Asian Voice

Continued on page 5

4th Feb to 10th Feb 201280p Let noble thoughts come to us from every sideVOL 40. ISSUE 39 First & Foremost Asian Weekly in Europe

In a recent interview theMinister emphasised thatthe new policy will benefit‘wealthy immigrants’ andwill undoubtedly ‘penalisepeople from poor coun-tries and the unskilled’.

He said that he hoped

to encourage into Britain anew generation of ‘theskilled, the highly talented– the bright young things –the brightest and the bestfrom all around the world’.

He had also addedthere would be a separate

Green’s new immigrationrules termed ‘classist’

route into Britain for theexceptionally talented inthe arts, includingdancers, actors, artistsand musicians but thosewho come in on a workvisa will find it more diffi-cult to win the right tostay permanently.

Post this comment, ofcourse it is highly ques-tionable what incentivewould drive this non EUimmigrants towardsBritain, especially as theeconomy remains in asorry state.

The urge in a man tomigrate and settle in abetter or advanced landhas been perennial.

Rt Hon Keith Vaz, MPDamian Green,

Immigration Minister

The new changes to the immigration rulesproposed by the Home office and theImmigration Minister Damian Green has raisedserious criticism. It has not only been categorisedas unfair but also as extremely classist.

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INDIA

Indian President, Smt. Pratibha Patil, the chief guest of Republic Day, the Prime Minister ofthe Kingdom of Thailand, Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan

Singh at the 63rd Republic day celebrations, in New Delhi. The Republic Day wascelebrated all over the world. Martyrs day was observed on January 30. (Mahatma Gandhi’s

death anniversary) Reports on page 6,7 and 26

Indicting the PrimeMinister’s Office ( PMO)but letting Indian PrimeMinister ManmohanSingh off lightly on failureto decide on prosecutingthe then telecom ministerA Raja in the 2G case, theSupreme Court set a limitof four months for decid-ing the issue of sanctionfor prosecution of corruptpublic servants.

Allowing Janata Partypresident SubramaniamSwamy's petition againstthe Delhi High Courtjudgment refusing todirect the Prime Ministeron his plea for prosecu-tion of Raja, the apexcourt upheld the right ofa private citizen to seeksanction for prosecutionof a public servant forcorruption.

Rejecting Attorney

General G E Vahanvati'sarguments, a bench com-prising justices G SSinghvi and A K Gangulyheld that Swamy had thelocus standi to seek sanc-tion. The apex courtblamed the PMO for sit-ting on the plea to PrimeMinister for granting sanc-tion to prosecute Raja.

It said that those whowere "duty bound" to

apprise the PrimeMinister about the "seri-ousness" of the allega-tions to enable him totake appropriate decisionin the matter "failed" todo so. "Unfortunately,those who were expectedto give proper advice toPrime Minister and placefull facts and legal posi-tion before him failed todo so.

Continued on page 26

2G scam: India’s SupremeCourt pulls up PMO

Apex court sets 4-month time limitto decide on issue of sanction

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 20122 UK

one to oneKeith Vaz MP with

Peter Smith, Development Director, Broadway LodgePeter Smith has spent 25 years working in the

counselling and addictions professions in both

community and residential settings; 18 years

providing counselling supervision and training;

12 years acting in a consultancy capacity for

organisations in this country and overseas to

assist with the development of alcohol and drug

workplace policies, delivery of treatment pro-

grammes and staff training and development

programmes. He is currently Development

Director at Broadway Lodge and a GAMNOS

Steering Group member and RCGP Gambling

Awareness Advisory Board member. He is work-

ing on the development of appropriate respons-

es to problems arising from video/on-line game

playing and developing tools to assess treatment

impact.

Please tell us about yourcurrent position?

I am the DevelopmentDirector at BroadwayLodge which is a treat-ment centre for depend-ency to alcohol, drugs,gambling, video/internetgaming and eating disor-ders. I have a lead rolein the delivery of thetherapy programmes andas a member of theSenior ManagementTeam I am involved inthe strategic develop-ment of the organisation.

What are your proudest

achievements?

I am most proud of tak-ing the lead in Broadwaybeing the first centre tobe recognised by theEuropean Associationfor the Treatment ofAddiction (EATA) underits accreditation schemewhen first introduced in2001. This identifiedBroadway as a providerof care services of thehighest standards.

What has been thebiggest obstacle in yourcareer?

On reflection perhaps thebiggest obstacle has beenthe choice of subject stud-ied at university (geogra-phy) but on a philosophi-cal note, if I had donesomething different Iwould not be here now.Currently the biggestobstacle is the uncertain-ties regarding funding forthis client group. This lackof certainty makes strate-gic planning difficult.

Who has been the biggestinfluence on your careerto date?

The biggest influence hasbeen Carl Rogers. I havealways enjoyed workingwith people and motivatedto care and support peoplein difficulty as best Icould. Learning about the‘person-centred’ approachand what Rogers referred

to as the CoreConditions (empathy,unconditional positiveregard and congruence)made a big impact on myearly training and hascontinued to influencethe way I work.

What is the best thingabout your current role?

The best thing about myrole now is its variety. Ihave the opportunity totravel across the UK andabroad and to meetinteresting people doinginteresting and innova-tive things and at thesame time to be involvedin operational andstrategic decisions withBroadway as it developsand delivers services inan uncertain climate.

And the worst?

The worst thing is hav-ing more on my desk todeal with at the end ofthe week than there wasat the beginning. This isfollowed in close secondand sometimes connect-ed by the problems thatmodern technology pres-ents when the server isplaying up or the inter-net is down or I can’tremember where I havefiled something on thecomputer

What are your long termgoals?

I would like to add afinal phase to the treat-ment journey thatBroadway provides itsservice users. Followingdetoxification, Primary

Care, Secondary Careand Third Stage, I wouldhope we could worktowards the provision ofhousing and employ-ment. I am keen toexplore the developmentof a Social Enterpriseand through this to offerskills training andimprove the employmentprospects of people inrecovery.

If you were PrimeMinister, what one thingwould you change?

As Prime Minister Iwould simplify the taxa-tion system and encour-age better distribution ofany ‘bonus’ money beingmade available to ensurethe whole of a workforcebenefit from it ratherthan a select few at thetop.

If you were maroonedon a desert island, whichhistorical figures wouldyou like to spend yourtime with and why?

If marooned I wouldwant people who werepractical in approach tohelp with things likecooking, building, andharnessing energy, buthistorical figures I wouldlike to spend time withwould be Gandhi, a manof great dignity and faiththat I could learn from;Thomas Hardy andKhaled Hosseini who Ibelieve would thrill andentertain with stories;and Charles Darwin toteach us about fauna,flora and evolution.

A meeting has been sched-uled by the Brent Standard(Initial assessment) Sub-Committee on Monday 6thFebruary at 6:30pm to dis-cuss the case of Cllr AnnJohn, who has beenaccused of influencingdecision over a controver-sial planning applicationmade by the Shirdi SaiTemple. This meeting,which is not open to pressbut only to the general pub-lic, will be attended by CllrsBeck, Colwill & Gladbaumat the Committee room 4,

2nd Floor, Brent town. The investigation

against Cllr John, LabourLeader in Brent council hasbeen launched followingserious allegations made ina leaked email from a fel-low Labour councillor.These allegations havebeen reported to the coun-cil’s Monitoring Officerwho has responsibility foroverseeing the Councillors’Code of Conduct, whichmay have been breached byCllr John. The StandardsBoard for England, which

oversees standards of con-duct in local government,has also been informed.When asked about it,

Cllr Ann John told AsianVoice, “This is a load ofrubbish and I have nothingto hide.”Speaking to Shirdi Sai

Temple authority AsianVoice learnt that despite ofwinning the case againstthe council, various prob-lems of the temple still con-tinue to hinder its normalfunction.

Second-generation Asianwomen switch between astandard “British” accentand Asian-accentedspeech depending on thesituation, researchershave discovered.Academics from

Queen Mary, Universityof London found that sec-ond-generation Asianmen had developed theirown Asian youth speak,dubbed “Brasian”.Women, however, werespeaking “prestigeEnglish” in formal situa-tions, such as at work orduring interviews, andswitching to Indian-accented English athome.The academics con-

ducted more than 100interviews in Southall,west London, and askedparticipants to recordthemselves in a range ofsituations. They foundyoung women used “high-ly standard, even posh,British variants” in for-mal situations and revert-ed to “highly Indianisedspeech in the home”.

Seema Malhota, MPfor Feltham and Hestonand the sixth Asian

female MP in Britain (pic-tured), who is also a sec-ond generation Briton,told Asian Voice, “I thinkwhat is really important isthat this shows how sec-ond generation Asians -or indeed any person thatmay have more than onebackground or heritage -that we can bridge morethan one world and becomfortable in both. Forsecond generationAsians, we do bridge Eastand West in a way I thinkis really powerful for com-munity cohesion inBritain and important forstrong relationshipsbetween Britain andAsia.”

Blessed with twoidentities?

Meeting called to discuss allegationsagainst Brent Council Labour leader

Dr Savi Sondhi, a doctorin charge of out-of-hourscare for a million Londonpatients, ran the servicefrom his home in Norfolkand often took three hoursto return urgent calls, anNHS report has disclosed,as reported by The DailyTelegraph. The report, byNHS South West London,found that he repeatedlyfailed to answer his tele-phone when on call andtook between one-and-a-half and three hours torespond to urgent requestsfor help. The target is 20minutes.As many as 114 calls

were logged to his tele-phone each night, yet heallegedly cancelled shiftswithout warning, thereport stated.

Malcolm Wicks, theLabour MP for CroydonNorth said, “With the pub-lication of this report, wenow have chapter andverse about a major abuseof the health service. Itshows how one GP seizedthe chance, through theprivatisation of an essen-tial health service, to runthings not in the interestof patients, but for person-al gain. The impact onsome patients must have

been at best stressful, atworst terrifying and dan-gerous.”

Nitin Mehta MBE,who is a renowned Jainleader of the vegetariansociety from Crydon areatold Asian Voice, “This is agross failure on the part ofCroydon Primary CareTrust. The other GPs onthe board of Croydoc wereeither duped or kept quietdue to misplaced loyalty.Unfortunately a culture oflooking the other way hasdeveloped in many publicinstitutions. It is a sorrystate of affairs for thiscountry.”

Doctor found guilty by NHS

The authors JB Priestleyand Roald Dahl and thepainters Lucian Freud,Francis Bacon and LSLowry are among morethan 250 people who haveturned down honoursover the past 40 years,according to officialrecords published on lastWednesday night.The neo colonial hang-

over which urges peopleto receive honours fromthe Queen on New Yearand on her birthday hasbeen severely criticised bysome people who haverefused the honours. The list, which covers

anyone who snubbed anhonour from the Queenbetween 1951 and 1999and has since died, wasreleased by the CabinetOffice.

More than 250people haveturned down

honours

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Thought for the WeekDow’s association with London Olympics brings shame to UK

The news that Dow Chemical will be branding andwrapping the London Olympic Stadium is disap-pointing yet sadly, unsurprising. The LOCOG (London Organising Committee ofthe Olympic and Paralympic Games who claim tobe committed to sustainability, are willing to part-ner with Dow brings shame on the UK and yetagain, on the Olympic Games and irrevocablydemonstrates the ongoing influence of the multina-tional superpowers in global affairs.

Olympics are an event to promote peace. But,Union Carbide and Dow’s products are used inhumankind’s war against people and nature. TheInternational Olympic Committee could not havechosen a worse partner to promote its charter.

The protest is because Union Carbide, whichwas taken over by Dow Chemicals has given rise tomass death tragedy in Bhopal. The very wordBhopal hurts the sentiments of Indians, as inDecember 1984 a highly toxic gas was leaked froma pesticide plant in Bhopal by which more than20,000 people had died.

Winds spread the poison through a densely pop-ulated area. Many died instantly, others died whileas they tried to flee the leak. Others have lived withdebilitating health problems ever since. Childrenborn decades after the spill are drinking water thatflows from the polluted site.

The terrible legacy of the leak takes its toll onevery generation. And 28 years on, the victims arestill waiting for meaningful justice and full compen-sation.

When faced with loss of life on this scale, theimmediate question people ask is who is to blame.The answer is complicated, but the extensive evi-dence from Amnesty International demonstratesthat Dow Chemical now carries ultimate responsi-bility. The assets and liabilities of the companyinvolved at the time – Union Carbide – are in Dow's

hands. Instead of cleaning up the site and compen-sating the victims and their families, Dow deniesany responsibility for the tragedy.

In 2010, the International Olympic Committeeappointed Dow as an international sponsor for theGames Then last year, Locog, the London Gamesorganiser, invited companies to tender for a majorcontract to provide a wrap for the main Olympicstadium. Dow won this bidding process. Manygroups and individuals raised questions and finallythe commission was asked to investigate.

It was shocking to see that the result of ourinvestigation was a public statement from the com-mission that essentially portrays Dow a responsiblecompany.

Though information about Bhopal tragedy wasprovided to commission, it made no difference andto everybody’s surprise it publicly repeated Dow'sline bears no responsibility for Bhopal.

With no response coming from either the IOC orthe London Olympics organisers to their previousprotest, the Indian Olympic Association shot offanother letter to both the bodies demanding DowChemical's removal as sponsor of the upcomingevent.

"There is no need to carry this Toxic Legacy,"IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra said ina statement.

An enraged Meredith Alexander stepped downas a commissioner on the Commission for aSustainable London 2012 (CSL), whose job is toassure sustainability across the Olympic andParalympic programme, stating she no longer want-ed "to be party to a defence of Dow Chemicals".

Five Bhopal victims' rights groups have alsodemanded the scrapping of the sponsorship deal,saying it would give undue publicity to a companythat was refusing to clean up the toxic contamina-tion of soil and groundwater.

Britain's new immigration rules-risky?Whoever says that Britain is done with discrimina-tion, better take a walk. The recent rule changesproposed by the immigration minister DamianGreen is not only discriminatory but extremelyeclectic. It resembles an archaic Indian matrimonyadvert for a groom or a bride, where the 'best andthe fair, with strings of talents are only welcome torespond.'

One must know that it is rational for a humanrace to migrate to a country with better resources.

Damian Green in his recent interview in vari-ous national dailies has commented that the newpolicy will benefit 'wealthy immigrants' and will'undoubtedly penalise people from poor countriesand the unskilled.'

Why has Mr Green overlooked the possibility ofimmigrants easily picking up a foreign language?Why does he think that only the rich and thebrightest can bring prosperity to Britain?

Mr Green is forgetting two things here. First histarget audience. If Britain only wants the brightestimmigrants to fill vacancies that cannot be other-wise fulfilled by an equally qualified native, British

companies will have to pay much more to these tal-ented immigrants to lure them from abroad. Itwould create a situation of complexity that isuncontrollable by the Britons.

Second, as the Economist rightly points out,Migration brings youth to ageing countries, andallows ideas to circulate in millions of mobileminds. That is good both for those who arrive withsuitcases and dreams and for those who shouldwelcome them.

States may well have the right to rigorouslyenforce immigration law, but no one will uprootthemself from their country and family to go some-place where they don't speak the language and getpaid peanuts just for the fun of it. They do it foreconomic opportunities that do not exist in theirhome country. If they are already rich, they haveno reason to migrate to another country for equalstatus.

It is wise to control asylum seekers, sham mar-riages and illegal immigrants, but a 'classist' basisof choosing 'who should be let in' could be a risk toBritain at this moment.

India bows down to the threat of fanaticsThe recent incident of blocking the entry of SirSalman Rushdie physically as well as blocking hisvideo address during the literary festival in Jaipuris a huge embarrassment for the government ofIndia which is aspiring to become a superpower.Once again the Indian state has succumbed to thethreat of violence by a group of religious fanatics,who neither could read the book nor understood it.

It only proves once again that it only needs thethreat of violence and some illiterate bigots tobring the educated Indians to their knees.

The politicians of all hues, from right to left ofcentre to communists, remained speechlessbystanders, showing how the politics of compro-mise and cowardice has overtaken India.

It shows once again how Indians are becomingaloof from the assault on the free speech and inef-fective Indian state.

Except some reports in the media, there was no

national outrage. When the mob rules, why riskour life is the unfortunate attitude of the public!Whatever it may be, it has proved as the collectivefailure of India.

Two years ago Sir Rushdie said that he wasworried about the rising culture of complaint inIndia. He referred to the case of late artist M FHusain. The trouble makers had vandalized thepainter’s works, threatened him and literally drovehim out of India.

This time the threats are to Sir Rushdie himself.Critics say that politicians are in fear of offendingMuslim voters in Uttar Pradesh resulting intokeeping Rushdie away.

But this incident also raises some fundamentalquestions: Is an increasingly prosperous Indiabecoming more intolerant? Or the religious groupsand politicians failed to move with the times?

COMMENT

When the history booksare written about theyears leading up to thefinancial crises of 2008,it’s likely that one of thetopics covered will bethe huge payouts thatmany rich bankers andother top executives reg-ularly received, and theeffect this had on the gapbetween the earnings ofthose on average salariesand those at the verytop. Children in Britishschools of the future willbe taught how politi-cians failed to learn thelessons of previousrecessions, such as the‘dot-com’ boom and bustof the 1990s, and carriedon thinking that as longas the economy wasgrowing, there was noneed to worry about toppay.

I was shocked tolearn that in 1997 whenLabour took power chiefexecutives pay was 47times average pay butwhen they lost power in2010 this had balloonedto 120 times average pay.It seems ridiculous that,at a time when the glob-al recession means thatmany people are seeingtheir incomes stagnate,the wealthiest in societyare still receiving payrises – rises which seemto be completely unrelat-ed to performance.What’s more, these payrises are awarded bysecretive committees,hidden from sharehold-ers, employees and thepublic.

In January, theLiberal DemocratSecretary of Stateresponsible for business,Vince Cable, gave animportant speech, whichshowed that unlike pre-vious Governments, theCoalition is determinedto learn the lessons ofthe crash. There willnow be more transparen-cy than ever before –making sure thatemployees and the pub-lic can see what is reallygoing on and hold execu-

tives to account. Therewill also be an end to thecosy arrangementswhere company bossesset each others’ pay,with proposals to giveshareholders – the peo-ple who actually own thebusinesses – more powerto keep pay in check.

This wrangling overexecutive pay may soundremote from most peo-ple’s lives, but what goeson in business board-rooms affects us all.When, as at the moment,bosses can be sure of fatpay packets no matterhow well they do theirjobs, they have lessincentive to ensure thelong-term success oftheir companies. As aresult, British businessesare less likely to succeedand this means that weall lose out on the jobsand revenue that theymight have created.

There is also theimportant matter ofinequality. The huge gapbetween rich and poor isthe great injustice of ourage. This is why theLiberal Democrats inGovernment are deter-mined to fight for thechanges that will makeBritain fairer. We arealready taking measuresthat will help, such asintroducing the pupilpremium for schoolpupils from low incomefamilies and taking thelowest pay out of incometax altogether, but thereis still much more weneed to do. A fair country is onewhere everyone doestheir bit and gets backwhat they deserve, bothat the top and the bot-tom of the income scale.The old model of “takewhat you can” capital-ism glorified under thelast Labour Governmentdidn’t work. The ideasthat the LiberalDemocrats are puttingforward in Governmentwill make Britain a fairerand more prosperousplace to live.

Sarah Teather MP

Liberal Democrat MP for Brent Central and Minister ofState for Children and Families

Stopping the super rich getting awaywith high pay for low performance

Happiness is the meaning and purpose

of life, the whole aim and end of human

existence

- Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 20124

In brief

Leicester Voice By Meera Majithia

Email: [email protected]

The Heartsearch Charity Committeehas donated a generous £10,001 tohelp the University of LeicesterCardiovascular Research CentreAppeal get closer to its goal of rais-ing £1m.

The cheque presentation cere-mony took place on Thursday 19thJanuary 2012 at the StoneycroftHotel in Leicester, and was made bycommittee members Mr. JayantibhaiChandarana (Chair of Trustees), Mr.Hemendra Ghelani (Chair ofManagement Committee / Trustee),Mr. Gulabbhai Mistry (Treasurer),Mr. Naresh Popat (Chair Fund rais-ing committee), Miss. Sunita Joshi,Mr. Hakim Khalifa, Mr. ArvindMistry (Secretary) to Ave Vinick,Deputy Director of Development atthe University.

In August 2011 the Universitylaunched the public phase of itsappeal to raise the final £1mrequired to complete and equip theCardiovascular Research Centre(CRC). The new £12.6m researchcentre will impact radically on boththe scale and quality of research andtreatment of cardiovascular diseaseall over the UK.

The University has committedover £6m of its capital resources tothis major project and the BritishHeart Foundation has provided flag-ship funding for the Centre.

Consultant CardiologistProfessor Nilesh Samani is Head ofthe University’s Department ofCardiovascular Sciences, where he

holds the prestigious British HeartFoundation Chair in Cardiology. Heis a Leicester alumnus and one ofthe foremost researchers in cardio-vascular genetics in the world.

Professor Samani said: “Thestate-of-the-art Research Centre willundertake world leading research inheart disease and further Leicester'sreputation as an internationallyacclaimed centre of excellence incardiovascular research.”

Ave Vinick, Deputy D irector ofDevelopment at the University,said: “We are delighted by thetremendous support thatHeartsearch have shown towards

the Appeal.“The £12.6m Cardiovascular

Research Centre, which is due forcompletion in July 2012, will enablemore people with a susceptibility to,or suffering from, cardiovasculardisease to benefit from greaterunderstanding, prediction, treat-ment and care.

“The new Research Centre willradically transform the scale andquality of research undertaken intocardiovascular disease and seek toimprove the health and life expecta-tions of thousands of patients andthe general public in Leicestershire,across the UK and worldwide.”

A hearty gesture by local charity

Committee members from Heartsearch present a cheque for A£10,001 to AveVinick, Deputy Director of Development at the University of Leicester, to

support the Cardiovascular Research Centre Appeal

Over 100 sewer blockagesfound in Loughborough

Loughborough-town has been named as one of theworst places in its region for blocked sewers accord-ing to Severn Trent.

The company revealed that there have been morethan 500 inspections and 109 blockages cleared inthe area in the past year. Engineers have found nap-pies, baby wipes and fats from roasting tins in thesewers all of which have contributed to the blockedsewers.

Speaking to the BBC, Scott Burgin, SevernTrent’s network service delivery manager said:“Internal and external flooding to people’s homescan be very distressing for occupiers.

“Sewers are not designed to carry waste such asnappies, baby wipes and sanitary products andthat’s without mentioning what people put downthe plug hole.”

Severn Trent Water spends about £10m eachyear cleaning 435 miles (700km) of sewers.

Appeal for informationrelated to burglary

De t e c t i v e sinvestigatinga burglary inBurbage haver e l e a s e dC C T Vimages oftwo men theywish to iden-tify and tracein connec-tion with the incident.

The incident took place sometime between8.45pm on Monday 12th December and 5.30am onTuesday 13th December, when a property in SchoolLane was broken into and a car parked on the drive-way was stolen.

As well as the silver Kia Sportage people carriera bankcard was also stolen from the property, anattempt was then made to use the card in Bury.

Detective Constable Kate Leith is investigatingthe incident, she said: “We understand fromenquiries we have made so far that the victim mayhave been contacted by someone purporting to befrom his bank asking for access to his PIN.

“An attempt has then been made to use the cardat a shop in the Bury area of Lancashire.

“We would urge anyone who recognises the menin the images to contact us, even if you’re not 100%sure, we can quickly eliminate people from ourenquiries.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contactDC 4064 Kate Leith on 101*, or contactCrimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Review of council-runbus services in the city

Passengers using some bus services, which are sup-ported by Leicester City Council will be asked totake part in a survey looking at levels of use.

As part of its budget-making process, the citycouncil is having to look at where best to target itsspending on public transport to ensure that impor-tant bus services remain in place.

It subsidises a number of bus routes whichwould otherwise not be financially possible, in areaswhere they are vital to communities and where noalternative services exist.� �

Passengers on these routes will be asked forinformation about how often and why they use thechosen bus route, in order for the council to get afuller picture of people using the services.� �

The information will then be used to help ensureresources are targeted at the areas of greatest need.Government budget cuts means that in addition to a£50million cut this year, the city council will have toreduce spending by a further £40million by 2014 -including money which pays for the running costs oflocal bus services.

Leicester Deputy City Mayor with responsibilityfor transport, Cllr Rory Palmer, said: “By takingpart in this survey, passengers will be able to give usimportant information to help us develop proposalsfor the future about local supported bus services. � �

“No decisions have been made at this stage so Iwould encourage people to take part in this survey.”

The survey can also be completed online atwww.leicester.gov.uk/supportedbusservices

An Age UK report com-piled by experts atLoughborough Universityhas revealed that manyover 60’s are only justable to afford the basicsand some get by thoughskipping meals.

The report “Living ona Low Income in LaterLife”, and a subsequentICM poll, have shownnearly one in ten (9%)older people admit to beeither “finding it difficult”or “really struggling” tomanage on their income.An estimated 4.5 million(33%) can only just affordto buy the basics.� �

Experts in theUniversity’s Centre forResearch in Social Policy(CRSP) carried out in-depth interviews with

individuals and focusgroups to gain a detailedunderstanding of people’sexperiences of living on alow income in later life.

CRSP Head of IncomeStudies Donald Hirschexplains: “Our researchshows that, typically, pen-sioners on low incomesfind life tough but are‘coping’. Older peoplewith limited means areoften good at making theirmoney stretch, but thiscan create a huge amountof stress and anxiety.

“It may mean alwayshaving to shop around forthe best deal, having littleto spend on small treatsthat can make life easier,and living in fear of debtand hardship if prices riseor a service is withdrawn.

“And real hardship forpensioners still does exist:some pensioners inBritain today are still notheating their homes prop-erly, or skipping meals inorder to make ends meet.”

People interviewedtalk of cutting back, doingwithout and making dowhile at the same timeworrying about the cost ofenergy bills and buyingfood.

The report highlightssome examples of “mak-ing do” such as just usinga hob or microwave ratherthat replacing a brokenoven and boiling a kettlefor washing rather thanheating water in a boiler.While those interviewedby researchers talk ofseeking out the best bar-

gains when food shoppingand timing their shoppingfor the end of the daywhen products aremarked down.

Most older people doeverything they can toavoid getting into debt,and with hard work andeffort they often manageday to day, but many arefearful of the future.

