4th April to 10th April 2015VOL 43. ISSUE 45 80pLet noble thoughts come to us from every side

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EXCLUSIVE - Highest Earning Authors on Page 20

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invitedto unveil Basaveshwara Statue in London

Former Mayor of London Borough of Lambeth Dr Neeraj Patilpictured with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The statue of 12th cen-tury Indian Philosopher“Basaveshwara” whopioneered the idea ofdemocracy is to beshortly erected on thebank of River Thames,in the London boroughof Lambeth.

Continued on page 12

Sixteen people have beenkilled in mudslides and hun-dreds of people have left theirhomes in Kashmir after heavyrain over the weekend causedflooding in the Valley. Therehas been no rain sinceMonday, but the weatherdepartment has predictedheavy showers in the coming

16 killed in Kashmir flood, landslide

The month-longinternecine war betweenAam Aadmi Party chief,Arvind Kejriwal and dissi-dent leaders, YogendraYadav and PrashantBhushan came to a headlast week with the duobeing expelled from theparty's national executivefor sabotaging the organi-sation.

The founder-members,who were ousted in a 247-8 vote at the 311-memberNational Council meeting- marred by protests andchaos - termed the deci-sion a "farce and illegal",saying they might seeklegal recourse.

They also hinted atfloating another party if

required. An AAP sourcesaid their expulsion fromthe party was imminentsince their case will bereferred to the disciplinarycommittee. Ever since theAAP came to power in the

national capital by win-ning 67 of its 70 assemblyseats, the party has beenembroiled in an internalcrisis that has pittedBhushan and Yadav

Continued on page 26

Kejriwal tightens gripover Aam Aadmi Party

Continued on page 26

Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan

Dissident leaders sacked from party's national executive

UK

1) What is your current posi-tion?

CEO & Chairman

2) What are your proudestachievements?

My proudest will have to be mychildren first, and secondly theopportunity to develop a trulyglobal business that is helpingto improve the quality ofhuman lives every day.

3) What inspires you?

People who think outside thebox, big picture thinkers whobuilt something out of nothingand sometimes with the worstpossible start to life. People

who never accept no foranswer, people are possibilitythinkers and who believe thereis always a way. And finallypeople who have a respect forhuman dignity.

4) What has been the biggestobstacle in your career?

Being told NO, or it is not pos-sible by people!

5) Who has been the biggestinfluence on your career todate?

My mother has been the singu-lar and most important influ-ence both in my life and career.

6) What is the best aspect

about your current role?

The fact that every day presents

new challengesfrom differentdirections in ourvast internationaland multi-facetedoperations. Theability to makedecisions, whiledoggedly andtenaciously seekthe appropriatesolutions to thevarious chal-lenges.

7) And theworst?

None. I enjoywhat I do tremen-dously and I seeeverything as alearning curveand challenge tobe overcome.

8) What are yourlong term goals?

To establish aprofitable organi-

sation/business that is innova-tive with a strong focus on

social responsibility

9) If you were Prime Minister,what one aspect would youchange?

I would encourage moreCorporate Social Responsibility

10) If you were marooned on adesert island, which historicalfigure would you like to spendyour time with and why?

Helmult Kohl the formerChancellor of Germany. He hadthe fortitude, courage, skill anddiplomacy required for the uni-fication of Germany at a veryimportant time in history. Iwould be interested in learninghow he was able to steerGermany in a very difficultmoment in her history. The les-sons would be very useful inexporting to the less developedcountries that are still heldback by distrust and lack of therequired information and edu-cation. There are serious poten-tial for development and eradi-cation of poverty in a lot ofthese countries.

Mahmood AhmaduMr. Mahmood Ahmadu (OON), is recognized as one of the fore-most business titans to hail from Africa. His high level entrepre-neurial successes encompass 25 years in private sector business.He is the CEO of Online Integrated Solutions Services, Limited(OIS Services), SW Global Limited and NewWorks SolutionInvestment Limited. A recipient of the national honour of -Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), he is a member of theInstitute of Directors (IOD) and ECOWAS Ambassador ofPeace. Mahmood is happily married and blessed with four won-derful children.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 20152

A man who thwarted anattempt to assassinate aspiritual leader and a doc-tor who calmed a womanwho was armed with aknife have been honouredby police.

Baldev Singh and DrLucy Pearson were amongpolice officers, staff andother members of the pub-lic who have gone “theextra mile” to be handedawards this week byLeicestershire ChiefConstable Simon Cole.

The people who wereawarded honours includedofficers who had broughtserial criminals to justiceor tackled dangerousarmed men, as well asmembers of the publicwho put themselves inharm’s way.

Mr Singh, pictured,51, travelled from India toreceive a commendationfor his life-saving efforts.He was at the forefront ofa group of worshippers atthe Namdhari SikhGurdwara, in LindenStreet, Spinney Hills,Leicester, in August 2013when a man took out anaxe and attempted toassassinate His Holiness

Srisat Guru Uday Singh Ji.Police said Mr Singh’s

brave intervention savedthe life of His Holiness,who received a brokenarm and a cut to his nosein the attack.

Led by Mr Singh, whois secretary to HisHoliness at the headquar-ters of the Sri BhainiSahib, in Punjab, thegroup managed to disarmthe man, who was laterconvicted of attemptedmurder and was jailed for17 years.

Ranjit Singh Flora, ofthe Namdhari Sikh com-munity in Leicester, said:“Baldev was the first per-son to get up and defendHis Holiness. He is a verybrave man.”

By Rani Singh

Wednesday 25th Marchthere was a sponsoredevent in the Disraeli Roomof the luxurious CarltonClub, home toConservatives. The atmos-phere was cosy and warmand the Disraeli Room sawanimated networkingamong the insolvencycommunity of London.

The invitation wasfrom “The Best GappRestructuring andRecovery NetworkingClub,” named after one ofthe event’s sponsors. Theother sponsor wasVigilance Properties.

The opening speakerswere from Best Gapp andVigilance Properties, twocompanies that supporteach other in the insolven-cy space. There was a size-able Vigilance representa-tion; Ian Lyons,Commercial Director, JohnLennon, Director, and SebMackenzie-Wilson, formerTimes newspaper journal-ist-turned Chief OperatingOfficer. Seb was fascinat-ing to talk to and has greataffection for India.

There was a neat segueinto the Gurkhas becauseGukhas are trusted the

world over to protectpremises whether they areempty or full and function-ing.

Best Gapp andVigilance trust Gurkhasfor their properties.Indeed, Vigilance has threesenior Gurkhas as part ofits management team. Allthree were present, andLaxman Pun was theGuest Speaker. He is Headof Operations at Vigilance.A former captain in theQueen’s Gurkha Signals,Laxman commanded over150 men.

His reputation is as ahighly skilled communica-tions, logistics and securityofficer. He is responsiblefor coordinating all day-to-day company operations,both on the ground andadministratively at headoffice.

He spoke movingly ofbeing a boy from a Nepalivillage and seemed sur-prised to find himself guestof honour at The CarltonClub. He spoke brieflyabout his career and won-derful journey.

In a nice squaring ofthe circle, the two sponsor-ing firms, Vigilance andBest Gapp are workingwith the Gurkha Welfare

Trust to raise money tobuild a school in Laxman’sremote Nepali village. Afigure of about 45,000 thatneeded raising was heardat one point. PiersLawson, Major Donor andPartnerships Officer of theGWT was on hand. 2015marks the bicentennial ofloyal Gurkha service to theBritish Crown. In honourof these renowned soldiersvarious commemorativeevents will be heldthroughout the year.

Som Chochangi isPersonnel Manager atVigilance. A senior war-rant officer of Queen’sGurkha Signals, Som over-saw regimental securityboth in barracks and onoperations, most recently

in Afghanistan when asuccessful tour was con-cluded without loss.

Gagan Thapa isResources Manager. Hewas a senior staff sergeantof Queen’s GurkhaSignals, with broad leader-ship experience acrosshostile and remote loca-tions worldwide. SCcleared and expert insecure communications,he was also privileged toperform ceremonial dutiesat the Royal Palaces forHer Majesty the Queen.

Prashant Kunwar,Business DevelopmentManager of Khukuri Beerwas also present; he is sup-portive of GWT and wasthe beer sponsor for thelast IJA annual dinner.

Asian Voice attends sponsored evening for GurkhasFIle photo of

Gurkhas

Police honour braveofficers and life-savers

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 3

ASIAN VOICE is published by Asian Business Publications Ltd Karma Yoga House,12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW.Tel: 020 7749 4080 Fax: 020 7749 4081Email: aveditorial@abplgroup.comwww.abplgroup.com © Asian Business Publications

Lessons to learn from Aam Aadmi Party infightingThe electorate in Delhi gave the Aam Aadmi Party ahuge majority in the hope that they will be differentfrom other parties and deliver the goods. But once theygained power instead of working for the fulfilment oftheir election promises, internal turmoil has taken overthe party. It will be let down to the aspirations of thepeople. Its last stint in government in Delhi collapsedin 49 days but the stories it left behind, some real, oth-ers imagined, of the differences it made, contributed tothe party's sweep of Delhi this year. AAP's victoryshowed that 49 days is not a short time in politics, andgovernment. As Kejriwal's second government heads for that

milestone, therefore, the question could well be, whatdoes it have to show for it? If Delhi chief minister looksfor an answer, he will find that this time his govern-ment has been completely overtaken and overwhelmedby its party, more specifically by the dissensions within.The AAP's renewed bid to establish itself as a party ofgovernance is threatened not because of the inability ofits government but by the incapacity of the party. Forthe AAP this time, governance needs to begin at home.The unchecked clash of egos and factions, the interparty stings and conspiracies and the complete lack ofany mediating and tempering processes and structuresthat have been exposed within AAP in the last few daysand weeks show that victory, even of the magnitude of

67 MLAs out of 70, is not enough.It must be underlined that a party is more than its

individual members. There are very few models for it inIndia's political system, but it is all too obvious that theAAP is yet to make the transition from an often chaoticand cacophonous platform glued together only by apersonality cult to a bounded political party that allowsdebate and dissent and has the maturity and the insti-tutions to deal with both.Dissident leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant

Bhushan - who did not help their own cause by repeat-edly airing and projecting their dissent outside partyforums - have been unceremoniously removed from theparty's political affairs committee and now from thenational executive as well, but this episode is not yetover. It will not be closed till Kejriwal's party figuresout a response to this question- what happens nexttime someone disagrees with the party line and persistswith it. The AAP will have to work out where to drawthe lines so that it becomes more stable and less fragile.It is good, even refreshing for a political part in India tohave a lively and contentious inner life but it is coun-terproductive if the inability to give it a shape of reso-lution paralyses the party and the government. Nowthat the party has shown the door to the dissident lead-ers it is time for them to concentrate on fulfilling theirelection promises to the people.

Saina Nehwal makes India proudSaina Nehwal has made history by becoming the firstIndian woman to secure the World No. 1 position inbadminton. She bagged the top spot after the reigningchampion Carolina Marin from Spain was beaten bythird-seed Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand in the firstsemifinal of the Indian Open Super Series in Delhi. Thechampion from Hyderabad has won 14 internationaltitles, and she recently reached the finals of the presti-gious All England Championship, but lost out to Marin."Everybody dreams of winning the Olympics or the

World Championships. I'm one of them. But I want tobe relaxed, enjoy my game. Becoming No.1 is a goodthing. If it's in my destiny, it will happen," she saidbefore her top spot was confirmed. In a cricket-crazycountry, she has done what no other Indian womancould do.Thirty-five years after Prakash Padukone won the

crown, this is for the second time that an Indian haswon the world number one ranking. A few years back,after three back-to-back tournament wins that put herin the world No 3 slot, she said, “I am not perfect, butif I can be world number 3, I can become world number1 as well.” She did not focussed on numbers game. Shestayed focussing on her game. The philosophy of everysportsperson should be to focus on your game and work

hard and the other things will fall in place.However, it was not easy for the shuttler to reach the

pinnacle of the game while she was ranked world num-ber 9. When the rankings list does become official nextweek, Saina will be the first non-Chinese player sinceDenmark’s Tine Baun in 2010 to hold the number onespot in the women’s category. In the men’s category,Prakash Padukone had held that position 35 years ago.Nehwal was ranked at number 2 back in 2010 and hasbeen a top-10 player since 2009.Saina shows the way for other sportspersons that

perseverance and hard work are the only way to suc-cess. Failure is not the end of one's career. You learnfrom your shortcomings and overcome it. Ultimately itwill take you to great heights. Other sportspersonsshould also emulate her philosophy - never say neveragain. Failure and success are the two sides of the samecoin. If you are focused and work hard success will def-initely follow. So never dishearten by the failures. Thisis also a lesson for our cricketers. They should not losehope in failures and success should not make you com-placent but concentrate on your game. In a team gamefailure of the one should not deter you much but thereshould be others to fill the gap, so that the team canachieve success.

The real election game begins nowOn Monday David Cameron went to BuckinghamPalace and sought the formal approval to dissolve par-liament from Her Majesty the Queen. This is rather adifferent type of seeking the royal approval simplybecause the Parliament had approved an act for a fullterm Government unlike in the past the Prime Ministerof the day has lost (at least for the time being) his per-ogative to go for an election. In a way this fixed termparliament is helpful for both the policy makers and thepeople who are governed. Besides removing that sus-pence and drama of a snap election, such fixed termparliaments could also make probably a lame parlia-ment or the government in the ultimate analysis.In the new Parliament one wonders what will be the

shape and size of the Parties. As of now there are somany options, permutations and combinations depend-ing on the number of seats in the new House ofCommons for the Conservatives, Labour, LiberalDemocrats, SNP and UKIP. The other players areGreen, Respect, DUP, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, AllianceParty and the SDLP. The issues are also being mentioned but not thor-

oughly, honestly or convincingly explored as of now. IfDavid Cameron talks about £12 billion savings he cannot convincingly quantify how that will happen.Similarly with five years onslaught on cost control orsevere budget slashing, the dangers are that some serv-ices like law and order, NHS, immigration service itselfand others could become inefficient or really very weakbecause of the man power reduction.The Labour Party’s alternatives for more merciful

cuts are also being listened to very carefully. In whatever way you look, the situation appears to be flux andthe crucial number of voter - undecided voters - needsto be convinced. In the next five weeks or so, perhapsafter three weeks, the opinion polls might be able toreflect more realistic intensions.

The BBC poll of polls on Sunday put Labour aheadby 6%. Tuesday, the times put Tories ahead by 2%. Youtake your pick. Each according to his or her innerinstincts.Suffice is to say at the moment this election and the

results could be the most surprising since the last war.Lib Dem is believed to be doing very badly. Some saythat UKIP popularity is waning very fast. Inspite ofsevere criticism of Lib Dem it is generally perceivedthat their participation in the coalition government,surely supress some of the dogmatic policies of theConversative party.There is another factor to consider. A common

British voter has his or her unique sense of taking morerealistic view. Sometimes we have called it the self-cor-rective mechanism in the politi and society. From suchan optimistic view point the SNP and the UKIP partieswill not do as well as they are expecting and the LibDems could end up slightly better than general beliefheld now, and much better than the worst apprehen-sion in some quarters.Asian Voice has been devoting vast amounts of

space since mid-January on the forthcoming electionand we have discussed some important issues of partic-ular interest to the ethnic minorities, especially Asians.We hope to have much more indepth look on issues

like immigration, education, jobs for our younger gen-eration, need of our senior citizens and women andeconomic wellbeing of the nation. Not only theConservatives, Labour and Lib Dem are hyperactive toreach out to the ethnic minorities but look at the num-ber of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates fromUKIP and other such parties.This is turning out to be a very interesting election

and we have repeatedly called on our readers to ensurethat they have been registered to vote and without faildo their duty on 7th May.

COMMENT

Great ambition is the passion of agreat character. Those endowed withit may perform very good or very badacts. All depends on the principles

which direct them.- Napoleon Bonaparte

Here are some honesttruths. David Cameronlooked more PrimeMinisterial in the TVdebates. David Milibandlooked like he was goingto cry, when Paxmanasked him ‘are you alrightEd?’ off camera.

The biggest problemin any political campaign isyou see things as youwant to see them to bol-ster your pre-existingviews. When I lectured onBehavioural Finance atOxford (that bit of Financewhich explains why thecredit crunch actually hap-pened – because ofhuman nature) I wouldwarn investors of pickingfrom the news those bitswhich supported their pre-existing investments. It’sthe same in politics.

The problem is, andjust ask Neil Kinnock in1992 at the Sheffield rally,you start believing yourown hype. It leads to com-placency, even arroganceand you lose sight ofobjectivity. So here aresome objective tips to theparties:1. Conservatives areweak on the Labour attackof ‘business uncertaintyover a referendum’ – theyneed to counter this quick,not because businessowners may switch toLabour, but because peo-ple may think their jobsare in danger. The counteris business owners sayingthe Tories are better forjobs. Its jobs that winmarginals.

2. Conservativesneed to be careful howthey position ‘Labourwould spend more’ – thereare many people who will

see that as a windfall forthem, many people whomay not be Labour voters,for instance employees ofbig public service contrac-tors. And this is the cardLabour are playing.3. The SNP are right toswing to their extremewing – they need to win asmany seats as possible tohave influence and knowthis is the way to do it.Labour know they will turnto the SNP in a coalitionand will not put up anyserious fight or resourcesin Scotland.4. The Tories in the lastelection needed to wintwice as many seats as in1979 from Labour, andthat was their largestswing from Labour in his-tory – and they nearly didit. This time, they need towin 23 marginals fromLabour (and keep all theyhave). That is the battle-ground and the 23 weak-est seats just under that.5. In each electionthere are a few keymoments. In the US it was‘You are no Kennedy’;‘Read my lips, no newtaxes’, in Britain it hasbeen ‘Labour isn’t work-ing’. That knock out punchwill be on the economy –that under theConservatives – moremoney in working family’spockets and not moremoney for the biggestbanks and the richest indi-viduals (the banks don’thave a vote, and rich aretwo few to matter). That isthe mood of the nation.Then you just keeprepeating it.

Alpesh Patel, www.politicalanimal.me

Why Politics is like dangerouslylike the stock market

AsianVoiceNewsweeklyAsianVoiceNews

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 20154 MIDLANDS VOICE

Vic Sethi, a Leicesterbased Businessman hasbeen appointed as theActing Ambassador forLeicester Cathedral, thecathedral church of StMartin. The cathedral islocated in the heart of thecity. It has been encapsu-lated in the public, eco-nomic, cultural as well asreligious life of the com-munity.

Reverend DavidMonteith was establishedas Dean of Leicester in2013. The Dean met Vicand apprised him on theKing Richard III project.Sethi said, “It was greatmeeting Revd DavidMonteith a true gentlemanand a humble personality.I am so impressed withhim that I would go out ofmy way to support him.”

Vic Sethi’s nameappears in the Foundingand Donors list of theKing Richard III’s appeal.

On Thursday 26th ofMarch Vic Sethi, pictured,along with his wifeDimple Sethi were invitedto the reinterment of KingRichard III, followed by areception.

Vic Sethi shared hisviews on being honouredto receive this virtuousrole. “It is an honour to beappointed as the ActingAmbassador for LeicesterCathedral. I feel honouredto be looked upon as aCultural Ambassador todemonstrate and spreadthe mission and vision ofthe Cathedral to the widercommunity. From a veryyoung age, I was taught bymy parents to respectevery faith and that thereshould be no barriers ofreligion, colour or faith aswe are all the children ofthe One Supreme Power-the Almighty. We are apart of his large family“The Human Race”, so itis our duty to get involvedin community projects andhelp in any way we can.”

Vic Sethi appointed as ActingAmbassador for Leicester Cathedral

A jewellery firm has beenfined thousands of poundsfor the illegal sale ofunhallmarked gold follow-ing a probe byBirmingham consumerwatchdogs.

Yousaf Jewellers inCoventry Road, SmallHeath, was ordered to paya £6,500 fine and prosecu-tion costs of £1,738 after itadmitted 13 charges ofbreaching theHallmarking Act.

B i r m i n g h a mMagistrates’ Court heardhow officers fromBirmingham CityCouncil’s TradingStandards team seizedmore than a dozen piecesof unhallmarked jewellery– including rings and ban-gles – from the store fol-lowing a raid in Februarylast year.

Jacqui Kennedy, thecouncil’s head of regula-tion and enforcement,said: “People should be

able to have confidencewhen they are buyingvaluable goods, like goldjewellery, that they are ofthe quality they purport tobe. It’s important forTrading Standards to takeaction and bring cases likethis to the public’s atten-tion.”

She said Birminghamis famous for its jewellerytrade, but rogues werethreatening to damage thecity’s reputation by flog-ging gold that is not all it’scracked up to be.

Trading Standards hasspent the last five years

working to stop the conmerchants who have beencaught red-handed sellingunhallmarked jewellery.

The team’s work hasincluded swoops ondozens of stores in AlumRock, Saltley, Sparkbrook,Sparkhill, WashwoodHeath, Bordesley Greenand Handsworth.

The crackdown hasbeen such a success thatTrading Standards wonthe first ever TouchstoneAward from the BritishHallmarking Council inrecognition for its workprotecting consumers.

Police have released ashocking image of arestaurant worker leftwith a bleed on the brainafter he was attacked bythree masked men with abaseball bat in a busyBirmingham street.

Detectives issued thephoto of 27-year-old JamilAhmed’s injuries follow-ing the assault in the hopeit will persuade someoneto speak out.

The restaurant workerwas walking alongLadypool Road,Sparkbrook, when he wasset upon by three peoplein masks.

Jamil, fromSparkbrook, needed hos-

pital treatment for morethan two weeks beforefinally being discharged onNew Year’s Eve.

A police investigationhas so far been unable toidentify those responsibleor confirm a motive for the

beating.Jamil, pictured, who’s

been unable to return tohis job because of hisinjuries, was in LadypoolRoad at about 6pm onDecember 15 when theattack happened.

A police trawl of localCCTV cameras revealsone offender wearing ablack face covering,gloves, a long-sleeved greytop, and grey Adidastracksuit bottoms withlight blue stripes on theside of the legs.

Anyone with informa-tion is asked to call DetCon Akers on 101 orCrimestoppers anony-mously on 0800 555 111.

One of Birmingham’sbest-known food firms hasbeen fined £24,000 overits “filthy” premises.

Mushtaqs Ltd, ofStratford Road, Sparkhill,was preparing products in“disgusting and dirty”conditions, BirminghamMagistrates Court heard.

A judge was told of astring of problems at thevenue, which offers sweetand savoury products andhad a cafe.

Environmental healthofficer Rebecca Callendersaid conditions were“poor” and dirt and debrishad built up.

The floor was dirty

beneath equipment whilethere was a build-up ofgrease on canopies andextraction units in themain production area.

Shelves where foodwas being stored and pre-pared were in a deteriorat-ing condition and handsoap dispensers, mopbuckets and floor brusheswere dirty, the courtheard.

The interior of a chillerwas dirty with food debris,while lighting in a numberof areas was poor.

A cracked and chippedplate was used in the cafekitchen and storage boxeswere damaged in the cake

preparation area.The officer said food,

including samosas, wasbeing prepared at the time.

Simon Davis, prose-cuting, said council envi-ronmental health officershad visited the site inMarch 2013 and servedimprovement notices.

But when theyreturned two months later,Mushtaqs had failed tocomply with 17 of 24hygiene matters.

The company, convict-ed of seven breaches offood hygiene regulations,was fined £24,000 andwas also ordered to pay£7,249 costs.

Officials are drawing upplans for a fortnight long"Diwali Leicester" festivalin November.

The idea has beenrevealed in documentspublished by LeicesterCity Council seekingsponsorship for events tomark the Festival of Light.It describes the proposalas part of "innovations"planned for 2015 toaround the religious occa-sion celebrated by Hindus,Sikhs and Jains.

The festival would runfrom the planned switchon of the Diwali lights onThe Golden Mile onSunday November 1, toDiwali Day itself onWednesday November 11and then on to November15.

Both the illuminations

switch on and the closingfireworks displays havebeen arranged by the citycouncil since the 1980sand usually to attractbetween 30,000 and40,000 visitors each.

A spokesman for thecouncil's arts and muse-ums service said the aim

was to link the two show-piece events with otherevents arranged by com-munity groups or temples.

The council is putting£88,000 into the 2015Diwali celebration and isseeking private sponsor-ship as it has in previousyears.

A robber who was highon drugs and drinkwhen he carried outtwo knife-point raidshas been jailed for fiveyears.

A b d i s a l a nMohamud, 24, kickedhis way into the lockedreception of studentaccommodation, in thetower block onLeicester's St George'sway, and brandished aseven-inch blade. Heswung it towards a ter-rified member of nightsecurity staff beforehelping himself to awalkie-talkie.

Mohamud wasarrested nearby, butwas later released onbail.

Plans for two-week Diwali Leicesterfestival being drawn up

Robber jailed aftercarrying out twoknife-point raids

Yousaf Jewellers in Small Heath fined£6,500 for selling illegal gold

Sparkhill-based Mushtaqs food firmfined £24k over 'filthy' premises

Ladypool Road restaurant workerbattered by three masked men with a

baseball bat in vicious attack

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In Conversation with Pat McFadden MP Reshma Trilochun

MP Pat McFadden is avery prominent figure inthe Wolverhampton com-munity, not only as anMP, but as an advocatorof racial equality withinsociety. He very proudlytakes part in the Sikh fes-tival of Vaisakhi andencourages many othersto do so as well.“Vaisakhi is a major partof the cultural calenderin Wolverhampton. We'vegot a very big Sikh,broader Punjabi commu-nity in Wolverhamptonand Vaisakhi is celebrat-ed throughout the city.”He goes on to say, “Ihave hosted the parlia-mentary celebrations ofVaisakhi, which over theyears have been attendedby all three party leaders.Both in the constituencyand in the parliamenthave always been pleasedto take part in Vaisakhicelebrations.”MP McFadden com-

memorates the Sikh com-munity inWolverhampton and theirachievements in the UK.“I think the Sikh commu-nity is slightly successful.I think it is a great storyof a community that havecome here over thedecades, have workedvery hard, has good val-ues, both of enterprisebut of community andputting something back.Sikh community in myconstituency values edu-cation strongly, some-thing very close to myown heart too. I think,broadly speak, it is a suc-cessful community.”However, he does not

deny the lack of ethnicminorities in politics,especially the lack ofSikh representatives androle models. “In politics,

I would like to see moreSikh representation. Thetruth is we had a numberof Sikh MPs and mem-bers of the House ofLords and over the last 5-6 years, a number ofthem have died. Sothrough no one's specificfault, we've gone back-wards in terms of Sikhrepresentation. We haveone Sikh MP in theHouse of Commons, myparliamentary neighbour,Paul Uppal. We've gotone Sikh MEP, who's aLabour MEP, Neena Gill,who's also from thisregion, from the WestMidlands. But I wouldlike to see us havingmore than one Sikh MPand more than one SikhMEP, in terms of repre-sentation.”MP Pat McFadden

does not feel that thebudget will be beneficialfor many in the comingfuture. “I don't think thisbudget is going to make ahuge amount of differ-ence to the electiondebate. I think as it was,it will still be a debateabout the effect of econo-my recovery and who'sgetting the benefit ofrecovery. And many peo-ple, whatever we readabout the GDP numbersare not feeling recoveryin their pockets and in

their household budgetsand feel worse off thanthey did five years ago.”In order to make a

substantial change, MPMcFadden believes thatthe youth of the countryought to make full use oftheir votes; their opin-ions matter and theirvoice should be heard. “Iwould like to see moreyoung people voting. Theolder you are the morelikely it is for you to vote.I think it's a shame thatquite a lot of young peo-ple don't use their votes,so for young readers ofAsian Voice in particularand hope that they woulduse their vote because inelection, there's a bigdemocratic choice. It isimportant to make yourvoice heard so I'm hopingfor much participation inthe election as possible.”MP Pat McFadden

also been concernedregarding the govern-ment's plans to slashmany foreign languagesfrom the A level qualifi-cation; languages such asPunjabi, Gujarati, Polishamong many others. MPMcFadden stated, “Ibelieve the Government’splans to axe these qualifi-cations are a huge mis-take. Many of my con-stituents speak Punjabiand Gujarati and theselanguages are importantto parts of the communi-ty. Furthermore, asBritain’s populationbecomes more diverse itis economically impor-tant to make the most ofour global links. Axinglanguage qualifications isshort sighted for a majortrading economy likeours. I believe it is vitalto keep open the optionto take these qualifica-tions right up to A levelstandard.”

