajSaxena, Punjab pacer

Siddharth Kaul,Maharashtra middle orderbatsman Kedar Jadhav andMP pacer Ishwar Yadav.

Both Sehwag andHarbhajan's axing did notcome as a surprise since bothhave been out of form forquite a long time. WhileSehwag, who is also current-ly sitting injured on the DelhiDaredevils bench, wasdropped from the squad forthe third and fourth Testagainst Australia because ofa prolonged form slump,Harbhajan managed toretain his Test place but failedto earn a spot in the playingeleven. Gambhir, who wasignored for the entire Testseries against Australia,kept himself in reckoningby making it to 30-men listwhich will be pruned downto 15 a month before thetournament.

ICC Champions Trophy:Sehwag, Harbhajan omitted

IPL Results of 10 matchesplayed till Tuesday, 9th April

Match Date Teams

1 3 April KKR v/s DD at KolkataKKR won by 6 wicketsBrief scores: DD 128 (20 overs); KKR 129/4 (18.4 overs)

2 4 April RCB v/s MI at BangaloreRCB won by 2 runsBrief scores: RCB 156/5 (20 overs); MI 154/5 (20 overs)

3 5 April SH v/s PW at HyderbadSH won by 22 runsBrief scores: SH 126/6 (20 overs); PW 104 (18.5 overs)

4 6 April DD v/s RR at DelhiRR won by 5 runsBrief scores: RR 165/7 (20 overs); DD 160/6 (20 overs)

5 6 April CSK v/s MI at ChennaiMI won by 9 runsBrief scores: MI 148/6 (20 overs); CSK 139/9 (20 overs)

6 7 April PW v/s KXIP at PuneKXIP won by 8 wicketsBrief scores: PW 99/9 (20 overs); KXIP 100/2 (12.2 overs)

7 7 April SH v/s RCB at HyderabadSH won by won the one-over eliminatorBrief scores: RCB 130/8 (20 overs); SH 130/7 (20 overs)

8 8 April RR v/s KKR at JaipurRR won by 19 runsBrief scores: RR 144/6 (20 overs); KKR 125/8 (19 overs)

9 9 April RCB v/s SH at BangaloreRCB won by 7 wicketsBrief scores: SH 161/6 (20 overs); RCB 162/3 (17.4 overs)

10 9 April MI v/s DD at MumbaiMI won by 44 runsBrief scores: MI 209/5 (20 overs); DD 165/9 (20 overs)

Teams Match Won Lost Tied N/R Points Net RRMumbai Indians 3 2 1 0 0 4 +0.850Rajasthan Royals 2 2 0 0 0 4 +0.600Royal Challengers Bangalore 3 2 1 0 0 4 +0.352Sunrisers Hyderabad 3 2 1 0 0 4 +0.083Kings XI Punjab 1 1 0 0 0 2 +3.158Kolkata Knight Riders 2 1 1 0 0 2 -0.231Chennai Super Kings 1 0 1 0 0 0 -0.450Delhi Daredevils 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.024Pune Warriors 2 0 2 0 0 0 -1.915

Indian Premier League 2013 Points Table (09 / 04 / 2013)

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