Michelle Mitchell,Charity Director at AgeUK says:“Living on a lowincome is hard work.Currently there are1.8million people living inpoverty but our pollingsuggests that many abovethe official poverty lineare finding life hard.”

Research shows Over 60’s skip meals to make ends meet

Visitors will be able to findout more about serviceson offer for disabled chil-dren at an open day takingplace in February.

The event, in the mainhall at New Parks House,Pindar Road, New Parks,will include informationsessions and stands onissues ranging from playschemes, short breaks andholiday clubs to volunteer-ing opportunities andinformation on theDisabled Children’sRegister.

The all-day sessionruns from 10am to 7pm,

on Monday 6th February.At 10.30am there will be asession on play schemesand holiday clubproviders, and 10-minutepresentations about theDisabled Children’sService will take place at12pm, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm.

Leicester assistant citymayor responsible for chil-dren, young people andschools, Cllr Vi Dempster,and Leicester CityCouncil’s director oflearning services,Margaret Libreri, will beattending.

Cllr Dempster said:

“The Disabled Children’sService offers help, sup-port and advice on a greatmany areas affecting chil-dren and young peoplewith disabilities, so this isa great chance to see thework which is being doneand find out more aboutwhat the service offers.”

Visitors will also getthe chance to meet staffand pick up goody bags.Refreshments will also beavailable.

Further information onthe Disabled Children’sService is available on0116 294 6056.

Open day for disabled children Leicestershire Policehave charged a willwriter and estatesadministrator followingan investigation into thedisappearance of morethan � £100,000.

The 55-year-oldwoman, from Cannock,Staffordshire, has beencharged with threecounts of fraud by falserepresentation, andthree alternative chargesof theft.

The allegationsrelate to one offence inLeicester and two inStaffordshire.

She is due to appearat Leicester Magistrates’Court on February 14.

Administratorcharged with

£100,000 fraud

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 5UK

A brave traffic wardenwho exposed the secretquotas enforced by park-ing bosses was hailed ahero.

Hakim Berkani wonhis claim for unfair dis-missal after he stood up tocontractors NSL overtheir draconian policieson the streets ofKensington and Chelsea.

Mr Berkani, pictured,revealed earlier last monththat wardens were forcedto issue 10 tickets a dayand said his colleaguesreferred to NSL as ‘AliBaba and his 40 thieves.’

The tribunal ruled thathe had been wronglysacked for opposing con-tractor NSL, which oper-

ates in boroughs acrossLondon, includingWestminster.

In a ruling that willhave major implicationsfor parking enforcement, atribunal judge said hisopposition to theKensington and Chelseafirm’s quota policy couldnot ‘justify dismissal’.

A man with a fear of dogsdrowned after he fled in ter-ror from a StaffordshireBull Terrier - straight into alake.

Mohammed Faisal, 24,(pictured) died after hejumped head-first into abush which stood next tothe lake, a former brick pit,Peterborough Coroner’sCourt heard last week.

The inquest heard thatthe dog’s owner RitchieFrost did his best to assistMr Faisal, who could notswim, but that he died afterthe lake plunge onSeptember 28, 2011.

While crime increases inBritain, there are now just135,838 officers inEngland and Wales, thelowest since 2002, follow-ing a four per cent cut in12 months.

Civilian staff have alsobeen axed in huge num-bers with an 11 per centfall – or 8,820 fewer. Oneforce, Cleveland, slashedalmost 70 per cent of itscivilian workers.

It is the first real signof the impact on policeforces as they face budgetcuts of up to 20 per centover four years.

Nick Herbert, thepolicing minister, insisted

front line policing must beprotected and urged forcesto use their resourcesmore efficiently.

He said claims thatcrime would rise if officernumbers fell were “sim-plistic and unfounded”.

Labour accused theGovernment of puttingthe public at risk with cutsthat go too far too fast.

The Association ofChief Police Officers(Acpo) said the fall innumbers was not surpris-ing given “the context of aconstrained funding envi-ronment and a sustainedrecruitment freeze acrossmost police forces”.

A burglar conducted aSpiderman-style break-inat a supermarket by cut-ting a hole in the roof andabseiling down a rope intothe store - stealing �£10,000 of produce.

The thief took inspira-tion from the famouscomic character, butinstead of fighting crime,he used the idea to aid hisown, but was caught onthe CCTV.

The thief managed toescape with a haul of ciga-rettes and alcohol worthmore than £10,000 fromthe Supersaver store inLitherland, nearLiverpool, on last Tuesday.

But owners of the

store say the damagecaused to the shutters andpremises will cost morethan £20,000 to repair.

Store owner MattMahalingham, 31, said:‘I’ve never seen anythinglike it. When I looked atthe CCTV footage I could-n’t believe it.

A spokesperson forMerseyside Police said:‘We are investigating anincident where a manbroke into a supermarketin Litherland in the earlyhours of Tuesday.

‘Anyone with informa-tion should callCrimestoppers on 0800555 111.’

Unfairly dismissed trafficwarden emerges as a hero

Police numbers hit tenyear low

Spiderman burglar steals morethan £10,000 worth goods

Man drowned as he fledfrom bull terrier

Continued from page 1

Green’s new immigration rules termed ‘classist’The non EU immi-

grants who have comeinto Britain with a job, atleast pay taxes and add tothe wealth of this country.It is unfortunate but truethat there are manyEuropean immigrants wholive in Britain, even seekasylum or draw benefitsbut never contribute any-thing to the society oreconomy of this country.Therefore it is essentiallyunfair to target those peo-ple who bring prosperityto Britain directly or indi-rectly, just because of theirnationality.

Currently immigrants

especially from the nonEU states are allowed tobecome citizens after theyhave completed 5 years inthis country lawfully, hasearned sufficiently, haspaid requisite taxes and iftheir employers say theywant to keep them.

Other measures likelyto be in the immigrationrules include a new organ-isation to work with theChurch of England todetect sham marriages.

Mr Green, whileabroad met not only for-eign dignitaries but alsoBritish immigration offi-cers working to prevent

illegal migrants boardingflights to the UK.

According to MrGreen, the number of ille-gal immigrants beingremoved from Britain isslowly increasing too, withinnovative systems toidentify those who shouldnot be in the countryincluding providingemployers with scannersto check that the identitydocuments of their foreignworkers are genuine.

Among other measuresdesigned to calm fears thatthe coalition will fail tomeet its immigration tar-gets is a taskforce working

with the Church ofEngland to detect shammarriages betweenEuropean Union nationalsand illegal immigrants.

The family of a non EUimmigrant will be expect-ed to show they have ahousehold income of up to￡26,000 a year to earn acitizenship as well.

World-class athleteswho best embody theOlympic motto “citius,altius, fortius” (faster,higher, stronger) could befast-tracked althoughGreen insisted “selectivity”

Continued on page 28


More than 600 peoplegathered at SheratonPark Lane to celebrateIndia’s 63rd RepublicDay. Organised by theIndian HighCommission, the recep-tion comprised seniorfunctionaries of the gov-ernment, Lords, Ladiesand Members ofParliament, Mayors,Councillors, severalAmbassadors, includingthe High Commissionerof Pakistan, academia,

Captains of business andindustry, and prominentmembers of the IndianDiaspora. Dignitarieswho graced the functionincluded Secretary ofState for Communitiesand Local GovernmentRt. Hon. Eric Pickles;Minister for Defence

Equipment, Support andTechnology, Rt. Hon.Peter Luff; Chairman ofthe All PartyParliamentary Group onIndia Rt. Hon. VirendraSharma MP; Chair of theLabour Friends of IndiaRt. Hon. Barry GardinerMP; Chair of theConservative Friends ofIndia Rt. Hon. StephenHammond MP; andChair of the LiberalDemocratic Friends ofIndia Lord Navnit

Dholakia.Secretary Eric

Pickles, Minister PeterLuff and the Acting HighC o m m i s s i o n e rAmbassador Prasadspoke on the occasion.The Acting HighCommissioner warmlywelcomed the guests.

Speaking at the recep-tion, Ambassador Prasadsaid: "India-UK bilateralrelations continue to bestrong, broad-based androbust. Trade betweenthe two countries hasincreased, despite theworsening global eco-nomic situation." Indiais the 3rd largest investorin the UK. The relation-ship is growing strongerby the day. Secretary Pickles

paid glowing tributes toIndia being a greatdemocracy and to thevery many accomplish-ments of the IndianRepublic. He recalled thewide ranging bonds atthe popular levelbetween peoples of thetwo nations which play avital role in the growthand consolidation of thePartnership. He saidthat he is proud to be afriend and supporter ofIndia.Minister Peter Luff

described the presentstate of the bilateral rela-tions as the best saying“UK-India relations havenever been better”. Hesaid that UK and Indiaare cooperating includ-ing in the cutting edgeareas of defence technol-ogy, sharing that anAgreement (Letter ofArrangement) was

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

India’s R-day celebrated in London

The Acting High Commissioner of India, HE Rajesh N Prasad giving speech inpresence of Rt. Hon. Eric Pickles & Rt. Hon. Peter Luff

CB Patel, Publisher/Editor of Asian Voice and GujaratSamachar with Valerie Vaz, MP and Rt Hon Keith Vaz

By Spriha Srivastava

The Met Police Commissioner of LondonBernard Hogan Howe, visited Harrowearly this month to talk about his ‘TotalPolicing’ concept to the residents ofHarrow, Brent and Barnet. Addressing thegathering of the 3 Boroughs he explainedhis ambition of making London’s policethe best service in the country and world.However, he revealed some disturbing risein crime and burglary figures (notedbelow) in the boroughs of Brent, Harrowand Barnet. Compared to the 2010/11 figures: In Brent personal robbery has

increased by 14%, residential burglarieshave gone up by 15% and there is decreaseof 31% in detection rate. Over the sameperiod there were 19,600 cases of stop andsearch with 7% arrest rate as compared to4,200 cases of stop and search incidents inHarrow.In Harrow personal robbery has

increased by 63%, residential burglarieshave gone up by 15% and there is decreaseof 31% in detection rate. Over the sameperiod there were 4200 cases of stop andsearch with 7% arrest rate with dramaticincrease in sickness level in PCSOs andoverall increase in the level of police sick-ness. Attending this meeting, in my

Constituency of Brent and Harrow, whichwas a very welcome initiative from thenew Met Commissioner I took the oppor-tunity to quiz him on one the most impor-tant issues about reduced police numbersin both Brent and Harrow. With the crimeand burglary numbers rising I have grave

concerns about depleted safer neighbour-hood teams with reduced number of ser-geants and the ability of Brent and Harrowto remain safe. I also pointed out to theCommissioner our residents concerns dur-ing the London Olympics when a largenumber of local police would be deployedin London. In his reply to the reducedpolice numbers the Commissioner said hewas reasonably confident that theresources were broadly right for now andhe told the audience to expect a ‘signifi-cant announcement in April’. On the mat-ter of police cover in Brent and Harrowduring the Olympics he accepted thatthere would be smaller police numbers inouter London Boroughs but he’d be ableto manage as there’d be help from ‘mutu-al aid’ deployment of police forces fromother parts of the country.I have no doubt that the

Commissioner is ambitious and seriousabout his plans to improve London’s polic-ing. But I’m concerned that we are wit-nessing a trend of increased crime and bur-glary rates as confirmed by theCommissioner and the decreasing policenumbers including loss of half of sergeantswould hamper our Safer NeighbourhoodTeams from keeping our localities safe andput at risk our success in combating crime.I wonder whether the Commissioner’s ref-erence to ‘significant announcement inApril’ is about a short term fix before theMayoral elections. Reduced level of policeduring the London Olympics in OuterLondon areas like Harrow and Brentremains a big cause of concern to me.

‘TOTAL POLICING’Met Police Commissioner

“Our London”

CIIr Navin Shah AM

London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow

Singer Kailash Kher hasrecently launched his newalbum “Rangeele”through his start up musiclabel, Kailasa Recordswith Saregama.Rangeele is aneleven trackalbum producedby Paresh andNaresh Kamath,penned and com-posed by Kailashat the Kailasastudios Mumbai.It was releasedon January 10th,2012 by AmitabhBachchan with ascintillating live perform-ance by Kailash Kher andhis band Kailasa atNovotel, Juhu. “Rangeele is my acco-

lade to love in all itsforms, be it longing, pas-sion, patriotism, devotionor even hatred. Thisalbum is extremely specialfor me for various rea-sons. Among the mostpowerful being that theartists featuring in thisalbum also include theunbelievable Mr Amitabh

Bachchan. It also featuresmy two-year-old sonKabir and is our recordlabel, Kailasa Records,first album,” he said.

In a recent conversa-tion he mentioned that hehas always been takinghis son to the music stu-dio in order to be able tospend more time withhim. And for this albumde decided to experimentwith his son’s voice inorder to bring somethingnew.He goes on to say,

“Rangeele is also my grat-itude to all my listenerssince this is a reflection ofmy observation of my fans

through my eight yearcareer journey. I havetried to reciprocate thelove and goodness theyhave extended to me and

my band.Rangeele islike a canvasfor my music.Listeners willenjoy and fillin the coloursof their ownexpress ions.But I knowthat everyonewho hearsRangeele willhave some

songs that they will feelare their own.”Kailash Kher is now

preparing for his forth-coming UK tour in April2012 along with his 14-member group. “This issomething we areextremely excited about.It will be Kailasa’s firstperformance in Europeand we are working veryhard for it,” he said. ComeApril and Londoners willhave one more evening toadd to their list.

Kailash Kher launches new album

signed in this regardrecently. He added thathe would be visiting Indiathis year and looks for-ward to the visit greatly. A flag hoisting cere-

mony was also held atActing HighCommissioner’s resi-

dence in the morningattended by the staff andmembers of HighCommission of India.Both the morning andevening events concludedwith the singing ofNational Anthem thatfilled the atmosphere

with patriotism andpride. The evening didnot end there. What fol-lowed was a lavish spreadof Indian buffet, just per-fect to celebrate India’sRepublic Day amidst tra-dition and heritage.

Republic day photo courtesy: Raj Bakrania


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The youth is the future of acountry and in order to havea secure and prosperousfuture, we must invest inour youth today. The globalfinancial crisis has led torecord youth unemploymentin Britain, according toGovernment figures.We at Asian Voice andGujarat Samachar believethat youth need to beempowered to bring aboutthe right social and econom-ic changes. We recognisethat educational achieve-ments alone are not suffi-cient to get ahead in theever more competitiveemployment market, butthat young people, nowmore than ever, need tostand out with their skills,experience and personalaccomplishments.Asian Voice and GujaratSamachar are organising aYouth Conference at theBrunei Gallery, SOAS,University of London onSaturday 3rd March 2012for 15-25 year olds. Theconference will feature lead-ing professionals from dif-ferent walks of life (includ-ing finance, law, medicine,politics, media and the arts)who will share their person-al experiences and offerpractical advice on howyoung people can fulfil theiraspirations and get ahead inthe world of work. The con-ference will also includeinteractive sessions andmentoring opportunities.

Confirmed speakersinclude:

l Menhaj Huda (film direc-tor, producer and writer);l Divya Talwar (BBC NewsReporter);l Misha Patel (AssistantGeneral Counsel, KPMG);l Councillor Krupa Sheth(the youngest Councillor inBrent at the age of 20);l Aekta Mahajan (CabinetOffice);l Pratik Dattani (economistand Chair of the CityHindus Network);l Amit Sodha (lifestylecoach and stand up comedi-an);l Dr Pranav Somaiya (vas-cular surgeon); andl Rajay Naik (Director ofGovernment and ExternalAffairs, The OpenUniversity)�We will also be launchingthe pilot for the nationalenterprise scheme YoungAsian Social Enterprise(YASE), launched in collab-oration with the CityHindus Network. This inno-vative scheme is based onan annual national competi-tion for students to fundraise for charities support-ing free education for under-privileged children in India.In return, the participantswill be invited to presenttheir idea and fund raisingresults to a panel ofesteemed judges at the endof the competition. Thosethat have shown a real

entrepreneurial spirit anddrive will be presented aYASE award, which willreceive expert mentoringand bespoke coaching fromsome of the City’s top firms.If you are interested to takepart in this FREE confer-ence, please emailRupanjana with your fullcontact details and age bySaturday 18th February2011 [email protected]. We have limited seatsavailable and are filling upfast, so please register asapto avoid disappointment.Date: Saturday 3 March2012 Timings: 11:30am- 4:30pmLocation: Brunei Gallery(SOAS, University ofLondon), ThornhaughStreet, Russell Square,London WC1H 0XG (near-est tube stations: RussellSquare, Euston, TottenhamCourt Road)Registration: EmailRupanjana with your fullcontact details and age bySaturday 18th February2012 [email protected]. Strictly limited capac-ity and pre-registrationrequiredTarget age range: 15-25 yearoldsOther details: A vegetarianlunch will also be served.Please note: If you do notregister from beforehand,you may not be allowed totake part for security rea-sons.

Asian Voice Youth Conference 2012Shweta Desai

The Indian HighCommission paid itstribute to MahatmaGandhi -fondly remem-bered as the Father ofthe Nation on his 64thdeath anniversary, hereon Monday, 30th Jan.The remembrance cere-mony was held atTavistock Park inBloomsbury, theBorough of Camden,where Gandhi’s serenestatue is a central attrac-tion.Dignitaries from the

Indian Embassy includ-ing Deputy HighCommissioner, MrRajesh N Prasad, veter-ans from the IndiaLeague, Mayor ofCamden CouncillorAbdul Quadir amongstothers who paid floraltributes at Mahatma’smemorial. Other digni-taries who attended andspoke at the eventincluded Satya NarayanGourisaria, a Gandhianand the formerSecretary of IndiaLeague; ManabMajumdar, GeneralSecretary, India League;Joginder Sanger,Chairman, BhartiyaVidya Bhawan; Dr.M.N. Nandakumara,Executive Director,Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan;

as well as officers andfunctionaries of theIndian HighCommission and IndiaLeague besides mediapersonalities and promi-nent members of theIndian community inLondon. Members of the

India League appealedto follow the footprintsof Mahatma in today’snon-violent world tomaintain peace. Payinghomage to Gandhi’s ide-ology, Mr Prasad saidthat the Mahatmapreached what he prac-ticed. “He used the toolsof non-violence andinspired many includingNelson Mandela andMartin Luther Kingwho brought revolutionand changed the world.’’ Vice President of the

India League, S N

Gauricharya said intoday’s violent world,Gandhi’s proven preach-ing of non-violence isbigger than violence.``Its inspiring others tofollow its ideology,’’ hesaid. Members and dig-nitaries later remem-bered Mahatma by sign-ing his popular bhajansof Vaishan Jan andRaghupati Raghav RajaRam.Unveiled by Prime

Minister Harold Wilson,Gandhi’s statute wasdesigned by FreddaBrilliant and installed inTavistock in 1968. Thepark also known asPeace Park contains aCherry tree to commem-orate the victims of theHiroshima bombing anda ConscientiousObjectors’ memorial.

Gandhi’s martyrdom dayobserved in London

The acting High Commissioner of India, HE Rajesh NPrasad, Mayor of Camden Councillor Abdul Quadir, Manab

Majumdar, General Secretary, India League with others

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 20128 www.abplgroup.com

News in BriefCouncil house wait is just 99 years New bundle of joy

The widow of Birmingham riots vic-tim Shahzad Ali has given birth tohis baby boy. Khanza Ali, 22, whowas four months pregnant when 30-year-old Shahzad, pictured, waskilled alongside his brother AbdulMusavir and friend Haroon Jahan onAugust 10 last year. Khanza said:“My little boy is a piece of Shahzad.He looks just like his dad but also has Musavir’ssmile.”

New Punjabi Guide bookA former Coventry teacher has published his latestbook on the Punjabi language. Jagat Singh Nagra, 73,who taught maths at Sidney Stringer School, haswritten 33 books on the official language of thePunjab, India. His book, GCSE Punjabi Guide, costs£5.99 and is available from ww.nagrapublications.co.uk

Murder: Man charged A 28-year-old man has appeared atWolverhampton Magistrates chargedwith the murder of Jagjit SinghVillkhu. Post-mortem tests showedMr Villkhu, 33, pictured, fromWolverhampton, died from headinjuries. His body was found in parkland in Willenhall in the early hoursof last Tuesday morning.

Siblings stabbedTwo brothers were stabbed in front of their terrifiedfamily as they fought off armed burglars who brokeinto their Birmingham home. Ali and MohammedAhmed were knifed by the masked raiders who alsothreatened family members with an imitation gun inGreat Barr last Thursday. According to neighbours, itcould be part of a spate of gold thefts in the area inrecent weeks.

New Asperger Syndrome DVDA new DVD that gives an insight into living withAsperger Syndrome has been released. The DVD,launched by Nottingham City Asperger Service, costs£14.99 and is available from NCAS on 0115 8542207. Asperger Syndrome is part of the autism spec-trum disorder that affects how an individual interacts,communicates and relates to people and how theyexperience the environment.

MBE for Asif Iqbal Congratulations to AsifIqbal who has been hon-oured for his services tothe deaf community. Asif,36, was the only deafAsian person to receive anMBE medal, in the latestHonours, from the Princeof Wales, pictured, atBuckingham Palace lastThursday. Asif, a projectmanager with Deaf Parenting UK, lives in HemelHempstead with wife Sabina and their three children,Samaira, Areeb and Rubi, all aged under six.

‘Mental’ bomb scare A hoaxer is facing jail after warningMI5 that a bomb had been planted at aBirmingham school – sparking its evac-uation. Ghulam Kibria, 33, pictured,pretended to be his estranged wife in amessage sent to the secret service’s offi-cial website claiming: “There’s a bombplanted at Prince Albert Junior School, Aston.” MrReyaz Ali, defending, told the court how his clienthad suffered from mental health issues since thedeath of a relative six years ago. Kibria will be sen-tenced next month.

Salutations to Mother India Tributes were paid to India on its63rd Republic Day by Guru RajRao, the Midlands’ highest-rank-ing Indian diplomat, at an annualevent at the Indian Embassy inBirmingham last Thursday.Amazingly, most guests hadarrived by the 9.30am start time.Popular personality Mr Rao, pic-tured, read out the President ofIndia’s speech in Hindi in full,each sentence of which carried adeep and powerful message, particularly to youth. Thisspeech alone, if put into practice, would massivelyimprove society. If only. Due to a working day, the usualcultural programme did not take place. Refreshmentswere served.

Debt burdenMore than 150,000 households in the West Midlandsspend at least a quarter, and an estimated 123,000households spend more than half of their income onrepaying debts, according to new research. The FinancialInclusion Centre survey rated the West Midlands as thefifth most over-indebted UK region.

BOPIO salutes India An evening of entertainment,mehfil, was organised by theBritish Organisation for Peopleof Indian Origin, or BOPIO, tomark India’s Republic Day, inCoventry last Saturday. Guestswere welcomed by DavinderPrasad of CasteWatch UK, atireless and staunch campaignerfor equality. Also present werethe city’s former Lord MayorCouncillor Ram Lakha andRamesh Verma, CEO ofLondon-based Ekta Project. Mr Prasad, who appealedfor new members, said: “Identity, unity and cohesionare vital. We must change our ways. Unless we do, weshall be scapegoats of the future.” BOPIO’s chairmanSat Pal Muman, pictured, echoed these comments.Sinna Mani, BOPIO’s executive president, won rap-turous applause for his emotional and powerfuladdress. Straight-talking Mr Mani made a passionateplea for unity. He saluted Mahatma Gandhi andJawaharlal Nehru and paid a glowing tribute to India,a country where he said poverty was man-madethrough greed. “Britain needs India more than Indianeeds Britain and David Cameron understands this,”he said adding, “Ed Miliband, well, he’s a child, hedoesn’t know what he’s talking about.” BOPIO is anational, non-sectarian, non-racial and apoliticalorganisation which promotes integration of peoplefrom the Indian subcontinent into mainstream Britishsociety. To find out more visit www.bopio.org.uk

Welcome to Year of theDragon

Wine glasses were repeatedly raised and hugs andhandshakes exchangedby the over 200 guestswho attended a ChineseNew Year reception lastTuesday, organised by theBirmingham ChineseSociety. The annualevent, held at ChinaCourt Restaurant, fea-tured traditional songs and dances, a sumptuousmeal, a raffle and auction. Welcoming the Year of theDragon, Steve Yau and Ken Tong, BCS’s honorarychairman and chairman, respectively, wished every-one good health and prosperity. Also present wereentrepreneurs Dorian Chan and Dr Yeow Poon, bothprominent Chinese community leaders, who have notin the past been seen at this event, a mark, perhaps, ofrekindled friendship. Separately, Edward Yi He, aChinese engineer with Tata Steel was among guests ata Chinese New Year reception in Wales organised bythe country’s First Minister Carwyn Jones. Mr Jonesis due to meet with officials from Tata Steel when hevisits India later this year. Photo: From left – LordMayor of Birmingham Councillor Anita Ward,Consul General of China Tang Li and BCS PresidentIrene Chu.

Officials have issuedthe ‘lifetime’ warning tothose seeking propertieswith four or more bed-rooms. The averagewaiting time for allhousing types is aroundsix years.Birmingham City

Council is the largestsocial landlord in theUK, with 65,000dwellings, around 17%of the city’s total hous-ing. Yet there is a short-

age of four and five-bed-room council homes,which are awarded on apoints system.Currently, around

30,000 people are onthe council’s housinglist and a further 28,000are receiving some formof housing benefit torent privately. The high-est of the latter figureclaimants have beenhanded more than£1,100 to rent houses

with at leastfive bedroomsin Small Heath,S p a r k b ro ok ,N o r t h f i e l d ,Perry Barr andS u t t o nColdfield. Thecrisis is fuelledby the fact that 70% ofcity residents cannotafford to buy the average-sized home on theirincome. Councillor KenWood, pictured, (Cons,Longbridge) is vice-chair-man of the city’s HousingScrutiny Committee: “We

are building morecouncil homesnow than at anystage in the last30 years,” he said,“but we do needto get away fromthe idea thatsocial housing is

the last resort.”Councillor John

Lines, Cabinet memberfor housing, will give afull report on the strategyto meet the demand forlarger homes at a meetingof the city council onTuesday (Feb 7).

Desperate Birmingham families seeking large coun-cil houses in the city have been told they face a 99-year wait.