MP Pat McFadden

Prime Minister, DavidCameron has stated that hewill serve a full second termif he is reelected in the gen-eral elections in May.However, he is not seekingthird term as a PrimeMinister.David Cameron men-

tioned to the BBC that itwould be “time for newleadership” after he com-pletes a second five-yearstint. He even went on tohumorously say that "terms

are like Shredded Wheat:two are wonderful butthree might just be toomany."Tony Blair, Cameron's

predecessor was PrimeMinister for 10 years beforestepping down halfwaythrough his third term.David Cameron became

the Prime Minister in 2010and has been the head of aConser va t i ve -L ibe ra lDemocrat coalition govern-ment.

Polls have suggestedthat there may possibly beanother coalition, however,Cameron is hoping theConservative Party will winby a majority on 7th May.David Cameron has

also gone on to state thepotentiality of the HomeSecretary, Theresa May,Treasury Chief, GeorgeOsborne and LondonMayor, Boris Johnson ofbecoming the possible suc-cessors.

No third term for Cameron

The Labour Party havemade a surprise gain offour points in the polls.However, it is believedthat the Conservativesare firm favourites to getthe most seats, accordingto betting shop,Ladbrokes, who furtherstated of the odds of ½ asthe campaigns com-mence.On the other hand,

Labour's odds have less-ened from 7/4 to 13/8,while UKIP gets 100/1.Liberal Democrats andThe Green Party endurethe discourtesy of odds of500/1.If we go by what the

bookies predict, it mayjust be another hung par-liament; the odds of nooverall majority are at apaltry 1/5.

The odds also sup-ports a Labour minoritygovernment at 2/1, with aConservative proportion-ate at 5/2. It has beenclaimed that gamblers areexpected to propel £100million on the elections.Ladbrokes further addedthat the election is aboutto become the biggestnon-sporting event in his-tory.

Pregnant women andmothers dealing withdepression would be givenspecialist treatment in 40new community outreachcentres, under plans to beincluded in the LiberalDemocrat manifesto.Nick Clegg declared

that the party would bededicated to spending£3.5 billion more, over thenext parliament on mentalhealth care in England.This includes £250 millionfor eight new mother andbaby units, accommodat-ing inpatient care for preg-nant women and new

mothers, as well as 40 newcommunity services help-ing them adjust to life athome with their baby.The Lib-Dems would

also propose the first wait-ing time standards forpeople suffering frommental health conditions.

The waiting time standardfrom referral would be nomore than six weeks foranxiety or depressiontherapy and a two-weekwaiting time standard forall young people who areexperiencing a firstepisode of psychosis.While launching this

manifesto, Nick Cleggstated that many wererefused “happy, fulfillinglives because of mentalhealth. “One in four of uswill experience mentalhealth problems. And yetfor decades health servic-es have been neglected.”

Clegg promises improvements tomental health care

For his pledge for the 2015election, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron has prom-ised to make NHS accessi-ble 7 days a week by 2020.Cameron mentioned thatit has become extremelydifficult to access theNHS “out of hours”. Hestated, “For years it's beentoo hard to access theNHS out of hours. But ill-ness doesn't respect work-ing hours. Heart attacks,major accidents, babies-these things don't justcome from nine to five."David Cameron would

also want GPs to be openfor up to 12 hours everyday to alleviate the burdenon hospitals and also giv-ing access to working peo-ple to a doctor at theweekends. He furtherstressed, "Already millionsmore people can see a GPseven days a week but by2020 I want this for every-

one, with hospitals prop-erly staffed especially forurgent and emergencycare, so that everyone willhave access to the NHSservices they need sevendays a week by 2020- thefirst country in the worldto make this happen."In response to the

Prime Minister's pledge,the BMA (British MedicalAssociation) conferredthat, “patients shouldhave access to the samehigh quality of care, sevendays a week. Doctorsacross the country alreadylead the delivery of thiscare in our GP surgeriesand hospitals.”However, they also

believed that these werepromises made which willnot be fulfilled, as thereare no resourceful planswhich would help theNHS and its staff mem-bers. “Without a detailed,

fully-costed plan to pro-vide the staff andresources needed to deliv-er more seven-day servic-es, this is at best an emptypledge and at worstshameless political gameplaying with the NHSahead of the election...Rather than electioneeringand political game playingwith the NHS, we need anopen and honest publicdebate on seven-day serv-ices and what the NHScan deliver in the face of a£30bn funding gap.”

Cameron Pledges 'Seven Day NHS' by 2020

Tories are favourites among bookies

Students becoming sex workers forbills and curiosity

A new research conductedby Swansea University hasrevealed that one in 20 stu-dents are turning to the sextrade to pay for theirUniversity and basic livingcost- that is more than100,000 students across thecountry. These jobs includeprostitution, exotic dancingand stripping. The researchalso suggests that men aremore likely to do so thanwomen.Researchers have called

on to universities to provide

more support for the stu-dents who are involved inthe trade.The study involved

6,750 students. 5% of menand 3.5% of womenrevealed that they hadworked in the sex industry,while approximately 22%overall said they had con-sidered doing so. Around2/3 involved stated thattheir motivation to get intothis trade was to fund a par-ticular lifestyle. 56% said itwas to pay basic living

costs, while the remaining2/5 wanted to reduce theirdebts at the end of theircourse. However, what maycome across as shocking isthat 3/5 thought theywould enjoy it; 54% men-tioned that they were curi-ous and 44% pointed outsexual pleasure as theirmotivation. Significantly,up to a quarter stated thatthey had found it difficult toleave the sex trade, while afurther quarter did not feelsafe doing sex work.

The Labour leader, EdMiliband has been toldthat his efforts to cut pub-lic spending and clear thedeficit will be underminedby his own members ofparliament after the gener-al election. He was toldthat around “30 to 40 leftMPs” were preparing todispute any attempt tomake cuts.It is proposed that the

threat from the leader ofthe Socialist Campaign

Group, John McDonnell,raises the likelihood thatleft-wing Labour MPs willcollaborate with ScottishNationalists to challengethe first budget of aLabour government.However, David

Cameron and GeorgeOsborne are seeking tofocus on the economy,pledging that two millionjobs would be createdunder a Conservative gov-ernment in the next elec-

tion. Cameron states, “Wewill be fighting for everyman and woman whowants to work and earn awage.”

Miliband receives threats of revolt over cuts

Horrifying footage of aSikh man being batteredin a conjectured race hateattack has been seized bythe police, after it wasuploaded onto the inter-net.In the footage, the vic-

tim is seen desperatelytrying to cover his face, as

an attacker punches andkicks him during a brutalattack in Birmingham.The video also shows

a crowd gathered aroundthe victim, however, noone attempts to him hi. Inthe video a crowd is gath-ered around the man, butno-one tries to help him.

Sikh man attacked while crowd watches

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 20156 UK

Last week the bells ofLondon Stock Exchangerang at their normal timeto open trading but theperson ringing them wasa ten-year old childnamed Nia Addo-Quentyne. Nia helpedlaunch a new programmethat will teach children ofall ages financial literacy,enterprise and socialskills. She was joined by

Nadhim Zahawi MP, rep-resentatives from thefinancial sector, entrepre-neurs and education pro-fessionals as well as offi-cials from the DutchEmbassy.The programme,

which shows the combi-nation of social andfinancial education as thebasis for a child’s suc-cessful future, is beingbrought to the UK byAflatoun and UK part-ners Empowering Kids &Youth (EKY) with sup-port from UniversityCollege London (UCL).It sees the worldwidescheme come togetherfor the first time.Aflatoun is a globalorganisation that cur-rently works in over 100countries. It was foundedin Amsterdam in 2005.S e r i a l

entrepreneur NadhimZahawi MP said at thelaunch, “I rememberwhen I was at school wehad ‘Young Enterprise’and I think that’s where Igot the flavour for start-ing a business.“It is a brilliant thing

that Aflatoun and all ofthe partner organisationsdo to make childrenthink about becomingentrepreneurs, thinkabout numeracy, thinkabout what it means toset up a business andwhat it means to make aprofit at the end of theday, especially at such ayoung age. I wish you allthe best of luck and hopeto come back one daywhen you [Nia and herclassmates] are floatingyour own business here.”Nia helped launch the

programme at theLondon Stock Exchangetoday after winning aschool competition inwhich she had to submita business proposal. Herwinning idea, a companythat makes children’s t-shirts with motivationalslogans, will soon be areal business trading inher primary school.As part of the pro-

gramme, the first com-munity project will belaunched at Waltertonand Elgin CommunityHomes community cen-

tre in Westminster, with afurther six schools andcolleges receiving train-ing in the programme bythe summer.

Diana Toleikyte,Aflatoun DeputyE x e c u t i v eDirector, helped Nia ringthe bell and said: “Theopening of the market atthe London StockExchange is the perfectplace to launch a pro-gramme about financialeducation in young peo-ple as it is the hub of theglobal financial world.”She also said that the

organisation has alreadyhelped around three mil-lion children each yearand have seen over £11mtotal savings banked byChildren.“We believe that a

child’s financial educa-tion needs to start longbefore secondary school.Ours and others studieshave proven that the ear-lier a child begins tolearn about finance themore successful theirapproach to finances willbe in later life - the basisfor social and financialbehaviour is formed byapprox. 13 years of age.We can’t wait to see whatresults we can achievewith our UK partners,”she added.It is an extremely

unique project and onethat Aflatoun specialisedin. One can see that thecompany has a very dif-ferent way to doingthings and this isextremely impressiveespecially as they areready to launch new proj-ects to empower chil-dren.

The company hasbeen working since 2005with children betweenaged 3 to 18 years old. Itwas founded by socialentrepreneur JerooBillimoria and believesthat equipping childrenwith social entrepreneurskills will help eradicatesome of the UK’s mostprevalent problems – lowconfidence, poor socialand emotional skills,youth offending, troubledfamilies and social mobil-ity.The company has

already achieved quite alot since 2005 and has avery hardworking teambehind these innovativeprojects. So far theAflatoun programme hasdelivered over £11 mil-lion total savings bankedby children. It currentlyruns in 100 countries andhas works with over 3million children a year ininculcating finance andenterprise knowledge tothem. However, the most

interest of them all is thefact that the companyhas 19.494 financialenterprises that wasstarted by childrenworldwide. It also has13,704 social enterprisesstarted by children andAflatoun encouragesmore and more childrento come up with theirown ideas – now that’scalled empowering chil-dren.Empowering Kids &

Youth (EKY) is expectedto grow the Aflatoun pro-gramme in the UK to giveBritish children andyoung people the beststart in life.

Let us know what you think. Email Spriha at aveditorial@abplgroup.com

Ringing in children’s empowermentSpriha Srivastava

By Rani Singh

On Tuesday 24th Marchthe Indian HighCommissioner, H.E. MrRanjan Mathai invitedyoga exponents to IndiaHouse in order to discussplans for the first UnitedNations International YogaDay on June 21st 2015. Itwill be celebrated in Indiaand round the world. Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi suggestedthe concept of the day tothe United Nations and itwas endorsed by anunprecedented 177nations. Mr Mathai spoke about

a flagship event that willtake place at Raj Ghat inDelhi, memorial toMahatma Gandhi, in themorning. He said thatevents in the UK couldstart (as is common withyoga) in the morning. Hesaid that there will be alogo to go with the event,and that an instructionalDVD will be circu-lated. The HighCommission willcirculate a videomessage from PMModi. There willbe a special edi-tion of the freeg o v e r n m e n tnewsletter IndiaDigest.The High

Commissioner mentioned

that the All PartyParliamentary Group onTraditional Sciences wasgoing to host an event atParliament.

Baroness SandeepVerma and Lord NasirAhmed were present,along with DHC DrVirander Paul, MinisterPress and Information andHead of Chancery, MrPrashant Pise (presiding),Minister Mr Sidhu andFirst Secretary Mr PritamLal. Dr Nanda Kumara,the Bhavan’s Executive

Director, waspart of the pro-ceedings. There is going

to a large freeyoga show atA l e x a n d e rPalace, and theShivananda YogaGroup is con-

ducting a yoga themed rideon the Thames River, trav-elling from Putney to

Docklands. There will alsobe a giant yoga class inParliament Square. The High

Commissioner extended arequest to the public toprovide it with a list of asmany related events aspossible that can bearranged around the coun-try. He said that there willbe an international linkingof all yoga events world-wide on the day. Thereshould be a good response,since 200 million practiseyoga round the world. Baroness Verma said

that daily yoga practisehad reduced her husband’sdiabetes and cholesteroland said she planned tohave Victoria Park inLeicester used for the day.

Sister Jaymini of theUK’s Brahma Kumaris istaking a lead role in theorganisation of the day asthe BKs have consultativestatus with the UN.

Asian Voice attends Yoga Day Launchat the Indian High Commission

Indian PMModi

suggestedthe conceptof the day tothe United

Nations

Baroness Sandeep VermaSister Jaymini of Brahma

KumarisHigh Commissioner HE Mr

Ranjan Mathai

Members of the audience

Ten-year-old Nia is joined by Nadhim Zahawi MP andinternational NGO Aflatoun to launch a campaign for

social and financial education

King Richard's tomb revealed tothe public

The sealed tomb of KingRichard III has beenunveiled in LeicesterCathedral. The king's cof-fin was lowered into avault below the cathedralfloor during a reinter-ment service lastThursday. The two-tonne block

of pale Swaledale fossillimestone bears a deeplyincised cross, while thedarker plinth has hisname, dates, motto andcoat of arms. About 35,000 people

saw a procession onSunday which took theremains to parts of thecounty associated withRichard's last days, andmore than 20,000 peoplequeued to see the coffinin the cathedral.The tomb plinth bears

the king's motto "Loyaltybinds me"The service contained

traditional hymns andprayers and also a danceperformance from the

nearby Curve theatre.Phil Stone, chair of

the Richard III Society,said: "The tomb is some-thing else. I had beenworried about the design- the depth of the crossincised within it. Butwhen you look at it, thestone is very special. Ithink for a medieval kingreburied in the 21stCentury, it's a fittingplace."The Lord-Lieutenant

of Leicestershire, LadyJennifer Gretton, said:"We have had three won-derful services and to endon a service like that isfantastic. This was moreof a celebration and every

service has caught thespirit that we needed atthat time."The redesigning of the

cathedral's interior, alongwith the various events,were budgeted at £2.5m,with fundraising continu-ing.

Tim Stevens, the out-going Bishop of Leicester,said: "It has been a won-derful week for LeicesterCathedral but moreimportantly it has been awonderful week for thecity and county. I feel likewe have been touched byGod and I hope andbelieve the area will makethe most of the opportu-nity."

UKwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 7

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 20158 UK

Last Saturday wasunusually busy. In a cof-fee shop in the SouthBank I had someexchange of views withsome British journalists.The attack from theSunni dominated coun-tries on the Shia sup-ported Huthi rebels inYemen was the mainconcern.

These journalists,none of them Muslim,are, like every other com-passionate person, weredeeply worried about thedeath, destruction andmore permanent dividebetween the Shias andSunnis. This regionalwarfare is more likely tospread in other countriescausing more agony andpain.

At one stage a jour-nalist asked me what washappening within theHindu community, bothin Britain and abroadespecially in India inview of several gods andgoddesses in the Hindufaith. The average under-standing of the intrica-cies of the Hindu philos-ophy, rituals and how theadherents follow thefaith in their day to daylife is surely confusingfor most non hindus. Iam not a religious schol-ar and my knowledge ofmy own faith is very lim-ited indeed.

I told these journal-ists that befitting one ofthe oldest, if not the old-est, continuous faith tra-dition, Hinduism hasevolved over a long time.For a very long timethere is no internal vio-lence within the variousHindu sects and thecredit goes to the teach-ings and the cardinalmessage of the SanatanDharma (universal faith)what is commonlyknown as Hinduism.

I told these friendsthat I was attending animportant gathering ofHindus at the NeasdenSwaminarayan Templethat evening to celebratethe birthday of LordRama as well as that ofthe founder of theSwaminarayan move-ment (please see reportpage 14).

I also referred tosome simple but pro-found important quotesfrom the Hindu scrip-tures: ‘Ekam Sat ViprahBahuda Vadanti’. Thesefive words from AdhyaSankaracharya simplymean ‘Truth is one, wiseman and sages call it byvarious names’.

There are a numberof sects in Hinduism andthere has never been areligious conflictamongst them. This mostsecular (plural) outlookforms the very core ofHindu thinking. Withsuch religious upbring-

ing and extreme toler-ance, even agnostics andatheists have beenaccepted into the Hindufold. Hindus, thus, cannever be fundamental-ists.

The second quote Iused was: ‘SarveBhavantu Sukhinah,Sarve Santu Niramayah,Sarve BhadraniPashyantu, Ma Kashci-Duhkha-Bhag-Bhavet’.Simply put: ‘let all behappy, let all be healthy,let all be free from afflic-tions and achieve allround welfare and neverexperience sorrow’. Suchvalues imbibe the great-ness and glory of theHindu thought.

India, a country of1.25 billion, includessome 170 millionMuslims and 20% ofthem are Shiates and theothers are Sunnis. Myjournalist friends won-dered how the Shias andSunnis coexisted sopeacefully in Indiawhereas in neighbouringPakistan the story ismuch more tragic andbecoming more so day byday.

As a Hindu, I canonly assume that IndianMuslims, not only havetheir roots in Hinduismbut over such a longperiod they haveobserved and perhapsare inspired by the toler-ance amongst varioussects of Hindusim.

I genuinely believethat the IndianIndependence strugglewas, by and large, basedon Gandhian principlesof non-violence. It hasingrained the importanceof non-violence andcoexistence within theminds of an averageIndian both at home inindia, as well as abroad.

I also told these jour-nalist friends thatamongst 1.5 millionBritish Indians there issubstantial number offollowers of Islam. Ibelieve that very seldomdo we hear about anIndian Muslim beinginvolved in extremism orviolence in Britain.Why? Muslims are allMuslims. Why are someMuslims more involvedin hatred and violence? Iam not qualified to com-ment more than this butthe quintessential Indianculture is surely playingsome part in this positivesituation.

My friends and Ithought how Americaand its western allies cancondone these aggres-sions by powerful Sunnistates on predominantlyShia Muslims. It is easyto start a war but theimportant problem iswhen and how it couldend. Afghanistan andIraq should have taught

us simple lessons. The morality also is

of crucial importance.The means and end havea definite relationship.We really were painedthat America and itsallies are giving logisticand other support to theaggression in the middleeast. Where it will lead?

Later on I saw theplay - Dara - at theNational Theatre inLondon. It is a captivat-ing experience.

Based in 1659Mughal India the play iscentred around the impe-rial court, a place of opu-lence and excess; music,drugs, eunuchs andharems. Two brothers,whose mother’s deathinspired the building ofthe Taj Mahal, are heirsto this Muslim empire.Now they fight fero-ciously for succession.Dara, the crown prince,has the love of the people– and of his emperorfather – but youngerbrother Aurangzeb holdsa different vision forIndia’s future. Islaminspires poetry withinDara whilst puritanicalrigour rules inAurangzeb. CanJahanara, their belovedsister, assuageAurangzeb’s resolve toseize the PeacockThrone and purge theempire? Tanya Ronder’sadaptation of ShahidNadeem’s Dara spansthe princes’ lives fromcradle to grave. Anintense domestic dramaof global consequence –for India then and forour world now. (Seepage 14 for a full review.)

It is deeply worryingto look back at the histo-ry of the Mughal empireas well as the MuslimSultans in Delhi wheresiblings not only quarrelfor power but tortureand kill their own broth-ers or sisters and eventheir fathers. This playwas written by aPakistani Muslim andwas originally performedby the Ajoka Theatre inPakistan. I wonder whatlessons or messages theaudience there or else-where received out ofthis historical fact.

Later on after twosuch sessions of painfulreminiscencing I spentsome three hours at theSwaminarayan Temple inNeasden (see page 14 forfull report). I did my dar-shan, met some sadhus,watched some inspiringchildrens programme,listened to beautiful bha-jans and coming back bypublic transport nearerto midnight I really feltrelieved that I belong toa faith tradition which isso inclusive, so peacefuland so much to be proudof.

As I See ItHow and why we behave so

differently!

Lycamobile and Chance toShine Street collaboratedon 25th March 2015, atthe Kia Oval. They cametogether to aid some of themost underprivileged chil-dren off the streets andinto playing cricket. Thelaunch was hosted by theBBC sports presenter,Manish Bhasin.

The Chance to ShineStreet Awards' headlinesponsor is Lycamobile.The award rewards andrecognises players andcoaches involved in theprogramme. This innova-tive initiative was launchin 2008 in order to bringcricket to young people inurban areas, where thereare few green spaces andfewer traditional cricketclubs. The charity alsouses the game to promotesocial adherence, as wellas connect young peoplefrom diverse backgroundsin varied communities.

Youth projects are cur-

rently taking place nation-ally in Birmingham,London, Bristol,Dewsbury, Leicester, Hull,Manchester andLiverpool. The charityrecognises towns andcities that are absent ofcricket provision, as wellas areas within them thatare socially destitute, orhad high levels of crimesand anti-social behaviour.

The England andEssex all-rounder, RaviBopara was also at thelaunch at the Kia Oval. Atthe event, Bopara spokeabout the impact Chanceto Shine can have for chil-dren willing to learn crick-et. “Chance to ShineStreet can help massivelyby giving kids access tosomewhere to play cricket.They just want a place toplay cricket, they don’tcare how it’s done andsometimes those kidsdon’t have the opportunityin inner-cities. Tape-ball

cricket is so simple: get atennis ball, tape it up, let’splay cricket. It speeds upthe game, it’s exciting andI used to love it as a kid.”

Bopara further backedthe initiative byLycamobile for backingthe street cricket pro-gramme. “It’s brilliantfrom Lycamobile to backthe street programme, it’svery kind and I’m surethey’ll benefit from thepartnership.”

Ravi Bopara and participants at the Lycamobile and Chance to Shine Street PartnershipLaunch

Manish Bhasin

Lycamobile and Chance To ShineStreet Collaborate

By Rani Singh

On Tuesday 24th Marchformer Indian ForeignSecretary was chief guestat a seminar titled “TheRadicalisation of Youth inthe UK & Beyond: Causesand Effects” in the Houseof Commons.

The seminar wasorganised by TheDemocracy Forum and theCentre for the Response toRadicalisation andTerrorism at the HenryJackson Society.

Sir Peter Luff, chair ofthe Democracy Forum,opened proceedings beforeSecretary Sibal spoke on“Liberal Life, violent ide-ologies: the anomalies ofEurope’s youth beingattracted to extremistdogma.”

Mr Sibal said that theway in which some UKyoung people have beenattracted to extremism

“Baffles an outsider whenthe ideology is anti-mod-ern, anti-progress andanti-women. The ideologyis backward, and does notoffer any vision for socie-ty.”

He mentioned that thebasis for the ideology isSalafi or Wahabi and theIslamist view is thatdemocracy is responsiblefor all ills in the 21st cen-tury. He said that youngMuslims join because theyfeel part of an online com-munity, and that most thatjoin up were and are notliving in their countries ofbirth so there is an ele-ment of displacement. MrSibal pointed out thatIraqis and Palestinianswere not so common inISIS and that there wereonly 18 cases of Indiansjoining the group.

Mr Sibal added thatSaudi Arabia is being tar-geted by the Islamic State

not for religious but forpolitical reasons.

Haras Rafiq, managingdirector of the QuilliamFoundation followed witha talk titled “PreventStrategy & the commonpathways to Islamist radi-calisation: the importanceof challenging Islamistideas of nonviolentextremism & promotingthe values of our LiberalSecular Democracy.” Hesaid that radicalisationcan occur within one anda half weeks but more gen-erally three and a halfmonths or years.

Rupert Sutton of theHenry Jackson Societyspoke on “CampusExtremism: speakers,material and the problemsfaced by students trying tochallenge this.”

In the audience wereSir Mota Singh, IndianDHC Dr Virander Paul,and Lord Nasir Ahmed.

Seminar on Radicalisation of UK Youth

L to R: Haras Rafiq, Managing Director of the Quilliam Foundation; AmbassadorAmbassador Kanwal Sibal; Sir Peter Luff MP; Rupert Sutton of the Henry Jackson Society

UKwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 9

Shuchita Sonalika is theDirector and Head of theConfederation of IndianIndustry UK. For thisweek only, we havechanged our normal for-mat to a Q and A withShuchita. AV: What ambitions didyou have when you didyour first degree, whatarea did you feel youwould go into? SS: “While doing my firstdegree in internationalbusiness at the SmithSchool of Business atUniversity of Maryland, Iwas drawn to the culturalaspects of internationalmarketing and brandingstrategies since I’vealways been a rather cre-ative person. I then pur-sued a Masters’ in PublicPolicy and quickly realizedthe limitless potential ofleveraging internationalbusiness to fuel socio-eco-nomic development. Ofcourse, at the time, I was-n’t too sure of where thesepaths would lead. Andsomehow, when I startedmy career at in theInternational Division ofthe Confederation ofIndian Industry, business,

policy and creativity cametogether!” AV: What do you find rethe US business worldand India? What areas didyou go into in your workin Washington? SS: “Business tiesbetween US and Indiahave been at the core of

the larger bilateral rela-tionship. While issuesremain to be resolved,two-way trade hastouched $100 billion, USinvestments in India havegrown at a consistent paceand India has emergedamong the fastest growinginvestors in the US econo-

my. CII’s work at the USoffice has been very multi-faceted, ranging from col-laborations in agricultureto defence, green-buildinfrastructure to financ-ing, and business ethics towomen’s empowerment.” AV: What do you intendto address re your CIIwork in London? SS: “I’m currently review-ing our strategy of engage-ment for CII’s work in thewhole of United Kingdom,not just in London. Andactually, that’s exactly thepoint. Indian companies have

quite a strong presence inand around London – andwe will continue to focusour attention in this finan-cial megahub and the mul-ticultural business hotpot– but we will simultane-ously work on a sub-national engagementstrategy, helping Indiancompanies explore allregions of England, as wellas Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland. We’relaunching an initiativecalled “RoadtripUK”where we will travel withCII’s India BusinessForum members aroundUK and interact with thebusiness and academiccommunity to build col-laborative partnerships.Similarly, since CII

works very closely at theState-level in India, wewill assist State govern-ments and their businessdelegations make businessconnections here andexplore the larger UK hin-

terland. Our approach will be

to focus on sectors of highpotential. We already playa strong role leading aworking group onAdvanced Manufacturingand Technology underthe aegis of the officialIndia-UK Joint Economicand Trade Committee dia-logue. We will furtherbuild linkages in otheropportunities such asfinancial services, smartcities, infrastructure, andskills development. Inaddition, we will also startto look at emerging sec-tors of collaboration likethe creative industries,sports, water etc.

Strategically, we willalso look at the India-UKrelationship in the contextof the Commonwealth andhow we can have animpact there. The largerIndia-EU relationship isalso very important tobusinesses in UK, so thatwould be another strandof our work.” AV: What changes andimportance can CII makeand have in the India-UKeconomic landscape? SS: “CII represents thepower of Indian business.

We have membership ofthe largest corporates thatfuel India Inc. and driveits nearly $2 trillion econ-omy. At the same time, wealso represent the smallerand mid-scale companiesthat are increasinglybecoming more global intheir outlook. We can help these compa-nies drive up their globalcompetitiveness, strategi-cally look at internationalmarkets, export to UK,invest in UK, while main-taining world-class quali-ty. We need to build inter-national linkages with UKinstitutions that can helpin delivering such capacitybuilding and training. In India, we have the

largest network with gov-ernment bodies and localbusinesses through our 65offices and Centres ofExcellence around thecountry. Because we know

India well, we can alsohelp British companieslook at investment oppor-tunities in India.” AV: What are you doing,if you’re not working?SS: “You would probablycatch me with my vintagecamera looking for thehighest vantage point toget a good shot of London,or hunting for the bestveggie fare in the city! Ialso love traveling -exploring the expanse ofthe world’s nationalforests and sandy beachesby the warm ocean - soevery chance I will get, Iwill escape to the tropics!”

Leading LightsRani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

The New CII UK Director, Shuchita Sonalika, Making Waves

“I’m currentlyreviewing ourstrategy of

engagement for CII’s work in thewhole of United

Kingdom, not just inLondon.”

There has been an uproardue to Jeremy Clarksonbeing shown the door bythe BBC. And what for?For punching his produceron set of Top Gear overcatering arrangements.Jeremy Clarkson has

an avid fan following whocannot associate the showwithout him. There havebeen many demands byangry fans who will nottake no for an answer anddemand for Top Gear toresume with Clarkson.