Contact: Dhiren on 07970 911 386 or [email protected] Katwa

Midland Voice

Religion and Politics don’t mix

David Urquhart, the Bishop ofBirmingham, has been criticised by acity councillor for getting more andmore involved in the political scene.Instead, says Coun Deirdre Alden, heshould be concentrating on the moraldecline of Birmingham’s feral under-classes and falling congregations. Hatsoff to Coun Alden for this brave wake-up call to the popular Bishop who is seen nattering withVIPs more often than with ordinary citizens. In 2009,when the Environment Agency set up a multi-faithgroup, it received full support from most senior repre-sentatives of all major faiths, bar Bishop Urquhart, whoover six months took the group host for a jolly good rideby giving false hope through apparent excuses. When thehost confronted the Bishop, by chance, he laughed andjoked about the inconvenience he had caused. Credit,however, to Rev Pam Nicholson, who represented theChristian faith. Despite her poor health and limitedphysical ability, she attended every meeting, once eventravelling from Newcastle, and made a lasting differenceto the Agency’s green agenda at local level.

Dog stolen in car raid A couple are heartbroken after thieves stole their dog bydriving off with their car. Disabled James Fay, 50, hadstepped out of his car to speak to partner Stella Sivier asshe stood in a queue at a takeaway in Ladywood,Birmingham. But he left his keys in the ignition andwithin 40 seconds thieves had sped off with the car, tak-ing the pair’s Staffordshire Bull Terrier Buck too.

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 9


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Cricket crazy Indians for the first time was seenso euphoric on Monday morning, as theyexpected a couple of Oscars. British Indians inthe UK, Dharavi slums, the shanty township ofMumbai, a village in Uttar Pradesh and almostthe entire Bollywood waited in expectation,glued to their TV sets. They burst into celebra-tions as one by one, their heroes, the actors ofthe British Indian film and the music maestro, AR Rahman bagged the top awards in the worldof entertainment.

British actress Kate Winslett also won theOscar after having missed it almost five timesearlier.

‘Smile Pinki’, a short documentary on acleft-lipped Indian girl in Uttar Pradesh directedby American director Megan Mylan, won theOscar for the Best Documentary (Short).

‘Smile Pinky’ too gets the Oscar

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Safety on the roads of Britain

I read the news about Indian stu-dents’ safety in Asian Voice (28th Jan). Itis remarkable what the universities hasbeen trying to do, in order to protect thesafety of foreign students.

It is very rightly said that these stu-dents who would not go out in the weehours of the night in their own country,should not have walked around an arealike Salford.

Salford, especially the estates theywere walking through is extremely illreputed for being unsafe. Youngsterstoday use their GPS on phone to find aquick way to their destination. But it isvery important that they check the safetyof the neighbourhood as well. Even chil-dren in Britain would not walk for 2 milesat 1am. Why did these youngsters decideto be so adventurous.

Britain as a community has its issues.We have youngsters without any ambi-tion, easy going, living on tax payer’smoney. It is not that they can’t get a job.They do not intend to get one either.Some of them are a part of the criminalgangs too. But that does not make Britaina racist nation. Britain is much moreopen to multiculturalism than anywhereelse. Millions of students come here everyyear and receive higher education in var-ious prestigious universities. Yet there arecertain cities and localities which are notsafe for even natives. People are confus-ing between safety of general public inthe night and race relation.

Vivek SenManchester

Indian culture and values

It is very disheartening and unfortu-nate to note that Indian youth especiallythe Hindu youths are shying away fromtheir customs and culture. This is partlydue to ignorance and an element of infe-rior complex. In addition misinformationis given to them by their peers and thereis the influence of media which depictswestern customs.

Many Hindu youths hesitate to greettheir relations or friends saying‘namaste’, which is a dignified way of noncontract greetings conveyed by pressinghands together with a slight bow. It isderived from two sanskrit words:‘Namah’ meaning bow and ‘te’ meaningto you. People often follow the saying“when in Rome do as he Romans do” butthis should not be at the expense of one’sculture.

Dr M R BahlPresident, Arya Samaj London

Celebrating 63 IndianRepublic Day

I must congratulate the Indian HighCommission for organising a very suc-cessful, highly enjoyable and well attend-ed Indian Republic Day Event at anexcellent venue, Sheraton Hotel, ParkLane on January 26, 2012.

It was marvellous to be welcomed bythe staff of the Indians High Commissionat the entrance of Sheraton Hotel andthen presented with an Indian Flag -Tiranga, to be displayed upon the lapel ofthe honoured guests, participants.

Our great admirations for the actingIndian Commissioner, HE Sh Rajesh NParsed and other two distinguishedguests for their short and relevantspeeches to mark the 63rd Republic DayCeremony and for arranging a deliciousand traditional Indian dinner by ArunLuhtra of the Ragamama.

We also thank the team members ofIndian High Commission for their hardwork in organising such a memorableevent.

Vande Mataram - Maa TujheyPranam.

Jai Hind.

Rajinder Chopra, JPVia Email

Dirty party politics

India celebrated the 63rd year ofRepublic day with pomp and glory spend-ing cores of rupees showing its militaryware.

Once again the ugliest face ofCommunalism has cropped up in UttarPradesh state election aided and abatedby the renegade Indian politicians mainlyfrom the Congress lead UPAGovernment. The congress Party wantsto allocate five per cent of reservationwithin the quota of OBCs for Muslims. Inaddition the Congress party wants tointroduce religion based reservationbased on the population in UttarPradesh. Muslim population in UP is esti-mated to be 20 per cent and hence 20 percent of the places in schools, colleges andjobs will be reserved for Muslims in UP.

This is a very dangerous policy thatwill divide India again on the basis of reli-gion.

In the selection of candidates for theUP elections, all political parties in thename of social engineering have selectedcandidates based on religion and castesirrespective of their suitability. It is outra-geous on the part of the political partiesto publish openly the caste and religionthe candidate belongs to openly.

Salman Rushdie is a born Indian andholding a NRI passport was prevented tocome to India to attend Literary Festivalsince fundamental Muslim groups wereagainst his visit because of his book‘Satanic Verses’. The only reason theCongress and Samajwadi Party did notwant him to come to India was toappease Muslims and get the support oftheir votes. They are playing dirty anddangerous politics in India.

The real losers are OBC Hinduswhose quota will be reduced consider-ably. OBCs should not support theCongress and the SP parties.

Arun VaidyanathanVia Email

Sai temple & BrentCouncil

It was really shocking to read aboutthe Brent Council’s Labour leader CllrAnn John. It is a shame that the HinduCouncillors were not allowed to take partin the planning commission. It’s even abigger shame to note that these council-lors did not insist in taking part.

Moreover as I read the Asian Voicestory, I felt bemused that Cllr Ann Johndid not even bother to clarify at allregarding her own comment except say-ing that she has nothing to hide. Is itbefitting for such a high posted politicianand councillor to not explain her stand tothe thousands of readers of Asian Voice?She must tell us in details whether sheasked the Asian leaders to step down andclear whatever has been alleged againsther.

Kamal SinghLondon

Rooting out theScroungers

The Government has produced fig-ures which throw light on the number offoreigners who are claiming benefits. Itwas found that the current system doesnot record the nationality of benefitclaimants. The Government will root outthose claimants who can not prove theirimmigration status and in turn they willbe stripped of state handouts. It is timethat this should happen. There are peoplewho claim Disability Living Allowanceand parking blue badge when they canjog in the park or run to catch a bus!

To add fuel to the fire, we now under-stand that Britain’s debt mountain hassmashed through the £1 trillion barrierfor the first time in history. It means thateach and every one of us owes around£16,400 to the City and global lenderswho help keep public services running.Still money is wasted on undeservingscroungers, and in foreign aid! But, ifpeople are living here regardless of theirmigrant status are deprived of benefitswhile they have no other source ofincome to survive or feed their unsavouryhabits, they would have no recourse butto turn to crime or indulge in other unac-ceptable activities like prostitution, gam-bling, burglary or mugging. This at a timewhen there are 250 violent gangs roamingthe streets of the capital while policeforce has been reduced to an all time low.This makes a scary reading!

Dinesh ShethNewbury Park, Ilford

General V K Singh’s birth date

Mr V K Singh’s birth date - 10th May1951 should be considered valid on thegrounds of his birth certificate or earlierschool certificate, which is a valid source.This impetus is expected from the Indiangovernment but it is overlooked!

Mr Singh insists on his basic right tohave his birth date corrected on theabove ground rather than on the groundof holding highest position in military. Itwould be an injustice to him if the Indiangovernment remains adamant on its arbi-trary decision to fix 10th May 1950 rely-ing upon some later documents.

I wish him success on abiding by hisstand based on a citizen’s right.

R N PatelEssex

Euthanasia: Is it a curseor a blessing in disguise?

With longevity increasing with leapsand bounds, it creates its own problems,as long life is so often embodied withpoor health, especially on mental frontsuffering with Alzheimer, the disorder ofthe brain.

Such patients require 24 hour carethat most families are unable or unwillingto provide and as a result, they end up innursing homes costing an arm and a leg.With the decline in moral standard andwork ethic, nurses and care workers areno longer dedicated FlorenceNightingales they used to be only a fewdecades back.

Then un-sympathising health workersreflect the declining standard of honestyand dedication in our society. One cannot harvest sweet mangoes from thornydesert bushes. It can only yield pricklypears. Morally corrupt society can notprovide dedicated Health Workers.

No wonder some may believe that itwould be in their best interest to bringlife to an end, commit euthanasia beforesenility sets in and they become a burdento every one, especially to their children.

Human life is a God’s gift. So in a wayto cut it short before the allocated time isa tragedy. But to prolonged it when qual-ity is not there is a tragedy. Who wouldlike to be a dribbling incoherent personconfined to a soiled bed unable even tocall for help. It is time we should look atthe assisted suicide rather than going to

Rushdie’s visit

Irrespective of angst against blockageof Rushdie’s visit and scrapping of videolink, the episode has winners: Muslimprotestors got their way; UPA govern-ment garnered votes; Rushdie and hisblasphemous book got free publicity;Hindus saved from riots, damage or fatal-ities.

Remember that thousands of Hindushave been killed for problems neithercaused by them nor originated in Indiaviz: problems with foreign roots-moplaMassacre in 1920, protest against Satanicverses and cartoon of holy prophetMohammad.

India’s problems: Direct Action daymassacre in 1947, Godhra-burning karse-waks in 2002, 26-11 raid on Mumbai, andon Hindu temples etc.

It would have been foolish to ignorepatent threat behind protest by extrem-ists and sacrifice Hindus on the altar ofunilateral values e.g. democracy, toler-ance, and ideals pushed down the Hinduthroats and paraded globally by heartlessbigots.

If Rushdie was an innocent hero, whydid he back out at hint of hired assassin;why millions of British pounds are spentto protect him?

For India, lives of hundreds ofHindus, are more precious that of onepen pusher. Would the organisers, jour-nalists, Rushdie, his fans and literatureenthusiasts have compensated deathsand damage to Hindus? Did they crywhen 60 karsewaks were burnt alive?

Ramesh JhallaVia Email

YOUR VOICE

Switzerland for this final act of liberationfrom pain and suffering.

Bhupendra M GandhiVia Email

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 1111EDUCATION / COUNCIL VOICE

University applicationsfrom UK students for thefirst year of higher tuitionfees are down by 8.7%,according to figures fromthe admissions service.With fees rising to up

to £9,000 per year, theimpact has been biggestfor England's universities -down by 9.9%.In Scotland, where

Scottish students do notpay fees, there was a fall of1.5%.Universities UK said

the "dip is far less dramat-ic than many were initiallypredicting".Universities Minister

David Willetts argued thatschool-leaver applicationsfrom the most disadvan-taged areas had not beenhit by the fees increase -saying that there was onlya decline of 0.2%"It is encouraging that

applications from peoplefrom some of the most dis-advantaged backgroundsremain strong," said MrWilletts.But Sally Hunt, gener-

al secretary of the UCUlecturers' union, said the"figures are very worryingand once again highlightthe government's folly inraising tuition fees to asmuch as £9,000 a year."Applications in

England are down over50% more than in anyother part of the UK as aresult of the government

making it the most expen-sive country in the worldin which to gain a publicdegree."A breakdown of the

UK figures show a 4% fallin applications inNorthern Ireland and1.9% in Wales.The figures published

by the Ucas admissionsservice show that by the15 January deadline therewere 462,507 applicationsfor courses beginning inSeptember.This represented a

8.7% drop in applicationsfrom students in the UK -but an increase in over-seas applications meantthat the overall figure was7.4% lower than at thesame point last year.

Wendy Piatt, directorgeneral of the RussellGroup of leading universi-ties, says that the underly-ing longer-term trendremains an increase indemand for universityplaces - with these latestfigures considerably high-er than three years ago

"Despite all the hype,fee reforms are unlikely tocause a long-term declinein applications. In the pasta fall in applications in thefirst year of higher fees hasbeen followed by increasesin subsequent years."But the gap between

men and women going touniversity looks set towiden. Women are alreadyin a majority - and theapplication figures show asharper fall among menthan women.There is also a break-

down by age group - andthis shows that among 18year olds, across the UK, adecline of 3.6%, comparedwith last year, with greaterdrops in applicationsamong older students.There had been much

debate about whether stu-dents would be influencedby fee levels - and the pri-vate BPP UniversityCollege, which charges£5,000 per year for athree-year course, isreporting that applicationshave more than doubled.

UK university applicationsdown as fees rise

More than 30 young peo-ple have put their namesforward as candidates torepresent Barnet at theUK Youth Parliamentelections taking place thisweek.This is the second

time Barnet is taking partin the UKYP elections,which will lead to twoMembers of YouthParliament (MYPs), andtwo Deputy MYPs beingelected, representing theirborough nationally.In total 31 candidates

came along to an informa-tion session at HendonTown Hall where theylearnt about writing amanifesto, the electionprocess and the require-ments of being a MYP.The UKYP was estab-

lished in 2000 and is runby young people for youngpeople, giving them theopportunity to share theiropinions on a range ofissues ranging from thecost of university educa-tion to job opportunitiesand war.Its views are listened

to by local and nationalGovernment, and byproviders of other servicesand agencies who have aninterest in the views andneeds of young people.From 30 January 2012

young people aged 11-18years old will have twoweeks to cast their votesonline at www.mi-

Barnet’s young people stand up to be counted

vote.co.ukVoter cards, along with

full instructions, will alsobe delivered to all schoolsin the week commencing23 January in advance ofthe election opening. Allvotes must be cast onlinebefore 5pm on 10February.Before the voting

opens, young people canfind out more about thecandidates at a debateevening this Thursday (26January) at WoodhouseCollege between 4.30pm -

6pm. The event will be anopportunity to ask candi-dates about their mani-festos which can also beviewed online at www.bar-netukyp.co.ukThe successful candi-

dates will be announcedon 21 February 2012 dur-ing a results evening to beheld at the North LondonBusiness Park.The Barnet Youth

Board, Barnet’s youthcouncil for 13-19 yearolds, campaigned for theborough to join UKYP.


Scrutator’sThe shaming Salman Rushdie affair at the Jaipur LiteraryFestival marred the celebrations of Republic Day. Pomp andcircumstance could not hide a revelatory moment that Indiastill had far to go before its democracy achieved true maturity.Mr Rushdie’s presence drew protests from a section of thecountry’s Muslim community, aggrieved that the author of thecontroversial The SatanicVerses, which they claimeddefamed Islam, should havebeen issued an invitation. Forthem it was nothing short ofsacrilege, although a greatmany of their number hadn’tread his book or had suffi-cient understanding of theEnglish language to compre-hend its substance. This hasthe way with bigots, wher-ever they reside.

The authorities in Delhiand Rajasthan in exercises ofdissimulation put it aboutthat Mr Rushdie’s presencewould pose a security threatto the safety of delegates aswell as to his life; so much sothat he prevented fromaddressing the conferenceover a video link. The Indian constitution gurantees freedom ofreligion, but it enshrines freedom of thought and expression aswell, in case you’ve forgotten. This temporary loss of memo-ry among India’s rulers may one day come to haunt the coun-try.

The easy out of the moral maze is not always the truestwisdom. It could be a pointer to future perils.

Mrs Thatcher has not been everyone’s cup of tea, but itremains to her eternal credit that she defended Mr Rushdie’sfreedom to write and think as a British citizen with the fullmight of the British state, which the author had previouslyexcoriated as a replica of apartheid South Africa. She stood upto the murderous Iranian ayatollahs whose fatwa had sen-tenced him to death for blasphemy. The law of the land wasupheld, so was a cherished principle on which it was based.

Scientific spirit

A distinguished Indian voice,speaking under the auspices ofthe Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan tohis audience in Chennai remind-ed them (and those who read hiswords beyond the confines ofthat hall) of the liberating spiritof science and the scientificmethod in combating strife dog-mas through inquiry and experi-ment. Dr VenkatramanRamakrishnan, a chemistryNobel laureate, Chennai-born,now a Cambridge resident,where he does his research, is aBritish citizen. His words echoeacross national frontiers. Hesaid that as good governanceguarded people from their worstinstincts, science and the scien-tific temper “protects us from

our biases andirrationality…..No system that

does not incorporate proper test-ing, criticism from pee and otherchecks…..can claim to be ‘scien-tific’ regardless of the scientificjargon used,” he pronounced.He extolled the 16th century

European Reformation whichrecognized the worth of scien-tists Copernicus and Galileowho were previously denouncedas heretics by the Catholicchurch. In their wake cameNewton and a century laterCharles Darwin and his path-breaking theory of biologicalevolution. They shaped ourworld and had enriched thehuman mind with their discover-ies which is part of our universalheritage.Doubt should be the basis of

every national and social con-versation. It is the way to a pro-ductive future just as intoleranceis the road to nullity.

India’s Progress

However, it would be undulypessimistic to surrender togloom and despondency. Indiahas achieved a great dealthrough its cultivation of scienceand technology. Take agricuil-ture, for example. In The Hindu(January 3), the agricultural sci-entist M.S. Swaminathan FRSreminds us that without theGreen Revolution of the late1960s and 70s and the quantumleap in the production of wheatand rice, India would havedescended into famine (such asthat which killed millions inBengal in 1943) or would hov-ered on the brink of calamity.There is still some distance to gobefore India is able to free everycitizen from malnutrition andhunger, but food security for allis surely within reach. Progressmade is a blessing, he says, andrecounts the original work ofAmerican scientists in the fieldwhich opened the door for theirIndian peers. Science is a treas-ure trove for humankind, notsimply this or that nation.

InvestmentDestination

India is a major investment,according to the annual deliber-ations of the World EconomicForum in Davos, Switzerland.The votaries of Indian growthincluded Standard & Poor(S&P) President DouglasPeterson who said that theagency had an investment graderating on India. Brushing aside

concerns at what is sometimesperceived as the slow pace ofIndian economic reforms, MrPeterson said that in democraci-ues “policies are made after pro-longed dialogue and is indeed ahealthy practice” (The HinduJanuary 20)Impressed by the positive

discussion about India, he said itwas quite a refreshing change tohave moved the conversationaway from the economic prob-lems of Europe. He said Indiawas committed economicreform, the agenda, whichIndia’s Commerce and IndustryMinister, Anand Sharma,assured delegates was firmly inplace.India ranks fourth among the

world’s steel producers andsixth, after the US, Germany,Japan, China and South Korea,for innovation.

Creating jobsfor US, EU

India Inc in messages toPresident Obama and EuropeanUnion leaders reminded them ofthe jobs created in their respec-tive spheres by Indian compa-

nies. They chose the WEF Davosmeet that India IT companiesare creating, not taking jobs inthe troubled western economies.British Prime Minister DavidCameron said that Europeshould view the emergingeconomies such as India as ahelp, not hindrance to theEurope’s economic recovery. Hesaid a free trade agreement withIndia, due to be signed at theend of the year, was very muchin Europe’s interest

Developments in defence

Agni V, India’s 5,000 kilometre-plus ballistic missile is beingreadied for launch, according toDefence Research andDevelopment sources (TheHindu January 15), but anaccomplished fact was the trans-fer of a Russian Akula II classnuclear submarine (renamedINS Chakra) to India on a ten-year lease worth $900 million tothe lessee. Retired Admiral VijayShankar, the formerCommander-in-Chief of theAndaman and Nicobar andCommander-in-Chief of theStrategic Forces Command FlagOfficer Commanding WesternFleet praised India’s top defenceplanners for the acquisition,which he said, was a majorstrategic decision that covered avital space in the country’s mar-itime strength. He wtites: “Interms of the platform , the AkulaII represents the state-of-the artin SSN design , the programmehaving been launched in themid-1990s. The nearest in termsof quality were US and UK ves-sels which were slightly inferi-or.” India had got a good deal, hesaid. (The Hindu January 25).

Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Anand Sharma

David Cameron

Retired Vice-Admiral Vijay Shankar (left) receiving a memento from ENCFOC-in-C Vice-Admiral Anup Singh in Visakhapatnam.

Jaipur Literary Festival

Salman Rushdie

MEDIA WATCH

Agni V


‘The State of our Union is Strong’ proclaimed BarackObama last week. This past week also saw India cel-ebrate Republic Day. On January 26th 1950, some twoand half years after becoming a British Dominion (or‘independent’), India became a Republic. As aRepublic, she removed the British King as Head ofState, something which she did not do atIndependence in 1947 and adopted a new constitu-tion.

As the American President does annually, perhapsIndia too should analyse the State of the Union, andto what extent the Constitution is being upheld to theoriginal vision of the founding fathers of mother India.

After all some 60 years is long enough to ensurethe Constitution is being executed faithfully. Article 15states, ‘The State shall not discriminate against anycitizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex,place of birth or any of them.’ Okay, well India hashad women and untouchables as Prime Ministers. Ittook the Americans 200 years of their Republic tohave a black man as President – so perhaps India canbe forgiven.

The Indian Constitution goes on to say, ‘Nothing inthis article shall prevent the State from making anyspecial provision for the advancement of any sociallyand educationally backward classes of citizens or forthe Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes’. Noteven the American have at their dream foundingallowed for positive discrimination for their ‘scheduledcastes and tribes’ which were the ‘negro’ and the ‘redIndian’.

Article 17 says:’ “Untouchability” is abolished andits practice in any form is forbidden.’ That’s alrightthen. Job done.

Article 19; “All citizens shall have the right— (a)to freedom of speech and expression; (b) to assemblepeaceably and without arms”. I bet Anna Hazare is

relieved to read that one.Article 21A; “The State shall provide free and

compulsory education to all children of the age of sixto fourteen years in such manner as the State may,by law, determine” Hmmm…all those slum kids inMumbai must be foreigners then.

Article 23; “Traffic in human beings and beggingand other similar forms of forced labour are prohibit-ed and any contravention of this provision shall bean offence punishable in accordance with law.” Again,I refer you to Mumbai.

Article 24: “ No child below the age of fourteenyears shall be employed to work in any factory ormine or engaged in any other hazardous employ-ment.” Depends what you mean by hazardous, butcleaning up roads in Mumbai is pretty hazardous ifyou ask me.

I won’t go on. No Constitution ever realises thedreams of its aspirations. But those few Articles wouldhave been a good start. As mentioned, it even tookthe mighty US 200 years and it is still far from realis-ing its Constitutional American Dream. So India shallwait. Hey, but Tata bought Jaguar and GoldmanSachs said India will be a really big economy and MrAmbani – I forget which one – the ugly one or thegood looking one – built a big tower. So theConstitution doesn’t matter.

But I should not whinge – I should inspire. Howwill this all happen? I tell you this, America hadAbraham Lincoln and George Washington. India hadMahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. Is India any lesscapable of producing greatness? No, until one of hersons and daughters rises to be a Lincoln, Washington,Gandhi or Patel, let us keep reading the Constitution,because one in six humans on this planet lives underthat Constitution and it matters – much more thanJaguars and GDP.

The Politics of the Republic

Political SketchbookAlpesh Patel’s

One of his campaign stafffaces legal action byanother aide over allega-tions of “bullying, abuseand intimidation”.

Sukie Sohal, in chargeof fund-raising for MrLivingstone’s campaign toregain the London may-oralty, is threatening tosue Patrick Heneghan,campaign director, and theLabour party, saying shefelt “deeply humiliated”by them, as reported bythe Sunday Telegraph.

Ms Sohal, a formercouncillor who has eightyears’ experience as asalaried party official, hasalleged that she was usedas a token Asian toimpress Mr Livingstone’swealthy Indian donorsand as a “pretty face” toparade around partyevents holding up auctionprizes.

In the documents, twosenior members of theLivingstone team, RobChapman and Phil Dilks,say the campaign is in“turmoil” with “growingtensions” betweenLabour’s professional staffand people brought in bythe former Mayor. Thecase papers, which are cir-culating inside LondonLabour, was passed to TheSunday Telegraph by aLabour activist.

Labour MPs andLondon Assembly mem-

bers privately complainthat experienced cam-paigners are being cut outof the mayoral campaignby “cronies” of MrLivingstone appointedwithout due process.

Ms Sohal, was notavailable for comments. ALabour Party spokesmansaid: “We do not commenton staff matters.”

Cllr Navin Shah, theonly Hindu AssemblyMember told Asian Voice,“This is Labour Party’sinternal staffing matter forthe Labour Party toaddress and nothing to dowith the campaign for theforthcoming elections inLondon. The campaignitself, with its powerfulmessages highlightingmonumental failures ofthe Tory Mayor, is goingfrom strength to strengthwith the recent polls put-ting Ken Livingstoneahead of Boris Johnson.Local campaigns in theareas like Brent andHarrow too show thatLabour has excellent sup-port from our residents.”

Ken Livingstone’s campaignhit by in-fighting?

Ken Livingstone


Joti Patel co-hosted theAsian Achievers Awards2011 at Wembley Stadiumand was received withenthusiasm and intriguefrom the 1200 audience,headed by distinguishedguests including Dr. VinceCable. Joti’s efforts tocharm the audience paiddividends. With multiplebookings secured lessthan 24 hrs after AAA,Joti is already leading theway on the compering cir-cuit after being booked topresent a global tour withguests including some ofthe highest achievers inbusiness.

Joti is an Actress,Presenter & Model whohas represented well-known brands such asBBC, ITV, Crowne Plaza,Sharwoods, ElephantAtta, Sainsbury’s, DFS,Brit-Asia TV and PriorityPass and is booked to rep-resent an internationalairline for an Olympicscampaign in 2012. Jotihas also trained with lead-ing names in stage presen-tation under the team ofworld famous speaker,Anthony Robbins.