Tony Hall, the BBC'sDirector- General hasbeen receiving deaththreats from many TopGear and Clarkson fans,so much so that he had toseek protection frombodyguards and alertedthe police.Agreed that Jeremy

Clarkson has been enter-

taining us all for manyyears and Top Gear cannotbe thought about withoutthe thought of Clarksonspringing to mind; but doyou think it would be rightfor him to be taken backonboard? Jeremy Clarksonphysically abused a col-league; do you feel heshould be forgiven?There will be several

people who will still sidewith Clarkson's behaviour(reasons which may bebeyond us). However, tothink of it in hindsight-had this happened at yourworkplace, would theemployee who physicallyabused another colleaguein full sense be reem-ployed by the company?There is no question aboutprovocation here.Is it fair for Jeremy

Clarkson to be getting so

much adulation from thepublic even though heused violence? Why hashe been portrayed as ahero of some sort or thevictim in the whole fiasco?Does the general publicreally believe that he wasnot at fault? Or is it mere-ly the blinded fans whoadvocate in his defence?Let us know what youthink? Would you havetolerated violence at yourplace of work?

Jeremy Clarkson- a hero, a victim, ora glorified perpetrator?

The trial of an Oldhammother-of-five alleged tohave accepted more than£100,000 in benefit pay-ments, was dramaticallyhalted when she changedher plea to guilty.A jury at Manchester

Crown Court heard evi-dence that 38-year-oldNazma Hoque had wrong-ly claimed IncomeSupport and housing andcouncil tax benefits fromOldham Council for 10years. She repeatedly

claimed her husbandShafiqul had deserted her,even though he was livingat the family home inSherwood Street,Oldham.On the day her defence

case was due to begin shetold the court she waspleading guilty to twocounts of failing to declarechanges in her personalcircumstances. The jurywas formally dischargedfrom considering verdictson the three remaining

counts of making falserepresentation to obtainbenefits. She will be sen-tenced on the two countsof failing to declarechanges in her circum-stances on May 6.The jury was told

Hoque had every opportu-nity to come clean duringthe 10 years she wasclaiming, but continued toconfirm her situation wasunchanged - despite warn-ings she risked prosecu-tion by lying.

£100,000 trial mum changes plea

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201510 UK

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International Women’s DayI thought it was ironic that 1,400 womenwere celebrating International Women'sDay at Neasden Temple. Swaminarayan belief system is the

only one amongst the various belief sys-tems in India where the Swamis, thepriests, do not allow women in their pres-ence.Sometimes Neasden Temple is called

a Hindu temple. It certainly is not aHindu temple as they do not believe inthe same gods and goddesses as theHindus since their founder was theUltimate man, Purushotum.Hindus on the contrary revere women

since they are the mothers and the firstgurus of the child.

Baroness FlatherBy email

Use of language'Remember, there stands a statue ofGujarati on Parliament Square ' wroteAlpesh Patel in his regular columnPolitical Sketchbook of Asian Voice lastweek.It sounds better, mature and correct

to say it was statue of an Indian thandescribing it as Gujarati.If a similar event was organised by say

Asian Voice/Gujarat Samachar than theword Gujarati would be fine.I myself am a proud Gujarati but pre-

fer India/Indian word is used more often.

Bhupendra DattaniWatford

Antidiscrimination lawsI fully agree with Nigel Farage that thereare too many ‘irrelevant’ anti-discrimina-tion laws and some of them need to beremoved. As Farage says we should re-examine the laws.Farage was asked whether there

would be a law against discrimination onthe basis of race, or colour under UKIP,Farage said ‘No. We take the view we arecolour-blind. We, as a party, are colour-blind’. And the party is honest to acceptthis fact.Unless there is a change in the mind

set of people we not going to eliminatediscrimination on the basis of colour.Farage has not given any solution to getrid of race discrimination in employment. It is also true the race relation indus-

try has not helped much to fight againstdiscrimination in employment especiallyin the NHS who are the largest employerin public sector where 30 per cent of theemployees are blacks and asians and themajority of them are employed in lowpaid jobs. The creation of theCommission for Racial Equaliy (CRE)helped people like Trevor Philips and oth-ers in his community to get high paidjobs.I fully agree with Nigel Farage that

discrimination pertaining to religion orcountry of origin is totally irrelevant forthe employment of people.

Arun VaidyanathanBy email

Descent to destructionYet another air disaster! Germanwingsflight 4U9525 crashed during its routefrom Barcelona to Dusseldorf when itsuddenly descended on the mountains ofthe French Alps. This is the fourth suchdisaster which has happened in the lastcouple of years of aviation history.We first read about the Alps plane

crash in Asian Voice on my smart phonewhile on holidays in Sharm el Sheikh lastweek.I am glad to say that while I am away,

I do not miss my favourite Asian Voiceand Gujarat Samachar newsweeklies.I log into the ABPL website in my

Nokia’s browser and can then get up tospeed on what is happening in Englandand around the world by reading the twopapers on the ABPL website. It is a great relief and reassurance that

the e-editions of these papers are provid-ing me with the facility to read AsianVoice and Gujarat Samachar even fromabroad.In addition, now that I have regis-

tered with Gujarat Samachar, I receive abrief version of that paper emailed to meevery week as well.I wonder whether a similar facility is

available to readers of other papers. I alsowonder however that if people could readthe papers online like this then there islittle incentive to subscribe to them or topurchase them at the news agents. Having said this, I will state most cat-

egorically that there is no comparisonwith the hard copies of the actual fullsized versions.However, I must confess that I always

pre-empt the arrival of the papersthrough the post by first having a glimpseon the website a day or so before!

Dinesh ShethNewbury Park, Ilford

A fitting tribute to a greatsoul

Navin Shah, AM speaks for us allthrough his piece “Unveiling of MahatmaGandhi’s Statue in Parliament Square” inlast week’s AV. Undoubtedly Gandhi is“The Personality” of 20th Century, likesof him are born but once in our lifetime. Indian diaspora’s desire to unveil

Gandhi’s statue outside ParliamentSquare, mother of modern democracywas dream come true due to hard workand dedication on part of Lord Desaiwhose immense contribution was richlyrewarded. As usual, Gandhi has his fiduciary,

subservient distractors in our own com-munity. Then even Lord Rama, JesusChrist, Nelson Mandela and MotherTeresa were not immune to such envy.Fortunately it is no more than water onduck’s back, moment of madness that hasno relevance in ocean of hope, faith andfreedom. One name Navinbhai forgot to men-

tion is that of luminary Late KaviDayabhai Patel, who established GandhiMemorial Society and wrote poemencompassing Gandhi’s life that stretchesto several volumes. I am sure he is look-ing down on Gandhi’s statue with prideand satisfaction, his mission accom-plished in his absence!This was indeed truly momentous

occasion that will remain cherished mem-ory for millions who either attended inau-guration ceremony or watched it on TV. Ihope this will inspire our politicians tofollow into Gandhi’s footsteps to servenobly people of this country, as ossifiedpoliticians have such low esteem in peo-ple’s heart due to kidology, plutocracyand vote-bank politics.

Bhupendra M. GandhiBy email

DisclaimerAsian Business Publications Ltd(ABPL) is not in any way respon-sible for the goods and servicesrendered by its advertisers. TheABPL management accepts alladvertisements in good faith andit is entirely up to readers to verifyadvertisers’ products and services,should they feel the need to do so.

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GE2015-MathematicsI liked the above Khichadi and it's becom-ing tastier with better and better ingredi-ents! I know the Labour party doesn't care

and is indifferent towards Indian andHindus while the Conservatives want toestablish stronger economic, political andcultural ties with India. Swami's Galoreof last July showed that MPs like BobBlackman, Alok Sharma and other reli-gious leaders care for Hinduism andIndia. After Shri Narendra Modi became

Prime Minister of India William Hagueand George Osborne went to India forthe Investment in Britain seminar and inturn promised to erect a statue ofGandhiji in London’s Parliament Square. Also hitherto David Cameron, British

Prime Minister went to India a couple oftimes for business and investment oppor-tunities and recently displayed zeal andinitiative in unveiling Gandhiji's statue.He too gave the diaspora special positionof MP to Priti Patel in his cabinet. I havehigh regards for David Cameron. He is aReal Gentleman!

In consequence, now there are morechances of Indian becoming conserva-tive Mps in the ensuing May GeneralElection.In the election both Tory and Labour

parties will be nearly neck and neck andif the Indian MPs support DavidCameron, there is more chance of anoth-er Tory win. Thus Indians are holding the

balance of power. Also we have moreLords like Lord Dolarbhai Popat, LordMeghnad Desai and Lord Bhikhu Parekhin the House of Lords as well. This is the unique and valuable maths

of Kapilbhai's Khichadi. Next time may Irequest Kapil's Khichadi (Hotch Potch)with some papad, brinjal bhartu, yogurtand of course sprinkled with greenspring onion, please!!!

Upendra KapadiaBy email

NDA governmentEver since the NDA government hastaken over our country, Christians arebeing targeted and nuns are being molest-ed. The government should be aware thattoday they are ruling the country is justbecause of the minority communities(Christians and Muslims) who willinglysupported them.

Also the police in India possess vastpowers, but they are supposed to use it tohelp the public and not falsely implicateand arrest them like they did to the twoPalghar girls, Shaheen Dhada and RenuSrinivasan for posting a comment onFacebook in the wake of Bal Thackeray’sdeath in November 2012.Scrapping the draconian Section 66A

makes perfect sense. If politicians can sayand write what they want, why can’t we?

Jubel D’Cruz,Mumbai, India

India still safe for womenReferring to Jubel D’Cruz’s letter dated28/3/2015, it is evident that India wasonce a safe place for women but I do notbelieve that its not safe for them anymore as the similar situation prevails inall the other countries of the world due toabuse of individual freedom and immorallessons learnt from some uncivilised filmsetc. In the past even a slight exposure ofladies’ legs were not allowed to be filmedby the Indian film censorship board.The rate of rape crimes in India’s 1.25

billion of population is comparativelylow. Indians have a profound understand-ing about dignity and honour of a womanin the social fabric.After a fatal gang rape of ‘Nirbhaya’

in Delhi on the basis of the Justice Verma

Committee’s report made after the wideconsultation and references to laws andresearch from around the world the newstrict law about rape has already beenpassed by the Indian government whichbecame the toughest on crimes againstwomen.The repetition of the crime is now

dealt with by a different legal avenueresulting in the death penalty.Every Indian has heartfelt sympathy

on the demise of the British womanSuzette Jordan whose case has been dealtwith by the law unbiased, and all Indiansare proud and well aware of such rapecrime laws amidst fast globalisation.

RN PatelDagenham

EDUCATION/COUNCIL VOICEwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 11

According to a ScottishGovernment report pub-lished on 26th March2015, Hindus have thehighest qualifications inScotland and are mostlikely to be in full-timeeducation.The reports are from

the Analysis of EqualityResults from the 2011 cen-sus. It states, “Hinduswere most likely to beemployed in the top twooccupational groups.” Inother words, Hindus aremore likely to be man-agers, directors, seniorofficials and professional.In a statement from

Nevada, USA, thePresident of Universal

Society of Hinduism,Rajan Zed, congratulatedthe Hindu community inScotland for continuingwith the traditional valuesof stress on education,hard work, higher morals,sanctity of marriage plusmany more, amongst somany distractions.Rajan Zed also went

on to advice Hindus tostay pure, focus on innersearch, stay away fromgreed and always keepGod in your life.The report further sug-

gests that People with “noreligion” are the highest inScotland; followed by theChurch of Scotland adher-ents, Roan Catholics, reli-

gion not stated, otherChristians, Muslims,Hindus, other religions,Buddhists, Sikhs andJews.

President of UniversalSociety of Hinduism, Rajan

Zed

Hindus are the highest educatedgroup in Scotland

Sending three year oldchildren to nursery maynot make any difference totheir academic resultslater on, suggestresearchers. £800m hasbeen spent annually onfree places for three-year-olds since 1998.Researchers say the

main benefit has been tomake childcare cheaperfor families with youngchildren. The studies werecarried out by the Institutefor Fiscal Studies (IFS)and Essex and Sussex uni-versities.Since 1998 all three

and four-year-olds inEngland have been enti-tled to 12.5 free hours ofearly education a week.This has now beenexpanded to cover disad-

vantaged two-year-olds,and raised to 15 hours aweek.The hope was to

achieve a "double-divi-dend" - improving chil-dren's school readinessand their mothers'employment prospects,the researchers said.The studies show that

between 1999 and 2007,there was a 50% increasein the proportion of three-year-olds in England bene-fiting from a free nurseryplace, rising from 37% to88%.The policy lead to a 2%

increase in the proportionof mothers in paid work,the researchers found.Among those who did

not also have anotherchild under the age of

three, there was a 3%increase in the numbers injobs.Although there is mod-

est evidence that freeplaces had more impact onpoorer children and thoselearning English as a sec-ond language, there is noevidence that it helpeddisadvantaged youngstersto catch up, theresearchers conclude.They also found no evi-dence of educational bene-fit at the age of seven andat 11.

Free nursery places 'make noacademic difference'

Following the resignationof ConservativeCouncillor Mark Reen, aby-election has been calledfor Northfield ward, Ealingon Thursday, 7 May.The by-election will be

held on the same day asthe parliamentary electionalso taking place. Votersliving within the ward willbe given two polling cards– one for the parliamentaryelection and one to elect athird councillor to repre-sent them on Ealing

Council.People wishing to

stand for election will needto declare their candidacyby 4pm on Thursday, 9April. A Notice of Electionhas been posted outsideEaling Town Hall and onthe council’s websitehttp://www.ealing.gov.uk/downloads/download/3585/notice_of_by-election-northfield_wardResidents have until

Monday, 20 April to regis-ter their details in time to

vote.Until recently, every

household was asked toregister to vote on oneform with one adult takingresponsibility for returninginformation for all the eli-gible people at oneaddress.To find out more about

the changes go towww.gov.uk/yourvotemat-tersOr to register to vote

go to www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

By-election to be held in Northfield ward

Teachers should ignorerules on promoting "fun-damental British values", ateachers' union conferencehas heard.Such values are ill-

defined and vulnerable tomisinterpretation, arguedSouthend head teacher,Robin Bevan.The Association of

Teachers and Lecturers(ATL) voted to monitorthe policing of the require-ment, introduced inEngland by the govern-ment last year.

Mr Bevan said he hadconcerns about how thevalues "might be interpret-ed by a future right-winggovernment"."When it comes to the

new requirement of pro-moting fundamentalBritish values, includingthe role of law, here is onelaw that I would activelyencourage you to disen-gage from", Mr Bevan,head of Southend HighSchool for Boys, urged theunion's annual conferencein Liverpool.

The governmentbrought in the require-ment in the wake of theTrojan Horse allegations,which suggested there hadbeen attempts by groupsof hardline Muslims totake over schools inBirmingham.Earlier this month a

committee of MPs saidthat apart from one inci-dent in one school "no evi-dence of extremism or rad-icalisation was found byany of the inquiries in anyof the schools involved".

Ignore rules on promoting Britishvalues, teachers urged

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By Urja Patel

The highest distinctionevery scholar aspires toachieve, and only a fewsucceed in achieving, is apublic acknowledgementand discussion of theirintellectual achievementsby the topmost scholarsin their field.

Lord Bhikhu Parekhacquired that distinctionlast week. At a presti-gious meeting and dinnerin the Attlee Room of theHouse of Lords on 24March, a volume of 14essays written by eminentpolitical philosophersfrom all over the worldwas presented to him.The elegant volume ofnearly 400 pages titledM u l t i c u l t u r a l i s mRethought is edited by DrVarun Uberoi andProfessor Tariq Modoodand published byEdinburgh UniversityPress. The essays in it dis-cuss Parekh’s life andwork and salute his con-tribution as a politicalphilosopher and publicintellectual.

As usual on suchoccasions, the eveningbegan with a panel dis-cussion of the book. Itwas chaired by LordGiddens, one of Britain’smost distinguished soci-ologists and ex-Directorof the London School ofEconomics. The panel-lists included BaronessOnora O’Neill, Chair ofthe Equality and HumanRights Commission andpast president of theBritish Academy,Professor John Dunn, aninternationally celebratedProfessor of political phi-losophy in the Universityof Cambridge, andProfessor Michael Kennyof the Queen MaryCollege of the Universityof London whose workon cultural diversity iswidely acclaimed. Each of

them highlighted differ-ent aspects of Parekh’swork, showing why itdeserves to be honouredas well as where it neededto be taken further.

The dinner that fol-lowed included not onlyeminent political philoso-phers but also LordMorgan, Lord Grocott,Lady Gavron, BaronessRoyall, Lord RaymondPlant and Lord Noon.

In his speechProfessor Parekh saidthat he would not claimthat he deserved the hon-our, as that would be botharrogant and wrong, orthat he did not deserve, itas that would questionthe judgement and wis-dom of those who hadedited and written for thevolume. All he could dowas to accept the honourwith humility and deepestgratitude.

He began by express-ing his profound grati-tude to Dr Uberoi andProfessor Modood forinitiating the volume andseeing it through its vari-ous stages. They, espe-cially Uberoi, had donefar more than could beexpected of any editor.He also thanked thosewho had written for thevolume, and many otherswho had shaped andguided his intellectuallife. He particularlythanked those who hadcritically commented onhis work over the yearsand contributed to hisintellectual growth, In theIndian tradition, he said,one owed a great debt toone’s critics for forcingone to define one’s viewsclearly and testing one’scommitment to them.

A debt of gratitudewas owed also to one’senemies, for precisely thesame reasons, who there-fore at the deepest levelwere no longer seen asenemies. His life, he said,had been a struggle,

beginning in a smallIndian village with apoorly equipped schooland a family in which noone had completed highSchool education. He hadlearnt important lesson,which he shared with theaudience, and warnedagainst equating careerwith life. He narrated hisassociations with greatBritish intellectuals. Inparticular he rememberedSir Isaiah Berlin whosaid to Parekh after hisreturn from India that hewas struck by the factthat no two Indian faceslooked alike and thatsome such as Nehru’shad Roman features.

In his reply LordRaymond Plant, an inter-nationally acclaimedProfessor of Philosophyand Jurisprudence atKings College, Londonwho had done his doctor-al research underParekh’s supervision,saluted him as a scholar, ateacher and a fine humanbeing. Parekh, he said,had a wonderfully acutemind and great humanwarmth and had shapedhis capacity for analyticaland critical thinking.

Lord Parekh is theonly Indian politicalphilosopher and one ofthe very few Indian aca-demics to receive such aremarkable distinction.Professor Modood, a dis-tinguished professor ofsociology at BristolUniversity and interna-tionally recognised for hisgreat contribution to thestudy of ethnicity andreligion, explained whyhe and Uberoi hadplanned the volume.Parekh was a remarkablepolitical philosopher whohad published majorbooks on several greatphilosophers and con-cepts and contributedgreatly to political philos-ophy including a theoryof multiculturalism.Parekh was also an excel-lent example of publicservice and intellectualpublic engagement. Hehad been a member ofseveral government andnon-government commis-sion and influenced theideas of ordinary citizens,policy makers and intel-lectuals. He had been aguide and inspiration tomany, which is why somany eminent scholarsfrom different parts of theworld had so readilyagreed to contribute tothe volume.

A Rare Honour for Lord Parekh

Continued from page 1

The Former Mayor ofLondon Borough ofLambeth Dr Neeraj Patilmet the Hon PrimeMinister on 24th March2015 and extended theinvitation on behalf of theBritish Indian communityto unveil the statue duringhis next visit to London.

The Hon Prime minis-ter expressed his specialtributes to the 12th centu-ry philosopher and said heis a great admirer ofBasaveshwara and histeachings. He thanked theBritish Indian communityfor their efforts to get theplanning approval for theBasaveshwara statue inthe backdrop of Big Benbell and BritishParliament.

The Hon PrimeMinister of India SriNarendra Modi wasrequested to unveil thestatue during his next visitto London, which isexpected to happen inJune/July 2015 after theBritish General electionsin May 2015.

Basaveshwara, 1134-1168 was a 12th centuryIndian Philosopher, socialreformer, and statesmenwho attempted to create acasteless society andfought against caste andreligious discrimination.

In an attempt to createa casteless society anderadicate caste discrimina-tion and untouchability he

solicited the marriage ofan upper caste bride witha lower caste bridegroom.He paid a heavy price forthis. He created a modelParliament called as“Anubhava Mantap” thathad equal proportion ofmen and women, peoplefrom all socio-economicbackgrounds and encour-aged people to debate anddiscuss on various issues.

The Government ofIndia recognizedBasaveshwara as one ofthe pioneer of democracyand a statue to mark of hiscommemoration wasinstalled in the IndianParliament in 2002, dur-ing the period of tenure ofPrime Minister Sri AtalBehari Vajpayee.

The Government ofIndia has also released acoin and a postal stamp asa mark of respect forBasaveshwara and hiscontribution to Indiansociety. A deputation toerect the statue was heardby the full council on 19thJan 2010 by LambethAsian community andsubsequently approved bythe planning departmentof the The LondonBorough of Lambeth on4th April 2012.

As per the Statue’s actof 1854 of UnitedKingdom an approvalfrom the Cabinet Ministerfor culture is mandatory.

Considering the con-ceptual relationshipbetween United Kingdom

and Basaveshwara theBritish Cabinet Ministerfor Culture Jon Penroseapproved the planningapplication to install thestatue of Basaveshwaraalong the bank of RiverThames on 3rd July 2012.

Basaveshwara shares aconceptual relationshipwith Britain because hepreached British values ofDemocracy, freedom ofspeech, equality of oppor-tunity and tolerance wayback in the 12th centuryand the Speaker of BritishParliament Hon JohnBercow paid tribute toBasaveshwara in theBritish Parliament andsaid,

Its amazing andextraordinary thatBasaveshwara professed,campaigned and advocat-ed genuine democracy,human rights, genderequality way back in the11th century even beforeanyone in UnitedKingdom had eventhought about it. (Rt HonJohn Bercow onBasaveshwara, 21st of Jan2013.)

Basaveswara’s statuewill be the second Indianstatue approved on thebasis of conceptual rela-tionship to Britain afterBuddha. The other Indianleaders statues that havebeen approved andinstalled in London arethat of Mahatma Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru andRabindranath Tagore.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invitedto unveil Basaveshwara Statue in London

Vatayan: Poetry on SouthBank organised a specialevent to commemorateShaheed Bhagat Singh atKeats House inHampstead.

The established author,Reginald Massey's newbook, Shaheed BhagatSingh and the forgottenIndian martyrs, wasreleased by Mrs VirendraSandhu (niece of BhagatSingh), Mrs Vibha

Mehdiretta, SecondSecretary (Culture), HighCommission of India(Deputy Director, TheNehru Centre, London)and Professor Lord Desaiof St Clement Danes (wellknown economist, Labourpolitician and a celebratedauthor), who also chairedthe event.

Welcoming the guests,Divya Mathur, founder ofVatayan, briefed the audi-

ence about Vatayan's activ-ities and dedicated thiseventto veteran journalistthe Late Joe Nathan,Editor of Confluence, forhis abiding commitment,determination and selflessservice. Lalit Mohan Joshi,Director, South AsianCinema Foundation,briefly but effectively intro-duced Reginald Masseyand his new book.

Mrs Virendra Sandhu,

Vatayan commemorates ShaheedBhagat Singh at Keats House

who is a renowned authorof an authentic biographyof her uncle Bhagat Singhand his ancestors, over-whelmed the audiencewith several anecdotes ofBhagat Singh and hisamily. Prof Lord Desaispoke briefly on the bookand congratulatedReginald Massey for thetimely and informativebook on Shaheed Singh.

The second sessionwas presented consider-able flair and panache by

Chaand Chazelle, film-maker, actor and author. Itconsisted of poems com-memorating Indian mar-tyrs (in English, Hindi,Punjabi and Urdu) by wellknown poets - IndiaRussell, Chaman LalChaman, DianaMavroleon, Dr HilalFareed, Sathi Ludhianvi,Ila Kumar Ayub Aulia andJai Verma. A soulful musi-cal rendition of RamPrasad Bismil’s famouspatriotic poem, Sarfaroshi

ki tamanna abhamarey dilmei hai, by young andupcoming singer, UttaraSukanya Joshi, was a highpoint of the evening and sowas the recitation by the 8-year old Neel Doherty.

In her Vote of Thanks,Dr Kusum Pant Joshi,social historian, thankedthe Big Lottery Fund forpartly funding Vatayan'sactivities, participatingspeakers and poets, chiefguests and volunteers ofVatayan.

L to R: Vibha Mehdiretta, author Reginald Massey, Lord Meghnad Desai, Mrs VirendraSandhu, Divyaben Mathur and Lalit Mohan Joshi

Prime Minister Sri AtalBehari Vajpayee

Speaker of British ParliamentHon John Bercow

Cabinet MInister forCulture Jon Penrose

UKwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 13

The Supreme Court (UK)has ruled on 30th March2015 that the 27 highlysensitive letters written byPrince Charles to the gov-ernment can be published,in a potential hindrancefor the future king.The court was asked to

judge whether the UKAttorney General's officeacted unjustifiably when itrestricted their publicationback in 2012.The Guardian

Newspaper solicitedimpartation disclosure ofthe letters written to gov-ernment departmentsbetween 2004 and 2005.Clarence House, the

office of the Prince statedthat it was "disappointedthe principle of privacyhad not been upheld.”It has been debated

that the publication ofthese “black spidermemos' with the Prince's

handwriting would sabo-tage his equable politicalstatus as heir to Britain'sthrone.The Black spider

memos are a string of let-ters and memos written bythe Prince of Wales to theBritish government, min-isters and politicians.

Former AttorneyGeneral, Dominic Grievestated that any acumenPrince Charles disagreedwith the then Labour gov-ernment in 2004/2005"would be seriously dam-aging to his role as futuremonarch because if he for-feits his position of politi-cal neutrality as heir to thethrone, he cannot easilyrecover it when he isKing".The verdict from the

Supreme Court is the lat-est move in a bold 10-yearlegal battle.Previously, judges at

the Court of Appeal estab-lished that the AttorneyGeneral, on behalf of thegovernment had “no goodreason” to stop the 27 let-ters from being publicised.However, in a hindmostpursuit to prevent theirpublication, the govern-ment has turned to theSupreme Court to askthem to invert that ver-dict.

Court clears release of PrinceCharles' letters

The City HindusNetwork (“CHN”) heldits first NetworkingDinner of 2015 atBombay Palace restau-rant in the heart ofLondon’s West End onThursday, 19 March inpartnership with thecharity, Women In Need(“WIN”).The evening com-

menced with networking,with CHN members froma range of professions,including finance, law,medicine and media,mingling over refresh-ments. The event formal-ly started with a briefwelcome by CHNChairman, PrinalNathwani, whoexpressed his sinceregratitude to WIN forpartnering with CHN onthe event, to BombayPalace for its steadfastassistance in hostingCHN’s NetworkingDinners over the past fewyears and to the presentCHN members for sup-porting CHN in this wor-thy endeavour. He theninvited Leah Pattison ofWIN to provide the eageraudience with furtherinformation about thecharity’s work.Leah outlined that

WIN, a charity co-found-ed by herself, a fine artsgraduate from the UnitedKingdom, and Usha Patil,an Indian woman affect-ed by leprosy from theage of 10, currently oper-ates from Nagpur, India,and aims to aid womenwho are socially and eco-nomically disadvantaged.She explained that thesuffering experienced bythe women was the resultof ignorance, poverty, sexdiscrimination and social

conditioning, proceedingto narrate heart-wrench-ing incidents about theorganisation’s relentlessefforts over the past 14years to aid women suf-fering from the physicaland social scars of lep-rosy, rape and abuse, andconditions such asHIV/AIDS, cancer andmental illness. She alsorevealed that the NGOoffers the following at nocharge:(a) Shelter, food, clothingand all basic needs;(b) Free medical support,including consultations,diagnostic tests, surgeryand treatment;(c) Counselling andhealth education;(d) Legal aid;(e) Vocational trainingand small business loans;and/or(f) Social events organ-ised to combat isolationand to promote bettermental and physicalhealth.Leah articulated that

WIN’s plan for the futureis to become a major con-tributor towards creatingsignificant socio-eco-nomic and medicalchanges for marginalizedwomen. She concludedby showing a touchingphoto presentation,which gave attendees adeeper insight into

WIN’s commendableservice to deprivedwomen in India.The evening ended

with an exquisite vege-tarian dinner catered byBombay Palace, duringwhich attendees had theopportunity to networkfurther with representa-tives from WIN and withother guests.The feedback follow-

ing the NetworkingDinner has beenextremely positive, withmany delegates com-menting in particular onthe eye-opening andmoving presentation byLeah Pattison, as well ason CHN’s efforts inbringing such worthycauses to its members.We at CHN ardentlyendorse WIN’s noblevision of assisting andempowering discriminat-ed women through imple-menting key changes insociety and recommendthat our members usetheir best efforts towholeheartedly supportthis worthwhile charity.To find out more

about WIN, please visitw w w . w o m e n - i n -need.co.uk/, and to signup to become a memberof CHN and engage posi-tively in creating change,visit www.cityhindusnet-work.org.uk.

Networking dinner

By Dipti VyasExecutive Committee, City Hindus Network

CHN Chairman Prinal Nathwani with LeahPattison of WIN

Muslim scholar visits Leicester to address extremismA Muslim scholar has vis-ited Leicester to discussand share ideas about howto address extremism.The Grand Mufti of

Lebanon, SheikhAbdulatif Deryan, spentTuesday in the city visitingfaith leaders and membersof the community beforeheading to London for a

couple of days.The Grand Mufti is the

highest official of religiouslaw in a Sunni Muslimcountry.Mufti Deryan said:

"My visit to the UK was anopportunity to have dis-cussions about the threatof extremism in the nameof religion and the threat it

has on security, and onpeople who want to live inpeace and tranquility."My stance on this is

clear. It is forbidden to useviolence in the name ofIslam or any religionbecause religion is here forpeople, their wellbeingand prosperity."

The Labour candidate forHarrow East, UmaKumaran visitedStanmore Temple on 31stMarch 2015, along withShadow EducationSecretary, Tristram Hunt.Members and devotees

at the temple expressedtheir concerns about thegovernment's decision ofremoving Gujarati as aGCSE syllabus. The tem-ple has been active inteaching Gujarati topupils since 2006.Uma Kumaran stated,

“Language qualificationsare an important way ofhelping Harrow’s multi-ethnic community pre-

serve their culture andteach the next generationvaluable language skills.”She further added,

“Not only does it helpyoung people communi-cate with their grandpar-ents back home, it’s a ben-eficial life skill for compet-ing in a global job mar-ket.”

Above: Uma Kumaran andTristram Hunt pictured withNavin Shah, GLA Memberfor Brent and Harrow, at

Stanmore Temple

Left: Uma Kumaran andTristram Hunt speaking tomembers and devotees of

the temple

Uma Kumaran visits Stanmore Temple

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201514 UK

Anand Mela is an extrav-agant 2 day occasionwhere you and your fami-ly can shop, dance, eatand get entertained underone roof. There will bedifferent stalls, rangingfrom beauty, fashion andwedding, property andinvestment, health andwellbeing, as well as foodand drinks, plus manymore.

The Anand Melaattracts around 5000 visi-tors and is scouted as thebest choice for a familyday out. The event will beheld at Harrow LeisureCentre, ChristchurchAvenue, Harrow HA35BD on 6th & 7th June2015, from 10am to 7pm.There will be ample freeparking for visitors andeasy access for goods.The event will be coveredby the press.

St Luke's Hospice willbe the Charity Partnerwith Asian Voice for theAnand Mela; WorldRemitare the headline sponsors

for this event.WorldRemit is a lead-

ing global online moneyremittance company thatlets people send money tofriends and family livingabroad. It is a convenient,low-cost alternative totraditional money trans-fer companies that usehigh street agents andcharge unreasonable fees.

St Luke’s Hospicecares for people withincurable illnesses so thatthey can live well, knowthat their family and car-ers are supported, and

when the time comes, diewith dignity in the placeof their choice.

St Luke's offer allthere services completelyfree of charge. They relyon the generosity of thecommunity for 70% oftheir funding; the AnandMela event will be a greatopportunity to raisemoney for such a noblecause.

Whatever sales madefrom the ticket proceed-ings of the Anand Melawill go to the St Luke'sHospice.

An aspiring athlete, IdrisMansoor (40), fromDewsbury, West Yorkshireis hoping to raise funds fora noble cause by partici-pating in the 2015 LondonMarathon.

Mansoor will join sev-eral other runners on 26thApril 2015 to support thecharity Visually ImpairedChildren Taking Action(VICTA). This charitysupports blind and partial-ly-sighted children, youngpeople and their familiesacross the UK.

Idris Mansoor's roots

lie in Gujarat, India. Whenasked what prompted himto take part in themarathon, he replied, “I

love to challenge myself,push the boundaries of thehuman body and see whatit is capable of. Plus I wantto beat my last year's timeof 3 hours 52 seconds.”

Mansoor has alreadyraised his fundraising tar-get, yet he is keen to gothe extra mile. He stated,“I�'m hugely grateful toeveryone who has spon-sored me so far.”��

Anyone wishing tosupport Idris Mansoorshould visit: www.UK.vir-ginmoneygiving.com/idrismansoor

Idris Mansoor

Anand Mela - best choice for a family day outSt Luke's Hospice

Aspiring athlete raises money forthe visually impaired

Reshma Trilochun

The National Theatre atSouth Bank played hostto the magnificent play,Dara. Dara is a play hasbeen adapted by TanyaRonder from ShahidNadeem's play, which wasoriginally performed byAjoka Theatre, Pakistan.

The play takes youback to Mughal India in1659, depicting DaraShikoh's life from child-hood to death. It is a taleof two regal brothers,Prince Dara and PrinceAurangzeb, the sons ofEmperor Shah Jahan. Itdepicts the dark and grue-some animosity betweenfamily members tobecome the next emperor,to the extent of beingthirsty of your own kin'sblood.

The music used in thisplay is not merely used tofill up empty space or for

glamour purposes; it isused to bring the narra-tive forward and it helpsassert the feeling of beingin 17th century India.

Each and every personinvolved in this playdeserves a massive roundof applaud, be it the cast,the crew backstage or thedirector of the play.Evidently amazed and in

awe of the performances,the audience did not shyaway from explicitlyexpressing their content-ment with the play bythunderously applaudingduring the interval andthe ending. Each castmember gave a power-packed performance,engaging us, enthrallingus into an alien world

Dara- The Captivating Experience

Sibling rivalry: Sargon Yelda as Aurangzeb (left) and ZubinVarla as Dara (centre) Photo: Alastair Muir

which no longer seemsincongruous.

Zubin Varla playedthe powerful character ofDara, the eldest son ofEmperor Shah Jahan. Onememorable scene of hiswas the court scene andhis defence to the claimsof prosecutor Talib, por-trayed by PrasannaPuwanarajah.

Another noted ele-ment, among many wasthe chemistry betweenAurangzeb and a Hindudancing girl, Hira bai.Their love and passion forone another resonatesthroughout the auditori-um, making our hearts goout to the unrequitedlovers who were not des-tined to be one.

Another performanceworth mentioning is ofChook Sibtain, who por-trayed the imperialeunuch, Itbar. The scenewhere he meets his par-ents after several yearswill give you cold shivers,as he gives an anguish

account to how he wassold by his parents to theroyals, who then castratedhim into a eunuch. Theangered, turbulent emo-tions were excellentlyenacted by Chook Sibtain.

Time Out gave Darafour stars and reviewed itas “a magnificently ambi-tious project, beautifullyacted, and visually sump-tuous, that throws bothlight and darkness on acrucial moment in worldhistory.”

The Financial Timesalso gave it four stars,stating, “‘Visually ravish-

ing. Nadia Fall's beautiful,silken production bal-ances clarity and fluency.”

I would go a step fur-ther and give it five stars,for engaging and captivat-ing me throughout the 2hours and 50 minutesduration of the play, andeven more so after havingleft the theatre. Dara isone play that will staywith you for a very longtime. It is certainly notsomething to be missed.Regardless of your prefer-ence in genres and enter-tainment, Dara will defi-nitely not disappoint.

The festivals ofSwaminarayan Jayantiand Rama Navmi werejoyously celebrated with avariety of devotional activ-ities on Saturday 28March 2015 at BAPS ShriSwaminarayan Mandir,London.

The festivities beganfrom the morning onChaitra sud 9 � the actualbirthdate of BhagwanSwaminarayan andBhagwan Rama accordingto the Hindu calendar. Anannakut (traditional cere-monial offering of food)was artistically arrangedin the shrines before themurtis.

Sadhus performed aspecial arti at noon tocommemorate the birth ofShri Ramachandraji.Youths also sang bhajansto the accompaniment ofmusical instrumentsextolling the glory of

Bhagwan Swaminarayanand Bhagwan Rama.

Later in the evening,devotees gathered in theassembly hall to celebrateSwaminarayan Jayantiwith a special programme.Titled �Mala-na Manaka�,it focussed on the highspiritual calibre of devo-

tees BhagwanSwaminarayan had nur-tured during his life.

The celebrations beganwith devotional singingfollowed by an enthrallingproduction which took theaudience back in time asthe hall transformed into ascene from the era ofBhagwan Swaminarayan.Performers expertly enact-ed inspiring accounts ofBhagwan Swaminarayan�sdevotees who had shownremarkable courage inremaining steadfast totheir faith and religiousobservances.

The drama was sup-ported by enlightening dis-courses from sadhus andlively bhajans that furtherelaborated upon thetheme of the programme.The historical journey wasbrought to a conclusionwith reference to modern-day devotees who havedemonstrated the samevalues by the guidanceand inspiration ofPramukh Swami Maharaj.

As the finale drewnear, youths performed avibrant and colourfuldance welcoming themurti of HarikrishnaMaharaj inside the assem-bly hall amid a grand pro-cession.

Bollywood at MadameTussauds London is cele-brating its 15th anniver-sary, and to mark theoccasion the attractionhas created a new settingfor its Indian film stars,officially opened whenactress Katrina Kaifrevealed her brand newwax figure.

The star becomes theseventh Bollywood actorto be honoured with a fig-ure at Madame Tussauds

London after she wasvoted for by fans, just asAmitabh Bachcahn was in

2000.The wax model of

Katrina is portrayed in adancing pose wearing asequined white, silver andgold, two piece outfit byManish Malhorta. Themodel took four months tocreate, and cost £150,000.

Other Bollywood starsat the attraction includeShah Rukh Khan,Aishwarya Rai, MadhuriDixit-Nene, Salman Khanand Hrithik Roshan.

Katrina Kaif reveals her new waxfigure at Madame Tussauds

Katrina Kaif with her waxwork model

Swaminarayan Jayanti and RamaNavmi Celebrations at Neasden

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th March 2015

We can then see a perfect marriage ofthe actress to the medium in the par-

adoxically titled Hackney’s Finest. Naik’sability to find the emotional reality of herstylised character reflects the depth of adrama that only flaunts guns, drugs andprofanities on the surface: “Pari is agangster with a lot of swagger. She ridesaround on a motorbike and wields a gun,but there is a strength and independenceto her too. She has a strong moral cen-tre.” So do the gang of multiculturalrebels who find themselves as much asproduct of their society as delinquent bychoice. The plot follows a day in the life ofprotagonist Sirus (Nathaneal Wiseman)with his “Motley Crue of drug-dealers andusers, who get in trouble with a couple ofcorrupt cops and spend the 24 hours try-ing to get out of it.” Sirus’ last lines belieboth the disillusionment and resolve fromrealising their wider social conflict withmetropolitan authority. With bigoted whitecops and work colleagues who wieldevery racial slur in the anachronistic book– ‘Wog’ finds its way in there too – wecan see that he and his gang are noworse for what they do, and in fact couldwin a gold medal at survival. In this alter-native ironic light then, they are internally‘Hackney’s Finest’.

“The movie does turn the typical on itshead” Naik continued to tell us about herrole. “It’s not that Pari has a gangster lifeand her family disagree. She’s actuallycaught in the middle. Her family exportsheroin into the UK, and it’s about herviews on what they do. She is conflictedbetween her own ideals and staying loyalto the household.” Indeed with a taglinethat reads: ‘a new power is rising in theEast End’ the film is subversive in moreways than one. As the eloquent Naiktouched upon with Pari’s inverse position,‘Hackney’s Finest’ also transcends thepersonal to give us a cultural revolution.At a time when Islamophobia and anti-immigration sentiment are high, nationalpolitics are at its borders. The climaxscene unravels at a “cold cold ware-house”, a place of perpetually shiftedgoods, and encapsulates the twofacedpower-play tension of the current interna-tional landscape. Naik’s stoic characterhas a beautifully evocative line here: ‘Doyou remember playing in the poppy fieldswhen we were four years old? I had noidea it was something people in big shin-

ing cities would fight over.’ The lines aredelivered in the regional tongue of Pashtowhich Naik explained was taught to theactors by an accent and language coach:“he had also trained soldiers going out toAfghanistan”.

This together with a largely uplifting end-ing, and the focus split across ‘Welsh-Jamaican drug-dealers and Russians’ aswell as the Afghani family, returns a senseof power lost to a multicultural Britainthrough homage on the big screen: “Itwas so exciting to work on an action plotwhere all these different sub-cultureswere represented” Naik empha-sised. We also second her com-mendation of co-stars EnochFrost who plays Sirus’Jamaican accomplice andRajan Sharma her smug-gler cousin. Frost’s con-tribution to the endingfor example, snapshot-ted in rural Wales, putsthe final unabashed bowon the validity of our

country’s ethnic minorities.

Naik has also endorsed women’s rightsby raising awareness about the sex-tradein India, both through her acclaimed film‘Sold’, which premiered at the LondonIndian Film Festival in summer, and asso-ciated charity ‘TaughtnotTrafficked’ withChildreach International. Naik elaborateson what she learnt through her role asAnita, ‘a fellow survivor’, ‘who befriendsLakshmi, a young girl of thirteen who istrafficked from her mountain village inNepal to an Indian brothel’, in a lyrical yethard-hitting piece to the ‘New Statesman’.However, “I also like roles that are humor-ous in certain ways” she pointed out,“such as Cate Blanchett’s performance inthe Woody Allen film ‘Blue Jasmine”, andthe personalities in ‘Hackney’s Finest’:“Though Pari is quite serious, it is anentertaining film overall. It actually won anaward for the sound-track at the East-Endfilm festival and what we heard from theaudience was that the movie was a fun-ride. It’s definitely an original.” Infusedwith its own vernacular, ‘Hackney’s Finest’certainly retains the steely wit of its genre.

When one of the mercenary police-men greets Sirus with a patro-

nising ‘Good Evening’, heretorts ‘a good eveningfor who mate?’

“So you see therewas a lot of funinherent in thescript”, Naik contin-ued, “and the otherthing is these arequite hyperbolic char-

acters so it was even funnier if someonetripped up. Like in the first shot, I’m sup-posed to be all mysterious, stopping mymotorbike and taking off the helmet, but Icouldn’t really see anything through itand I just smashed right into the side.And I wasn’t the only one, cops werefalling down etc. It’s great when you canget a balance of the drama and thehumour. It was also great to be able toimmerse myself in another (Pari’s) world,and make it honest. You get a lot fromthe physicality: the style of your hair, theway you sit on the motorbike, and for metoo, I learnt how to hold a hand-gun!When would I ever do that in real life? Butthat was nothing compared to the otherguys. They all had to handle massivecrazy firearms.”

The pre-requisite of an actor’s professionis to draw from the instinctive, but Naik’snaturally laid back attitude seems to havecemented her success: “I have a degreein economics, but loved to act since Iwas little. I went into banking, doingsome theatre on the side, and realisedhow much I missed it. You only live once,or of you believe in reincarnation you onlyremember that you live once, so I wentfor it and applied to the prestigiousDrama Centre London, which was reallyhard to get into, and got in! The desire toact has always been there. You do itbecause you love it. It was really organicand already incorporated in my life. It wasjust about taking the decision to pursueit; that’s the biggest step.” The optimismstretches to the place of women in theindustry: “I also have an affinity with thedepth of Blanchett’s character” as wellas, we feel, her incredible cheekbones –“because she’s effeminate with a lot ofenergy and realness. It was an interestingfemale character, and those don’t comearound as often as they should. So I thinkthere can be more developed and origi-nal roles for women, but that change isalready happening. Pari is a good exam-ple, and Grey’s Anatomy has a lot ofexpansion in terms of women’s charac-ters.” With those closing words of wis-dom, Naik bid us farewell, amped up forthe release of her new film this week: “It’sso soon! I’m excited!”

15

twitter.com/neerjanaik

facebook.com/HackneysFinestTheMovie

Vivacious and upfront, actress Neerja Naik seems to have imbibed the spirit of her latestendeavour, British gangster film Hackney’s Finest – in cinemas April 3rd. “I’ve never seenanything like it” she told us. “It’s centred on a family of Afghan descent who smuggleheroin, and I play the cousin Pari. That’s really what attracts me to the acting: scripts thatpresent three-dimensional characters and give you experiences you would never usuallybe exposed to”. With yet another zeitgeist role in upcoming feature-film ‘Sold’, a narrativewhich chronicles the life of a young girl who is the victim of sex-trafficking in India, Naik isexactly where she is needed in the burgeoning line-up of 2015: “My favourite performanc-es always have a powerful element of truth” she asserted. “I love the reality in the acting”.

A Gangster Film with Cultural Edge

Neerja Naik on newrelease ‘Hackney’s Finest’

'The filmturns the

typical on itshead'

'My motto is simply

perseverance'.

Sunetra Senior

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201516 SPECIAL

For Christians around theworld, this is Holy Week,which includes numerousactivities and celebrationsthat precede EasterSunday. Common activi-ties include performingthe Stations of the Cross,which revisits Jesus’ cruci-fixion, Seder meals torecall the Last Supper,washing of the feet, whichJesus did for his disciples,and processions on GoodFriday, the day Jesus died.But some cultures take

these celebrations beyondmere remembrances. Hereare some of the moreextreme Good Friday cele-brations around the world:

Iztapalapa, Mexico:Residents of this MexicoCity suburb perform arealistic “Passion Play,” adramatic representation ofChrist’s crucifixion anddeath. While not sanc-tioned by the CatholicChurch, it is sponsored bythe area government,which has designated it an“intangible cultural her-itage” of Mexico City - aUNESCO designation thatfocuses on intangible ele-ments of a culture.During the play, 4,000

local actors re-enactChrist’s walk to his deathon Calvary. The individualwho portrays Jesus, cho-sen for his moral characterand physical strength,endures wearing a crownof thorns and beingflogged as he carries a 200-pound cross. He is then

tied to it in a re-enactmentof the crucifixion.

P a m p a n g a ,Philippines: In thePhilippines, there is notying to the cross. Instead,participants are actuallynailed - hands and feet - toa cross just as Jesus Christwas 2,000 years ago. TheSan Pedro Cutud LentenRites in Pampanga havetaken place on GoodFriday after a two-hourstreet play every year since1962.At least three, and as

many as 12, individualsare nailed to a cross on amakeshift Calvary. Eachperson remains on thecross until he “feelscleansed of his sin,” whileothers flog themselveswith bamboo sticks tied toa rope. One man has beennailed to the cross 22times.

Trafalgar Square,

London: This realisticinterpretation of Jesus’death is not as graphic asPampanga’s, but it’s stillnot advised for young chil-dren. The Passion of Jesusin Trafalgar Squareinvolves more than 100participants from theWintershall Players, aswell as horses, doves anddonkeys.Some 20,000 specta-

tors attend the event,which has free 90-minuteperformances at noon and3.15 pm on Good Friday,as well as big screens toensure everyone canwatch.

San Vicente de laSonsierra, Spain:Participants dressed inwhite habits flog them-selves at the “Los Picaos”procession in the RiojaVillage of San Vicente dela Sonsierra in northernSpain. Using esparto grass

ropes, they whip theirbacks in a graphic displayfor 20 minutes. Thismethod of penance, usedin many places throughthe 18th century, has man-aged to survive to moderntimes in this Spanish vil-lage.

Bensheim, Germany:Germany’s take on thesuffering of Jesus is a bittamer. The charmingsouthwestern town ofBensheim, which just cele-brated its 1,250th anniver-sary, has hosted an annualGood Friday processionpresented by local Italianfamilies since 1982.Crowds gather for the

theatrical performance,which begins with Judas’famous kiss of betrayaland includes Jesus’appearance before theSanhedrin, Pontius Pilatesentencing him to deathand Jesus’ scourging, car-

rying of the cross anddeath.

Religious Easter tradi-tions: For Christians,Easter is the holiest andoldest of all traditions, andit's related to the evenmore ancient Jewish festi-val of Passover, which isdescribed in the OldTestament. Both holidaysare celebrated at the sametime of year, often (but notalways) in the same week.Passover takes place overone week in remembranceof the exodus of the Jewsfrom Egypt. ForChristians, Easter com-memorates the resurrec-tion of Christ after his cru-cifixion.Christians throughout

India celebrate Easter withspecial church servicesand prayers. "Most homeswill have a special get-together with family andclose friends. The celebra-tion is mainly spiritual andnot too elaborate."Families in India may keepa small box or earthen potas a place to put moneyaside regularly as an offer-ing. On Easter Day, somefamilies donate this sumto the local church, anorphanage, or people inneed.In Austria, there's a

unique twist to the reli-gious observance ofEaster. "Between HolyThursday and EasterSunday morning mass,you won't hear any churchbells ringing, because

according to religious lore,they all fly to Rome," saysIlse Eichinger, editor ofBabyCenter Austria."Instead, the'Ratschenbuben' (altarboys with rattles) go towork, making a lot ofnoise with their 'Ratschen'(wooden rattles), sayingprayers, and singingrhymes."

Pagan Easter tradi-tions: Many things aboutEaster are neither Jewishnor Christian in origin.For example, the Englishname "Easter" and theGerman name "Ostern" areboth derived from oldGermanic roots. Also, thetraditions of having anEaster eve bonfire or burn-ing Easter wheels and thenpushing them downhillcome from Germanic andCeltic heliolatry, or sunworship. Even the popularcolourful Easter egg hasits origins in anotherpagan belief: It was con-sidered a symbol of fertili-ty in Egypt.Today, eggs are nearly

synonymous with Easterin many countries, includ-ing Germany, Austria,India, and Switzerland. Atthe end of Lent, hard-boiled eggs are colored,Easter trees or bouquetsare decorated with littlewooden figurines and hol-lowed-out painted eggs,and people buy or bakespecial sweet Easterbreads, often burstingwith raisins.

Hanuman Jayanti is cele-brated every year by thepeople in India to com-memorate the birth ofHindu Lord, Hanuman. Itis celebrated annually inthe Hindi month of Chaitra(Chaitra Pournima) on15th day of the ShuklaPaksha. This year it will becelebrated on 4th April.

How and when to cele-brate Hanuman JayantiLord Hanuman, a dedi-

cated disciple of the LordRama, is worshipped allover the India by the peo-ple for his deep devotion toLord Rama. On the day ofHanuman Jayanti, all theHanuman temples becomefull of devotees as peoplestart puja from early morn-ing after a holy bath.People worship LordHanuman as a symbol ofdevotion, magical powers,strength and energy. Peopleread Hanuman Chalisa asit has ability to conquer theevil spirits and providepeace to the mind. Theyapply red tilak (vermillion)to the foreheads ofHanuman idol, readHanuman Chalisa, offerPrasad of laddoo, do Aartiby chanting mantras andAarti songs, make round ofthe temple and so many rit-uals. As Lord Hanumanwas born to the Vanara

community having reddishorange colour body, that’swhy it is seen to all theHanuman temples havingreddish orange colouredHanuman idol.In the Maharashtra, it

is commemorated to thePurnima in the HinduLunar month of Chaitra.However, according toother Hindu calendar, itfalls on 14th day (chatur-dashi) of Ashvin month inthe dark fortnight. In Tamil Nadu and

Kerala, it is celebrated inMargazhi month (between

December and January) inthe belief that LordHanuman was born to theamavasya in the Margazhimonth. In Odisha, it is cel-ebrated on 1st day in themonth of Baisakha (inApril). In Karnataka andAndhra Pradesh, it is cele-brated on 10th day ofVaishaka month in theKrishna Paksha. It is a 41-day long celebration in theAndhra Pradesh whichstarts from the ChaitraPurnima and ends at 10thdays of the KrishnaPaksha of Vaishakha

month.Significance of

Hanuman Jayanti celebra-tionHanuman Jayanti cele-

bration indicates the bal-anced coexistence of thewhole human fraternitywith the nature’s incredi-ble creature, LordHanuman from Vanaracommunity. People fromthe Hindu religion wor-ship Lord Hanuman as adivine creature. This cele-bration has lots of impor-tance to all. However,Brahmacharis, wrestlersand body builders are spe-cially inclined towards thiscelebration. There aremany names throughwhich Lord Hanuman isfamous among his devo-tees like Bajrangabali,Pavanasuta, Pavankumar,Mahavira, Balibima,Marutsuta, Anjanisut,Sankat Mochan,Anjaneya, Maruti, Rudraand many more.Hanuman avatar is

considered as the 11thRudra avatar of the LordSiva with great devotion,strength, knowledge,divine power, bravery,intelligence, spirit for self-less service etc. He hasdevoted his life only for hisLord Rama and Mata Sitaand never shows his brav-

ery and intelligence with-out any purpose. Thedevotees of the LordHanuman always pray himfor getting blessed withthe same for their brightfuture. He is worshippedin many ways by his devo-tees; some meditates byrepeating his name manytimes to get power, fame,success etc in life whereassome reads the HanumanChalisa to get the same.

History behind the cel-ebrationOnce, a great saint

named Angira went tovisit the heaven king,Indra and welcomed therethrough the dance pre-sented by a damsel named,Punjiksthala. However,saint was not used of thattype dance and startedmeditating on his God.After the end of dance, hewas asked by Indra aboutthe performance of dance.He was silent and said, “Iwas in deep meditation tomy Almighty because Ihave no interest in suchdance. It was very shame-ful to Indra and damsel;she started disappointingthe saint and then cursedby the Angira that“Behold! You shalldegrade to earth fromSwarg. You will be born asa female monkey in the

mountain forests”.She then felt sorry and

regretted her curse and amerciful saint supportedher through blessings like,“A great devotee ofParamatma will be born toyou. He will forever serveParamatma.” She becamethe daughter of Kunjar(king of the monkeys onearth) and got married tothe Kapiraj Kesari of theMount Sumeru. She gavebirth to the Hanumanwith the help of five divinefactors such as curse andblessings of the saintAngira, her prayers, bless-ings of Lord Shiva, bless-ings of Vayu Deva andPutreshti Yagna’s fruit. Itis considered that LordShiva had to rebirth as ahuman being on the earthin his 11th Rudra avatar inthe form of Hanuman asHe could not serve to theLord Rama by being in Hisreal form.The whole Vanara com-

munity, including all thehuman fraternity, washappy and celebrated hisbirthday with great enthu-siasm and joy by dancing,singing and lots of activi-ties. From then, it wasstarted celebrating as aHanuman Jayanti by hisdevotees to get strengthand wisdom like him.

Good Friday and Easter celebrationsaround the world

Hanuman Jayanti celebrations

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 17

The Indian governmentmay allow Finnish telecomfirm Nokia to sell itsChennai plant with a con-dition that the moneyrealised will be kept inescrow account till finalverdict is out on its Rs 210billion tax dispute. "ThePrime Minister (NarendraModi) took initiative toresolve Nokia factoryissue so that mobile manu-facturing can be restartedin its Chennai plant," asource said.

An inter-ministerialpanel was formed in thisregard and Central Boardof Direct Taxes (CBDT)has agreed to the proposalof allowing sale of plantand deposit realisedamount in escrowaccount, the source added.On March 3 in Parliament,

Modi has indicated thatthe Tamil Nadu-basedNokia plant, which shutdown a few months ago, islikely to start functioningagain.

The inter-ministerialpanel set up in this regardincluded Department ofRevenue, Department ofIndustrial and PolicyPromotion (DIPP) andDepartment of Electronicsand IT. CBDT was part ofthe discussions.

The assets of Nokia'sChennai plant have been

frozen by theIncome TaxDepartmentand the nexthearing inthe Nokiatax case ison April 6,when the

resolution will be placedbefore the Supreme Court,the source said. "There arethree buyers who haveshown interest in the plantbut the deal can befinalised only after thecourt allows its sale," thesource said.

The I-T Departmentsays Nokia India andNokia Corporation owe Rs211.53 billion as total taxliability, including penalty,for the seven-year periodfrom 2006 to 2013.

US software giant

Microsoft acquiredNokia's mobile devicesbusiness for about USD7.5 billion but kept thefactory out of this deal dueto tax dispute with Indianauthorities. The factorycontinued making handsetunder contract fromMicrosoft for a year afterwhich the US firm termi-nated the manufacturingagreement followingwhich Nokia suspendedoperation at the plantfrom November 1, 2014.

The mobile phoneexport from India crashedby 70 per cent to Rs 24.50billion in 2014, from Rs118.50 billion in 2013 dueto production gettingaffected at Nokia'sChennai plant as per areport of Indian CellularAssociation.

Dear Financial Voice Reader,So you want to save money by getting your health

care in India? Sounds like a good idea in theory, lotsof well qualified medics, dentists, no NHS waitinglists, private care and a trip to the mother country,same language – all important considerations, espe-cially if you are elderly.