Joti is no stranger toour television or silverscreen and has worked onBollywood productions,acted on BBC showsCasualty, Hustle &Doctors and starred in

short films on ITV as wellas on the independent cir-cuit. Joti has also featuredas the lead actress on var-ious national and globaladvertising campaignsand is training furtherwith Birmingham Schoolof Acting.

This testimonial sumsup Joti’s performance atAAA; “is a class act! Asan award winning entre-preneur, I’ve been to manyaward ceremonies and I’mused to a very uniformapproach. However, Jotiwas phenomenal in howshe managed and directedthe evening. She hasgreat stage presence andcomes across in a veryprofessional and clearmanner. Joti is a delightfulpersonality and showsgreat empathy with heraudience. She’s one towatch for in the future. Ipredict this is just thebeginning of a very longcareer for Joti Patel.”

King’s College London,one of the world’s top 30universities and 4th oldestin the UK, marked India’sRepublic Day onThursday, 26th January,with the formal launch ofits prestigious new IndiaInstitute. The event wasinaugurated by Rt HonWilliam Hague MP,Secretary of State forForeign andCommonwealth Affairs,representing the UKGovernment. ActingIndian HighCommissioner to the UK,Mr Rajesh Prasad, wasalso in attendance, reflect-ing the growing impor-tance of UK-India bilater-al relations.

The King’s IndiaInstitute, which openedits doors to students inSeptember 2011, isalready rapidly becominga world-leading institu-tion for global engage-ment with contemporaryIndia. The Institute - oneof a network of GlobalInstitutes at King’s focus-ing on 21st century worldpowers - is pioneering aunique interdisciplinaryapproach to research oncontemporary India, withexperts from across thefields of social sciences,policy, law, security stud-ies, science and health.

The underlying ethosis rooted in commitment

to build India’s capacityto engage with globalissues on its own terms, tofoster long-range thinkingon India’s most essentialdilemmas, and to deepeninternational comprehen-sion of the distinctivecharacter of India’sgrowth path and chal-lenges.

Rt Hon William HagueMP, who gave the openingspeech at the inaugura-tion ceremony said: ‘It is agreat pleasure, on India’sRepublic Day and the62nd anniversary of thesignifying of itsConstitution, to expressmy sense of optimism andexcitement about our rela-tions with India and allthat lies ahead for the cit-izens of both our coun-tries, and ourGovernment’s firm com-

mitment to develop evencloser ties in the years tocome and indeed we canhope throughout this cen-tury, which is very muchIndia’s to shape.

‘This new Institute atKing’s could not havecome at a better time.Now is the time to studyIndia, to invest in Indiaand to work with India.The rise of India andother nations is good forthe people of those coun-tries; it is good for theworld; and it bringsimmense opportunitiesfor a country like Britainthat is able to seize them.

‘I wish the King’sIndia Institute and its stu-dents every success in thecoming years. It is inspir-ing to think of all thosewho will expand our intel-lectual horizons and

King’s India Institute inauguratedon India’s Republic day

cement our ties withIndia in the years to comeby studying here.’

The Institute is led byDirector Professor SunilKhilnani, author of TheIdea of India. ProfessorKhilnani, who has recent-ly returned from theJaipur Literary Festival,made a speech describinghis vision for theInstitute: ‘King’s CollegeLondon is manifestly theright place for our newIndia Institute. King’s isan invigorated universityexpanding its globalresearch footprint and itsengagement with theworld - through its stu-dent body, its faculty, andits partnerships. Its spirittoday is one of innovationand experimentation - asis ours.

‘The choices andjudgements India makestoday will orient its futurefor many years to come,and it is no longer anoverstatement to say thatthose choices will alsochange the future of theworld. The animatingspirit of our new IndiaInstitute will be to under-stand India as such: anation not at the periph-ery, but at the centre ofour most crucial globaldebates.

‘Our students willdevelop skills to con-tribute to contemporaryIndia’s human develop-ment and internationalinfluence, and ultimatelyto worldwide understand-ing of India’s changingglobal role. They can alsoundertake internshipsand practical experience -since we believe this is acrucial part of learningabout India today.

‘With the comparativeframework offered by theBrazil, China and theupcoming RussiaInstitute, the programmesat the India Institute areuniquely designed toequip students with theskills and awareness nec-essary for a successfulfuture in the global econ-omy.’

The Principal ofKing’s College London,Professor Sir RickTrainor, closed the officialinauguration ceremonysaying: ‘We are excited bythe significant milestonesalready achieved byProfessor Khilnani andhis team at the King’sIndia Institute. Althoughstill in its infancy, theIndia Institute is in anextremely strong positionto assist in developing theUK and Europe’s under-standing of, and engage-ment with, contemporaryIndia.’

Ramachandra Guha,who will be conducting aseminar series this term,said: ‘This Institute is ascholarly initiative that isboth admirable and excit-ing - because it focuses onthe momentous transi-

Professor Sunil Khilnani, Avantha Chair and Director of theKing’s India Institute, with Rt Hon William Hague MP,

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

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tions underway in theworld’s most interestingcountry, and because it isled by a highly regardedsenior scholar workingalongside some very giftedyounger colleagues.’

S u b h a s h i n iNarayanan, who is fromChennai and works as adiplomat for the MEA, isstudying on the flagshipMA Modern India. At thelaunch she explained whyshe had chosen to study atKing’s: ‘The main attrac-

tion to the MA ModernIndia programme is itsinterdisciplinary approachto studying contemporaryIndia - be it India’s foreignand security policy, thehistorical narrative ofmodern India or India’snuclear policy. I found thecombination of having theopportunity to interactwith renowned politicalscientists and scholarsand studying advancedcourse work ideally suitedmy career aspirations.

Joti Patel

Madhuleena Chattorajwill be taking part in MissIndia Worldwide UK thisyear, to be held in HMSPresident at VictoriaEmbankment on 4th.

In an interviewMadhuleena told AsianVoice, “It has been a greatexperience taking part inthis programme. Themain focus is personalgrooming and develop-ment. Of the differentactivities we had to takepart in, one of them wasto raise money for aCertain Charity of ourown choice. I personallyfound this the most fulfill-

ing part of the wholecourse and I chose theAkshaya PatraFoundation. To raisefunds for this charity Iarranged a get together atthe Peaches Cocktail Barand Restaurant inKenton. There was funand entertainmentthroughout the eveningalong with a special pres-entation from the Charity.

There was specialappearance from CllrNavin Shah, the Memberof Assembly in support ofthis special cause, whichmade the event even moresuccessful.”

Charity work by Miss IndiaWorldwide UK contestant

Madhuleena (sitting down) with parents and other supporters

Hostess Joti Patel receivedwith enthusiasm at AAA 2011


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Be a Fashionista, Be You! If you have any questions or a story or a new style to

share with us, please write to Shree at [email protected]

I did the unthinkable thismorning and weighedmyself. I have put on threepounds over the weekend.First of all, I didn’t evenknow that such rapidweight gain is even possi-ble. And secondly, Iwalked for hours andhours in a museum thisSunday, so exercise clearlyhas no positive effect!Consequently I am supercranky and depressd rightnow and have been lookingat ways to starve myselfthin extraordinarily fast.As always, the Hollywoodset did not disappoint me.Vinegar shots, cookiemeals and baby food, if youcan imaine it, there is aweird diet that promises togive you Gisele’s arse. I’mnot sure if I will evrattempt any of these (If Ido, I will let you know howI am getting on), but here’sthe lowdown.

THE BABY FOOD DIET

Paparazzi often stalk theentrance to Kitson in LosAngeles, but perhaps theyshould try the baby aisle atthe supermarket instead.Some A-list actresses havereportedly tucked into jarsof baby food at meal timesto lose weight. A few dieti-

cians admit that baby foodcould do the trick. If itdoesn’t have added starch,it can be a good source ofnutrition because it’s justpureed vegetables, fruit, ormeat, after all.

Celeb Fans: JenniferAniston, Reese Witherspoon

THE COOKIE DIET

One of the most populardiets in Los Angeles overthe past few years revolvesaround four to seven pro-tein-based cookies a day,

which amounts to about500-600 calories, with ameal of lean protein andvegetables adding anoth-er 300 calories, approxi-mately. The cookies con-tain protein, aminoacids, fiber, vitamins,and minerals, and theaim is to eat them tosuppress hunger andprevent an increase inblood sugar. The appealof this plan is simple:Who doesn’t like cook-ies?

Celeb Fans: KellyClarkson, Mandy Moore

THE APPLE-CIDER-VINEGAR DIET

A shot of something beforeeating sounds more like afast track to rehab than toflat abs. But some celebri-ties swear by a pre-mealgulp of vinegar.This dietrests on the theory thatvinegar cuts through fat inyour body as it does greasein the kitchen. I have aninkling that this is totalrubbish.

Celeb Fans: Fergie,Heidi Klum

Starry Slim

fashionistaby Debasree Ghoshfashionista THE CAFFEIN DIET

The pick-me-up can be adieter's best friend andone that Diet Coke fansDrew Barrymore, CateBlanchett, Lara FlynnBoyle, Kim Basinger andCaprice know all about.A cup of coffee before agym workout could helpyou burn more fat. Buteven if you are not a gymbunny, daily caffeinefixes can help raise yourmetabolism, and thestimulant acts as a mildappetite suppressant.Sorry, we're not talkingfull-fat latte.

THE RAW-FOOD DIET

The cult ofraw food sprouted a fewdecades ago, but inrecent years it hasattracted a strong celebri-ty following, many ofwhom see it as the pathto nutritional nirvana.Devotees believe thatcooking food destroys itsvalue – or “life force” –and so none of the fruits,vegetables, nuts, andgrains they live on areheated above 116 degrees(meat and chicken areout). The good news isthat the diet encouragespeople to eat lots ofunprocessed fruits andvegetables, which studiesshow are very beneficial.

Celeb Fans: DemiMoore, Drew Barrymore

Any takers?

A city banker spurned by adoctor he met through adating agency bought acache of weapons includ-ing crossbows and a gunand set fire to her parents’home after they uncoveredcriminal past, a courtheard.

Al Amin Dhalla, pic-tured, a Canadian nation-al, allegedly orchestrated aterrifying four-monthcampaign against traineedoctor Alison Hewitt, 35,from Brighton, EastSussex, and her familywhen she dumped him inDecember 2010.

He was eventuallyarrested by armed officersat the hospital where sheworked - but only after apolice helicopter airliftedher parents to safety fromthe secluded holiday homehe had tracked them downto, Lewes Crown Courtheard.

Prosecutor RichardBarton told the trial: ‘Hiscriminal conduct startedwith petty thefts and crim-inal damage, continuedthrough repeated harass-ment of his former partnerand family and ultimatelyescalated into conduct onhis part which endangeredthe lives of others, withplans for yet more sinisteractions.

‘He was apprehendedby police before he couldexecute those final plans.’

Arrested for terrifyingformer lover

Lithuanian national RimvydasLiorancas, who was chargedwith murdering Avtar Kolar andhis wife Carole at their home inBirmingham, has been founddead in prison, police said.

West Midlands Police con-firmed the Lithuanian nationalwas found dead in his cell atWoodhill Prison in MiltonKeynes, Buckinghamshire, onSaturday.

Double murder accusedfound hanged in prison

Avtar Kolar and wifeCarole

Hot Garam masala

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 1716 Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012

I'm happy with my relationship: Kareena Salman finds Katrinatruly desi now!

SRK ‘slaps’ Farah Khan's husband

In what is considered to be a loving gesture towards cin-ema, Ulaganayagan Kamal Hassan cited the BollywoodKing Shah Rukh Khan for the police cop role. It wassome seven years ago that Gautham Menon depictedKamal in a fantastic cop role in “Vettaiyadu Vilayadu.”The film offered the very best from Kamal in his hey daysand hit the box office with excellent remark. Recentlywhen circles in Bollywood queried the Ulaganayagan forthe choice of that character, he at once uttered the nameof SRK. He claimed that the King Khan possesses thatmuch of validity for that character. Director GauthamMenon welcomed this recommendation.

The relations between Prabhu Deva and Nayanthara havebeen in the news for more than three years. It all startedafter the demise of Prabhu Deva’s son. Prabhu Deva andhis wife Ramlath showed mutual consent for divorce andNayanthara decided to quit films after their marriage.However, Prabhu Deva started getting into more worksand didn’t show any signs of getting married. Then buzzeswere that they had bitter terms as there was news thatPrabhu Deva and Hansika Motwani had become closer.However, it was denied as baseless rumours and the cou-ple decided to enter wedlock sooner. But now Nayantharahas decided to sign more projects and reports are that they

have parted ways.

Wedding bells are ringingloud for Ananya. The‘Nadodigal’ and‘Engaeyum Eppothum’actress will marryAnjaneyan, a Trichur-based entrepreneursoon. Their engage-ment is scheduled totake place onFebruary 3. SaysAnanya, “It was myconstant decision toleave my marriage tomy parents’ choice.When Anjaneyan andhis family membersapproached elders inmy family with thewedding proposal, myparents found him asthe right man.” Theengagement ceremonyof Ananya andAnjaneyan is beingorganized at the actress’shouse at Perumbavurnear Ernakulam.Wedding date is expectedto be fixed during thebetrothal function, whichwill be attended by closerelatives and friends. “Idon’t know whether I willcontinue acting or not afterwedding,“ she said.

Ever since Salman Khanand Katrina Kaif beganto shoot for “Ek ThaTiger,” Kat has been fullof surprises for her ex-flame. Latest being,when she impressedSalman with herimproved Hindi diction,which also led Salmancalling her 'desi'. Kathas come a long wayfrom her rigid Britishaccent to pure desistyle, something Salmancan’t withhold ravingabout. The superstar isenjoying every momentworking with Kat.

The clash between two Bollywood celebri-ties took on a violent note early onMonday morning, when actor-producerShah Rukh Khan allegedlycame to blows withdirector Farah Khan'shusband ShirishKunder at Sanjay Dutt'sparty at a popular night-club in Juhu, Mumbai,which was attended byA-listers. After beingstalked by Kunder rightthrough the party, Khanas he was about to leave,lost his cool and allegedlypinned him onto a sofa and slapped him.

Although Farah spent the better partof Monday railing against her former 'bestfriend' SRK for slapping her husband andattacking him for "no reason", she and

Kunder will not be approaching thepolice. Kunder on Monday evening tweet-

ed: "We have nointention of filing anFIR or a police com-plaint." Both Dutt,who had attemptedto separate the two,and SRK are main-taining a stonysilence.

The incidenttook place around4.15 am onMonday at a party

hosted in Dutt's honour by the owner ofthe nightclub following Sunday's FilmfareAwards. Eyewitnesses give conflictingaccounts of the nature of the scuffle: somesay the duo came to blows, others say theactor simply slapped Kunder.

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor says she ishappy and content in her relationship with beauSaif Ali Khan. Kareena shared her sentiments in acasual tete-a-tete with her friend and "Ek Main AurEkk Tu" producer Karan Johar for "A date with EkMain aur Ekk Tu" - a show to be telecast on Zee TV.

Johar asked Kareena - "How do you feel whenyou see Saif in an intimate scene with another hotactress? Say in 'Race 2', Saif has a bare-body scenewith a Deepika in bikini, what would be your firstthought?"

To which, Kareena replied: "I'd be like 'Wow!How hot Saif looks'," and added: "I know how helooks bare bodied!"

On a serious note, she said: "I am quite securein my relationship with Saif and though I don'twant to say too much too soon, I am quite content!"

Recently Saif admitted how he thinks Kareenalooks best only with him, and not with any of theother Khans of Bollywood that she has workedwith.

Way back in 2006, Lata Mangeshkar had recorded asong for Madhur Bhandarkar's "Corporate." Afterrecording the song, the director and the composerfelt that it was best to be stored and used it for a dif-ferent movie. This song will now be used in"Heroine" and will have Mangeshkar singing toKareena Kapoor's lips. Says composer ShameerTandon, "I recorded the song titled "Kyun yahan hotahai/Jo yahan hota hai" when Madhur was making"Corporate". The lyrics were penned by SandeepNath. However, when we finished recording, we feltthe song would be more suited for some otherMadhur movie. That's why we kept it on hold. Now,we have decided to use it for Kareena in ‘Heroine’."

Lata Mangeshkar sings

for Kareena

The search for the female lead for “Shootout atWadala” continues. The latest name who was con-sidered for the role Asin has turned down the offer.The actress was recently in talks for the project butdecided against doing it. Asin's business managerstates, "Yes, she was approached to be part of theproject. But had to turn it down as the required dateswere clashing with another project." Apparently theactress has given a chunk of her dates to “BolBachchan” for which she is currently shooting.Asin's move has led producer-director SanjayGupta's prequel to his 2007 flick “Shootout atLokhandwala” left yet again with casting woes.

Now, Asin says No

You've seen her on the big screen in various avatars,now Mallika Sherawat will be seen in a totally differ-ent dimension. The actress is the first Bollywoodactress to feature in a 3D magazine from Hollywood.Talking about the experience of shooting in 3D, shesays, "They approached me and they wanted a face torepresent India. I had met President Obama andbeen to the Oscars, so they thought I would be theright person to be on the cover of their issue. Theysaw my work and I said I would love to be party ofanything new and 3D is such a youth platform." "Themagazine comes with 3D glasses so when you see thepictures I will be three dimensional! What's moreinteresting is that the guys developing it are allIndians. Now you can have me really close to you!It's the next best thing after the real thing," she adds.

Mallika Sherawat goes 3D

If rumours are to be believed, the relationship betweenlovebirds Deepika Padukone and Siddharth Mallya hashit a dead end. The couple who have not been makingpublic appearances from quite sometime may be head-ing for a split, reports said.

"Since August 2010, they have made several appear-ances together. They have been strangely cold and aloofwhile talking about their relationship. But all of uswanted to believe that they were headed for somethingstronger when Sidhartha dined with Deepika's family," asource said.

According to reports, Mallya Jr even confided to afriend that "the relationship is not working and headingnowhere."

Deepika, meanwhile, is concentrating on her work."She is putting up a brave front, focusing on her workand hoping for the best," a source close to Deepika said.

Deepika-Ranbir coming close again?

Deepika was spotted partying with ex-flame RanbirKapoor on his 29th birthday. When asked about itDeepika said, “Ranbir is an extremely talented actor.Technically, we have only done half a film together sinceI came in only halfway through BAH. We were bothkeen to do another one, but till Ayan’s film came along,we had not come across the right script. There are noissues anymore, we are good friends.” Ranbir, mean-while, gifted a piano to Deepika when he came to knowabout her interest in learning music.

Deepika,

Siddharth

to part

ways?

Deepika,

Siddharth

to part

ways?

i've never been part of any camp:

Refusing to dwell on her personalequations with co-stars, PriyankaChopra talks about the professional

space and what makes her tickin Bollywood. She had been in

the news for not the bestreasons of late. And yet,

Priyanka refuses to letthe rumours affect her,

at least professionally.When faced with per-sonal questionsabout rumours of her

special friendship withShah Rukh Khan, the

actress fidgets anddeclares, "I will not talk

about this. I shall never talkabout this." However, when itcomes to her films, theactress doesn't shy awayfrom answering.

About her upcomingDharma Productions ven-ture 'Agneepath', theactress gushes, "I am nerv-ous and excited. Reports

have been brilliant. Theyhave liked Hrithik (Roshan),Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) and mywork. More than anything, they

have loved the film. I'm veryproud of Karan (Malhotra, the

director) as this is his first film and I'm hisfirst heroine. For me, it's not a remake. Ihadn't even seen the original 'Agneepath'till I signed this film. Also my role has beenwritten fresh."

And this film strengthens her bond withKaran Johar and Dharma. She had earlierworked with the production house in'Dostana'. "It was lovely working withDharma again. As an actor, you don'tinvolve yourself with the production much.You're closer to the director," says theactress.

Despite her proximity to Dharma, herrelationship with Yash Raj Films is report-edly not as strong. Rumour has it that YashRaj did not keep its promise of offering hera big film after she agreed to do a smallproject 'Pyaar Impossible'. However, theactress maintains that it wasn't YRF shewas working for but Uday ChopraProductions.

Good with a section of the industry andnot too close to the rest, this is Priyanka'scareer graph in a nutshell. However, withsingle minded determination and whattrade analyst Amod Mehra calls 'luck' theactress despite being shunned some, hasmanaged to maintain her position inBollywood. When asked about her closeand not so close relations with actors, pro-ducers and directors, she said, “I havenever been part of any camp.”

This year has given a golden start to VidyaBalan and Ranbir Kapoor, as they won thebest actress and actor trophies respective-ly at almost all the award ceremonies.Filmfare awards held at Film citydeclared them as winnersfor the best actortrophies. Theyalso won thebest actor inZee Cineaward held atMacau. Screenaward also wentto them. In theC h e v r o l e tApsara Awardsceremony alsothey have pickedthe best actors’ tro-phies for perform-ance in “Rockstar”and “The Dirty Picture”respectively.

"Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" bagged thebest film honour from Filmfare. ZoyaAkhtar took home the best director awardfor "Zindagi...".

Priyanka Chopra won the best actress

(critics' choice) for her portrayal of awoman who kills her seven husbands in "7

Khoon Maaf."Farhan Akhtar

picked the bestdialogue awardfor his snazzywriting for"Zindagi..."

In theApsara awardsZoya’s actor-f i l m m a k e rb r o t h e rFarhan tookhome thebest sup-p o r t i n g

actor awardfor the movie too.

The best supportingactress award went to Priyanka Chopra's

cousin Parineeti, for her portrayal in"Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl". The act alsobagged the best debutant (female) awardfor her. The best debutant (male) honourwent to southern actor Rana Daggubati forhis first Bollywood project "Dum MaroDum".

Golden year for Ranbir, Vidya

Kamal recommends SRK for‘Vettaiyadu Vilayudu’ remake

Prabhu Deva-Nayantharaend their relationship

PRiyANKA ChoPRA

Don’t compare me with Big B:HritHik rosHan

Amitabh Bachchan madeVijay Dinanath Chauhan'scharacter in the 1990"Agneepath" iconic, but thefilm didn't do wonders at thebox office.

Almost two decades laternow, Hrithik Roshan, whohas reprised the role in itsremake that has collected Rs250 million on the openingday, says it's unfair to com-pare the two actors.

"You can't compare (withAmitabh). If you start com-paring, I will fail in a second.I feel people are not sayingthat I have done as well (asBachchan), but I think whatthey are saying is I havedone well in my way and theyare cheering for me," saidHrithik, who is receiving ravereviews for his performance.

"I don't even want toanalyse. There are no com-parisons in my head," addedthe 38-year-old actor.

The remake, produced byKaran Johar and directed bydebutant Karan Malhotra,broke recent opening daybox office records, garneringRs 250 million. The collec-tions have left behind figuresof hits like "Bodyguard" and"RA.One", which made Rs220 million and Rs 18 million,respectively.

Hrithik feels blessed withthe response, but credits theentire team for the success.

"I feel blessed. I think thisis what we live for. I am oncentre stage but it's a victoryfor the entire team so I amrepresenting all people" hesaid.

Ananya toenter wedlock

18 Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012

Dear Financial Voice Reader:Several Habits of Highly Profitable Traders

I recently took the trading data of 400 privateinvestors over a 4 year period and analysed it. Mosthappened to be of Indian origin. I wanted to know whatwinners had in common compared to the losers. I wentthrough every position (well the computer did) of everytrader. Then picked out some winner and some losersand try to work out what they kept getting right andwrong. Or why winners turned to losers. (Losers neverbecome winners). As far as I am aware no one has everdone this.

Here are some of the findings.Once a security risen 10% into profit, if it falls back

into loss, you are less likely to make money: Traderswho saw a stock rise 10%, rarely made money, if theythen held onto it whilst it slipped into a loss. Winners didnot let winning trades becoming losing trades.

Some make money that are right only 4 times out of10: Some winning traders made money despite beingright less than half the time. They did this because theamount they won when they were right was more thanthe amount they lost when they were wrong. Put anoth-er way, soon after their positions were in a loss, theyexited and did not hang around for the trade to turninto a longer term profit. If they tended to hold winningtrades for, say, 25 days, then they did not hold losingtrades longer than the average period.

Forex traders were particularly successful – trendfollowing and reverse trends: Those trading the foreignexchange markets were particularly likely to be prof-itable and successful of the batch I observed. This is notto say those buying and holding stocks for the long termare not profitable, it’s just that the audience beingobserved was one of active traders. So out of those whyshould foreign exchange trading work well? It appearsthat one reason is that such markets often ‘trend’ iemove in one smooth direction and then reverse.

This is not a hard and fast rule – but relative to equi-ties it has been noticed by many traders. This may helpsuch traders make money. Of course it could be theyare better – but it appeared from the trades I saw, theycaptured trends and those trends existed, rather thanwith those trading other securities. One exception wascommodities. Those traders did well too, but also oftendue to wild swings, in losing periods, gave back gains.

Those who bet small amounts, but did more trades,were more profitable than those trading big size butinfrequently: We found winners did not make big bets.But rather their risk was limited, it’s just that when theyfound that 1 or 2 trades in a hundred which kept onwinning, they were able to hang on to them.

There is a lot more where this came from. Thisresearch will soon go into a book – but who knows per-haps even a PhD?

Tatas, Starbucks sign pact for

opening cafe chain in India

Global coffee chainStarbucks will soonbe making its wayto India with TataGlobal Beveragesformally announc-ing a joint venturepact with the US-based company.

"The company hasentered into a joint ven-ture with Starbucks groupwhereby the newly-formed joint venture com-pany Tata StarbucksLimited shall engage in

the operation ofStarbucks Cafes," TataGlobal Beverages said in aregulatory filing. Bothparties had announcedtheir intent to startStarbucks-branded cafes

The history of the BritishIndian community is inti-mately connected to ourpast migrations (includingmy own family’s) fromIndia, to East Africa andthen to the UK. It createdan enterprising spiritwhich older generationshave often passed ontoyounger: according to a2006 report there wereover 40,000 Asian ownedbusinesses in Londonalone, with almost 70% ofthese being family owned.

There are real advan-tages to having a familyowned business: control,for example. However,where things may haveworked well in one gener-ation – with the businessrunning on loose under-standings and agreements,things may not work sowell for the next. Over60% of all the familyowned businesses in theUK do not have any han-dover plans. For a busi-ness to survive (andsometimes the familyitself!) clarity of owner-ship, control and rights isimportant. You couldallow active members tohave more freedom in themanagement of the busi-ness by amending the

incorporation documentsof a company, whilstsimultaneously allowingother family members toretain rights by agreeingshare ownership.

The inevitability ofdeath and taxes meansthat aside from ensuringthat you protect yourbusiness by planning forsuccession (as set outabove) ensuring that youhave a well drafted Will isequally vital. Specificadvice should also betaken where you havefamily and business assetsin India or Africa, orindeed other parts of theWorld. If you die withoutmaking a Will your prop-erty and belongings willbe divided regardless ofyour wishes (in the UK).By making a Will, youdecide who gets what.Though in general terms,for individuals the first£325,000 of all your solelyowned property will notbe taxed (the “Nil RateBand”) by planning andusing exemptions (such assmall gift exemptions, orcash gifts on marriage)appropriately the amountof tax you might have topay can be reduced still.

The position is a little

more complicatedfor a business owner:tax relief is availablefor some types ofbusiness property(for example a soletrader business or aninterest in a businesssuch as a partner-ship), but not others(stocks and securi-ties in someinstances). If youhave an alreadyexisting agreement,such as a sharehold-ers agreement thismay trump a newlydrafted Will - ensur-ing that the oldagreements and yourWill are complimen-tary will be impor-tant in reducing con-flict later.

A famous person oncesaid: other things maychange us, but we startand end with family. Byprotecting your businessand your wealth, you willbe looking after lovedones, so that this remainsthe case even after you

have passed on the reinsto the next generation.

I can provide free ini-tial consultation for AsianVoice readers. If you wantany such legal advice onany issue or have any ques-tions, you can contact meon [email protected] or 020 8445 6753

Bhavini Kalaria

Protecting Yourself, Protecting Your Loved Ones

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Last week Asian Voice hadan opportunity to catch upwith two budding entre-preneurs Mr DarmeshDoshi and Mr Rahul Dixitfrom Asset India.

Asset India is a globalcompany specializing inthe real estate investmentsector in India with cus-tomers, who are Personsof Indian Origin (PIOs), inUK, India, Kenya,Tanzania, Spain, USA,Canada, Australia,Gibraltar and Kuwait andshortly spreading its reachin Dubai, Singapore &Hongkong. They have ateam of specialized realestate portfolio managersand finance professionals– all of whom are realestate experts who togeth-er have decades of experi-ence in the real estateindustry in India and theUK. They are purelyinvestor driven companywhich provides a one stopshop for all India propertyinvestment requirementslike Re-sales, Rentals,Property management,Finance and Foreignexchange facilities.

Upon asking how didthe idea of a company likeAsset India come intobeing? Darmesh went onto say "Earlier we wereworking with one of theleading real estate develop-er of India where werealised there was not onlya huge demand for invest-ments in real estate inIndia but also a gap in theInternational market forlack of professionals facili-tating this requirement

hence we came together asa team and formed AssetIndia with one single objec-tive to provide a one stopservice for NRI/PIO’sinvesting in real estate inIndia.” He went on to say,“We help the investors byprimarily understandingtheir real estate require-ments and subjectively pro-vide tailor-made solutionsfrom sourcing, negotiating,arranging site visits, pro-viding financial/investmentcalculations along withoffering full property man-agement solution likerentals, re-sales, financingas a part of complete port-folio management.”

Asian Voice askedRahul Dixit, whether theysearch particular proper-ties that people are inter-ested to invest in or is itmore of the list they haveand people are welcome toinvest in one of the prop-erties? He answered bysaying, "As this is a prima-rily investor/client focusedcompany we provide solu-tions to client require-ments thereby personalis-

ing the whole India invest-ment experience. Headded, “Real estate sectorin India is getting organ-ized and we bridge the gapby providing a professionalhassle- free service withour expert experience andhands-on approach”.

When asked how dif-ferent are they from theother India PropertyEstate agents, Darmeshsaid, “Asset India has pre-dominantly evolved as ainvestor-focused companywhere we not only offerthe best property deals inthe Indian real estate mar-ket but also look after yourcomplete Indian realestate investment makingit a hassle-free experiencewhere your investmentworks harder and smarterfor you”.

Asset India have beenin existence since 2011and readers who are inter-ested in knowing moreabout them and their serv-ices or would like to getsome advises regardingIndia property could speakcould speak to them.

A t l a n t ahotelier andimmediatepast chair-man of theA s i a nAmer i c anHotel Owners Association(AAHOA) Chandrakant“C.K.” Patel has beenreappointed for a two-yearterm to the prestigious USTravel and Tourism Board,which consists of 32 lead-ing travel and tourismbusiness leaders who areappointed by the Secretaryof Commerce to advise onindustry-related programsand policies.

A topic of special inter-est for Patel, who wasoriginally appointed inJanuary of 2011 to serve aone-year term, has beenstreamlining the visaapplication process so thatforeign travellers can moreeasily visit the UnitedStates. Underscoring theimportance of this issue,President Obama onJanuary 19 signed an exec-utive order which supportsimproved visa processingand promotes the US as atourism destination.

“Travel and tourism isa vital segment of ourcountry’s economy, so thisposition offers a uniqueopportunity to contributeto the financial well-beingof our country,” explainsPatel. “More touristsmeans more spending,which contributes to morejobs and a faster economicrecovery.”

C K Patelre-appointed to

US travel &tourism advisory

board

Dharmesh Doshi Rahul Dixit

One Stop Shop for NRI / PIO

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 19FINANCIAL VOICE

Suresh Vagjiani

Managing Director

Sow & Reap

A Property Investment &

Financing company.

The lucky thing is this is property and so you always have a fallback posit ion.

l When planning property projectsalways have 2 routes to exit

l Many lenders do not lend when theseller has held the property for less than6 months

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

UK Sales 0207 313 4595 India Sales 0203 384 5323

Westbourne House, 14-16 Westbourne Grove, London, W2 5RH

Specialists in:

l Property Sourcing

l Mortgages

l Commercial Finance

l India Properties

Recently we completed refurbishing a small one bedroom flat to a twobedroom flat in Queens Park/Maida Vale. This was picked up in auctionin March 2011 for £280,000. This was the top limit set for this proper-ty - I was actually hoping to get it for less.One thing I have noticed is when a property comes up for auction

the auctioneer puts the more fashionable next door area in the descrip-tion, rather than the actual location of the property, if a property comesup in Westbourne Park it would be described as in Notting Hill! AndKilburn becomes Maida Vale.We spent £50,000 doing the property up which included a rear

extension and planning fees. I could have got it cheaper if I got myuncle to do it but then I couldn't tell him off if I didn't like anything.The aim was to buy and sell over a six month time period. The total

expenses together with purchase costs came to £60k.As soon as the property came up on the market we got an offer of

£390k, this was within days of it being out in the market. I thought thiswas too quick and it must be worth more, so let's hold out.We did and it wasn't! The original buyer due to the delay moved on

to other things and January is not the best time to sell a property.The flat realistically is worth £380,000 right now, which actually

doesn't leave much margin.The cost to date is £280K + £60K, which is £340k. Using a 3% +

Vat agent’s fee, I know that’s high, but I have gone on the assumptionthat Foxtons end up selling it, this would leave £26,000, a 10% returnon your funds.A fair return, but not amazing admittedly given the variables

involved. If we had purchased with a mortgage it would have increasedthe percentage to make it much more attractive, as only 25% of the pur-chase price would have been used. However the return would havebeen decreased by the arrangement fee and the interest payments whichwould mean a total decrease of another £14,000. This now would mean£70,000 into the property and a £12,000 return, which gives a 17%return on your funds.This in my opinion is still not enough given the variables involved

in a property deal.

The fallback position is to rent and refinance at the higher value.The great thing with property is you have this realistic and quickoption.This would mean you refinance at £380k which means you can

extract 75% of this value out from the property, which comes to £285k.So now you are leaving only £55k in the property.The rental is £370pw, net of agents fees. The mortgage payments

will be £300pw.This means you have an income of £3,500 pa., which is a 6% net on

your deposit. Assuming the price holds and rises you will be making a

It’s lonely at the top, but you eat better

Coal fires were the main source of heatduring the 19th Century, they consumeda staggering amount of fuel. The con-sumption of fuel went up from 2.3m tonsto 10.2m tons in 1861. In urban houseswhere space was scarce coal was stored ina separate cellar underneath the pave-ment. A chute would connect the pave-ment to the celler, this would be coveredwith a self locking cast iron plate. Thecoalman would empty sacks of coal downthe chute and close the plate. Houseswithout cellers would either use coal binsin the back yard or the cupboard under-neath the stairs as a ‘coal hole’.Open fires had a catastrophic health

effect on London. They left soot bothinside and outside of the houses, in thegreat fog of 1880 700 Londoners died.Gas supplies were only available from

1860. It was used for lighting and rarelyfor cooking and heating until the end ofthe century. Electricity came in 1881where the first public supply was intro-

duced in Godalming Surrey. It was anoth-er 20 years before it became standardisedand widespread.

One is a 25year lease property for £40k,this comes with a tenant generating £9kper annum. A good way to view this is tolook it at like you’re buying a bond, youwill get an annual return of 22.5% perannum for a period of 25 years, but unlikea bond there will be no final payment.Roughly over a 4 year period your fundswill be returned to you, the rest will beprofit.The property is a Ground Floor TwoBedroom Maisonette subject to anAssured Shorthold Tenancy producing£9,000 per annum.The freeholder has quoted £85,000 for alease extension though you never have toextend, it is still a great deal for £40k in.The property is situated in the south eastLondon residential area of LowerSydenham close to local shops andamenities and the open spaces ofSouthend Park are only a short walkaway. Transport links are provided by

Lower Sydenham rail station.The second property is a commercialproperty, the building is grade two listedin Oldham.The property is entirely let to HSBC Bankplc for 15 years from 20th June 2008,expiring 20th June 2023, at a currentpassing rent of £55,000 per annum. Thelease benefits from 5 yearly upwards onlyrent reviews, with the next review beingon 20th June 2013. There is a tenant’sbreak clause on 20th June 2018, exercis-able upon six months’ written notice.The lease contains full repairing andinsuring covenants, subject to a scheduleof condition. The Tenant has an option torenew the lease for a further 15 yearsfrom the end of the term. We understandthat part of the mezzanine floor is occu-pied by the Oldham Town CentreManagement Company on an informalbasis and no rent is payable.The price is £825k, giving a yield of 6.7%.

The Real Deal The Victorian House

Heating & LightingThis week we have two verycontrasting deals to offer

capital return on the uplift of the property value.This seems to be the most sensible option. However this real exam-

ple shows investing in property with a view of buying and selling is nosure thing even though this property was picked up in an auction. Thereason? I believe the main culprit is the program Homes Under TheHammer. Programs like these are normalising buying at auctions and sothe average person who wants to purchase a property and normallygoes to an agent now considers the auction as a viable option.This means auction rooms which traditionally have been whole-

salers for property for investors to purchase and then sell on have nowbecame accessible for the man on the street. This has the effect ofincreasing property prices bought in the auction.For prime Lots I have seen the opposite is true, instead of buying

them in auction it is better to sell them at the auction.With a bunch of end users to whom this also becomes an emotion-

al purchase, the price can be driven up way beyond what someonewould rationally pay.This is a reversal of what used to occur, to purchase through an

agent and resell at auction now is viable for prime Lots.So where is the angle this coming year? We believe in the larger Lot

size. The size of these Lots divorces most off the street part timeinvestors. The margins are higher and you can add clear value to them.So how do you a get a chunk of this pie? Asians rarely act as individu-als, they act in clumps. When selling India properties it’s rare we sellone plot to one person, the likely situation is one investor buys one andso does his cousin.To really exploit the market this year I feel the method would be to

group together and purchase property. We have the right infrastructurein place to make this a hassle free process.

Mayank S. Rawal, FCQI CQP

It is a fact of life thatevery community organi-zation could encounteran incident which couldhave a significant impacton normal day- to- dayoperations, and commu-nity events. The chancesof this happening can beat any time or day. Typicalincidents which couldpotentially occur are fire,flooding, communitybuilding damage, electri-cal hazards, health andsafety accidents, bereave-ments within member’sfamilies, sudden illness ofcommittee members,grievous acts, computersystem malfunction, orsudden stoppage ofscheduled events. Thecost of ignoring such inci-dents could be high in thelong term.

The process of disas-ter recovery should beused by the communityorganization to recoverlost assets, recover accessto software, and recoverdata and hardware need-ed to allow operations toresume as normal.Disaster recovery plan-ning should take intoaccount various contin-gencies for how the

organization will copewith the unexpected lossof assets and people. It isall interlinked with RiskAnalysis, and thereforeimportant to understandthe Risks being faced, andsubsequently establishingthe mitigation measures.Disaster recovery plan-ning should also be con-tinuously updated toincorporate new assetswhich have been added tothe organization.

Mitigation measuresare the various techniques,and methods that reducethe probability of the dis-aster occurring, the impactof a disaster, reduce thetime, and cost to restoreservices and operationsback to normal.

The following ques-tions should be asked,given sufficient thoughtand provide solutions forrecovery;• What are the most

important areas, peo-ple, IT systems, infor-mation, documenta-tion, historical recordsfor your organization?

• What would the impactto the CommunityOrganization if theabove were severely

affected, consider theworse case scenario?

• Does the ManagementCommittee know whoto contact in the eventof any incident?

• What measures wouldneed to be put in placeto restore and maintaintemporary operations?

• Does your organizationhave master registers ofdata or inventory listsof assets and stockitems?

• Has computer databeen securely backedup, securely stored off-site, and any securityaccess informationbeen recorded?

• Has vital data beenretained on papercopy?

• Do Committee mem-bers have sufficientawareness, knowledgeand experience of eachothers duties?

Prevention is alwaysbetter than cure, there-fore your communityorganization needs to befully prepared, physicallyand mentally, for some-thing which is not envis-aged to happen, and sub-sequently maximize therecovery process.

Disaster Recovery

Quality for

Community

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 201220 financial VoICE

[email protected] Fernandes

The rug was pulled fromunderneath the overseasstudents feet whenchanges to the studentrules came in quickly andwithout much notice. Newstudents of course knowwhat to expect and theycan decide for themselveswhether or not UK is theright destination for them.Many European countrieshave relaxed their regula-tions in order to encour-age students but this hasnot, until now , beentaken up in large numbers because of languagebarriers. The real prob-lem is for students alreadyin the UK looking toextend their stay. Theproblems initially camefrom the changes but nowit appears that institu-tions, universities andcolleges, who rely onoverseas funds have tight-ened up their proceduresin a manner that errs onthe side of caution andexcludes genuine stu-dents. Clearly many donot understand the rulesvery well and rather thanrisk losing their licencethey lost the student.

Take for example thecase of a current studentwho has completed adegree and is eligible tobecome a post studyworker. This category isdue to end at some pointin April (the exact date

has not yet beenannounced). The studentconcerned would like toswitch to post study work-er status but continue tocomplete her Mastercourse. This is because atthe end of it she will havea period on her visa toenable her to do somework experience. Sheclearly meets the criteria,there are no restrictionson her continuing to studyas a post study worker. Infact the UKBA have con-firmed as much in writing.However the Universityconcerned will not toallow her to do this.

Another case concernsa student whose collegeclosed abruptly and with-out prior notice in themiddle of the term. Thecollege may have beensuspended but the UKBAdo not disclose this to thestudent . As it was midterm finding another col-lege offering a coursesimilar to the one that hehad been doing wasproving difficult. Whenhe finally did he has beentold by the College thatbefore they issue aCertificate of Acceptance(CAS) he must get la let-ter from he UKBA confirm-ing that he is allowed toseek a further college.Those of us who work inthis area of law will knowhow futile such a task can

be. Nor is it necessary forthe college to obtain sucha letter.

The English tests havealso been causing a num-ber of difficulties.Admittedly the rules arecomplicated at time but asa result they are beingmisinterpreted at times.For example a studentwho is issued with the CASafter April 2011 to do anNQF level 6 course mustbe proficient at level B2 ofthe CEFR. The college areable to choose their ownmethod of assessing thelanguage ability but ofteninsist on a student passingan approved test.

And then there arenumerous cases of down-right dishonest collegeswho take fees often for 12months and if the studentis refused for one reasonor another they refuse torefund any fees providinga nice little earner for thecrooks. There is a needfor this issue to be moni-tored closely by officersvisiting colleges.

Maria Fernandes hasbeen in practice exclusive-ly in immigration for thepast 25 years. FernandesVaz is based at 87Wembley Hill RoadWembley in Wembley andcan be contacted by tele-phone on 02087330123,by email on [email protected].

Have our institutions taken overthe role of the UKBA?

In the aftermath of FDIsuspension in multi-brandretail, India sought to dis-pel apprehensions regard-ing alleged policy paralysisin the country.

In a meeting with thechiefs of global retail chainsWal-Mart and the MetroGroup at the WorldEconomic Forum (WEF) inDavos, Commerce andIndustry Minister AnandSharma said, “It (51 percent FDI in multi-brandretail) could not be imple-mented because of the com-pulsions of coalition poli-tics as also partisan opposi-tion... It is just a pause. Thedecision has only been puton a temporary halt.” Headded that consultationshave been restarted with allstakeholders and onlybonafide objections wouldbe taken into account.

Frans WH Muller,member of the manage-ment board of Germany-based Metro Group said,“If retail FDI happens, itwould be good for the

entire trade, and the Indiangovernment seems to beconfident about that”.

In a meeting withSharma, WalmartInternational presidentDoug McMillon saidWalmart would abide byall the proposed riders inthe FDI policy for multi-brand retail segment inIndia. McMillon also “con-veyed his commitment toinvest in Indian market asand when FDI in multi-brand is allowed”, an offi-cial statement said.

Wal-Mart is operatingin India through a jointventure with BhartiEnterprises. The firm has14 stores in India withbest price wholesale cash-

and-carry stores inLudhiana, Bhopal,Zirakpur, Amritsar,Jalandhar, Kota, Raipurand Indore.

Wal-Mart emphasisedthat it would comply withthe conditionalities to pro-mote rural economy,employment and back-endinvestment in India.

Sharma also met FransMuller of retail chainMetro who discussed thecompany’s plans to doubleits investment and storesin cash-and-carry in India.

It plans to invest over100 million euros in Indiaas part of strategy tospread its footprint acrossthe country. At present, ithas nine stores in loca-tions including Bangalore,Hyderabad, Kolkata,Mumbai, Jalandhar andLudhiana. Metro has over700 stores in 30 countries,and is one of the leadinginternational leading self-service wholesale opera-tors and had sales of euro31 billion in 2010.

Subrata Roy of the SaharaGroup of India, has madea bid for acquisition ofMarriott hotels being soldby Royal Bank of Scotlandfor about £750m.

The 42 four- and five-star properties haveattracted interest from arange of potential buyers.

Roy’s Sahara group,which acquired theGrosvenor House hotel onLondon’s Park Lane a yearago, is vying with the AbuDhabi InvestmentAuthority and anotherIndian investor, Blue PostGroup, among others.Jones Lang La Salle, theproperty agent, andHawkpoint, a corporate

finance firm, are handlingthe sale. The Royal Bankof Scotland took control ofthe properties after thefailure of talks to restruc-ture loans it extended to

the previous owner, a con-sortium that includedQuinlan Private, the Irishreal estate fund, andDelek, an Israeli propertyinvestor.

India assures global CEOs of FDI in retail

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Sahara Group vying toacquire Marriott hotels

Subrata Roy of the Sahara Group with his family

Anand Sharma addressingbussinessmen at Davos

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 21FINANCIAL VOICE

GBP - INR = 77.93

USD - INR = 49.45

EUR - INR = 65.20

GBP - USD = 1.58

GBP - EUR = 1.19

EUR - USD = 1.32

GBP - AED = 5.79

GBP - CAD = 1.57

GBP - NZD = 1.90

GBP - AUD = 1.48

GBP - ZAR = 12.25

GBP - HUF = 350.83

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Currency Specialists.

Information provided by RationalFX.

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as financial advice. The exchange

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WeeklyCurrenciesAs of Tuesday

31st January 2012 @ 11am

Germany state Greece should give up budgetcontrol and tougher times ahead for the UK!

The German economy ministerwas quoted saying that Greecemust surrender control of itsbudget policy to outside institu-tions if it cannot implementreforms attached to euro zonerescue measures. Greece, whichhas repeatedly failed to meet thefiscal targets set out by its inter-national lenders, is in talks tofinalise a second 130 billion-euro(109 billion-pound) package.

With many Greeks blamingGermans for the austerity medi-cine their country has been forcedto swallow, officials in Athens dis-missed the idea of relinquishingbudget control as out of the ques-tion. Finance Minister EvangelosVenizelos said Greece was per-fectly capable of making good onits promises (not that they haveso far!!!).

Philipp Roesler became thefirst German cabinet member toopenly endorse a proposal forGreece to surrender budget con-trol. Also Chancellor AngelaMerkel tried to deflect growinginternational pressure onGermany to agree an increase inthe euro zone's bailout funds bysaying talks were still continuing.Chancellor did not address theissue of whether Germany wouldback raising the EuropeanStability Mechanism (ESM) andinstead answered a question

about what impact increasing theESM might have on the Germanbudget this year.

Merkel is keen to avoid theEU summit being side-tracked bydebate about whether extra fund-ing should be funnelled into theeuro zone bailout funds, as theInternational Monetary Fund andsome euro states -- includingItalyand Spain -- have suggested.

The German governmentbelieves that there should not beany discussions about increasingthe firewall until March. Theleader of Germany's centre-leftopposition in parliament, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said Merkelwas making a mistake by resistingcalls to raise the ESM.

Steinmeier, foreign ministerunder Merkel in the 2005-2009grand coalition and a possiblechallenger in 2013, said thatMerkel had failed to inspire pub-lic confidence during Europe'sworst post-war crisis, by repeat-edly changing course.

In the US, Republican andDemocratic lawmakers havestarted negotiating a deal toextend a tax break for 160 millionAmericans beyond February. Ifthey fail, the payroll tax, whichfunds the federal Social Securityretirement program, will revert toa 6.2 percent from 4.2 percentlevy for workers. Disagreements

over how to pay for the tax breakhampered lawmaker’s efforts toextend it until the end of thisyear. Democrats had proposedsurtax on millionaires andRepublicans had proposed cut-ting salaries and benefits for fed-eral workers. In the end, lawmak-ers agreed to hike fees the gov-ernment's mortgage buyersFannie Mae and Freddie Maccharge lenders to guarantee newloans over a 10-year period.

In the UK the Office forNational Statistics (ONS)revealed that the UK economycontracted by 0.2 percent for thefinal quarter of 2011. Economistshad predicted a slight increase of0.1 percent for the last threemonths of the year. Despite thefeeble ending to the year, the lat-est ONS data shows overallgrowth for 2011 was a mediocre,but still positive, 0.9 percent.Still, this level of expansion iswell below the Bank of England’s2 percent growth target and there

is a real concern that the econo-my will continue to shrink duringthe first half of 2012.

This could hardly come at aworse time for the British govern-ment. Like many of its G8 coun-terparts, the UK is faced with thedilemma of promoting growth,while at the same time, keeping alid on spending. In fact, govern-ment spending was a centraltheme in the 2010 election andresulted in a coalition govern-ment led by Conservative PrimeMinister David Cameron togetherwith the Liberal Democrats.

The new government came topower on a promise to addressthe country’s out-of-controlspending which few would arguewas not already well beyond a cri-sis point and that is actually say-ing something as Great Britainhas a long history of deficits.

In fairness, some of this debtwas accumulated as part of theeffort to fight two major wars, buteven in peace time, Britain typi-cally spends more than it earns.During the 1970s and 1980s, highlevels of inflation forced the gov-ernment to rely on borrowing tomaintain spending programs. Inthe span of those two decadesalone, total debt rose from £33.1billion ($51.6 billion) in 1970 to£197.4 billion ($308.0 billion) by1988.

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 201222 PakIStan-BangladESh-SrI lanka

Islamabad: Pakistan's formerambassador to the US saidMonday that a travel banimposed on him during theinvestigation of a controver-sial memo sent to Washingtonhas been lifted.

The decision suggests thata scandal that at one pointlooked as though it could leadto the downfall of Pakistan'sgovernment may be losingsteam. Husain Haqqani saidin a statement that the courtcommission investigatingwhat the Pakistani media calls"memogate" removed the ban.The commission could notimmediately be reached forcomment.

Haqqani resigned inNovember and returned toIslamabad to answer allega-tions that he mastermindedthe note, which asks forWashington's help in reining inthe Pakistani army inexchange for security policiesfavorable to the US.

The memo, sent toWashington following the May2011 American operation thatkilled Osama bin Laden in aPakistan army town, outragedthe powerful military andexposed the apparent fragilityof the country's democratically

elected government.Haqqani, who denies any

link to the memo, said he nowintended to travel to UnitedStates to join family there.

"Anywhere else, this mat-ter would have been laid torest long ago," Haqqani said."The memo had no impact onUS policy and was consignedto the dustbin by its recipient."

He said the SupremeCourt had given the commis-sion two more months toinvestigate the affair, and thathe would be available to testi-fy whenever it required.

Just a few weeks ago, therewas speculation that the"memogate" scandal couldlead to the demise of PresidentAsif Ali Zardari. But last

week, the main accuser - aPakistani-American business-man who claimed to havedelivered the note to Adm.Mike Mullen, the top US mili-tary officer at the time - saidhe couldn't come to Pakistanto testify, citing security fears.

That appears to mean thecase is a much weaker one,even assuming the accuser,Mansoor Ijaz, had a "smokinggun" linking Haqqani andPresident Zardari to thememo.

Many observers have sincepredicted that the probe isheading nowhere. Some mediareports have speculated abouta possible agreement betweenthe army and the governmentto shelve the case.

Islamabad: Pakistan PMYousaf Raza Gilani onMonday said the option of anearly general election "isopen" but political elementswanting polls ahead of sched-ule would have to take up theissue with him after the budg-et session of parliament inMay.

Gilani made the remarksduring a meeting withMuhammad Asim Nazir, aparliamentarian of the PML-Q, which is a partner in thePakistan People's Party-ledruling coalition.

He "made it clear that theoption for early elections isopen," said a statement

issued by the premier's office."All those political elementswho want early elections cantalk to me but after the budg-et session," Gilani said.During an interaction with

Pakistani journalists onSunday following his returnfrom Switzerland, where heattended the World EconomicForum, Gilani had hinted atthe possibility of the nextgeneral election being heldahead of schedule.