So what went wrong with the case of DhirubhaiDavda, who contacted me some months ago, an elder-ly gentleman in agonising pain after dental surgery inIndia – and what are the key lessons for anyone think-ing of saving money by taking medical treatment inIndia?

Mr Davda wrote to me a heartfelt letter detailinghow he visited Sahaj Dental Clinic Rajkot, Gujarat(www.sahajdentalclinic.com). He explained ‘Thetreatment I received resulted in a number of extremelypainful complications which require costly, painfuland time consuming remedial treatment in England.’

His key allegations which many will be able torelate to: ‘I received dental implant and bridge treat-ments from the Sahaj Dental Clinic in December2012. I had already had the first part of the implantprocedure (metal screw fitting) undertaken by anotherdentist from my previous trip to Bangalore. I askedSahaj Clinic to fit a crown thereto. The crowns theyhad were incompatible with the metal screw so theytried to cut and modify the screw to force the crown tofit the screw. Subsequently I have had severe andpainful problems with the bridge resulting in badinfections, massive swellings and considerable trau-ma. Upon my return to the UK I started having prob-lems in the form of swelling and bleeding with theimplant at the end of January 2013. I consulted myDentist the renowned Professor Mark Woolford ofGuys Hospital, London. He concluded that the forceused, and the way Sahaj had fixed the crown hadmade the situation irreversible.’

Tapan Shah from the Sahaj Clinic replied to myemail and denied all wrong-doing and negligence.

So what is my advice to others?1. From what I have heard, the NHS does not look

sympathetically on those getting bad treatment abroadand then wanting correction in the UK. I know this isfrustrating and if I was PM, I would make things dif-ferent as my first piece of legislation.

2. Do not get treatment from multiple differentclinics, hospitals. If you go abroad, stick to one place,that will make things easier.

3. Media threats of bad publicity don’t bother suchmedics or other professionals. Either they are con-men, in which they don’t care, or they are profession-als and so have a complaints procedure. But the fightsworth it – throw a punch – you’ll feel better, that youdid something.

4. Do keep all records and documents meticulouslyfiled to make your own life easier and then complainto any and all parties including regulators, and ofcourse journalists. Be ready, you will be accused ofextortion by the other party! That’s the sad truth. Ifyou can afford it – sue.

5. If you really want to get aggressive, take thegloves off, rather than just be fuming, be vocal, bepowerful – then contact every one of their friends onFacebook and LinkedIn. But be prepared to be count-er-sued and a visit from the police!

India may allow Nokia to sell Chennaimobile plant

US auto major FordMotors Company lastweek opened its integratedmanufacturing facility atSanand, which is already ahome to Tata Motors Ltd'sNano project. With thecommissioning of thisplant, Ford India will havea total installed capacity ofrolling out 440,000 vehi-cles and 610,000 enginesevery year. Ford is the sec-ond US auto giant to haveset up its manufacturingfacility in Gujarat.General Motors alreadyhas plant at Halol nearVadodara.

Ford will manufactureits new concept sedan`Figo Aspire' at theSanand facility. Around 19suppliers have already set

up their shops at the ven-dor park in Sanand.Japanese auto giantSuzuki Motor Corporationplans to invest Rs 85 bil-lion over the next fewyears to set up three plantsat Hansalpur with a totalannual capacity of7,50,000 vehicles. The

construction of the firstplant is already underway.

The 125 km-long belt -Sanand, Vithalapur,Hansalpur in Ahmedabaddistrict, Manadal andBahucharaji in Mehsanadistrict - is emerging as anideal location for the auto-mobile sector.

Gujarat, which hadplants of companies suchas General Motors, AtulAuto and AMW, has inrecent years seen automakers such as TataMotors Limited, SuzukiMotor Corporation, Ford,Honda Motorcycle andScooter India (HMSI) PvtLtd, Honda Cars India andHero Moto Corp setting uptheir projects.

With the launch ofFord's new plant, theinstalled capacity in statehas increased to 6,98,000units per annum. Withslew of mega projectseither planned or underconstruction, the capacityis likely to go up to46,33,000 units perannum.

Ford opens its manufacturing unit at Sanand

London-listed Vedantagroup of NRI tycoon AnilAgarwal has slapped a`notice of claims' againstthe government of India,challenging the Rs204.97billion tax claimagainst its Indian sub-sidiary, Cairn India, usingretrospective law.

This is the secondclaim being filed againstthe government over thetax notice. Earlier, CairnEnergy Plc, which had in2011 sold a majority stakein Cairn India to Vedantagroup for $8.67 billion,sought compensation forthe loss in value it suffereddue to an “unfair and arbi-trary” demand for Rs102.47 billion.

Vedanta filed thenotice against the incometax department's move toimpose Rs 204.97 billionin taxes and penalties onCairn India for allegedlyfailing to deduct tax oncapital gains made by itsformer parent, Cairn

Energy Plc, while doing abusiness reorganizationseven years ago.

Cairn Energy had in2006-07 transferred itsIndia assets, including theBarmer oilfields inRajasthan, to a new com-pany - Cairn India - andlisted it on the stockexchanges. Finance min-istry sources said this wasa legacy issue it had inher-ited from the UPA regime,which imposed the retro-spective law in 2012 to taxshare transfers, and nonew notices were being

issued under this law.Vedanta said it would

take “all necessary steps”to protect its interestagainst the tax notice onCairn India. “Vedanta'sboard of directors hasinstructed counsel to file anotice of claim against theGovernment of Indiaunder the UK-India bilat-eral investment treaty(BIT) in order to protectits legal position andshareholder interests,”Vedanta said in a filing tothe London StockExchange. Cairn India toohas informed the boursesof the filing by Vedanta.

“If enforced, such taxdemand would have seri-ous consequences forCairn India and thereforeVedanta's investment inCairn India,” the companysaid. Vedanta said theclaim notice was the firststep required prior to com-mencement of internation-al arbitration pursuant tothe BIT. “Vedanta and

Cairn India will continueto take all necessary stepsto protect their interestand the interest of theirshareholders.“The govern-ment has also made a par-allel tax demand on CairnUK Holdings, for whichthe Edinburgh-based com-pany has sought arbitra-tion and is seeking com-pensation under the UK-India investment treaty.The company has beenadvised by leading inter-national counsel that theretrospective tax legisla-tion passed is a violationof protections accorded toinvestors under the BITand constitutes a seriousimpairment of the treatyrights of Vedanta, it said.

Cairn Energy of theUK also recently soughtcompensation from theGovernment of India forthe loss in value it suffereddue to an “unfair and arbi-trary” Rs 102.47 billiontax demand raised using aretrospective tax law.

Vedanta slaps claims notice on Indian govt

India will announce itsnew Foreign Trade Policy(FTP) on Wednesday,which will chart out waysto increase and enhanceexports, specifically in theservices sector. "ForeignTrade Policy 2015-20 to beunveiled on April 1,2015," Commerce andIndustry Minister NirmalaSitharaman tweeted.

The foreign trade poli-cy, which is usuallyannounced in April, pro-vides guidelines forenhancing exports withthe overall objective ofpushing economic growth

and generating employ-ment.

The government givesfiscal incentives toexporters under differentpromotion schemes likethe Market AccessInitiative, MarketingDevelopment Assistance,Vishesh Krishi and GramUdyog Yojana and theFocus Market Scheme.

Declining for thestraight third month,India's exports fell by over15 per cent to $21.54 bil-lion in February, even astrade deficit narrowed to$6.85 billion.

India to enact newForeign Trade Policy

Anil Agarwal

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201518 BUSINESS

India raised a record $17.6billion from the sale ofmobile phone airwaves inits latest telecom spectrumauction after 19 days offierce bidding, telecomsminister Ravi ShankarPrasad said. Prasad saidthe government receivedbids worth almost 1.10trillion rupees ($17.6 bil-lion), topping the 1.06 tril-lion rupees it raised in2010. The amount is athird higher than the gov-ernment expected to raise.Victorious bidders

need to pay a quarter to athird of the winning priceinitially, and the rest by

2027. Spectrum revenue iskey for the government toplug its fiscal deficit.However, the govern-ment's payday could bedelayed as the final alloca-tions to operators will takeplace after the SupremeCourt issues its ruling onmultiple cases questioning

the auction guidelines andcriteria.The government did

not disclose winning bid-ders and the regions inwhich they had won spec-trum, but the country's topoperators - Bharti AirtelLtd, Vodafone Group Plc'sIndia unit and IdeaCellular Ltd - are expectedto have bought the majorchunk of the 20-yearlicences on offer.The bidding under-

scores the fierce competi-tion in India's mobilephone market and theoperators' big bet on thepotential for mobile data

in the world's fastest grow-ing smartphone market."(The) competitive

landscape in the telecomsector is becomingfavourable for large tele-com companies as theyhave consolidated theirleadership over the lastfew years," Morningstaranalyst Piyush Jain said ina note.Cash-rich conglomer-

ate Reliance Industries isalso among biddersexpected to spend big onairwaves as it looks to rollout pan-India 4G services,five years after buying itslicence.

Air Pegasus, India’s ninthairline carrier gotDirectorate General ofCivil Aviation’s approvalto commence its opera-tions. The airline is basedin Bengaluru and is thethird new airline in a yearto take off in the Indianskies after AirAsia Indiaand Vistara Airways."We have received an

Air Operators Permit fromthe DGCA, and plan tolaunch our ticketing sys-tem soon and launch oper-ations in two weeks. Wealready have two ATR-72aircraft in our fleet that issufficient to operate thethree sectors we plan tostart flights with," ShysonThomas, managing direc-tor of Air Pegasus, said. The airline will initial-

ly start its operation fromthree sectors- Trivandrum,Hubli and Cochin, andexpand its fleet to otherlow-cost sectors over time."We, however, do not planto operate to Delhi andMumbai airports, as theseare expensive airports andwill only increase our costof operations," saidThomas. Talking about theticket pricing, Thomassaid, "Like many other air-lines, we will not be sellingtickets below our cost. Aticket between Rs 2,500and Rs 3,500 would be acomfortable situation forus and we do not intend tosell below that price. Butwe will be providing food(some snack and juice) toall our fliers."The airline will also

induct a third aircraft inits fleet soon. "We alsohave plans to connectTuticorin, Vijayawada,Visakhapatnam, Kadapaand Rajahmundry in thesouthern part of Indialater on," he said.The new airline, pro-

moted by groundhandlingservices provider DecorAviation, will see an initialinvestment of Rs 1 billion.Decor Aviation currentlyprovides ground handlingservices to domestic andinternational carriersacross 11 airports in India.

One moreairline getsapproval in

India A rescue plan for Saharawas thrown into disarray,when Spanish bank BBVASA denied offering a cred-it line to the bank, scup-pering the conglomerate'sclaims it would use it tohelp secure bail for itsjailed boss. Sahara, once one of

India's most high-profilefirms, told the SupremeCourt this week that ithad secured a 900 millioneuro ($985 million) line ofcredit from BBVA, one ofseveral financial deals itsaid it had struck.Sahara founder and

boss Subrata Roy hasbeen held in jail for morethan a year, after Saharafailed to comply with acourt order to refund bil-lions of dollars toinvestors in a bond pro-gramme that was ruled

illegal. The court has set Roy's

bail at $1.6 billion, a prod-uct of the cost of the bondprogramme, estimated byregulators to be as muchas $7 billion. Sahara hassaid it has paid most ofthe dues to the bondhold-ers, but the Securities andExchange Board of Indiadisputes that. "We have no credit

exposure or any relationwith Sahara," aspokesman for BBVAsaid. A senior executive atBBVA separately said that

the bank was never intalks with Sahara for aloan and that the mentionof its name in the courtproceedings was a "sur-prise". Sahara had submitted

a letter in the court writ-ten on BBVA notepaperand signed by bank execu-tive Jose RamonVizmanos, taking respon-sibility for the credit itwas giving Sahara. Butlater Vizmanos said thathe had no knowledge ofthe letter. "I have never worked

with any Indian company... The only thing I knowabout Sahara is the desertin Africa," Vizmanos saidby phone. A Saharaspokesman did not imme-diately respond to an e-mail and phone callrequesting comment.

Rescue plan for Sahara in doubtas BBVA denies loan

Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has askedfor a drastic cutback of anambitious health care planafter cost estimates camein at $18.5 billion over fiveyears, several governmentsources said, delaying apromise made in his elec-tion manifesto.Modi has had to make

difficult choices to boosteconomic growth - his gov-ernment's first full annualbudget, announced lastmonth, ramped up infra-structure spending, leavingless federal funding imme-diately available for socialsectors.The health ministry

developed a draft policy onuniversal health care incoordination with thePrime Minister's office lastyear. The National HealthAssurance Mission aims toprovide free drugs, diag-nostic services and insur-ance for serious ailmentsfor India's 1.2 billion peo-ple.The health ministry

proposed rolling out thesystem from April 2015,and in October projectedits cost as $25.5 billionover four years. By the

time the project was pre-sented to Modi in Januarythe costs had been pared to1.16 trillion rupees ($18.5billion) over five years.That was still too

much. The programme wasnot approved, three healthministry officials and twoother government sourcessaid. Three officials saidthe health ministry hasbeen asked to revamp thepolicy, but work is yet tostart."The constraint on

India's financial resourceswas conveyed to healthofficials, and even to thosefrom other ministries," saidone government officialwho is not from the healthministry but attended themeeting where Modi waspresent.

The meeting was heldin January and the discus-sions were not made pub-lic. All of the sourcesdeclined to be namedbecause of the sensitivityof the discussions. Officialsat the prime minister'soffice and the finance min-istry, as well as the healthministry, did not respondto requests seeking com-ment.Modi's manifesto ahead

of the election that broughthim to power last yearaccorded "high priority" tothe health sector andpromised a universalhealth assurance plan. Themanifesto said previouspublic health schemes, thathave been mired in pay-ment delays recently, hadfailed to meet the growingmedical needs of public. So health experts were

dismayed when the unionbudget for the full-yearstarting April raised theallocation for the country'smain health departmentonly by about 2 per centfrom the previous year, lessthan inflation. The meagreincrease dimmed prospectsfor the massive healthplan, they said.

Modi govt puts brakes on India'suniversal health plan

India is all set to overtakeChina's growth rate byclocking 7.8% GDP in2015-16 and 8.2% duringthe following fiscal on theback of structural reformsand government's “pro-investment” attitude, theAsian Development Bank(ADB) said. In case ofChina, the GDP is expect-ed to decelerate to 7.2%and 7%, respectively. Inthe current fiscal, both theeconomies are expected toclock a 7.4% growth rate.“India is expected to growfaster than China in thenext few years,” ADBchief economist Shang-JinWei said while releasingthe bank's annual publica-tion Asian Development

Outlook, 2015.The Indian govern-

ment's pro-investment atti-tude, improvement in thefiscal as well as currentaccount deficit situation,and some forward move-ment on resolving struc-tural bottlenecks havehelped improve the busi-ness climate, making Indiaattractive again to bothdomestic and foreigninvestors, he added.The Indian govern-

ment however, expects thegrowth rate to acceleratefrom 7.4% to 8-8.5% in2015-16. TheInternational MonetaryFund (IMF) has projecteda growth rate of 7.5% fornext fiscal.

India to pip China ingrowth: ADB

India raises $17.6 bn from telecom airwaves auction

Narendra Modi

Subrata Roy

India's benchmarkSensex on Tuesdayinched lower by about 18points to close at27,957.49, wrapping up2014-15 with hefty 25per cent gain - its bestperformance in six fiscalyears - buoyed by foreigninvestments after theNarendra Modi-led gov-ernment took charge.After jumping 205

points in early trade, the30-share index fritteredaway gains on emergenceof profit-booking at thefag-end and ended with amarginal fall of 18.37points or 0.07 per cent.However, the mid-capand small-cap indicesoutperformed the broad-er markets, ending with arise of 0.31 per cent and0.88 per cent, respective-ly, the brokers said.The NSE Nifty also

succumbed to sellingpressure and closed 1.30points down at 8,491. Itgained about 27 per centfor the fiscal year. "Amidvolatility, equity marketsclosed almost unchangedon last trading session ofthe financial year," saidJayant Manglik, presi-dent-retail distribution,Religare Securities.Brokers said higher lev-els could not be sus-tained as participants

turned cautious andindulged in profit-book-ing.Besides, a mixed

closing at other Asianmarkets and a weakopening in Europe alsocast a shadow here, theyadded. Bucking thetrend, stocks of TataPower gained the mostamong Sensex con-stituents by rising 3.42per cent. GAIL with arise of 2.37 per cent, fol-lowed by Dr Reddy's 1.91per cent and Tata Motors1.85 per cent.Sectorally, the BSE

banking index sufferedthe most by falling 0.81per cent, capital goodsindex by 0.49 per cent,IT index by 0.20 per centand FMCG index by 0.19per cent.During the fiscal

2014-15, Sensex hasgone up by 5,571.22points, or 24.88 per centto 27,957.49 from22,386.27 on March 31,2014. The gauge hadtouched all-time high of30,024.74 on March 4this year. On similarlines, the NSE's Niftyzoomed by 1,786.80points, or 26.65 per cent,to settle the fiscal at8,491 after scaling life-time high of 9,119.20 onMarch 4 this year.

Sensex climbs 25% in fiscal 2014-15

REAL ESTATE VOICEwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 19

Suresh VagjianiSow & Reap

A Property InvestmentCompany

This morning we were hoping to grab a property in Kilburn fora client who has bought and sold from us several times over manyyears.

The property in question is Lot 1 at the Savills auction. Thisproperty is a lower ground property consisting of approx 800 sq. ft.This information was not on the auction details, we got this fromthe EPC which is by no means accurate but does give an approxi-mate figure.

He is the perfect client. He has already purchased one from uson the same road. The property he bought was purchased about tendoors down from this one. The property was purchased inSeptember 2009 for £300,000. The client had attended one of ourseminars and agreed to buy it there and then, blind. At this time theproperty was a one bedroom and since being purchased it has beenconverted to a two bedroom and is currently getting a rent of£1,600pm which gives a healthy yield of 6.66%.

Originally the first transaction we had done with this client wasa little flat in Luton which was purchased for £38k from memory. Itwas cheap to buy and gave a good double figure rental yield; thiswas many many years ago, pre credit crunch times when you couldget 85% LTV, meaning on a transaction like this you only needed toput £6k into the deal.

We originally purchased several of these flats in the same block,attracted by two things, one was the ability to pull out whatevermoney we put into the deal plus a little more straight away, and theother was the cash flow was positive. So even after all the moneyhad been extracted from the deal you were left with a positive cashflow.

We however coached him through all the issues he was havingas we were facing the same, and he disposed of the property a shorttime down the line at a price similar to what he paid. It was goodriddance.

Though the deal wasn’t the best experience, the client knew ourintention was good, even though at the time in retrospect perhaps alittle naive.

The next property he purchased with us was in Kilburn whichwas discounted from the market value. The mortgage rate we gotfor him at the time was better than what was generally available ona BTL basis, we managed to secure a 85% LTV mortgage at 3%.

The one that got away

The bulk of the money has been made in capital growth; the property has risenstrongly it is now worth £585k, nearly doubling in value in only three and a halfyears. This is more than the client has saved over this period of time and cer-tainly more than his business has made over this period.

However initial looks were deceptive. The type of renters this property attract-ed was just unbelievable. There’s a saying: if you give out peanuts you get mon-keys. The hassle factor involved in owning these types of properties is not worthit even if these properties were given free of charge.

This meant he had to put very little into the deal.There was a time when the client’s main business was not doing

too well and he wanted to sell the property to cash in and again pur-chase another property and do the same again.

We advised him not to do so, if he sold there was little chance hewould have been able to purchase another property at that time.The mortgage environment was getting tougher and to take out anew mortgage in his name would not have been easy. Furthermorethe costs of coming in and out of a deal, even of this size, isn’t cheapit’s roughly in the region of £20 – £30k.

Whilst looking at this client’s financials (as it’s prudent to checkprior to bidding), we discovered his income isn’t quite what he hadthought. Many lenders require a minimum income in order toobtain a mortgage. This wasn’t the first time we have come acrossthis. Many self-employed are confused about how much they actu-ally earn. Some think what their company earns is what they earn,others think a dividend is a salary. So it was no surprise when welooked at the source paper work we discovered the paperworkdidn’t quite match the perception of the client.

The property we were looking to purchase also was in a run-down condition, which meant it wasn’t lettable and therefore it was-n’t mortgageable. We had little option except to go for a bridgingloan. This meant we had to reduce our bidding level accordingly. Wereduced it from £525k by £25k to take into account six months ofbridging costs.

This was a slight blockage but certainly not a deal breaker, itdoes mean time becomes expensive and so if the project is not tight-ly controlled it could spiral out of proportion. Work should start onthe property at the point of exchange. Many things can be arrangedprior to completion, including applications for any permissionsrequired. The monthly cost on a bridge for this would be £3,150.This can be saved by using this time to prepare.

On this occasion we were not successful as the price went to£506k and looked like it was going to go even higher. However thepreparation to get to this point is valuable and leaves the clientpoised to strike at another deal as the ground work has been done.

Probate in NW6£2.5Ml Freeholdl 4,500 sq. ft.l Potential to add another 1,500 sq. ft.l Only 0.5% stamp dutyl Probate salel Property on same road on the market for £2.5m with only 2,500 sq. ft.

Call us now to secure this deal!

The Real Deal

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

0207 993 0103

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

Sowandreapuk SowandReapProperties

Specialists inCentral London

Property Sourcing

info@sowandreap.co.uk www.sowandreap.co.uk

l There are two ways to source a good propertyinvestment, one is to buy a 'Below Market Value'property, the other is to foresee the trend and buyat market value. Buying in a strong locationreduces the risk.

l Normally the best buy and sell opportunities areon the top of the pyramid, i.e. priced at £2m andabove. If you don't have the required cash, youcan join hands with others and start investing.Follow us online:

There is no blanket rule to whether it is better toresell or hold on, you would need to look at your person-al situation and the environment as well. In this situa-tion the advice we felt was correct as the property is ina location which is being lifted as a consequence of itsproximity to Hampstead and St John’s Wood as well isthe ripple effect from the West End. As prices rise in thecentre of town, this rise is rippled outwards. ThoughKilburn looks like a rundown area, due to its locationprices of £850 per sq. ft. are being achieved and they arestill rising.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201520

HIGHEST EARNING INDIAN WRITERSReshma Trilochun

After the enthusiastic reception to the AsianVoice GLOBAL INDIA RICH LIST, here isfurther insight into the highest earning celebritiesin five different walks of life starting with writers.Over the next four weeks, Asian Voice will bringyou highest earners in other fields. So watch thisspace!

Salman Rushdie (born in1947) is the only author in theIndian diaspora who figures ina list of the world's Top 50highest earning writers.Salman Rushdie is one of themost successful yet controver-sial authors, having manyacclaimed books to his credit,as well as fatwas and deaththreats from many communi-ties as well.

Some of his successfulnovels include Midnight'sChildren (1981), for which hereceived the Booker Prize, TheGround Beneath Her Feet(1999) and The Enchantressof Florence 2008). His novel,The Satanic Verses(1988) wasextremely controversial, hav-ing angered many Muslimsglobally. The novel wasbanned in many countrieswith large Muslim communi-

ties, such as India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Sudan andSingapore, to name a few.

Salman Rushdie adaptedMidnight's Children into aplay. It was also made into amovie by the same titled, star-ring the likes of Shabana Azmiand Irrfan Khan, directed byDeepa Mehta and released in2012.

Rushdie has received manyawards, including theWhitbread Prize twice for theBest Novel, the BudapestGrand Prize for BestLiterature as well as theLondon International Writers'Award. He holds honorarydoctorates and fellowships atsix European and sixAmerican universities and in2007, he received a knight-hood in the Queen's BirthdayHonours.

1. SALMAN RUSHDIE $15 million

Vidhiadhar Surajprasad (V.S) Naipaul (born in 1932)is of Indian descent, born in Trinidad. He is estimated tohave earned a few million over the years and is ranked 72in a list of 100 best-selling novels in the 20th century.

Some of Naipaul's best known work include A Bendin the River (1979), A House for Mr. Biswas (1961) andA Way in the World (1994). In 2001, Naipaul was hon-oured with the Nobel Prize for the novel Half a Life,which is a story about an Indian immigrant to Englandand Africa.

V.S Naipaul was knighted in 1989. In 1993, he wasawarded the David Cohen British Literature Prize by theArt Council of England, the Booker Prize Award forFiction in 1971 for In a Free State and the SomersetMaugham Award in 1961, for the novel Miguel Street(1959). Naipaul also hold honorary doctorates fromCambridge University and Columbia University, NewYork, as well as honorary degrees from the universities of,London, Oxford and Cambridge.

2. V S NAIPAUL $7 million

Vikram Seth (born in 1952), who shot to prominence with A Suitable Boy(1993), has probably done better by attracting advances in excess of $5 mil-lion.

Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata), and has trav-elled extensively. Seth studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, StanfordUniversity and Nanjing University. He has lived in Britain, China, India aswell as California.

Some of the work by the Indian novelist and poet include All You WhoSleep Tonight (1990), An Equal Music (1999) and Two Lives (2005).

Seth has received several awards, including the WH SmithLiterary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1994, as

well as the Irish Times International Fiction Prize in 1993 forA Suitable Boy.

An enraged Vikram Seth came into the forefront in2013 to express his disappointment with the Indian

Government for criminalising gay sex. Heappeared dishevelled and angry on the

cover of India Today, holding a black-board which read, “Not a criminal.”

This was a contrast toSeth's usual poised

persona.

3. VIKRAM SETH $5 million

Kiran Desai (born in 1971) isan eminent novelist and is alsothe daughter of novelist, AnitaDesai.

Kiran Desai was born inIndia and moved to Englandat the age of 14. She leftColumbia University in theUS to complete her firstnovel, Hullabaloo in theGuava Orchard (1998). Thenovel is a progressive, freshlook at life in a lethargicprovincial town of

Shahkot in India. Thisnovel won her the

Betty TraskAward in1998.

A f t e rextensively focussing on her next novel for more than seven years, KiranDesai published her second novel,The Inheritance of Loss (2006). For hersecond novel, Desai received the Man Booker Prize for Fiction (2006) andthe British Book Awards Decibel Writer of the Year (2007), plus many more.

Kiran Desai's mother, Anita Desai's work include, Fasting, Feasting,(1990), In Custody (1984) and Clear Light of Day (1980), for which she wasshortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction.

Chetan Bhagat in one of the most popular writers inmainstream India. Chetan Bhagat has six blockbusterbooks to his credit and four of his novels have beenadapted into successful Bollywood films. His 2014released Half Girlfriend is currently in the processof being made into a Bollywood film as well.

Some of his novels include, 2 States:The Story of My Marriage (2009), FivePoint Someone: What Not to do at IIT(2004) and The Three Mistakes of MyLife (2008). He has also worked on thescreenplay for the film, Kick (2014), 2States (2014) and Hello (2008).

Chetan Bhagat received theSociety's Young Achiever's Award in2004 as well as the Publisher'sRecognition Award in 2005.

Bhagat used to have a career inInvestment Banking in Hong Kongbefore moving to Mumbai, India in 2009to pursue his passion in writing.

Chetan Bhagat was embroiled incontroversy over his claim that thefilmmakers of the film, 3 Idiots(2009), did not give him his duecredit for the film, considering thefilm was based on his novel, FivePoint Someone: What Not to doat IIT.

4. KIRAN DESAI $3 million

5. CHETAN BHAGAT $1.3 million

CURRENCY VOICEwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 21

Foreign Exchange

British retail sales rose atthe fastest pace in threemonths in February, beatingexpectations and suggestingBritain's consumer-led eco-nomic recovery remainsstrong ahead of national elec-tions in May. Retail sales rose0.7 percent last month, theirbest growth since Novemberand up from 0.1 percent inJanuary, the Office forNational Statistics said onThursday.

Falling shop prices declinedat the fastest rate since at least1997 encouraged Britons to hitthe shops in February, with fur-niture selling particularly well. Aseparate Confederation ofBritish Industry survey showedretail sales grew at a solid pacethis month as well, which willcheer Prime Minister DavidCameron's Conservative Partyahead of a closely-fought elec-tion on May 7.

The Office of NationalStatistics (ONS) said Britainrecorded zero inflation inFebruary for the first time sincethe 1960s. It is widely expectedto turn negative in the comingmonths amid lower energy amidfalling food and oil prices.Recently a number of Bank ofEngland officials have publiclydampened any concerns about

deflation. This comes as theyprepare to enter a period ofsilence ahead of the general elec-tion in May next week.

In the US consumer pricesrebounded last month as petrolprices rose for the first timesince June, official figures show.The Consumer Price Index roseby 0.2% in February, butremained unchanged from a yearearlier. The monthly rise followsthree consecutive months ofdeclines, including a 0.7% dropin January.

Petrol prices rose 2.4% inFebruary, after falling by 18.7%in January. Economists expectthe strong dollar to keep infla-tion low in the coming monthsas it will make imported goodscheaper for consumers. The dol-lar has risen sharply in value inthe past year against the euro

and the yen, as theUS economy hasgrown more quick-ly than those ofEurope and Japan.

Job growth inthe US has beenrobust and theeconomy is steadi-ly expanding.Typically, thatwould lead the Fedto raise interestrates from near

zero, where they have been sinceDecember 2008. But the CPI isfar below the 2% target set bythe Federal Reserve and this iscomplicating the Fed's decisionon when to raise interest rates.

The us economy was alsoboosted by another impressivejobs figure after fewerAmericans than forecast filedapplications for unemploymentbenefits last week as improvedweather conditions ushered inlabour market stabilisation.Jobless claims fell by 9,000 to282,000 in the seven days endedMarch 21, the lowest level sincemid-February.

In Europe Last week MarioDraghi spoke at the Economicand Monetary AffairsCommittee where he gave amore positive outlook for theEurozone. Draghi mentioned

that although the ECB expectsinflation in the Euro Area toremain very low or negative inthe months ahead due to volatileenergy prices, with inflationrates increasing graduallytowards the end of the year. Thiswill be supported by the impactof the lower exchange rate andthe recovery of oil prices fromtheir current troughs. The latestECB projections foresee infla-tion at 0% in 2015, rising to1.5% in 2016 and 1.8% in 2017.

Business output in Europealso grew at its fastest rate innearly four years in March, theMarkit composite purchasingmanagers' index (PMI) rose to54.1 compared with 53.3 amonth earlier the highest level in46 months.

The improvement in busi-ness output was the result ofgrowth in new orders that hadincreased at their fastest ratesince 2011. Employment alsogrew at its fastest rate sinceAugust 2011. Job creation in theservice sector held steady nearFebruary's four year high, whilein the manufacturing sector itgrew at its quickest pace sinceApril last year. Crucially, the sur-vey showed that deflationarypressures eased in March withprices falling at the slowest ratesince July.

Inflation expected to turn negative

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www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201522 WORLD

Teachers seek restoration of termholidays London: The teachers union has called for an endto the ban on children being taken out of school forterm-time breaks. The union says that the ban isunfair for working parents, especially those withlower incomes. The parents who defy the ban canbe fined £60 each. If they refuse to pay, they face acriminal prosecution. The motion says that the headteachers should be more flexible in how they enforcethe rules to allow some parents to take their childrenout of school for a week-long family holiday.

Extra students putting pressure onschool budget London: A think tank has warned that schoolswould face financial squeeze as they face extrapressure to cope with a large number of studentscaused by soaring immigration and higher birthrates. A projected 7 per cent increase in studentnumbers is set to put pressures on spending,according to Luke Sibieta, programme director at theInstitute for Fiscal Studies and author of a newstudy.

Call to free grandparents frombabysitting London: Celia Imrie, actress and author, seeks tofree grandparents from babysitting. Imrie, star of“Calendar Girls” and “The Best Exotic MarigoldHotel,” said she was "shocked" by the demandsplaced on her retired friends, with an increasingpressure on the older generation to pick upchildcare. The actress, who has just written her firstnovel, said she had been left upset by witnessing"exhausted" friends who felt obliged to help theiradult children. Lamenting a new generation of "put-upon" grandparents, she disclosed she could "notbelieve her ears" at some of the conversations shehad been party to, including - increasingly -discussions about future inheritance. Condemningthe trend as "absolutely revolting” she added: "Inmy day you never, ever talked about your inheritanceand what you're going to get when your parentsdied. I'm not a grandmother yet, but it rather upsetsme when I see dear friends of mine who are of anage and are absolutely exhausted. But they neversay it because they are thrilled to help and theydon't know how to say no. But they are exhausted."

Conservationist calls for bridge overSerengeti to save wildlife Nairobi: Famous Kenyan conservationist RichardLeakey said that unless a bridge was built acrossSerengeti national park, “the greatest wildlifespectacles on the planet” could disappear within 20years. He said that plans to bisect the park with adual carriageway would jeopardise the annualmigration of 1.5 million wildebeest from the MasaiMara in Kenya unless a 22-mile section was elevated.Leakey said it was sad to sacrifice the wilderness,but said that Tanzania needed to improve itsinfrastructure, and that a bridge was the only wayfor people and wildlife to live in harmony. “In 10 to15 years there is a very real possibility that thewildlife won’t be able to cross the Mara,” he said.“We cannot afford to lose the greatest wildlifemigration in the world because some fool doesn’tbelieve the Tanzanians don’t need to move traffic.”He said that the bridge would cost less than $1billion, which was an acceptable price to save themigration.

Indian-American siblings get $9 mncompensation in assault case New York: An Indian-American brother-sister duohas been awarded record $9 million in damages forsevere injuries sustained when they were attackedwith metal bats during a brawl with two men in anight club here in 2005. Anuj Sapra and Arti Saprawon the judgment in the Manhattan Supreme Courtfor the incident at the city club when the two menmisbehaved with them and later beat them up withbaseball bats. The siblings' Indian-American attorneyRavi Batra said that the case "represents the seriousfallout of New York clubs regularly serving under-agechildren excessive amounts of liquor, and suchdrunken state coupled with immature judgment,becoming a violent trigger for serious injury, orworse, near-death." The court ruled against firmTen's Cabaret, which owned the club, and awardedcompensatory and punitive damages of over USD 8million for Anuj Sapra and over USD 640,000 for hissister. Batra said the Sapras were harassed andassaulted by Mohammad Abdul-Shakoor andMohammad Asif who were "under-age" but were still"illegally" served liquor by the club.

In Brief

London: On 3rdNovember 2015, 30colourfully decked autorickshaws will erraticallyrace 500 kilometres; start-ing from Khajurao toKipling Camp, Kanha,India, in the quest to bethe first to reach an ele-phant named Tara. Bydoing so, they will raise £1million for the purpose ofarresting the diminishingpopulation of elephants.Approximately 90% of theworld's Asian elephantshave been obliterated.This fundraising event

was announced by PrinceCharles and the Duchessof Cornwall, at a receptionat their Clarence Houseresidence in London on26th March 2015. Alsopresent at the receptionwas the Indian HighCommissioner, RanjanMathai, accompanied byhis wife, Geeta.The Prince of Wales

and the Duchess ofCornwall are joint presi-dents of the ElephantFamily charity. The charitywas established by the

Duchess' late brotherMark Shand in 2002, whorescued the elephant Tarain India. He consequentlywrote the bestselling bookabout it called, Travels onmy Elephant.Elephant Family was

founded to save Asian ele-phants, in particular ele-phants in India fromextinction.Simon Reuben, who is

also ranked 8th in therecently published, GlobalIndia Rich List is amongthe charity's patrons, aswell as Cyrus and PriyaVandrevala and GauravBurman. In June, the rick-shaws that will participate

in the con-test will travel around andon 28th June, the vehiclewill be auctioned atSotheby’s to racers, back-

ers and drivers.The money raised from

the auto rickshaw racewill go to the ElephantFamily.

Prince Charles announcesfundraiser for elephant family

Prince Charles and the Duchess ofCornwall

500 Kms race in Madhya Pradesh, Indiato save elephants

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SFO fined after sending documentsto wrong person

London: The SeriousFraud Office (SFO) werefined £180,000 after thou-sands of private docu-ments from a notablebribery investigation wereerroneously sent to thewrong person. There werepapers from an investiga-tion into BAE Systemsdeal; they comprised ofevidence relating to 64people. The InformationCommissioner's Officestates that the informationwere feebly sent to a wit-ness in the case in a star-tling blunder.The SFO said it had

"substantially overhauledits procedures".The leaked documents

included bank statements,hospital invoices and pass-

port details related to theSFO's investigation intoallegations that executivesat BAE received paymentsas part of an arms dealwith Saudi Arabia.Accusations of corrup-

tion and bribery led to anSFO probe in 2004, how-ever, it was closed in 2006on grounds of public inter-est, over concerns thatrelations with SaudiArabia were being marred.After the case closed,

the SFO sent more than2,000 bags of evidence tothe witness betweenNovember 2011 andFebruary 2013.This is the first time

that the SFO were finedby the UK's privacy regu-lator.

Indian eatery ownercharged for allergy deathLondon: The owner of astring of award-winningIndian restaurants in theUK has been charged withthe manslaughter of a 38-year-old customer whodied following a severeallergic reaction after eat-ing a curry that containedpeanuts.Paul Wilson was killed

by anaphylactic shockafter eating the curry froma takeaway which isbelieved to have containedthe nuts. The restaurantowner MohammedKhalique Zaman, 52, wascharged with manslaugh-ter by gross negligenceover the tragedy. It is thefirst time that a restaurantowner has faced such acharge.Wilson, who lived near

Thirsk, North Yorkshire,bought the meal from TheIndian Garden, in nearbyEasingwold, in January2014 just months beforethe introduction of a lawrequiring food businessesto provide allergy informa-tion on all unpackagedfood. Wilson, who hadrecently been promoted todeputy manager at the

Oak Tree pub in Helperby,was found collapsed in hisbathroom.Although allergies are

increasingly common,only around 10 people dieannually in the UK fromreactions to food. TradingStandards has recentlybegun clamping down onrestaurants who useground peanuts instead ofground almonds becausethey are cheaper, but donot disclose the ingredi-ent. Most consumerswould be unable to tell thedifference, but for thosesuffering from a peanutallergy, eating the misla-belled food could provefatal. Zaman has run sev-eral restaurants acrossNorth Yorkshire and Yorkfor more than 25 years,including the Jaipur Spicechain, which won the BestIn Yorkshire award at theBangladeshi CateringAssociation Awards in2012 and 2013. Zamanhas also been chargedwith perverting the courseof justice and an employ-ment offence under theImmigration, Asylum andNationality Act 2006.

Washington: Six US law-makers along with leadingadvocacy groups have wel-comed the inclusion ofSikh, Hindu, and ArabAmerican communities inthe Department ofJustice's hate crimes track-ing effort. This is the finalstep in the long-foughteffort to encourage the USfederal government tofinally begin tracking andquantifying hate crimesagainst these at-risk com-munities, the lawmakerssaid at an event on CapitolHill.

The Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI)recently updated its hatecrimes database and FBItraining manual in orderto start tracking hatecrimes committed againstthese groups - that systemis now fully operational.Ami Bera, the lone Indian-American member of theUS House ofRepresentatives, alongwith fellow House mem-bers Joe Crowley, BillPascrell, Mike Honda,Grace Meng and JohnGaramendi attended theevent. These lawmakersled a Congressional effortto encourage theDepartment of Justice andFBI to document hatecrimes against Sikh,Hindu, and ArabAmericans.

They wrote numerous

letters to the DOJ and FBIand introduced aCongressional resolutionin the wake of the tragicAugust 2012 massacre inOak Creek, Wisconsin,and submitting testimonyurging action on hatecrimes.

In 2011, two elderlySikh Americans, GurmejAtwal and Surinder Singh,were shot and killed whileout for a walk in ElkGrove, California, a partof Bera's constituency, in asuspected hate crime thatis still unsolved. "Since theSeptember 11th attacks,too many Americans,especially Sikh, Hinduand Arab-Americans, havebeen wrongfully subjectedto hate crimes and dis-crimination, including theshooting of two SikhAmericans in my owncity," Bera said.

"Religious tolerance isa fundamental value ofour nation and we mustdo everything we can toprevent these crimes moti-vated by bias against a vic-tim's religious beliefs," hesaid. "Until now, Anti-Sikh hate crimes were notrecognized by the FBI,"said Rajdeep Singh,Director of Law andPolicy at the SikhCoalition.

"Year after year, SikhAmericans were being tar-geted for harassment andviolence because of theirdistinct identity. "For thefirst time, the FBI nowofficially acknowledgesthat Sikhs are targeted forbeing Sikhs. While refine-ments are needed to theagency's tracking systemand training standards, weare making progress," hesaid.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 23WORLD

Number of Indian students in Oz rises Sydney: There are 13,730 Indian students enrolled inAustralian colleges in 2014 - an increase from 10,168in 2013, according to the latest international studentdata released by the Australian Trade Commission.The numbers in 2014 made Indian students the thirdlargest group of international student enrolments inNew South Wales. A decade earlier, Indian studentswere the fourth largest group. In 2012, the number ofIndian students who enrolled in an Australianuniversity was 11,239. The increase of nearly 3,562students in just one year could be due to the dip inthe numbers visiting Britain. Controversy over postwork visa in Britain has seen a major dip. Datarevealed by the Higher Education Funding Council forEngland (HEFCE) shows the number of Indianstudents fell from 18,535 in 2010-11 to 13,250 in2011-12 and further to 10,235 in 2012-13.

3 Lankan navy personnel arrested overTamil lawmaker's killing Colombo: Sri Lankan police have arrested three navypersonnel over an ethnic Tamil lawmaker'sassassination that had been blamed on Tamil Tigerrebels. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said thatthe three men are suspected in the killing of NadarajaRaviraj, who was shot dead in his car in 2006 duringthe country's civil war. Raviraj was outspoken ongreater self-rule for minority ethnic Tamils andexplained the Tamil perspective of the conflict inSinhala, the language of the majority. The governmentof former President Mahinda Rajapaksa blamed thekilling on the now-defeated Tamil rebels, but Raviraj'ssupporters suspected a government hand. Rajapaksa'sgovernment was accused of operating paramilitarygroups to kill and abduct rebel suspects anddissidents. The new government of PresidentMaithripala Sirisena has promised accountability forwartime abuses.

Another blogger hacked to death inBangladesh Dhaka: Another blogger was hacked to death in theBangladesh capital on Monday, in the latest brutalattack on the country's independent writers, a seniorofficer said. Police have arrested two people over themurder which comes just weeks after an Americanatheist blogger was also hacked to death in Dhaka, acrime that triggered international outrage, the officersaid. Police said they were unsure whether the victim,Washiqur Rahman, 27, was also an atheist blogger butanother social media writer said that he was known towrite "against religious fundamentalism". "It appearedRahman used to write using a pen name KutshitHasher Chhana (Ugly Duckling)," Imran Sarker, headof Blogger and Online Activists Network inBangladesh, said. "He was a progressive free thinkerand was against religious fundamentalism," he said.Police have also arrested a suspect over the killing inFebruary of American atheist writer and blogger AvijitRoy.

Indian-origin banker jailed forvoyeurism in Singapore Singapore: A 32-year-old Indian banker in Singaporehas been jailed for eight weeks on charges ofvoyeurism, including taking upskirt videos of womenfor over two years. Maha Vignesh Velippan, a formerexecutive at State Bank of India, admitted to 19charges of insulting modesty and one ofhaving 596obscene films from last August. Another 75 chargeswere considered during sentencing. The court heardthat during lunchtime on June 7, 2011, a 27-year oldbusiness relationship manager was on an escalator inthe Standard Chartered Bank building in the centralbusiness district (CBD) when she felt something brushagainst her legs. She turned around and saw Mahastanding beside her with a paper bag containing hisphone whose camera lens was pointed at her. Thewoman asked for his phone and found an upskirtvideo of herself and then called the police. Theoffences took place between 2008 and 2011. Maha'slawyer said his client suffered from voyeurism and sexaddiction but was making good progress in hispsychiatric treatment.

Lanka orders release of 54 Indianfishermen Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisenaordered the release of 54 Indian fishermen from TamilNadu arrested by its Navy for allegedly poaching inthe country’s waters. Sirisena’s order to release thefishermen came just ahead of the two-day India-SriLanka fishermen-level talks being held in Chennai. SriLankan Navy had arrested the 54 fishermen alongwith their 10 boats on March 21 when they wereallegedly poaching in island’s waters.

In Brief FBI to track hate crimesagainst Sikhs, Hindus, Arabs

Lahore: A Pakistani courtdirected the Punjab gov-ernment to decide "withinfive days" the detention ofLeT operations command-er and 2008 Mumbaiattack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi. LahoreHigh Court justiceMahmood Maqbool Bajwaordered the home depart-ment of the Punjab gov-ernment to decide thedetention matter at theearliest. Lakhvi filed acontempt of court petitionin the LHC seeking adirection for the state gov-ernment to decide hisdetention matter in thelight of an order passed byIslamabad High Court(IHC). The IHC on March13 had suspended the gov-ernment's detention orderfor Lakhvi and ordered hisimmediate release. Justbefore his release next day,the Punjab governmentissued a detention orderfor Lakhvi for another 30days under theMaintenance of PublicOrder. "After hearing thearguments from theLakhvi's counsel and a lawofficer, justice Bajwa dis-posed off the petition witha direction to the homedepartment (Punjab gov-ernment) to decide thedetention matter of thepetitioner within fivedays," a court official said.

Punjab govttold to decideon Lakhvi'sdetention

Washington: A federalgrand jury has indicted theAlabama police office whoviolently threw to theground an Indian grandfa-ther visiting his son in thetown of Madison, sayinghe used “unreasonableforce“ while acting in uni-form. The victim,Sureshbhai Patel (57), waspartially paralyzed andhad to spend severalweeks in hospital, and hasonly now resumed walkingwith the aid of a walker.

The one-count indict-ment filed in the US dis-trict court charges thatEric Sloan Parker (26),while acting in his officialcapacity as a police officeron February 6, injuredPatel by slamming him tothe ground. Parker'sactions deprived Patel ofhis right under the USconstitution to be securefrom unreasonableseizures, which includesthe right to be free fromunreasonable force bysomeone acting undercolour of law, according tothe indictment.

The indictment carriesa penalty of 10 years inprison if proved in a courtof law. Parker's attorneysaid he expects his client,who has been fired fromthe Madison police force,to plead not guilty.

US indicts ex-cop forassaultingIndian

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7 killed in Visakhapatnamfirecracker factory blastVisakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh): Sevenpeople were killed and five others injuredwhen an explosion took place at a firecrackermanufacturing unit in Visakhapatnam. Sixpeople died on the spot while another diedwhile shifting a hospital. The reason behindblast is yet to be ascertained. The entirebuilding went up in flames and people weretrapped under the debris. District revenueofficer K Nageswara Rao said that investigationwas underway and further details wereawaited. He also ruled out that the factory wasillegal. "He is having a license, a valid license,now we have verified at the office records,”said Nageswara. Andhra Pradesh chief ministerChandrababu Naidu announced acompensation of Rs 200,000 for the families ofthe victims.

KCR gets a jolt, BJP winsTelangana council seat Hyderabad: K Chandrasekhar Rao-ledgovernment in Telangana received a jolt withthe opposition BJP-TDP alliance bagging one ofthe two seats of the legislative council thatwent to polls last week. BJP's RamachandraRao won the election from Hyderabad-RangaReddy-Mahabubnagar graduates' constituency,defeating his nearest rival Devi Prasad of theTelangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) by 13,318votes. Rao polled 53,881 votes while Prasadsecured 40,563 votes. The main oppositionCongress got only 2,856 votes. According tothe Election Commission, of the 296,318electors, about 39 per cent exercised theirfranchise in Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahabubnagar graduates' constituency.

TDP MLAs stopped from enteringTelangana Assembly Hyderabad: Tension prevailed in the premisesof Telangana Legislative Assembly last weekwhen the security personnel stoppedlegislators of opposition Telugu Desam Party(TDP) from entering the building. Tenlawmakers, who were already suspended fromthe House for the entire budget session, facedembarrassing situation when the security staffdid not allow them to enter the building.

South Brief

AAP holds cycle rally to protestVIP cultureLudhiana: The Aam Aadmi Party organised acycle rally from Ludhiana to Chandigarh to lodgea protest against the money being spent onVIPs. "We are going to take this rally tillChandigarh. A lot of government`s money isbeing wasted on VIP," said senior lawyer andAAP member HS Phoolka. "On the other handthey don`t have money to pay their staff,teachers and college professors have not beenpaid since the past one year," he added.

New cancer hospital in Punjab Chandigarh: The Punjab government hassigned an MoU with Tata Memorial CentreMumbai for setting up Homi Bhabha CancerHospital at Sangrur. As per the pact, whichseeks to work in the direction of both preventingand curing cancer, the facility would be set up atCivil Hospital, Sangrur and would act as anoutreach facility to the upcoming Homi BhabhaCancer Hospital Research Centre at Mohali. Thefacility in District Civil Hospital, Sangrur will becatering the population of the Sangrur and otheradjoining districts of the Malwa region.

2 Pak smugglers shot dead Amritsar: A day after one Pakistani intruderwas gunned down while smuggling a sizeablequantity of contraband, two suspected Pakistaniintruders were shot dead by security personnelas they were trying to smuggle in heroin worthRs 600 million into India. Confirming the killing,Border Security Force DIG R P S Jaswal said thatan AK-47 assault rifle, too, was recovered fromthe intruders along with 12-kg of heroin. Jaswalsaid that the duo were challenged by BSFpersonnel and were repeatedly asked tosurrender, but they ignored the warnings. Thatinvited retaliation from the jawans and, duringthe exchange, the intruders were shot dead, hesaid.

North Brief

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradeshchief minister ChandrababuNaidu has zeroed in onAmaravati as the name of thenew capital of the state. TheCM will make the announce-ment at an auspiciousmoment, said sources. According to the sources,

Naidu finalized Amaravati asthe name of his upcomingcapital on the banks of riverKrishna on the rationale thatin one stroke, a new moderncapital can be linked to histo-ry dating back to at least2,000 years when the smalltown of Amaravati, which isabout 32 km away from thecore capital region, was a

major Buddhist centre.Since Amaravati is also

associated with Telugu her-itage dating back to theSatavahana kingdom, Naidufelt that it would be the mostappropriate name for the APcapital. It was also felt thatthe name Amaravati will ele-

vate the status of the newcapital and will be embracedby all Telugus. The sources said many in

the government and theTDP had suggested that thecapital be named after NTR,but Naidu had shot it down."The chief minister preferredthe historical importance ofthe region to the parochialsentiments expressed bysome of his colleagues," aminister, who revealedNaidu's decision to namethe capital as Amaravati,said. Naidu was toannounce the name of thenew capital while takingpart in the Ugadi festivities

in Tullur village revcently. "Before leaving

Hyderabad, he told us thatthe name Amaravati wouldbe announced on Ugadi andcarried with him all the nec-essary historical reportsabout the political and spiri-tual importance ofAmaravati. However, the CMlater decided to make theannouncement on an exclu-sive occasion," the ministersaid. The sources said Naidudid not want the capitalname announcement to bemired in any controversy asthe model election code ofconduct was in place for thelegislative council polls.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt has refused torestrain the Karnataka highcourt from passing its ver-dict on the appeal filed byformer Tamil Nadu chiefminister J Jayalalithaa andothers in a disproportionateassets case.A bench of Justices

Madan B Lokur and RBanumathi turned downDMK general secretary KAnbazhagan's plea that theHC should be directed notto pass its verdict till theapex court decides his pleachallenging continuance ofspecial public prosecutorBhavani Singh in the appealbefore the HC.The HC had on March

11 reserved its order afterwrapping up hearing in thecase. Senior advocate T RAndhyarujina, appearing forAnbazhagan, alleged thatthe prosecutor was “hand-in-glove“ with the accusedand his continuance wouldcause “perversion of jus-tice.” He said the prosecu-

tor did not opposeJayalalithaa's plea for sus-pension of sentence and bailduring hearing.He added it was the

state's duty, where a matterwas transferred, to appointthe prosecutor. Since theKarnataka government didnot appoint Singh, the TNgovernment notified hisappointment. “The appeal isvitiated because of thisman's presence. The publicprosecutor has no authorityto argue in the case,”Andhyarujina told thebench.

Bengaluru: In a shockingincident, an 81- year -old his-torian and scholar wasattacked by a group of peopleinside Banquet hall ofVidhana Soudha for object-ing government move overbirth anniversary celebra-tions of a mythological per-son. Scuffle took place beforechief minister Siddaramaiah,who was the chief guest, andtimely intervention by policeaverted the possible ruckus.Trouble begun soon after

historian M ChidanandaMurthy and others objectedgovernment decision to cele-brate birth anniversary ofDevara Dasimaiah, a staunchdevotee of lord Shiva, sayingthe celebrations should bemade in the name of JedaraDasimaiaha, who was a greatdevotee as well asVachanakara.Chidananda Murthy

argued that DevaraDasimaiah was not at all a'Vachanakara' (Vachanawriter). ''So, it is not right onthe part of the government to

celebrate his birth anniver-sary. In fact, he was a bache-lor. Jedara Dasimayya was a'Vachanakara' and as perrecords, he had penned 60-70vachanas. Jedara Dasimaiahand Devara Dasimaiah aretwo different persons. So Iobject to the government cel-ebrating Devara Dasimayya'sbirth anniversary consideringhim as a 'Vachanakara,'' thewriter said. ''When I came toknow of the celebrations, Ialong with like minded peo-ple met Kannada and cultureminister Umashri about 15days back and convinced herthat it is wrong on the part ofthe government to celebrateDevara Dasimaiah's birthanniversary as he was not atall a 'Vachanakara.'” he said."That day, Umashri just

noded to our appeal but didnothing. So today, we wentto the function and decidedto give a pamphlet to CMabout the issue. At that timesome people pulled mearound and the police tookus outside,'' he said.

Amritsar: Indian PrimeMinister Narendra Modi lastweek paid tributes to free-dom fighters and martyrs ofthe Jallianwala Bagh mas-sacre and visited the historicGolden Temple on a day-longvisit to Punjab.Soon after his arrival,

Modi went straight toHussainiwala in Ferozepurdistrict by a helicopter wherehe paid tributes to freedomfighters Bhagat Singh,Rajguru and Sukhdev at theNational Martyrs Memorialon the anniversary of theirmartyrdom. He later visitedthe Jallianwala Bagh memo-rial and paid floral tributes atthe memorial, where Britishtroops opened fire and killedhundreds of unarmedIndians in April 1919.He stopped by the

Martyr's Well which standstestimony to the brutalkilling of people, many ofwhom had no way to savethemselves but to jump in it.The Prime Minister endedhis day-long visit to Punjabby spending about 40 min-utes at the Golden Temple.This was his first visit to thecomplex after becomingPrime Minister.

Modi undertook theparikrama of the HarmandirSahib and paid obeisance inthe sanctum sanctorum,where he was offered a'Siropa' (robe of honour) bythe priest. Union MinisterHarsimrat Kaur, chief minis-ter Parkash Singh Badal andGovernor Kaptan SinghSolanki, were among thosewho accompanied the PrimeMinister.Modi also mingled with

the crowd of devotees insidethe temple complex andinteracted with the SGPCofficials. He wrote in the vis-itor book of of the GoldenTemple: "Guru Ashirwadbana rahey. Pavittar Pranam.Narendra Modi (May theBlessings of the Guru Alwaysremain.)"

Chandigarh: The CentralBureau of Investigation(CBI), which is probing thealleged castration of somefollowers at the Sirsa-basedDera Sacha Sauda (DSS)headed by Gurmeet RamRahim Singh, alleged thatthe Haryana governmentwas not cooperating with it.In a statement made

before the Punjab andHaryana high court, the CBIinformed that it had notreceived the required logisti-cal support from the stategovernment. It stated thatthe agency had written a let-ter on January 8 in thisregard to the Haryana chiefsecretary, but its responsewas still awaited. These sub-missions were made by thepremier investigation agencywhile submitting a statusreport in a sealed coverabout the probe. However,the counsel for Haryana gov-ernment assured the agencyand HC of doing the needful.On December 23, 2014,

the HC had ordered a CBIprobe into charges of forcedcastration of Gurmeet RamRahim's followers inside thedera after hearing a petitionfiled by Hans Raj Chauhan, a

former disciple. The HC alsoappointed senior advocate RS Cheema as amicus curiaeto assist it on the issue. Thecase has been fixed for fur-ther hearing on July 1 whenthe CBI will submit anotherstatus report on the matter.Earlier, while directing a

CBI probe into the matter,the HC had appointed notedlawyer Anupam Gupta asamicus curiae to bring tolight the high points anddeficiencies in the reportsand help the court formulateappropriate guidelinesthrough the investigation forsmooth trial if the probe ledto that.

Haryana govt not helpingin Dera case: CBI

PM Modi pays tributes to martyrs, visits Golden Temple

Writer attacked for opposingKarnataka govt plan

Andhra capital to be named Amaravati

SC allows Karnataka HC togive verdict in Jaya case

Chandrababu Naidu

J Jayalalithaa

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

India's ruling BJP hasbecome the largest politi-cal party in the world withits enrolment drive in thepast five monthstaking its mem-bership to 88 mil-lion. TheCommunist Partyof China was untilnow consideredthe largest partywith about 86 millionmembers.