He said he would holdconsultations on the issuewith his government's alliesand opposition political par-ties. The general electioncould be held sometime afterthe passage of the federalbudget, Gilani indicated dur-ing the media interaction.

"With the passage of thefifth budget, the election yearstarts and we are of the view

that early elections are likelyafter the budget," he said.

Though the next generalelection is scheduled forMarch 2013, several opposi-tion parties, including thePML-N and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, have demanded earlypolls to help the country tideover numerous challenges.

Leaders of the ruling-PPPtoo recently said the generalelection could possibly beheld in Oct or Nov. "In poli-tics, no walls are built butbridges are made... We wantfree, fair and transparentelections and a smooth tran-sition will set a tradition forfuture," Gilani said.

Pakistan PM Gilani hints at early pollsBangladeshi pirates kill 4Indian fishermenKakdwip: Two groups of Bangladeshipirates killed four Indian fishermen, injuredeight others and hijacked a trawler carrying12 fishermen in the Bay of Bengal. Onegroup of pirates fired at the fishermen trav-elling in 'Maa Basanti' trawler at Kendua inthe bay resulting in four of them beingkilled, Rahul Majumdar, SDO at Kakdwip,said, adding eight others were injured. Inthe meantime, another group of pirateshijacked 'Tara' trawler carrying 12 fisher-men and sailed away to the Bangladeshiside, he said. As soon as another group offishermen who were nearby heard aboutthe firing incident, they confronted thepirates and managed to catch eight ofthem. The fishermen are now bringing thecaptured pirates and the injured men toKakdwip, the officer said.

Pakistan air force jet crashesIslamabad: A Pakistan Air Force aircraftcrashed during a training mission but thepilots baled out safely. It was FT-7 trainingaircraft crashed near Mianwali soon aftertake off from the base. A woman traineepilot and the instructor managed to escape.

It was the third air force jet to crash in train-ing in three months. Two pilots were killed inthe other incidents and a helicopter crashlast June killed four military personnel. ThePakistan Air Force has a fleet of Chineseaircraft, including F-7PGs and A-5s, plusUS-built F-16s and French Mirages.

Pak doctor gave key

information for Osama raid: USWashington: US defense secretary LeonPanetta has acknowledged publicly for thefirst time that a Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridihelped provide intelligence for the raid onOsama bin Laden's compound inAbbottabad, Pakistan. Panetta said Afridiran a vaccination program for the CIA to col-lect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence inthe compound. He has since been chargedby Pakistan with treason. Panetta said he is"very concerned" for the doctor. Panettaalso said that he remained convinced thatsomeone in the Pakistani government "musthave had some sense" that a person ofinterest was in the compound. He addedthat he has no proof that Pakistan knew itwas bin Laden. The Pakistani governmenthad hoped to resolve the Afridi matter quiet-ly, once media attention died down, perhapsreleasing him to US custody, according totwo Pakistani officials.

Pakistani deaths from badheart drugs rise to 69Islamabad: A senior health official saysthe number of people in eastern Pakistansuspected to have died in the last monthfrom taking bad heart medicine has risento 69. A total of 419 heart patients havebecome sick from taking the drugs, andthat 45 of them remain in critical condition.Many of the patients are in the city ofLahore. Illahi is the head of the healthdepartment in Punjab province, whereLahore is the capital. The suspected drugswere given free to patients by the state-runPunjab Institute of Cardiology. Illahi saysthe government has registered a caseagainst the company accused of manufac-turing the faulty medicine.

US wants Pakistan to dropIran pipeline projectWashington: The United States is workingwith Pakistan to help it deal with the conse-quences if it agrees to abandon the Iranpipeline project, the US State Departmenthas said. If the United States was urgingPakistan not to buy gas from Iran, StateDepartment spokesperson Victoria Nulandsaid: "Pakistan is one of the countries thatwe're working with, primarily from the USEmbassy. "Earlier this month, US PresidentBarack Obama signed into law new sanc-tions against Iran. The measure, whichCongress passed as part of the 2012National Defence Authorisation Act,penalises foreign financial institutions thatdo business with Iran's central bank, asPakistan will have to if it buys gas.

Davos: Pointing out thatPakistan has "excellent" rela-tionship with India, its PrimeMinister Yousuf Raza Gilanion Thursday said coopera-tion between the two to tack-le climate change was"doable".

He said Islamabad wantsto work with New Delhi onthis front. "Yes, certainlythere can be cooperation. Wehave excellent relationshipwith India and we want towork together," Gilani saidwhen asked if India andPakistan can work togetherto tackle climate change.

"We have been having anumber of delegations fromboth countries on variousmatters like finance andindustry. Certainly coopera-tion is doable", Gilani saidduring a panel discussion onclimate change at the WorldEconomic Forum AnnualMeeting 2012.

Earlier in his address,Gilani said Pakistan has beenhit by "horrible" droughts andfloods last year and sought a"global fund" to tackle the cli-

mate risk issues. "It (climate change) is

quite visible in my country.We have suffered bothdrought and heavy rains inpast one year. It was horrible,not just by our estimates butalso as per the estimates ofWorld Bank and AsianDevelopment Bank," Gilanisaid.

"There has to be globalsolution to these problems.The first step we can take isestablishing a global fund totackle the climate risk issuesand Pakistan would be happyto partner," Gilani said.

The United Nations hasalready proposed a USD 100billion Green Climate Fund.

The fund was central toagreements reached in 2010by UN treaty negotiators inCancun, Mexico.

"If the glaciers inHimalayas melt, there will behuge floods in Pakistan," hesaid adding that Pakistan hastaken some steps by creatinga disaster management cellwhich he himself was over-seeing.

Pakistan wants to work withIndia on climate change

Islamabad: Pakistan's primeminister toned down his crit-icism of the country's power-ful generals a sign of lessen-ing tension between the civil-ian government and the armythat some predicted couldtopple the nation's leaders.The two sides have long beenin conflict, but tempers flaredin recent months over asecret memo allegedly sent bythe government toWashington last year askingfor help in stopping a sup-posed army coup after the USoperation to kill al-Qaidafounder Osama bin Laden.The government has deniedany connection to the letter.

The political crisis hascome as the government isfacing an array of challenges,including a struggling econo-my, rampant militant vio-lence and troubled relationswith its most important ally,the United States.

Denying it ever planned tocarry out a coup, the army wasoutraged by the memo andpushed the Supreme Court toinvestigate, against the gov-

ernment's wishes. The probeprompted a war of wordsbetween Prime MinisterYousuf Raza Gilani and thearmy. He tried to calm.

"I want to dispel theimpression that the militaryleadership acted unconstitu-tionally or violated rules,"Pakistani state televisionreported Gilani as saying."We have to be seen as beingon the same page."

His comments followed ameeting Tuesday with armychief Gen. Ashfaq PervezKayani and the head of thearmy's powerful intelligenceagency, Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha.The talk was another signtempers had cooled.

Gilani previously criti-cized the army for cooperat-ing with the Supreme Courtinvestigation and said thestandoff was nothing lessthan a choice between"democracy and dictator-ship." The army had warnedof possible "grievous conse-quences" if the governmentdid not tone down its criti-cism.

Pak premier tones downcriticism of army

Ex-Pakistani envoy to US wins court victory

In Focus

Islamabad: Unknownassailants fired rockets onPakistan’s elite militaryacademy on Friday morn-ing, near the compound inthe garrison town ofAbbottabad where US spe-cial forces killed Osamabin Laden in May 2011.

Officials said that ninerockets were fired frombehind a renowned IlyasiMosque at the hilltopoverlooking Abbottabadcity.

“Three rockets hit thewall of the PakistanMilitary Academy anddamaged it. Some explod-ed, some did not but therewas no loss of life,” saidKhalid Khan Umerzai, thecommissioner ofAbbottabad division.

Imtiaz Hussain Shah,a top local governmentofficial, said that policerecovered nine rocket-launching pads frombehind the mosque. “Wehave a security system andcheckpoints on the roads,but the place they used asa launch pad is accessiblefrom all sides and there aremountains at the back ofthis place,” he said.

9 rockets fired onPak Army school

Husain Haqqani

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 23world

Ontario: An Afghan father,his wife and their son havebeen jailed for life after a juryfound them guilty of killingthree teenage sisters and aco-wife in what the judgedescribed as a 'despicable'and 'heinous' crime. The juryhad taken 15 hours to findMohammad Shafia, 58, hiswife Tooba Yahya, 42, andtheir son Hamed, 21, eachguilty of four counts of first-degree murder. The four bod-ies were found in June 2009in a car submerged in a canalin Kingston, Ontario, wherethe family had stopped forthe night on their way homefrom Niagara Falls.Prosecutors said the daugh-ters were killed because theydishonored the family bydefying rules on dress, dating,socialising and going online.

Tooba Mohammad Yahyaleaves the Frontenac CountyCourthouse following a guiltyverdict. She will serve a min-imum of 25 years withoutparole. After the verdict wasread, the three defendantsagain declared their inno-cence in the killings of sistersZainab, 19, Sahar 17, and

Geeti, 13, as well as RonaAmir Mohammad, 52,Shafia's childless first wife ina polygamous marriage. Afterthe jury returned the verdicts,Mohammad Shafia, speakingthrough a translator, said: 'Weare not criminal, we are notmurderer, we didn't committhe murder and this is unjust.

'His weeping wife, Tooba,also declared the verdictunjust. She said: 'I am not amurderer, and I am a mother,a mother. 'Their son, Hamed,speaking in English said: 'Idid not drown my sisters any-where.' But Judge RobertMaranger was unmoved, say-ing the evidence clearly sup-ported their conviction for'the planned and deliberatemurder of four members ofyour family'.

'It is difficult to conceiveof a more despicable, moreheinous crime ... the apparentreason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murderswas that the four completelyinnocent victims offendedyour completely twisted con-cept of honor ... that hasabsolutely no place in anycivilized society.'

Muslim family jailed for life after killing 3 daughters

Florida: US President BarackObama visited Walt DisneyWorld last week and talkedabout the importance oftourism to the Americaneconomy. His speech wasshort, but his message wasclear: "I want America to bethe top tourist destination inthe world."

As expected, Obama alsotalked about his intentions toexpand the StateDepartment's global entryprogram for trusted interna-tional visitors, as well asexpand and accelerate visaapplication processing forcertain countries, and addmore countries to the visa

waiver program.“China, India and Brazil

have huge populations ofpeople that want to come toFlorida, but we make it toohard for them,” Obama said,noting travel trends show for-eign travel will increase glob-

ally, and the US needs to beprepared to attract thosetravellers to destinations likeOrlando.

“We want them to knowthat Orlando, Walt DisneyWorld and the US is open forbusiness.”

Prior to arriving atDisney, Obama issued anexecutive order that puts pro-cedures in place to speed upthe visa process for touristsfrom Brazil, China and India.

Tom Staggs, chairman ofparks and resorts for Disney,said Disney would lend ahand in making the visaprocess easier via existingcultural outreach programsand using sales offices to edu-cate travellers on the ameni-ties Florida has to offer andmake programs as welcomingas they can be. Obama's visitis the first by a US Presidentsince George H.W. Bushcame in 1991.

In Focus

University applications fall inEnglandThe number of UK university applications isdown nearly nine per cent compared to lastyear, but in England the percentage of 18-year-olds applying to university has fallenby only one percentage point. The disparityis partly due to a decrease in the number of18-year-olds in the general population.Applications from 18-year-olds make upnearly half of all applications to university(259,000 out of 583,546 total applications),and are an important measure of demandfor higher education as they have generallynot applied to university before.

Nepal's top Maoist under firefor luxury mansionKathmandu: Nepal's top Maoist politicianPushpa Kamal Dahal, who is popularlycalled Prachanda has been under fire formoving into a lavish mansion inKathmandu. He is a former Communistguerrilla who rose from humble villagebeginnings to lead a "people's war" againstNepal's royal family and its political elites.The rented 15-room property includesparking space for more than a dozen vehi-cles and a table tennis room, his office said."The Maoists have deviated from their stat-ed goal. It used to be socialism but nowthey have surrendered to bourgeois statepower," said Mumaram Khanal, a politicalanalyst and former Maoist leader.

Hillary ready to quit politicsWashington: US Secretary of State HillaryClinton, who has made clear that she won'tbe serving in a second Obama term if thereis one, is ready to step off "the high wire ofAmerican politics". Hillary told StateDepartment employees that she's ready tobe out of the public eye. "I think after 20years -- and it will be 20 years -- of being onthe high wire of American politics and all ofthe challenges that come with that, it wouldbe probably a good idea to just find out howtired I am."

Easier US visa for tourists from India, China and Brazil

AV Correspondent

While Gujarat ChiefMinister Narendra Modi isout spreading Sadbhavanaacross the state, the amityis now showing among hispolitical rival Congress,who has openly listed thegood works done by himalong with other chiefministers of Gujarat in anadvertisement released tothe local media.

The two page pull- outlists the achievements ofall the chief ministers ofGujarat, beginning withJeevraj Mehta, who wasthe first chief minister ofthe state. The advertise-ment described Modi as asuccessful organizer, aleading worker of his partyand electoral strategistand went on to enlist hisdecision to form a separateministry for bio-technolo-gy, getting permission forincreasing the height ofNarmada dam from 110.54mtrs to 121.82 mtrs, hisefforts to turn Gujarat into“Vibrant Gujarat”, organi-zation of biennial VibrantGujarat Investor’s Summitand organization of ShalaPravesotsav (for the enrol-ment of children inschools), Krishi Utsav(Agriculture Festival),Navaratri Mahotsav, KiteFestival and so on as hisachievements. The adver-tisement also lists out theachievements of Modi fortaking the initiative toorganise the Rann utsav inKutch and KankariaCarnival in Ahmedabad.

GPCC President Arjun

Modvadia maintained thatGPCC had brought outthis advertisement to pres-ent the correct perspectiveof development in thestate and point out to thepeople that Gujarat hasbeen by nature progressiveand every chief ministerhad made contributions indeveloping the state. “Itwas a positive advertise-ment where we hadrefrained from criticizinganyone and presented thecorrect perspective ofdevelopment in the state,”Modvadia said.

It was meant to besarcastic: CongressThe Congress party on

Saturday defended itsadvertisement laudingModi saying it was meantto be sarcastic. "It's a sar-castic comment onNarendra Modi. He hasbeen ridiculed in the adver-tisement. His predecessorsdid a better job," Congressleader Rajiv Shukla said.

"Our attempt was cele-

brate the enterprise ofGujaratis, not any individ-ual. Hence, we have com-piled contributions of allCMs irrespective of theirpolitical parties who heldoffices since 1960, whenGujarat was born. A falsepropaganda is beingunleashed to misguide thepeople of the state,"Congress spokespersonManish Doshi said in astatement, struggling toexplain the gaffe.

The blunder sent seniorCongress leaders scamper-ing to identify all those whocleared the draft. Gujaratstate assembly polls arescheduled to be held inDecember and the laudato-ry words used for Modionly underlines the sinkingfeeling among party cadresand reinforces the generalimpression that theCongress is in no positionto stop Modi, already by farthe longest-serving chiefminister of the state, fromscoring a hat-trick of wins.

It was for the first timethat Khadia inAhmedabad saw superstardrive through its lanes andfor Amitabh Bachchan itwas his first drive in thepols of the walled city ofAhmedabad.

"Amazing" was whathe could just say after see-ing the heritage of thewalled city. Bachchan wasin the area to shoot for the"Khushboo Gujarat ki," acampaign to promotetourism in Gujarat. Ascene of Uttarayan wascreated so that the super-star could shoot for theadvertisement titled "Fairsand Festival of Gujarat."

As he entered thewalled city, he was amazedto see the houses. As he

entered the house of thelate Speaker Ashok Bhatt,he was interested to knowthe structure of the houses.

He even asked the peo-ple around him about thelife of the people in thesepols. He also took details ofthe heritage walk which isbeing conducted in the area.

Bhushan Bhatt, MLAfrom the area, said,"Considering his age, wewere instructed to keeparrangements on everyfloor to make him sit, buthe (Bachchan) climbed allthe 70-odd steps in one go.He kept on inquiringabout the heritage, the cul-ture and the lifestyle of thepeople in the area."

Officials in the tourismdepartment said Bachchan

even told some of seniorofficials and local corpora-tors that they should cre-ate more awareness aboutthe heritage walk and eventhe heritage of these polsin the walled city.

Earlier, Bachchanarrived in Kutch for theshooting. During theshooting, he tried his handat riding a camel, an auto-rickshaw and flying a kite.Kutchi handicrafts andwhite Rann of Kutch werealso some other focuspoints in Kutch.

He spent two days inshooting in Junagadh. TheAshok Shilalekh (stoneinscription written duringEmperor Ashok's reign)and Buddh caves locatednear Gondal town ofRajkot district were amongsome of the historicalmonuments where shoot-ing took place.

Big B gives a ride tosome pretty ladies on thefamous chakdas (motorcy-cle trucks) used in Kutchand other parts of Gujarat.Dressed in a blue T-shirtand ripped jeans pairedwith brown boots, achecked scarf and blue sunglasses, Senior Bachchantakes a walk at the whitedeserts – Rann of Kutch.

Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi recentlyfailed to strike a 'sadhbha-vana' chord with theminority community, asevidenced by the minus-cule turnout for his day-long fast.

The minority commu-nity leaders in Polanbazaar, the area fromwhere most accused ofGodhra train burning inci-dent hail, said they wantedto send a message to Modigovernment that Muslimswere seeking justice, notjust harmony.

"By not attending thefunction, we have sent astrong message to the stategovernment that therecannot be any ‘sadbha-

vana’ without every per-son of the Muslim commu-nity getting justice," saidsome community mem-bers, preferring anonymity.

The local BJP leadershad expected a crowd ofover 50,000, including abig chunk from the minor-ity population, to attendthe event at the StateReserve Police ground.

Before the fast started,social activist ShabnamHashmi and five others ofNGO Anhad weredetained while trying toorganise a convention 'InSearch of Justice'. Thetenth anniversary of traincarnage, which led to com-munal riots in the state in2002, falls next month.

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 201224 INDIA

S e n i o rA n d h r aP r a d e s hIAS officerand HomeSecretary B P Acharya wasarrested by Central Bureauof Investigation in theEmaar case in Hyderabadon Monday after 4-hourlong questioning.

The CBI has namedhim as the first accused inthe Emaar case as he wasthe Chairman andManaging Director of theAndhra Pradesh IndustrialI n f r a s t r u c t u r eCorporation (APIIC) in2005 when certain deci-sions were taken which arenow being investigated bythe CBI.

He is the fourth personto be arrested in the Emaarcase after Koneru Prasad,industrialist, Sunil Reddy,close aide of Jagan MohanReddy and Veeraraghavan,top official of Emaar MGF.His arrest comes two daysbefore the CBI files itschargesheet in the case.

Andhra HomeSecretaryarrested

Congress ad praises Modi,calls him ‘master organiser’ In divine light

By Rajen Vakil

In the previous article, wesaw that the verbal duelbetween Ashtavakra andBandi had reached thenumber six, starting fromone. Bandi then startedextolling qualities of thenumber seven. Bandisaid, “There are Sevendomestic animals, Sevenanimals of the forest; in acomplete yagna the rishisuse Seven kinds of verses,there are Seven ways ofshowing respect, and theVeena has Seven strings.”

Ashtavakra replied,“The coir fibre has Eightstrands which give rise toinnumerable shapes, inthe gods there are EightVasus. The pillar used inall yagnas has Eight cor-ners, and there is an ani-mal in the forest that hasEight legs.”

Bandi countered,“There are Nine kinds ofmantras used to call ourancestors (pitrus), thereare Nine theories aboutcreation, the Brihati versehas Nine letters, and thenumerals are from one toNine.”

To this Ashtavakrasaid, “There are Ten dif-ferent directions, countinga hundred Ten times is athousand, a mother keepsthe child in her womb forten months. The supremetruth can be explained inTen different ways, it canalso be countered in Tendifferent ways and it canbe mastered in Ten ways.”

Bandi argued, “All liv-ing things have Elevensenses (five senses, twohands, two feet, speechand the mind) throughwhich they can experi-ence in Eleven differentways; with each of theseorgans are born Eleven

weaknesses, and amongthe god there are ElevenRudras.”

Ashtavakra said, “In ayear there are Twelvemonths, the verse calledJagati has Twelve letters,the Yagna called Prakrutlasts for Twelve days, therays of the sun are ofTwelve types and arecalled the Adityas.”

Bandi proceeded, “Ofall the dates Thirteenth isthe best, the earth ismade of Thirteenislands…” At this pointBandi faltered, he had tostop to think, soAshtavakra finished hisline by saying, “there areThirteen kinds of yagnasthat remove human weak-nesses and the highest ofall the verses is calledAtichanda, which hasThirteen letters.”

There was a suddensilence in the court ofKing Janaka; no one couldbelieve that the greatBandi had been defeatedin a verbal contest, thattoo by a twelve year old.Bandi himself was totallycrestfallen. Then all at

once the courtroom erupt-ed and every one shoutedpraises of Ashtavakra. Allthe Brahmins in the roomcame and paid theirrespects to the youngchild.

Ashtavakra addressedJanaka, “O king, thisBandi has previouslydefeated many verylearned Brahmins andthen tied them up anddrowned them in the river.Today he should be giventhe same punishment sohave him tied up quicklyand thrown in the river.”

Bandi said, “O king,Varuna, the lord of theriver, started a greatyagna twelve years ago.By having the Brahminsdrowned I had sent themthere to help him. As theyagna is over, all thoseBrahmins will returnshortly. It is now my turnto go into the river tomeet the lord Varuna whois also my father. Butbefore I go let me dopooja and pay myrespects to this wonderfulboy who has defeatedme.”

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

The Story ofAshtavakra (Part-5)

Modi fails to draw big crowdin his Godhra ‘sadhbhavana’

Amitabh Bachchan bowled overby heritage of Ahmedabad

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 25INDIA

Vishwa Gujarati Samajconferred SardarVallbhbhai Patel VishwaPrathibha Award on LordBhikhu Parekh, renownedacademician, author andpolitical analyst atGujarati Sahitya ParishadHall.. Former director ofIIM-A Bakul Dholakiapresented the award toParekh.

Others who were hon-oured with the awardswere Dr Jagdish Dave,author and Gujarati lan-guage scholar from UK;Piyush Patel, an engineerwho has developed $ 200million business empire inNew Jersey; PareshSanghvi, diamond mer-chant and member ofBelgium Jewellery Counciland hotelier and founderof Association of IndianAmericans in NorthAmerica Sunil Nayak.

Former Supreme Courtjudge C K Thakkar wasthe chief guest at the func-tion. Other dignitarieswho were present during

the function were presi-dent of Vishwa GujaratiSamaj KrishnakantVakharia; author KumarPal Desai and SuruchiTrust head ShambhubhaiPatel. It was also attendedby special invitee CBPatel, Editor and Publisherof Gujarat Samachar andAsian Voice, UK

At the eventKrishnakant Vakhariaspoke about the Samaj'sinitiative in reaching outto the maximum numbers

of NRGs. "NRGs are rep-resentatives of our state tothe world. We are honoredto have Lord BhikhuParekh here and thisaward is a token of affec-tion from the state to theseinternationally acclaimeddignitaries who havebrought Gujarat a globalrecognition," he said. Healso spoke about theefforts of the organizationto solve issues and queriesbothering Gujaratis. Hesaid that there was a spe-

cial committee to selectthe awardees and theselection was made asmuch transparent as possi-ble and is totally keptunbiased. He urged theGujaratis to stay unitedand connected with theirhome state Gujarat.

Lord Bhikhu Parekh,recipient of PravasiBhartiya Samman Awardin 2005 and PadmaBhushan in 2007, is includ-ed by the UK PoliticalStudies Associationamongst the best politicalanalysts of the 20th centu-ry. Parekh has been con-ferred honorary doctoratedegrees by 15 British uni-versities. Banaras HinduUniversity has also con-ferred Parekh with a doc-torate in literature.

Dr Bakulbhai Dholakiaand Dr Kumarpal Desaiappreciated the patrioticfeeling of all Gujaratistowards their motherlandand how they have treas-ured their country in theirhearts.

Vishwa Gujarati Samaj honours Gujarati expats

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AV Correspondent

About 16 undertrialsaccused of several seriousoffences and lodged insidedifferent jails in Gujarat,have emerged triumphantin a recently held exami-nation on Gandhian stud-ies. Suspended GujaratDIG D G Vanzara, who isaccused of killingSohrabudin Sheikh andhis wife Kausarbi in a fakeencounter case, emergedfirst in the examinations.

Vanzara along withtwo other senior IPS offi-cers were arrested in 2007for being instrumental inthe `cold blooded mur-ders’ of the two. Inside theprison Vanzara has takenup writing books andreading Gandhian litera-ture. He had appeared inthe examination onGandhi Mimansa(Gandhian criticism)which was conducted on

Gandhi Jayanti and theresults of this examina-tions have beenannounced recently.Vanzara took the exami-nations along with sixothers in the jail.

Gujarat Vidyapithruns the course andVanzara secured highestranks with 70 marks.Vidyapith is the universitythat was founded byMahatma Gandhi on 18thOctober, 1920. It has beendeemed university since1963. Bhanu Patel wasplaced second. Patel toowas behind bars tillDecmber for a sexualharassment offence.Sources in the Vidyapeethsaid that around 15 candi-dates from across the stateundertook the examina-tions. Officials inVidyapeeth said that theywould soon organise con-vocation to distribute thecertificates.

Sources in the jail saidthat soon after Vanzarahad enrolled himself forthe exams he had askedfor books from his familymembers on the life ofGandhi.

Apart from GandhiMimansa, Vanzara came11th in the post graduatediploma course in valueeducation and spiritualitybeing run by theBrahmakumaris in associ-ation with the Annamalaiuniversity’s distancelearning course. In thiscourse which includedyoga lessons, terroraccused Safdar HussainNagori had stood firstwith 87 marks.

ADGP (Prisons) P CThakur said that he wasinformed about the resultsof the examinations con-ducted by GujaratVidyapith and that thesuspended cop had indeedtopped the examinations.

16 undertrials pass examinationon Gandhian studies

Mystery shrouds the mur-der of a 54-year-oldGujarati diamond traderPravin Patel in the Belgiancity of Antwerp recently butthe police arrested his sonsuspecting his involvementin the killing. According toinformation, two men and awoman armed withrevolvers barged into hisapartment shot him dead.