Sources said the partyhit the 88 million mark onSunday and the BJPexpects its membership tocross 100 million by theend of this month, exactlywhat it had aimed forwhen it launched the drivein November last year.Party president Amit Shahwill announce the final fig-ure at the national execu-tive to be held inBangalore on April 3-4.

The ambitious mem-bership drive was Shah'sidea. He views a base ofactive members as a devicefor consolidating BJP's

freshly-achieved pre-emi-nence. Sceptics say thegroundswell in member-ship is no reliable reflec-

tion of the party'sactual strength onthe ground, andthat while PMNarendra Modi'spopularity andthe party's cur-rent influence

may draw thousands intothe fold, their loyalty willremain suspect and theymight bolt when the goinggets tough.

Sources in the partymaintain that the enrol-ment through missed callsis a huge improvementover the old practice whereblock-level functionarieswould mention names ofpurported members tomeet targets. The leader-ship had no way of inde-pendently verifying theseclaims. In the new scheme,the party can scrutinizeregistrations by calling upnumbers from wheremissed calls originated.

The phone numbers alsoprovide the party with away to maintain 'live' con-tact with members toupdate them on develop-ments and explain deci-sions as well as the contextin which they are taken.

Mobile phones are alsoviewed as vehicles forpropagating the party'spolicies and to counter thecriticism of opponents.The membership driveofficially came to an endon March 31 but there arechances that it may beextended in a few stateslike Maharashtra where,according to the party, alarge number of people arestill calling to registerthemselves with BJP. AfterUP, where it has set a tar-get of 15 million,Maharashtra is expectedto fetch the maximumnumber of members forthe party. Gujarat andMadhya Pradesh haveboth already accounted formore than 8000,000 mem-bers.

TRAVEL - INDIAwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 25

Former Indian prime min-ister Atal Behari Vajpayeehas been conferred withthe Bharat Ratna, thecountry's highest civilianhonour, by PresidentPranab Mukherjee atVajpayee's residence, withVice President HamidAnsari and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi attendingthe ceremony. PrimeMinister Narendra Modidubbed the day as 'his-toric' and showered praiseon President PranabMukherjee for departingfrom convention and per-sonally visiting Vajpayeeto confer him the honour.

Madan MohanMalviya too honoured

Later, on MondayMukherjee conferred theBharat Ratna on freedomfighter Madan MohanMalviya (posthumously).The family of the notededucationist was presentat the Rashtrapati Bhavanto receive the award. Bornon December 25, 1861,Pandit Malviya was cata-pulted into the politicalarena immediately after

his first moving speech atthe second Congress ses-sion held in Kolkata in1886. He was president ofINC in 1909 and 1918. Hismain achievement was theestablishment of theBanaras Hindu University.

President Mukherjeealso gave away the hon-ours to senior politiciansL K Advani, ParkashSingh Badal, sportsper-sons P V Sindhu,Arunima Singh, academi-cian David Frawley andfilm director Sanjay LeelaBhansali. Among thePadma Vibhushanawardees were Advani,Badal and JagadguruSwami Rambhadracharya.Padma Bhushan wasawarded to lawyer HarishSalve and journalistsSwapan Dasgupta andRajat Sharma.

Among the prominentPadma Shri awardeeswere film director SanjayLeela Bhansali, writer-lyricist Prasoon Joshi,physician Dr RandeepGuleria, creator of popu-lar cartoon character

“Chacha Chaudhary”Pran Kumar Sharma(posthumously), shuttlerP V Sindhu, hockey starSardara Singh andamputee Everest climberArunima Sinha.

Speaking after the cer-emony , badminton aceSindhu, one of theyoungest recipients, said,“It is a great day. I was notexpecting to receive thisaward and initially could-n't believe it. But I feelthis will give me confi-dence to perform betterand win more medals forthe country.” Anotherawardee Arunima, a for-mer national level volley-ball player and the firstfemale amputee to con-quer Mt Everest, said, “Iam very honoured. I planto start a non-profitschool for the specially-abled and hope that thegovernment will help mein setting up infrastruc-ture.” Joshi said the awardwas very special and wasfor his parents. “This hasmade them very happy,''he said.

Bharat Ratna conferred onVajpayee, Malviya

BJP becomes largest politicalparty in the world

Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya

Continued from page 1against Kejriwal, theparty's best known face.The duo has repeatedlyquestioned Kejriwal'ssupremacy.Hours after their

ouster, Medha Patkar, asenior leader, announcedin Mumbai that she wasquitting the party, sayingwhat happened in themeeting in New Delhi wasdisrespect to senior lead-ers and did not augur wellfor the future.Delhi's Chief Minister,

Kejriwal was present atthe meeting but left beforethe voting. The two otherswho were also sacked wereAnand Kumar and Ajit Jhafor siding with the rebelduo. The meeting, chairedby Gopal Rai, started withthe supporters of bothcamps shouting slogansagainst each other andholding banners. Yadavalso held a protest outsidethe venue over denial ofentry to "genuine" mem-bers.A national council

member said that manymembers shouted slogansin favour of Yadav andBhushan during the meet-ing and were reportedlyforcibly removed. A reso-lution to oust Yadav,Bhushan, Kumar and Jhawas tabled by Kejriwalconfidant Manish Sisodia.AAP national secretary

Pankaj Gupta toldreporters that 247 mem-bers had voted in favour ofthe proposal for removing

the four, while eight -including Delhi legislator,Devender Sherawat -opposed it. Two gave theirdissent in writing and 54members expressed noview.A member who attend-

ed the meet said thatKejriwal told the membersto "be either with him orwith them [Yadav,Bhushan]".At a media meet later, a

visibly upset Bhushansaid: "It is true that we canmove the court, ElectionCommission or call anoth-er meeting of the nationalcouncil. All options areopen.""I have been telling

him [Kejriwal] that he hasdictatorial tendencies andhe must curb them."I have failed. Instead

of curbing these dictatorialtendencies, he has ruth-lessly stifled any opposi-tion," he told reporters.Yadav also said that goonswere also present at themeet who beat their sup-porters.AAP was quick to

reject the charges as "base-less" with its leader,Sanjay Singh saying thatYadav and Bhushan want-ed to gain sympathy. "Noviolence had taken place.No one was hit or injured,"he told media after themeeting.Bhushan, a noted

Supreme Court lawyer,claimed the AAP meetingwas scripted while Yadavcalled it a "murder of

democracy". "There was nodistinction between mem-bers and invitees. ManishSisodia announced theyhave a petition signed by160 people... There was novoting, no discussion,"said Yadav, a psephologistand co-founder of AAP."There were many peo-

ple who opposed it, theywere not even given thechance. It is a total mock-ery of democracy." Yadavand Bhushan had fivedemands - transparency inthe AAP, autonomy forlocal units, a Lokpal probeinto graft charges againstparty members, AAPshould come within theambit of the RTI, and anend to secret ballot duringelection to key posts.Anand Kumar, a

Jawaharlal NehruUniversity professor whowas also ousted, however,said they would not leavethe party.Giving his account of

the events, he said:"Kejriwal said we causedtrouble in the elections,and asked members todecide whether we shouldbe ousted. But they didnot let us speak.""We are not out of the

party. We will neither leavenor break the party. This isa party of the workers," hesaid.

More changes madeA day after removing

Yadav and Bhushan, theAAP made furtherchanges, strengthening thegrip of Kejriwal over the

organisation. The AAPreconstituted its Lokpalpanel and the disciplinarycommittee, and created abody to strengthen its con-trol over the state units.Lokpal Admiral Ramdassaid in a letter that theparty told him it “nolonger required” his serv-ices following theannouncement of a three-member Lokpal panel.The party’s national

secretary, Pankaj Gupta,announced the reconstitu-tion of the disciplinarycommittee that was head-ed by Bhushan. It wouldnow have Dinesh Waghelaat the helm, besides Guptaand Ashish Khetan, vice-chairman of the the DelhiDialogue Commission, apet project of the Delhigovernment. Bhushanlikened the move to a“Stalinist purge,” but thefaction loyal to Kejriwalsaid the changes were“routine and in order.”The three-member

Lokpal panel members areN Dilip Kumar, a formerIPS officer; Rakesh Sinha,former DIG of the CentralIndustrial Security Force;and educationist S PVerma. Indicating the pos-sibility of taking the partyto court over the removalof Lokpal AdmiralRamdas, Yadav said theNational Executive had noauthority to appoint aLokpal as its constitutionempowered only theincumbent to choose asuccessor.

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201526 INDIA

Over 100 Christians arrested forlynching 2 in Pakistan Lahore: Over 100 Christians have been arrested forallegedly being part of a mob that lynched two menafter Taliban suicide attacks on two churches inPakistan’s biggest Christian colony that killed 17people. Confirming the arrests, a senior investigationofficer said that more than 100 Christian protesterswere arrested. They are currently being investigatedby the police to determine their role in the protests.“We first established identity of the suspects throughTV footages, still cameras and other relevant sourcesbefore laying hand on them,” he said. The usualSunday mass was underway on March 15 at the ChristChurch and Catholic Church of Youhanabad ChristianColony that houses over 100,000 Christians, when twosuicide bombers reached there and tried to break in.When the guards stopped them from entering thechurches they blew themselves up at the gates. Afterthe blasts the police had taken two suspects intocustody from the site and shifted them to a vehiclewhen a group of charged youngsters got hold ofthem. The enraged mob started thrashing the twosuspects and after beating them severely, the mobtied them with a rope and set them on fire.

Police official fired amid outcry overlynching in Kabul Kabul: A prominent Afghan police official was sackedas hundreds of men and women marched in thecapital to protest the lynching of a 27-year-old womanin central Kabul recently. The official, a spokesman forKabul’s police chief, justified the killing on hisFacebook page after she had been falsely accused ofburning a copy of the Koran. The woman, namedFarkhunda, was beaten to death with planks of woodand set on fire by a crowd in front of police officersclose to the presidential palace, ministries and foreignembassies. Her death has triggered a public outcry ina country where mass demonstrations of support forwomen’s rights are rare. Protesters in Kabul paintedtheir faces red to represent Farkhunda’s bloodied faceas filmed by mobile phones as she was beaten todeath. “We have come here to tell the government ofAfghanistan that we will no longer be satisfied withsuperficial narratives,” said Afghanistan’s former spychief, Amrullah Saleh, who was at the protest.

In Brief

Former Indian primeminister Manmohan Singhfiled an appeal in theSupreme Court against thesummons issued to him bya trial court overaccusations of criminalconspiracy and corruptionin the illegal award of acoal field. Upset over thesummons issued to him,Manmohan had earlierthis month said he wassure that the truth wouldprevail in the matter."I hope in any fair trial,

I would be able toestablish my totalinnocence. I have statedbefore the CBI myposition and I have also asa prime minister issued astatement justifying whatwe did," he said.Congress president

Sonia Gandhi had led asolidarity march toManmohan Singh'sresidence in the nationalcapital, saying that theparty was outraged onhearing the news of thesummons being served bya court on the formerprime minister. She hadalso said that the Congresswas fully behind him.A special CBI court in

Delhi summonedManmohan Singh,industrialist KumarMangalam Birla andformer coal secretary P CParakh in a coal blockallocation case, terming ita "criminal conspiracy"with the objective to "doan illegal act".

The court summonedthem on alleged charges ofcriminal conspiracy,breach of trust and undervarious provisions of thePrevention of CorruptionAct. They have all beenasked to appear before thecourt on April 8. The casepertains to the allocationof the Talabira II coalblock in Odisha toHindalco in 2005, whenSingh was holding the coalportfolio. Known for hispersonal integrity andhumble lifestyle, Singh hasnot been charged with anycrime but is beinginvestigated for criminalbreach of trust, criminalconspiracy, cheating andcorruption, a prosecutionlawyer said. The CBI hadearlier excluded Singhfrom the investigation. HisCongress party called thesummons a backlashagainst its opposition toeconomic reforms thatPrime Minister NarendraModi wants to pushthrough parliament.

Manmohan challenges summons

in coal scam case

Kejriwal tightens grip over Aam Aadmi Party

Continued from page 1days.Of the 16 people killed

in Budgam, the bodies ofall have been recoveredfrom a house that col-lapsed in landslides trig-gered by rain. The waterlevels in the river Jhelumhave receded. Late onSunday night, the rivercrossed the danger mark,causing panic in a regiondevastated by floods inSeptember that left some250 people dead anddestroyed thousands ofhomes.The state government

declared floods and morethan 300 families weremoved to safety. Officialshave set up over 20 reliefcamps fearing a repeat ofthe previous floods. Allschools were closed onMonday and exams werepostponed.Prime Minister

Narendra Modi has sentUnion minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi to monitorrelief operations. "I hopeand pray that we don'thave to face the situationwe faced in September.But there is no loss ofcommunication or anymajor loss to roads," saidformer chief ministerOmar Abdullah, whosedefeat in the state pollslast year was partlyblamed on the poor han-dling of the floods.The armed forces,

along with four helicop-ters, have been kept readyfor deployment at shortnotice. Teams of theNational DisasterResponse Force are in theflood-hit areas ofSrinagar. The central gov-ernment has granted Rs 2billion as immediate relief,and the state governmenthas sanctioned Rs 250million for Kashmir andRs 100 million for theJammu region, which alsohas been affected.According to officials,

the water level at Sangamand Ram Munshi Bagh -two monitoring sites - isbelow the danger markand can go down further ifthere is no rain. "Waterlevels at Sangam was 16feet and at Ram MunshiBagh is 17.3. If the waterlevel at Sangam comesfurther down to 12 ft,hopefully we will have nofloods even if it rains fortwo more days,'' said min-ister for public worksAltaf Bhukari. The gov-

ernment, however, is notready to lower its guard."We have increased

vigil along the river banksand our local administra-tion is all geared up. Evenif there is a flood situationwe should be able to evac-uate 95% of the popula-tion on foot. The require-ment for boats should beless,'' Bhukari added.According to him,

meteorological depart-ment has not predicted avery strong weather sys-tem in the coming days."They are saying only 25mm rain is expected butwe still have to be vigi-lant,'' he added. Incessantrains on Saturday andSunday caused Jhelum toswell creating panic inSrinagar, which was oneof the worst hit inSeptember's devastatingfloods.After the state govern-

ment declared floods, peo-ple started moving out ofthe areas which wereaffected by the last inun-

dation. Landslide had hitHajjam Mohalla of Ladenon Monday burying twohouses to the ground.There were three familiesin the houses comprising8 men, 7 women and aninfant who was less than amonth old. According tolocal police officials, res-cue operations were diffi-cult as the machines couldnot be moved to the spot."The area had turned intoa swamp, so rescue andsearch operations had tobe undertaken manually,"said a police officer.

Flood situation undercontrol: RajnathThe Centre on

Tuesday said the flood sit-uation in Jammu &Kashmir so far is not asgrave as last year butauthorities are on alert todeal with any situation."Situation is not as graveas last time. But we arefully alert and if requiredwe will send more assis-tance," home ministerRajnath Singh said. The home minister on

Tuesday had a telephonicconversation with Jammu& Kashmir chief ministerMufti Mohammad Sayeedwho gave him a detailedbriefing about the floodsituation in the state. "Wehave our governmentthere now. They are doingtheir best. But as of nowsituation is under con-trol," he said.

16 killed in Kashmir flood, landslide

Manmohan Singh

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 27

There are a couple ofthings that can stand inthe way of a good night'ssleep - at the worse, ahowling dog and a snoringhusband.The rule book says that

six to eight hours of sleepis a must for a healthylifestyle. But in ourbustling cities, not alwaysdo we have the luxury of aspace with nature's sooth-ing rhythms or absolutesilence. Listening to themighty waves beatingagainst the shore is cer-tainly one of the mostpeaceful things amid thesilence that otherwisewould have filled theroom. Now, juxtaposingthe same situation withone where your ears aresubjected to the harsh,hoarse sound coming fromthe person sleeping nextyou or probably in thenext room - bummer!What triggers snoring

in a person is his or herinability to breathe prop-erly while sleeping. In thewords of science, whenthe air movement is par-tially obstructed whilebreathing - as one sleeps -it causes vibrations in thethroat leading to loud,hoarse sounds. For some,it may not affect them tothat extent, but in manycases it can lead to some

serious repercussions,triggering chronic sleepdeprivation and obstruc-tive sleep apnea (cessationin breathing that can lastfrom a few seconds up to aminute).Health experts have

noted how loss of sleepresulting from snoring canlead to fatigue, lack offocus, lethargy, drowsinessand so on. Many studieshave revealed it couldincrease risks of strokeand heart attack. Loudsnoring is also known tocause disturbances in thecarotid artery that is close-ly situated to the airway.According to the NationalSleep Foundation, snoringis more common in obesemen but affects women aswell. It becomes more seri-ous as the person ages.

What can help?One of the most commoncauses of snoring is some-thing which is in our owncontrol - lifestyle. Frommaintaining healthyweight, avoiding smokingand alcohol, adopting cor-rect sleeping posture toprobably just changingyour pillow; you can phaseout this cacophony out ofyour life just by tweakingyour lifestyle a bit. Oftenpeople tend to snore when

they sleep on their back, insuch a case, one should trysleeping on the sidesinstead.Choosing a higher pil-

low will elevate your headwhile sleeping that canhelp ease out snoring. Health experts believe

that hygiene can also playan important role in curb-ing snoring. Make surethat your environment isclean and dust free. Thiscan ward of any respirato-ry infections or allergiesthat may otherwise triggerconditions facilitatingobstructive breathing.Clearing your nasal

passage or using nasalsaline rinses just beforesleeping may also help, ina certain cases, one mayalso resort to nasal strips.Consume enough flu-

ids and stay hydrated.According to some stud-

ies, lack of hydration caus-es nasal secretions to turnsticky, which may obstructsmooth breathing.

Eating HabitsBeing a little cautious withone's eating habits canalso keep snoring at bay.Those who have sensitiveor weak throat shouldavoid heavy meals, dairyproducts and caffeine atleast a couple of hoursprior to sleeping, however,one can always opt forherbal and organic bever-ages like green or black teawith lemon and honey. Herbal and organic

teas along with holy basil,clove and pepper areknown to have phlegmand congestion reducingproperties and help inclearing nasal passage. Many believe that

dairy products are not agreat option during con-gestion, in such a case,switching to soy milk mayhelp. Avoid consumingfoods that might causeinflammation in throat tis-sues. Greasy and oilyfoods should also be con-sumed in moderation.Consider cooking yourmeals in olive oil insteadof regular oil and try swap-ping red meat with fish attimes.

Seeds are often castaside as a health fad,an embellishment toyour diet or a crazethat can be ignored.But seeds deserve bet-ter. They’re minisculepowerhouses of pro-tein that can be eatenas is or rolled intobreads, desserts, gra-nola bars, pretzels andeven purees.Every plant has a seed

but only a few of them arehigh on flavour and reekof health benefits.Previously, we’ve featuredflaxseeds, chia seeds, sun-flower seeds and sesameseeds, and listed out thehealth benefits of each.But now it’s time forpumpkin seeds to sharethe spotlight.Pumpkin seeds,

known as ‘pepita’ or 'pepi-ta de calabaz’ (little seedsof squash) in Spanish arecreamy, crispy and bite-sized seeds of the pump-kin fruit. They make a ter-rific snack-on-the-go andmake an equally goodingredient for all yourculinary ambitions. There are two varieties

of pumpkin: the ‘babybear’ pumpkin is small insize and has pale, white-coloured seeds. They havea stubborn layer of hullaround them which givesthem a tough and chewytexture. The other kind of

How to tackle snoring: causes and remedies

Why whole grains are good for youWe’ve often been toldabout the benefits ofadding grains to our diet.Grains, especially wholegrains, are a great sourceof complex carbohy-drates. While carbohy-drates may have a badreputation, whole grainscontain the ‘good carbs’.A whole grain is theentire seed of the plantcomprising of the germ,endosperm, and the bran,unlike refined grainswhich retain only theendosperm after beingprocessed. Commonwhole grains includewheat, oats, millets,quinoa, barley, amaranthand more. They areloaded with key minerals,dietary fibre, antioxidantsand are also naturally lowin fat.Better yet, a new

Harvard study suggeststhat the secret to a longand healthy life is to addwhole grains to your dailydiet. It has linked thedaily consumption ofwhole grains to a lowerrisk of chronic diseaseslike heart trouble, dia-betes, certain cancers andother health problems.The results published inthe open access journalBMC Medicine alsoshowed that a diet high inwhole grains and cerealfibres may reduce yourrisk of premature death.

The study included367,442 people above age50 who were followed forabout 14 years. Theywere asked to fill ques-tionnaires to gather infor-mation on their healthand diet - based on fre-quency of meals, foodtypes and portion size.Researchers found

that consumption of anaverage 34 grams ofwhole grains per 1000kilocalories (kcal) perday was associated with a17 percent reduced risk ofpremature death com-pared to those consumingan average of 3.98 gramsper 1000 kcal per day. Even when they

accounted for factorssuch as health status,physical activity and obe-sity status the resultsremained the same. Theyfound that consuming anaverage of 10.22 gramsper 1000 kcal of cereal

fibers a day was associat-ed with a 19 percentreduced overall risk ofdeath compared to thoseconsuming an average2.02 grams per 1000 kcalper day. When broken down

for individual chronic dis-eases the research revealssurprising information.High whole grain con-

sumption was associatedwith an 11 percent and 48percent reduced risk ofdeath from respiratorydisease and diabetes,respectively.Whereas high con-

sumption of cereal fibershad a 15 percent and 34percent reduced risk ofmortality from cancer anddiabetes, respectively.According to the scien-tists, whole grains andcereal fibre may be helpdue to certain protectiveproperties like anti-inflammation.

Pumpkin Seeds: rich in protein, fibreand natural oils

pumpkin is the ‘LadyGodiva’ pumpkin which isbigger in size and hasmuddy, green colouredseeds. The ‘baby bear’pumpkins are the onesyou get in India and theother kind is commonlyfound in the UnitedStates. They’re also usedfor carving duringHalloween. The white seeds have a

bit more hull around themwhich makes them mildlychewy and rough. Hull is adry outer covering whichis usually found on fruitsand seeds. If you find rawseeds difficult to eat, trypressing them with arolling pin and then boilfor about half an hour. Thegreen seeds can beenjoyed raw as well, oryou could roast them realnice.

One of the ques-tions that haunts everyvegetarian is – how canI get my fair share ofprotein? Protein isabsolutely crucial as itspeeds up your metab-olism, ramps up yourbody strength andhelps you focus. Andthis is where seedscome to your rescue.Pumpkin seeds espe-

cially are extremely highon both protein and fibremaking them a terrificsnack that can be enjoyedduring any time of the day.Pumpkin seeds are

rich in zinc which worksas a mild aphrodisiac.Zinc also encourages therenewal of cells, repairsdamage and promoteshealthy hair. These seedsare also one of the topsources of phosphorus,which pumps up yourmetabolism and is impor-tant for energy. Otherthings that make pumpkinseeds a terribly healthysnack are: they’re awfullyrich in magnesium whichis crucial to a wide rangeof important physiologicalfunctions, pumping of theheart, relaxation of bloodvessels and seamlessbowel function.

Mixing lettuce varietiescould help provide pro-tection against the chainreactions of free radicals,molecules that can causecell damage and generatevarious diseases, sug-gests a study.The findings, pub-

lished in the Journal ofAgricultural and FoodChemistry, said that mix-ing lettuce, one of theindispensable vegetablesin the Mediterraneandiet, could be a good ideaas not all lettuce varietieshave the same antioxi-dant effect.Free radicals harm

our body by causing, inthe best of cases, ageingand, in the worse, seri-

ous diseases.Lettuce is rich in

antioxidants, as it con-tains compounds likephenolic acids,flavonoids, antho-cyanins, and vitamins Aand C, among otherthings, the researcherssaid.

Mix lettuce varieties to gainmaximum health benefits

Specialist Chef required by a wellestablished company specialising in Indian

catering based in London. Must be aspecialist in the preparation and cooking ofall types of Indian Gujarati vegetarian sweets(Mitahi), desserts and savouries, and be ableto use fresh or raw ingredients. Must have arelevant experience. The role requires beingable to handle our large wholesale Indian

sweet orders on a regular basis.Closing date for the vacancy will be 28

calendar days from 4 march 2015. Please contact with your cv at:

enquiries@saverafoods.co.uk

Specialist Chef required

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201528

“Detective Byomkesh Bakshy” isan upcoming Indian crimethriller film directed by DibakarBanerjee and produced byBanerjee and Aditya Chopra.The film is based on the fictional

detective Byomkesh Bakshi cre-ated by the Bengali writerSharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Thefilm stars Sushant Singh Rajput,Anand Tiwari and SwastikaMukherjee in principal roles.

Vi d y aB a l a n ,

who was inChennai totake part inan event,h a sexpressedher wish tobe part ofTamil andMalayalammovies. "Iam just wait-ing for theright script,"she says. TheBollywood actressfondly says thatboth Tamil andMalayalam are hermother tongues. "So,I am eager to dofilms in both theselanguages," she says,recalling her visit tochennai when she wasa kid. "Once I wastaken to Kamal sir'shouse. I was a great fanof him. But I could notmeet him since he wasaway. I was given a photo-graph with his autographand I was so happy,"Vidya says, going downthe memory lane.

Salman gifts a painting tohis sister Arpita

Salman Khan is a fabulous painter apart frombeing an actor. His paintings fetch him a lot ofappreciation. The actor has recently gifted a paint-ing to his sister Arpita Khan. The painting depictsdifferent stages of offering Namaaz. Arpita posteda photograph of the painting on her Instagrampage. Arpita, who got married to her long timeboyfriend, Aayush Sharma in 2014, opened up forthe first time in a candid interview. Talking abouther biggest support she said that her dad is herbackbone, and Salman Khan is the person whomakes her believe that she can walk over thisworld and nothing can happen to her.

Ranbir makes Anushka cry

According to a report, Ranbir Kapoor madeAnushka Sharma cry on the sets of “Bombay

Velvet.” While Anushka is apparently a very pri-vate person, Ranbir reportedly loves foolingaround with his co-stars. During one suchepisode, Ranbir Kapoor had allegedly irritated theactress so much that Anushka started crying.However, Anushka maintains that Ranbir is agood actor and that she respects him.

Playing a non glamorous protagonist isnothing new for Dhanush. If in“Aadukalam” he played a rooster fighter,audience will soon see him play a railwaypantry worker in a yet-untitled next Tamilfilm, to be directed by Prabhu Solomon."The entire film will be shot in movingtrains. Dhanush will be playing a pantryworker," said Solomon.Known for working with newcomers,

Solomon chose Dhanush because heloves his performance. "It's true that Iprefer working with new faces, butDhanush is an exception. He's an amaz-ing actor and this film will showcaseanother side of the actor in him," he said.The filmmaker usually likes to take

his audience to faraway, unknown spotsthrough his works. And he says he willsurprise audiences in this film as well ashe's planning a trip to Assam soon to zeroin on some locations. He adds that thefilm will be a travel script."I've always wanted to do a travel film.

In a train, it's quite possible to find manystories," he added. The film's story isabout a guy who travels from Delhi toChennai via Duronto Express. "I'll spendthe next few weeks finalising on the loca-tions. Dhanush has already started work-ing on his next project. Once I'm backfrom my location recce, we'll discuss withhim possible dates to start shooting," hesaid.Prabhu is yet to finalise the rest of the

cast, and the film is most likely to featurea new heroine. Dhanush, who recentlywrapped up Tamil romantic-comedy“Maari,” has started shooting a yet-unti-tled project with the team of his lastyear's blockbuster “Vela Illa Pattathari.”

Dhanush to playa pantry worker

in his next

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan,who is busy promoting forth-

coming Tamil release “UttamaVillain”, has wrestled with so manycontroversies over the years thathe feels they follow him and willcontinue for the remainder of hiscareer.“Even till last week, we were

fighting a case in connection withmy film “Papanasam.” We knowwho filed the case, and fromwhere. It’s like trouble and con-troversies always follow me,”Kamal said. “I feel I’m alwaystargeted. It has happened in thepast too. For instance, peopleobjected the title of my film'Mumbai Express.' They said thetitle wasn’t in Tamil, but what’sthe Tamil word for Mumbai? Inan earlier case, they didn’t let me

name one of my films ‘Sandiyar’, anda few months ago, a film with thesame name released. Why didn’t any-body object to it,” he asked.Kamal’s recent release Tamil spy

thriller “Vishwaroopam” was

embroiled in controversies afterMuslim groups felt they were por-trayed in bad light. The same filmearned the wrath of the distributorsafter Kamal commissioned an idea torelease the film via DTH platform onthe day of theatrical release.“It’s one of the other branches of

film business. We have to do businessin all directions,” said Haasan, whoalso blames the Central Board of FilmCertification for curbing the freedomof speech.