Gujarati diamondtrader shot dead

in Antwerp

Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 201226 INDIA


"We have no doubt that ifthe Prime Minister hadbeen apprised of the truefactual and legal positionregarding the representa-tion made by the appellant,he would have surely takenappropriate decision andwould not have allowedthe matter to linger for aperiod of more than oneyear," the bench said.

The court said sanc-tion should be grantedwithin a time frame andthe competent authorityshall take action in accor-dance with the guidelineslaid down by the apexcourt in the Vineet Naraincase of 1998 (threemonths for grant of sanc-tion and additional onemonth time may beallowed where consulta-

tion is required with theAttorney General).

Justice Ganguly, whowrote a separate judg-ment, agreed with JusticeSinghvi and said sanctionwould be deemed to begranted if the competentauthority fails to take adecision within a period offour months.

Further, he said sincethe Prevention ofCorruption Act (PCA)does not provide for a timelimit, Parliament may con-sider "introducing a timelimit in section 19 of theAct for its working in areasonable manner".

On the handling of theissue by the PrimeMinister, who was thecompetent authority inthis case, the bench said"By the very nature of theoffice held by him, Prime

Minister is not expected topersonally look into theminute details of each andevery case placed beforehim and has to depend onhis advisers and other offi-cers". It said the officers inthe PMO and the Ministryof Law and Justice, were"duty bound" to appriseabout "seriousness" of alle-gations made by Swamy.

The bench also setaside the high court orderwhich had refused todirect the Prime Ministerto take decision on granti-ng sanction to prosecuteRaja saying that it hadpassed the order on awrong presumption that itwas PM who had orderedCBI probe in the scam.

"The high court hadproceeded under a whollyerroneous assumption thatPM had directed investiga-

tion by the CBI into theallegations of grave irregu-larities in the grant oflicences," the bench said.

The apex court said theinquiry was done by theCVC which had forwardedits report to the CBI formaking investigation toestablish criminal conspir-acy in the allocation of 2Gspectrum.

"The material placedon record does not showthat the CBI had regis-tered a case or startedinvestigation at theinstance of PM," it said.

The bench alsothrashed aside the govern-ment stand that Swamyhad no locus standi andthe grant of sanction forprosecution of a publicservant arises only at thestage of taking cognisanceof the case by the court.

2G scam: India’s Supreme Court pulls up PMO

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Late legendary singerBhupen Hazarika, late car-toonist Mario De Mirandaand former IntelligenceBureau chief T V Rajeswarhave been selected for thisyear’s Padma Vibhushan,which is the second-high-est civilian award of Indiaafter Bharat Ratna.

In all, 109 people fromall walks of life like arts,public affairs, sports, sci-ence, literature, education,social services and indus-try will be conferred withPadma Awards which,besides Padma Vibhushan,also include PadmaBhushan and Padma Shri.

Other prominent per-sons in this year’s PadmaAwards’ list are retiredcivil servant Mata Prasad– first Dalit who hadserved as secretary-rankofficer at the Centre - for-mer CVC N Vittal and for-mer ambassador RonenSen; film actorsDharmendra and ShabanaAzmi; prominent cardiolo-gist Devi Prasad Shettyand film producer\directorMira Nair. All of them are

in the list of 27 PadmaBhushan awardees.

The list of awardeeswas announced by thegovernment of India onthe eve of 63rd RepublicDay comprises 19 womenand 11 in the category offoreigners or NRIs orPIOs, including four fromthe US, two each from UKand Singapore and oneeach from Germany, Japanand Switzerland.

The awards announcedeach year on the occasionof the Republic Day areconferred by the Presidentat a function held at theRashtrapati Bhawanaround March or April.The other two who will getPadma Vibhushan are 88-year-old painter K GSubramanyam and well-

known orthopedic, KantilalHastimal Sancheti, inwhose hospital in PuneAnna Hazare had recentlyundergone treatment.

Government has onceagain not selected anyonefor the Bharat Ratna. Latevocalist Bhimsen Joshiwas the last awardee inthis category in 2009.Usually, this award is alsoannounced on the eve ofthe Republic Day. So far,41 people have been con-ferred with the country’shighest civilian award eversince its inception in 1954.

Besides five PadmaVibhushan, governmentwill confer 27 PadmaBhushan and 77 PadmaShri, which includes one‘duo’ case (counted asone) of vocalists

Ramakant Gundecha andUmakant Gundecha ofMadhya Pradesh (forPadma Shri). WhilePadma Vibhushan isawarded for “exceptionaland distinguished” serv-ice, Padma Bhushan ismeant for “distinguishedservice of high order” andPadma Shri for “distin-guished” service.

Painter Jatin Das,London-based sculptureartist Anish Kapoor andCarnatic instrumentalist TV Gopalakrishnan areamong others who will beawarded Padma Bhushan.Filmmaker Soman NairPriyadarsan and bhajansinger Anup Jalota will begiven Padma Shri. Theothers who are selected forPadma Shri include global-ly renowned tiger expertand wildlife scientist UllasKaranth; musician VanrajBhatia, vocalist ZiaFariduddin Dagar, formerhockey player Zafar Iqbal,woman cricketer JhulanGoswami, sports commen-tator Ravi Chaturvedi andarcher Limba Ram.

Padma awards for Hazarika, MirandaAmong 109 awardees 19 are women and 11 NRIs/PIOs

Indians worldwide soakedin the spirit of patriotismas they celebrated theRepublic Day with fervourto mark 63 years since theestablishment of theIndian constitution.

At the Indian HighCommission in thePakistani capital, HighCommissioner SharatSabharwal hoisted thenational tricolour at anofficial function. IndianHigh Commissioner inSingapore, T C ARaghavan led the Indiancommunity in the citystate to celebrate the day.

He unveiled thenational flag and read outthe President's message tosome 500 Indians gatheredat the High Commission.

Students from Indianschools in Singapore sangpatriotic songs and dancedat the celebration.

Indians across theworld celebrateRepublic Day

In an apparent referenceto the civil society move-ment for a strong Lokpalbill, Indian PresidentPratibha Patil said one hasto be cautious in bringingabout reforms so that thetree of democratic institu-tions does not come down.

“While bringing aboutreforms and improvinginstitutions, we have to becautious that while shak-ing the tree to remove thebad fruit, we do not bringdown the tree itself,” shesaid in her address to thenation on the eve of 63rdRepublic Day of India.

Ms. Patil did notspecifically mention theanti-corruption movementof Anna Hazare but theremarks could be seen as areference to the movementfor the anti-corruption

ombudsman.She said India can take

pride in its democraticrecord but as in any func-tional democracy, it facespressures and challenges.Ms. Patil said there wouldbe short term pressures,but in this process the longterm goals must not be lostsight of, and everyonemust work together oncore national agenda.

Emphasising thatthose who believe indemocracy must try to seethe rationale in others’point of view, she said con-cord and not discord is theway forward for a countryas large as India.

‘Resolve all issuesthrough dialogue’

All issues, therefore,must be resolved throughdialogue and there can be

no place for violence.Negativity and rejectioncannot be the path for avibrant country that ismoving to seek its destiny,she said.

Ms. Patil said Indianinstitutions may not beflawless but they havecoped with many chal-lenges.

Indian Parliament, shenoted, has enacted path-breaking laws and govern-ment has put togetherschemes for the progressand welfare of the people.

Ms. Patil said, “Ourjudiciary has a reputablestanding. Our media toohas played an importantrole. With all institutionsworking together for thesame national purpose itwill create a stream of pos-itive energy.”

Be cautious in bringingabout reforms: Pratibha Patil

Indian Prime MinisterManmohan Singh payshomage at Rajghat, thememorial of MahatmaGandhi in New Delhi, onthe sixty-fourth anniver-sary of his assassination.Mr. Gandhi was on theway to a prayer meeting inNew Delhi when he wasshot on January 30, 1948.

Carved stone foot-prints dot the path thatMahatma Gandhi tooktoward a prayer meeting inNew Delhi 64 years ago,ending where his frailbody was torn by an assas-sin’s bullets.

Prime Minister and acast of India’s elite gath-ered to hold an interfaithreligious prayer ceremonyto commemorate Gandhi’smartyrdom. A rope ofmarigolds coiled aroundfour columns surroundingthe spot where Gandhi,India’s founding father,died.

Mr. Singh, in his iconicblue turban and a charcoalvest, bowed, clasping hishands in prayer and sprin-kled rose petals on theground where Gandhi fell,then circled the columnsin small, quivering steps.

Vice President HamidAnsari and the chief min-

ister of Delhi, SheilaDikshit, also offered quickprayers before settling ona pristine white diwan onthe ground.

Organized by theGandhi Smriti andDarshan Samiti, an inde-pendent

museum and centersupported by the Ministryof Culture, the commemo-ration took place on TeesJanuary Marg (30thJanuary Street), whichgets its name from thefateful day that Gandhiwas assassinated.

Monday’s eventincluded singing by schoolchildren wearing Gandhicaps that read “Truth isGod”. There were alsoBuddhist, Jain, Parsi,Christian and otherprayers and soothinghymns. The palms of tablaplayers danced on theirinstruments. Mr Singh satcross legged through it,meditatively listening tothe music.

The commemorationended with a silent tribute toGandhi. Students squeezedtheir eyes shut tight in con-centration. The silence wasbroken only by the shrill cryof birds and the snapping ofnews cameras.

Gandhiji remembered onMartyrs’ Day

Prime MinisterManmohanSingh payshomage atRajghat, thememorial ofMohandas K.Gandhi inNew Delhi

asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 27TRAvEL, Women & HISTORy

By Dr Anil Mehta

India’s Joan of Arc orBoudicca, call her whatyou may, Laxmi Bai, Raniof Jhansi (1835-58) wasone of the gallant leadersof the Indian Uprising of1857, and an icon for gen-erations of freedom fight-ers. Born in Benaras, shewas brought up at BajiRao (II) Peshwa’s exiledcourt at Bithur nearKanpur. She becameskilled in the martial artsof riding, shooting, andfencing. She married theelderly ruler of Jhansi,Gangadhar Rao, in 1851.

The Raja died in 1853leaving no direct male heirbut had adopted a son,Damodar Rao, a boy fromanother branch of his fam-ily, and nominated his wifeLaxmi Bai as regent untilthe son came of age.However, Damodar Rao’sclaim to the throne wasdiscounted by Dalhousie, aGovernor-General ofIndia at the time, whohad annexed the state in1853, under his contro-versial Doctrine of Lapsepolicy, incurring Rani’senmity. Rani was deniedrule of her own state onbehalf of her adoptedson.

Rani’s all efforts topersuade the Company(East India Company) torecognise her son as theruler were in vain.Having achieved no suc-cess, she vowed, ‘I willnot give up Jhansi’, anddeclared, ‘to fight theEnglish has now becomemy dharma’. She decid-ed to take up arms andfight to the bitter endrather than submit tothe authorities.Ambitious and talented,she took control of therebel forces of 10,000men and succeeded inholding Jhansi for nearlya year.

Rani was spared per-sonal humiliation butwas forced to relinquishher kingdom. She wasgranted an annual pensionand a residence in a mod-est two-story royal palacein Jhansi. Her army wasdisbanded and replaced bysepoys of the company’sBengal army. When they(sepoys) mutinied inMarch 1858, they, undercircumstances similar tothose at Kanpur, massa-cred some 56 Britons;men, women, and childrenwho had sought refuge inthe local fort. The muti-neers then marched off toDelhi leaving the Raniimplicated.

Rani’s personal respon-sibility for massacre is stillhotly debated. Althoughshe had a strong motiveagainst the British, sheseems to have played nopart in the massacre ofBritons. One reliablesource maintained thatprior to the mutiny, the

plotters did not consulther. She also deniedresponsibility for what hadhappened, but the author-ity considered it as thesame story as was told byBahadur Shah (Mughalking) and Nana Saheb asregards the previouskillings at Delhi andKanpur respectively.

The situation, however,changed with the arrival ofthe Bombay army from thesouth. Laxmi Bai contact-ed Tatya Tope, one of themutiny leaders, at Kalpi,north-east of Jhansi.(After his defeat in Kanpur,Tatya had made Kalpi hisHQ). He came to help butwas confronted outsideJhansi by the Companyarmy and quickly forcedback. After ferociousresistance led by Rani her-self, Jhansi fell in April1858. British lost 350 menagainst Rani’s 3000 rebels

(many other were subse-quently executed). Thevictorious British troops,mindful of earlier mas-sacre of Europeans here,razed Jhansi, killing, loot-ing and terrorising civil-ians. Rani herself, dis-guised as a man, escapedwith her adopted son andtrusty followers to Kalpi tojoin Tatya Tope. WhenKalpi too fell, both leadersand their followersescaped and seizedGwalior in May 1858where a final showdownwith the enemy occurred.

At Gwalior most of theEuropean women and chil-dren were spared but atleast 20 men were execut-ed. When the British armyarrived, Rani rallied hertroops to a fight but herdefiance barley lasted 3weeks. She fought valiant-ly in the battle near the

Gwalior Fort until repeat-edly hit by a shower ofbullets. She died (17thJune) the death of a hero-ine. The death of the Ranicertainly weakened thespirit of her men and on19th June, Gwalior, thelast bastion of resistance,fell too and with that theGreat Rebellion was all butover. A defeat wasinevitable. There was littlediscipline among therebels and their loyaltieswere weak. Great individ-ual heroes though theywere, Laxmi Bai and TatyaTope were no match forBritish generals who couldcommand large well-disci-plined troops in strategicbattles.

Tatya Tope and fellowinsurgents roamedthrough Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh foranother year. Tatya wasbetrayed, captured, and

hung. Laxmi Bai’s assetswere confiscated and heradopted son, DamodarRao was granted a miserlyRs. 200 a monthallowance.

Rani Laxmi Bai wasbrave, of high character,and most respected byeveryone. At the time fewin the British camp regret-ted her death, but laterthey grudgingly praisedher personal courage anddetermination (‘the onlyman among the rebels’according to one adver-sary). Among her ownmen she became a folkheroine and a fighter ofher rights. She was one ofthe few leaders emergedfrom what was essentiallya sudden and poorly co-ordinated uprising result-ing in brutalities and con-siderable loss of lives onboth sides.

Jhansi ki rani Laxmi bai

anand: milk capital of india

by aV Correspondent

Leena Sarabhai, one ofthe founder members ofShreyas Foundation, is 95years old but her memoryis as sharp as ever. Shehas the names of the stu-dents of the first Shreyasbatch on her fingertipsand still vividly recalls thetime she spent with MariaMontessori in 1947, whenShreyas was in its concep-tual stage and was housedin Mud Bungalow,Shahibaug, Ahmedabad,while they were planninga bigger institution whichwould eventually come upin its present premises atAmbawadi.

She recalls her workexperience with the firstpresident of ShreyasFoundation (MadameMaria Montessori) andsaid that it was quite alearning experience as aneducator. At Shreyas thestudents are not taughtjust bookish knowledge.This is the only school inAhmedabad where stu-dents have the space toindulge in activities likeswimming, carpentry,sewing and have direct

contact with nature. Theyare taught to be humaneand encouraged to careabout nature. In her ownlanguage Shreyas is not aschool but a centre wherechildren come to enjoyspace, learn the lessons oflife and walk togetherwithout the feeling ofcompetition.

She said that craft,music and dance arethings that are denied tochildren in many schoolsacross the state. She whodoes not advocate the sys-tem of examinations says:"Just by making studentssit and write down for twoto three hours at a stretch,you cannot adjudge a stu-dent's knowledge. "Shesays that the students ofShreyas know that theirknowledge is for life andnot for examinations. Thegrand old lady also saysthat they included bothEnglish and Gujaratimediums so that theycould involve a larger sec-tion of society in their sys-tem of education. WhileLeena Sarabhai is still anactive president of theinstitution and movesaround on a wheelchair,

she sees to it that the cam-pus is kept clean andplaces like the amphithe-atre which is a one of itskind in Gujarat, areutilised for the benefit ofthe children. The schoolrecently celebrated 50years of its existence andseveral alumni belongingto the field of theatre, artand culture came to thegrand event.

A couple of years agoLeena Sarabhai was felici-tated by Helmut Kutin,president of SOSChildren's VillagesInternational. She wasrecognised for her worktowards children's welfareand her contribution toeducation while providingopportunities to experi-ence and appreciate therichness of life to an entiregeneration of children. Shefounded Shreyas school in1947 whose first presidentwas Dr Maria Montessori,founder of the uniquemethod of education.Shreyas Balgram, the firstSOS village in India andsecond in Asia, was estab-lished in 1966 and becamea part of SOS KinderdorfInternational in 1968.

PurVi’S traVel bagBy Purvi Apurva Shah

Anand means happiness,and as destiny would haveit, this place has made acomplete transformationto the lives of the localpeople with developmentof Amul dairy on largescale. Today it is referredto as the Milk capital ofthe country due to what isknown as the WhiteRevolution. Dr VergheseKurian, leading man ofGujarat Co-operativeMilk MarketingFederation was the pio-neer of the WhiteRevolution in India.

This place is true faceof rural development.Worth-watching is milkcollection procedure. Amind stupefying scene ofvillage women comingbare-foot to a collectionstation and lining up sothey can have their milkmeasured for quality andquantity by a computerisedscale connected to a refrig-erating system and paid onthe spot accordingly.

Located in the Gulf ofCambay (Khambhat), it is

surrounded by tobaccoand white fields. A persontravelling to Anand wouldappreciate and experiencethe power and beauty ofrural and urban India.There are a number of

quality educational insti-tutions, developing indus-trial townships and mas-sive presence of agricultur-al and dairy businesses.

For a food lover,Anand is the king of dairyproducts and one wouldfind many ice creamjoints. This is the placewhere the concept of bot-tled flavoured milk start-

ed and the best is avail-able. The local specialitiesinclude the sweet dishessutarapheni and hal-vasan, and salty snacks.

There are many placesof tourist interest in

Anand. One can visit theFlo–Art gallery for handi-crafts, Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel Musuem and VeerVithalbhai PatelMemorial. StambhanParshvanath Jinalaya andSwaminarayan Mandir areother tourist attractions.

Anand is 71 km fromAhmedabad and can bereached by road.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - Veer Vithalbhai Patel Memorial

Leena SarabhaiFounder of Montessori education in Gujarat

women achievers

Co-operative venturesare likely to generate

financial success. So, if hoping to drum up support orbacking, it would certainly do no harm to adopt a morepushy and outgoing approach to life. As social life willtend to draw you into a wider circle, the chances ofmeeting someone attractive are greatly increased.

Strengthen close tiesof affection, sort out emo-

tional differences and proffer the olive branch to yourloved one. You often sabotage your emotional interestsby keeping too much inside. However, your inner pres-sure builds up and manifests as irrational moods thatothers find hard to understand.

The prevailing cosmicpattern packs a powerful

punch early this week. Having such potent energies,make you feel positive and confident in whatever youdo. This is not the time to hold back or underestimateyour potential if you wish to further an important aim.Some of you will try to get away from the routinechores.

Don't get over- anx-ious if you feel that

you're being kept in the dark. You will probably findthat worries have been unfounded. Although you maybe faced with a difficult decision concerning your careeror employment, this is not the time to hide. Don'twaste time if you can improve matters.

It is essential that youadopt a very open attitude

now for this is a time of lucky opportunity and a chanceto greatly enrich your working life and at home. Newwindows on the world are about to open and this isbound to have a maturing effect on you from now intothe future.

The pace of everydaylife will gather momentum and there may be times

when you find it hard to keep your act together. Anyobstacles that have stood in the way of your heart'sdesires should melt into the background soon. Yourself-confidence will be extremely high and this will behelped by various encouraging events.

The opening up of amore diverse social life is a point in favour of roman-

tic attachments. The need to push ahead with personalinterests and to assert yourself will take precedenceover everything else for some time to come. The gen-eral pattern of things continues on a progressive andbuoyant theme.

Your urge towardsgreater freedom and independence is very stronglyaccentuated. In intimate affairs, the prospect appearsentirely favourable. In work matters you can expect aprogressive phase. Efforts to bring about desirablechanges in your working life are more likely to be posi-tive.

Don't be afraid toact forcefully if your instinct tells you it's time forchange. This week the focus is your house of family andhome. Besides spending more time tending to domes-tic affairs, the focus can be on cultivating and nourish-ing your inner foundations, so to speak.

You can expect alively and varied time ahead. Communications will befree and easy, making this an excellent time to dealwith important matters. Also, you'll find that peopleyou meet, perhaps especially newcomers, will be astimulating influence and may encourage you to dabblein new interests.

Life appears to befocusing your mind on practical matters. So you willneed to organise your time carefully if you are to avoidan "all work and no play" situation. Resist making anyhasty moves when it come to finances - this is a time tofocus on consolidation of current assets rather thanattempting to make any new investments.

There are subtle trans-formations taking shape in your life and a feeling ofhelpful influences in the background. There is much tosuggest that you are in tune with your inner self and intouch with those hidden forces which often seem totake a guiding hand in one's life. Focus on essentialsand establish a solid foundations.


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

Sneh Joshi - 020 8518 5500

UK

This week in CB Live meet Amit Mistri, advocateand Aruna Mistri, Trustee, POhWER who willdiscuss about their work in POhWER withKokilaben Patel. POhWER helps people who havea problem with their medical treatment, hospital,GP, optician perhaps and handle most of thecomplaints that people have about the NHS andcare provided by the NHS after discharge from thehospital.CB will discuss about his India trip and lines will beopen for questions during the program.

For more information e-mail:[email protected]

CB Live is only a Gujarati programme in UK on MATV SKY 793

7pm to 8pm Every Thursday

If you do not have a SKY, go to www.tvunetworks.com

and watch CB Live on TVU Player Channel 75203

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Coming Eventsl Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)

organises a major function on the 4th of Feb,

2012 at the Sattavis Patidar Centre, HA9 9PE to

raise funds for school in East Africa

l Campaign of Personal Well Being at Madhav

Kendra Elderly Day Centre, Grange Interlink

Community Centre, Summerville Road, Bradford

7, every Tuesday from 11.00am to 1.00pm.

l NHSF Annual Sports Competition, Date:

Saturday 18th February 2012, 10am-6pm, with

the Guest Lounge open from 12pm to 6pm,

Wednesbury Oak Road, Tipton, West Midlands,

DY4 0BS. RSVP to [email protected],

l Sparks@LSE – Inspiring the next generation of

entrepreneurs’, Saturday 18th February, London

School of Economics. Tickets for the conference

are now on sale at www.sparkslse.com.

l Imperial college Indian society proudly pres-

ents Celebrating 20 years of culture, Sunday 19th

Feb, 57 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4Ql.

Contact: 07733686363

l London Sevashram sangha presents Maghi

Purnima Tues 7th Feb, 99A Devonport Road,

London W12 8PB, Contact 020 8743 9048

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COMPETITION

Green’s new immigrationrules termed ‘classist’

has not been driven bythe Games in London.

“This is not a policyfor the Olympics,” he said.“This is a policy for life.We want permanently tomake Britain the mostattractive country in theworld for the brightest andthe best. The era of massimmigration is over.”

There will also be newrules on spouses comingto join migrants in Britain.They will have to showboth that they can speaksome English and thatthey will not be dependenton benefits. Families ask-ing for members to jointhem are likely to have tomeet an income test.

Judges are to be issuedwith new guidance to pre-vent failed asylum seekersand foreign criminalsavoiding deportation byclaiming their right to afamily life would beinfringed.

Ministers plan to issuecourts with a directivemaking it clear that thepublic interest must beconsidered in each case.

Rt Hon Keith Vaz, MP,Chair of Home AffairsCommittee told AsianVoice, “Britain mustattract the brightest andthe best. However, thisshould always be based ona fair immigration policythat tackles illegal immi-grations and doesn’t deterlegal migrants.”


CorrectionAlice Ramcharran, is the founder of Pyramid

Health & Fitness Ltd along with colleague Bridget andlaunched Masala Bhangra classes at Millbrook School.Last week on page 14 by mistake we wrote AliceRamcharran is the founder of new program MasalaBhangra, which was incorrect.

If you want to win an audio CD of Ekk

Deewana Tha, answer the following

question correctly.

Who is the producer of Ekk Deewana Tha?

l Farhan Akhtar

l Karan Johar

l Gautam Menon

Send your correct answer to

[email protected] by Monday 6th Feb

2012. First 2 winners will be chosen from the correct

answers on first cum first basis.


Kapil’s

KHICHADIby Kapil Dudakia - email: [email protected]

I salute Meredith Alexander(Commissioner on the Commission fora Sustainable London 2012) whoresigned live on ‘Newsnight’ last weekraising the issue of the 20,000 plus whodied in Bhopal in 1984. I salute her forhaving the courage to stand up for hermorals and ethics, and to show that inthis corrupt world of power, politicsand money – that integrity matters. Ofcourse one wonders what values drivethe other members of this body giventhey do not appear to have acted hith-erto.

So as you and I celebrate India’sRepublic Day let us also reflect andthink about the thousands who werekilled in that chemical gas leak inBhopal. Not forgetting their familiesand the generational ailments that theywill have to suffer, and die by, as theyears roll on.

The Indian Government (of allcolours over the past 27 years) hasfailed in its duty and responsibility toprotect the interest of its citizens.People say that some Indian politicianscare more for what they can secure intheir offshore accounts than for whathappens to their country or its people.India is now a mighty important worldplayer and with such power it has thecapacity to make any corporate bowdown and take note. Such actionwould send a clear signal to the rest ofthe world – every Indian life is pre-cious. Take for example the ramifica-tions for the other global giant ‘BP’ andthe recent oil leak (April 2010). TheUS Government demanded reparationscosting BP some $35 Billion and todate significant progress has been madein less than 18 months!

Regardless of the failures of theIndian Government – we in the UK cansurely do something? Have you signedany of the many petitions? Written toyour local MP? Sent a message to LordCoe? No? Well maybe some of you justmight wish to do that in the near futurebefore all is lost. How about visitingthis website to learn a bit more aboutBhopal and maybe even make a dona-tion to help the people:http://www.bhopal.org

London 2012 is a great event. It’sone that we in the UK have to be veryproud off and rise to the many chal-lenges it brings forth. However, wecannot and should not allow the games,and those with financial muscle, tohighjack them for their own ends. Toprostitute the games to the extent thatthe blood of the Bhopal fatalities isexchanged for Gold medals is nothing

short of scandalous. So I say to thosewho will participate in these games –please do so with all your might andperseverance, and do well. However, atsome point you should also ensure thatyour moral compass is switched on sothat on the podium, or at a subsequentpress conference or even on your per-son, you show a clear sign that you areon the side of the Bhopal victims. Dothe sports personalities of 2012 havethe courage to make a stand not just forBhopal, but the ideal that such atroci-ties cannot be allowed to go on for solong, unchecked?