Director Ram andPriyamani willshare the screen spacetogether in a film to bedirected by G EAathityaa, a former associ-

ate of Mysskin. Interestingly,the movie will have script byMysskin himself. "Apart from pen-

ning the script for his associate's debutventure, Mysskin will also play a cru-cial role in it," sources said, pointingout the director's earlier acting ven-tures 'Nandalala' and 'OnaaiyumAatukuttiyum'. There is also a buzzthat Mysskin will play a negative rolein this yet untitled movie. Shootingwill start in Chennai on June 15.

VidyaBalanwants todo Tamilfilm

Priyamani, Ram in Mysskin movie

Trouble, controversies alwaysfollow me: Kamal Haasan

'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy'

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 29

Jackie Chan coming toto film 'Kungfu Yoga'

Lara Dutta joins 'Fitoor' cast

Asian cinema's icon Jackie Chan sayshe may come to India to shoot his

new film “Kungfu Yoga,” the first projectunder a India-China co-production agree-ment signed during President Xi Jinping'svisit last September. When Chan last vis-ited India in 2013, he spoke about theneed for encouraging movie collabora-tions and cultural exchange between thetwo countries. When asked whether he isplanning something in that direction, hesaid, "Yes, I am planning to start a newmovie called 'Kungfu Yoga.' That means Iwill be returning to film in India. Perhapsnext time you will interview me on a set,"he said. Chan will be seen in a prominentrole in “Kungfu Yoga.”

Kangana Ranaut bags bestactress award for 'Queen'

Veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha has beenmissing from the filmy scene for a while

now. Although, the actor might be busy withhis political career, but that does not makehim any less wanted in the showbiz.According to reports, maverick filmmaker AMurugadoss will bring the father-daughterduo together first time ever on screen, in hisfilm “Akira.” This film is classic director'sfirst original Hindi script, given the fact thathis earlier outings were South remakes.Well, it would be exciting for the fans to seeShotgun junior and original 'Khamosh' actorto share the screen space together as fatherand daughter.

Sonakshi to play daddy's'reel' daughter in 'Akira'?

'Ram Lakhan' cast notfinalized: Karan JoharThere were reports

that the cast ofSubhash Ghai's 1989film, “Ram Lakhan”remake has beenfinalized, but KaranJohar clarified thatthe cast has not beendecided yet. Karangot onto amicroblogging site to clear the air writ-ing, "While Rohit and I are extremelyexcited with the excitement 'RamLakhan' has generated....we would liketo say...it has not been cast!!!" The orig-inal “Ram Lakhan” starred JackieShroff, Anil Kapoor, Dimple Kapadiaand Madhuri Dixit Nene and the buzzwas that Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhattand Pakistani actor Fawad Khan willfeature in the remake. Reports suggest-ed that Sidharth would portray the roleof Ram, Fawah would be seen asLakhan. Now that Karan has made itclear, we eagerly await the announce-ment of the film's cast.

Shraddha Kapoor hasstepped into fashion

designing with her label'Imara.' “It was always adream to create my ownfashion label and part-nering with Anjana(Reddy) of USPL mademy dream come true.'Imara' is all about fairy-tale and this is my fairy-tale coming true,”Shraddha said on theopening day of AmazonIndia Fashion Weekwhere her fashion labelmade its debut. USPLco-creates celebrity fash-ion labels and currentlyhave under their bannernames like WROGNwith cricketer ViratKohli and nowShraddha’s ‘Imara’.About the collection,

the actress-singer andnow designer says that itis inspired by the mod-ern woman and is a con-temporary rendition ofthe conventional. “The

collection is a modernIndian adaptation ofclassics, from once upona time that experimentswith ethnic designs andoffers a refreshing takeon fashion, for the youngand the stylish. A line ofclothing for the newIndian woman,”Shraddha said.

The collection ismeant for all the smartand independent womenwho are “open and free”.“Imara caters to theyouth and young atheart,” added the“Haider” fame actresswho feels proud that thefilm has bagged fiveNational Film Awards.

“It is always a greatdelight to be recognizedfor excellence. Not tosound boastful, but fiveawards is always a pleas-ure,” she said. The pricerange of the collectionunder 'Imara' starts at Rs699 for the mix andmatch and goes up to Rs4,000 for the ensemble.

Shraddha Kapoor turns designer

Ac t r e s sand for-

mer beautyqueen LaraDutta hasjoined thecast ofA b h i s h e kK a p o o r ' s“ F i t o o r , ”and she'sglad herdaughter hasgiven her athumbs upfor her lookin the movie."New day, new movie!! Happy to join thecast and crew of Fitoor for Day 1! Daughterhas passed her verdict on my outfit so I'mgood to go," tweeted Lara, a mother tothree-year-old daughter Saira with husbandMahesh Bhupathi. In "Fitoor", which alsostars Katrina Kaif, Rekha and Aditya RoyKapur, Lara is reportedly playing the part ofan art curator.

Bollywood actressDeepika Padukone,

who will be seen sharingthe screen space withmegastar AmitabhBachchan in “Piku” saystheir chemistry in thefilm is "very organic". "Inthe years I have knownAmitji outside work, ourchemistry came to usvery naturally. I remem-ber them mentioning thatI remind them of theirdaughter and they arealso very protective aboutme. Our chemistry in thefilm is very organic,"Deepika told reports dur-ing the film's trailerlaunch.Directed by Shoojit

Sircar and written by JuhiChaturvedi, “Piku” fea-tures Amitabh, Deepikaand Irrfan in lead and isslated for May 8 release.However, the film

also saw a very unusualpromotion where parents

were invited for the trail-er launch and accordingto reports it wasDeepika's idea."Somewhere we have all

contributed in whateverway possible. The filmitself is a very personaljourney of Piku andBaba. Its more than the

story... it's aboutthe characters.Even in terms ofour communica-tion, we havekept it as inti-mate and as per-sonal as possible.We hope all ofyou liked theidea," she said.Irran says all

aspiring actorsshould observeAmitabh's work."It was a greatexperience forme and if anyonewants to be anactor, they haveto observe Big Band that's com-pulsory. He fol-lows the direc-tor's vision obedi-ently and is

always playful. We allwere emotional towardsthe end of the shoot ofthis film," he said.

Kangana Ranaut has wonthe national award for

best actress for the year 2014and her film “Queen” hasbeen honoured with the bestfilm award in the feature filmscategory. This is Kangana'ssecond national award. Theactress had received the bestsupporting actress award in2009 for the film “Fashion.”Kannada actor Vijay has wonthe best actor award for hisperformance in the film“Nanu Avanalla, Avalu.”The list of other award

winners are: Best feature film-“Court” (Marathi, Gujarati,Hindi, English); best debutfilm of a director - “Asha JaoarMajhe” (Bengali); best popu-lar film providing wholesomeentertainment- “Mary Kom”(Hindi); best animated film-

“Sound of Joy”; best direc-tion- Srijit Mukherji for“Chotushkone” (Bengali);best supporting actor - BobbySimha for “Jigarthanda;” bestsupporting actress - BaljinderKaur for “Pagdi TheHonour;” best male playbacksinger - Sukhwinder Singhfor “Haider”; best femalePlayback singer - Saivam andUttara Unnikrishanan for“Azhagu” song; best screen-play (dialogues) - VishalBharadwaj for “Haider”; bestmusic direction (songs) -Vishal Bharadwaj for“Haider” (Hindi). Best musicdirection (background score)- Gopi Sundar for “NineteenEighty Three” (Malayalam)and best costume design -Dolly Ahluwalia for“Haider.”

My chemistry with Amitji in 'Piku'very organic: Deepika

www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 201530 UK

Your self-confidence isriding high and at times

totally misplaced. It's good to be positive and opti-mistic but it can be destructive when you don't listento others and always think that you are right. This canlead to a fall in grace, so it is important to become a lit-tle more humble. Travel to far off lands are indicated.

The pattern of significantrelationships in your life

will continue to favour you. It seems that a great dealof mutual benefit will accrue because of various inter-actions. The underlying trend indicates that deep cre-ative energies are stirring within you and that seem-ingly insignificant events will play a vital role in thefuture enrichment of life.

Although there are veryintense amorous energies

indicated in your chart, the trouble is that these arelikely to be marred by feelings of jealousy. Do nottherefore dabble in anything that could harbour suchnegative potential, as it is bound to end in heartache.Existing emotional differences can be sorted out now.

Life appears to be focus-ing your mind on practi-

cal matters. So you will need to organise your timecarefully if you are to avoid an "all work and no play"situation. Resist making any hasty moves when itcome to finances - this is a time to focus on consolida-tion of current assets

Anything or anyone thatdrains your time and energy

should be re-evaluated. It’s time to use that creativeimagination of yours to create grandeur in your life.Don't get too carried away and lose sight of little thingsthat mean a lot to you. There are a lot of opportunitiesaround you.

Your energy and attentionwill be very much devoted

to financial matters. The tide of fortune continues torun strongly in your favour for some time to come. Youwill be working harder than usual, intent on gettingthings done. Close personal relationships may comeunder some stress and strain.

You need to pay moreattention than usual to

your everyday work dairy. Meetings, work hours andorganised breaks could play havoc, unless you're pre-pared to re-group on the spur of the moment. Try to bemeticulous but flexible about your schedule. Play yourcards right and you can pull strings in your favour.

You will feel energetic andconfident as the week

begins. Your thinking is inspired, so listen to yourthoughts. This may be a time of expansion andimproved opportunity and it would be unwise to letyourself become complacent. A good time for restruc-turing and rethinking your aims and interests. Affairsof the heart are likely to flourish.

The planetary activityin your chart signals a

time of mixed emotions as well as personal issues to bedealt with. The accent’s very much on relationships.The outlook remains optimistic, so don't be afraid toact if your instinct tells you it's time for change.Professional and financial pressures will begin to ease.

An inspiring boost tomatters of communi-

cation but make sure your curiosity on a range of top-ics does not lead to a scattering of mental energy. Witha surge of energy and enthusiasm, this is a favourabletime to make fresh starts. Personal relationships maybe more intense.

Don't be afraid to act force-fully if your instinct tells

you it's time for change. This week the focus is yourhouse of family and home. Besides spending moretime tending to domestic affairs, the focus can be oncultivating and nourishing your inner foundations, soto speak.

It is certainly going to be afortunate time for those

already married or in an established relationship. Thekeynote is emotional enrichment through close inter-action with a loved one. Facets of your life that havebeen a source of restriction and dissatisfaction willbegin to loosen their hold.

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

���������� ��� ���� ���������������� ��

�������� �

���� �������������

Coming Eventsl Dharma Rising Conference is being held by NCH-TUK at the DLHC Hall, Harrow, on 5th April from12.30pm till 10pm. There will be panel speeches,Hindu Question Time, “Dharma Rakshak” Awards andVIP Dinner. If you have any queries please call SatishSharma on 07711 245000l Living a "Designer" Hindu Life - Hindu SevikaSamiti – Celebrating 40 Years Hindu Sevika Samiti isa Hindu women’s organization with 34 Branches inthe UK. They conduct various activities ranging fromphysical based activities such as yoga, games andsports to intellectual activities of discussions, debatesand talks. Event: Living a "Designer" Hindu Life Date:Saturday 11th April 2015 Venue: ShreeSwaminarayana Temple, Stanmore, London, HA7 4LFfrom 4pm - 6pm followed by Dinner Chief Guest:Respected Shantakka - President of Rastra SevikaSamiti (largest Hindu women’s organisation, India)For more information contact Miss Kirti VekriyaEmail:pr@samiti.org.uk Mobile:07920529722Website:www.samiti.org.uk

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A mother has criticised ajudge’s decision to cut theminimum sentence to beserved by the woman whostabbed her son to death.

Kathy Mackay spokeafter Dimple Scaife won a12 month reduction in theperiod she must serve inprison, before she is eligiblefor parole, for murdering18-year-old Jake Mackay.Scaife, who had a son

with Mr Mackay, stabbedhim in the chest with akitchen knife in Fosse RoadSouth, West End, Leicester,in December 2006. Shewas told she would serve at

least 12 years before shecould be considered forrelease.However, appeal judges

in London have cut the 25-

year-old’s minimum termby 12 months because ofthe “exceptional” progressshe has made in prison andthe remorse she now

expresses.The ruling means

Scaife, formerly of BedeIsland, Leicester, will beable to apply for parole inDecember 2017.Jake’s mother, Kathy

Mackay, said: “The 12 yearminimum sentence was aninsult, but we had come toterms with that. So it’s dif-ficult to put into words howupset I am that she has hada year taken off that. Takingaway someone’s life is theworst crime possible. I amjust so disappointed withthe justice system. This isno deterrent.”

A Muslim organisationwhich claims to combatanti-Muslim bigotry hashit back at allegations ofextremism.Sunday Telegraph jour-

nalist Andrew Gilligan,described groups such asMuslim Engagement andDevelopment - known asMEND - as “clever frontsto win political access andinfluence for Islamistsholding extreme and anti-democratic views”.MEND says it address-

es the challenges facingBritish Muslims, with afocus on active politicalparticipation. At an event in the OBA

Millennium Cultural

Centre in Chadderton onTuesday, MEND’s regionalmanager for the North-West, Yusuf Tai, dismissedMr Gilligan’s allegations.Mr Tai said: “There’s a

demand in the communityto have education aroundpolitics. Muslims feel themedia doesn’t best repre-sents their views.”The group launched a

“Muslim Manifesto” at aParliamentary meetingchaired by Conservativepeer Baroness Warsi. Thedocument covers issuesMEND believes partiesmust consider whenengaging with BritishMuslims in upcoming elec-tions.

A gang of men, includingone from Oldham, willappear at ManchesterCrown Court next monthcharged with money laun-dering.

Nokhaz Adam Haider(34), of BroomhurstAvenue, Werneth,appeared at Manchester

City Magistrates’ Courtlast Wednesday alongsideGurinder Singh (27) ofManchester, and RazwanMunir (38) and ImranSarwar (31). Waqar Afzal(50) and Umar MurtazaHaq (35), both ofManchester appeared incourt last Thursday.

Mum hits out after woman who killed her son has sentence cut

Dimple Scaife Jake Mackay

Muslim group hits backat ‘extremist’ claims

Gang on moneylaundering charges

Scientific study suggeststhat playing music whilepregnant can help developan unborn child's hearing.The prodigy of the“Mozart effect” was firstpropounded by a scientificstudy in the valued jour-nal, Science, in 1993.The study revealed that

teenagers who listened toMozart's 1781 Sonata forTwo Pianos in D majorperformed exceedinglywell in reasoning tests,compared to adolescents

who listened to differentgenres of music, or hadbeen in a silent room.This study, however,

did not look at the effect ofMozart on babies. Thestudy found that collegestudents who listened toMozart sonata for a coupleof minutes before a testthat measured spatial rela-tionship skills did betterthan students who tookthe test after listening toanother musician, or nomusic at all.

Playing music while pregnantcan help develop unborn

child's hearing

Not a single Indian crick-eter found a place in theICC's World Cup XI whichwas dominated by run-ners-up New Zealandrather than championsAustralia with Black Capsskipper BrendonMcCullum as its captain.The ICC team features

five New Zealanders,including McCullum,despite their seven-wicketloss to Australia in thesummit clash on Sunday.India, the defendingchampions, had bowedout after a semi-final lossto Australia."McCullum was cho-

sen as the captain follow-ing his aggressive, innova-tive and inspirationalleadership during the 44-

day tournament that wasthe cornerstone of histeam's progression to thefinal where it lost toAustralia by seven wick-ets," the ICC said in astatement. McCullum alsoscored 328 runs in ninematches with four half-centuries at a strike-rateof 188.50.The team was chosen

by a select group ofexperts who were giventhe task of picking a bal-anced side on the basis ofperformances in the tour-nament. Statistics wereused but were not the solebasis for selections.In addition to

McCullum, the sideincludes four NewZealanders - Corey

Anderson, Trent Boult,Martin Guptill, DanielVettori - three Australiansin Glenn Maxwell, StevenSmith and Mitchell Starc,two South Africans (ABde Villiers and MorneMorkel), with Sri Lanka'sKumar Sangakkara as

wicketkeeper-batsman.Zimbabwe's Brendan

Taylor, who finished with433 runs in six matches,was named as the 12thman. ICC general manag-er (Cricket), GeoffAllardice, who chaired thepanel, said Indian pacersUmesh Yadav andMohammad Shami alongwith off-spinner R Ashwinwere in the running."The panel had an

extremely difficult choiceof selecting a 12-membersquad at the back of anoutstanding tournament,highlighted by some eye-catching individual per-formances, including twodouble-centuries, 38 cen-turies, two hat-tricks and28 four-wicket hauls," he

said."There were a number

of other players that werediscussed as possibleselections in the team.These included batsmenM a h m u d u l l a h(Bangladesh) andShaiman Anwar (UAE),fast bowlers Umesh Yadav,Mohammad Shami (bothIndia), Wahab Riaz(Pakistan) and spinnersImran Tahir (SouthAfrica) and R Ashwin(India)," added Allardice."But there were so

many brilliant individualperformances during thetournament that it wasnot possible to fit theminto the team. The paneleventually came up withthis side, which, in their

view, was the most bal-anced outfit that is capa-ble of beating any side onany given day."Team of the ICC

Cricket World Cup 2015in batting order: MartinGuptill (New Zealand),Brendon McCullum (NewZealand, captain), KumarSangakkara (Sri Lanka,wicketkeeper), StevenSmith (Australia), AB deVilliers (South Africa),Glenn Maxwell(Australia), CoreyAnderson (New Zealand),Daniel Vettori (NewZealand), Mitchell Starc(Australia), Trent Boult(New Zealand), MorneMorkel (South Africa),Brendan Taylor(Zimbabwe, 12th man).

Favourites Saina Nehwaland Kidambi Srikanth onSunday gave double delightto Indian fans by clinchingtheir maiden women andmen's singles titles at theIndia Open Super Seriesbadminton tournament.Saina, the first Indian

women shuttler to achieveworld number one ranking,clinched her maiden titleafter notching up a domi-nating straight game victo-ry against former worldchampion RatchanokIntanon of Thailand whileSrikanth had to toil hard toregister a thrilling three-game win over sixth seedViktor Axelsen ofDenmark in the men's sin-gles competition at the SiriFort Sports Complex inDelhi.While Saina, a bronze

medalist at the LondonOlympics, played like achampion to get the betteroff Intanon 21-16, 21-14 ina relatively one-sided affair,world No. 4 Srikanthnotched up his second suc-cessive title of the seasonby getting the better ofsixth seed Axelsen 18-21,21-13, 21-12 in a gruelingcontest.The men's singles sum-

mit clash was a rematch ofthe Swiss Open final whereSrikanth had defeatedworld No. 6 Axelsen to

clinch his first title of theseason. Saina, coming intothe match with a 5-3 over-all advantage over her rival,was not tested much as theIndian was prepared for

Intanon's deceptive game.Saina encountered herrival with her better move-ments and powerful andaccurate smashes to even-tually wrest her second title

of the season.The girl from

Hyderabad, who has beenon a roll ever since her vic-tory at the China Open,played like a champion asshe anticipated her oppo-nent's moves and caughther on the wrong foot dur-ing rallies. Intanon, seededthird, seemed to be affectedby her marathon semifinalmatch against CarolinaMarin of Spain which last-ed for close to an hour andhalf on Saturday.The energy-sapping

clash seemed to have madeher movements slow on thecourt as she struggled withher returns. The deafeningcheers of the near-packedhouse crowd which chant-ed 'India India' and 'let's goSaina lets go', seemed todisrupt Intanon's concen-tration as nothing went forher in the match. Sainaused her powerful smashesand rode on her opponent'sunforced errors to lead 11-5 early on. She was up forthe deceptive drops andhalf smashes whichIntanon used to trouble theIndian. However, Sainadidn't allow the Thai tothreaten her as she antici-pated well and retrievedeverything that was thrownat her end. She closed thepoints with a smash when-ever there was a chance.

With just few days to gofor the start of the eighthedition of the IndianPremière League, there iscontroversy in the air. Thedefending champions,Kolkata Knight Riders areon a collision course withthe BCCI regarding off-spinner Sunil Narine'sparticipation in the tour-nament. Narine was banned for

his suspect action duringthe 2014 ChampionsLeague Twenty20 and hecould not play in the finalagainst the Chennai SuperKings, which KKR lost byeight wickets. He was not picked for

the West Indies tour toIndia in November and heopted out of the 2015 ICCCricket World Cup. Hemodified his action andwas cleared by the ICCduring his biomechanicaltest in Loughborough.

However, in Narine'scase, the ICC did notorganise the test as he wasnot called during an inter-national match. He wascalled during theChampions LeagueTwenty20, a tournamentthat is run by the BCCI.According to the rules inthe BCCI, since he wascalled for a second time,he was banned from bowl-ing in any BCCI-organisedtournament. The BCCI has refused

to accept the report sub-mitted by the ICC and hasinsisted the off-spinnerundergoes another roundof testing at the Sri

Ramachandra Universityin Chennai. However, according to

sources, KKR is contem-plating legal action againstthe BCCI. Reports also saythat if Narine is notallowed to play in the IPL,KKR might pull out of thetournament. The team ispointing out that since thebowler was cleared by theICC, there is no need for asecond test and the man-agement is firm that it willnot force Narine to under-go another test. The teamhas met BCCI presidentJagmohan Dalmiya andhave told him that Narinehas been 'targeted'.

Duminy named as Delhi Daredevils'captain

South African all-rounder J PDuminy will lead DelhiDaredevils in the eighth editionof the Indian Premier League(IPL), starting next month.Duminy was roped in by theDaredevils last season and wasthe star performer for the fran-chise. He was recently namedas South Africa's T20 captain.

"I'm grateful for the support and belief from the fran-chisee. It's an absolute privilege to lead such a talent-ed mix of players. I am excited about the seasonahead and sincerely hope, we will be able to turnaround the fortunes of Delhi Daredevils in theupcoming IPL season," Duminy said in a statement.Daredevils head coach Gary Kirsten added: "JP(Duminy) is the right choice to lead the team for theupcoming season. He has the necessary experienceand demeanour to take the team forward. I have seenhim progress and mature as a player and leaderthrough the years with the South African nationalteam."

Pietersen joins county side Surreyfor 2015 seasonSidelined England batsman Kevin Pietersen hassigned up with county side Surrey for the upcomingEnglish domestic season in a bid to return to thenational side for the summer Ashes series againstAustralia. The flamboyant batsman who recentlyterminated his contract with Indian Premier League(IPL) team Sunrisers Hyderabad, is available to playall forms of cricket in the 2015 season. Pietersen, 34,parted ways with the county side Surrey inSeptember last year but was said to have remainedon good terms with the team's director of cricket andformer England cricketer, Alec Stewart. Theflamboyant batsman, who has recently gone onrecord to say that he would do anything to get backinto the national setup, was pleased to return toSurrey, a club 'very close to his heart'.

ICC prez Kamal storms out of MCGafter `insult'

ICC president Mustafa Kamalstormed out of the MelbourneCricket Ground (MCG) on Sundayevening even as the finalbetween Australia and NewZealand was in progress there.Kamal had been asked to stayaway from the podium at the

post-final ceremony and that did not go down wellwith the Bangladesh cricket chief who has been atloggerheads with the International Cricket Council(ICC) ever since he gave controversial comments onthe India-Bangladesh match. Sources said Kamal hadan argument inside the ICC box after he learnt thathe would be denied the opportunity to give away thetrophy. Kamal denied this. Ever since reportsemerged that ICC chairman N Srinivasan would giveaway the winning trophy, Kamal was angry over theinjustice meted out to him. In the previous years, theICC presidents always gave the trophy to the winners- Sharad Pawar did the honours in 2011. However,with the change in the ICC's constitution and achairman now at the helm of affairs, Srinivasanwould do the honours as the big boss. Kamal,though, was not convinced.

Saina, Srikanth lift India OpenSuper Series titles

Kolkata Knight Riders threaten to pull out of IPL

SPORT WORLDwww.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 4th April 2015 31

No Indian in ICC's World Cup XI led by McCullum

Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth

Saina scales to World No.1 ranking

Saina Nehwal onSaturday scripted histo-ry by becoming the firstIndian woman shuttlerto attain the number onespot in world rankings,reaffirming her status asthe country's most con-sistent performer in theinternational circuit.The 25-year-old

zoomed to the top afterher closest challengerfor the position, Spain'sCarolina Marin, lost inthe India Open SuperSeries semifinal. Though

the official rankings willbe out only next week,Saina has been assuredof her ascent to the topowing to the reigningworld champion's 19-21,23-21, 20-22 loss tothird seed ThaiRatchanok Intanon.Saina thus becomes onlythe second Indian over-all to be world numberone after PrakashPadukone had the dis-tinction of being thenumero uno men's bad-minton player.

Sunil Narine

Brendon McCullum

Michael Clarke ended hisone-day internationalswith 74 as a dominantAustralia won their fifthcricket World Cup aftercrushing New Zealand byseven wickets at theMelbourne CricketGround on Sunday.

New Zealand, playingin their first final after suc-cumbing six times in thesemis, suffered a bodyblow in the opening overfrom Mitchell Starc whencaptain BrendonMcCullum was bowledwithout scoring from thethird ball he faced.

A fourth wicket part-nership of 111 betweenRoss Taylor (40) andGrant Elliott (83)appeared to restore NewZealand's fortunesalthough runs came slowlyagainst a hostile, accuratepace attack with Starc inoutstanding form.

The paceman was ablysupported Australia's twoother left-arm fast bowlersMitchell Johnson andJames Faulkner whopicked up three wicketsapiece.

New Zealand hadreached 150 for three with15 overs remaining whenFaulkner struck twice inthe first over of the battingpowerplay. He dismissed

Taylor caught behind andbowled the potentiallydangerous CoreyAnderson for a duck twoballs later.

The remaining wicketsfell swiftly and NewZealand were bowled outfor 183 with five oversremaining. It was the low-est first innings score in a50 overs World Cup finalsince Australia disposed ofPakistan for 132 at Lord's

in 1999.Trent Boult raised New

Zealand's spirits tem-porarily by holding a sim-ple return catch fromAaron Finch before theAustralian opener hadscored. David Warnerresponded by striking TimSouthee for three consecu-tive fours and raced to 45from 46 deliveries when hehooked Matt Henry toElliott. Clarke entered the

arena to a standing ova-tion and attacking fieldsfrom McCullum whoplaced six players insidethe circle on the off side.

Both Clarke and hisheir apparent Steve Smithplayed the bowling on itsmerits as McCullum,whose aggression with thebat and as captain havetransformed the nationalside, switched his bowlersand field placings in an

effort to conjure a wicket.Clarke struck Daniel

Vettori over the bowler'shead for six andMcCullum brought hisbest bowler Boult back fora final fling. Clarkeresponded with a perfectoff drive to the boundary.He reached his 50 from 56balls and acknowledgedanother standing ovationfrom the crowd for his58th and final one-day 50.After a final flurry ofboundaries he was bowledby Henry giving Smith (56not out) time to completehis half century asAustralia won in 33.1overs.

Aussies defeat India insemi-final

Earlier, Australiadefeated world championsIndia in the semi-final by95 runs to qualify for thefinal with co-hosts NewZealand. Steve Smith'ssublime century laid thegroundwork for Australia'space bowlers to finish asmooth job. Smith's 105helped Australia to a totalof 328 for seven, the high-est in a World Cup semi-final, and although skipperMahendra Singh Dhonihit a defiant 65, India weredismissed for 233 in the47th over.

"We thought 330 was

around par but we knewwe had to bowl and fieldwell and the boys did a ter-rific job tonight," saidSmith. "Just happy we gotover the line in the end.India might have fanciedtheir chances of chasingthe target down after asolid start on a good pitchin perfect weather condi-tions and backed by themajority of a crowd of42,330 at the SydneyCricket Ground.

Mitchell Johnson andJosh Hazlewood had otherideas, however, and theytore the heart out ofIndia's top order by send-ing Shikhar Dhawan (45),Virat Kohli (1) and RohitSharma (34) back insidesix overs. When JamesFaulkner, who had beenhammered for 23 runs byDhawan in his first twoovers, got into the act bydismissing Suresh Raina(7), India had lost four oftheir most coveted wicketsfor the addition of just 32runs to fall to 108-4.

Johnson's bowling wasas potent as it has been alltournament and the deliv-ery that clean bowledRohit a ball after the open-er had the temerity to hithim for six sent one bailflying 20 feet behind thestumps.

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Australia win World Cup in 5th time