When Tommie Smith and JohnCarlos gave the infamous Black powersalute in Mexico City in 1968, it sent ashockwaves around the world as wellas a clear message to the Americanpeople. Enough is enough. And today,after 40 years America has a Blackpresident. So if Abhinav Bindra or anyIndian competitor wins any type ofmedal, what will they do? Would it notbe great if they wore a specially made‘Gandhi Topi’ with Bhopal printed onthe sides when they get up on the podi-um to collect their medal?

In our British parliament, therehave been a number of EDM’s onBhopal and I suggest you seek out whoactually signed them, and also thosewho did not? You will be very surprisedwith what you find. Let us alsoacknowledge that Dow Chemical pro-duces a vast array of products that dohelp humanity on a daily basis. Itmakes profits from these worldwideactivities including those in India. It istherefore right and proper that we askit to consider where its moral compassis pointing. All too often the globalgiants tend to pander to the whims oflocal politicians, their shareholder andultimately profit at any cost. Most ofthe sports (and the participants)depend on products/materials pro-duced by Dow. So one does not need tosay ban Dow outright. However, wecan and should challenge them andraise all issues, regardless of howuncomfortable it makes theirCEO/Chairman, or for that matter,politicians who wish to protect theirown interests.

The bottom line, failures of succes-sive Indian governments, the justicesystem, and corporate greed has led totens of thousands suffering for decades.Is it now not time for the ‘human’ in‘humanity’ to come out so that we giveclosure to this sad and painful episode?Who will have the courage to take thatfirst step?

Bhopal’s Blood – London’s Gold

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The Prime Minister isdoing too little to tackleracism, the mother ofmurdered teenagerStephen Lawrence told anational daily newspaper.

Doreen Lawrence saidDavid Cameron waswrong to criticise multi-culturalism in a speechlast year, saying peoplemay “misinterpret” hismessage.

“People take their leadfrom the government. Ifthe prime minister said‘this is what I’d like to seehappen in our society’ ...people will try to worktowards that. At themoment I’m not sureexactly what they aredoing around race,” shesaid.

Gary Dobson andDavid Norris, the twomen who are jailed for theracist murder of StephenLawrence, are to appealagainst their convictions.

Dobson, 36, who wassentenced to at least 15years and two months at

the Old Bailey last month,has already begun the

Stephen Lawrence mothercriticises PM Cameron

process, the Court ofAppeal confirmed.

It is understood thatNorris will also seek toappeal, but papers havenot yet been lodged at theCourt of Appeal. Norris,35, was given a minimumof 14 years and threemonths for the murder.

The trial judge, MrJustice Treacy, said it wasa “terrible and evilcrime”, that was commit-ted “for no other reason

than racial hatred”.He also urged police

not to “close the file” oncatching the rest of thegang of five or six whiteyouths who set uponStephen at a bus stop inEltham, southeastLondon, in April 1993.

On the day of the sen-tencing Mr Lawrence’sfather Neville toldreporters outside court

that he hoped the pairwould “give up the rest ofthe people” involved.

StephenLawrence

Doreen Lawrence

Gary Dobson and David Norris


Australia wrapped up a 298-run win over India to sweepthe series 4-0 early on the finalday of the fourth Test at theAdelaide Oval on Saturday.

The end was swift with theAustralians snapping up thefinal four wickets in an hourto dismiss India for 201 andinflict a fourth heavy defeat onthe demoralised tourists.

It was India's eighth con-secutive away Test loss after a4-0 series loss in England lastyear and the Indians have notwon a series in Australia in 10visits.

Australia's dominance overIndia comes a year after theirAshes series humiliation athome to England and their sig-nificant improvement undernew skipper Michael Clarke,who replaced Ricky Ponting.

Australia won by 122 runsin Melbourne, an innings and68 runs in Sydney and aninnings and 37 runs in Perthbefore their final Adelaideannihilation.

Australia's bowlers, led bypacemen Ben Hilfenhaus (27wickets) and Peter Siddle(23), dented the reputationsof India's decorated battinglineup with the eight-Testyoungster Virat Kohli toppingthe side's batting averageswith 37.50.

Sachin Tendulkar, whofailed to bring up his 100thinternational century, has nowgone without a century for 25Test and one-day innings. Hislast hundred (111) was in the

World Cup last March. Tendulkar finished the

series with 287 runs at 35.87,but it was sorry reading for theother batting luminaries.

Test cricket's second all-time highest run-scorer RahulDravid finished with 194 runsat 24.25, Virender Sehwag198 at 24.75 and VVSLaxman just 155 at 19.37.

India were set an improba-ble 500-run target for victoryin the Adelaide Test off 146overs after Clarke's seconddeclaration of the match at167 for five in their secondinnings shortly after Friday'slunch.

But the beleagueredtourists never got close andcrashed to 166 for six bystumps leaving the final day's

outcome as a formality undersunny skies.

Nightwatchman IshantSharma was out on the eighthball of the last day, caughtbehind off Ryan Harris for twoand he was followed in thenext over by WriddhimanSaha also caught behind offSiddle for three.

Zaheer Khan hit out lusti-ly for three fours before he wascaught by David Warner atshort cover off Hilfenhaus for15. The final wicket camewhen Umesh Yadav (1) wascaught behind by Haddin forspinner Nathan Lyon's fourthwicket of the innings. RaviAshwin remained 15 not out.

Siddle was announcedman-of-the-match for his sixwickets.

Australia crush India by 298 runsto complete 4-0 whitewash

Sport world

Sania reaches career best 7thspot in doubles rankingSania Mirza's semifinalfinish in the women'sdoubles event at therecent ly -conc ludedAustralian Open hascatapulted her to acareer best ranking ofseventh position in thelatest WTA TeamRankings. Saniajumped from 11th spot to be inside the top-10 in doubles rankings and if she managesto stay in the top 10 till June 21, 2012, shewill get a direct entry into the LondonOlympics. The Hyderabadi girl thoughslipped in the singles rankings to be placedat 111th spot from 106th position. The top-64 players will get a direct entry into the sin-gles draw of the Olympics and if Sania failsto get into that bracket, AITA will ask theorganising committee for a wildcard entry.

IPL deal leaves England playersrunning risk of exhaustionEngland are facing fears over burnout totheir senior players after five members ofthe team likely to play in the third Testmatch against Pakistan were named onMonday on the final auction list for the nextIndian Premier League. Ian Bell, JamesAnderson, Graeme Swann, Matt Prior andRavi Bopara, who is in line to replace EoinMorgan in the England side, will all beinvolved in the multi-million dollar playerauction in Mumbai on Saturday whichclashes with the second day of a match theteam must win to be certain of maintainingtheir grip on No 1 Test status. The playershave negotiated almost a month at the IPLthis year and will not have to return toEngland until May 5, just 12 days before thestart of a Test series against the WestIndies. England players with IPL deals willfly straight to India from the tour to SriLanka, which ends on April 7, three daysafter the start of the Twenty20 league.

Action at a Glance

F a c i n gsevere criti-cism for hisu n i m p r e s -sive captain-cy and per-formances inTest cricket, under-fireMahendra Singh Dhonihas offered to quit theleadership role in thelonger format of the gameif the BCCI feels there is abetter replacement waitingin the wings.

Dhoni said if some-body could do a better jobthan him in Tests, then hewill be more than happy tostep down as captain forthe sake of the team.

"It (captaincy) doesn'tbelong to anyone. It's aposition I hold, and it's anadded responsibility. Ialways like to do well till Iam in job but it's notsomething I want to stickto. If there is a betterreplacement, he can comein," Dhoni said.

"At the end of the day,you want India to perform.If there is someone whocan do a better job, cap-taincy should be given tohim. It's not somethingyou have to cling on to,"said Dhoni as speculationgrew over his Test futureboth as a batsman andcaptain. Dhoni now haslost seven straight Testmatches abroad as captainand as a batsman, hisstocks have really fallenlow on foreign pitches.

Mahendra SinghDhoni ready to

quit Test captaincy

31Asian Voice - Saturday 4th Febuary 2012 SPort wOrlD

Victoria Azarenka routed Maria Sharapova6-3, 6-0 on Saturday to win the AustralianOpen singles title and take over the No. 1ranking in women’s tennis. Azarenka,playing in her first final in 25 Grand Slamtournaments, was broken in the openinggame of the match by Sharapova andtrailed 2-0 before taking advantage of 16Sharapova unforced errors to win the firstset in 46 minutes. The 22-year-oldBelarusian broke Sharapova’s service toopen the second set and never lookedthreatened to clinch the title in 1 hour, 22minutes. The winner of the match had theadded bonus of taking over the top rankingvacated by Caroline Wozniacki when shelost in the quarterfinals.

Leander Paes, Radek Stepanekwin Australian doublesLeander Paesand RadekS t e p a n e kdenied theBryan brothersa record 12thmen's GrandSlam doublestitle on Saturday as they beat the Americantop seeds in straight sets in the final. The 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 victory was the first for India'sPaes over American twins Bob and MikeBryan in a final after five defeats in titlematches, and means he completes a careerGrand Slam of doubles titles. Coming intothe Australian Open the Indian doublesspecialist had won 47 career doubles titleswith 11 different partners, including one withStepanek, who now claims his first grandslam doubles title. "I know what this meansfor him (Paes) because this title wasmissing from his career Grand Slam, andI'm happy I can be by his side," Stepaneksaid. The two danced around the courtgleefully after their win.Paes-Vesnina falter in final: Meanwhile,the fifth-seeded Indo-Russian pairing ofPaes and Elena Vesnina came up short atthe crunch after battling back from an error-stained opening set in the mixed-doublesfinal of the Australian Open. In the end, theeighth-seeded American-Romanian pairingof Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau,playing their first Grand Slam final, camethrough 6-3, 5-7, 10-3 in an hour and 42minutes. The winners took home $135,500for the fortnight’s run while Paes, playing his13th mixed-doubles final, and for $67,500.

Milkha Singh donatesOlympic shoes for charity

Legendary Indianathlete Milkha Singh hasdonated his pricelesspair of shoes, which hewore during the 1960Rome Olympics, for acharity auction whichwill be held in Mumbai,

on February 11. Milkha says certain thingsare priceless, but there can be no goodreason to part with them when they aregiven for a noble cause. "I hope the charityauction will fulfill someone's dream," hesaid. He said Bollywood actor Rahul Bose,whose NGO would be carrying out theauction, had told him that there was acharity auction for the benefit of the blindand other needy children. Singh said thatearlier he had given another pair of shoesworn in the Rome Olympics to SportsMuseum at Patiala, but had this pair withhim for over five decades.

Victoria Azarenka winsAustralian Open women's title

Action at a Glance

Defending champion andworld number one NovakDjokovic beat second seedRafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 to win his thirdAustralian Open title onSunday. The epic final lastedfive hours and 53 minutes.

Djokovic, who won thetitle at Melbourne Park in2008 and 2011, has now wonfive Grand Slam titles in totaland continues his recentdomination over theSpaniard, having beaten himin their last seven meetings,all in finals.

The Serbian captured thedecisive break at 5-5 in thefifth set in a frenzied atmos-phere at Rod Laver Arena.

Crossing himself andmuttering prayers at theheavens, Djokovic slammed across-court forehand winneron the first match point andcollapsed to the ground inecstasy after the five-hour 53minute tussle.

The win gave top seedand 2008 champion Djokovichis fifth Grand Slam title

before his 25th birthday. The final broke the record

as the longest match in tour-nament history when it hit 5hr 15 min.

The match was also thelongest Grand Slam final onrecord, outstripping the 1988US Open final between MatsWilander and Ivan Lendl,which lasted 4 hr 54 min.

The previous longestAustralian Open match wasthe 2009 semifinal betweenNadal and Fernando Verdasco,which lasted 5 hr 14 min.

Nadal saved three breakpoints in the eighth game ofthe fourth set then waited out

a 10-minute rain break beforehe levelled the match by tak-ing the fourth set 7-6.

Nadal had been facing thedistinct possibility of defeatwithin five minutes when hewas reduced to 0-40 whiletrailing 3-4 in the set but pro-duced a fantastic backhandpass and three massive servesto claw his way back into thematch, which prompted thecrowd to break into tumul-tuous chants of "Rafa".

The players were thenforced off the court as offi-cials shut the roof on RodLaver Arena after rain sweptacross central Melbourne and

the ball boys and girls scram-bled around on their kneeswith towels to dry the court.

Nadal then fed off thecrowd that had swung behindhim and, after seeminglybeen down and out returnedto his fist pumping, competi-tive best and took thetiebreak 7-5 to send thematch into a decider.

Djokovic raced throughthe third set to take a 2-1 leadas he began to wear theSpaniard down and seizedthe set 6-2.

Djokovic set the tonewhen he blasted through thefirst game and held serve tolove and ,while he had nobreak points on Nadal's firstservice game of the set, theSpaniard was forced to battleas the Serb forced threedeuce points. The worldnumber one continued thepressure on Nadal's serve inthe fourth game when hesealed the important breakand then consolidated for a 4-1 lead when he again held hisown serve to love.

There were fresh calls for an independ-ent inquiry into Dow Chemical's contro-versial sponsorship of the LondonOlympics after Meredith Alexander, aleading environmentalist, resigned fromthe Games' ethics committee - theCommission for a Sustainable London2012 - protesting against Dow's linkswith the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster andaccusing the organisers of “toeing” thecompany's line.

“I feel that the Commission and theLondon Games organisers are in dangerof becoming apologists for DowChemicals. They are repeating and false-ly legitimising Dow's assertion that theyhave no responsibility for the Bhopaltragedy,” she said indicating that othermembers could follow suit.

Terming the deal “ill-judged,” Ms.Alexander said: “I share AmnestyInternational's view that Olympic bodiesare culpable of entering into an ill-judgedrelationship with Dow, the company thatcarries the responsibility for the cata-strophic gas leak, a responsibility theyhave repeatedly absconded from.”

She decided to quit after the

Commission failed to address the con-cerns. She felt that continuing to be partof a body that publicly endorsed Dowwas “untenable.” Ms. Alexander, a sea-soned campaigner who works for thecharity ActionAid, said Dow's involve-ment had “hurt” the victims' familiesand “tainted” the Games. “I felt it wasabsolutely essential for me to stand upand be counted on this.”

She also wanted to highlight the“toxic legacy” of the Bhopal tragedy.“It's one of the worst abuses of humanrights in my generation, and I just couldnot stand idly by.”

The Commission is an official watch-dog set up to monitor and ensure that

the London Olympics meets its commit-ment to deliver the most sustainableGames ever.

Besides a £7-million deal underwhich Dow is funding a fabric wrap forthe Olympic stadium in east London, thecompany has a 10-year sponsorshiparrangement with the InternationalOlympic Committee estimated to beworth at least £100 million.

The deal has sparked protests. NoamChomsky is among high-profile interna-tional figures, including British MPs andformer Olympians, who have written toLord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of theLondon Organising Committee of theOlympic Games (Locog), urging him toscrap the deal. Barry Gardiner, seniorLabour MP and chairman of the LabourFriends of India, demanded a parliamen-tary inquiry.

Dow, which bought the Bhopal plantfrom Union Carbide after the gastragedy, denies any liability. The Games'organisers have defended the decision toaward the contract to Dow, saying it wastaken after all the issues were “very care-fully” considered.

Djokovic beats Nadal in epic Australian Open final

Environmentalist quits Olympics ethics panel over Dow's Bhopal links

Malaise of Indian cricketBy Premen Addy

Then list of things wrongwith Indian cricket are simplytoo long and too tedious toenumerate. Suffice it to saythe past has caught up, thedeception ending in ignominyin Melbourne, Sydney andAdelaide, where hostsAustralia thrashed theirguests out of sight and rightout of their tiny minds. Therewas much whimpering fromcertain Indian cricketers.Gautam Gambhir, the open-ing batsman, suggested thatIndia doctor wickets at homeas raging turners, for futurevisitors from Down Under,England and South Africa toget even with them, withoutapparently realizing that suchdubious methods merely con-ceal weaknesses rather thanproject true strength andskill. On three successivetours to South Africa,England, and now Australia,he never looked the part. Hewas clearly out of his depth,so how he retained the trust

and loyalty of Team Indiamust remain something of amystery to the naïve but notthose more worldly wise.Cronyism may have comeinto play, as it seemingly didwith a few of his colleagues.Offspinner RavichandranAshwin talked a good linewith the media but rarelystruck the necessary line andlength in his bowling whichwas smacked to all corners ofthe ground with impunity.

Virender Sehwag, anotherresounding flop, asked thatthe past be put aside in theinterest of the future. But the

two are linked, surely. Toignore past failures is toensure a future without hope.While many careers waned,the few with talent – left-armspinner Pragyan Ojha andbatsman Rohit Sharma wait-ed forlornly in the wings forthe call that never came.Mahendra Singh Dhoni is abusted flush, a pretender inTest cricket, although still thegenuine article in the shorterform of the game. The Indianselectors, includingChairman KrishnamachariSrikkanth came up short andneed also to be replaced.Their presence at RanjiTrophy and Duleep Trophymatches, where the country’syoung hopefuls cut theirteeth, was as rare as theSiberian crane out of seasonin, say, Gangetic WestBengal. They were under themistaken impression thattheir sumptuous salariesrequired that they cast a fleet-ing glance at the talent o9noffer in Test matches. ODIsand the rock n’ roll IPL. Time

to disabuse these worthies.Selectors must decide whenplayers have reached theirend of their shelf lives; retire-ment cannot be a subject forthe players alone. Someamong this sainted numberbelieve that only when theyclimb into their wheelchairsthat the time for leave-takinghad arrived. They need re-education, preferably in free-dom, and not in one ofChairman Mao’s many labourcamps. Truth is Indian crick-et is in steep decline.Whether this is terminal onlytime will show.

Meanwhile, Australiadeserve the warmest congrat-ulations for leaping back intocontention as world Testchampions, following theirdismal performances in theAshes series at home lastyear. England, meanwhile,have been brought down by aresurgent Pakistan 2 nil, witha Test to come. The Pakistanispinners bewitched, both-ered, and bewildered theiropponents into oblivion.

MeredithAlexander

��

England suffered one of their most dis-astrous batting collapses in Test historyas they disintegrated against Pakistan'sspinners to lose the second Test in AbuDhabi and with it the series. Pakistanwent 2-0 up with one to play as AbdurRehman, their left-arm spinner, tookmost of the plaudits with a Test-best 6for 25.

England had only lost on four occa-sions in Test history when presentedwith a victory target of 145 or fewer,evoking memories of when they wererun ragged by Richard Hadlee and made64 against New Zealand in Wellington.

They did not even get halfway, dis-missed for 72 in only 36.1 overs, theirlowest total since the debacle againstWest Indies in Kingston three years agowhich became the catalyst for theirtransformation under the stewardship ofthe coach, Andy Flower, and captain,Andrew Strauss.

England were never in the hunt atthe Sheikh Zayed stadium after MontyPanesar's triumphant return to Testcricket - 6 for 62, the second best figuresof his Test career -- left them chasingonly 145 for victory. The pitch offeredprodigious turn at times but it wasEngland's inability to read the length ofPakistan's spinners that cost them justas dearly.

Rehman fell to his knees and kissedthe turf after taking five wickets in a Testinnings for the first time. England hadcome to Dubai fearing Saeed Ajmal'sdevilish mix of offspinners and doosrasand they had fallen instead to one of themost unsung spinners in the internation-al game.

Not that Ajmal could be entirelyexcluded. He became the quickestPakistan player to reach 100 Test wick-ets when Matt Prior became the ninthEngland batsman to fall, and his serenepresence was a counterpoint to theexcitability all around him.

For a Pakistan side that was sorecently embroiled in controversy afterthree players were jailed for their part inthe spot-fixing scandal, this was a strik-ing restatement of their talent. The cap-tain, Misbah-ul-Haq, has brought stabil-ity where too often there has been nearanarchy and more and more people willlook upon Mohsin Khan's position asinterim coach and wonder why the word"interim" still remains.

England's horrors in Asia go on, theirstatus as the No. 1 team in the Test rank-

ings already under threat. Anothercalamitous top-order collapse saw themlose four wickets for 16 runs in 37 ballsas what little confidence they had wasshaken by a debilitating stomach bug forJonathan Trott, the bedrock of their bat-ting, who came in at No. 7.

England, as if shaken by Trott's ill-ness, crawled to 21 in nearly 15 oversbefore Alastair Cook tried to workMohammad Hafeez into the legsideagainst the spin and chipped a gentlereturn catch off a leading edge. It wasthe least that Pakistan deserved becausehe should have been out leg before threeballs earlier. Only Adnan Akmal, thewicketkeeper, was convinced that it wasout and by then his incessant appealinghad started to wash over everybody, histeam-mates included.

Ian Bell's woes against Ajmal's doos-ra have wrecked his series. This time hegot out to a trick shot, trying to dead bata doosra but contriving to pop it throughhis own legs onto the stumps. He leftlooking to the heavens, an accomplishedbatsman suddenly Little Boy Lost again.

Aficionados of Kevin Pietersen's sup-posed fallibility against left-arm spin ofany quality will find fresh evidence in theway he played outside Rehman's armball. Pietersen's recourse to DRS wasoverturned, the ball shown to be clipping

the top of middle, and he trudged offwith the air of a man about to fashion anexcuse first and a technique later.

That left Eoin Morgan, reputedly oneof England's best players of spin, a repu-tation that owes everything to adventur-ous innings in one-day cricket. The pres-sure of Test cricket demanded a reassess-ment as he edged onto the back foot asRehman turned one back slightly andwas bowled past a horribly angled blade.

England's plight could have beenworse if Strauss had been given outcaught off bat and pad at short leg byAzhar Ali off Rehman. Strauss, on 16,was blessed as the umpires turned to thethird umpire, Billy Bowden, to check ifthe ball had carried and Bowden, in apernickety decision that defied commonsense, responded that he could not becertain. It was impossible to see wherehis doubt had arisen.

But Strauss was unable to organiseprolonged resistance. He made 32, morethan half England's runs, produced vir-tually England's only moment of author-ity when he swept Rehman for four andthen fell to the next ball as he was lbw,caught on the back foot. England chal-lenged the decision and lost their secondreview. If Trott had produced heroics,the Test would have forever been dubbedTrott's Trots.

The Pakistan players celebrate their series win


Rehman stuns Englandto give Pakistan series

Danny Boyle, the maker of Oscar-winning film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’,will direct a £29 million opening cer-emony extravaganza of the LondonOlympic Games in July. Modern,multi-cultural Britain will feature inthe display with London-based DevPatel, who starred in ‘Slumdog’, willfigure as a part of this celebration.

Scotsman Boyle let slip few morehints to the press. He said, for theinauguration, he was drawing inspira-tion from Shakespeare’s drama, ‘TheTempest’. He is creating ‘The Isles ofWonder’ to reflect the setting of theplay. The words “…be not a feard. The

isle is full of noises” will reportedlybeen graved on a giant 23-ton bell thatwill ring during the ceremony.

The organising committee antici-pates a TV audience of one billionfor the opener. There is understand-able pressure to get the presentationright. Unsurprisingly, Boyle quanti-fied his task as “bloody enormous”.

More than 10,000 artistes will par-ticipate in Boyle’s three-hour show.The music is being written byUnderworld, the dance music pair ofKarl Hyde and Rick Smith, who wrotethe score for Frankenstein. It’s a recentstage performance directed by Boyle.

The industrial revolution and the revi-talization of derelict land in eastLondon into a magnificent Olympiccomplex will also be highlighted.

Boyle said he can’t compete withBeijing’s big budget four years ago(estimated at $300 million). Instead,he will attempt to replicate thefriendliness of the 2004 SydneyGames. Prime Minister DavidCameron, on being consulted (thegovernment is on austerity drive),doubled the budget to £81 million forthe four ceremonies that will adornthe London Games, with an alloca-tion of £29 million for the inaugural.

Boyle to direct London Olympic opening ceremonyTo have ‘Tempest’ theme, Dev Patel to play a part

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Panesar blames himself forEngland's defeat

Monty Panesar,who took sevenwickets in thematch againstPakistan in thesecond Test, hasbeen a whippingboy for England,but no one expect-

ed him to take the loss to the point of self-flagellation. “Maybe I let the team down inthe first innings, where I didn’t take wicketsat a quick enough rate,” said Panesar onMonday. “I was pleased with my perform-ance in the second innings but GraemeSwann kind of carried me in the first.”Panesar turned the ball sharply during thematch, but taking any blame for England’ssorry performance, as they chased 145 towin, is his biggest spin yet. Yet Panesardoes not see his claims as being unneces-sarily hard on himself. “I do have my self-belief and confidence,” he said. “The key tosuccess is that you need to develop yourown courage and confidence into your char-acter. If you lack self-belief on and off thefield, you are not going to be able to reachyour own potential. It has helped me to playgrade cricket in Sydney for Randwick-Petersham and to have my own self-improvement guru.”

England need fresh bloodEngland selectors know that instead of con-tinuing with the trio of Kevin Pietersen, IanBell and Eoin Morgan, with their 94 runsbetween them, they have to go for freshblood. But the main question is who theywould bring in?

Ravi Bopara is the spare batsman ontour, while Steven Davies, here putativelyas wicket-keeping back-up, could also batin the top six if required, but there doesn’tappear to be anything like the same depthof talent in reserve as in the pace bowlingdepartment. James Taylor, the EnglandLions captain in Sri Lanka, looked as if hemight have been the next batsman to breakthrough, but his stock appears to have fall-en despite his move to Nottinghamshire insearch of tougher cricket. Moreover,Taylor’s Lions have been concentrating onone-day cricket.

In that format, Jos Buttler and CraigKieswetter have excelled in the subconti-nental conditions, with Jonny Bairstow alsodoing well. All are naturally aggressivestrokemakers with options against spinbowlers but then Morgan is brilliantly adeptagainst them in one-day cricket, somethingyou wouldn’t have guessed from his naïvedabblings here. Context and conditions areeverything when judging how good batsmenare against spinners. England play anotherseven Tests in the subcontinent this year,but judging who of the next generation mightcope best is difficult.

Action at a Glance

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